Irritating the genitals by various means
One of the most popular stories on this blog is that of the nineteenth-century Frenchman who cut his own penis […]
Notable deaths, Unfortunate predicaments
Horrifying operations
Finish what you started
In 1847, at a meeting of the Paris Medical Society, Dr Jean-Baptiste Pigné gave a short talk about cancer. Pigné
Horrifying operations
Extraordinary and probably unique
This blog has previously included a few cases in which a patient performed surgery on their own body. One of
Hidden dangers, Horrifying operations
A curious surgical case
In 1846 John Kyle, a surgeon from the Ohio village of Cedarville, submitted the following case report to The Western
She swallowed a mouse
In 1833 one Dr Heymann, a doctor from the Westphalian town of Oldendorf, submitted a really rather extraordinary case to
Mysterious illnesses
An extraordinary quantity of worms
In 1801 a contingent of 20,000 soldiers commanded by General Charles Leclerc, the brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonaparte, set sail for
Mysterious illnesses
Revealed: the cure for hiccups
A striking report* was published in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal in 1845 by Dr George Dexter, a physician
Horrifying operations, Remarkable recoveries
More than common danger
Sir Astley Cooper was the best known, and best paid, surgeon in early nineteenth-century London. He was a great innovator
Mysterious illnesses, Notable deaths
The trumpeter and the walking stick
In is not unheard of for a soldier to be killed as the result of a swordfight. But it is
Remarkable recoveries
The dislocated neck
This remarkable story was told in a French publication, the Journal Complémentaire du Dictionnaire des Sciences Médicales, in 1830. The