Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Disease, Medical Treatment

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Animal Magnetism, Mesmerism, Government, Political Economy

    Responds to a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of Charles Lafontaine Lafontaine, Charles (fl. 1847–66) RLIN
Close   View the register entry >>, who mesmerised a boy and deprived him of all sensation. Suspects that somebody has mesmerised the Poor Law Commission Poor Law Commission
Close   View the register entry >> because they show a 'total want of feeling'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Exam Paper, Spoof

Subjects:

Universities, Education, Medical Practitioners, Anatomy, Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Animal Behaviour, Periodicals, Pharmaceuticals

Institutions mentioned:

Society of Apothecaries—Apothecaries' Hall, Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
Close   View the register entry >> Surrey Zoological Gardens Surrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>

Publications cited:

Bell 1833 Bell, Charles 1833. The Hand: Its Mechanism and Vital Endowments as Evincing Design, London: Richard Phillips
Close   View the register entry >>

    Greets the University of London's University of London
Close   View the register entry >> first examination for the Bachelor of Medicine degree. Thinks the university will now acquire all the other attributes of colleges in the University of Oxford University of Oxford
Close   View the register entry >> and the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >>, including steeple-chases in the vicinity of the Birmingham railway. Criticising the press for not 'more explicitly defining the questions proposed for the examinations', Punch presents 'an exact copy of the questions' to illustrate the high position that 'medical knowledge has attained in the country'. The examination questions draw on students' knowledge of the more trivial aspects of medical training. For instance, students are asked to compare the circulation of the blood and that of the Lancet Lancet (1823–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> and Medical Gazette London Medical Gazette (1827–51) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> in the hospitals, to say which is the most powerful narcotic: 'opium, henbane, or a lecture upon practice of physic', and to identify the 'most liberal pawnbrokers in the neighbourhood of Guy's Guy's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >> and Bartholomew's St Bartholomew's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Politics, Surgery, Hospitals

    Announces that Charles L W Sibthorp Sibthorp, Charles de Laet Waldo (1783–1855) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> has 'submitted to an unprecedented and wonderfully successful operation' to amputate his ears which were becoming severely elongated.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Politics, Physical Geography

Genre:

Drama, Satire; Song, Satire

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Charlatanry, Government, Pharmaceuticals, Politics, Health

    The dramatis personae include 'Rhubarb Pill' a 'travelling doctor' played by the Prime Minister Robert Peel Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Italicised parts of Pill's lines are apparently appropriated from his political speeches. Pill boasts that as the 'professor of sophistry and doctorer of laws' he has come amongst his 'friends and neighbours' with 'old and infallible remedies and restoratives'. Despite the opposition of the 'Cabinet of Physicians', he promises to 'restore the constitution', free of charge. The 'Countryman', played by John Bull, asks Pill to cure his wife. Pill insists that he must direct his own 'administration' and see Lord John Russell's Russell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> '"purge" thrown out of the window'. Concludes with Pill singing a song describing himself as a 'political quack' and his attempts to restore to health a nation rendered 'rather sickly' by Russell.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Phrenology, Government, Human Development

    Responds to George Combe's Combe, George (1788–1858) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> claim that 'in less than a hundred years' public affairs will be run by the 'rules of phrenology'. Proposes ways in which the 'science ought to be applied'. Thinks ministers of state should be rejected if they have the slightest 'bump of benevolence', royal speech-makers should possess the largest bumps of 'secretiveness', and that Chancellors of the Exchequer with a well-developed faculty of 'number' will be reliable. Expresses concern that the practice might be abused 'by parties bumping their own heads and raising tumours for the sake of obtaining credit for different qualities'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Societies, Chemistry, Lecturing

    The author's memories of the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>, include 'a day on the water', 'a night at the play-house', 'a morning assemblage of elegant ladies', a 'chemical lecture on lemon and kalis', 'a magnificent dinner', 'lots of wine' and 'broken glasses'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Instruments, Heat, Measurement, Invention, Physics

