The self-performed caesarian
A jaw-dropping case was reported in The New York Medical and Physical Journal in 1823, one in which a patient […]
Horrifying operations
Unfortunate predicaments
Worms on the pillow
A peculiar case was reported to readers of The Lancet in 1856 by Dr Jonathan Green, the proprietor of a
Unusual treatments
Opium – perfect for babies
In 1849 Mrs Charlotte Winslow of Bangor in Maine invented a medicinal product for children which was as successful in
Mysterious illnesses, Remarkable recoveries
All flesh is grass
I imagine that most doctors have had to treat at least one patient who has been unlucky or stupid enough
Remarkable recoveries
Fingers crossed
A short but – to me – fascinating article from the Medico-Chirurgical Review. Surgeons are now quite adept at reattaching fingers,
Unfortunate predicaments
All’s well that ends well
A grisly tale, but one with a happy ending: John Nedham wrote to the Philosophical Transactions in 1756 with news
Hidden dangers
It makes you go blind, you know
Nineteenth-century medical journals were much preoccupied with the sin of self-harm. One authority on mental illnesses even suggested that masturbation
Unusual treatments
Mummies and rhubarb
I recently wrote about the horrifying animal remedies which one could buy in a London apothecary’s shop in the seventeenth century.
Bewildering research
Adventures in digestion
In the 1820s a young Canadian, Alexis St Martin, was shot in the stomach by a musket-ball. He recovered from the
Mysterious illnesses
The dreadful mortification
A case published in The Medical Museum of 1781 is a reminder of a world we have gratefully left behind;