Athothis : a satire on modern medicine / by Thomas C. Minor.

low the directions laid down by Albertus Magnus ; use his celebrated collyrium, that consists of the right eye of a hedge-hog boiled in oil and kept for some time in—" " Nonsense! " interrupted Paulus Androcydes. " I have no faith in such procedures. Yet, I have secretly experimented in the materialization of flowers and plants, taking the ashes of such forms of vegetation, follow- ing the formulas laid down by D'Israeli in his ' Curiosi- ties of Literature.' But these were merely the tricks originated by overcredulous and imaginative chemists. " In order to discover whether modern mediums are guilty of deceitful practices, I have thought that the in- troduction within these spiritualistic circles of a person suffering from that rare ocular affection known as nycta- lopia might have a tendency tc break up such exhibitions ; for patients thus affected see perfectly well in the dark- ness, and methinks most mediums would object to their presence, inasmuch as the conditions would not be favor- able." " No modern medium would knowingly submit to such a test," replied Athothis; " although I must admit that the idea is an admirable one, and the experiment well worth trying. However, you can have an immediate op- portunity, as your spiritual vision will be far better in the dark seance we are about to enter than that of any sufferer from nyctalopia. But see! the blackness of night is rapidly increasing, and the spiritual apparitions are multiplying. Let us enter along with these serial phantoms, these followers of Set. Doctor Diabolus is now communing, surrounded by a magical circle of mis- guided and terrified mortals. We shall be invisible to this arch necromancer, thanks to our stronger power, and likewise undisturbed by these pixies and goblins,