Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Navigation, Instruments, Practice

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Measurement, Meteorology

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism, Medical Practitioners, Charlatanry

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Engineers, Invention

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Meteorology, Instruments

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Exploration, Scientific Practitioners, Astronomy, Instruments

People mentioned:

James C Ross Ross, Sir James Clark (1800–62) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Ornithology, Animal Species

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Chemistry, Domestic Economy

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Palaeontology, Government

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:

Palaeontology, Education, Exhibitions

    Shows a elderly man taking a decidedly discontented boy through the antediluvian reptiles at the Crystal Palace Crystal Palace
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Botany, Scientific Practitioners

People mentioned:

Pliny Pliny (Gaius Plinius Secundus) (c. 23–79) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Quackery

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Mental Illness, Psychology

    Advertises a cure for a wide range of mental and physical complaints from 'poverty of ideas' and 'bad temper', to 'baldness (of invention)' and 'nervousness in travelling'. Claims it can 'restore the highest jocular energy to the most enfeebled intellect'.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Military Technology, Invention, War

    Describes the 'wooden pistol' which has been constructed 'thanks to the roguery of Muscovite contractors'. Complains that the 'British dragoon is armed with a weapon about as useless as a pistol of wood'—a carbine which is notoriously inaccurate.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Ornithology, Natural History, Politics, Cultural Geography, Animal Behaviour

People mentioned:

Georges L Leclerc (comte de Buffon) Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de (1707–88) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Details the appearance and habits of the Russian eagle which, unsurprisingly, emerges in a most unflattering light. For example, it is described as a 'nondescript creature, uniting the voracity of the vulture with the malice of the magpie, and the thievery of the raven', a bird which 'from its devotional attitude [...] may be strictly called a bird of pray'. In its diet it 'is thought to exhibit a trait of the vampire' since it sucks 'the life-blood of the country which it broods over'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Aeronautics, War, Invention, Technology

    Discusses a proposal to finish off the Crimean war by conducting reconnaissance and making signals from balloons.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Public Health, Sanitation

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Amusement, Invention

    Describes the wooden dove of Johannes Regiomontanus Regiomontanus, Johannes (1436–76) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> 'that flew out to meet MAXIMILLIAN Maximillian I, Holy Roman Emperor (1459–1519) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Natural History, Politics, Animal Behaviour

    Claims that the female bear's 'maternal tenderness' is shown by news that Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of Russia has recalled his sons to attend his sickly wife. Believes this story shows that 'Even Nicholas himself appears to have some affection for his own cubs'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Technology, Error

    Claims that a clerk refused a position at the Electric Telegraph Company Electric Telegraph Company
Close   View the register entry >> because it came with 'unlimited li(e)-ability'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Public Health, Engineering, Domestic Economy

    Discusses a new process for ventilating rooms that promises to give the 'science of ventilation an upward movement' and to dispel the 'ill-winds' that surrounded this problem.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Military Technology, War, Religious Authority, Superstition, Education

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Exhibitions, War, Anatomy, Disease, Commerce

    Anticipating the end of the Crimean war before the opening of the Exposition Universelle de Paris Exposition Universelle (1855), Paris
Close   View the register entry >>, suggests that the contributions of Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of Russia to the 'arts and sciences' will be exhibits on the 'arts of killing and destroying and the sciences of delusion and priestcraft'. Suggests examples of these exhibits including 'Anatomical wax models, explanatory of army surgery, and expressive of various forms of disease', and 'Articles of furniture, showing the effects of bombardment'.

Genre:

Essay, Spoof

Subjects:

War, Politics, Engineering, Railways, Engineers, Scientific Practitioners, Political Economy, Medical Practitioners

    Anticipates that Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of Russia will be using American iron to build his projected railway and American oak to build steamships. Notes that despite the wastage of war, it 'opens out a field to our physicians, engineers, mechanics, and manufacturers'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Religion, Religious Authority, War, Controversy

    Discusses evangelical reaction to Florence Nightingale's Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> alleged preaching of Roman Catholic doctrines to the wounded soldiers in the Crimea. Hopes that 'in the approbation of HER SOVEREIGN Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India (1819–1901) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, the affectionate gratitude of the army, and the regard of all true Englishmen, MISS NIGHTINGALE will be able to find some consolation for the dislike of sectarians'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Polemic

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Religion, Religious Authority, Heroism

    Defends Florence Nightingale Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> from an accusation of impiety in the Standard Standard (1827–60) Evening Standard (1860–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Race, Cultural Geography, Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism, Spiritualism

    Notes an Irish mesmerist's definition of 'prophetic clairvoyance' as a 'memory of circumstances which have not yet happened'.

