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

concealed the family skeletons of a hundred households; and, to his credit be it said, he sacredly guards the con- fidences of his clients. Yet, more than one person will breathe easier when Toiler passes away, ' for dead men tell no tales.' He is feared as well as trusted, and his bills are never disputed by the cowardly heads of families. It is needless to say that Toiler is rich and respected, because he enforces respect; for his word is law. When called in consultation with other practitioners, he is coldly patronizing, and never deigns to discuss the medical features of a case ; thus, his superiors in wisdom are obliged to defer to his opinions without question. It is noticeable, moreover, that those forced to call him in consultation usually lose the confidence of their clients, who ever after retain Toiler's valuable services. His judgment of other practitioners is rather critical, and he is apt to remark: l Yes, he has talent, and will learn to prescribe as he grows older/ or ' If he had more ex- perience, the patient might have recovered.' He delivers popular lectures for the benefit of charities, and reprints his remarks for gratuitous distribution among the laity. He is the author of a number of works having a paying circulation; as, for instance, ' Hints to Young Mothers,' ' The Care of the Aged,' ' Humanity in the Sick Room,' < Diet of Infancy,' < Beef Tea and How to Make It.' Toiler is now on his way to visit a fashionable old dame, the widow of a wealthy banker, who is confined to bed from an attack of pleurisy, due to a cold contracted from wearing a low-necked dress in a stage box at the opera. She would insist on assuming this Eve-like costume, because encouraged by her son-in-law, who is now, of course, greatly alarmed lest his wife's mother may die 6