“In fact, a few days afterwards, the boy was able to eat, and I thought all was over, when the trouble returned, and continued with 102 occasional intermissions till the end of April. It then became fixed. The poor child had to live entirely on liquids; on milk, the juice of meat, and broth. Even the broth had to be very clear, for such was the narrowness of the orifice that it was absolutely impossible for him to swallow anything solid, even tapioca. “The poor boy, reduced to such miserable diet, was becoming visibly emaciated, and was dying slowly. “The physicians, for there were two--as I had from the outset requested a celebrated practitioner, Dr. Roques, to consult with Dr. Noguès--the physicians, I say, astonished by the peculiarity and the persistence of this difficulty, tried vainly to discover its precise nature, that they might apply a remedy. One day, it was the tenth of May--for I suffered so much, sir, and thought so much about this illness that I remembered every date--one day, I saw Jules in the garden running with unusual haste, and as it were precipitately. Now I dreaded the least agitation for him. “‘Stop, Jules!’ cried I, going to him and taking his hand. “He broke away immediately. “‘Father, I cannot,’ said he. ‘I must run. It is stronger than I.’ “I took him in my lap, but his legs moved convulsively. Soon after the movement passed to his head and face. “The true character of his disease had at last declared itself. My poor child was attacked by chorea. You are no doubt aware, sir, by what horrible contortions this disease is usually marked.” “No,” said I, interrupting him, “I do not even know what it is.” “It is what is often called _St. Vitus’s dance_.” “Yes, I have heard of that. Go on.” “The principal seat of the disease was in the œsophagus. The convulsions which I had just witnessed, and which were continued at all hours from that time, put an end to the perplexities of the physicians. “But though they now understood the difficulty, they could not overcome it. After fifteen months of treatment, the most they could do was control these violent external symptoms; or really, in my own opinion, these disappeared of themselves by the efforts of nature alone. But as to the contraction of the throat, it had become chronic and resisted all appliances. Remedies of every kind, the country, the baths of Luchon, were successively and uselessly employed for about two years. All the treatment seemed only to increase the disease.