A case for Dr Coffin
The electric scalpel
An ‘unnatural propensity’ and its perils
Don’t try this at home
Lettuce, a Class A drug
Aleing all day, and oiling all night
Brained by a bull
Stay of execution?
The case of the luminous patients
Electrical anaesthesia
Lively and clean on the palate
Medicated chocolate? No thanks
The child with Bonaparte in his eyes
An exercise in futility
Sand, to be taken twice daily
The perils of toast
Hard to stomach
Heal thyself
Death by cold water
The bird and the bees
Roger ‘two urinals’ Clerk
The mystery of the poisonous cheese
Le hundred-up club
Nutmegs is the best spice for students
The supernumerary leg
Monsieur Mangetout
Put a bandage on it
The black sheep
Poisoning pooches in the park
Portrait of a quack
Medical qualifications: optional
Chess and phrenology
Do no harm – unless it’s a criminal
A 19th-century doctor’s guide to etiquette
The rocket man
The cod-liver oil binge
Worms on the pillow
Opium – perfect for babies
All flesh is grass
Fingers crossed
All’s well that ends well
It makes you go blind, you know
Mummies and rhubarb
Adventures in digestion
The dreadful mortification
The winged ones: insects in the stomach
Leeches: for external and internal use
The perpetual patient
Nil by mouth
Brain of hare and turd of dog
Wrapped in a dead sheep
Medicated cigarettes: the new panacea
The human pincushion
Cycling will give you heart disease
Wine, the great healer
The guillotine – life after death?
The woman who could smell with her feet
Spiders in her eyes
Breaking news: swallowing knives is bad for you
The petrol cocktail: a cure for cholera
Smoking’s good for you – as long as you’re a priest
Why children should never wear hats
Busted! A medical plagiarist exposed
A dissertation on pus
Centipedes in your bacon
Catching a disease through an electric wire
In event of drowning, blow smoke up bottom
The Swiss disease
Death of a 152-year-old (or was he?)
The combustible countess
At least it got rid of the tapeworm…
A bad use for good wine
Half man, half snake
Difficulty getting it down
A bracing cure for madness
Mercury snuff
“Catch anything, darling?” “Only Granny”
On leeches, and how to catch them
John Keats: Ode to a Black Eye
The hearing-aid chair
Your cooker will give you typhoid
The woman who could read with her stomach
A bit of a headache
Heart disease? Have you tried using a swing?
The man who fought a duel in his sleep
Give that man a medal
Hemlock and millipedes
The worm: a horror story
Thank you for publishing this excellent and fascinating blog.
Many of us, myself included, often long for the “good old days”. Here are many examples of certain unpleasant shortcomings of medical practice in those times.
Thank you! Glad you’re enjoying it.
Thank you so much for the time you have put into making this type of infomation readable and easy to access.
“Back in the day” they sure did not have the luxuries we now have: pain killers, ICU and the knowledge etc.
As a person who has experienced accidents equal to several you have mentioned (horse related, some things do not change), I am especially grateful for our modern advances.
Thank you for all you do. The website was great fun while healing. Keep up the good works.
I am hoping all is going well in your neighborhood. I was wondering if it is possible that you have ever come across some situations in your researches, similar as to what we are dealing with now but smaller, that had been documented and hopefully on a positive note, “contained”?