| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Valence, to her relatives, regarding her last letter from the annexe; the nun is to remove to the 201 and Amelia to Mme. Delattre's house; the scirocco has begun, and between it and Mme. Delattre she will be swallowed in a fortnight; she has been overseeing the removal of bedding from the annexe, and Yasek has had his operation; he wished her to be present but it is not for her as she suffers for two days afterwards; account of the doctor's bad temper through the operation; the hip bone was dislocated; the anaesthetic was not ready in time; Dr. Rigal lacks self-confidence and takes it out on others; not everyone is willing to forgive him and his reputation is suffering; the hip bone would not go back into place and in the end the femur cracked where it had broken before; he was assisted by a student, the son of the chief jeweller in Valence; 'the head of the femur was sawn off slantways, the neck laid into the socket and a long screw (probably 4 to 5 ins.) was run through the bone and the socket'; the broken thigh had then to be set and Yasek is now in a plaster from waist to toes; he will be in bed for three months and will not be able to use the leg for 6 months, and he is a bad patient anyway, waking his fellow patients by swearing in German; he is now under morphia; Guérin is off to Lyon for electrical treatment; his recovery has helped Amelia's reputation; the staff realise that her heart is in her work, and praise her above Miss Bennett, who is technically in advance of her; in discussion later Amelia spoke out against doctors who were only interested in the surgical stage, and not in the effect of massage afterwards; the doctors do not consult with her or even instruct her; Mlle. Ferlin has recommended that she attach herself to a Faculty of Medicine and train the young doctors to value massage; it is too ambitious for Amelia; visit to M. Reynaud, canon of St. Jean, an 'artistic and literary' clergyman; his grandparents were Protestant; he showed her the organ at St. Jean and left her to play, much to her delight; Mlle. Breynat accompanied her and Mlle. Mathieu of the pharmacy also appeared to listen; the staff had been invited without Amelia's knowledge but she enjoyed herself; Aunt has enclosed a card from Frau Pfannstiehl, saying that she and her husband have aged greatly; the organ there has had its Cornish zinc pipes removed for war purposes, a very distressing matter; news of their children. [Letter breaks off without signature] |