nsanity, one
of Bucknill and Puke's, which she had devoured as if it had been a
pamphlet.

"Not that book, certainly," he said. "I am afraid it will put all sorts
of notions into your head. Who or what set you to reading that, I should
like to know?"

"I found it on one of your shelves, and as I thought I might perhaps be
crazy some time or other, I felt as if I should like to know what kind of
a condition insanity is. I don't believe they were ever very bright,
those insane people, most of them. I hope I am not stupid enough ever to
lose my wits."

"There is no telling, my dear, what may happen if you overwork that busy
brain of yours. But did n't it make you nervous, reading about so many
people possessed with such strange notions?"

"Nervous? Not a bit. I could n't help thinking, though, how many people
I had known that had a little touch of craziness about them. Take that
poor woman that says she is Her Majesty's Person,--not Her Majesty, but
Her Majesty's Person,--a very important distinction, according to her:
how she does remind me of more than one girl I have known! She would let
her skirts down so as to make a kind of train, and pile things on her
head like a sort of crown, fold her arms and throw her head back, and
feel as grand as a queen. I have seen more than one girl act very much
in that way. Are not most of us a little crazy, doctor,--just a little?
I think so. It seems to me I never saw but one girl who was free from
every hint of craziness."

"And who was that, pray?"

"Why, Euthymia,--nobody else, of course. She never loses her head,--I
don't believe she would in an earthquake. Whenever we were at work with
our microscopes at the Institute I always told her that her mind was the
only achromatic one I ever looked into,--I did n't say looked
through.---But I did n't come to talk about that. I read in one of your
books that when Sydenham was asked by a student what books he should
read, the great physician said, 'Read "Don Quixote."' I want you to
explain that to me; and then I want you to tell me what is the first
book, according to your idea, that a student ought to read."

"What do you say to my taking your question as the subject of a paper to
be read before the Society? I think there may be other young ladies at
the meeting, besides yourself, who are thinking of pursuing the study of
medicine. At any rate, there are a good many who are interested in the
subject; in fact, most people listen