The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1892-08-24

could, in one breath, have wept, imPior-
ed. cursed and raved.
Meanwhile felt my lifs's blood iow-
ing and could hear it drop into vessel
standing under the end Of the table
Every moment the doctor laid his hand
on my heart, at the same time making
remarks which only increased my hOr-
ror.
~Afer he had put his hand on me for
al least the twentieth time, and felt the
bsating Of the heart, he said to his assist
ant
Are you ready with your prepara-
tions, Langner de has now lost an
enormous quantity of blood. and the pul-
sation IS getting weaker and weaker.
See, he is already losing consciousness,
and with these words he took the gag
out Of my mouth
a feeling Of deadly weakness, As well
as Of infinite misery, laid hold ofme when
the physician uttered these words, and
On nv attempting to speak I found that
scarcely a whisperign murmur passed my
lips. Shadowy phanioms and strange
coiors fitted before my eyes, and be-
lieve myself to be already in a state past
all human aid.
"What happened IN the next few min
utes DO not know, for 1 had tainted.
When reopened my eyes I noticed I
no longer hay on the disseeting table, bat
vas sitting IN an armchair IN a cOmforta-
bic room, near which stood the two doc
tors looking al me-
'.Near me was flask Of wine, several
smelling salts, few basins Of cold water,
some sponges and a galvanie battery. Ii
was now bright daylight and the two
doctors smiled as they looked at me-
When remembered the terrible ex-
pertinent, I shuddered with horror, and
tried % rise felt too weak, however,
and sank back helpless into the chair.
Then the circuit physician, in Z friendly
but firm voice, addressed ne
Compose YOURSELF young man- You
imagined you we're slowly bleeding to
death nevertheless be assured that you
have not lost q single drop Of blood.
You have undergone no operation what
ever, but have simply been the victim Of
your imagination We knew very well
you heard every word Of oar converse
ton, 4 conversation which was only n
tended to deceive you As much as posi-
ble. WhatI maintain was, that mans
body VIII always completely lie under
the influence CT what he himself firmly
believes, whilst my colleague, on the
other hand, held the opinion that the
body can never be hurt By anything
which Only exists IN the Imagination
This has long been an open question De-
tween Us, which after your capture, We
at once determined 70 decide So We
surrounded you With objects Of 4 nature
70 influence your Imagination, aided
further by our eonyersation and, fnal-
~, yr,-- g-as i1tiois, that rre Huuid really
carry out the operation Of which you
heard Us speak, completed the deeep-
ton
you have now the satisfaction Of
knowing that you are as safe and sound
As ever you were. At the same tine We
assure you that you really showed al the
symptoms Of = man bleeding 10 death
proof that the body can sometimes suffer
from the most absurd unreality that the
mind can imagine
@Astonishment Joy and doubt at ind
ing myself neither dead or dying strug-
zled within me, and then rage at having
been subjected to such al awful and
heartless experiment by the two doctors,
overcame me- ! was quickly interrupt
ed By Dr. Engier, however, on Try ing, 10
give free scope 70 my indignation.
we had not exIc.ly any right 70 IN
dertake such an experiment with you,
he said but We thought you would par
don Us if We delivered you from certain
punishment. instead Of having to under
20 painful trial and s long imprison-
ment for burglary. You are certainly
1t liberty to complain about Is bGt con-
slider, my good fellow, If such a step is in
your interest. do not think So On
the the other hand, We are quite willing
to make you fitting compensation for
all the agony you have suffered
@Under the circumstances. continued
George Martin, 4 considered il wise 10
aecept their PROPOSE, although I have
not 70 this day forgiven the two men for
50 treating me.
aThe doctors kept their promise They
made me = very handsome present
and troubled themselves about me in
other ways, 50 that since tlat time I
have been 4 more fortunate, and hope
a better man. SGn, I have never for
gotten the hour when lay on the dis
secting tabIe-the unexpecting victim Of
= terrible experimental the interest Of
science, as Dr. Engler explained
Such was the strange story OF nv friend.
His death, when rece1tly took place, re-
leased me from the promise of secrecy
given to him about an event, which he
could never recall, even after lapse Of
thirty Yeas, without feeling Of unahat-
81 horror.-.Sfrund HIy1-iiis-