NATURE SLOWLY MAKES READY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 255, 3 November 1897, Page 3

NATURE SLOWLY MAKES READY.

You have probably never seen a volcano in eruption, it is a magnificent sjiectacle. Where do all those torrents of red-hot lava come from? Nobody can tell, except that they come from somewhere tleej) clown in the earth. But one thing we know, naineJy, that eruptions of any one volcano are far apart. Between whiles Nature is getting ready for them; she is preparing for the tremendous demonstration.

Just so it is with all her processes. In the cold of winter she is arranging the forces which are to make the heat and the harvests of the following summer, and so on.

Prom May, 1890, to February, 1892, is a period of twenty-one months. The two dates will long remain clear in the mind of Mrs Martha Bowles, of 182, Llangyfelach lload, Morriston, near Swansea. For the first was the beginning and the second the ending of an experience which was bad enough in itself,yet only the introduction to something vastly worse, it was like the time of getting ready for a great trouble to come.

Her first sense of this was indefinite and vague, like the low muttering of thunder below the horizon while the skies are yet clear. She expresses it thus, in the very words most of us use on similar occasions:—'l felt that something' was wrong with me—something hanging over me.'

Ali; dear me. How often we think such feelings are a warning sent to the spirit, when in fact they are caused entirely by the condition of our bodies. She felt heavy, languid, and tired, and mentally depressed. This was not only melancholy to her but new, as she had always been strong and healthy. Then came the discomforts which there could be no mistake about. They are common enough to be sure. Oh, yes. But isn't that all the more reason why ye should understand what they mean? 'Certainly,' you will say. Well, then, there was that bad, offensive taste in the mouth, that so many of us have had; the failure of the appetite, and the pain in the chest and sides after eating. The worst pain was in the right side, where it was very heavy. That pointed to the liver, which is located on that side; and when anything ails the liver it is as though the big water-wheel of a mill had got fixed so as not to turn round. For the liver does half a dozen kinds of work, and when it strikes work the rest of the organs take a sort of rainy holiday. Presently her skin and the white of her eyes turned yellow as autumn leaves. That meant bile in the blood; the liver was oil! its duty; that is a sure sign. The kidney secretion was the colour of blood instead of a clear amber, which meant that the trouble had already reached those important organs. Then the stomach was upset and refused to take kindly to food— as though the miller sent your grain back, declining to grind it. She vomited a sour, bitter fluid, which was acid bile, away out of its proper track. On and on along this line, constantly getting further and further from the happy land of health; this was the history of those twenty-one months — all bad enough, yet all preparatory for worse ones.

'One day in February, 1592,' she says in her letter of August 18th, 1893, 'J began to have dreadful pain and cramp. It began in the right side, :ind extended across the stomach. For hours together 1 was in the greatest agony. What 1 suffered is past description. When the pain eased a little I was cold as death and shivered until the bed shook under me. 1 had hot iron plates applied to my feet, and held hot irons in my hands, but nothing gave me much relief. My stomach was so irritable that I could keep no food on it. I was now confined to my bed, and the doctor attending me said I was passing gall stones. He wanted me to go to Swansea Hospital and be operated upon, but I was afraid I might not live through it. 'I next had two other doctors at Morriston and also three from Swansea, who all gave me medicines, and said nothing more could be done for me. For six months 1 lay in bed undergoing the greatest agony; never free from pain more than two or three hours at a time. During the whole of this time I was fed on nothing- but milk and water. I had scarcely any life or strength left in me. All who saw me said I never could by any chance get better in this world.

'I lingered on like this until August, 1892, when my daughter brought me a book telling- of Mother Seigel's Curative Syrup. In this book she read of a case like mine having been cured by this medicine. My -husband got a bottle, from Mr Bevan, the chemist, and after taking a few closes I felt a little relief. I kept on with it, and soon the pains left me, my appetite returned, and my food agreed with me. After taking the Syrup for three months I was a new creature and strong as ever. I can now eat anything, and nothing- disagrees with me. After I was well our minister one day said : " Mrs Bowles, I never thought to see you alive." I said : "Mother Seigel's Syrup saved my life." You may publish my case, and I will g-ladly answer inquiries. (Signed) Martha Bowles.' This case —one of acute indigestion and dyspepsia, with liver and kidney complaints—is well known in the district. The lady's husband is a gardener, well known and respected. Do we need to point out the moral of this wonderful cure? No. You cars see it for yourself.