Genre:

Notes

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Heroism, Religious Authority

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

[Trident], 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:

Palaeontology, Exhibitions

    Shows a figure asleep in a bed around which stand numerous exhibits from the Crystal Palace Crystal Palace
Close   View the register entry >> including antediluvian monsters (one of which is being ridden by an ancient Egyptian).

Genre:

News-Commentary, Polemic

Subjects:

Nutrition, Health, War

    Criticises the War Office War Office
Close   View the register entry >> for supplying soldiers in the Crimea with such inappropriate rations as green coffee berries.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Education, Progress, Class

    Depicts two navvies commenting on a well-dressed gentlemen passing by. One navvy remarks: 'Ah Bill! It shows the forrard March of the Age. Fust, the Brute force of such as 'im; and then the likes of us to do it Scientific, and show the Might of Intellect'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Heroism, Gender

    An implicit eulogy on Florence Nightingale Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, describing her in such radiant terms as 'one bright star' holding a 'blessed path', a 'woman, fragile, pale, and tall' whose 'saintly work' moves 'Through miles of pallets, thickly laid / With sickness in its foulest guise. And pain, in forms to have dismayed, / Man's science-hardened eyes'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Physiognomy, Human Species, Physiology, Education, Crime, Amusement

People mentioned:

Johann K Lavater Lavater, Johann Kaspar (1741–1801) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>

    Notes that Madame Tussaud's Waxworks Madame Tussaud's Waxworks
Close   View the register entry >> has changed from being a 'Chamber of Horrors' to a 'Chamber of Comparative Physiology', thus reflecting the popular taste for the scientific rather than the horrible.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Human Development, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Charlatanry, Crime

    Suggests some decidedly harsh measures for controlling infants' behaviour including pinching and 'whopping' noisy babies and giving babies cheap 'poppy syrup' to send them to sleep. Cynically notes that if the baby's 'little hearse / Weeping neighbours soon set eyes on, / Who'll suppose, with such a nurse' that baby 'died of taking pison'.

Genre:

Essay, Spoof

Subjects:

Zoology, Natural History, Animal Behaviour, Politics, Government

    A detailed 'zoological' description of 'TæNIA OFFICIALIS—the Red-Tapeworm' which is described as a 'one of the entozoa which infest the body-politic, and is perhaps the most pernicious of them all'. Particularly common in 'every department of State', its characteristics include 'a strong attachment to place', the power of 'being cut up almost indefinitely without apparently being worse for the operation', and 'an almost total absence of energy'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Nutrition, Medical Practitioners

    Reports on Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire's Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Isidore (1805–61) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> lecture in which the naturalist recommended 'the use of horseflesh for food'. Notes that Geoffroy's examples of cultures which thrived on such food could have included London medical students and present-day Germans, and that if horseflesh replaces beef as the staple diet of the English then the 'staple will become stable'.

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Surgery, War, Status

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >>

    Seeks assistant surgeons for naval hospitals who are reminded that although the pay is poor they will be able to acquire 'professional development in the COCK-PIT' and be treated as mere 'MIDSHIPMEN'.

Genre:

Drama, Spoof

Subjects:

Invention, Government, Engineers, Military Technology, Steam-power, Electricity

    The first act opens in a waiting room of a 'Public Office' near Whitehall in which sit several people including a 'MAN WITH A GRIEVANCE', who is still waiting for 'compensation or parliamentary enquiry', and 'a MONOMANIACAL INVENTOR, with a universally unacknowledged substitute for the steam engine', who hopes Mr Buffer will listen to his claims for a 'galvanic propeller'. Later a 'Gaunt Stranger' from America appears and seeks to offer to 'the old Country' his 'American Breech-loading Carbine', which he proceeds to explain in great detail. (107)

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Agriculture, Steam-power, Military Technology, War

People mentioned:

Jacob Perkins Perkins, Jacob (1766–1849) CBD
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    Discusses a meeting of the Sprotborough Farmers' Club Sprotborough Farmers' Club
Close   View the register entry >> on the 'best method of thrashing grain', which was judged to be a 'fixed steam-engine'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

