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

just awakened, stretched his arms, and then peered out into the night. From his elevated apartment he saw the many roofs of houses and the tall chimneys outlined in silhouette against the clear sky. In the streets below all was solemn silence. Turning his eyes from scenes ter- restrial to things celestial, the doctor closely scanned the heavens and gazed intently at the moon, as that bright luminary seemed to shine with more than its usual re- splendence, and its silvery disc cast a collection of brill- iant rays directly on his uncovered head, enveloping it in a halo of glory. At this moment he must have been moon-struck, as his lips moved, and he remarked, aloud: " I do not believe it! Transmigration? nonsense ! " and withdrew from the window. Then, walking to the fire- place, turned his back to the agreeable heat, and again commenced musing. Doctor Paulus Androcydes was thinking of the won- derful papyrus lying there on his study table, and the mysteries it revealed—mysteries as old as Chaldea and Egypt—revelations regarding ancient charms and incan- tations—instructions in magic and the black arts—essays on fairies, gnomes, witches, and spirits—the relations of physical to astral life—a veritable treatise on sciences and arts that the present world has forgotten, but will sometime rediscover and proclaim as new. In addition to all this valuable information, the papyrus included an appendix concerning the performance of miracles in medical practice, and furnished cabalistical formulae for the making of health-giving philters and disease-pre- venting amulets. Strangest of all contained in the scroll, however, was the strong argument advanced in favor of the doctrine of metempsychosis. Doctor Paulus Androcydes was deeply versed in the