In the novel The Hollow, Ridgeway's disease is a rare incurable illness. Among its effects is that for some reason not well understand, it causes the cortex to degenerate. One of John Christow's research interests is finding a suitable treatment for Ridgeway's. He had been trying out various experimental treatments with Mrs Crabtree, one of his patients, and she had been making some progress. John Christow does not talk much about his experimental work at the hospital with his wife Gerda primarily because he doubted she could understand the intricacies of Ridgeway's disease. As he thought to himself, even the doctors are not exactly sure what it is. This reluctance to discuss it sometimes led Gerda to misunderstand why he spent so much time at the hospital when he had a clinic at Harley Street.
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