they were accepted at once by Mrs. Abel, who not only willingly but 

 with genuine enthusiasm cooperated with him. If it were a minor 

 matter such as unexpectedly bringing people to dinner, giving up 

 engagements, taking a train for other parts, or changing the entire 

 way of living, it made no difference whatever, Mrs. Abel agreed at 

 once, and never did any of us hear her complain. Until Mrs. Abel died, 

 she lived on this hill. At first she had a colored boy to help her, but 

 he was a character and more trouble than help, and she soon gave him 

 up. 



Among the letters which came to me at the time of Dr. Abel's 

 death was one from Professor Walther Straub, who told of his com- 

 ing to this country to lecture and being met at the station by Professor 

 Abel. It was some minutes after the train came in before Professor 

 Straub saw him hurrying down the platform; Dr. Abel greeted him 

 in an excited manner, saying. "I am sorry to be late, but Columbus 

 only just arrived." Straub said that he was much shocked and thought 

 that the Professor was losing his mind, and it ^vas only when they 

 reached the car that he found that Columbus was Dr. Abel's colored 

 boy. 



In these days of new schools and perfect ecpiipment it might be 

 interesting to consider the surroundings in which Professor Abel 

 carried out the work which has made him famous the world over. 

 As I have said before, the Medical School was by no means an im- 

 pressive sight. Each story was very high, and Dr. Abel's laboratory 

 was on the third floor. There was no elevator except a small freight 

 affair which had to be pulled up by hand. There was a hallway 

 around the stair-well from which the various laboratories radiated. 

 I have no doubt but that everything Avas done very systematically 

 when Dr. Abel was younger, but when I reached tiiere, it was a case 

 of every man for himself, and there certainly was no system about 

 anything. There was only one kymograph in the laboratory which 

 worked, and that was a long paper electrical affair, and to do a blood 

 pressure experiment involved as much as a major surgical operation. 

 Since I was the youngest and newest arrival, I was not allowed to take 

 part in such an important event as doing a blood pressure experiment 

 on a dog, but I was allowed to watch. Dr. Rowntree had just left, 

 and Dr. Marshall, who at that time did not even know where the 

 kidney Avas, and a physical chemist from Europe, 'who was not quite 

 sure whether a dog had a kidney, supervised the operation, which was 

 done by Charlie Kamphaus. 



Outside Professor Abel's laboratory Charlie was the Department 



19 