War, Politics, Zoological Gardens

    Introduces a letter 'about to be issued from the Lord Chamberlain's Office' which orders David W Mitchell Mitchell, David William (1813–59) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, Secretary of the Zoological Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, to 'place his bears in decent mourning' (for the death of Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of Russia) while the Russian bear is 'to be fed on black puddings'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astrology, Charlatanry, Prognostication

    Ridicules two apparently correct predictions made by the publishers of the Prophetic Messenger Prophetic Messenger (1821–39) Raphael's Prophetic Almanac (1840–1900+) BUCOP
Close   View the register entry >> of Robert C Smith Smith, Robert Cross ('Raphael') (1795–1832) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> ('Raphael'). Attacks the predictions for being so vague that they are bound to be fulfilled and insists that no Raphael is needed to make these predictions. Offers a dozen 'samples of our prophesying talent' which it feels are 'weak enough to print'. These include 'March: A gentleman's hat is blown off on Waterloo Bridge' and 'December: A little boy is taken ill the day after Christmas Day, and the Doctor has to be sent for in a hurry'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Astrology, Government, Politics, Mesmerism

    Responding to news that a 'learned doctor' (Augustus B Granville Granville, Augustus Bozzi (1783–1872) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>) claims to have foretold the death of Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of Russia, discusses rival claimants to this prediction, including the astrological almanac writers Richard J Morrison Morrison, Richard James ('Zadkiel') (1795–1874) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and Francis Moore Moore, Francis (1657–1714?) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Notes that Henry J Temple (3rd Viscount Palmerston) Temple, Henry John, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> failed to act upon Granville's advice concerning the czar, but thinks Palmerston's actions are justified because this would lead to the undesirable result of 'the nation being steered according to the second sight of anyone professing the gift', and 'prophets' whose advice is too vague to indicate appropriate action.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Phrenology, War

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Natural History, Zoology

People mentioned:

Georges Cuvier Cuvier, Georges (1769–1832) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses the possible identity of a 'Thing' that has left mysterious hoof-like traces, indicating that the monster has but one leg, in Devonshire. Assesses speculations that the monster is a kangaroo, a badger, a rat, a wading bird, and a toad. Believes 'most of those who have written upon the subject seem to have studied their zoology out of THEODORE HOOK's Hook, Theodore Edward (1788–1841) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> author—BUFFOON [i.e. Georges L Leclerc, comte de Buffon Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de (1707–88) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>], the Great French Natural'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, News-Commentary, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Government, War

    The illustration shows a figure, clad in a tartan suit and tam-o'-shanter, reading a document and falling backwards in shock. The caption reads 'Dr. Andrew Smith Smith, Sir Andrew (1797–1872) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> [the Director General of the Army Medical Department Army Medical Department
Close   View the register entry >>] as he Appeared when Requested to Spend Money'. (122)

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Invention, Electricity, Domestic Economy

    Reports on the arrival from America in Mr Punch's office of a lobster's claw and a newspaper advertisement for 'Medusa Fluid and Galvanic Hair Dye'. Adds that the fluid and the dye are 'alarming failures'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, War, Charlatanry

Institutions mentioned:

Army Army
Close   View the register entry >>

    Describes a picture representing 'Gulliver and the Lilliputians', which contains such ironic depicitions as 'the efficient ANDREW SMITH Smith, Sir Andrew (1797–1872) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>' and 'the rational MENZIES Menzies, Dr (fl. 1855) PU1/28/14/1
Close   View the register entry >>', an allusion to the ineptitude of these medical practitioners in tending the Crimean wounded.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Hospitals, War, Government

People mentioned:

Florence Nightingale Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses the visit 'to the East' of George H Gordon (4th Earl of Aberdeen) Gordon, George Hamilton-, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (1784–1860) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, and speculates that he will 'be set down to making lint' in Scutari which Punch regards as appropriate since 'his policy has made a sufficient number of wounds'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Quackery, Exhibitions, Commerce, Display

    Discusses the visit to the Crystal Palace Crystal Palace
Close   View the register entry >> of the well-known advertiser of a 'miraculous Ointment' that can allegedly cure everything. Claims that the advertiser wanted his named prefixed to the word 'SALVE!', which appears above the threshold of the Pompeian House.

