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
Hidden dangers
Cycling will give you heart disease
March 1895, and in the pages of The Lancet, Dr George Herschell is worried. Very worried. Cycling, rationally pursued, is
Unusual treatments
Wine, the great healer
Tetanus is a bacterial infection usually contracted through a skin wound – in the days before a vaccine was widely
Horrifying operations
Anaesthesia for lions (and bears)
The Canada Medical Journal for 1870 has news from the Raj: We mentioned the other day the severe injury sustained by one of
Bewildering research
The guillotine – life after death?
In 1799, as the French Revolution entered its final phase and Napoleon prepared to seize power, European medics engaged in
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
Notable deaths, Unfortunate predicaments
Breaking news: swallowing knives is bad for you
Compulsive swallowers have always featured heavily in medical literature. There are numerous cases in 19th-century journals – but most of
Unusual treatments
The petrol cocktail: a cure for cholera
On September 22nd 1846, Dr James Tunstall of Bath wrote to Sir Charles Napier, the Governor of Scinde (then part
Bewildering research, Unusual treatments
Smoking’s good for you – as long as you’re a priest
The editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal surely had no idea of the furore that he was provoking