A YORKSHIRE NATURALIST 29- 



parlours and led to an area, partly yard, partly 

 garden behind, in which was the so-called surgery. 

 Halfway up this passage was the kitchen entrance, 

 over which an oil lamp hung from the ceiling, though 

 this was the only lobby lamp of the house ; because 

 the way to the surgery passed under it, the care 

 and trimming of this oil lamp was deemed another 

 of the varied duties of the " medical student." The 

 arrival of Saturday revealed a further extension of 

 those duties. All the bottles, jars, and other recep- 

 tacles of drugs were to be taken down, cleaned, and, 

 if need be, refilled, and the shelves dusted ; whilst 

 the last duty at night, after clearing away all dis- 

 orderly indications of the day's work, was to rub the 

 top of the counter with beeswax and turpentine, that 

 it might present a shining face on the Sabbath. This 

 Saturday evening duty was fulfilled by me weekly, 

 without omission, during the whole of the three years 

 in which I occupied my position in the surgery. 



Though essentially an errand boy, I did not carry 

 the traditional " basket ; " hence coats with a super- 

 abundance of sportsmen's pockets were a necessary 

 portion of our outfit. But this arrangement was not 

 wholly satisfactory ; it had its dangers. Not un- 

 frequently the young folks of both sexes familiar 

 with our duties contrived, by well-timed "accidents," 

 as we went on our way, roughly to jostle us, in the 

 not always futile hope of smashing one of the physic 

 bottles with which these pockets were known to be 

 stuffed. A second difficulty not unfrequently sprang 



