S. Weir Mitchell 
The Autobiography of a Quack, and The Case of George Dedlow 

‘The Autobiography of a Quack’ is the story of a physician He moves through a series of increasingly seamy scams in search of quick and easy money–including claiming to be a homeopathic physician, then an expert in vegetable remedies and ‘electromagnetic’ treatment, falling through a multitude of suspect activities culminating in his setting up shop as a spiritualist. ‘The Case of George Dedlow’ is an absurdist short story about a Union doctor, Seeing that the doctor has fallen into a depression, an acquaintance invites him to a spiritualist meeting.