Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Ornithology, Natural History, Taxonomy

Genre:

Regular Feature, Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Ornithology, Animal Behaviour, Extinction, Zoological Gardens, Representation

    Reporting the reintroduction of the dodo into England, describes the habitat and eating habits of the animal, and notes that it supports the accuracy of John Savery's Savery, John (fl. 1858) PU1/34/1*2
Close   View the register entry >> drawing of the animal in the Ashmolean Museum Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Close   View the register entry >>. Explains how David W Mitchell Mitchell, David William (1813–59) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> will help the animal to continue its strange eating habits in the Zoological Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Instinct

    Describes the discovery of some bats in the west of England which have been trained to carry letters between lovers, and repeats the claim of Rev. Henry Walsingham Walsingham, Rev. Henry (fl. 1858) PU1/34/1x/3
Close   View the register entry >> that the bats are intelligent enough to gauge the appropriate moment to fly around his church.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Commerce, Surgery

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

Swain Sc Swain, Joseph (1820–1909) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Geology, Gender, Amateurism

    Shows several young women on a beach, some of whom are sketching and some of whom hold geologists' hammers ready to crack rocks open.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Universities, Sound

Institutions mentioned:

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

Publications cited:

Bacon 1620 Bacon, Francis 1620. Instauratio magna, London: Joannem Billium typographum regium
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Electricity, Meteorology, Heroism

People mentioned:

Benjamin Franklin Franklin, Benjamin (1706–90) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Commerce

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Surgery

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Mathematics, Education, Gender, Amusement

    'Bisect the modern bells and find the real woman'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Physiology, Light

    Describes a salamander, domesticated by the Bachuela Indians, which emits light from round spots, and, unlike most lizards, can prove the 'allegation of the philosopher that the Salamander could resist the action of the fire'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Education

Publications cited:

Hogg's Instructor Hogg's Weekly Instructor (1845–49) Hogg's Instructor (1849–55) Titan (1856–59) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Regular Feature, Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Monstrosities, Animal Development

    Describes a report of five kittens who, having been tossed into a pond in Lincolnshire, were later found to have been raised by a carp to be amphibious. Adds that the young carp have learnt how to mew and that the developed cats stalked a water rat.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Commerce, Class

    'Continue to underpay the Workhouse Doctor, and then you will probably render his situation a sinecure'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Engineering, Steam-power

    'Ten pounds to MR. BRUNEL Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806–59) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, for the best hydraulic Ram. Reared upon timber and iron. By Steam, out of Boiler. On view at Millwall'. The reference is to the SS Great Eastern SS Great Eastern
Close   View the register entry >>, which was built at J Scott Russell & Co.'s Shipyard, Millwall Russell (J Scott) & Co.—Shipyard, Millwall
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Transport, Medical Practitioners, Commerce

    Requests a nurse 'to superintend the nursing of a line of Omnibuses, which are intefering with the business of an Opposition Company'. The duties of the nurse include taking customers away from rival firms and using verbal abuse to deter passengers from riding on the more comfortable vehicles of the rival firm.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Crime, Disease, Medical Practitioners, Commerce, Quackery, Charlatanry

    Describes the case of John E Stephens Stephens, John Edward (1820–70) WBI The Times, 2 December 1857, p. 11f
Close   View the register entry >>, a former Army Army
Close   View the register entry >> surgeon and manager of the failed London and Eastern Banking Corporation London and Eastern Banking Corporation
Close   View the register entry >>, who failed in his attempt to secure the adjournment of a bankruptcy charge against him on medical grounds, as he was unable to produce a medical certificate to confirm his 'nervous suffering'. Points out that Stephens was not allowed to certify his own illness and suggests that he should have escaped the bankruptcy charges by disguising himself. Expecting similar cases of bankrupts who claim to suffer from 'malades imaginaires'. Suggests an 'opening for the Faculty of Quacks, who will not be deterred by any squeamishness of conscience from furnishing false evidence to support a patient's plea for the adjournment of his case'. Presents a fictional advertisement from a 'RETIRED PHYSICIAN' offering to supply medical certificates to those facing trial. It boasts that 'The Physicians, having mastered the slang of the profession, can couch his statements in such highly scientific verbiage, that he will warrant that their genuineness will always pass unquestioned'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals, Quackery, Amusement, Display

    Describes the Christmas tree on display at the Apothecaries' Hall Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
Close   View the register entry >>. The tree is decorated with illuminated 'chemists' bottles and doctor's lamps', as well as 'vials of the most fashionable medicines', but only 'a few patent medicines'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Accidents, Engineering

Institutions mentioned:

SS Leviathan SS Leviathan
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Disease, Medical Practitioners, Crime

    Referring to the case of John E Stephens Stephens, John Edward (1820–70) WBI The Times, 2 December 1857, p. 11f
Close   View the register entry >> (see Anon, 'A Good Opening for Quacks', Punch, 34 (1858), 7) suggests the possibility of an increase in 'a certain class of nervous ailments and disorders' caused by 'free living on other people's money'. Describes how patients suffering from this condition become confused and unable to answer questions. Despite his own medical training, Stephens could not relieve his nervous disorder and resorted to travelling to the cooler climate of Scotland. Describes how the 'keen' environment of the north caused him to loose his breath, a condition from which he suffered when confined in court. Proceeds to describe the case of 'those interesting invalids, poor MESSRS. CAMERON and WAUGH', who sought to alleviate their nervous disorders by 'Living in retirement at some continental watering-place'. The references are to Hugh I Cameron Cameron, Hugh Innes (1820–58) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, the fraudulent general manager of the failed Royal British Bank Royal British Bank
Close   View the register entry >>, and William P Waugh Waugh, William Petrie (fl.1853–65) Taylor 2005
Close   View the register entry >>, director of Stephens's London and Eastern Banking Company London and Eastern Banking Corporation
Close   View the register entry >>. Punch clearly believes that such medical complaints are bogus and that 'victims' escape to foreign climes to avoid publicity. Returning to the case of Stephens, Punch thinks that the case will involve 'an attack of the criminal law fever' and a 'smartish touch of the collarer'.

