The record-union., 1896-09-20
state ACCORDINGLY I remained in he'd

state. Accordingly 1 remained in bed.
kept my eyes closed, and got my wife to
read an amusing book to me.
1t is needless to write down all the in
cidents of the day. Let me hasten to the
end. I occasionally looked round. but
found that my sight was still in the
same state. l took the sleeping drausht
at night, and slept soundly without even
a dream. How refreshed / felt when
awoke in the early morning! / was ly-
ing on my side, with my face towards
q window which looked out on part of
the garden. There was an old oak tree
not far off, and it was my fancy to leave
the curtains undrawn so that 1 might
sec the tree with the background of the
morning sky when L awoke. No beauti-
full picture awaited me this morning
My eyes were still, to my diSmay, under
the influence of the drug and sensitive
to the X rays. / turned hastily away
from the window to my other side. An
indescribable horror seized me. There
In her accustomed place beside me lay
my wife's skeleton, as it were the
skeleton of one who had died in her
sleep long years ago, and had been left
to lie undiSturbed. There it lay beside
me, and l nearly touched the skull as
turned. | put out my hands to save my
face from the hateful contact, when the
arms began to move as If they would
enfold me In their embrace / could
control my terror no longer. With the
Shrek of a madman / leapt from the
bed. The skeleton rose with a start and
tried to grasp me. / heard my wife's
voice uttering a cry of fear. / tried to
escape; my foot caught in something,
and / fell heavily, and / remember no
more.
1t was a lovely summer morning when
/ came to myself. / felt weak, and did
not desire to move. / was lying in bed
turned towards the window / have men
toned before. / could tell that it was
early morning. The sun was not high
The pale greenish blue of the sky was
notified with delicate rosy clouds. Birds
were singing, and a soft flower scented
breath was coming in through the open
window 1t was some time before full
consciousness returned and / could re-
call to mind what had happened to me-
Then the dreadful recollection came
upon me, and, forgetting, the present
evidence of my senses, / turned with
an awful dread that the same sight
might await me again.
1t may be a confession of weakness,
but never before or since, though l may
have had much greater cause, have L
been so really and earnestly thankful.
1t may seem but a small thing compar-
atively to be saved from a disagreeable
sight especially when it is the conse-
quence of a power that may be turned
to great purposes. / had my wife and
children with me still. i could still hear
their voices and feel their touch un-
changed, even though / could see only
the most unlovely portion of their
bodies. Yet l believe, although 1T Is
terrible thing to say, that l would have
chosen rather to part with them forever
than to see them as l saw them during
those terrible days. / was indeed glad
and thankful in the inmost depths Of
my being when, turning myself slowly
and feebly on that lovely morning, full
of fear of what l might see, l saw ly-
ing there, close beside me, the gracious
form of my wife, her comely head with
it's soft brown hair almost touching
mine.
1t was not long before had quite re-
gained my strength and spirits. ! re-
cognized that / was not of the stuff of
which the pioneers and heroes of sci
ence are made 1 had been i'll and un-
conscious for many days. My wife had
taken the reins for the time into her
own hands, and 1 found she had effected
a complete clearance of my laboratory
and it's contents She believed that 1
had worked myself into a state Of mad
ness, and as / never explained the facts
to her, and for the reasons already
given did not wish to explain them, L
took no pains to undeceive her If it
had not been for the fate of my poor
dog who had not shared in his masters
scientific labors, / might have persuad-
ed myself that / had been the sport of
diseased imagination.
My note books, I found, had escaped
the ruthless hand which had turned my
laboratory into a billiardroom. In
them was a record of my researches and
their results, more or less complete.
This I sent to my friend, Professor
Gleichen, to use the result as he thought
fit, provided he did not connect the dis
covery with my name. The Professor
worked them out, and verified them at
once by experimenting on his own sight.
I received letter from him, written by
an amenuensis in the first flush of his
pleasure, full of what he hoped to
achieve by this new faculty. He was
an old man, he said, and even if he
found that his sight was permanently
altered, and that he could not recover
his normal vision, he did not object to
unpleasantness and inconvenience suf-
fered in the cause of knowledge.
Some weeks afterwards he wrote in
less cheerful and hopeful strain, not
withstanding some remarkable discov-
cries he had been able to make. When
some months had passed, heard of his
sudden death. Whether he died from
natural causes, or whether he found
life under such conditions a burden not
to be endured even by a German savant
who can tell?-C. H. T. Crosthwaite in
Longman's.