A small book stressing the importance of the part Diet does play in causing most arthritic pains. It also deals with certain points gained from experience which ought to be useful both to doctors and patients, for example, how to treat Shingles, early, and have no pain. Though many of the recommendations are perhaps old-fashioned, they are still in use because they have been found to be useful. That after all is the benefit of experience. "What the ignorant and most doctors and nurses do not know is that there is an optimum position for burping. Babies should always be burped on the right shoulder which allows the gas to escape. On the left shoulder the infant will vomit." "Beaver Fever" is well known in the Canadian Rockies. And, again in the Himalayas. Those clear mountain streams are not, as supposed, filled with pure water but are Nature's lavatory. Brittle, Dry Nails: These are always improved by painting them daily or, when possible, with Almond Oil. Stones in the Kidney may be removed usually by eating that White Radish (Saphanus Rativus L.) called Moolie, or DAIKON in Japan. Taken three times a day as a soup, steamed or raw in a salad the stones will come out within a few days. (Depending of course on how big and how long they have been there!) For this purpose it is mentioned also in Nicholas Culpeper's Herbal of 1653. Prevention of Thrombosis: Onions and garlic both contain the volatile oil "Allium". This is fibrinolytic, i.e. keeps the blood thinner and reduces its ability to clot. Hence the recommended Mediterranean Diet with its olive oil and "allium" for vulnerable people with high blood pressure and diabetes and for elderly long-distance travellers. About the Author (note picture cropped to how it is below) Dr. Igor Mortis was dragged to a well-known North of England Medical School and entered for the course in 1941. Escaping in 1943 he served in the Royal Navy for three years and then returned reluctantly to his medical studies and qualified eventually M.B., B.S in 1951. After the first few years learning to be a doctor, in hospitals and then in a good rural practice in East Yorkshire, he returned to the sea as Ship's Surgeon on a voyage to China. There have been further travels to Russia and Nepal, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia, the Americas, North and South and Mexico. To East Africa and Madagascar and the islands in between. To India and Ceylon, Hong Kong and Japan and some of the Pacific Islands. Most experience of medicine was gained in a very busy practice in South-east Asia. Dr. Mortis is now retired, more or less. Cover by 18th Century cartoonist James Gillray.