Genre:

Reminiscences, Drollery

Subjects:

Gender, Education, Lecturing, Chemistry, Palaeontology, Domestic Economy

    The narrator describes how she was raised 'to ask questions about everything' and educated in 'all sorts of "ologies"' (x). She explains how, during her attendance of lectures at the Royal Institution Royal Institution of Great Britain
Close   View the register entry >>, she met her husband to whom she displayed her chemical skills, but who was more interested in domestic matters and getting married than in such subjects as 'chemical affinities' and Michael Faraday's Faraday, Michael (1791–1867) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> lectures on the candle. She had to remind her fiancé of Mary F G Somerville's Somerville, Mary Fairfax Greig (1780–1872) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> argument that 'a woman may be deep in science, and make no worse wife for it'. Describes his anger at hearing about 'the scientific pretensions of the [female] sex'. (x–xi)

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Vaccination

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Natural History

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Nutrition, Heterodoxy

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Quackery, Medical Treatment

People mentioned:

Christian F S Hahnemann Hahnemann, Christian Friedrich Samuel (1755–1843) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Quackery, Medical Treatment

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Botany, Scientific Practitioners

People mentioned:

Carl Linnaeus Linnaeus (or von Linné), Carl (1707–78) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Veterinary Science

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Inorganic Chemistry, Politics, Analogy

    Likens the exchanges between leading statesmen to chemical reactions, and ponders their consequences. For example, 'Mr. Gladstone's Gladstone, William Ewart (1809–98) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> [the Chancellor of the Exchequer] carbonate of High Church principles perhaps will combine with Sir William Molesworth's Molesworth, Sir William, 8th Baronet (1810–55) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> [the First Commissioner of Works] latitudinarian acid, in the formation of a neutral salt'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Skill

    Responds to an article in the Morning Herald Morning Herald and Daily Advertiser (1780–1869) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> concerning doctors' charges for simply uttering such phrases as 'ahem' in front of patients. Cynically notes that a doctor's skill makes his otherwise crude medical treatment worth its price, and suggests that practitioners should 'charge for their opinions, as expressed in interjections'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Meteorology, Publishing, Periodicals

    Reports on a 'learned discussion' on the 'causes of rain' and discusses a suggestion that it is caused by the union of volumes of air, a theory which is associated with the 'puffing' actions of the press and the 'dampness of the atmosphere' caused by their 'airy nothings'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Accidents

People mentioned:

James Nasmyth Nasmyth, James (1808–90) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Spoof

Subjects:

Geology

    Reports that at the Gresham College Gresham College
Close   View the register entry >> lecture, recently delivered at the Royal Exchange Royal Exchange
Close   View the register entry >>, on the 'Coal Formation of the City of London Basin', it was claimed that the basin consisted of such typical waste products of the city as 'organic remains of gigantic chelonians' left over by aldermen.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Electricity, Human Species, Gender

    Reports on the alleged electrical powers of an 'Austrian lady', but judges the account to be 'over-charged'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Textbooks, Meteorology, Measurement, Politics, Aeronautics, Observation

    Describes proposal to conquer 'despotism throughout Europe', including the idea of dropping natural science books by balloon onto the continent. The success of the scheme depends on the establishment of 'an extensive series of meteorological observations' for gauging the wind speed.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Zoological Gardens, Amusement

    Discusses the 'Zoological Recreations' at the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, including the latest attraction—a river pig.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Spoof

Subjects:

Botany, Universities, Education, Crime

    Reports on the decision of the University of Oxford University of Oxford
Close   View the register entry >> and University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >> to provide instruction in plants with reference to Botany Bay. Believes this instruction will involve such crime-related matters as 'the anatomy and physiology of the several genera of fraud'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Meteorology, Electricity, Railways

    Discusses a claim made in the Suffolk Chronicle Suffolk Chronicle (1801–1900+) Ward, 1953
Close   View the register entry >> that iron railroads cause increased amounts of rainfall. Argues that railways have a 'dampening influence' on the country and that the 'atmospheric principle' [a reference to Isambard K Brunel's Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806–59) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> short-lived atmospheric railway] did not significantly affect the weather.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Education

    Describes the medical education of John Smith, an archetypal flunkey. Notes that, despite his want of funds, he was able to establish himself as a legally qualified practitioner.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery; Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

W, pseud.  [Henry R Howard] Howard, Henry R (fl. 1853) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Human Species, Animal Development, Breeding, Monstrosities, Race

    Imagines the consequences of the existence of 'a race of Genii' who are as superior to humans as humans are to poultry, and who are 'Humankind Fanciers'. Imagines human beings with greatly exaggerated features, including 'the legs of a negro enlarged to the dimensions of those of the hippopotamus', and 'young ladies' with 'the superfluity of a figure which characterised the Hottentot VENUS'. The illustration shows a chicken taking pity on his brethren hanging up by their tails in the window of a butcher's shop.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Religion, Miracle, Anti-Scientism, Skill

