He taught many an indifferent one the true spirit and method of prayer, and many thanked God for the accident or malady which had brought them under his happy influence. In him they had secured at least one friend for life, for discharge from the wards was not the usual termination of the friendship of Mr. Anderson. Before he came the chapel was seldom attended by the resident students; their pews were conspicuous by their emptiness, but he won even them, and helped many out of difficulties with the authorities. Mr. Horsley, the late chaplain of Clerkenwell prison, tells us he learned thieves’ slang, the better to acquaint himself with his flock. Mr. Anderson had some very curious specimens of humanity to deal with who required almost as much skill on his part, for many men injured in unlawful proceedings are taken to hospitals and watched by the police till their recovery permits their removal. He neglected not even these. CHAPTER XIV. THE SACRED WHOLE OF MAN. So ignorant of man’s whole, Of bodily organs plain to see— So sage and certain, frank and free, About what’s under lock and key— Man’s soul!—_Browning._ He alone is an acute observer who can observe minutely without being observed.—_Lavater._ When the students enter the wards of the hospitals for regular work with the staff, they have to devote a considerable portion of their time to the business of minutely recording the family history, physical signs and symptoms, and the treatment of each patient allotted to them. These records are valuable for reference, and still more so for the education of the pupils. They accustom the student to habits of careful observation; and as clinical work is by far the most important factor in his training, the man who does most of this stands the best chance of thoroughly learning his business. Elsworth found his account in sticking to the bedside, and often learned from conversing with his patients many things which helped him to understand how they came to be patients at all. Indeed, he found so much imprudence and ignorance in the habits of the people, that he wondered how it was they were ever free from disease. All the industrious men were great note-takers in the wards; they found that to understand the disease one must understand the subject of it. The practice introduced them to the habits of the working classes as nothing else could have done so perfectly. The expert note-taker learned more of human nature in thus recording these histories than he could have acquired from reading any number of books. Some startling revelations as to the amount of drink the British workman can absorb were often made in this way. There were several great breweries in the neighbourhood, and the men employed assured the doctors they usually drank about two gallons of beer a day.