"He has even been known to say vain
things about ]b]Laennec, and to refer to the stethoscope
as "a new-fangled French toy." He carries one in his
hat out of deference to the expectations of his
patients, but he is very hard of hearing, so that it
makes little difference whether he uses it or not."

Reminds me of my father's story about a professor of medicine, who was very deaf, but tried to conceal it. From his considerable clinical experience, he said he heard cardiac murmurs none of his students could. So the secretly
plugged his stethoscope with beeswax, and he kept on describing murmurs. Quod erat demonstrandum.