A fatal nose job
This dramatic headline from an early edition of The Lancet caught my eye: It’s a great illustration of the changing […]
Horrifying operations
Medical shenanigans
The bird and the bees
In August 1868 the British Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting in Norwich. One of the
Medical shenanigans
Roger ‘two urinals’ Clerk
In 1868 the Corporation of London published a slim volume entitled Memorials of London and London Life in the Thirteenth,
Mysterious illnesses
The mystery of the poisonous cheese
In 1835 the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal published a series of articles about cheese. For several months New England
Bewildering research
Le hundred-up club
In August 1895 the Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph reported the results of an unusual survey: A census of
Bewildering research
Nutmegs is the best spice for students
In 1584 the Tudor physician Thomas Cogan published The Haven of Health, a guide to maintaining health primarily aimed at
Prodigies and monsters
The supernumerary leg
Before the advent of antenatal screening, birth abnormalities were far commoner than they are today. Early medical journals had a
Prodigies and monsters
Monsieur Mangetout
Medical journals usually pride themselves on presenting cutting-edge research, but in 1851 The Medical Examiner reported a case which was
Unusual treatments
Put a bandage on it
The treatment of venereal disease was one of the main functions of the medical profession from the Middle Ages until
The black sheep
In the days before the NHS, when physicians charged patients for their services, there was an unspoken agreement that members