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:

Invention, Political Economy, Industry

    The caption reads 'Our Manchester Friend tries his hand at "Spinning" for Jack'. The illustration shows a man (a representative of the Manchester school of economics) fishing with a line that is being fed off a spinning jenny, on the treadle of which he rests his foot.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Chemistry, Sanitation, Pharmaceuticals, Amusement, Class, Invention

Institutions mentioned:

Army

    Describes a proposal by a correspondent in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> to replace the foul liquid of the Serpentine Serpentine, lake, Hyde Park
Close   View the register entry >> with fresh salt water from Brighton. Questions why 'chemical science' cannot stop the Serpentine turning into a 'cesspool' 'by a combination of its resources with the scheme of the Artesian well'. Believes the 'sanitary revolution' may be 'made with rose-water', so that the Serpentine could be 'imbued' with perfumes. In the meantime, suggests that the 'superior classes' and the 'British Public' would benefit from fresh water being conveyed into the lake, and thinks 'any philosophical propounder of a plan for the replacement of the Serpentine slush by salt-water, would quietly accept the advice to describe his invention to the Marines'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Geology, Religious Authority, Religion, Superstition

    Describes the contest between the earthquake and priests at Naples, both of which are trying to be 'the more shocking'. Notes from a correspondent's report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> that priests and their flocks flogged themselves with ropes in chastisement for their sins, but observes that 'the earthquake had the advantage of the priests in shaking, even to overthrow, the monuments, at least, of their superstition'. One of these monuments is a Madonna 'who had granted some special favours during the earthquakes'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Lecturing, Mental Illness

    Reports on Alexander Peddie Peddie, Alexander (fl. 1850) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> who gave a paper to the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh
Close   View the register entry >> on the 'treatment of drunken maniacs' and covered the topic 'in an exhaustive manner'. Observes that the 'exhaustiveness' of Peddie's lecture is 'too general' a 'characteristic of scientific lectures; for most of those discourses exhaust either the patience or the nervous energy of the audience'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Natural History, Ethnography, Specimen Trading

Institutions mentioned:

Customs Customs
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of the arrival in Southampton docks of a shipment, addressed to Dr Schwarz of Germany (possibly anthropolgist Eduard Schwarz Schwarz, Eduard (1831–62) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>), of natural history specimens including 'the head of negro preserved in brandy in a jar'. Notes that a trick was played on custom officials who evidently tasted the 'spirituous liquor' in which these gruesome specimens were preserved. Henceforth, the officials will have to 'assure themselves that the brandy in which alleged anatomical preparations are imported, really contains those objects of medical science'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Accidents, Engineering, Religious Authority

    Observes that the idea of a Sunday tide floating the SS Leviathan SS Leviathan
Close   View the register entry >> provides an opportunity for the Record Record (1828–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> to denounce the 'wickedness of setting the tide to work on a Sunday'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Hospitals, Sanitation

Institutions mentioned:

General Lying-in Hospital General Lying-in Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Cultural Geography

    Describes the interpretation by some 'savages' of a mysterious iron structure cast on an African shore. Notes that they thought it might be the 'ribs of some monster Leviathan SS Leviathan
Close   View the register entry >>' but that it turned out to be 'the mangled remains of a lady's Crinoline'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Spoof

Subjects:

Narcotics, Controversy, Medical Treatment, Health, Disease

    Noting the continuation of the 'Tobacco Controversy', provides a spoof summary of an unpublished report by a 'Committee of tobacco-stoppers', which sought evidence from 1500 smokers on whether smoking was harmful and what counted as 'excessive'. The survey found that most smokers think excessive smoking is an impossibility, that politicians take tobacco to stop the 'narcoticism' of their parliamentary speeches, and that medical students only smoke 'medicinally' and think that it provides a 'fumigant protective from infection'. It was also judged a remedy for bronchitis and only one gentleman had injured himself through smoking—by smoking 'underneath the blankets of his bed'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Time, Technology,

    Announcing the publication of a new 'Railway Guide', the writer hopes the work will contain information on 'how long each train will be detained behind its time on the journey' and likely places and times of collision. Also hopes it will include a 'Railway Pronouncing Dictionary', which will help passengers to understand guards and porters and to 'get out at the right station'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Amusement, Engineering, Gender

    Describes 'La Crinoline de Leviathan', a new petticoat whose size, sluggish properties, difficulty of launching, and ability to attract crowds of sightseers, are clearly modelled on the SS Leviathan SS Leviathan
Close   View the register entry >>, the giant ship which was finally launched on 31 January 1858.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Hydropathy

    Announces that 'packing patients in wet sheets' was practiced 'on patient travellers in hotels' before it was allegedly discovered by Vincenz Priessnitz Priessnitz, Vincenz (1799–1851) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Animal Development, Education

    Discusses the power of 'the American, John S. Rarey Rarey, John Solomon (1828–66) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> [...] over untrained and vicious horses'. Notes that the horse tamer 'communicated his secret to Sir Richard Airey Airey, Richard, Baron Airey (1803–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>', who allegedly told Punch that Rarey's secret involved telling the horse, 'If you don't obey, old hoss, I guess I'll read you something out the Morning Star Morning Star (1856–69) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Military Technology, Commerce

Genre:

Regular Feature, Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Ancient Authorities, Monstrosities, Natural History, Politics, Government

People mentioned:

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

Publications cited:

Pinnock [1815?] [Pinnock, William] [1815?]. A Catechism of Geography, Bristol: Philip Rose
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Politics

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Observatory, Greenwich

    Noting that Emperor Napoleon III Napoleon III, Emperor of France (originally Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte)) (1808–73) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of France has compared himself to Julius Caesar Caesar, Julius (Gaius Julius) (100–44 BC) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, discusses George B Airy's Airy, Sir George Biddell (1801–92) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> pamphlet and map (Airy 1852 Airy, George Biddell 1852. On the Place of Caesar's Departure from Gaul for the Invasion of Britain, and the Place of his Landing in Britain, with an Appendix of the Battle of Hastings, London: J. B. Nichols and Sons
Close   View the register entry >>) which prove that Caesar 'did not come to Dover', but is more likely to have arrived in Pevensey.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Animal Behaviour, Controversy

    Discusses the observation of the 'Great Sea Serpent' by a 'British navigator'. Asks 'Where, if there is a serpent of the deep [...] Can that extraordinary reptile keep', especially since, as 'an amphibious creature', he 'can't be always swimming in the sea'. Paraphrasing a line from William Shakespeare's Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Macbeth, wonders whether the serpent is not 'a false creation, / Proceeding from the grog-oppressed brain', but notes that those who saw it 'say they saw him plain, / Without the customary duplication'. Satisfied that the beast is 'a long way out at sea; / For nowhere else that monster doth appear', and can only 'conjecture' over whether 'a Sea Serpent does or does not swim'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Religious Authority

    Announces the 'doom of the SS Leviathan SS Leviathan
Close   View the register entry >>' and expects that the ship 'must be lost, or broken up, or other way swept off from the face of the waters'. Implicitly (but not seriously) agreeing with the Record's Record (1828–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> view that the ship's satanic name had determined its ugly fate, observes that Isambard K Brunel Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806–59) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> was 'misguided' to try to launch the ship on a Sunday. Grieves over the ship's fate but thinks that soon 'not an atom of the ill-starred ship will be distinguishable'. Adds that the Record had already begun writing a leader on the disaster and notes the horror of Record readers at news of the ship's Sunday launch.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Steam-power, Mathematics, Steamships