Genre:

Essay

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Disease, Narcotics, War, Government, Charlatanry, Accidents

Institutions mentioned:

Army Army
Close   View the register entry >>

    Compares the abundance of drugs in England, where 'diseases are common', with their paucity in the Crimea, 'where diseases are very common'. Blames 'certain authorities' for being ignorant of the 'nature of these common things [medicines]', for disposing of medicines and for wasting an immense amount of money by purchasing them. Describes the various methods of storing medicines and the dangers of spilling and wasting expensive ones, and warns of the dangers of transporting medicines in a ship—notably, the possibility of drugs being crushed and the explosive consequences of medicinal oils colliding with ordnance. The illustration shows medicine bottles running away from a flying cannon ball.

Genre:

Ballad, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Zoological Gardens

    Begins with an extract from a Dublin newspaper describing the escape of a wild boar from the Zoological Gardens, Dublin Zoological Gardens, Dublin
Close   View the register entry >>. The ballad, written to represent an author of limited literacy, describes the pursuit of the boar. The illustration shows the boar, dressed in a tailcoat, being chased by several men.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners, War, Disease, Quackery

Institutions mentioned:

Army Army
Close   View the register entry >>

    Responds to an article in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> reporting that Andrew Smith Smith, Sir Andrew (1797–1872) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> has sent the troops in the Crimea a consignment of Joseph Dalby's Dalby, Joseph (fl. 1760) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> 'Carminative'— a 'jocose' remedy for dysentery. Ridicules this action, recommending that if Dalby's 'Carminative' should fail, then Smith ought to send the troops such quack remedies as 'DAFFY's Daffy, Thomas (1616/7–1680) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Elixir' or 'HARDS Hård, Johan Albrekt (1810–54) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>' Farinaceous Food'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, War, Government, Politics, Hospitals, Mental Illness, Nutrition, Charlatanry

    Reports on Queen Victoria's Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India (1819–1901) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> alleged visit to the 'Crimean Imbeciles', 'unfortunates' who inhabit many 'public offices' but especially the Army Medical Department Army Medical Department
Close   View the register entry >>. Describes one 'serious case' attended by the Queen—Andrew Smith Smith, Sir Andrew (1797–1872) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, who 'labours under the general paralysis of the active powers' and who has been 'shattered' after intense criticism from John A Roebuck's Roebuck, John Arthur (1802–79) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> select committee, The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, and the General Board of Health General Board of Health
Close   View the register entry >>. Notes that Smith's 'imbecility has taken the form of a fixed idea, that the hospitals at Scutari are all they ought to be'. Goes on to describe the next 'imbecile' attended by the Queen, Dr Menzies Menzies, Dr (fl. 1855) PU1/28/14/1
Close   View the register entry >>, who was 'quite incapable of comprehending his own duties, or the value of money—especially in comparison with human life'. (144) On visiting the 'Imbeciles of the Commisariat Treasury—Commissariat Branch
Close   View the register entry >>', the Queen observed aged 'sufferers' who were quite incapable of 'feeding the Army Army
Close   View the register entry >>'. The 'COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF' of the Army, Henry Hardinge (1st Viscount Hardinge) Hardinge, Sir Henry, 1st Viscount Hardinge of Lahore (1785–1856) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, has a 'ward to himself'. His 'memory for recent events has long been utterly gone' and he complains that the clocks with which he plays are 'too fast'. Finally, the Queen visited Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >> officers Edward Boxer Boxer, Edward (1784–1855) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and Capt. Christie Christie, Capt. (fl.1855) PU1/28/15/3
Close   View the register entry >>, whose language was 'foul and offensive'. Concludes by noting the Queen's 'entire dissatisfaction with all the arrangements in relation to the War up to the present time'.

Genre:

Illustration, Satire

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

John Leech Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, War, Government, Hospitals, Nutrition, Charlatanry

    Shows Queen Victoria standing before three pathetic looking effigies. One, labelled 'Medical Department' Army Medical Department
Close   View the register entry >>, consists of a bottle of medicine supported on wooden legs and crutches, with a balding, bespectacled head (probably a representation of the Director-General, Andrew Smith Smith, Sir Andrew (1797–1872) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>). Standing next to this is a figure with a pig's head dressed in the costume of a Royal Navy officer and bearing the label 'Routine'. The third effigy, labelled 'Commissariat ', has a turnip for a head, a box of 'Green Coffee' for its neck, and a set of shelves for a torso. These caricatures highligh the incompetence of the Army Army
Close   View the register entry >>, the Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >>, and the Treasury Commissariat Branch Treasury—Commissariat Branch
Close   View the register entry >> in providing adequate medical and food supplies for the Crimean troops.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Surgery, Charlatanry, War, Status

