nostrum
vituperus
I
used
to
fancy
that
life
was
a
positive
and
perpetual
entity
,
and
that
by
consuming
a
multitude
of
live
things
,
no
matter
how
low
in
the
scale
of
creation
,
one
might
indefinitely
prolong
life
.
At
times
I
held
the
belief
so
strongly
that
I
actually
tried
to
take
human
life
.
The
doctor
here
will
bear
me
out
that
on
one
occasion
I
tried
to
kill
him
for
the
purpose
of
strengthening
my
vital
powers
by
the
assimilation
with
my
own
body
of
his
life
through
the
medium
of
his
blood
, relying
of
course
,
upon
the
Scriptural
phrase
, `
For
the
blood
is
the
life
.'
Though
,
indeed
,
the
vendor
of
a
certain
nostrum
has
vulgarized
the
truism
to
the
very
point
of
contempt
.
040503
what's it to you?
who
go
blather
from