for the purpose of inquiring into the mechanism of the human
body, and the effect of the soul upon matter. In order to satisfy their
curiosity, they inveigled, under all sorts of pretences, poor men and
women into a house at some distance from the city, the upper part of
which was constructed in such a manner that it was impossible to discover
from without what was going forward within. Having tied their victims
with strong cords down upon a long table, and having placed a gag in
their mouths, they then removed their skin and their flesh, and laid bare
their muscles, their nerves, their hearts, and their brains. In order to
come at what they sought, they fed the wretches with strengthening
broths, and caused them to die slowly under the slashing of their knives
and lancets. The Devil knew that they intended this night to assemble,
and said to Faustus, "Thou hast seen a surgeon, who, for the sake of
humanity, or for love of his art, cured an assassin whom justice had
broken on the wheel; I will now show thee physicians, who, in pursuit of
secrets which they will not discover, skin their fellow-creatures alive.
Thou appearest incredulous! Follow me, and I will convince thee. We
will represent two doctors."

He led him to a solitary house. They entered the laboratory, which the
rays of the sun never penetrated. Here they saw the surgeons dissecting
a miserable being, whose flesh quivered beneath their fratricidal hands,
and whose bosom heaved with the most painful agony. They were so engaged
with their object, that they never once perceived the Devil and Faustus.
The latter, feeling his nerves thrill with horror, rushed out, struck his
forehead with his hand, and commanded the fiend to tear down the house
upon their heads, and bury them and their deed beneath its ruins.

_Devil_. Why this rage, O Faustus? Dost thou not perceive that thou art
acting, in respect to the moral world, in the same manner as they act in
regard to the physical world? They mangle the flesh of the living; and
thou, by my destructive hand, exercisest thy fury upon the whole
creation.

_Faustus_. Outcast fiend! dost thou think my heart is made of stone?
Dost thou think that I can see unmoved the torments of yon poor flayed
and butchered wretch? But if I can neither dry his tears nor cure his
wounds, I can avenge him, and put him out of pain. Away! away! do as I
have bid thee, or dread my wrath!

The Devil obeyed with pleasure. He s