this is altogether a mistake; for the sick person needs air as much as those in health, and even more.

Don't be afraid then of opening your window. In nine cases out of ten it will do more good than harm. And nothing presses down the spirits more than a close, ill-ventilated

room.

2. Keep out as much as possible all Bad Smells, for they act like poison to the lungs and stomach, and most effectually prevent us from getting well. Dirty clothes should

never be left in the room.

3. Let me give you a few hints about your Bed. The best bed for a sick person, or for a healthy one either, is, I believe, a hair mattress. And if that cannot be procured, almost as good and wholesome a bed, and certainly a very cheap one, is a mattress stuffed with clean, dry chaff.

The worst is a feather bed, for it heats the body, and makes the skin tender.

4. As regards Food. It is unwise to be always pressing a sick person to eat, when he has lost his appetite. In such a case the food will not nourish him, if he takes it. The stomach is now very feeble, and must not be overloaded. One often sees two or three kinds of food by the bedside. The sight of this is quite enough to disgust the patient, and make him loathe it. Let it be kept out of view, and only a little brought at a time, as the sick person needs it.

5. If you want to keep off Infection, let cleanliness be specially attended to. Let the floor be constantly scrubbed with soap and water. Keep a little bit of window open to air the room. Remove the curtains, if possible, and especially round the bed,

and also any bits of carpet on the floor. Get a little chloride of lime, and sprinkle it wherever there is a bad smell; or mix some of it with water, and let it stand in the room. But air and cleanliness are after all the best things to prevent infection.

6. Do not allow crowds of friends to visit you. We sometimes see a sick person's room thronged with visitors. This is bad both for body and soul. The presence of a friend now and then, especially if he be a Christian friend, is soothing and profitable. But it is good for you sometimes to be left alone with God, and

to commune with your own heart.

CHAPTER V.

THE DUTIES OF THE SICK-ROOM.

"IN the day of adversity (says Solomon) consider." This, my dear Friend, is "the day of adversity" with you. God has laid you aside for a while; and it is your duty to consider.

In the days of your health you were hurrying on perhaps a little too fast. God saw this, and in mercy stopped you. And now He bids you make this illness a kind of pause in your journey-a kind of haltingplace by the way-a time for "considering your ways," for buckling on your armour, and for making a new start heavenward.

But let us come a little to particulars; for there are certain Duties which a time of sickness specially calls forth.

It

1. You have a favourable time now for the study of God's Word. Perhaps your Bible has been hitherto a book but seldom read. Take it down from your shelf, and open its precious pages. Do not look into it carelessly, as you have often done; but search it, as one seeking for a hid treasure. contains the words of eternal lifeGod's message to your soul-a remedy for all your spiritual wants. You have probably more spare time now than you ever had before. Spend much of it in the careful and prayerful reading of that Book, which is your guide to heaven. Your time, if thus spent, will prove to be a time of unspeakable profit to you.