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Crime

    Responding to the French reaction to a recent attempt to assassinate Emperor Napoleon III Napoleon III, Emperor of France (originally Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte)) (1808–73) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, reports that an 'imperial decree has just appeared in Paris for the creation of the five great military commands, whose duties are to extend over the preservation of order, and the annihilation of liberty, in the British Empire'. Asserts that the five military divisions will cover Leicester Square, Soho, Birmingham, Guernsey, and Jersey, and that they will communicate with the Ministry of Police in Paris by telegraph.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Disease, Sanitation, Cultural Geography, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Politics

    Describes a spoof legal case in which 'CHARLES LOUIS NAPOLEON' (i.e. Emperor Napoleon III Napoleon III, Emperor of France (originally Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte)) (1808–73) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>) accuses 'MR. JOHN BULL, a keeper of a Common Lodging House, much frequented by foreigners' (i.e. England), with 'various offences under the Common Lodging Houses Act'. Mr Punch, the 'Magistrate', cross-examines Napoleon about his claim that the landlord had neglected to tell the police about 'dangerous cases of contagious or epidemic disorder', and that he had been attacked by 'La Fièvre Rouge'. Napoleon later reveals that he is a medical practitioner who has specialised in the 'treatment of this very disorder' and describes how he sought to treat the disease with blood-letting, change of air, administering cayenne, and preventing 'mental exertion'. At the end of the trial the magistrate concludes that 'there was no proof that the defendant knew of the existence of the alleged cases of the very serious disorder deposed to by the principal witness' and that he was 'not bound to inform the police of suspected cases'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships

Institutions mentioned:

SS Leviathan SS Leviathan
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Nutrition, Health

    Responding to news of the publication of 'Dietary Self Cure of Corpulency' (probably a reference to one of the editions of Moore 1856 Moore, Alfred William [1856]. Corpulency; i.e. Fat or Embonpoint in Excess. Letters to the Medical Times, by A. W. Moore, Explaining Briefly His Newly Discovered Diet System to Reduce Weight and Benefit the Health, London: printed for the author
Close   View the register entry >>) , predicts that it will contain suggestions such as a diet of 'biscuits and water', or of things which one particularly hates. Notes Charles J H Dickens's Dickens, Charles John Huffam (1812–70) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> remark that 'breakfast off a cigar' would preserve the figure, advice that it recommends to 'a young swell who is anxious lest he should become swollen'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Supernaturalism, Spiritualism, Natural Law

    Reports on the observation of a sea serpent off Saint Helena, which seems to be a favourite location for the monster. Speculates that 'if there is any truth in the theory of the transmigration of the souls', then the sea serpent's soul will haunt the vicinity of Saint Helena. Notes that 'the age of prodigies and portents is fast reviving', with the publication of a work entitled 'Spirit Drawings' (possibly a reference to Wilkinson 1858 Wilkinson, Walter Meacock 1858. Spirit Drawings: A Personal Narrative, London: Chapman & Hall
Close   View the register entry >>). Goes on to discuss the frontispiece of a work entitled 'Spirit Manifestations' (possibly a reference to Dods 1854 Dods, John Bovee [1854]. Spirit Manifestations Examined and Explained: Judge Edmonds Refuted; or, An Exposition of the Involuntary Powers and Instincts of the Human Mind, New York: De Witt & Davenport
Close   View the register entry >>) and again suggests that this signals the revival of more ghostly portents. Returning to the subject of the sea serpent, claims that it is the spirit of Emperor Napoleon I Napoleon I, Emperor of France (1769–1821) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of France, who seeks to deliver a message which no British seaman can understand. Speculates that the reason why the spirit flounders in the Atlantic Ocean instead of coming to the English Channel to speak to his nephew, Emperor Napoleon III Napoleon III, Emperor of France (originally Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte)) (1808–73) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, is because 'the laws of spiritualism do not allow that channel of communication'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Patronage, Commerce

    Notes the considerable inequality between the poor rate paid by the Bank of England Bank of England
Close   View the register entry >> (£72) and that by the Apothecaries' Hall Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
Close   View the register entry >> (£231).

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Language, Charlatanry

    Discusses one of the 'drollest mistakes' made by the electric telegraph—a misspelt name. Suggests that 'the wire which creates nicknames may coin new phrases, and the British vocabulary may be indefinitely augmented by the blunders of the Electric Telegraph'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Engineering, Nutrition

    Believes that the amount of sugar and water 'which are daily swallowed in conjunction' at French cafes, 'would respectively suffice to freight and float the lately launched Britannic Ship, Leviathan SS Leviathan
Close   View the register entry >>'.

Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Discovery, Expertise, Politics

    Asserts that, like Virgil Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro) (70–19 BC) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, Prime Mininster Henry J Temple (3rd Viscount Palmerston) Temple, Henry John, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> has given 'a sketch of "Civis Romanus" [Roman citizen], according to [his] notion of the qualities implied in the word'. Reproduces what it claims is Palmerston's poem, which compares the achievements of Britain to those of France. The poem includes the lines 'Let us grant without scruple LEVERRIER Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph (1811–77) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> / Out-telescopes ADAMS Adams, John Couch (1819–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> by far. / What's the odds? The more planets the merrier, / And Neptune can't be a French star'.

Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Music, Crime, Mental Illness, Health, Medical Practitioners, Disease

    Reports Mr Punch's delight at news of a meeting to suppress street noise and his appointment of a committee to take evidence in support of that cause. The fictitious evidence includes that from Mrs Materfamilias, who links the near death of her child and her 'nervous fever' to Italian organists, and adds that her husband 'caught inflammation of the chest by going after a policeman one night, who refused to act'. Another witness, Dr Febrifuge, connects the 'protracted sufferings of many of his patients to their inability to procure repose' caused by howling at night.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Railways, Commerce, Accidents

    The writer is alarmed by the complaint made by Mr Vance Vance, Mr (fl. 1858) PU1/34/10/2
Close   View the register entry >> at the half-yearly meeting of the Eastern Counties Railway Company Eastern Counties Railway Company
Close   View the register entry >> concerning the extensive compensation payments it made to passengers injured on its lines. Noting the assurance of Horatio Low Low, Horatio (Chairman of the board of directors of the Eastern Counties Railway Company) (fl. 1858) PU1/34/10/2
Close   View the register entry >>, chairman of the board of directors, that the matter was being given the 'most serious' attention, points out that the 'best method of saving fracture-money' would be to 'organize the arrangements of his dangerous railway rather better'. Adds that his thrift should 'consist in the reduction in casualties involving liabilities for funereal baked meats and similar matters, such as surgeons' fees, splints and bandages'. Thinks that Low should have silenced 'such indiscreet complaints' as those made by Vance if he wanted to run his firm without caring for passengers.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Illustration, Caricature

Subjects:

Astronomy, Politics, Government

    Shows the sun, in which there appears the face of Edward H Stanley (Lord Stanley) Stanley, Edward Henry, 15th Earl of Derby (formerly styled 'Lord Stanley') (1826–93) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, being eclipsed by the face of his father, Prime Minister Edward G G S Stanley (14th Earl of Derby) Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, which is made to form part of the mountainous surface of the moon. This is a reference to Lord Stanley's appointment to the position of Colonial Secretary in his father's cabinet, and also to the imminent 'Great Solar Eclipse' of 15 March.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

War, Disease, Health

    Hopes, contrary to most people's desires, that a cure for seasickness will not be found, as this helps 'unman the ships of our adversaries'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Scientific Practitioners, Education, Expertise, Class, Religion

    Responding to a Univers Tribune Catholique, La (1832) Univers (Religiuex, Politique, Philosophique, Scientifique et Litteraire) (1833–60) Bibliotheque Nationale
Close   View the register entry >> list of the number of aristocrats 'converted to Popery in England', questions the implication that aristocratic titles 'involve theological intuitions' and argues that if significant numbers of individuals from the various scientific, medical, and intellectual professions had converted this 'would have been somewhat more to the purpose'.

