The time was winter.

The first case I was called to was that of a bashful matron, the baker's wife, who had lately given birth to her tenth child.

I entered the room cheerfully.

She looked me over critically, and then greatly disconcerted me by remarking that: "She was gey thankfu' to the Lord that it was a' by afore I cam', as she had nae wush to be meddled wi' by a laddie of nineteen." Yet I was two years older than the doctor who had attended her.
If in China you are so fortunate as to be graced with a beard, the Chinaman will add many years to your true age.

In the agreeable company of one of the finest men in China, I once made a journey to the Nankow Pass in the Great Wall, north of Peking.