    Satirical account of the thermometer, its construction, use, etymology, and history. Notes that the instrument is useful for seeing 'how fast a man's blood boils' and that the derivation of its name has caused 'warm discussion'. Traces the 'history' of the instrument from Mercury to Francis Bacon (1st Viscount St Alban) Bacon, Francis, 1st Viscount St Alban (1561–1626) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, Isaac Newton Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1727) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Robinson Crusoe, Daniel G Fahrenheit Fahrenheit, Daniel Gabriel (1686-1736) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Joseph-Nicolas Delisle Delisle, Joseph-Nicolas (1688–1768) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Anders Celsius Celsius, Anders (1701–44) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Mr Sex Sex, Mr (fl. 1841) PU1/1/5/6
Close   View the register entry >>, Réné-Antoine F de Réaumur Réaumur, René-Antoine Ferchault de (1683–1757) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> and Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) Thompson, Sir Benjamin, Count von Rumford (1753–1814) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Notes that Fahrenheit's scale was adopted in England because it was 'founded on a mistake', that De Isle's improvements to the thermometer were so important that they were 'never attended to', and that Mr Sex's 'differential thermometer has given rise to considerably more than a half-dozen opinions'. Chastises the 'scientific world' for making the thermometer too complex and of limited use. Announces that Punch has invented a new thermometer that can be understood by 'everybody' and with a temperature scale that is correlated with features of daily life associated with heat—for example, 'iced bath' and 'coat off'.

Genre:

Illustration, Satire

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J L, pseud.  [John Leech] Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Animal Magnetism, Mesmerism, Quackery, Medical Treatment, Politics, Government

    Depicts Robert Peel Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> as 'Sir Rhubarb Pill', a quack doctor, mesmerising a lion sitting in his throne. On a table behind Pill sits a 'Grand Electric Politico Battery' powered by cells bearing such names as 'Stanley' Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> (the Colonial Secretary), 'Lyndhurst' Copley, John Singleton, the younger, 1st Baron Lyndhurst (1772–1863) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> (the Lord Chancellor), 'New Taxes', and the 'Pension List' —some of the statesmen and the political subjects which Peel had to grapple with on taking office. The ghostly form of the senior Tory statesman, Arthur Wellesley (1st Duke of Wellington) Wellesley, Arthur, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, looks on in the background.

Genre:

News-Digest, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy

    Remarks that news dispatches sent by the 'electro-galvanic communication' are carried so fast that they are received 'even before they are written'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Domestic Economy, Encyclopaedias, Popularization

    Reinforces its purpose to 'convey so-called "information" to the vulgar in articles written by those who 'will work cheaply' and 'know but little of what they are writing about'. Claims that the article is written by a 'gentleman' who will 'mystify a few common-place subjects, in the style of certain articles in the Penny Cyclopaedia [Long, George], ed. 1833–43. Penny Cyclopaedia for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 27 vols, London: Charles Knight
Close   View the register entry >>. Presents readers with 'Punch's Guide to Service; or, The Housemaid's Best Friend. Chapter 1. On the Processes and Rationale of Lighting Fires', which describes the art of building and igniting fires in ludicrously technical detail.

Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Dialogue, Drollery, Caricature

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Invention, Charlatanry, Government, Politics, Pneumatics

    The Prime Minister Robert Peel Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> presents himself to the 'gullible public' as 'Sir Rhubarb Pill, M.D. and L.S.D. [i.e. pounds, shillings, pence], Professor of Political Chemistry and Conservative Medicine to the Carlton Club'. His other distinctions include being the inventor of the 'People's Patent Sliding Stomach-pump' and the 'new Royal extract of Toryism'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Light, Instruments, Photography

Genre:

News-Digest, Spoof

Subjects:

Societies, Medical Treatment, Mesmerism, Surgery, Medical Practitioners, Disease

    Describes how medical papers to be presented at the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >> were lost and found their way into Punch's hands. The spoof papers include Dr Splitnerve's case of a highly 'magnetic' young man, Dr Mortar's cure of an excessive case of squinting, Dr Sexton's evidence supporting his claim that influenza is 'a disease of convenience', and Professor Wynne Slow on the 'Philosophy of Death'.

