It seems appropriate on a Friday to share this warning about the dangers of binge drinking, from William Buchan’s Domestic Medicine. Published in 1808, and aimed at the patient rather than the doctor, this book offers advice on treating the commonest ailments, as well as such matters as clothing, diet and personal hygiene.
Dr Buchan was evidently no fan … Read more
HMS Grampus, a battleship launched in 1802, ended her days as a hospital ship moored off Greenwich. Between 1816 and 1831, when she was replaced by another retired naval ship – HMS Dreadnought – a steady stream of naval patients was treated on board. In 1821 the ship was taken over by the Seamen’s Hospital Society, making HMS Grampus … Read more
Scarification is a medical practice which was popular until the early nineteenth century and which thankfully has now been consigned to the history books (and blogs). In concept similar to – but less dramatic than – bleeding, it entailed using a rough implement or blade to make abrasions on the surface of the body. In theory it allowed the evacuation … Read more
Mr J.S. Webster, a surgeon from East Dereham, wrote to the London Medical Journal in 1787 to pass on an unusual case he had encountered in his practice among the poor and needy of Norfolk.
Helen Bunnett, or, as she is commonly called, the owl-eyed girl, is thirteen years old, of a fair complexion, with brown hair, and has … Read more
Early nineteenth-century doctors had some funny ideas about treating infectious disease. Before the discovery of microbes, next to nothing was known about what caused infections, or how to cure them. For many years, physicians believed that stimulating the outer surfaces of the body would have an effect. Several methods of doing so were employed: cupping, in which partially-evacuated glasses were … Read more
Last week I revealed the dangers of working in the mirror manufacturing trade in 19th-century Bohemia. Here’s another tale of occupational peril, published in The Western Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences in 1833.
Mr. J., about twelve weeks since, while standing near the end of the arbor of a heavy grindstone revolving rapidly by water power, … Read more
Occupational diseases are those associated with a particular profession. The first to be identified was a type of scrotal tumour which disproportionately affected chimney-sweeps: the connection was made in 1775 by Percivall Pott.
There are many well-known examples: miners developing the lung disease silicosis; phossy jaw, a disease suffered by match-makers, the result of exposure to phosphorus; and … Read more
In the nineteenth century medical attention was a luxury which had to be paid for, and which not all could afford. What, then, would you do if you were living in abject poverty and developed a serious illness? Many people put their faith in traditional remedies or prayer; a few took matters into their own hands.
Here’s a tale from … Read more
The University of Pavia in northern Italy is one of the oldest in the world, founded in 1361. It has a distinguished history of experimental scientific research: Alessandro Volta, the pioneer of electrochemistry, was professor there for forty years beginning in 1779.
While Volta was working on his voltaic pile – the first electric battery – his colleagues in the … Read more
The remarkable headline above graced the pages of the American Journal of the Medical Sciences in April 1849. In case you’re wondering, the two injuries are not related: the author just thought he’d put his two most spectacular cases in the same article.
Dr W.S.W Ruschenberger, surgeon to the US Navy, writes:
While recently on a visit to Canton, I … Read more