    Responds to a letter in the Medical Times Medical Times (1839–51) Medical Times and Gazette (1851–85) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> describing the role an assistant surgeon in a regimental hospital in ensuring that a convicted army private is 'marked with the letter D' (i.e. branded 'Deserter') before being committed to jail. Claims that medical officers in the Army Army
Close   View the register entry >> perform the 'operations' of William Calcraft Calcraft, William (1800–79) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, the celebrated executioner. Thinks army surgeons in the Crimea bear the same relation 'to the Provost-Marshall which Mr C[alcraft] bears to the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Education, Societies, Instruments, War, Government, Electricity, Instruments

    Following the success of 'associations of young men for the cultivation of each other's minds', reports on the extension of the educational experiment to 'elderly men in the higher ranks'. An 'Old Men's Mutual Improvement Society' is to be founded with the specific intention of applying 'common sense to the conduct of civil and military affairs', an ironic reference to the ineptitude of elderly statesmen and military personnel in the management of the Crimean War. Reports that members of the society will visit the Royal Polytechnic Institution Royal Polytechnic Institution
Close   View the register entry >> and similar institutions, and enjoy access to such scientific instruments as an electrical machine and a galvanic battery.

Genre:

Address, Drollery

Subjects:

Meteorology, Astronomy

    Questions the 'character' of the aurora, on account of 'her' theft of dew, her deposition on mountains of 'gold' stolen from banks, and the 'fine, glowing, malicious pleasure she takes in always breaking the Day'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Photography, Amusement, War

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Commerce

    Questions the legitimacy of calling a medical preparation 'FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE'S BOUQUET', given Florence Nightingale's Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> association with 'Chloride of Lime'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, War, Charlatanry, Mesmerism

    Claims that Andrew Smith Smith, Sir Andrew (1797–1872) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> has been exhibiting the 'rare' Scottish faculty of economy, as shown by his letters to the Army Commander-in-Chief's Office (Horse Guards) Army—Commander-in-Chief's Office (Horse Guards)
Close   View the register entry >> containing 'suggestions for the clothing of troops and the transport of the wounded', which would have spared the lives of many troops. Adds that these letters are evidence of 'second-sight'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Disease, Crime, Taxonomy, Expertise, Medical Practitioners, Charlatanry

People mentioned:

William Cullen Cullen, William (1710–90) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Responding to news that a medical witness (Dr Baller Baller, Dr (fl. 1855) PU1/28/16/4
Close   View the register entry >>) failed to distinguish between melancholia and melancholy, suggests a proper scientific definition of melancholia, as distinguished from melancholy.

Genre:

Proceedings, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners, Class, Industry, Commerce, Homeopathy, Quackery, Political Economy

    A spoof report of a meeting of poor law medical officers, held at the 'Malthus Malthus, Thomas Robert (1766–1834) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> Arms', at which members discussed how pauper patients could enjoy greater medical relief. The chairman, Mr Nightbell, concludes from a report in the Standard Standard (1827–60) Evening Standard (1860–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> and a calculation of expenditure on medical treatments and shoe leather, that the salary of one poor law medical officer, Frederick Smith Garlick, is desperately low. The suggestion of reducing a medical officer's expenditure by regulating the 'system of diet' of the poor is dismissed as having been tried before in the poor law unions. Mr Probin cautiously suggests using homeopathic remedies to reduce costs, a resolution that is seconded by Mr Scruples, who is forced to consider the application of homeopathy to 'Poor Law practice by the homeopathic amount of his salary'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Mental Illness

    Following the large public attendance at a recent Old Bailey Old Bailey Sessions Court
Close   View the register entry >> trial, Punch expects the Old Bailey to provide a programme of events 'after the fashion of that issued by the Directors of the Royal Italian Opera Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden
Close   View the register entry >>'. Gives a specimen programme which includes 'the celebrated / PROFESSOR TAYLOR OF Taylor, Alfred Swaine (1806–80) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> GUY'S HOSPITAL Guy's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >> / And as the now very popular Farce of the / Plea of Insanity / is likely to have a very considerable run, the Managers will no doubt have frequently the pleasure of announcing the names of / DR. FORBES WINSLOW Winslow, Forbes Benignus (1810–74) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, DR. CONOLLY Conolly, John (1794–1866) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and DR. SUTHERLAND Sutherland, John (1808–91) ODNB
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Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Medical Treatment, Accidents, Transport

    Subtitled 'A Versified Version of the Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the irregularities in the Transport of Stores, &c., to the East', laments the way in which 'Medical Stores' held on steamships are 'ground to paste' (172).

