The child with Bonaparte in his eyes
At least twice a year one or other of the newspapers prints a story about one of those mysterious apparitions […]
Prodigies and monsters
September 2015
Dodgy predictions
An exercise in futility
This blog usually deals with medical matters; but I couldn’t resist reproducing this article from the first number of the
Unusual treatments
Sand, to be taken twice daily
The Annals of Medicine for 1799 contains a letter from a Dr Guthrie, an Scottish physician then working in St
Hidden dangers
The perils of toast
A cautionary tale from the Medical Facts and Observations, published in 1795: On Tuesday, the 25th of March last, a
Bewildering research, Medical shenanigans
Hard to stomach
In 1823 The Lancet’s regular summary of goings-on at the London hospitals contained this interesting report of an early public
Unusual treatments
Heal thyself
A curious book of remedies was published in London in 1700, entitled Dr. Lower’s, and several other Eminent Physicians, Receipts,
Mysterious illnesses
Death by cold water
It used to be thought dangerous to give a hot horse cold water; when I first heard this canard as
Horrifying operations
A fatal nose job
This dramatic headline from an early edition of The Lancet caught my eye: It’s a great illustration of the changing
Medical shenanigans
The bird and the bees
In August 1868 the British Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting in Norwich. One of the
Medical shenanigans
Roger ‘two urinals’ Clerk
In 1868 the Corporation of London published a slim volume entitled Memorials of London and London Life in the Thirteenth,