Unnamed Doctor 12

In The Reivers the country doctor whom Lucius sees in Parsham is "an iron-gray man" at least sixty years old (185). His white shirt and black coat are both unclean, and he "smells like something [that] isn't just alcohol" (185). According to Butch, it's ether. Doctors used ether as an anesthetic, but it was also ab-used as an addictive drug. For all his shortcomings, the narrative treats this doctor - and his 35-year-old memory of a visit to a Memphis brothel - kindly.