Shot by a toasting fork
This is one of my favourite nineteenth-century cases, which I originally intended to include in my forthcoming book but which […]
Notable deaths
Remarkable recoveries
A bayonet through the head
In June 1809 a French military surgeon, M. Fardeau, read a paper at a meeting of the Société de Médecine
Horrifying operations
A high pain threshold
In 1878 an elderly surgeon from Birmingham, Dickinson Crompton, was persuaded to write a short article about his early career
Notable deaths
Killed by his false teeth
People who wear dentures sometimes lose them, as you might mislay a pair of glasses, but it’s rare to do
The venomous boot
Here’s a tall tale from 1856, published in The Medical Times and Gazette: Some interesting experiments were made at the
Horrifying operations, Unfortunate predicaments
Bunged up
Most of the injuries chronicled on this blog were caused by bad luck, and a few by misadventure; but here’s
Unusual treatments
Reeking from the jaw of the living animal
The 1843 volume of The Dublin Journal of Medical Science contains this gem from Mr Robert Twiss, a surgeon from
Mysterious illnesses
Pregnant with a toothbrush
In 1874 The Lancet printed this cautionary tale by Thomas Whiteside Hime, who had discovered the hard way that things
Unfortunate predicaments
The exploding scrotum
In February 1793 a small British expeditionary force under the command of the Duke of York landed at Hellevoetsluis in
Horrifying operations
A window in his chest
Occasionally a single operation is deemed so impressive that it goes down in history under the name of the surgeon