    Responding to news that the cardinal-archbishop of Westminster, Nicholas P S Wiseman Wiseman, Nicholas Patrick Stephen (1802–65) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, gave an address on 'the intimate connection between science and Catholicism', insists that science and Catholicism are as 'intimate as [...] the mouse and the bird' that 'make up the bat'. Noting Alexander Pope's Pope, Alexander (1688–1744) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> observation of Catholic suppression of natural philosophy, sarcastically denies that the Catholic Church thwarted Galileo Galilei Galilei, Galileo (1564–1642) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> and Christopher Columbus Columbus, Christopher (1451–1506) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>. Ironically asserts that the intimacy between science and Catholicism is shown by the scientific skill of monks needed to perform such miraculous events as 'winking Madonnas'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Scientific Practitioners, Heroism, Steamships

People mentioned:

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

    Discusses the naming of a French steam sloop 'Newton' and the absence of such a vessel in the Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Illustration, Satire

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

W, pseud.  [Henry R Howard] Howard, Henry R (fl. 1853) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Breeding

    Depicts an enormous turkey wearing spurred dress boots—possibly a caricature of the Turkish ambassador—which looks down at two giraffes over the railings of the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Periodicals, Mental Illness, Statistics, Psychology

    Believes that calculating the number of 'madmen who are continually suggesting "cuts"' in Punch Punch (1841–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> would be relevant to the 'Statistics of Insanity', and a valuable contribution to the Psychological Review Psychological Review (1894–1900) RLIN
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Serial, Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Imperialism, Animal Behaviour

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Accidents, Time, Technology

    A list of well-known maxims that have been adapted to criticise the dangers and time wastage of railway travel. For instance, 'A Railway Train is the Thief of Time'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Education, Lecturing, Astronomy, Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Anti-Scientism

    Responds to a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of lectures on astronomy, galvanism, and other scientific subjects being given to the Wiltshire Militia. Imagines the hostility of veteran officers but upholds the importance of this innovation.

Genre:

Serial, Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Imperialism

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Photography, Crime

    Discusses a proposal to stamp foreign passports with a daguerreotype of the bearer.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Adulteration, Analytical Chemistry, Medical Practitioners, Electricity, Crime

    Responds to a report of the Lancet's Lancet (1823–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> Analytical Sanitary Commission Lancet—Analytical Sanitary Commission
Close   View the register entry >>, which states that several different types of jam are adulterated with copper. Adds that the '"little glass [jam] jar" which was analysed [...] has proved quite a jar of electricity' since it sends a shock 'to our nervous system'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Public Health, Pollution, Disease, Gender

    Reports Thomas J Pettigrew's Pettigrew, Thomas Joseph (1791–1865) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> support for early closing of shops on 'medical grounds'. Describes the dangerous effects of the poisonous air on shopworkers and young ladies.

Genre:

Serial, Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Imperialism, Animal Behaviour

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Electricity, Animal Magnetism

    Depicts a 'Lecturer on Electro-Biology' trying to convince a stout gentleman that he 'can't jump over that stick' lying on the floor.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Astrology, Animal Magnetism, Mesmerism, Imposture

    Notes the high fees and low demand for 'Spiritual Rappers', 'Transactions in Astrology', 'Electrobiology', and 'Animal Magnetism'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Accidents, Railways, Pollution, Public Health, Homeopathy, Medical Treatment, Technology

    Following news of the launch of a 'new weekly periodical', Wonderful Things Wonderful Things (1852) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, lists a number of developments that it would class among 'Wonderful Things'. These include 'A Government Steamer which can be at sea a whole week without being forced to put back for repairs', 'A Punctual Railway Train', 'A Glass of Thames water that you can drink without deodorising', and a 'Homeopathic practice which is not quite sine-cure'.

Genre:

Serial, Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Imperialism, Animal Behaviour

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

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:

Railways, Accidents, Commerce, Technology

    Subtitled 'Tie a Couple of Directors À La Mazeppa to Every Engine that Starts with a Train', shows two figures strapped to a locomotive in the style of Ivan S Mazeppa Mazeppa, Ivan Stepanovich (c. 1644–1709) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, the seventeenth-century aristocrat who was banished from Poland to his native Russia, strapped to a horse.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Travel, Accidents, Surgery, Medical Treatment, Commerce

    Identifying himself as a former 'extensive stage-coach proprietor', laments the passing of coach travel, especially because victims of coach accidents could usually find a surgeon to deal with their injuries. Compares this with the situation illustrated by a legal trial in which a surgeon sued a railway company for his costs when he attended a victim of an accident on the company's line. The spoof letter-writer urges surgeons to 'ascertain the solvency of the sufferer by a railway accident before rendering him any assistance', and points out that when he ran stagecoaches, he was willing to pay for doctor's bills. Tries to explain why the booming railway companies cannot afford to meet medical bills.

