Death by cold water
It used to be thought dangerous to give a hot horse cold water; when I first heard this canard as […]
Mysterious illnesses
Mysterious illnesses
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
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
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;
The winged ones: insects in the stomach
In 1824 the Transactions of the Association of Fellows and Licentiates of the King and Queen’s College of Physicians in
Mysterious illnesses
The perpetual patient
In 1872 a case reported in The Lancet made quite a stir in the international journals. For once, it concerned
Mysterious illnesses
The human pincushion
This extraordinary tale appeared in The Medico-Chirurgical Review in 1825: Rachel Hertz had lived in the enjoyment of good health up
Mysterious illnesses
The woman who could smell with her feet
News of a curious case reaches London from France: Mademoiselle Melanie had enjoyed good health up to the age of
Mysterious illnesses, Unfortunate predicaments
Spiders in her eyes
A previous post about the boy who vomited millipedes proved surprisingly popular – so when I came across this tale of
Mysterious illnesses, Prodigies and monsters
Centipedes in your bacon
Some truly bizarre goings-on were reported at the Exeter meeting of the Provincial Surgical and Medical Association in 1842. A