Genre:

Serial—Introduction, Drollery; Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Societies, Education, Invention

People mentioned:

Isaac Newton Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1727) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Institutions mentioned:

British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>

    Explains how 'a few scientific labourers' decided to deliver lectures during weekly meetings 'at one another's cottages'. Papers presented at the society's first meeting concern such subjects as the 'Advantage of an Air-gun over a Fowling-piece, in bringing down pheasants without a noise', and the 'Value of Cheap Literature, and Intrinsic Worth (by weight) of the various Publications of the Society for the Confusion of Useless Knowledge'. Describes the society's rising fortunes, including its new library and museum. Notes the society's Shepperton expedition on board punts. Claims the society intends to 'take a high place [...] in the scientific transactions of the country' and notes that the subject for the 'Prize Essay' will be 'the possibility of totally obliterating the black stamp on the post-office's Queen's heads, so as to render them serviceable a second time'.

Genre:

Serial—Introduction, Drollery; Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Societies, Education, Mental Illness, Collecting, Amateurism

    Disappointed with the results of the 'public examination of the juvenile members' of the society. The 'infant philosophers' were required to answer such questions as 'the distance, in miles, from the Hanwell Lunatic Asylum County Lunatic Asylum, Hanwell
Close   View the register entry >> to the Tuesday in Easter week'. Reports the 'creditable progress' of the 'School of Design and Drawing' including one student's controversial design for a monument to Horatio Nelson (Viscount Nelson) Nelson, Horatio, Viscount Nelson (1758–1805) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Reports various additions to the society's museum including 'A small lizard, caught in Regent's Park, preserved in gin-and-water, in a soda-water bottle, and denominated by the librarian "a heffut"'. Notes various library acquisitions including 'bound copy of Sermons preached at Hookham-cum-Snivey Church, by the Reverend Peter Twaddle'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Natural History, Nomenclature, Plenitude, Animal Behaviour

    Defines 'natural history' as the history of 'naturals' such as human species, and of 'simples' such as herbs. Insists that moving from the pine to the hautboy, the gnat to the elephant, and from Lord John Russell Russell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> to William Whewell Whewell, William (1794–1866) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> we are reminded of the 'endless variety of all sorts of everything' in nature. Notes that species are given Latin names to make knowledge of natural history 'as difficult of acquirement as possible to everybody'. Dwells on the 'physical structure and peculiarities', 'habits, reproduction, and food', and 'geographical distribution' of one species—the barber of 'homo emollientissimus'.

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism, Charlatanry

    Charles Lafontaine Lafontaine, Charles (fl. 1847–66) RLIN
Close   View the register entry >> seeks 'a few fine able-bodied young men' who won't flinch when pins are driven into their legs, and who can 'stare out an ignited lucifer without winking'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery, Caricature

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Charlatanry, Government, Politics

    Criticises the Prime Minister Robert Peel's Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> support of the Poor Law and remedy for saving the patient 'labouring under a consumption' from 'a trip across the Styx'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism, Government, Charlatanry, Politics, Electricity, Quackery, Medical Treatment

    Reports on a hirsute London practitioner of animal magnetism whose attempts to deprive his patients of their senses proved difficult because they 'left all the sense they possess at home'. Suggests, in view of his ability to send politicians to sleep and to stupefy John Bull, that the Prime Minister Robert Peel Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> is the 'Charles Lafontaine Lafontaine, Charles (fl. 1847–66) RLIN
Close   View the register entry >> of political mesmerism'. Compares Lafontaine's tactics to those of Peel. For example, 'one resorts to electrics, the other to election tricks'.

Genre:

Essay, Satire, Caricature

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners, Government, Charlatanry, Quackery, Politics

    'Dr' Peel, a representation of the Prime Minister Robert Peel Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> as a 'quacksalver', is asked to cure a horse. Notes that Peel refused to use his strange medicines on his 'patient' (the allegorical figure of Britain, John Bull) until he was paid a fee. Peel will not write Bull a prescription until he has studied the diseases and the 'whole Materia Medica'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Natural History, Societies, Collecting, Mapping

    Concerns the findings of a 'survey of the coast between Arundel-stairs and Hungerford-market pier'. Notes the discovery of 'a large number of curious specimens in natural history' which it viewed at the 'Stangate-and-Millbank-both-sides-of-the-water-united-for-the-advancement-of-Science-Association' (an allusion to the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>). Specimens include the 'shells of the native oyster' (which are to be discussed at the spoof Hookham-cum-Snivey Institution) and a 'skeleton of some unknown animal'.

