directly upon commencing the study of anatomy, rich began to feel the need of something more than the plates contained in the books.
it was some distance to go, for the study of bones, to the doctor's house, and he wanted something that he could keep in his room, and have at hand to refer to; besides, the doctor had none of the bones of the trunk—only the skull and part of the limbs. he likewise wished to dissect and study muscles, tendons, the structure of skin, bone, veins, arteries, and internal organs, in their natural state, since for him to procure a human subject was at that time out of the question, as he was without means to purchase even a skeleton.
in these circumstances he conceived that much might be learned by a careful study and dissection of the bodies of animals in connection with the plates found in the books.
mr. clemens, the husband of rich's landlady, owned and worked a large breadth of land, which[pg 181] necessitated the keeping of many horses, as he did all his farm work with horses; but after his decease the greater part of the land, and all the horses except one, were sold. on the lower floor of the stable was a small room, once devoted to storing and oiling harnesses, in which was a fireplace, and at one corner, a large closet without shelves, and very broad, where the more valuable riding harnesses, not in constant use, were hung, to defend them from dust. there were also some harness-maker's tools, old straps, thorough-braces, and a large leather boot, that had survived the vehicle to which it was once attached.
fire-wood in those days was made but small account of, especially by mrs. clemens, who could not consume half of the decaying and downwood on her land.
"mrs. clemens," said rich, "are you willing i should clear out the old harness-room, and make a fire there occasionally?"
"what for, mr. richardson? if you want more room in the house you can have it. it will certainly be more comfortable than the barn; besides, i am afraid you will take cold."
"indeed, mrs. clemens, i need not hesitate to tell a lady of your respect for and appreciation of the medical profession, that as i proceed in my studies, i shall want to dissect and experiment upon the bodies of animals. you know that, although the courts and the community are ever[pg 182] ready to prosecute a physician to the extent of the law for a mistake in setting a bone, they throw every obstacle in the way of his obtaining any accurate knowledge of the machine he is expected to repair." the law in respect to this matter was more stringent then than at present.
"but, mr. richardson, if you should lose a mother, sister, or dear friend,—mr. perkins, for instance,—and had placed them in the earth, with all the respect nature dictates, could you bear to feel that they were taken from the grave, exposed upon a table, and cut to pieces by students smoking cigars, and laughing, and jesting, as though to fit and harden them for their profession by driving every spark of feeling and humanity out of their bosoms?"
"no, i could not. i don't believe, however, that there is the least necessity of this hardening process you have referred to; if i believed that, by devoting myself to the study of medicine, i should lose one particle of kindly feeling that i now possess, should harden my heart and curtail my sympathies, or change in any respect, except in obtaining self-command that i might discharge more efficiently my duty, i would relinquish study and go back to the anvil to-morrow. if a doctor is rough and unfeeling, it is to be attributed to his natural temper, and want of culture, not to his profession."
"then i suppose you are just the one who[pg 183] ought to be a doctor, though i think it is strange that you should choose that profession. as i was telling mrs. merrill the other day, i observed you was so sensitive you never could do some of those dreadful things doctors were obliged to perform. but as for the harness-room, you may do whatever you like with it; there's a padlock in the house belongs to the outside door, and a key to the lock on the closet. if there is anything there worth saving, put it in the loft, and any old rubbish you can burn up."
"but the wood, i will pay for that."
"by no means, there's wood enough."
after clearing out the place, and cleansing it thoroughly, rich made a table, and put iron rings into it, in order that he might fasten any animal that he wished to operate upon. he then procured buckles and waxed ends, and from the boot of the old chaise made straps of different lengths for the same purpose, and put a lock on the door in lieu of the padlock. as the stern, patient smith of the wilderness, amid the melancholy moan of pine forests, and the roar of the stream, wrought out by sheer pluck and perseverance, a mechanical trade, so his earnest grandson, completely absorbed in his chosen pursuit, strove to verify, by experiment upon the bodies of such animals as he could procure, the theories he studied.
