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The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, as seen by Filip Van Herpe
- The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt van Rijn
It was on a cold winter evening that a group of friends, as they did every week, gathered in the local pub to discuss matters such as science, religion, and the meaning of life. That night, after they all had agreed on some scientific facts — like the fact that it would probably take about 48 pints of beer to knock an average man of 75 kilos out — one of them, Nicolaes, brought up a different subject. It is a common superstition that one could read the future out of the palm of a hand or the organs of an animal, but after a very long and hard study I have discovered that someone’s future can be read from his muscles, particularly the ones in his forearm.
Immediately, a heated discussion started between Nicolaes and one of his friends, Gerard, who didn’t believe him. Well then, Nicolaes,
he yelled, if you think you can predict the future, go ahead — read my arm.
I will, I will, let me just get a knife to cut away your skin so we can have a closer look.
Won’t that hurt a lot?
Everything for science, Gerard. You weigh about 75 kilos, right? If you drink 47 pints of beer, that would stun you enough not to feel the pain while not losing consciousness.
So Gerard began to drink, and after 47 pints of beer he indeed was quite stunned. Alright,
said Nicolaes, lay him on the table and I will commence the experiment.
With great concentration, Nicolaes began to cut away the skin from Gerard’s forearm and poked a bit in the muscles. I see, I see water, lots of water, I… Damned Gerard, couldn’t you have been to the bathroom before we started?
Gerard only burped in response. Anyhow, let’s continue. Oh, this doesn’t look good, it says that you won’t get much older than 38 years. That’s odd, wasn’t it your 38th birthday last week? Gerard? Gerard?
Comments (5)
Listed below are the responses for this entry.
Ye gads! Boy were they ever formal when they dissected cadavers. Sheesh. By the way, “water” usually means the person is dead because the blood separates and releases water (or what looks like it, I’m not entirely clear on the issue ;) )
Ah, this reminds me of my ‘history of medicine’ class. Haha, very good. =D
Hah, there was a roughness concerning the scientific fact=)
48 pints knocks out forever=)) (for somebody 47=)
yeah, there were and there are people who offered themseves
in sacrifice for the sake of new discovery : )
the story teller must have great knowledge and a lot of girlfriends..
what’s his name again? I’d like to have his phone number please