Genre:

Serial, Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Imperialism, Animal Behaviour

Genre:

Serial, Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [3]

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Imperialism, Animal Behaviour

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Astrology, Lecturing, Spiritualism, Mesmerism, Class, Commerce

    Announcing himself as an astrologer, explains how he has to advertise himself as an 'Astronomical Lecturer' in order to avoid prosecution, and asks why the 'Clairvoyante' Mrs Gerald Massey Massey, Mrs Gerald (fl. 1853) PU1/24/15/2
Close   View the register entry >> and the mesmerist Adolphe Didier Didier, Adolphe (fl. 1856–71) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> can 'make their guineas out of the faith of the aristocracy', but he is prevented from making money out of his 'humbler public'. Asks why, in the times of 'Free Trade', 'Spirit Rappers' unlike himself can 'go on without molestation'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Railways, Accidents, Steamships, Accidents

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Quackery, Anatomy

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Palaeontology, Religious Authority, Wonder

    Compares the reverence displayed by Pope Pius IX Pius IX, Pope (1792–1878) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> towards an alleged tooth of St Peter to Richard Owen's Owen, Richard (1804–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> veneration of 'fossil remains'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Geology

    Responds to stories concerning a welter of unreported earthquakes.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Crime, Health

Genre:

Notes

Subjects:

Railways, Accidents, Medical Practitioners, Education, Hospitals

    Urges the adoption of surgeons on railways, where it is believed they will gain more medical knowledge than in hospitals.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Pollution, Public Health, Commerce

    Compares the 'wild promise' of railways to the 'light of a marsh exhalation'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery; Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

W, pseud.  [Henry R Howard] Howard, Henry R (fl. 1853) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Photography, Crime, Technology

    Subtitled 'By a Gentleman of the Predatory Profession', responds to the appearance of Illustrated Hue and Cry Illustrated Hue and Cry (cited 1853) PU1/24/18/2
Close   View the register entry >>, a periodical which prints photographs of criminals. The illustration shows a criminal looking critically at a 'pictur' of himself on a 'Wanted' notice pasted to a wall.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Electricity

    Discusses 'the entertainment of turning the tables'. Insists that 'the circulation of the table is rather intimately connected with the circulation of the bottle' and that it results from 'that species of electricity, of which—although glass is said to be a non-conductor—the glass and the bottle are the principal agents'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Politics, Government

    Notes the installation of telegraph lines from the House of Commons House of Commons
Close   View the register entry >> to the principal railway stations, and proposals to lay other lines within the Houses of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >> and between parliament and the clubs. Suggests that politicians use the telegraph to send entire speeches from their clubs to parliament, and relishes the possibility that this will make politicians less verbose.

Genre:

Serial, Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Imperialism, Animal Behaviour

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

C B, pseud.  [Edward Bradley] Bradley, Edward (pseud Cuthbert Bede) (1827–89) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Photography, Superstition

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy, Meteorology, Photography

Genre:

Serial, Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Imperialism, Animal Behaviour

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment

    Noting the fads for such medicines as 'Pills', 'Elixirs', 'Lozenges', and 'Pastes', discusses the arrival of 'Sarsaparilla', a liquid medicine that Punch thinks is the result of 'Quackery pur sang'.

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Steam-power, Spiritualism, Psychology, Accidents

Publications cited:

Galignani's Messenger Galignani's Messenger (1821–95) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>

    Announces the formation of a company that seeks to replace railway locomotives with tables which will drag railway coaches by the force of table-turning. Hopes that this will reduce accidents on the railway and explains that the tables will move by the 'volition' of the 'hands of the Company' of directors, who, as Punch already explained in Anon, 'How to Insure Against Railway Accidents', Punch, 24 (1853), 125, would, by being placed at the front of the train, reduce the likelihood of accidents.

