THE DOCTOR IN SPAIN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3355, 9 January 1879, Page 3

THE DOCTOR IN SPAIN.

Much has been 3aid for and against Spanish practitioners. I take leave to mention that they are in no way behind those of France and England; of late years they have, as a body, made gigantic strides in learning, and the newest Parisian books- are found on their shelves. Of course, in the old-fashioned country villages the doctor is somewhat of a butcher ; he is forever having recourse to bleeding, an operation which he never performs himself ; he merely writes on a paper — papelito— the number of ounces of blood to be taken from the subject, aad the bleeder who performs the operation is the barber in the nearest street. Bleeding in this country is, if not an absolute necessity, at any rate a very great relief; and I, for one, look kindly upon it. In this country strong- English remedies completely fail to have any good efteefc. Mercury is downright poison ; rhubarb has no effect at all for good; magnesia and sal de guerra, quinine, and decoctions of soothing herbs, with abundance of fruit (the Jruta del liempo) are the chief remodies. Hie doctor is paid by the poor two reals (5 pence) per visit ; by the rich, 10 pence— i.A, the silver franc, or peseta. He writes the prescription, and your Bervanfc takes it to the bolwa, or apothecary's shop, with a tumbler or cup ; and the mixture comes back, without label or written receipt, the servant merely putting the tumbler clown by your bedside with the words, "You are to take this in turee duses, and the apothecary sends his best wishes that you will soon be all right." In all the out-of-the-way towns the families ot poor and rich pay to the doctor an annual sum of 5 ducats, i.e., 2 dols 50 cents per annum, for which sum he attends the whole tamily, servants included. He collects his rents, as they are called, on Christinas iive, and expects a present of a fowl or turkey from each house, in addition t.o his hardly earned cash. So frugal, so simple, so patriarchal is life in Spain. And how slow runs its tide! An ex-Minister of the late Spanish Republic, a warm personal friend of ot my own, was, a few weeks since, dangerously ill; he, to save money, actually sent per post to his brother, a physician in practico afc Malaga, an account of his ailment, and waited four days for the receipt of the prescription. It came at last. But before it came my friend had had a fit, and his hostess prescribed "lemon-juice and coffee"— she said it was " biliousness." — Temple Bar.