The turpentine vapour bath
The year is 1874, and American medics are deeply concerned about the activities of quacks and unlicensed doctors who are […]
Unusual treatments
Unfortunate predicaments
The dislocated eyeball
Here’s a wince-inducing case published in the Dublin Medical Press in 1853, and contributed by a Dr Jameson: Peter Nowlan, aged
Bewildering research
The self-opening coffin
In 1875 a physician from New York, Samuel Ward Francis, published a book called Curious Facts, Concerning Man and Nature.
Horrifying operations
The punctured bowel
An edition of The Retrospect of Practical Medicine and Surgery from 1872 contains this remarkable tale, narrated by a London
Prodigies and monsters, Unfortunate predicaments
The tooth ant
In June 1873 a respectable American medical journal, The Clinic, published a ‘news in brief’ story which had been culled
Unusual treatments
Bled dry
Most visitors to this blog will probably be aware that for centuries bloodletting played a central role in Western medicine.
Mysterious illnesses, Unusual treatments
Quails and beer
Invalid diets could be unusual in the nineteenth century – and often included regular doses of strong liquor. But even
Horrifying operations, Remarkable recoveries
Better late than never
Today’s medical journals pride themselves on their topicality, publishing the latest research as soon as it’s available – but those
Mysterious illnesses, Notable deaths
The man with a snake in his heart
I was fascinated to stumble across this seventeenth-century autopsy report in an old edition of the British Medical Journal. It
Unfortunate predicaments
Firearm fires forearm
Today’s medical dispatch comes from St George’s Hospital in London, and was reported to The Lancet in 1850: A wound