The tapeworm trap
In September 1856 a physician called J. Gotham wrote to an American journal, the Medical and Surgical Reporter, with news […]
Bewildering research, Unusual treatments
Bewildering research
Bewildering research
The self-opening coffin
In 1875 a physician from New York, Samuel Ward Francis, published a book called Curious Facts, Concerning Man and Nature.
Snake poo salesman
In 1862 an Edinburgh-trained physician, Dr James Hastings, published a slim volume about the treatment of tuberculosis and other diseases
Bewildering research
Sugar is good for your teeth
With debate raging about the virtues (or otherwise) of eating a low-fat diet, it was interesting to come across this
Bewildering research
The glow-in-the-dark Easter feast
An essay by Dr Robert Graves of Dublin, published in The London Medical and Surgical Journal in 1835, contains this
Bewildering research
Leeches for everybody
Most people are aware that leeches used to play a major part in medicine: a convenient way of taking a
Bewildering research, Horrifying operations, Remarkable recoveries
Putting a patient to sleep (without anaesthetic)
Have you ever wondered how patients in the era before anaesthetics were persuaded to undergo excruciatingly painful operations? The answer
Don’t mess with an electric eel
Few creatures have provided such enduring fascination to the medical profession as the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus), a creature capable
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,
Bewildering research, Unusual treatments
Saliva and crow’s vomit
The University of Pavia in northern Italy is one of the oldest in the world, founded in 1361. It has