Genre:

Fragment, Spoof

Subjects:

Mathematics, Ancient Authorities, Instruments, Mesmerism

    In defining 'A', observes that it 'denotes a universal affirmative proposition, such as Manchester and Meanness are synonyms', 'an unknown quantity' in algebra, and points out that 'Amongst the Romans A signified 5000, amongst the Greeks number 1, so absurdly vague were those puerile people of antiquity in their ideas'. Under 'ABACUS', observes that it was 'a table used by ancient mathematicians, covered with dust or sand on which they drew figures with their fingers' and 'an instrument for facilitating operations by means of counters, but so complicated that we prefer sending the reader down to Oxford or Regent Street' where shop windows demonstrate the principle. Adds that 'Abacus Pythagoricus is a table of numbers ready cast up to facilitate working in arithmetic', which has now been 'rigorously excluded from schools'. In defining 'ABADIR', notes that it was the 'name of the stone which SATURN swallowed under the absurd supposition that it was his own little boy JUPITER', an explanation which Punch belives only electro-biology can explain.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Railways, Medical Practitioners

    Discusses a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of a failed attempt by Sabbatarians to stop Sunday trains on a Scottish railway line. Notes that Sabbatarians have also failed to stop 'medical men and relatives to be procured on Sundays at the bed of sickness or death'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoology, Animal Behaviour, Scientific Practitioners, Politics, Nationalism

    In an apparent reference to a new Anglo-French row, hopes that the 'learned zoologists' can 'find out the reason' why 'the [British] Lion hates Chanticleer's strain' [the crowing of the French Cock], and notes that 'it is a curious fact in zoology / That the growl of the Lion so works on the Cock, / That it sets his a crowing: and neither's apology / Addressed to the other, can soften the shock'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Engineering, Military Technology

    Referring to the capture of two English engineers in Naples by King Ferdinand II Ferdinand II, King of the Two Sicilies (1810–59) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of the Two Sicilies, suggests blowing up 'that pig-headed potentate with a few "amiable words"' and then 'a little amiable gunpowder', which is unprecedented in solving 'engineering difficulties'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Mental Illness, Disease, Cultural Geography, Travel, Politics

    A response to the decision by the French government to change its passport system so 'as practically to exclude the majority of British travellers from France'. Explains this move as a reaction to 'liberty-fever', a 'moral plague', which Englishmen communicate 'to most foreigners with whom they come in contact'. It is 'attended with a kind of mental exaltation in which the patient seems to talk and act rationally' but 'in the opinion of the state-doctors' suffers from a 'dangerous delirium'.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy, Observation, Observatories, Animal Behaviour

    Illustrates the domestic and meteorological troubles which the author faced in his attempt to observe the solar eclipse of 15 March. Notes that by the time he had blackened a glass pane for observing the eclipse, clouds blocked the view, but later is convinced that an 'increasing greyness' is due to the eclipse. Attempts to identify the species of bird in his garden which sings in 'utter disregard of the Eclipse'—animal behaviour which contradicts his expectations. When the sky lightens, he discards his smoked-glass screen and walks out into the rain.

Genre:

Paper, Spoof

Subjects:

Natural History, Zoology, Animal Behaviour, Mental Illness, Physiology, Politics, Human Development

    A report on a paper presented to the 'Natural History Section' of the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >> opens with a description of Alexander von Humboldt Humboldt, Alexander von (Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von) (1769–1859) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> and John Hunter's Hunter, John (1728–93) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> work on the Gymnotus electricus (electric eel), and a reminder that the 'unscientific' can see it at the Royal Polytechnic Institution Royal Polytechnic Institution
Close   View the register entry >>. With his familiar juxtaposition of esoteric scientific terms and social commentary, Mr Punch presents his detailed researches supporting that claim that the 'power of producing torpidity' is exhibited by 'the second, or Subbrachial group of the Malacopterygii' which includes sole, founder, turbot, and plaice. Describes the effects on humans of eating these particular species of fish: sole seems to produce a shock and a tendency to escape from the room, while the common flounder affects the muscles and nerves of speech and accordingly ruins after-dinner speeches. More potent, however, is the plaice, which according to Mr Punch's experiments on the effects of the fish on the statesman Ralph Bernal Osborne Bernal Osborne, Ralph (1808?–82) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, has the immediate effect of causing 'a visible indisposition to exertion'. Osborne's movements are 'evidently done [...] in a cataleptic state', and his 'faculties became benumbed', his 'promises and pledges' forgotten, and other characteristics lost. After fellow statesmen removed the plaice, Osborne was seen to regain his powers of 'vivacity, sting, and readiness', and is now so fully recovered that nobody would think he was once a 'dull, dead, silent, and apparently insensible man'. Mr Punch submits that the plaice must rank higher than the Gymnotus electricus for its electrical powers.

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:

Astronomy, Animal Behaviour

    Depicts a young boy, his aunt and sisters relaxing in a drawing room. The boy reads a newspaper report of the recent eclipse and its apparently 'extraordinary effect upon the inferior animals', and tells his aunt and the 'girls' that he would have 'have you and the girls look out for squalls'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Transport, Technology, Progress, Government

    Laments the ongoing failure of the new omnibus to appear and compares the tardiness of omnibus reform to that of the Reform Bill.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Observation

    'The Eclipse, and the very little effect produced by it'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Astronomy, Animal Behaviour, Amateurism, Observation, Instruments, Periodicals

    Noting the anticipated effects of the eclipse on animals, draws attention to the 'ample evidence' from correspondents in support of this claim (notably the cessation of bird song during the eclipse). However, seeks to remedy the fact that 'no mention had been made in any scientific journal of the ecliptical effects upon the London brute creation'. Offers a series of spoof reports from such individuals as 'an amateur astronomer' and 'a highly scientific gentleman', whose observations of the extraordinary behaviour of domestic animals appears to have only a tenuous connection with the eclipse. For example, Mr Spoone of Islington claimed that 'at half-past twelve o'clock one of his canary birds suddenly stopped singing, and continued silent for ten minutes. It is, however, doubtful if the observation can be considered of much value, inasmuch as MASTER SPOONE chanced to give the bird a lump of sugar at the time, and this might have occasioned the effect which was remarked'. The first letter of the article, 'O', is a woodcut in the shape of an eclipsed sun, which in the adjacent illustration is being observed through a tabletop telescope by a crouching figure. A clown looks through the other end of the instrument.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Meteorology, Climatology, Prognostication, Cultural Geography, Politics