Genre:

Proceedings, Spoof

Subjects:

Geology, Palaeontology, Societies

    Describes a controversy at the spoof Geological Society of Hookham-cum-Snivey over whether the local soil is 'crustaceous' or carboniferous. Supporters of the former point to bread crusts found in the soil while supporters of the latter position note the 'regular strata of undoubted cinders'. Notes how the opening of a local sewer promised to resolve the dispute but the 'hard substance' found in the sewer caused confusion and a physical struggle between those concerned. Notes Mr Grubemup's observations of the soil and fossils under the milestone in Kensington Road.

Genre:

Serial—Essay, Drollery; Lecture, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Physiology, Education, Universities

    Seeks to portray the 'propensities' of University of London University of London
Close   View the register entry >> medical students. Outlines course to students and notes the various 'M's' who have written on physiology including François Magendie Magendie, François (1783–1855) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Johannes P Müller Müller, Johannes Peter (1801–58) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Herbert Mayo Mayo, Herbert (1796–1852) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, and John G Millingen Millingen, John Gideon (1782–1862) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Invites students to ignore their normal studies and to 'demonstrate' theories 'connected with the human anatomy' in a jovial manner.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Natural History, Publishing, Government, Politics

    Announces several works in natural history in which the author and/or contents are satirically related to the title of the work. For example, 'Humming Birds' is described as a work containing a 'Memoir and Portraits of Robert Peel Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> [the Prime Minister], Lord Stanley Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> [the Colonial Secretary], and Lord Aberdeen Gordon, George Hamilton-, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (1784–1860) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> [the Foreign Secretary]'.

Genre:

Essay, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Mathematics, Politics, Government

    Putatively by the statesman Henry J Temple (3rd Viscount Palmerston) Temple, Henry John, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, this guide to 'the best mode of getting a place for your relations' is a list of definitions of terms used in politics, all of which are parodies of geometrical propositions. For example, 'a line in politics is interest without principle' and 'an obtuse angle is that in which the inclination is evidently to the Treasury Treasury
Close   View the register entry >>'.

Genre:

Illustration, Caricature

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

W N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Politics, Government

    Depicts the Prime Minister Robert Peel Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> as the medical practitioner in Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de (1547–1616) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> Don Quixote Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de 1605–16. El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha, 2 vols, Valencia: P. P. Mey
Close   View the register entry >> who refuses Sancho Bull the luxuries of 'cheap bread' and 'exchequer bills'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Anatomy, Education, Hospitals, Universities, Pathology

    Describes the academic and social life of a medical student at the University of London University of London
Close   View the register entry >>. Aspects of his social life are linked with medical claims. For example, the author claims that the student abstains from drinking beer after being warned about the 'collywobbles' described in James Copland's Copland, James (1791–1870) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Medical Dictionary [Copland, James] 1832–58. A Dictionary of Practical Medicine, Comprising General Pathology, the Nature and Treatment of Diseases, Morbid Structures and the Disorders Especially Incidental to Climates, to the Sex and to the Different Epochs of Life, with Numerous Prescriptions, a Classification of Diseases, a Copious Bibliography, with References; and an Appendix of Approved Formulae, 3 vols, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts
Close   View the register entry >> and John Gregory's Gregory, John (1724–73) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Practice of Physic Gregory, John 1768–69. Lectures on the Practice of Physic, Edinburgh: J Balfour
Close   View the register entry >>. The student perceives the 'rich reward of watching the gradual progress of a fellow-creature to convalescence, and the insignificance of worldly gain compared with the pure treasures of pathological knowledge'. Takes the perspective of the student, Joseph Muff, who describes his fellow students as 'dissipated and irreligious'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Geology, Stratigraphy, Sociology, Class, Analogy, Human Species

    Likening social to geological strata, society is divided into 'three great strata, called High Life—Middle Life—and Low Life'. The article further divides society into the 'Superior Class', 'Transition Class', 'Metamorphic Class', and 'Primitive Formation'. Details characteristics of each class. For example, 'Superior Class', also labelled the 'St. James' Series', includes people 'wearing coronets' and those who are 'related to coronets'. The 'Transition Class', is subdivided into 'Russell-square group', including people 'who give dinners to the superior classes', and the 'Clapham group', which includes people who 'keep a shop "concern" and a one-horse shay, and go to Ramsgate for three weeks in the dog-days'. Notes that this latter stratum is 'characterised by its fossil remains', such as watches and snuff-boxes. The 'Primitive Formation' is subdivided into the 'Whitechapel group', and 'St Giles's Group', which consists of 'Tag-rag and bob-tail in varieties'.

