Such were Doña Oliva's views of political reformation, the wretched state of law and of medicine explaining satisfactorily to her most of the evils with which Spain was afflicted in the reign of Philip II. She considered Law and Physic as the two great plagues of human life, according to the Spanish proverb, _A quien yo quiero mal, De le Dios pleyto y orinal._ Upon these subjects and such as these the Spanish lady might speculate freely; if she had any opinions which “savoured of the frying-pan,” she kept them to herself. CHAPTER CCXXI. THE DOCTOR'S OPINION OF DOÑA OLIVA'S PRACTICE AND HUMANITY. _Anchor dir si potrebber cose assai Che la materia è tanto piena et folta, Che non se ne verrebbe à capo mai, Dunque fia buono ch'io suoni à raccolta._ FR. SANSOVINO. The Doctor's opinion of Doña Oliva's practice was that no one would be killed by it, but that many would be allowed to die whom a more active treatment might have saved. It would generally fail to help the patient, but it would never exasperate the disease; and therefore in her age it was an improvement, for better is an inert treatment than a mischievous one. He liked her similitude of the tree, but wondered that she had not noted as much resemblance to the trunk and branches in the bones and muscles, as in the vascular system. He admired the rational part of her practice, and was disposed to think some parts of it not irrational which might seem merely fanciful to merely practical men.