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tion for other food. An English gentleman,
who had been at the same pension where
we boarded at Geneva, was sent to take a
course of grapes, near St. Saphoriii; he
was in a state of great debility, after an
attack of the measles, and was declining
rapidly ; he had eruptions over his body,
and his recovery seemed doubtful. After
three weeks he returned to Geneva much
improved in appearance, and in good health
and spirits. In certain cases of insanity, a
grape diet is said to be very efficacious in
restoring the patient to a sound state ; and
so far as an entire change of food can effect
a material change in the constitution of
the patient, it may be readily admitted that
subsisting entirely on grapes, for several
weeks, may have a powerful influence.
The grapes grown here are white ; we received
a present of a large basket-full,
when we went from Lausanne to cross the
Semplon, which served us several days,
and we thought them the best we tasted on
the C o n tin en t; but they are certainly not
superior to our English grapes from the
stove. I f a grape diet be found so salutary
in certain cases in Switzerland, why
might not our physicians find it to be
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A GRAPE DIET. 207
equally so in England ? we have more
expensive courses of medicine than eating
one hundred weight of grapes, fresh from
the stove. There is another medical application
of grapes th a t cannot be introduced
into England : in cases of obstinate
rheumatism, and for sprains and paralytic
affections, physicians order their patients
to apply to the limbs the refuse from the
wine, while warm from fermentation.
Vevey was not seen with less interest than
in the preceding year, indeed the brilliancy
of the sky seemed to give an increased
charm to the scenery, and we remained here
the following day, purposely to enjoy it.
I recollected that Lord Somerville, when
on his road to Italy, was arrested by th e
hand of death at Vevey, and the son of
our landlord at Les Trois Couronnes, told
me that he died at their house, and was
buried in the ground adjoining the church.
Having been honoured with several kind
attentions from his lordship, I could not
resist the impulse to visit his grave, and
pay a silent tribute of respect to his memory.
The cimetière, like all the other
cimetières or burial grounds in Switzerland,
was walled in and extremely neat, th e