Genre:

Diary, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Universities, Instruments, Lecturing, Medical Treatment, Instruments, Statistics

Institutions mentioned:

University of London University of London
Close   View the register entry >>

    Notes that within 'two months of the first winter session' the medical student has studied so hard that he's nothing but 'ink-stains and industry', a 'walking chronicle of pathological statistics', and imagines himself as an 'embryo Hunter Hunter, John (1728–93) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>'. Upholds the importance of the stethoscope and the benefits of using it on oneself.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery, Serial

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [3]

Subjects:

Mathematics, Politics

    Considers three political problems: 'to describe an Independent Member upon a given indefinite line of politics'; 'from a given point, to draw out a Radical Member to a given length'; and, 'from the greater opposition of two members to a given measure to cut off a part, so as it may agree with the less'. Shows how to solve each problem by arguments which parody the reasoning used in Euclid's Euclid (fl. 295 BC) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> geometry.

Genre:

Serial—Essay, Drollery; Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Colleges, Lecturing, Anatomy, Botany, Textbooks

    Describes social and intellectual exploits of Joseph Muff, a medical student at the University of London University of London
Close   View the register entry >>. Notes that the student is now mature because he takes notes at each lecture but intersperses them with 'a larger proportion of portraits of the lecturer, and other humorous conceits'. At this point the student beings 'an steady course of imaginary dissection'—a 'chimerical account of extremities whose minute structure he has deeply investigated'. Describes the student's lecture-room pranks and inventions, and how his conversation turns from anatomy lectures to pub exploits. The student 'gets' his anatomical prize 'by stealth, cribbing his answers from a tiny manual of knowledge'. Copies Joseph Muff's letter to his father in which he boasts about his conscientiousness, his purchase of several leading medical text-books and his hiring of a 'private demonstrator'. Describes the experiences of a student at 'Botanical Lectures' in the Society of Apothecaries Chelsea Physic Garden Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Chelsea Physic Garden
Close   View the register entry >>, and how students conducted themselves during 'botanical excursions'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery, Serial

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Geology, Stratigraphy, Sociology, Class, Palaeontology, Analogy

    Describes society using geological terms. Describes the characteristics of the 'Transition Class'. Notes that individuals in this class tend to 'mix with the superior strata' and explains the causes of the 'elevation' of members of this group. Describes the 'Russell-square group' that consists of individuals distinguished by their tendency 'to give dinners to their superior series'. Notes the scarcity of 'fossil animals' in this group. Notes that the highest class, the 'St James' Series', consists of 'specimens' that are usually found 'attached to coronets' and in which one is most likely to find 'precious stones'. Notes the occurrence of the 'larking vein' in all classes and that specimens in each strata depend on the 'situation in which they are found'. The illustration shows a man drinking beer while lying on his back. The caption reads 'embedded in quarts(z)'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Natural History, Physiology, Nutrition, Human Species

    Parodying the language of natural history, it describes the 'physiology', 'habits', 'moral characteristics', 'reproduction', diet ('sustenance'), and 'geographical distribution' of opera-dancers.

Genre:

Serial—Essay, Drollery; Diary, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Universities, Dissection, Anatomy, Electricity, Narcotics

Institutions mentioned:

Society of Apothecaries—Apothecaries' Hall Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
Close   View the register entry >>

    Describes the academic and social life of a medical student at the University of London University of London
Close   View the register entry >>. Notes the student's religious attendance at the dissecting-room and his prankish activities there. Protagonist Joseph Muff joins other men dissecting the brain in search of the hippocampus major. The student's many 'jocose pursuits' include administering poison to the 'toxological guinea-pigs' and hunting rabbits 'kept for galvanism'. Describes the students' preparation for and sitting of a Latin examination. Notes medical students' gregariousness and aversion to dining alone.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Horticulture, Botany, Politics, Societies

    Awards given include those to 'Count D'Orsay D'Orsay, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel (Gédéon Gaspard Alfred de Grimaud), Count (1801–52) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>' for 'the most approved Essay on Cultivating a Flower Pot, and the Expediency of growing Migionette in preference to Sweet Pea on the Window-sills', and to 'Peter Borthwick Borthwick, Peter (1804–52) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>' for a treatise proving that 'a Member requires no Brains, instancing his own case, where the deficiency was supplied by the length of his ears'.

