THE VALETUDINARIAN IN ITALY.

THE throng of fashionable tourists is on the wing for, if not already luxuriating in, the glorious scenery of Switzerland and Italy. Italy! there is a charm in its very name. It would appear as if all the sad and bloody scenes connected with her late ineffectual attempt to shake off the chains of Austrian rule were already effaced from the recollection, and that she had sunk again into her old lethargy. But is this always to continue-will she never again take her place among the leading nations of the world, but be content to live only on the past? Will the petty feuds of its various states for ever interfere to prevent a coalition in Italy for the common weal? This is away, however, from our present purpose.*

Among the most pleasant books on Italy at the time it appeared, we considered Mathews' " Diary of an Invalid" to be the most interesting, and Mrs. Jameson's charming "Diary of an Ennuyée" is a favourite always. Italy, notwithstanding the numerous instances of the early death of those who seek her shores in pursuit of health, still seems to possess a spell for the Valetudinarian.

The visitors to Italy and the Eternal City are now to be found wending their way-some to realize on the very spots all the dreams of study-the artist to gaze on the glorious monuments of art, which Roman genius in sculpture and painting left to admiring posterity-the fast man to do Italy in the shortest possible time, and with superficial mind to gaze, and to forget: while another class, alas! numerous! to seek in its sunny clime the renovation of exhausted nature-to repair the ravages of insidious consumption. How many in beautiful Italy have thus found a grave! The cemeteries of this lovely land contain sad memorials of those who, in this attempt, have vainly sought its shores.

We hold that in our own island may be found climate suitable, ay, much more suitable to those who suffer under this dire infliction of Providence. In the mild climate of Devonshire, on our own southern coast also, and particularly in the Isle of Wight, let the patient seek for aid, if it is ever to be found; for,

"Perhaps, no greater popular delusion prevails, than the belief in the existence of some undefinable specific virtue in the climate of Italy, for pulmonary consumption.

"Although this mistake has been pointed out by several modern writers on climate, and it is difficult to conceive how so erroneous a notion ever gained possession of the public mind, it still prevails very extensively. Even at the present day, consumptive invalids are hurried away from these islands to the shores of the Mediterranean or elsewhere, with an unbroken faith, or rather blind credulity, in the talismanic efficacy of foreign climates, on the part of their friends and relatives, worthy the days when the sulphureous vapours of Mount Tabio, near Vesuvius, were supposed to cure phthisis, and patients were sent there to breathe the volcanic air, drink milk, and die.

"During a recent sojourn in Italy, and in the south of France, I have had frequent opportunities of observing the misery, nay, the positive evil which patients of this class incur by migrating from England to those countries, when labouring under confirmed phthisis. And it is only when the disease is confirmed; when the condition not merely of hepatization but of softening exists; that, in the great majority of instances, the patient seeks in a foreign clime that relief or cure which

* Dr. Burgess on "The Climate of Italy."

he believes nature has denied him in his own. The fatigue inseparable from an overland journey of some two thousand miles; the discomfort, or rather the total want of English comfort, en route, and even in the promised land,—to a person in tolerable health bad enough, but to a phthisical invalid absolute torture,-the severity of the spring and autumn, and, above all, the great and rapid variations of temperature, have sufficiently shown to me the mistake of sending patients of the class referred to, to so great a distance, in search of a bubble, who ought rather to have been allowed to die in peace at home, in the bosom of their families.

"The climate of Norway, for example, is admirably suited, during several months of the year, between the middle of May and the middle of September, for certain forms of dyspepsia, lesions of the nervous system affecting the mind, or that form of general innervation which results from an overwrought brain, and diseases of repletion."

Madeira has been found beneficial in many instances of consumption.

"Madeira, one of the islands of the blessed,' which Herodotus described as situated on the confines of the earth, in an ocean warmed by the rays of the near setting sun, is now, perhaps, the most frequented of all the foreign depôts for pulmonary consumption, not excepting the Nile. Opinion is divided as to the sanative effects of the climate of this island in tubercular phthisis."

"Madeira is pretty generally regarded, in this country, both by the profession and the public, as affording the climate, par excellence, for promoting the cure of pulmonary consumption. Dr. Mason, who ultimately fell a victim to phthisis, went to Madeira with the belief that he would recover his health under the alleged sanatory and benign influence of the climate of that island. He remained there nearly two years.'

"Madeira has its sirocco as well as Italy; but the characters of the wind so named in the two localities, although equally injurious, are yet essentially different. The wind, called by the Italians sirocco, which visits Naples and the south of Italy from the opposite shores of the Mediterranean, is hot, moist, and relaxing. On the contrary, the wind denominated by the Portuguese leste, is essentially hot and dry, and of a highly stimulating nature; so it soon exhausts those in health by means of its exciting qualities."

"Madeira seems to have no more immunity from disease than other places. Dr. Heineken and Dr. Gourlay both agree that no disease is more common amongst the natives than pulmonary consumption."

"The fate of the author was a melancholy one, and a telling comment on the blind credulity which prevails respecting the virtues of foreign climates in pulmonary consumption. It is briefly related by the editor, in these words;- Having completed the present work at Madeira, the author determined upon repairing to Nice, the climate of which, as he had been always persuaded, was far better adapted to his case. This step, had it been taken at an earlier period, and in the proper season, might have ultimately led to his recovery. (?)... He accordingly embarked for Havre. Proceeding thence towards Nice, partly by land and partly by river conveyance, they reached Avignon, where they took the diligence, without being aware that there would be no stoppage on the road for refreshments. Some fruit and bread, accidentally provided, was the only subsistence for four and twenty hours. They arrived at Nice as dinner was serving up; but scarcely had they sat down to it, when Dr. Mason felt himself compelled to exchange the table for his bed, to which an attack of dysentery confined him from that moment, until, after the lapse of a fortnight, his death took place.'

"How many consumptive invalids have fallen victims abroad to the same delusion!

"The strangers' burying-ground,' says Mr. White, has a melancholy appearance, and one lingers, not unwillingly, among its rich and fragrant flowers, while reading with sadness the simple tale of many who, in the bloom of joy and youth, having sought these shores for a relief to their sufferings, through the influence of its balmy climate, and far removed from the endearing ties of friends and home, have only found that relief in the grave.''

Aix and Montpellier are most unfavourable to patients suffering from organic diseases of the lungs.

"In this part of France, there is generally a clear blue sky, but then, the air is sharp and biting, especially in the spring, and the frequent recurrence of the

noxious winds-the bise and the marin-one cold and cutting, the other damp, irri tates weak lungs, and excites coughing. No atmosphere, however pure, if occasionally keen and piercing, can prove beneficial for pulmonary consumption, and this is the true character of the air of Montpellier. Provence is, moreover, the land of dust, from the nature of the soil. Indeed, there are parts of this Province of the Sun,' properly so called, which might vie, in whirlwinds of dust, even with the banks of the Nile, the most recent foreign fashion for consumption.

THE MISTRAL.-The south of France has been, ever since the earliest period of history, famous for violent and impetuous winds, amongst which the north-west wind, or mistral, enjoys an unenviable pre-eminence for its injurious character. This wind, or plague, as it is called by the inhabitants, forms the subject of an ancient Provençal proverb, which says:

"Le parlement, le Mistral, et la Durance

Sont les trois fléaux de la Provence.'

And the description of it given by Strabo has not been invalidated by time, for it is now the same as when he described it thus:- The whole of that region situated above Marseilles and the mouths of the Rhone is exposed to impetuous winds. The north-west (mistral) precipitates itself with intense violence in the valley of the Rhone, driving stones before it, overturning men and their vehicles, and stripping them of their clothes and arms.'-(Georg. lib. iii.)

"There is not, throughout all Europe, so arid, so monotonous, and in every way so unattractive a region for consumptive invalids as the Provence of Radcliffe and De Staël, when entering from Italy by the treeless, dust-enveloped road. In the midst of a region of low, calcareous undulations, producing dust in astonishing quantities, stands Aix, the capital of Provence. From Aix to Arles, extends the barren, stony plain of the Crau, presenting a picture of utter desolation, without any variety whatever to interrupt the horizon. This picture seems, doubtless, a violent contrast to the seducing descriptions we have been accustomed to read of the smiling vineyards, olive-groves, limpid streams, and verdant valleys of sweet Provence, but the fact is not the less true. Leaving the dusty roads and arid and dust-covered fields even out of the question, the rapid and extensive variations of temperature met with in Provence are more than sufficient causes to make that part of the continent shunned by consumptive invalids.

"For several days in spring the climate may no doubt be delicious, although, however, always too warm about mid-day, when suddenly the mistral, of evil celebrity, begins to blow. It is difficult to give an adequate idea of the change, or of the injurious effects of the climate under the influence of this scourge. The same sun shines in the same bright blue sky, but the temperature is glacial. The sun is there only to glare and dazzle, and seems to have no more power in producing warmth than a rushlight against the boisterous winds which chill the very marrow in one's bones. During the prevalence of this wind it is impossible to stir out of doors without getting the mouth and nostrils filled with dust. All nature seems shrivelled and dried up under its baneful influence.

