| Author(s) | Karl Marx |
|---|---|
| Written | 30 May 1882 |
MARX TO ENGELS
IN LONDON
[Monte Carlo,] 30 May 1882
DEAR FRED,
After the application (the 3rd in Monte Carlo) of a vésicatoire[1] on 23 May I did in fact have another appointment with Dr Kunemann before today, but only in connection with my 'bronchial trouble'. Quo-ad[2] my pleurésie, however, he found today, after a lengthy final examination, that the épanchement[3] was 'gone'; what remains is so-called dry pleurésie; there is no longer any moisture to retard matters; however the sound of one membrane rubbing against the other, to put it in popular if incorrect terms, still remains. He thought it would be beneficial to finish up with one more vésicatoire today and then move on to Cannes for a day or two, after which I would be able to take myself off to Paris.
He thought I had contracted pleurisy quite accidentally; considering my normal, robust physique I might just as well never have got it, or, by the same token, have done so — accidentally! — as much as 40 years ago. Getting rid of it is harder because of the danger of a relapse.
As I was made to parade my naked charms, front and back, he drew my attention to the fact that, previously, as a result of pleurisy, my left side had swollen by comparison with the right; now it was the other way round, for my left side (I refer to the affected spot) had contracted by contrast with the right, this being the result of my traitement. So as to rid myself completely of the last mementoes, as it were, of pleurisy, I am to spend some time later on in the mountains where the air is more rarified. My lungs must be 'set to rights' again by gymnastics of this kind, gymnastics imposed upon them by the locality. It was all the more difficult for me to follow the details in that he sought to bring them (the details) home to me in French frequently interspersed with Alsatian German, but also with some YANKEE-English. However one thing was clear, and that was what Dr Stephann had told me on the first day: Your thorax is what it is, so if spurious tissue takes up some of the space that one lung should occupy, that lung must make do with less space. The said tissue disappears in proportion as the lung re-expands. I have only just left Dr Kunemann, i. e. it's now nearly 6 o'clock in the evening which (6 o'clock) is the latest posting time FOR TO-DAY. Tomorrow — because of the final vésicatoire to be applied tonight — writing will be OUT OF THE QUESTION; day after tomorrow I shall have to recuperate and so it's 'unlikely' that you'll get any further news before the 2nd or 3rd of June (as I shall also have to pack). With best wishes.
OLD Moor