At least it got rid of the tapeworm…
On the 14th of May, 1867, Dr Jewett of Summit County, Ohio, was called to see Joel Lenn, 27, a […]
Unfortunate predicaments
Health
A bad use for good wine
This promising headline appeared in an issue of the Philosophical Transactions published in 1755. ‘Success’ is an interesting choice of
Unusual treatments
On leeches, and how to catch them
Leeches were one of the most commonly prescribed medical treatments until the late nineteenth century. They were a convenient way of
The hearing-aid chair
John Harrison Curtis was a prominent nineteenth-century specialist in diseases of the eyes and ears who became an intimate of
Your cooker will give you typhoid
There’s a menace lurking in your kitchen. From The Lancet, 1868: When the attention of the Academy of Sciences of
The woman who could read with her stomach
Catalepsy is a strange condition in which the patient keeps a fixed, rigid posture, even one which looks abnormal and
Unfortunate predicaments, Unusual treatments
A bit of a headache
One of the things that all first-aiders should know is that blades or other penetrating objects should never be removed from
Unusual treatments
Heart disease? Have you tried using a swing?
We’ve already established that skipping ropes should be avoided at all costs, but it’s not all bad news for those who
Unfortunate predicaments
The man who fought a duel in his sleep
If you’ve ever shared a house with a habitual sleepwalker, you may be familiar with the strange experience of having
Unfortunate predicaments
Give that man a medal
On June 29th 1865 Jacques Roellinger, a private in ‘B’ Company of the New York Volunteers, asked to be released