In follow-up of Sharon's comments... The 2007 Norton Critical Edition of _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_ (ed. Beverly Lyon Clark) sheds some light on the question of the anatomy book. In a discussion of the background and context of _Tom Sawyer_, page 208 depicts an anatomic drawing of a genderless human being with chest cavity and abdominal cavity opened (although I would note that several important organs are lacking). The picture is labeled speculatively as "The Page That Becky Tore?" The drawing was used as the frontispiece in Calvin Cutter's 1848 book, _Anatomy and Physiology_ (a book that Twain may have owned, according to Alan Gribben). Along similar lines, as noted by Sharon, Huck Finn referred to _Gunn's Domestic Medicine, or Poor Man's Friend, in the Hours of Affliction, Pain and Sickness_. First published in 1830, it was the leading domestic medical reference in the West. (According to Huck, "Dr. Gunn's Family Medicine...told you all about what to do if a body was sick or dead.") The book was a medical do-it-yourself book, written so that the average citizen could do his own doctoring without resorting to a physician. Even surgical procedures such as amputations of arms and legs could be done by anyone who would follow the simple instructions in the book, "unless he be an idiot or an absolute fool," according to Gunn. To perform an amputation, for example, nothing was required beyond some common household items (including a carving knife, penknife, and shoemaker's awl), and no particular skills were needed except "firmness and common dexterity." Nowadays, few of my patients seem to be reading Dr. Gunn's book, but rely mostly on the Internet for such thoughtful medical guidance. Pat Ober