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Public Health, Crime

    Attacks the inhumane conditions suffered by convicts, including suffocation caused by inhabiting poorly ventilated and overcrowded rooms, and their exposure to excessive heat and fever.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

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:

Spiritualism, Amusement, Experiment

    Shows a large drawing room in which people are gathered around tables experimenting with the phenomena of hat-turning. The caption explains how to solicit motion from the hat and explains that the moustached figure in the foreground 'thinks that in the pursuit of Science he could perform the Experiment over and over again'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Mesmerism, Invention, Charlatanry, Domestic Economy

    Regards 'Table moving' as absurd and explains how it is caused by 'mesmeric power'. Believes it will surpass all inventions and wonders 'What will't lead to', given its shocking effect on dining.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Religious Authority

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Amusement, Microscopy

    Responds to a Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> report of a 'homeopathic conversazione' featuring a microscope. Notes that the report omitted to mention the magnification of 'an infinitesimal dose of medicine' and the destruction of a flea by this medicine.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Exploration, Heroism, Politics

Publications cited:

Gregory 1851 Gregory, William 1851. Letters to a Candid Enquirer on Animal Magnetism, London: Taylor [and 2 others]
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses Adolphe Didier's Didier, Adolphe (fl. 1856–71) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> proposal, sent to the Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, to locate the ill-fated explorer John Franklin Franklin, Sir John (1786–1847) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> using 'a Clairvoyant possessing a high degree of magnetic lucidity'. Agrees on the overwhelming importance of such a discovery. Explains how Didier's mesmeric rapport with Franklin would depend on him possessing a personal item of the explorer, but cites a case of a clairvoyant managed by Joseph W Haddock Haddock, Joseph W (fl. 1850) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> who allegedly found Franklin. Informs Didier that he should try his experiment on the statesman Henry P Brougham (1st Baron Brougham and Vaux) Brougham, Henry Peter, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778–1868) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> before trying to raise money for his venture.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

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:

Spiritualism, Domestic Economy

    Shows a pavement outside a house over which various objects, including tables, hats, chairs, and young children, fly about, and break a window.

Genre:

Advertisment, Spoof

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Religious Authority

People mentioned:

Christian Hahnemann Hahnemann, Christian Friedrich Samuel (1755–1843) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Aesthetics

    Discusses a proposal to invent 'Perfumed Gunpowder'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Commerce, Public Health

    Regards a surgeon's Lancet Lancet (1823–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> advertisement for an unwaged 'Gentleman' assistant as an illustration of the cheapening of 'medical science'. Speculates that the advertiser is a Poor Law medical officer who enjoys only 'mean and wretched [...] pittances'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Mechanics, Crime

    Noting the 'Different opinions' on the cause of table-moving, suggests that they are 'turned by the power of attorney'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism

    'Addressed to the Table Movement Party', wonders whether a policeman could help 'move on' a table that failed to move after 'a couple of hours'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Palaeontology, Geology, Monstrosities, Hospitals, Commerce

    Reports on the alleged discovery in Hampshire of an enormous 'species of pterodactlye'. Reveals that the monster is 'the Charity Dragon' which has 'subsisted on the property of the Hospital of St Cross Hospital of St Cross, near Winchester
Close   View the register entry >>, near Winchester'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Technology, Natural Law

    Compares the circuitous routes by which mail is delivered to its destination, to similar processes in the electric telegraph, but points out that 'the law of the Electric Telegraph is a law of Nature which is unchangeable' but 'the law of the Post' is at the whim of the General Post Office General Post Office
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Palaeontology, Zoology

    Noting Richard Owen's Owen, Richard (1804–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> skill at determining the structure of an entire animal from a small bone, points out that Owen 'must be content to share his celebrity for reconstructive genius' with painter George Lance Lance, George (1802–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, who had restored a painting from which large portions had been missing.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Animal Magnetism, Government, Politics

    Playing on the ambiguity of the words 'turning' and 'motion', explains how politicians can benefit from the power of 'table-turning'. For example, observes how ministers should try to cause 'some definite motion on the part of the Cabinet', and how a few ministers sitting around a council table can cause the table to turn one way, without the need for others to join hands 'on any one subject'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Education, Government, Nutrition, Physiology

    Responds to a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> concering an entertainment provided for English civic dignatories at the Mansion House Mansion House
Close   View the register entry >> by the Lord Mayor of London (Thomas Challis Challis, Thomas (1794–1874) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>). This was reported to be the first of a series of entertainments intended to encourage 'the Diffusion of a more General and Practical Knowledge of Science and Art among all Classes'. Cynically observes that the gluttonous lifestyles of mayors could only help diffuse knowledge of 'the digestive function'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Homeopathy

    Speculates on the paltry nature of a 'Doctors' Commons'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Amusement

    Remarks on the public fascination with the 'Marine Vivarium' at the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
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Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Telegraphy, Commerce

Publications cited:

The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
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    Discusses the possibility of making a fortune 'on the strength of a somnambulist's prediction respecting anybody's decease', and wonders why stock-jobbers have not 'availed themselves of clairvoyance', a power which could 'supersede the Electric Telegraph'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Education, Geology, Instruments, Amusement

    Discusses moves by the Lord Mayor of London (Thomas Challis Challis, Thomas (1794–1874) WBI
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Close   View the register entry >> of 'geological specimens', 'objects of natural history', and a host of scientific instruments. Congratulates the mayor for introducing 'food for the mind into his dinners'.