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, War, Meteorology

Institutions mentioned:

Army Army
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    Following the establishment of a telegraph to the Crimea, expects that the despatches sent from the battlefield by Fitzroy J H Somerset (1st Baron Raglan) Somerset, Lord Fitzroy James Henry, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, already famous for their meteorological detail, will be 'so au courant with the atmospheric changes that the columns of the papers may as well be arranged in the form of barometers to be filled up' according to the news from the Crimea.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism

    Responding to news that King FrederickWilliam IV Frederick William IV, King of Prussia (1795–1861) CBD CBE
Close   View the register entry >> of Prussia 'will be found eventually to evince a disposition for drawing the sword', claims that not being a 'table-turner' or an 'electro-biologist' Punch cannot prophesy what the king will do, except show 'a disposition for drawing the cork'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Human Development, Morality, Animal Behaviour

Institutions mentioned:

Surrey Zoological Gardens Surrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
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Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Entomology, Analogy, Education, Animal Behaviour, Crime, Politics

    Discusses the claim by Sydney Turner Turner, Sydney (1814–79) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, the Chaplain and Governor of the Philanthropic Farm School who boasted that most of his pupils 'had been substantially moralized—that instead of being wasps, they had become bees'. Discussing the development of 'working and singing' bees, upholds the claim that 'wasps are [...] changeable into bees', but points out that not all bees are 'provident, temperate, industrious'. Observes that bees can get drunk and that 'such are some bees, and such are many men'. Hopes that Turner is right when he insists that wasps 'fed upon wholesome invigorating tasks' can turn into working bees. Expresses pessimism about the efficacy of parliamentary bills for eradicating 'the human wasp' and 'providing for the better production of human bees' by education, and fears that the human 'wasps will be allowed to swarm'.

Genre:

Poetry, Satire

Subjects:

Surgery, Medical Treatment, Disease, Commerce

    Observes that, despite the appearance of leaves on the trees, 'The wind in the East' is still 'at eve [i.e. cool]'. Notes the folly of the 'Lovely woman' who removes her winter clothing too soon and has to take 'Lots of draughts for colds and coughs', and also those who venture into the still damp weather in 'thin shoes'. Laments that there are those who catch chills because they 'venture out' in 'this treacherous season' and explains that the 'man of reason / Stays within, and takes a pill'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Race, Cultural Geography, Natural History

    Noting the variety of reptiles to be found in America, describes the characteristics of 'an American Breed of curs'—the '"STATES" MAN'—notably, its whining and howling at England for interfering in American affairs and in other political issues.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Quackery

    Shows how extracts from William Shakespeare's Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> plays—including Macbeth's speech to the physician in the fifth act of Macbeth, and a speech in the third act of King John—might be used to sell quack medicines.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Meteorology

    Discusses reports in the Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> that the sea serpent has reappeared off the Cape of Delaware and that gigantic hailstones have fallen in Corning. Observes that the hailstones would have killed the serpent had it been in Corning.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Gender, Botany, Domestic Economy

    Defines 'ECONOMIC BOTANY' as buying 'three bad geraniums' with a husband's worn or unsightly clothes.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Military Technology, War, Disease

    Ponders the secret plan of Thomas Cochrane (10th Earl of Dundonald) Cochrane, Thomas, 10th Earl of Dundonald (1775–1860) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> to destroy the Russians and begs to know more about it. Describes the enemy as a 'Ferocious, cruel, wretched race / Of slaves' who 'compel us all to bear / Their own vile Tyrant's yoke', and notes that 'our sole concern' is now to 'quell the pest' and 'bane the vermin best'. Claims that by 'destroying' the Russians, 'Life [...] we save' and 'fewer tears will gush', and that whatever Dundonald's plan—'poison fumes, or liquid fire'—it should be revealed.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Domestic Economy, Sanitation, Analytical Chemistry

People mentioned:

Michael Faraday Faraday, Michael (1791–1867) DSB
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Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, War