Genre:

Short Fiction, Drollery

Subjects:

Magnetism, Psychology, Physics

    Notes that 'philosophers' claim that steel is the only substance capable of producing a 'magnetic effect' but adds that after observing the behaviour of the 'heroine' of the story, they would have concluded that gold has greater magnetic attraction than steel.

Genre:

Serial—Essay, Drollery; Diary, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Colleges, Lecturing

Institutions mentioned:

University of London University of London
Close   View the register entry >>

    Observes that in preparation for the 'ordeals of the Hall and College' the student resolves to abstain from drinking. Notes medical students' appreciation of cramming. Observes that the medical teacher is a 'man of the most varied and eccentric knowledge', acquainted with 'the different branches to be studied', and a master of 'all their minutiae'. Describes 'grinding-class'—a preparation for the examination at the Apothecaries' Hall Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
Close   View the register entry >>. Here, Joseph Muff and other students irritate the 'grinder' by managing only sloppy answers to questions and by their jocose behaviour.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Controversy, Surgery

People mentioned:

Thomas Wakley, Wakley, Thomas (1795–1862) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> John Elliotson Elliotson, John (1791–1868) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Notes the controversy between 'physicians, apothecaries, and surgeons' over a fasting man, Bernard Cavannah Cavannah, Bernard (fl. 1841) PU1/1/17/3
Close   View the register entry >>. The illustration shows two barber-surgeons fighting each other with domestic utensils. The caption reads: 'Surgere in Armis'.

Genre:

Novel, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Vaccination, Psychology, Human Development

People mentioned:

Edward Jenner Jenner, Edward (1749–1823) DSB
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     One character, Mrs Waddledot, strongly opposes vaccination and links it to the dullness of children. Notes the opposition between practices of vaccination and inoculation.

Genre:

Serial—Essay, Drollery; Diary, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Universities, Statistics, Medical Treatment

Institutions mentioned:

University of London University of London
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    Notes that one medical student sought to learn 'the whole of his practice of physic by setting the description of the diseases to music'. Produces two verses of his 'Poetry of Steggall's Steggall, John (fl. 1829–60) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Manual Steggall, John 1829. A Manual for Students Preparing for Examination at the Apothecaries' Hall or other Medical Examinations, London: [n. pub.]
Close   View the register entry >>' which relate to the 'symptoms, treatment, and causes of Haemoptysis and Haematemesis'. Praises the poet as somebody who 'might have turned Cooper's Cooper, Samuel (1780–1848) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> First Lines of Surgery Cooper, Samuel 1807. The First Lines of the Practice of Surgery: Being an Elementary Work for Students, and a Concise Book of Reference, London: Richard Phillips
Close   View the register entry >> and Copland's Copland, James (1791–1870) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Medical Dictionary [Copland, James] 1832–58. A Dictionary of Practical Medicine, Comprising General Pathology, the Nature and Treatment of Diseases, Morbid Structures and the Disorders Especially Incidental to Climates, to the Sex and to the Different Epochs of Life, with Numerous Prescriptions, a Classification of Diseases, a Copious Bibliography, with References; and an Appendix of Approved Formulae, 3 vols, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts
Close   View the register entry >> into a tragedy'. Notes that as examinations approach, the economy of the medical student changes from 'butterfly to chrysalis': he spends all his time studying, moving between 'the grinder and his lodgings'. Notes the medical student's 'assiduity' and interest in the 'statistics of the Hall Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
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Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Catechism, Spoof

Subjects:

Physical Geography

    Aims to acquaint the public with 'the exact geographical position of this inhabitable world'. Questions refer to broad geographical concepts but are typically answered in terms of metropolitan locations. For example, geography is defined as 'the looking for places on a map, or in Downing-Street, or anywhere else in the world' 'any districts containing a number of separate residences and distinct tenements, as St. James's, St. Giles's'. Several answers are parodies of the terms given in the question. For example, the sea is defined as 'any small collection of water, as at Chelsea, Battersea'.

