A miraculous recovery today, taken from the pages of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. This report was published in 1708 and, unusually, written by the patient, himself a doctor. Dr Robert Fielding practised in Gloucester, and during the Civil War was a prominent Royalist. On September 20th 1643 he fought in the First Battle of Newbury, … Read more
Author: Thomas Morris
The dreadful opening
In 1807 the Philadelphia Medical Museum was sent an extraordinary case report by a local doctor who had been ‘sent it by a friend’. Neither he nor anybody else appeared to know who had written the report, so its authenticity is doubtful – but the events it describes were certainly worth reproducing:
In the evening of the 26th of September, … Read more
How to treat hay fever?
This is hay fever season (if you’re reading this in the northern hemisphere, at least) – the time of year when airborne pollen makes life a misery for anybody unlucky enough to be allergic to the stuff. The condition is incurable, but a range of drugs including antihistamines can reduce the symptoms significantly. No such luck in the nineteenth century, … Read more
The fire-proof man
In 1828 The Lancet reported the antics of a person they called ‘the fire-proof man’, a Cuban with extraordinary abilities:
The French medical journal, La Clinique, gives an account of the experiments of M. Martinez, the fire-proof man, as he is called, who is now one of the principal objects of attraction at Paris. M. Martinez is not, like the … Read more
Boiling water and birch twigs
In 1843 a Dr T.O. Ward wrote to the London Medical Gazette on the subject of pain. A previous correspondent had suggested that victims of asphyxiation felt nothing and were insensible to pain. Dr Ward begged to differ, drawing on his own childhood as evidence:
When a boy, I was very fond of making boyish experiments on my powers of … Read more
A rotten trick
Here’s a cracking ‘news in brief’ item from an 1851 edition of The Lancet:
A few days back a curious case occurred at a roadside inn, known by the name of the “Rummer”, a few miles from Norwich.
Stoke Cross, to be precise. The Rummer Inn was a venerable watering hole which finally closed in 1957. If it helps … Read more
Plum stone colick
In 1781 an eminent Scottish doctor, Thomas Simson, reported this unusual case in the pages of the Medical Museum:
A girl about twelve years of age, who had been long troubled with colick pains, was last year under my management. She complained of pains fixed in one part about two inches below the short ribs of the left side, … Read more
Mass delusions
An article published in The Lancet in 1848 contains a remarkable and early example of the power of the placebo effect. James Turnbull, a doctor at the Liverpool Northern Hospital, wrote an article about the history and effects of scurvy, the condition caused by a lack of vitamin C, for many centuries the scourge of sailors. It includes this gem:… Read more
Champagne ad libitum
Morning sickness is a common affliction which affects the majority of pregnant women. A few suffer a far more debilitating form known as hyperemesis gravidarum, in which vomiting is so severe that dehydration and weight loss can occur. The Duchess of Cambridge required hospital treatment for the complication while pregnant with Prince George.
In September 1842 Charles Meigs, Professor … Read more
A head of wheat in the bladder
In December 1871 Dr B. B. Leonard, a general practitioner from West Liberty, Ohio, was summoned to examine ‘J.J.’, a 41-year-old farm worker from a neighbouring village. This is what he subsequently reported to the Cincinnati Lancet and Observer:
On the 3rd of July, Mr. J was binding wheat in the field, and when about half way through his … Read more