Wright American Fiction

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Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO AND CO., in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. PHILADELPHIA: T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS, PRINTERS.

TO THE
STUDENTS OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK,
THIS
LITTLE VOLUME IS INSCRIBED,
AS A
TOKEN OF THE BEST REGARDS OF THEIR FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.

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PREFACE.

IN offering to the public the "Arkansaw Doctor" I make no apologies nor offer an excuse, more than this: though I have been born and reared in an obscure part of our country, though my name has never appeared in the public press, and though I have been a roller of pills and masher of boluses, in the backwoods, I have as great privileges with pen, ink, and paper, as if I were a descendant of kings and princes. I hope, dear reader, before this work has been scanned by your penetrating eye, that things will have been related that will prove amusing and instructive. I trust you will pardon me for giving a short history of my youthful life; it is not done for self-aggrandizement, but that you may see under what unfavorable circumstances a man may sometimes labor, and yet rise amid every scene of disappointment and blighted expectation, to honor and distinction; and if I should be the means of inspiring one poor desponding soul with confidence, or amuse for a moment some of my fellow beings by relating a few of the many incidents of my past life, I shall be more than repaid for all the labor bestowed on this work.

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CONTENTS.

• CHAPTER I. A LUMPING BUSINESS, 13
• CHAPTER II. STARTING OFF OF THE RIGHT FOOT, 27
• CHAPTER III. SPONTANEOUS EBULLITION IN ADRUNKARD, 33
• CHAPTER IV. THE RESURRECTION, OR HOW TO TAKE UP A NEGRO, 38
• CHAPTER V. BUSTING A DOG AND CARVING A TURKEY, 49
• CHAPTER VI. THE WAY TO KEEP FOLKS FROM MARRYING, 59
• CHAPTER VII. A DEATH-BED SCENE, 64
• CHAPTER VIII. A NEW PLAN FOR CATCHING A ROGUE, 70
• CHAPTER IX. BLOODSHED AND HYSTERICS, 76
• CHAPTER X. AQUA FORTIS AND CROTON OIL, OR TAKING THE WRONG MEDICINE, 84
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• CHAPTER XI. THREE SCRAPES IN ONE NIGHT, 91
• CHAPTER XII. A THUNDER STORM, AND A NIGHT IN THE WOODS, 100
• CHAPTER XIII. MAKING A HOLE IN THE WRONG PLACE, 115
• CHAPTER XIV. A FISHING PARTY, A GHOST, AND SUICIDE, 121
• CHAPTER XV. TAKEN CAPTIVE BY INDIANS, 130
• CHAPTER XVI. THE MAN WITH A SNAKE DISEASE, 141
• CHAPTER XVII. CUTTING UP A NEGRO ALIVE, 147
• CHAPTER XVIII. A FIGHT WITH WOLVES, 154
• CHAPTER XIX. HOW TO CURE DEAFNESS IN THREE HOURS, 161
• CHAPTER XX. RATTLEHEAD'S FAREWELL ADDRESS, 166