With a Room in Paris

On his way south, Gösta stopped in Lund and Copenhagen. In Lund he visited the premises of the Academic Association, where he dined with acquaintances from the university community: Docent Andersson and Adjuncts Duné, Lang, and Wijkander. He spent a couple of hours talking with Bäcklund, who took him along to pay a brief call on the old mathematics professor, Carl Johan Hill. In Copenhagen Gösta took a room at the Industri Hotel, the same place where he had stayed for the natural sciences conference in the summer. He had two purposes for his visit: to meet with his friend Christian Christiansen, and to consult an eye doctor named Hansen. He and Christiansen went to performances at the Folketeater and the Tivoli Pavilion. They also visited the Polytechnic Institute where Christiansen was studying static electricity and experimenting with an eleven-meter-long magnet. For his part, Dr. Hansen was able to reassure Gösta that there was nothing wrong with his eyes. The fact that his vision sometimes seemed cloudy was due to a “nervous affliction,” and he should simply avoid overexerting himself with too much reading. He would benefit from rinsing his eyes with water, spending time in the mountain air, getting the proper sleep, and eating a “strong and healthy diet.” The doctor also thought that Paris would be a good place for him, and he recommended potassium bromide if his nervousness should become severe.