Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Invention

    Discusses an article in a 'Transatlantic newspaper' for a 'Patent Cat Exterminator' which consists of a clockwork-driven cast-iron cat that attracts and kills real cats. The author is dismayed by the prospect of cast-iron cats prowling on housetops and caterwauling all night.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Politics, Animal Behaviour, Instinct, Morality

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Zoological Gardens, Animal Behaviour

Institutions mentioned:

Zoological Society—Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Railways, Accidents, Crime

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Physiology, Heroism, Patronage

    Noting the approaching tercentenary of William Harvey's birth, discusses the proposal by the people of Folkstone (where Harvey was born) to erect a statue of the 'great Physician'. Applauds the scheme and presents the address to which donations should be sent for building the statue.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Religious Authority, Politics, Imperialism, Superstition

    Notes that Pope Pius IX Pius IX, Pope (1792–1878) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> urged his audience to pray that 'the stone will fall' and 'overthrow that Colossus'. Punch thinks the Pope meant to pray that 'an aerolite [...] may the German Empire smite'. Notes that the 'Pope's Bull [...] Is against a Comet unerring' and so 'an Asteroid 't will compel / To pound you dead as a herring'. Warns Prince Otto E L von Bismarck Bismarck, Prince Otto Edward Leopold von, Duke of Lauenburg (1815–98) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> about the appearance of shooting stars and meteors.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Engineering, Railways, Transport, Agriculture, Commerce

    A list of several recently registered companies with details of their starting capital, including 'Mid-World Railway', 'Great Desert Fertilisation', and 'Himalayan Tramways'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Exhibition, Zoological Gardens, Menageries, Religion, Religious Authority

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Representation, Education, Expertise, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Natural History, Mathematics, Anatomy, Physiology, Botany, Light

    Contends that the most promising way to cultivate artistic genius and increase the number of good pictures at the Royal Academy Royal Academy of Arts
Close   View the register entry >> is to subject artists, like scientists, to written examinations. Proposes to examine candidates on several technical aspects of their work including the chemistry, specific gravity, and biological provenance of paints, and the botanical, geological, and natural historical aspects of animal and landscape painting. Thinks artists should also master geometry and optics to help them with perspective, and should learn anatomy and physiology to improve their depictions of the human form. Recognises that 'no artist [...] could possibly make himself master of all the sciences' and reflects on the deficiencies of cramming.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Accidents, Comparative Philology

Institutions mentioned:

HMS Minotaur, HMS Minotaur
Close   View the register entry >> HMS Bellerophon HMS Bellerophon
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

W M Mackay, Wallis (1852–1907) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Representation, Machinery, Invention

    Depicts Mr Punch's suggestion to the Royal Academy of Arts Royal Academy of Arts
Close   View the register entry >> for a device to enable critics to 'study every picture, from the highest to the lowest, with equal comfort': it consists of a seat that can be raised, by a gear mechanism, up a wooden tower.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Amusement, Zoology, Geology, Engineering

Institutions mentioned:

Thames Tunnel Thames Tunnel
Close   View the register entry >>

    A list of 'taxes' levied in polite society. These include 'Being asked to take down LADY HUMGRIFFYN to dinner, instead of pretty little MRS. PRATTLETON, because you happen to know something of the Troglodytes, or the Dolomites, or the Zoophytes, or something which happens to be her Ladyship's pet theme for conversation'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Vaccination

Genre:

Song, Satire

Subjects:

Botanical Gardens, