Somewhat silly in his manner
Fans of nominative determination – the idea that a person’s name can have a bearing on their choice of career […]
Unfortunate predicaments
All hail the strawberry
A number of fruits and vegetables which are part of our regular diet were more prized in past centuries for
Horrifying operations, Remarkable recoveries
The man with the rubber jaw
Maxillofacial surgeons are some of the most ridiculously overqualified people on the planet. In the UK it is compulsory for
The case of the missing pen
You know those stories about old soldiers who suddenly develop mysterious back pain in their eighties, and discover that it’s caused by
The perforated private
In 1777 a local surgeon wrote to the Medical and Philosophical Commentaries to pass on a story he had heard
Bewildering research
Is that it?
In 1842 a Scottish doctor, Edward Binns, published a fat volume under the snappy title The Anatomy of Sleep; or,
Nothing to worry about
In 1833 the London Medical and Surgical Journal caused a bit of a stink with an article which was given
Mysterious illnesses
Struck dumb
Today’s likely tale comes from the Canada Medical Journal, where it appeared in 1870. Dr Chagnon from the wonderfully-named St Pie in
Horrifying operations, Unusual treatments
Bleeding you well
More from Lorenz Heister’s surgical textbook Chirurgie, published in 1718, on which I have written before. The practice of bloodletting,
Hidden dangers, Unusual treatments
In praise of temperance
It seems appropriate on a Friday to share this warning about the dangers of binge drinking, from William Buchan’s Domestic