hose very Greeks, and read
them awry, having no concurrent light of their own? for their demigod,
and camel-driver, Mahound, impostor in science as in religion, had
strictly forbidden them anatomy, even of the lower animals, the which he
who severeth from medicine, 'tollit solem e mundo,' as Tully quoth. Nay,
wonder not at my fervour, good youth; where the general weal stands in
jeopardy, a little warmth is civic, humane, and honourable. Now there is
settled of late in this town a pestilent Arabist, a mere empiric,
who, despising anatomy, and scarce knowing Greek from Hebrew, hath yet
spirited away half my patients; and I tremble for the rest. Put forth
thine ankle; and thou, Hans, breathe on the chafer."

Whilst matters were in this posture, in came Denys with the lemons, and
stood surprised. "What sport is toward?" said he, raising his brows.

Gerard coloured a little, and told him the learned doctor was going to
flebotomize him and cauterize him; that was all.

"Ay! indeed; and yon imp, what bloweth he hot coals for?"

"What should it be for," said the doctor to Gerard, "but to cauterize
the vein when opened and the poisonous blood let free? 'Tis the only
safe way. Avicenna indeed recommends a ligature of the vein; but how
'tis to be done he saith not, nor knew he himself I wot, nor any of the
spawn of Ishmael. For me, I have no faith in such tricksy expedients;
and take this with you for a safe principle: 'Whatever an Arab or
Arabist says is right, must be wrong.'"

"Oh, I see now what 'tis for," said Denys; "and art thou so simple as
to let him put hot iron to thy living flesh? didst ever keep thy little
finger but ten moments in a candle? and this will be as many minutes.
Art not content to burn in purgatory after thy death? must thou needs
buy a foretaste on't here?"

"I never thought of that," said Gerard gravely; "the good doctor spake
not of burning, but of cautery; to be sure 'tis all one, but cautery
sounds not so fearful as burning."

"Imbecile! That is their art; to confound a plain man with dark words,
till his hissing flesh lets him know their meaning. Now listen to what
I have seen. When a soldier bleeds from a wound in battle, these leeches
say, 'Fever. Blood him!' and so they burn the wick at t'other end too.
They bleed the bled. Now at fever's heels comes desperate weakness; then
the man needs all his blood to live; but these prickers and burners,
having no forethought, recking nought of what