The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1879-01-16

failure to raise other peoples bodies had
a manifestly depressing effect on their
own spirits. In short, the inaugural ef
fort at establishing a new era in medical
education, through system of graded
instruction-which was the rdisen fetre
of the Lind-seemed about to abort at
the very inception of CESSATION.
1t was very obvious that prompt meas
ures, such as would efectually prevent a
repetition of the seasons disappoint-
ment, must be at once resorted to. A
promising Young graduate in the Office
Of DR.. y s. Davis was finally selected
to fill the vacant Demonstratorship:
aud, on his acceptance, he was instructed
that the prime requisite of his Office was
an abundant supply of material for the
next session.
He was no novice, as it subseq quently
transpired. One of the amateur attempts,
in company with Professor Freer-at the
! time filling the chair of Anatomy in
| Rush-had shown him possessed of the
requisite pluck, coolness and ingenuity.
La a session of unusual dearth, caused
| by the illness of the regular purveJ or,
it had become necessary that the Pro
fes:or should take the field himself and
| our hero, who was then a student in
| Freer's Office, found himself and his pre-
! ceptor one dark night on the wrong side
| of the fence of the cd City Cemetery,
on the North Side, in the section known
as Potter's field"
The "stiff" had been successfully x
humed and deposited in the shrubbery
| near the fence, the grave restored to its
appearance, and the tools deposited in
| uyhn nf
and the keeper of the cemetery were
heard approaching. Freer's horse was
good stopper, and thirty minutes after
saw the couple in the old st. Charles
Saloon, enjoying hot whisky punch and
stewed oysters under the kindly minis
tration of Mat" Conley.
About three o'clock in the morning,
after careful reconnaissance, they Sc
cured their booty, which was set bolt
upright between them on the seat of the
chaise, and hastily driven to the col
lege, where it was deposited at the bot
tom of the shaft leading to the dissect-
ing-room.
About noon the Doctor and his as
sistant repaired to the college for the
purpose Of injecting the cadaver. To
their horror and dismay, when it
was tumbled out of the sack it was
found to be that of a case of continent
smallpox! --
Those among the older readers of the
Tribune who can recall the minor sensa-
tions of the period about 1866 may
remember the mysterious solicitude of
certain physicians on the subject of vac
cination-how every one was urged
to submit to the operation, and how, al
though smallpox was by no means pre-
valent, there was an unaccountable in
terest manifested in the disease. f. I.
The explanation may be found in the
above incident.
DR.. Freer and his student sported new
wardrobes; the Doctors chaise was sent
of into the co lntry, no one knew
whittier; and Freer and Herrick and
Bianey and johnson ct al. went about
vaccinating right and left, gratuitously.
To dispose of the corpus deficit was the
most embarrassing matter. But it was
quickly solved by Dave, the student,
| who packed it in a whisky barrel and
coached the package in the middle of an
orchard at Jefferson, belonging to Mr..
John Gray, afterward Sheriff of Cook
County. If John has hitherto been un-
able to account for the abundant fruit
age of certain group of apple trees, of
the Esopus Spitzenberg variety, in his
orchard, this recital may help him to
clear up the matter.
So Dave-now DIR. David E.-was the
new Demonstration, and he set himself
at once to survey of the situation. II
was clear that no further dependence
could be placed on old Hans. From
eighty to one hundred new subjects
would be necessary for the next session
r and it was of vital Importance to tn,
success of the new C ,llege that there
be no further illustration of the
woodchuck story" in the history o
: Lind.
Revolving the matter in his mind, tn,
. young Esculapius next morning tool
i his accustomed way to the wards in tn
Rebel Hospital at Camp Douglass, thel
J pretty thickly occupied by the sick an,
> disabled among the Fort Donelso!
!, prisoners. ls4zs
He had been made an Acting Assist
. ant Surgeon at the camp 30 recent
= that, hitherto, the freshness and interes
= of the duties had not worn off. But tc
y day he was preoccupied; and the ware
masters, as they attended him from &C
- to cot, might have excusably supposed
:, in their ignorance of medical terms, tina
= . an epidemic of constipation had struc
- his pat ents, judging from the frt
= quency with which he perfuncteril
ts fded the single word perge to- hi
" clinical record.
At Hast. his rounds were completed
e and with. a few ,absentminded dire
- tions to the hospital steward an
- apothecary which those functionarie
y judiciously ignored, be was about lea7
p ing for the city again, when an Ofderl
- delivered a message from DR.. Wine
= the senior Surgeon of the Camp, who r
~ quested his attendance at the dea'
~ house, to perform a post-nortena ON r
e cent interesting case. As lie entere
"a the rough wooden shed, where the la
- Offices were performed prior to tt
' hurried sepulture in the fast-gro wiz
. trenches in the City Cemetery, tt
=. solution of his difficulty flashed aero
ah his brain. -sI
Id One, taoo,7 three, four he hasti
he counted up, and had already mental
,d secured the thirteen stark forms awai
a ing the coarse pine boxes called,
he courtesy, coffins, before he answered Il
ch salutation of DR. Winer and remembers
TO- the cause of his summons. 1t is to
re feared that the learned exposition of Il
or pathological appearances his swift
he piled scalpel soon exposed fell on u
IN listening ears. But his attention W
of fully alive when, at the close of tt
autopsy, and while returning his instr
hi ments to their cases, he heard the folio
he ing colloquy: --z-a-a----
of Orderly The 'Quarter-master s4n
bv his compliments to Surgeon Winer, al
e. begs to say the requisition for cofins
Il informal, and will be returned f
ar. amendment as soon as the necessa
to entries concerning it have been made
er- this office.
in Surgeon Wand when will that
full pray?
T. 0rderly-Couldn't say, sir, exactl
/ L,,N II L