| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Chambéry, to her relatives, regarding working on a Sunday; weather and its effect on the views; Aunt enjoying her time there; more remarks on the local poultry; invasion of caterpillars at the hospital; they are leaving the vines which have been sprayed with sulphur; description of local butterflies, which are very large; difficulty in persuading her patients away from potato peeling for their massage, as the cook has threatened to report them and have their leave taken away if they do not help him - 50 kilos of potatoes have to be peeled each day; she issues the same threat, and they are suddenly happy to be treated; she comes to a friendly agreement with the chef; Philippe has left, which has improved the atmosphere in one ward as he was a malcontent and influenced others to complain; Picquet counterbalances the effect of Loreau in another ward; Picquet's jokes; Raby has made her a workbox out of a cigar box; a new patient, Jouette, made a bow for the top; Jouette has two toes off one foot and only the heel and ankle left of the other foot; bribing Plantard with a pear; celebrations for the Feast of the Assumption; in the Notre Dame church the figure of the Virgin was lit with electricity; her position at the hospital is now firm; reference to a previous storm; she now has 20 patients; Dupaux is now willing to be treated as it will avoid another operation; trouble with a sergeant who is a worse joker than Picquet, armed with mother wit and education; case of a man with a splinter in his eye, which has upset the nerves, and in addition suffering from a chill which has contracted the muscles; Boursier has made her a basket, and Dufau has sent her a paper-cutter which he has made of shells, copper, brass and aluminium; his foot is to be operated on again; he left Aix with hardly a limp, but the wound was then untreated. [Letter breaks off without signature] |