    Notes the prediction by William Parsons (3rd Earl of Rosse) Parsons, William, 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800–67) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> of a very hot summer. Claims that the astronomer 'must have founded his prophesy on the meteorology of Ireland', where the 'mildness of the season is proved by the visible sprouting of the orange plant in the Castle Dublin Castle
Close   View the register entry >> conservatories in Dublin', following the recent appointment of Archibald W Montgomerie (13th Earl of Eglinton) Montgomerie, Archibald William, 13th Earl of Eglington and 1st Earl of Winton (1812–61) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Eglington, who had previously served in this office, was noted for his fairness and liberality.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Physiology, Natural Law, Government

    Protests that the new bill for legalising marriage with a deceased wife's sister is a physiological rather than a theological question. Insisting that 'what is physiologically right is theologically right also', the writer argues that Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >> should be a 'theological assembly' and 'ought to legislate on the foundation of natural laws', but claims that he will warmly oppose natural laws and other 'mandates' coming from this authority.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Light, Instruments, Observation, Amateurism

    Describes one of the 'Optical Phenomena attending the Eclipse'—the discovery of several hundred black eyes caused by the 'injudicious' use of smoked-glass plates to observe the celestial event. Recounts the experience of Mr Swipey, who sought to carry out George B Airy's Airy, Sir George Biddell (1801–92) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> suggestion that 'elevated' persons should 'remark the changes of appearance of surrounding objects': he became 'elevated' (drunk) and noted that the eclipse made all objects 'look double'. Following Airy's suggestion to gauge the sun's luminosity using a candle, 'a gentleman at Peckham' singed off part of his right eyebrow, which can be seen 'without the aid of any instrument'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Quackery, Patronage

    Notes that patrons of homeopathy dined together on All Fools' Day.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Astronomy, Observation, Photography, Amateurism, Comparative Philology

    Informs Mr Punch of his interest in the letters of George B Airy Airy, Sir George Biddell (1801–92) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, John R Hind Hind, John Russell (1823–95) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, and the secretary of the Photographic Society of London Photographic Society of London
Close   View the register entry >> (William Crookes Crookes, Sir William (1832–1919) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>) on the solar eclipse. Noting his favourable geographical location for observing the event, presents his observations bearing upon the outbreak of spots on the sun's face. Using his 'travelling DOLLOND Dollond, John (1706–61) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>' placed in his coach-house, he projected an image of the sun onto paper and then a collodion plate. Reports that shortly after the contact of the solar and lunar images, he 'saw a dark object stealing over' the sun's upper rim, a monstrous animal which, as the illustration of the collodion plate shows, was evidently a spider on the telescope lens. Reckons that this casts into shade other solar phenomena, including 'red flames, crowns of glory, dark projections from the rim of the moon's shadow, BAILEY's Baily, Francis (1774–1844) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> beads'. Convinced by the genuineness and importance of his observation, speculates that it might give 'foundation' to 'the wild Norse legend of the dragon that is one day to devour the Sun and Moon'. Finally, he noticed a spider hanging from the end of his telescope and, identifying himself as a disappointed 'student of nature', crushes the insect.

Genre:

Dialogue, Spoof

Subjects:

Natural History, Zoology, Politics

    Dialogue between a 'Clever Child' and a 'Savage Father' who explains that the difference between a Tory and a Conservative is the same as that between 'a Crocodile and an Alligator'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Vaccination, Medical Treatment, Nutrition

Institutions mentioned:

Royal College of Physicians Royal College of Physicians
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses a report in the Bristol Times Bristol Times (1839–53) Felix Farley's Bristol Journal (1853–64) Daily Bristol Times and Mirror (1865–83) Bristol Times and Mirror (1883–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of a remedy for preventing smallpox scars that involves bathing the marks in tripe-liquor. Struck by the fact that tripe is derived from the same quadruped from which smallpox vaccinations are produced, suggests that the 'internal use' of tripe might also stop smallpox. Recommends that anybody 'apprehensive of catching small-pox' should try this experiment.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Organic Chemistry, Politics, Language, Government

    Compares and contrasts the government's India Bill with organic chemistry. On the one hand, the bill is like organic chemistry, in that 'it is a complicated matter', although the jumble of matter in organic compounds can be disentangled while that in the bill cannot. On the other hand, the bill is unlike organic chemistry, because the former is 'the work of a Ministry of simple Conservatives', while the latter is 'a product of the Chemistry of the Compound Radicals'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Railways, Accidents, Commerce

    Following a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, discusses the fact that the amount of compensation payments paid out by railway companies in the event of an accident is proportional to the pecuniary circumstances of the victim. Suggests that this makes railway companies protect the rich rather than the poor traveller, but urges that the payment should be 'no respecter of persons'. Goes on to suggest that 'mutilations ought to be rated in some measure according to the marketable value of the member or the feature spoiled'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Superstition, Observation

    Discusses the confusion of one of its rural correspondents over the use of 'limbs' in descriptions of the sun and moon. While accepting that the sun and moon have 'eyes, nose, and mouth', as shown on pub signs, he thinks those who assert that the celestial bodies have limbs 'have not [...] a leg to stand on'.

Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Quackery, Human Development

    Features a song by a family doctor, who examines a child's tongue, and thinks the 'world is but a gilded Pill, / The breeze of fame a sweetened draught'. He adds that when the pills fail you, 'You'll know what hollow spells you've quaffed', and urges the child to call on him whenever 'darkest visions near thee blend'. (154)

Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Prognostication, Superstition, Meteorology, Politics, Astronomy, Instruments, Government, Observation

    Discusses rumours spreading around the various clubs that William Parsons (3rd Earl of Rosse) Parsons, William, 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800–67) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> has predicted that the approaching parliamentary session 'would be about one of the hottest ever known' (a reference to Rosse's prediction of a hot season). In contradiction to these rumours, the writer presents a communication allegedly from Rosse, who denies the truth of the statement imputed to him and claims, 'by the testimony of his Telescope, which enables him to look into the middle of several weeks to come, that the session of 1858 will be about one of the mildest known for years'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Disease, Politics, Government, Quackery, Reading

    Offers the Prime Minister, Edward G G S Stanley (14th Earl of Derby) Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, some political advice which is given as if Punch were a political physician administering medicine to the English constitution. Advises Derby to change his principles by taking 'a course of alternative medicine', notably 'some strong purgatives to drive out by degrees all his party prejudices'. Thinks his political demise can be averted by several means, including swallowing 'a Reform pill without waiting till next session', because 'Unless taken quite in time, a tonic will prove useless'. Goes on to advise the 'weak' premier to take a 'good strong dose of Punch', which contains no 'quackism' and is 'In all political diseases [...] the only sure corrective'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Botany, Natural History, Nutrition, Government

