Better Than Half a Nose
While operating upon an old man, Professor Billroth, of Vienna, told the physicians and students present the following amusing story: “Some time ago an old man came to me to consult me about the disease of his nose. He owned only half a one, and that was not worth much, so he thought I could operate upon it and give him a decent artificial one. I asked how old he was. ‘I am eighty years old,’ he said.
“‘Do you think it necessary at that age to undergo an operation?’ I asked of my patient.
“‘Professor,’ says the old fellow, ‘my father lived to be one hundred and twenty-five years old, and I don’t see why I should walk around for forty-five years with only half a nose.’”