massage, for the latter is the basis of medical gymnastics.

The Swedes have accepted this treatment as a specific for nearly
all diseases, deformities, and weaknesses of the body; for internal
complaints, for the lungs, the heart, and the digestive organs. It
removes superfluous tissue, and this is the reason you see so few fat
men in Sweden, notwithstanding their beer-drinking propensities, and
why the women keep their youthful shape until old age.

It is a spectacle to witness in some of the gymnastic institutes
venerable and dignified gentlemen going through comical motions and
assuming ridiculous postures with great activity and zeal, keeping
time to the music of a band in the adjoining café.

In Sweden doctors never send bills to their patients, but trust
entirely to their generosity. Each family has an attending physician,
who expects them to pay him by the year for his services, according to
their wealth and the amount of attention they receive. Ten dollars a
year in our money is a good fee; one hundred dollars is princely. At
the beginning of the year you put the amount in an envelope and send
it to the doctor by a messenger with your card. He sends back his card
with an acknowledgment of thanks and the compliments of the season. It
is very bad form to talk about it, although grateful patients often
write their physicians affectionate letters of gratitude for his
devotion and the benefit he has brought them. It is a good deal
like the relation between a minister and his parishioners in other
countries, and the annual contribution for the support of the doctor
is just as voluntary as the contribution to the treasury of the
church. If there is any reason why one should feel grateful to the
doctors; if you or your children have suffered a severe illness and he