The man who ate chalk
In November 1774 the following extraordinary case was presented to the French Academy of Surgery, and subsequently reported in Paul […]
Mysterious illnesses
Mysterious illnesses
Mysterious illnesses
A ludicrous mistake
Every experienced midwife will have a story about the patient who didn’t even realise she was pregnant until she went
Mysterious illnesses
More astonishing than true
Some stories are just too good to be true. This astonishing tale appeared in the Medical and Surgical Reporter in 1867,
Mysterious illnesses
The woman whose skin turned blue
An alarming case was revealed to a meeting of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London in November 1815, and
Dead or alive at will
In 1733 a book about depression and mental health was published in Dublin: The English Malady; or, A Treatise of
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
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
Mysterious illnesses
The owl-eyed girl
Mr J.S. Webster, a surgeon from East Dereham, wrote to the London Medical Journal in 1787 to pass on an
Mysterious illnesses
The worst job in the world?
Occupational diseases are those associated with a particular profession. The first to be identified was a type of scrotal tumour
Bewildering research, Mysterious illnesses
The case of the luminous patients
In June 1842 the Provincial Medical Journal devoted no less than ten pages to a long essay by the physician