104 



MEDICAL MEN. 



patiently, "you may cat anything 

 but the poker and the bellows ; for 

 the one is too hard of digestion, and 

 the other is full of wind." Mr. 

 Abernethy was once prodigiously 

 pleased with the course pursued by 

 a lady who was aware of his aver- 

 sion to idle loquacity and silly af- 

 fectation. Entering his consulting- 

 room, without uttering a "word, she 

 thrust to wards him her finger which 

 Lad sustained a severe injury. Mr. 

 Abernethy looked first at her face, 

 and then at her finger, which he 

 dressed. The fair patient then si- 

 lently withdrew. In a few days 

 she called again, and presented the 

 affected digit. " Better ? " inquired 

 the surgeon. "Better," replied the 

 patient. The finger was again 

 dressed, and the lady tacitly retir- 

 ed. After several similar calls, the 

 lady at length held out her finger 

 free from bandages, and healed. 

 " Well ?" asked *Mr. Abernethy. 

 "Well," responded the laconic lady. 

 "Upon my word. Madam," exclaim- 

 ed the delighted surgeon, " you are 

 the most rational woman I ever met 

 with!" 



"Pray, Mr. Abernethy, what is a 

 cure for gout ?" inqirired a luxuri- 

 ous and indolent citizen. "Live 

 upon sixpence a-day and earn it !" 

 was the pithy answer. 



JOHN ABERNETHY HIS INTEGRITY 

 AND HONOUR. ' 



On his receiving the appointment 

 of Professor of Anatomy and Sur- 

 gery to the Royal College of Sur- 

 geons, a professional friend observed 

 to him that they should now have 

 something new. "What do you 

 mean ? ' ' asked Mr. Abernethy. 

 " Why," said the other, " of course 

 you will finish up the lectures which 

 you have been so long delivering at 

 St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and let 

 us have them in an improved form." 

 "Do you take me for a fool or a 

 knave?" rejoined Mr. Abernethy; 

 " I have always given the stu- 



dents at the Hospital that to which, 

 they were entitled the best pro- 

 duce of my mind. If I could have 

 made my lectures to them better,. 

 I would instantly have made them 

 so. I will give the College of Sur- 

 geons precisely the same lectures, 

 down to the smallest details nay, 

 I will tell the old fellows how to 

 make a poultice." Soon after, when 

 he was lecturirig to the students at 

 St. Bartholomew's, and adverting to 

 the College of Surgeons, he exclaim- 

 ed, gleefully, " I told the big wigs 

 how to make a poultice!" The 

 great surgeon's description of poul- 

 tice-making is said to have been ex- 

 tremely diverting. 



JOHN ABERNETHY HIS GENEROSITY. 



In the year 1818, Lieutenant 

 D fell from his horse in Lon- 

 don, and sustained a fracture of the 

 skull and arm. Mr. Abernethy was 

 the nearest surgeon, and being sent 

 for, continued 1iis attendance daily, 

 for months. When the patient be- 

 came convalescent, he was enjoined 

 by Abernethy to proceed to Mar- 

 gate and adopt shell-fish diet. The 

 patient requested to know the ex- 

 tent of his pecuniary liability. 

 " Who is that young woman ?' in- 

 quired Abemethy, smilingly. "She 

 is my wife." "What is your rank 

 in the army T " I am a half-pay 

 Lieutenant." " Oh ! very well, wait 

 till you are a General ; then come 

 and see me, and we'll talk about it." 



One of the students at the Hos- 

 pital indicated to Mr. Abernethy 

 his desire to be appointed his "dress- 

 er," the usual fee for which was sixty 

 guineas for the year. Abernethy 

 invited the youth to breakfast with 

 him next morning, to make arrange- 

 ments ; and, in the meantime, on in- 

 quiry, found that the young man 

 was attentive and clever, but in- 

 straitened circumstances. At the 

 breakfast table, the student pro- 

 duced a small bag, containing the 

 sixty guineas, and presented it to 



