These must be used only as preparatives to a diet consisting chiefly of milk and vegetables, which the sooner the patient can be brought to bear, the better. Rice and milk, or barley and milk, boiled with a little sugar, is very proper food. Ripe fruits roasted, baked, or boiled, are likewise proper, as goose or currant berry tarts, apples roasted, or boiled in milk, &c. The jellies, conserves, and preserves, &c. of ripe subacid fruits, ought to be eaten plentifully, as the jelly of currants, conserve of roses, preserved plums, cherries, &c. Wholesome air, proper exercise, and a diet consisting chiefly of these and other vegetables, with milk, is the only course that can be depended on in a beginning consumption. If the patient has strength and sufficient resolution to persist in this course, he will seldom be disappointed of a cure. In a populous town in England[74], where consumptions are very common, I have frequently seen consumptive patients, who had been sent to the country with orders to ride, and live upon milk and vegetables, return in a few months quite plump, and free from any complaint. This indeed was not always the case, especially when the disease was hereditary, or far advanced; but it was the only method in which success was to be expected: where it failed, I never knew medicine succeed. If the patient’s strength and spirits flag, he must be supported by strong broths, jellies, and such like. Some recommend shell-fish in this disorder, and with some reason, as they are nourishing and restorative[75]. All the food and drink ought however to be taken in small quantities, lest an overcharge of fresh chyle should oppress the lungs, and too much accelerate the circulation of the blood. The patient’s mind ought to be kept as easy and cheerful as possible. Consumptions are often occasioned, and always aggravated, by a melancholy cast of mind; for which reason music, cheerful company, and every thing that inspires mirth, are highly beneficial. The patient ought seldom to be left alone, as brooding over his calamities is sure to render them worse. MEDICINE.——Though the cure of this disease depends chiefly upon regimen and the patient’s own endeavours, yet we shall mention a few things which may be of service in relieving some of the more violent symptoms. In the first stage of a consumption, the cough may sometimes be appeased by bleeding; and the expectoration may be promoted by the following medicines. Take fresh squills, gum-ammoniac, and powdered cardamum seeds, of each a quarter of an ounce; beat them together in a mortar, and if the mass proves too hard for pills, a little of any kind of syrup may be added to it. This may be formed into pills of a moderate size, and four or five of them taken twice or thrice a-day, according as the patient’s stomach will bear them.