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if you would fill me in on the story, beginning with medical school itself. How clear were those ^'sacrificial' chalices there, and how deep?"

  "When I first met you this morning, Inspector, I thought you

were trying to worm something out of me, and I felt like sort of an imposter. As if I were posing as one interesting villain when in reality I was just nothing but a disillusioned doctor, unworthy of the attention of a real, professional Detector of Falsification. You made me feel quite uncomfortable as you ransacked my innocent pockets for scraps of crime or conspiracy. In fact I was beginning to feel as desperate as a real villain, hiding only the tiresome signs of my non-involvement and getting more terrified by the moment as I realized that you would unquestionably expose me soon, in all the ghastly falseness of my position. Innocent, when you had me cast for some fascinating role! It was quite a relief when the subject turned to that poor clavicle of yours. And since then, I hope you have forgiven me for being such a ham smuggler."

  "I'm very grateful to you.  Your advice and counsel was

very generous and I'm going to think it over very carefully, and abide by it. But now tell me about the experience of a sensitive student in medical school. What did you think about it all, working on pickled human beings and practicing vivisection on live animals?"

   "As far as the gross anatomy laboratory was concerned, that

didn't disturb me in the least. It seemed to me proper, even obvious, that the human body should be preserved and that we students should dissect it. I only regretted that all our link of nerves and blood vessels, our obscene memory aids and drinking, didn't seem to give us the familiarity with the sum of it all that a smattering of gross anatomy did for the art students. I thought we should know every muscle rippling below the hide of the diver as he jumps from the spring board, and all I would remember was the list of some of their origins and [?inventions?] as they were given in the book. The histology and embryology which were usually given in the same year, are both fascinating. Both of them, of course, depend on the use of the microscope, and the students spend a good many hours peering down the