"The district of the mistral is nearly confined to the valley of the Rhone. The baneful effects of this wind are dreadfully felt at Marseilles, at Aix and Montpellier in a less degree, but still sufficient to cause much mischief to the class of patients under consideration. Although Arles seems to be its head-quarters, the vast plains of the Crau and the Camargue afford full scope to its fury. The general character of the climate of Provence is, then, hot, dry, and irritating, subject to sudden and extensive variations of temperature, and therefore highly injurious to phthisical patients, and those suffering from irritation of the stomach and airpassages. For nervous and hypochondriacal invalids, the dryness and bracing qualities of the air of Provence may be, perhaps, useful, provided their lungs are sound; but if there is the slightest tendency to tubercular disease, no patient should ever go to that country, for I know of no district in any part of the British Isles so unfitted-nay, so injurious-for patients of this class, as the parched and dusty plains swept by the mistral. There is actually no part of France where phthisis is so prevalent amongst the native population as in Montpellier and Marseilles; in the latter especially, where the ravages by this disease, amongst the youth of both sexes, are very great.

"Hyères, a small town near Toulon, and within a mile and a half of the Mediterranean, is considered to be less trying to consumptive patients than any other part of Provence, because vegetation is more luxuriant, and there is little dust; but still the mistral extends its baneful influence to the olive and orange plantations of Hyères, as well as to the arid plains of the Crau."

Milan has been selected by some invalids; for

“Although the city of Milan is not recommended as a permanent resort for consumptive invalids, it is nevertheless frequented," observes Dr. Burgess, "by a great many of this class of patients, on their way to the south of Italy, or when returning; and its proximity to the lakes of Como and Maggiore, together with the attractions of the place itself, such as its superb opera-house (La Scala), its splendid architectural monuments, including the Duomo, ornamented by three thousand statues of white marble, besides the celebrated paintings of Guercino, Guido, and the Caracci, in the museum of Brera,-these induce many a way-worn invalid, when flying from the scorching summer heat of the south, to rest a little there, and so avail himself of the shade of the narrow streets of the ancient city of the Visconti.

"Here, for the first time since entering Italy, I witnessed these 'spectacles of human misery' described in the introductory chapter, with whom I subsequently became painfully familiar in the different towns farther south. In the cool of the evening, or during the day, when the sun's rays were obscured by a hazy state of the atmosphere-a common occurrence in Lombardy-Englishmen are sure to meet some of their compatriots in the advanced stages of phthisis, with pallida mors' visibly stamped upon their countenance, crawling along the streets, or dragged in invalid chairs-to see sights perhaps the last they will ever witness. Indeed, I have noticed some of the more adventurous, regardless of the heat of the sun, or of the effect produced by sudden transitions of temperature, proceed to the Duomo at noon, when the meridian is taken, that being a favourite rendezvous and pastime for strangers."

"The immortal inscription of Dante, referring to a gloomier place, might be ap propriately fixed over the gate of Milan for the benefit of the deluded consumptive patients of other countries who may pass through that city on their way to the south:

"Lasciate ogni speranza voi che 'ntrate.'"

Venice is, perhaps, the preferable place for the consumptive patient.

"Venice has been called by enthusiastic writers, the Queen of the Adriatic, although built on piles in the midst of a lagune, and lauded as one of the wonders of art, if not the greatest triumph of man. However true this fanciful assertion may be in reference to her early history, she is now merely the corpse of a city, fast crumbling to decay, whose gorgeous relics of former greatness only add to the desolation and mournful aspect of everything around.

"Although Venice, I believe, is rarely recommended as a resort for consumptive invalids, yet patients of this class may be always found in her public buildings and promenades. Indeed, there seems to be a mysterious attraction between hectic patients, wandering after an ignis fatuus, and various desolate and woe-begone cities in the south of Europe. Take, for example, Pisa, Rome, and even this place. But Venice has other, and more substantial, claims for the consideration of those consumptive patients who go to Italy in search of health, than her melancholy aspect, solitude, and decay.

"The climate of this singular city possesses a certain mildness of character and equability, often unknown in some of the more southern parts of Italy, usually frequented by consumptive invalids. The mildness of its air is caused in a great measure by the moisture arising from the lagune, &c., modifying the temperature; farther, the equability of the climate is owing to a kind of balance existing between the warm and cold atmospheric influences, which again results from the distribution of prevailing winds. These different agencies I shall explain more fully as we proceed.