People mentioned:

Joseph Banks Banks, Sir Joseph (1743–1820) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Responding to an article in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> describing the discovery of a gigantic fungus in a Doncaster tunnel, suggests that the plant is probably 'good to eat'. Noting the incredible growth rate, appearance, and strength of the fungus, and other edible fungi, recommends this specimen to the Lord Mayor of London, Robert W Carden Carden, Sir Robert Walter, 1st Baronet (1801–88) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, for consumption at a civic feast. Suggests trying the fungi on pigs before alderman, lest the latter grow 'excrescences' from their noses as a result.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Reading, Menageries, Representation, Zoological Gardens, Animal Behaviour, Heroism, Faith

People mentioned:

David W Mitchell Mitchell, David William (1813–59) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>

    Identifying himself as 'an elderly man', the narrator describes his childhood pursuits in natural history, including his reading of William Bingley's Bingley, William (1774–1823) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Anecdotes Bingley, William 1803. Animal Biography; or, Authentic Anecdotes of the Lives, Manners, and Economy, of the Animal Creation, Arranged According to the System of Linnaeus, 3 vols, London: Richard Phillips
Close   View the register entry >> and Oliver Goldsmith's Goldsmith, Oliver (1728?–74) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Animated Nature Goldsmith, Oliver 1774. An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature, London: J. Norse
Close   View the register entry >>, his memories of the lions in the Tower of London Tower of London
Close   View the register entry >>, and of Edward Cross's Cross, Edward (1774?–1854) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Exeter Exchange Royal Menagerie Exeter Exchange—Royal Menagerie
Close   View the register entry >>, where he saw wild animals, including Chuny the elephant, the 'massacre' of which caused him 'bitter [...] suffering'. He relates how Cross's collection was moved to new premises at King's Mews, Charing Cross Cross's Menagerie, King's Mews, Charing Cross
Close   View the register entry >>, and how, with the latter location giving way to the National Gallery National Gallery
Close   View the register entry >>, Cross's animals were replaced by 'wonderful works of art'. Having joined the Zoological Society Zoological Society of London
Close   View the register entry >> and being a frequenter of the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, he found the latter institution inferior to Cross's menagerie. Agrees that the animals are better kept, but stresses that his 'faith in the animals is shaken'. His reverence for elephants as the 'best and wisest of brutes' has evidently been undermined by novelist Charles Reade's Reade, Charles (1814–84) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> unfavourable portrait in Reade 1858 Reade, Charles 1858. Cream: Contains Jack of All Trades, a Matter of Fact Romance, and The Autobiography of a Thief, London: Trübner & Co.
Close   View the register entry >>, his reverence for the camel has been shattered by the criticisms of William H Russell Russell, Sir William Howard (1820–1907) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, and his faith in the lion had been ruined by the accounts of Roualeyn G G Cumming Cumming, Roualeyn George Gordon- (1820–66) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and David Livingstone Livingstone, David (1813–73) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Finally, he notes his loss of faith in the hyena and complains that his zoological beliefs 'are turned topsy-turvy'.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Invention, Technology, Sound, Music, Health

    Describes an invention for protecting the ear against 'the intolerable irritation and distraction occasioned by the Italian organ-grinders'. This consists of a u-shaped piece of wood to which is attached two adjustable screws that fit inside the ear. Suggests likely customers for this invention and an alternative strategy against the street musicians—a noisy dog whose howl overpowers the music.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Commerce, Heroism, Charlatanry, Steam-power

People mentioned:

George Hudson, Hudson, George (1800–71) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> James Watt Watt, James (1736–1819) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

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:

Animal Behaviour, Amusement, Education, Animal Development

    Shows a old horseman gesturing towards his horse who obediently brings him his hat. The caption reads: 'Old Mr. B. found out that the oil of Rhodium system is all nonsense, and has been initiated by Mr Rarey. Whenever he gets split, and loses his hat [...], he just says to his horse, "Fetch it, Old Boy!" and the thing is done!'. This is a reference to John S Rarey's Rarey, John Solomon (1828–66) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> system of taming horses.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Manufactories, Invention, Amusement, Aesthetics, Gender, Patronage, Domestic Economy

    Discusses an American invention of a 'mechanical curl-paper' which allows for the production of systematically arranged hair ringlets, and which Punch regards as 'a great improvement'. Wishes to see a patent taken out for an invention that 'would enable ladies to put their bonnets on in less than five minutes', an invention that Punch expects every husband would purchase.

Genre:

Drama, Drollery; Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Health, Mental Illness, Sound, Music, Instruments

    The illustration shows a sickbed on which lies a boy suffering from a nervous fever induced by the noise of an organ-grinder.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Hospitals, Disease

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Health, Human Development, Education

    Discussing the benefits of ragged playgrounds, as opposed to ragged schools, argues that 'wholesome recreation' provided by such places is a 'vital necessity' for those bodies with 'immature and not yet ripened intellects'. Moreover, such playgrounds will enable the body to grow properly. Adds that 'wholesome play' has a beneficial effect on 'young morals', and so 'calls the judgement into play, while developing the muscles'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Military Technology, Controversy, Commerce

    Discusses a recent controversy in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> over the methods of launching gunboats: in particular, whether they should be kept afloat or hauled up on slips. Laments the idea of public money being used to finance these slipways.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism, Crime, Quackery, Commerce

    Responding to an advertisement in a Birmingham paper from a female 'Clairvoyante' and 'Herbalist', asks whether clairvoyants can see through walls in houses of correction where they have been imprisoned. Goes on to discuss the experiences of a 'professor of Somnambulism', Adolphe Didier Didier, Adolphe (fl. 1856–71) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, who offers his 'oracular consultations' to the fashionable readers of the Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, and who claimed to have predicted the Derby winner during a mesmeric trance. Given that he was forced to publish a book on animal magnetism (Didier 1856 Didier, Adolphe 1856. Animal Magnetism and Somnambulism, London: T. C. Newby
Close   View the register entry >>), Punch suspects that such powers benefit all but the 'owner'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Education, Animal Development, Cruelty

    Discusses the chances of John S Rarey's Rarey, John Solomon (1828–66) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> system being used to tame a hippopotamus, as well as 'stablemen and horsebreakers [...] the very lowest order of the brute creation'. Since Rarey's system works on the affections, the author wonders whether it will succeed with these brutes who have no affections (judging by the cruel manner in which they treat horses). Advises John V S Townshend (Viscount Raynham) Townshend, John Villiers Stuart, 5th Marquess Townshend (formerly styled 'Viscount Raynham') (1831–1925) Cokayne 1910-59
Close   View the register entry >> and the 'Cruelty-Preventers' to take up the matter, and, if this proves too slow, recommends the formation of an 'Equestrian Humane Society' for the 'abolition of horse torture'. Concludes by asking Rarey to 'try his hand at groom-taming'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Quackery

    'No Quack shall be entitled to bring an action for libel against anybody for denouncing him'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Heroism

People mentioned:

Edward Jenner Jenner, Edward (1749–1823) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Animal Development, Education, Mesmerism, Cruelty

    Discusses his use of John S Rarey's Rarey, John Solomon (1828–66) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> method of taming horses. Opens by describing how he prevented a groom from using brute force to tame a horse, instead inviting him to use Rarey's method. A crowd gathers which supports the narrator's rejection of the cruel methods of the groom, but cannot understand Rarey's system. The crowd is then convinced by the narrator's demonstration of Rarey's system, the narrator denying that the effect was connected with 'Electro-biology / Not any magic or mystery'. Finally, the author manages to convince the groom to use Rarey's method of 'Persuasion's gentle force'.

