period, and it was his hope and expectation that he would here be able to acquire a correct and intimate knowledge of human anatomy. He was already aware that this knowledge could be satisfactorily obtained in only one way—that is, by dissecting the human body; and accordingly he availed himself of every possible opportunity, during the five years which he spent at Montpellier, to accomplish this purpose. From the somewhat superficial examination which I have made of the record furnished by the diary, it appears that only five or six official lessons or demonstrations were given by the professor of anatomy during the period of time named; but—as every student of medicine knows—instruction of this character is of relatively small value; and Platter himself seems to have realized fully the truth of this statement, for during the second year of his stay at Montpellier he joined a secret band of nocturnal grave-robbers who were determined at all hazards to obtain the material needed for self-instruction. The following brief description of one of the raids made by this band of eager searchers after knowledge will convey a good idea of the manner in which the work was conducted:—
Our first excursion of this kind was made on Dec. 11th, 1554.
As soon as it was really dark our fellow student Gallotus guided
us, along the road that leads to Nîmes, to the Augustinian Monastery,
which is situated about half-way between Castelnau and the
Verdanson brook. Here we were received by a monk called
Brother Bernard, a bold and determined fellow, who had disguised
himself for the business in hand. At midnight, after we had partaken
of food and drink, we started out, sword in hand, for the
cemetery which is located close to the church of Saint Denis. Here
we dug up with our hands a corpse which had been interred that
very day; and, having lifted it out of the pit by means of ropes,
and wrapped our cloaks around it, we carried the body on two
canes as far as Montpellier. Then, having concealed our load
close to the postern, alongside the city gateway, we summoned the
keeper and begged him to get us some wine, as we were dying of
thirst and very tired. While he was absent in search of the wine
three of our party slipped in through the passage and carried the
corpse safely to Gallotus' house, which was only a short distance