    Reports that 'a capital view of Sebastopol' is to be had from the Zoological Society Gardens Surrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, which will be 'nightly assaulted' under the supervision of George H Gordon (4th Earl of Aberdeen) Gordon, George Hamilton-, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (1784–1860) ODNB
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Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Narcotics, Nutrition, Health, Disease, Gender, Temperance

    Responds to an article in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> describing a meeting of the 'United Kingdom Association for the total Suppression of the Traffic in Intoxicating Liquors throughout the United Kingdom'. Observes that if intoxicating liquors are to be banned in the interests of public morality, then so should 'stimulating foods'. Argues that 'Gluttony is equally a vice with drunkenness' since men 'are probably guilty of more deliberate evils' owing to 'cramming and stuffing'. Concludes by noting that 'There are other intoxicating things' which should be banned if liquor sales are to be stopped, including honours and titles.

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Nationalism, Engineers, Engineering, Heroism

    Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of decorating the 'millions' with 'an Order of our own': the 'Cloud of Bees'. Explains that 'the bees, even in the Garden of Eden, were shop-keepers, and would prettily enough represent the counter-industry and counter-sympathies of the English'. Points out that since 'genius cannot—like medals—be struck at the Mint', then 'Men's own works are their best Orders'. Asserts that the Britannia Bridge Britannia Bridge, Menai Straits
Close   View the register entry >>, Menai Straits, stands as the medal for Robert Stephenson Stephenson, Robert (1803–59) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Hospitals, Heroism, War, Disease, Gender

    A eulogy to Florence Nightingale Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Upholds her as the most 'heroic host' that stood before the troops in Sebastopol and as an 'English maiden' who is 'our bravest and our best'. Agrees that men and dogs are brave and that their valour stems from 'simple want of heed', but points out that 'courage, in a woman's heart, is bravery indeed'. Identifies the 'great spirit' burning within her 'little breast' as that which 'dared the fever and the pest', and describes the honours, prayers, and blessing bestowed upon her by inhabitants of the military camp. Pondering her examination of the 'Enemy's stronghold', believes that her name and memory will 'live longer' than others and that she will be compared to Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), Saint ('The Maid of Orleans') (c. 1412–31) CBD
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Genre:

Serial, Notes, Satire

Subjects:

War, Disease, Medical Treatment, Sanitation, Public Health, Nutrition, Government

    Subtitled 'How HER MAJESTY's Commissariat Treasury—Commissariat Branch
Close   View the register entry >> were employed in the Island of Routine', satirises in Rabelasian style, the incompetence of the Commissariat in providing adequate supplies for the troops in the Crimea. The activities of the commissariat include purifying water with mud, cleansing sick rooms without chloride of lime, giving the sick 'no medicine', keeping feet warm 'by selling boots without soles', making 'all things out of nothing, and nothing out of all things', and worshipping 'a huge beast named ROUTINE'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Meteorology, Disease, Superstition

    Speculates on the cause of a recent heavy downpour, including an exploration of Vauxhall Gardens Royal Gardens, Vauxhall
Close   View the register entry >>, the opening of which Punch associated with wet weather. Asks Peter Laurie Laurie, Sir Peter (1778–1861) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, a magistrate and deputy-lieutentant for the city of Westminster and county of Middlesex, to 'exercise his magisterial authority in "putting down" the rain' and expresses concern that the weather is causing the death of goslings from 'premature rheumatism'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Music, Disease

    Responding to the fact that 'our celebrated vocalists are in the habit of not singing when advertised, almost as often as they do sing when announced', relishes the idea of a musical work 'on the pathology of the operatic singer, with an exposition' of the diseases suffered by singers. Notes that these diseases include 'Bronchitis Derbyitis' and 'Influenza Ascotica'.

Genre:

Serial, Notes, Satire

Subjects:

War, Sanitation, Public Health, Disease, Government

Institutions mentioned:

Army Army
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    Continuing the satire on the government's incompetence in failing to provide adequate medical supplies and sanitation for the troops in the Crimea, describes the discovery, near the 'Island of Tools', of 'a wonderful apparatus for converting clean water into foul', which was promoted as a device that 'did much for the public health'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

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

Photography, Technology, Gender

People mentioned:

William H F Talbot Talbot, William Henry Fox (1800–77) DSB
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    Shows two women inspecting a Talbotype whilst standing before a photographer and his photographic equipment. One of the women regards the Talbotype as the 'very image' of the other woman, but the latter thinks it has given her an 'enormous' nose and insists on seeing the plate.