in short, under the intoxication of a dominant[pg 184] impulse, he did things that, had they come to the knowledge of mrs. clemens, she would no longer have doubted of his adaptedness to the medical profession on the score of sensitiveness; so impervious to emotion in certain directions will an absorbing idea render a person otherwise most impressible.
he dissected frogs to observe the muscles of the thigh, and irritated the muscular tissue of animals, thus creating inflammation, in order to watch its progress. though there are striking differences between the composition of man and the animal, still there is correspondence enough to admit of much being learned; and in default of a human subject, he resorted to this method, as his grandfather, unable to procure an anvil, made a stone answer the purpose. the lungs of a hog are very similar to those of a man, and he found no difficulty in procuring these. if a stray dog came along, he was most kindly welcomed by rich; but it was observed that no stray dog, having once entered mrs. clemens's yard, was ever seen to come out again.
marvelous was the industry of rich, only equalled by his ingenuity. he soon had the large closet in the stable filled to overflowing with the skeletons of various animals he had dissected and wired together with great skill. he was much attached to dan, who procured him animals to operate upon, while he, in turn mounted[pg 185] birds and squirrels for dan—a matter in which rich was very skilful.
he had been for a long time desirous of examining the structure of the eye, but could not procure a suitable subject. mrs. clemens possessed a cat of beautiful color and proportions, affectionate disposition, intelligent, and perfectly trained. between this member of the family and dan the affections of the good lady were about equally divided. when, as occasionally happened, gertrude was unwell, the good lady was at her wits' end, as she would have nothing from buchan, and eschewed burgundy pitch plasters, salts, and senna. indeed, she had much rather dan would be sick, than gertrude, for she knew what to do for dan, while gertrude would have nothing but catnip. at every meal she sat beside mrs. clemens in a high chair, and never offered to take anything from the table, waiting the leisure of her mistress. dan also loved gertrude dearly, and had taught her a great many tricks. rich likewise conceived a fondness for the cat, being naturally fond of pets.
gertrude was exceedingly social in her disposition, rejoiced in a numerous circle of friends, and was not in the least stuck up.
there was a large thomas cat—an enormous creature—that often came to call upon gertrude, in a friendly way, and spend a sociable evening. silver-gray along the back, annular stripes on the[pg 186] tail, white feet, snow-white breast, large, lustrous, prominent eyes, and a magnificent pair of whiskers; in short, this thomas cat was a splendid creature, and, as rich thought, would afford him, if in his possession, an excellent opportunity to observe the structure of the eye. dan, frank merrill, and horace williams, did their best to take the creature, dead or alive, but in vain.
a door opened from the wood-shed into the stable, and a passage was left to this door in piling the wood that was tiered up on either side to the height of five, and on one side seven, feet. several times the boys had got the thomas cat in this passage; but the wily creature either went over the top of the wood, or ran through a small hole beside the door, that it would seem no cat could get through. rich nailed the mouth of a meal-bag to this hole on the stable side, and placed a board on the other, ready to put up to prevent the cat's return.
one wednesday horace williams came over to spend the afternoon and take tea with dan. just before the tea hour, dan, coming in, whispered to rich, "the cat's in the passage. i can see his eyes shine just like balls of fire." armed with sticks of wood, they approached the end of the passage, gave a fearful howl and let the wood fly; the globes of fire vanished, and they knew by the sound the cat had not gone over the wood-pile.
[pg 187]
"he's in the bag, i know," said dan. "i heard him squeeze through the hole. o, crimini!" and he ran to put up the piece of board. rich and horace lost no time in putting a string round the bag in which the cat was struggling, tearing it from the hole, and immersing it in a tub of water. just as the struggling ceased the bell rang for supper, and flinging the bag and its contents into a horse-stall to drip and dry, they sat down to eat.
dan sat on his mother's right hand, next to him horace, and on her left was gertrude's high chair; but it was empty.
