morning, noon
Some of his admirers even went so far as to say , that he knew more than the governor himself-in a word , it was thought that there was no end to his knowledge ! No sooner was Dolph received into the doctor 's family , than he was put in possession of the lodging of his predecessor . It was a garret-room of a steep-roofed Dutch house , where the rain patted on the shingles , and the lightning gleamed , and the wind piped through the crannies in stormy weather ; and where whole troops of hungry rats , like Don Cossacks , galloped about in defiance of traps and ratsbane . He was soon up to his ears in medical studies , being employed , morning , noon , and night , in rolling pills , filtering tinctures , or pounding the pestle and mortar , in one corner of the laboratory ; while the doctor would take his seat in another corner , when he had nothing else to do , or expected visitors , and , arrayed in his morning-gown and velvet cap , would pore over the contents of some folio volume . It is true , that the regular thumping of Dolph 's pestle , or , perhaps , the drowsy buzzing of the summer flies , would now and then lull the little man into a slumber ; but then his spectacles were always wide awake , and studiously regarding the book . There was another personage in the house , however , to whom Dolph was obliged to pay allegiance . Though a bachelor , and a man of such great dignity and importance , yet the doctor was , like many other wise men , subject to petticoat government .