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:

Animal Behaviour, Animal Development, Education, Gender

    Shows a young woman crying because her husband will not tell her the 'taming secret'—a reference to John S Rarey's Rarey, John Solomon (1828–66) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> method of horse-taming.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Vaccination, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Heroism, Discovery, Politics, Disease

    Challenges Thomas S Duncombe's Duncombe, Thomas Slingsby (1796–1861) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> view that the new statue of Edward Jenner Jenner, Edward (1749–1823) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> in Trafalgar Square is out of place among 'naval and military heroes', and that 'everybody' is disgusted by it. Deciding that Duncombe's remarks are not meant in jest but prompted by 'ignorance', explains why Jenner deserves a statue. Mr Punch's argument stresses how Jenner's 'discovery' has dramatically reduced cases of smallpox throughout Europe. (203) Supposing that Duncombe wishes to honour destroyers rather than preservers of the human race, suggests removing the Jenner statue to the Thames Tunnel Thames Tunnel
Close   View the register entry >> and putting 'Crimean generals and Chelsea commissioners' and the disreputable politician William Cox Cox, William (1817–89) Stenton 1976
Close   View the register entry >> on Trafalgar Square pedestals. Concludes by stressing that Jenner 'devoted his life to labour for the good of his kind'. (203–04)

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Politics

    Describes the 'ungovernable' behaviour of the government 'Indian Elephant'. This is an allusion to Edward Law (1st Earl Ellenborough) Law, Edward, 1st Earl of Ellenborough (1790–1871) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, president of the East India Company East India Company
Close   View the register entry >> Board of Control and former governor-general of India, who was often called 'Elephantborough' by Punch. The reference is to Ellenborough's attack on the current governor-general of India, Charles J Canning (1st Viscount Canning) Canning, Charles John, Viscount Canning of Kilbrahan, governor-general and first viceroy of India (1812–62) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, for delivering a proclamation confiscating lands in the Oudh province of India, which threatened to precipitate another rebellion. Punch thinks this behaviour could have been controlled with the taming skills of John S Rarey Rarey, John Solomon (1828–66) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Vaccination, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Heroism

    Reports on Thomas S Duncombe's Duncombe, Thomas Slingsby (1796–1861) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> objection to the statue of Edward Jenner Jenner, Edward (1749–1823) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> in Trafalgar Square and reminds 'the veteran dandy TOM' of the 'myriads and myriads of lives' saved by 'the discovery of vaccination'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Entomology, Disease, Steamships

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Entomological Society of London Entomological Society of London
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of the discovery of the 'auger-worm' disease on board the royal steamship, HMS Barracouta HMS Barracouta
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [2]

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 Behaviour, Animal Development, Education

    The first illustration shows a portly gentleman, Mr Briggs, and other figures standing before a young horse in a stable. The caption explains that Briggs, 'having become an adept in the art of horse-taming, operates upon a colt he has bred himself, and which has never been broken,—'. The sentence continues 'With complete success' under the second illustration, which shows Mr Briggs standing proudly on the colt which now lies on the stable floor.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners

    Discusses a Lancet Lancet (1823–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> advertisement from a medical practitioner who wishes to be introduced 'to the Daughter of a Medical Man, with a view to Marriage and Partnership'. While praising the heart of the advertiser, surmises that the 'boundless love [...] embraces the whole profession, as he in whose glowing breast it palpitates, seems prepared to fold in his arms the child of any member of that profession, and join her papa in practice'. Claiming to be able to 'divine' the character of the doctor from his advertisement, argues that he enjoys moonlight walks, poetry, tender music, and that he gets upset over his 'young and beautiful' consumptive patients.

Genre:

Introduction; Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Quackery, Health, Disease, Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners

    Suggests a verse for quacks who advertise. The author of the poem opens by affirming his generally good state of health, but then describes how he had been afflicted by gout in the limbs, coughs in the chest, and 'dropsy and dyspepsia dire'. Concludes by explaining how doctors and surgeons failed to remedy his symptoms but that 'Professor GAMMON's pills' 'banished every pain'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Vaccination, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Heroism

People mentioned:

Edward Jenner Jenner, Edward (1749–1823) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Regular Feature, Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Quackery, Commerce, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Government, Politics, Pollution, Public Health, Sanitation

    Noting the second reading of William F Cowper's Cowper, William Francis, 1st Baron Mount-Temple (1811–88) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> medical bill, Punch 'intends to move a clause empowering a Magistrate to order any Advertising Quack to be flogged, and branded with a Q', the only solution to 'the murderous system' of 'heartless traders'. Proceeding to report on the introduction of a poisons bill by Edward G G S Stanley (14th Earl of Derby) Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, complains that two million Londoners live over a 'far worse poison'—the Thames. Urges that the river should be cleansed, a sewage system installed, and chemists' shops attacked. (233)

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Politics, Government, Medical Treatment, Surgery

    Identifying him as the 'State Quack', this poem describes Benjamin Disraeli's Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> trumpeting of his political victories to his countrymen. Some of his boasts about his political powers are couched in medical terms: for example, he promises the country that 'we've medicines in store which will serve you far more than any that others could send you', including 'Tory-Whig mixtures, from Peelite prescriptions they're made up', 'Conservative Pills, that will cure all your ills', and 'the best antidotes for too liberal votes, which might bring on a low Radical fever'. Also boasts that he can perform a 'tax-amputation' and that he has a pill which will be called '"Poor Man's Friend", which will keep up his strength without eating'. (235)

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Expertise, Charlatanry, Class

    Discusses the question of the gentlemanly status of Mr Watkins Williams Williams, Watkins (fl. 1858) PU1/34/23/3
Close   View the register entry >> who, in a legal trial, denied being a qualified medical practitioner yet had styled himself a doctor but not a member of the Royal College of Surgeons Royal College of Surgeons
Close   View the register entry >>. Notes that counsel denied that the accused was a gentleman because a gentleman 'was one who had no occupation or calling'. Observes that on this basis vagabonds and quacks would qualify as gentlemen.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Government, Politics, Homeopathy, Disease, Health

    Laments the number of medical bills brought before Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >> and blames this on dissent among doctors. Discussing ways of generating unanimity, suggests that a homeopathic bill 'might do more good than a larger one such as would please the general practitioner' and be acceptable to the Royal College of Physicians Royal College of Physicians
Close   View the register entry >>. Also suggests that 'the best Medical Bill would be 'one founded on the Chinese practice—"to pay the Doctor so long as you were well, and stop the payment the moment you fell ill"'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Disease, Public Health, Taxonomy, Medical Practitioners, Cultural Geography, Engineering, Language, Sanitation

    Discusses a proposal to channel sewer gases from the sewers through large columns on the streets and into the air above people's heads. Goes on to discuss the French origin and etymology of diphtheria, noting the 'slight mistake' that French physicians made in 'christening their little nosological stranger'. Focussing on the removal of the disease, suggests conveying noxious gases from sewers via 'elegant and graceful columns' or lampposts.