"where can gertrude be?" said mrs. clemens, after pouring out the tea; "for seven years she has never before been absent from my side at meals unless sick."
a fearful suspicion crossed the mind of rich, and catching the eye of dan, he saw that he was similarly affected.
hastening to the stable when the meal was over, with a light, they turned out the contents of the bag, and lo! it was poor gertrude, that in the dark they had mistaken for the thomas cat and drowned. rich was very much distressed; so was dan, as, aside from his sorrow for his mother, the cat was a favorite pet of his, and had grown up with him.
placing the dead body of gertrude upon the dissecting table, they locked the door for [pg 188]consultation. at first they thought of owning up, but finally concluded to keep the secret, and, as long as she was dead, thought they might as well make the remains of some advantage to science. richardson possessed already one skeleton of a cat, and only cared for the eyes. dan therefore persuaded him to mount gertrude for him. this rich did, making a small incision, turning the body through it, and replacing the skull and leg bones, after removing the brains and flesh, supplying the rest of the skeleton, so far as was needed, with wire.
having already mounted several birds for dan, he made a tree, put the birds in the branches, and having furnished gertrude with eyes of colored glass, placed her under the tree in a natural attitude, as though watching a squirrel, the wire in the limbs enabling him to bend them in any direction. a red squirrel was also placed half way up the tree, as though alarmed by the cat. dan was delighted, and thought he had much rather have his pet dead than alive.
all these operations were performed with closed doors, and the birds and animals placed under lock and key in the closet.
mrs. clemens mourned for her cat, and refused to be comforted. gertrude's empty chair was always placed beside her; at table she often recounted the virtues of the departed, considered and spoke of the event as one of those mysterious[pg 189] dispensations of providence, to which, though we cannot fathom, it is our duty to submit.
"i do wish my mother would bury that cat," said dan. "i'm sick and tired of hearing about her—should think she might pick up another kitten."
month after month passed, and still mrs. clemens mourned the loss of her pet. at the expiration of this period, fred evans, a cousin of dan, came to visit him. one afternoon dan persuaded rich to put all the things on the table, make a grand show, and let fred see them. to this rich consented; the door was locked, and fred sworn to secrecy.
on the table was placed the tree set in a block, with birds in its branches; half way up the trunk a red squirrel looking down and chattering at the cat, crouched at the roots as in act to spring.
disposed around the tree that occupied the centre were the skeletons of various animals, wired together, and in an upright position, fastened to blocks—rabbits, dogs, a cat, wood-chuck, rooster, and pig. the tree was formed with great ingenuity, by placing a real branch in a thick block of pine, carving the spur roots from the substance of the block, and covering with moss, dried leaves, and twigs, confined with glue, while gertrude, seated on the moss, seemed actually alive.
horace williams was invited, being already in[pg 190] the secret, to help entertain fred, and as an intimate friend of dan.
rich wanted a shingle to put under one leg of the table, the floor being uneven, and sent horace after it, who forgot to lock the door at his return.
mrs. clemens, having occasion for dan, and not finding him in the house or yard, sought him in the harness-room, where she knew he spent much of his leisure time.
opening the door upon the startled group, the first object that arrested her attention was the long lost and bitterly lamented gertrude, as she verily thought, alive, and in the act of springing upon a squirrel. exclaiming, "gertrude! my gertrude! where have you been?" she clasped the effigy to her breast. alas! there was no answering caress; there was no "speculation" in those eyes of stained glass, and the dried skin rattled in her fond embrace. it was a stuffed cat. "what does this mean?" she cried, permitting the imposture to drop on the floor, thoroughly overcome and faint with this sudden blasting of new-born hopes. she would have fallen to the floor; but rich and dan conveyed her to the house, where, after seeing her safely placed in the easy-chair, rich took to flight, feeling that dan could settle the affair far better than himself.
gertrude my gertrude
"gertrude! my gertrude!" page 190.
it required all dan's eloquence and power of argument to convince his mother that gertrude was killed by mistake.
[pg 191]
"but why did you not tell me at once, daniel, that i might have had her properly interred, instead of making an exhibition of the remains?"
dan at length convinced his mother that it was his affection for gertrude that led him to take this method of keeping her in remembrance. but never after this did mrs. clemens deem rich unfitted for his profession by over-sensitiveness.
