Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-05-21

to fix them at the ankle and above the
knee. When he had done [ was as help
less as a dressed turkey.
Then | was turned over carefully and
tenderly, and for the first time saw my
aSsailant
He was a gentlemanly-looking man,
dressed in black coat and waistcOat, gray
rowsers and neck-cloth. His hair and
whiskers were just turning grizzly, his
chin and upper lip were clean shaved
His forehead was high, his eyes promi-
nent and fixed in their expression, his
nose aquiline, his mouth a slit He was
of middle height, spare, but why; indeed,
his muscles must have been exceptionally
elastic and feline, for you would have
never thought, to look at him, that he
could stow himself away under the seat
of a railroad-carriage so compactly.
He contemplated me, with his chin in
his right hand, and his right elbow on
his left hand; he said, thoughtfully, "Just
so. And for the good of society in the
long run-an admirable sentiment, my
dear sir; let it be consolation to you, if
l should cause you any little annoyance"
He took a Shagreen spectacle-case from
his pocket, wiped the glasses carefully
with a silk handkerchief, and adjusted
them on his nose. Then he produced an
oblong box, which he unlocked, and
placed on one of the seats. After which
he sat down quietly in the place had &C.
cupled five minutes before-a position
which brought him close over my head
and chest, as lay supine and helpless at
his feet.
"Do you know anything of anatomy?"
he asked. l was completely in his power
as witness in the CrOss-eXamining
counsel's hands, and prudence dictated
| that | should be equally ready to answer
| the most frivolous and impertiRent ques-
| tions with politeness. l said that l did
not.
"Ahm he said; "weIl perhaps you
may have heard of the spleen? Exactly.
Now science has never as yet been able
to find out the use Of that organ; and the
man who bequeathed that knowledge to
posterity would rank with the discoverer
Of the circulation of the blood, and con-
fer an inestimable benefit on humanity
for the remainder of the Orld's lease. I
propose to dissect you.'
"You will not get much glory for that, :"
said |, forcing myself to seem to take this
outrageous practical joke in good part.
An ungrateful generation may or may
not profit by your discovery, but it will
infallibly hang you"
" Not So" he blandly replied. +" I am
a surgeon, who once had a very consider
able practice, but had to stand my trial
for an experiment which proved fatal to
one of my patients The jury, unable to IN
derstand the sacrifices which an earnest
inquirer is ready to offer at the shrine of
science, declared me mad, and | was
placed in confinement. You see that I
can act with impunity."
And he opened the box. | broke out in
a cold sweat. Was it all real? Could
the man be in earnest? But" said |,
surely you can ge5dead bodies to dissect
without having recourse to crime? And,
again, if generations of anatomists have
failed in twenty thousand investigations
to discover the use of the spleen-if you
yourself have always failed hitherto,
why should you suppose that this one
attempt should be more successful than
the others?"
Because, my dear sir" said the man,
with the smile of one who had caught
bright idea, "all former investigations,
including my own, have been made on
dead subjects, while propose to examine
your vital organs with a powerful magni-
flying glass while they are exercising
their normal functions''
"Whatp' I gasped. "You will never
have the barbarity-," and here my
voice choked.
ooh, yes; have conquered that preju
dice against inficting suffering which is
natural to the mind enfeebled by civil
cation. For many years l secretly prac-
ticed vivisectiOn upon animals. | once
had cat-an animal very tenacious of
life-under my scalpel for week. But
we have no time to waste in conversation.
You will not be put to any needless
suffering. These instruments are not my
own, blunted for want of use; I took the
precaution of borrowing the case Of the
gentlemen under whose care have been
placed before making my escape"
While speaking thus, he took out the
hideous little glittering instruments and
examined them one by one They were
of various appalling shapes, and I gazed
upon them with the horrible fascination
of bird under the power Of a snake. Of
only one could | tell the use-a thin,
trenchant blade, which cut you almost to
look at it. He knelt across me, arranged
his implements on the seat to his right;
laid notebook, pencil and his watch on
that to his left, and took off his neck-cloth
and collar, murmuring: 1.-The clothes are
very much in my way; wish that you
were properly prepared for the opera
ton"
1t flashed across me, in my despair,
that had heard of madmen being foiled
by an apparent acquiescence in their
murderous intentions.
After ALL" l forced myself to say,
"what is one life to the human race?
Since mine is demanded by science, let
me aid you. Remove these bonds and
allow me to take off my coat and waist
coat"
He smiled and shook his head
Life is sweet; | will not trust you"
he said, christening my waistcoat and
turning back the lapels as far as he could
Then, taking pair of scissors, he pro-
ceeded to cut my shirtfront away, so that
presently my chest was barred to his ex-
periments. Whether | closed my eyes or
was seized with vertigo | do not know,
but for moment OF two | lost sight of
everything, and had visions: a sort of
grotesque nightmare it was, the figures
in which l recall but very indistinctly,
| but l remember that the most prominent
OF them was pig, or pork, hanging up
outside butchers shop, the appearance
! OF which bore mysterious resemblance
to myself. These delirious fantasies were
dispelled by sharp pang; the anatomist
had made first slight incision. | saw
his calm face leaning over me; the cruel
blade with which he was about to make
another and deeper cut; his fingers, al
ready crimson with blood; and [ strug-
gled trantically. My operator immed1-
ateiy Withdrew his armed hand and stood