Genre:

News-Commentary,

Subjects:

Nutrition, Chemistry

    Discusses a report in the Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> concerning an 'impending moral and physical revolution about to result from Chemistry'—the possibility, enunciated in a recent lecture by Edward Frankland Frankland, Sir Edward (1825–99) DSB DNODNBB
Close   View the register entry >>, of producing foods from their constituents. Boasts that Mr Punch had anticipated Frankland's claim in an article on 'Vegetable Mutton' in Punch's Pocket Book for 1855 Punch's Pocket Book (1842–80) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>. Here, Mr Punch noted that although a galvanized mixture of water, charcoal, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen cannot produce food, 'the discovery of some agent yet more subtle than electricity may one of these days' enable the production of venison from 'air, water, and cinders'. Noting the Morning Post's claim that coal could be used to make bread, surmises that all food and other 'creature comforts' may be produced from coal.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Government, Politics, Quackery, Homeopathy, Expertise

    Discuses a petition sent to the House of Commons House of Commons
Close   View the register entry >> for bringing Albert I Coffin's Coffin, Albert Isaiah (c. 1790/1–1866) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'medico-botanical system' within medical legislation. Questions the ability of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >> to judge the credibility of Coffin's system and suggests that if it does consider it, then it should also consider the medical systems of Christian F S Hahnemann Hahnemann, Christian Friedrich Samuel (1755–1843) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, James Morison Morison, James (1770–1840) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, and advertising quacks. Points out that 'all parliament can do in legislating upon medicine' is to ensure that only those who have satisfied 'competent' medical experts of their skill should be allowed to practice.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Race, Comparative Anatomy, Human Species, Controversy

    Discusses a meeting of the Ethnological Society Ethnological Society of London
Close   View the register entry >> where a Mr Craufurd (John Crawfurd) Crawfurd, John (1783–1868) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> criticised Richard Owen Owen, Richard (1804–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> for confusing the skull of an African with that of 'a Scotch sargeant', a mistake showing the fallacy of distinguishing races of men by their skulls. Punch thinks the skull of the Scottish sergeant came to be confused in this way because it 'had probably been marked as the Skull of Blackie', a pun on the common Scottish surname.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Spoof

Subjects:

Steamships, Engineering

Institutions mentioned:

SS Leviathan SS Leviathan
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses news that New York shipbuilders are constructing 'a ship so tremendously long, that there is no part of the ocean sufficiently broad to enable it to turn'. Adds that the latter problem has been solved by having wheels at its American and English ends which will mean that passengers will simply be able to walk between the two countries. Notes that the ship will also boast cabstands, an omnibus, and shops.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Medical Treatment, Race

    Noting that sulphur cures a cutaneous affliction on the homeopathic principle that like cures like, suggests that the 'Lazzaroni of Naples' have been saved from this disease owing to the immense quantities of sulphur produced by the recent eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Commerce, Government

    Following a report in the Hampshire Telegraph Hampshire Telegraph (1802–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, attacks the government for wasting money on a useless scheme for preserving gunboats by hauling them high above water and then launching them when needed. Laments the slowness of the launching operation and thinks that the Admiralty Admiralty
Close   View the register entry >> deserves a 'good coal hauling'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Accidents, Government, Politics, Engineering

    Report of a railway accident at Slough, the site of a famous banquet at which Benjamin Disraeli Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> described the political controversy sparked by the warning of the president of the East India Company East India Company
Close   View the register entry >> Board of Control, Edward Law (1st Earl Ellenborough) Law, Edward, 1st Earl of Ellenborough (1790–1871) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, to the governor-general of India, Charles J Canning (1st Viscount Canning) Canning, Charles John, Viscount Canning of Kilbrahan, governor-general and first viceroy of India (1812–62) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, that his proclamation confiscating lands in the Oudh province of India threatened to stir up another rebellion. In this report, 'BENDIZZY' (Disraeli) is portrayed as a engine driver whose hasty control of the 'Parliamentary train' called 'Reasoning' caused the accident. The report plays on the similarity between the terms used to describe a railway accident and those used to describe a politician whose train of argument has 'got off the line of truth'. For example, it notes that the 'train [...] was started without notice of the signal "Caution", and was not sufficiently ballasted with facts', and 'just before the break-down, BENDIZZY was "rather going it", and some expressed a hint that he would burst his boiler'. Criticises the zealous and shortsighted 'driving' style of Bendizzy, pointing out that 'this hap-hazard style of driving may be all very well for reckless Opposition work; but it clearly will not do for a Government train, which of course must be kept going at the regular pace'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners, Quackery

    Reports on a parliamentary petition from the 'Undertakers of the United Kingdom' that quacks be allowed unlimited rights to practice under the terms of any medical bill.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Physiology, Surgery, Death, Lecturing

    Discusses the lectures of Charles-E Brown-Séquard Brown-Séquard, Charles-Édouard (1817–94) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> at the Royal College of Surgeons Royal College of Surgeons
Close   View the register entry >>, in which the lecturer identified a point in the brain which, when lightly touched, 'produces instant death'. Notes that the medical term for the structure translates as 'the point as the writer's pen'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Vaccination, Medical Practitioners, War, Heroism

    Noting the decision by Emperor Napoleon III Napoleon III, Emperor of France (originally Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte)) (1808–73) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> to re-vaccinate his whole army, hopes Thomas S Duncombe Duncombe, Thomas Slingsby (1796–1861) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, the notorious opponent of the Trafalgar Square statue of Edward Jenner Jenner, Edward (1749–1823) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, will 'consider that this accounts for the virus displayed by the French army against this country'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Public Health, Sanitation, Government

    Reports on measures taken and to be taken to purify the Thames.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Pharmaceuticals

    Discusses advertisements from Thomas Holloway Holloway, Thomas (1800–83) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and Julien Larue du Barry Larue du Barry, Julien (fl. 1843) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, who claimed to have made themselves ill taking each other's medical substances, but then recovered on taking their own.