"Independently of the ordinary atmospheric constituents, the air of Venice is impregnated with emanations of bromine and iodine, according to the chemical researches of Cenedella and of Pisanello, (1847,) who state that these elementary bodies are found in abundance in the plants growing in the lagunes, and to a certain extent even in the water itself. The native physicians place great faith in the resolutive properties of the climate, in scrofula and in incipient phthisis, owing to the presence of these emanations. So far as the latter disease is concerned, such alleged sanative effects are purely imaginary, as shown by the prevalence of consumption amongst the inhabitants.

"It is not, however, the chemical constituents of the atmosphere, nor the sup

posed salubrious influence of the climate that attracts English consumptive invalids to Venice. It is the magic of its name. Various historical associations connected with the place, the splendid ruins, and the paintings of some of the greatest masters that Italy has produced, are proverbial attractions. The paintings of Canaletto have familiarised foreigners with the harbour, the squares, and the monuments of Venice, as they existed in the palmy days of the republic; although those of Bonington, an English artist, not quite so famous, are faithful representations of its present state of desolation, and compared with those of the old Venetian painter, as a French critic observed, they resemble the picture of a woman still beautiful, but worn down by age and misfortune.

"I have repeatedly seen patients positively moribund, conveyed about this city, sight-seeing, under the impression that constant change of scene was as necessary for their cure as change of atmosphere. Change of scene may, and does, produce good effects in nervous and dyspeptic invalids, or upon those exhausted by overexertion, shock, or mental anxiety; but what benefits it can accomplish in patients with organic disease, like tubercular consumption in an advanced stage, I am at a loss to conceive. The invalids alluded to, or their advisers, however, seemed to think otherwise; for, apparently, their sole object in view when visiting Venice, was to contemplate the works of Titian, the frescoes of Tintoretto and of Paolo Veronese, the statues, palaces, temples, the mausoleums of Sansovino and Palladio, whereas they seemed as if utterly unconscious of the injury they were thus doing to their health, or their frail tenure of life.

"The promenade most frequented by invalids is the Piazza of Saint Mark, the largest open space in Venice, besides being the most lively part of the city. One side is occupied by the Ducal Palace and the Church of Saint Mark, with its angular front and cupolas, which remind the stanger of a Turkish mosque, rather than a Christian temple. On the other, it has regular arcades, with shops similar to the Palais Royal at Paris. The Florian coffee-house, in one of the arcades, forms the constant resort of male invalids who visit Venice, and are at all able to go about. Here they form a motley group along with Turks, Greeks, and Armenians, who seem to pass their time, reclining under large awnings, in drinking sherbet and coffee, and smoking perfumes in long rosewood pipes. The basilic of Saint Mark adjoins the end of this arcade, and is not a minute's walk distant; hence, in this extraordinary building of chequered architecture,-a mixture of Greek, Roman, and Gothic,-invalids of both sexes seldom, almost never, fail to pass a portion of the day.

"The attractions of the basilic of Saint Mark, a church which has not its parallel in the world, are certainly of no ordinary kind. The mosaics, sculptures, basso-relievos, and arabesques with which it is profusely ornamented, together with the gilded arched roofs, the pavement of jasper and porphyry, the five hundred columns of black, white, and variegated marble, of bronze, alabaster, vert-antique, and serpentine, are irresistible to the foreign invalid, who soon finds his way thither, and passes hours, fatiguing his frame, gazing at the marvels of the building, standing on its cold and sunken floor, for the piles underneath have given way in many places, and hence he breathes an air damp and impure.

"The Ducal Palace, close by, has also various attractions, and I doubt whether the master-pieces of the greatest painters Venice has produced, with which the ceilings and walls of the different apartments are adorned, are so eagerly sought after as the Piombi and the Pozzi, the latter being the dungeon cells in the vaults of the palace, over which the boats on the canal pass, and with whose history so many tales of horror are connected. These horrible dens are still dismal and damp, although the walls are boarded to prevent the humidity from penetrating. "Apart from this inveterate sight-seeing mania, and the evils sure to arise in consequence, there are many circumstances connected with Venice and its climate favourable to invalids, which do not exist in localities commonly recommended for phthisical patients, farther south. The entire absence of dust, in the first place, is no small advantage-the peculiar constitution of the climate before mentioned depending so much on the topography of the city, to be described presently; and above all the gondola exercise-the soothing and gentle motion of which is so particularly adapted to consumptive individuals.

"The general aspect of these boats-for they are all painted black-is not calcu lated to cheer the mind, and especially at night, when they move along so silently and mysteriously, being more like floating sepulchres than the gay and illuminated boats of pleasure which at one time occupied their place. Even the boatmen seem to be influenced by the mournful appearance of their barks, or else they must be a