ory of a lonely building, far removed from other
dwellings, imperfectly heated, and lighted by candles, the light being
barely sufficient to render the surrounding darkness visible. Having
occupied for two seasons the position of Prosector to the Professor of
Anatomy, I had to prepare, during the greater part of the session, the
dissections of the parts which were to be the subject of the Professor's
lecture on the following day. This necessitated my passing several
hours, usually from nine to twelve o'clock at night, in the dismal,
foul-smelling dissecting room, my only company being several partially
dissected subjects, and numerous rats which kept up a lively racket
coursing over and below the floor and within the walls of the room.
Their piercing and vicious shrieks as they fought together, the thumping
caused by their bodies coming into forcible contact with the floor and
walls, and the rattling produced by their rush over loose bones,
furnished a variety of sounds that would have been highly creditable to
any old-fashioned haunted house. I must acknowledge that the eeriness of
my surroundings was such that I sometimes contemplated a retreat, and
was prevented from carrying it into effect only by a sense of duty and a
keen dislike to being chaffed by my fellow-students for having cowardly
deserted my work....

"The examinations for the degree of the University were conducted
orally, ten minutes being allowed to each examiner. The janitor,
supplied with a watch and a large bell, was placed in the hall outside
the door of the library, the room in which the examinations took place.
At the expiration of each ten minutes he rang the bell, and the
candidates went from one examiner to another. This was repeated until
the student had completed the round of examining professors. Immediately
on the termination of the examinations, the professors met and decided
then and there the fate of the candidates. The latter, in the meantime,
waited in the College in a rather painful state of suspense. They were
summoned separately before the Professors, and the result, favourable or
unfavourable, was in each case made known to the individual....

"It was customary at this time for the student to be indentured to a
practicing physician, or, if not so bound notarially, to make a private
arrangement with him to be allowed to study in his office and to be
considered as his pupil. For this privilege a fee of L20 was usually
demanded. Apar