THE MARY OF A DOCTOR WHO TELLS

Evening Star, Issue 25068, 8 January 1944, Page 3

THE MARY OF A DOCTOR WHO TELLS

__ *- HOW TO TAKE HOLIDAYS Monday, January 2. " Well, good-hye. Doc," said a Bright Young Thing who left our guest house this afternoon. " Don't overdo things and go without too much sleep, or you might feel the wreck I'm feeling at the point of departure." "You don't look too much of a wreck," 1 said with more gallantry than truth. " Oh. vou never kuow what sort of a colour is underneath the war paint," she replied. " Still, it's been \vorth it. Well . . . good-bye now." She stepped.into the taxi and waved the gathering farewell. . " I don't' know how they do it, blessed if 1 do," said an elderly man as the car sped down the drive. " That girl played golf all the morning, tennis all the "afternoon, and danced till midnight. And if all 1 hear is correct mores than one party went on .after midnight." " it's right enough when you're young," said another of similar vintage, "so long as you're healthy. Isn't that right, Doc?'-' " Depends on how long and how often you do it," i said. " I only just arrived here yesterday, and 1 don't know much about that particular lass, other than she was sitting at my table. At a rough guess, though, I'd say it would take her a week to get over her holidays."' " There's more in holidays than just resting though, isn't there?" said the Bright Young Thing's friend, who is staying on. " I read something about it a few days 'ago. It said tnat too much work "didn't tire you, it onlybored you, and you needed a rest from work more than you just needed a rest."

" There's something in tliat," 1 admitted "On the other hand, if you do far more ou, your holidays than you'd think of doing ordinarily your holiday probaibly won't he much good for you."

"People are so silly about the first days- of their holidays," said the elderly niau. " I've, been here three weeks now and I've' seen it happen repeatedly that a middle-aged man comes one day and takes more exeicise the next two days than he's had for the tfast three months. He then has to lay up for two or three days." " Yes," 6aid the other, " there's a right and, wrong way to take a'holiday. Personally, when I arrived I just felt 1 could think of nothing better than being allowed to sleep for a week."

1 privately echoed his sentiments (which in my case, however, didn't last past the second day). I suppose there's a right and wrong way to take a holiday. The wrong way is to bring your cares with you. Another wrong way, if you're middle-aged, is to try and recapture your lost youth and do allot of things you used to do 20 years ago. (Which is not to say that exercise isn't an essential part ' of any healthy man's vacation.) There has been no phone ring for 48 hours, no worry that you might have to get up as soon as you go to bed, no noise of and trains. When the magpies make a noise like badly-oiled brakes being suddenly applied it sounds like the sweetest song any nightingale ever sang. Tuesday, January 3. Great excitement in the guest house when one of the youngsters was hurriedly moved off to a private hospital, his own home being some hundreds of miles away. Early this morning I was asked to see him, " to see whether it was worth sending for the local doctor or not." The mother explained that he looked as if he had a gumlboil, and he had the earache' with it. He also had a temperature. "Has he been near anyone with the mumps?" I asked the mother. " Oh, no," she said, " at least not for almost a month. You don't think he* has them, do you?" " I do," I said. " Oh. dear," she said, " and I waited the full three weeks before I took him away.", I told her the incubation period of mumps was anything up to- a month, though the average period was about 18 days. \ Mumps has the longest incubation period of all the fevers of •childhood. German measles runs it a close! second. The childhood disease with the shortest incubation period is scarlet fever, it sometimes being only two to four days. To-night everyone is discussing who has been; mixing -with the youngster for the past day or two. < Incidentally the mother asked me not to say anything, which I didn't. I gather 'she herself mentioned it in the strictest confidence to a couple of friends. Wednesday, January 4. " Where's your husband to-day?" I asked the wife of a man with whom • I have been playing tennis since arrival. " Oh, he's got one. of his attacks of malaria," she replied. "He got it up in the islands years ago, and he has attacks every how and again." The malaria victim appeared a little later in the day and said he felt much better. " Only a small attack this time," he said cheerfully. "• Just a feeling of chill without any actual fever, I think." He blew his; nose strongly.; " Not getting a cold?" I asked.

" Perhaps," he replied. " 1 find f sometimes do get a "bit of a cold wln:i these little malaria attacks come (:ims of lowered resistance. I .iuppo.se

i I'tVs extremely improbable that niy tennis friend has any malaria left ia his system. Although we do not know a!l----thcre is lo be known about ihs dis-. ease, it may be of pleasant interest to the thousands of men suffer-

ing from it at the moment that it lasts very much less time than is commonly supposed. I understand that three years is an over-long time to have it.

Malaria patients have to be pariK-u----larly careful against putting everything down to malaria.

Continuous fever is very unlikelv to be malaria, though manv times I have been given that diagnosis. An examination for tuberculosis is advised wln'i a long history of malaria is given by the patient.

Thursday, January 5. r At afternoon tea to-day -Middle-aged Mrs Carlylo roguishy said yes. she would have a piece of cake. "I'm on holidays, and 1 don't sea why I shouldn't." she added " Mv, doctor would be.-furious if he knew, of course. He's very strict with me .-lbnut my diabetes. Still. I believe a holidaV from my diet would do me good, don't you think so. doctor?" " I'm afraid I don't agree," I said. Mrs Carlvle said* tliat we doctors a)-' ways stuck together,' of course, and it was no use asking one to contradict thp other. '

Mrs Carlyle will probably' be having an exceedingly long holiday (underground) if she has. a holiday from hjr diet for too long. Diabetes is a disease wliich can mostly be held in check bv strict obedience to a carefully-pre-pared diet chart, with, and soiuc i imes without, insulin To get patients' a certain distance along the road, onlv to find that they fall "down on a noint' of cooperation, is certainly annoviii<T. Mrs Carlvle's mont : nn of .din , " i *-»9 opened the inevitable flood ga f es of n». miuiscences among the assembled company, who took it in turns to H! «f the particular member of thpir f:";'i'y who had sulfpred from tho same thin".. After a while, out of the corner of my eye. 1 saw Mrs CarKlp put dnwi her half-finished piece of cake n'~-l walk out to the verandah, •where -b» wiped the perspiration from her foiehead.

Friday, January 7. "There's one woman I'm'certainly not going to like here." said Niir>a definitely this inoruiug. ".and that's that awful Airs Jernton."

" Why, . what's the matter «ith her?" 1 asked in a surprised voice "Oh, you men never notice* anything," said Nurse impatient.y. "Can't you smell that shocking per-, fume she floods herself and the room with ? She makes me sick when I come > near her."

"Oh yes," 1 replied mildly, "1 believe I have noticed that she lays it onia bit."

"It's disgusting," said Nurse, " Someone ought to tell lur ab.out it."

It is really a kindness to tell women when they over-perfume. (But it's still another thing her best friendwou't tell her.) The point is that the .nose develops a fatal tolerance to strong smel.s, either pleasant or unplcasont; so much so that after a time they go'completely unnoticed. If it were dot so it would be impossible to carry on certain .occupations. Perfume is one of the unexplained things of medicine. No one knows how the weakest concentrations of certain pungent odours can affect a comparatively enormous atmospheric area The purpose of perfume, consciously or'unconsciously-,, .is to attract the opposite sex. Flowers give smell only because the perfume attracts insects and so arranges for further fertility. All male animals, including humans, respond—perhaps quite sub-consciously —to-suitable perfume, if applied with artistry and restraint.' An excess sickens and repels. Names in this diary . fictitious. (Copyright.)