The Power of the Battery

Mr. Stapleton's friends were requested to sanction a postmortem examination, but declined to permit it. As often happens, when such refusals are made, the practitioners resolved to disinter the body and dissect it at leisure in private. A student was especially desirous of testing a theory of his own, and insisted upon applying the battery to one of the pectoral muscles. The patient with a hurried but quite unconvulsive movement arose from the table, stepped into the middle of the floor, gazed upon him uneasily for a few seconds, and then spoke. What he said was unintelligible, but words were uttered, the syllapification was distinct.