Genre:

Introduction / Letter, Drollery; Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Pathology, Medical Treatment, Veterinary Science

    Introduces an item of 'poetic pathology' from Toby, a dog. The poem describes the symptoms of ascites, an illness that can be cured by 'squill, blue pill, and other means'. Describes the symptoms of 'Tympanitis', which can be cured with a 'cordial laxative, mix'd up with some carminative' and by 'avoiding food that's flatulent'.

Genre:

Serial—Essay, Drollery; Diary, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Universities, Lecturing

Institutions mentioned:

University of London University of London
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    Points out that before he enters the Apothecaries' Hall Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
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Genre:

Serial—Diary, Spoof; Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Universities, Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals

Institutions mentioned:

University of London University of London
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    The protagonist, Joseph Muff, is invited to answer questions on the subjects drawn from 'pharmacopoeias, books of prescriptions, trays of drugs, and half-dead plants'. Describes the award of certificates and the ensuing merriment. A student sings a song entitled 'The Student's Alphabet'. Each line of the song describes an aspect of medical school life described by a word beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet. For example, 'Oh, A was an Artery, fill'd with injection; / And B was a Brick, never caught at dissection'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Politics

    Reports that Peter Laurie Laurie, Sir Peter (1778–1861) ODNB
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Genre:

Essay, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Phrenology, Analogy, Anatomy, Mapping

    Using the analogy with phrenology, argues that the stomach possesses several 'faculties' including those for 'roast beef' and 'devilled kidney'. Adds that the stomach is a compound organ each part of which receives 'its own proper kind of ailment' and develops itself by 'outward bumps and prominences'. Introduces his 'system of Stomachology' and anticipates that his system will replace anatomy. Divides faculties into four classes: 'sustaining faculties' (basic foods), 'sentiments or affections', 'superior sentiments', and 'intellectual tastes' (fashionable foods).

Genre:

Diary, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Universities, Dissection, Lecturing, Anatomy

Institutions mentioned:

Apothecaries' Hall, Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
Close   View the register entry >>University of London University of London
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    Describes the activities of various students the morning after their post-examination merriment. Describes the scene in the dissecting room, where students rejoice at hearing the news that the anatomy teacher is 'unavoidably detained'. Students consequently indulge in various naughty activities including schemes to kill a hen and another to let loose domestic animals in the dissecting room.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Magnetism, Medical Treatment, Psychology, Observation, Politics

    Reports that Mr Halse Halse, William Hooper (fl. 1840s) DNBS
Close   View the register entry >>, a lecturer on animal magnetism, claimed that one of his patients had, 'under the magnetic influence', been able to 'see her own insides'. Adds that when Halse sent Charles W Stewart (3rd Marquess of Londonderry) Stewart (afterwards Vane), Charles William, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (1778–1854) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>into a 'magnetic sleep', he found nothing inside his patient's head.

Genre:

Serial, Diary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Universities, Chemistry

Institutions mentioned:

University of London University of London
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    Believes a pot of 'half-and-half' (a mixture of two malt liquors, commonly ale and porter) is as essential to the 'proper illumination of a Medical Student's faculties' as 'sulphuric acid is to the ignition of the platinum of the hydropneumatic lamp'. Notes that, despite the efforts of the Royal College of Surgeons Royal College of Surgeons
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Genre:

Diary, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education, Hospitals

Institutions mentioned:

University of London University of London
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    Describes how the protagonist of the story, Joseph Muff, undergoes the process of 'grinding' in anatomy, before presenting himself at the Royal College of Surgeons Royal College of Surgeons
Close   View the register entry >>. Describes medical students' preparations for their last examination at the college. Students irritate the 'grinder' again by giving sloppy and jocose answers to medical questions. Compares the college examination favourably with those at the Apothecaries' Hall Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
Close   View the register entry >>. The conclusion states that the articles have 'endeavoured to show the medical student as he actually exists—his reckless gaiety, his wild frolics, his open disposition'. Adds that students look back on their education with affection but also with a sense of the 'lamentable inefficacy of the present course of medical education pursued at our schools and hospitals, to fit a man for future practice'.