“And if I had told you that,” said Mr. Crowder, “it would have been so.  But to explain about this methodist doctor.  In those days the physicians were divided into three schools:  empirics, dogmatists, and methodists.  This man I speak of—­Asclepiades—­was the leading methodist physician, depending, as the name suggests, upon regular methods of treatment instead of experiments and theories adapted to the particular case in hand.

“He also was a man of great good sense, and was very witty besides.  He made a good deal of fun of other physicians, and used to call the system of Hippocrates ‘meditation on death.’  I studied with him for some time, but it was not until the first century of the present era that I really began the practice of my profession.  Then I made the acquaintance of the great Galen.  He was a man who was not only a physician, but an accomplished surgeon, and this could be said of very few people in that age of the world.  I studied anatomy and surgery under him, and afterward practiced with him as I had done with Hippocrates.

“The study of anatomy was rather difficult in those days, because the Roman laws forbade the dissection of citizens, and the anatomists had to depend for their knowledge of the human frame upon their examinations of the bodies of enemies killed in battle, or those of slaves, in whom no one took an interest; but most of all upon the bodies of apes.  Great numbers of these beasts were brought from Africa solely for the use of the Roman surgeons, and in that connection I remember an incident which was rather curious.

“I had not finished my studies under Galen when that great master one day informed me that a trader had brought him an ape, which had been confined in a small building near his house.  He asked me to go out and kill it and have it brought into his dissecting-room, where he was to deliver a lecture to some students.

“I started for the building referred to.  On the way I was met by the trader.  He was a vile-looking man, with black, matted hair and little eyes, who did not look much higher in intelligence than the brutes he dealt in.  He grinned diabolically as he led me to the little house and opened the door.  I looked in.  There was no ape there, but in one corner sat a dark-brown African girl.  I looked at the man in surprise.  ’The ape I was to bring got away from me,’ he said, ’but that thing will do a great deal better, and I will not charge any more for it than for the ape.  Kill it, and we will put it into a bag and carry it to the doctor.  He will be glad to see what we have brought him instead of an ape.’

“I angrily ordered the man to leave the place, and taking the girl by the arm,—­although I had a good deal of trouble in catching her,—­I led her to Galen and told him the story.”

“And what became of the poor thing?” asked Mrs. Crowder.