Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/704

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ILLNESS.
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officers, were called, in. They suspected Cancer in the abdomen. They thought the case hopeless, and refused to take charge of the patient. For a few days more, he remained under the treatment of Hira Lal and Amulya Charan. But there was no relief. Some times the symptoms—hiccup, costiveness, pain—showed signs of improvement, but that was only for a short duration; they again set in with redoubled force. This state of things continued up to the 14th July. On the next day, Dr. Salzer, the best Homeopathist, was called in. For the first few days, Dr. Salzer's Homeopathic treatment seemed to give the patient a little relief. Previously, his bowels had to be moved by the application of enema, but they now had a free motion. Dr. Salzer suspected Ulcer. He said,—'The jaundice, which has set in, may lessen in a short time. If it should not so lessen, the patient may die in seven days; and even if it should lessen, still there is very little chance of the life being prolonged for more than a month.' For diet, ass's milk was prescribed. Even this milk he could not assimilate. His vitality began to decline day by day. The hiccup increased and decreased by turns. He could not bear the rattling of carriages. To prevent it, straw was spread over the adjacent streets and lanes. The Calcutta Municipality sympathised with him by interdicting their Scavenger carts passing by those streets.

On the 19th July, Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar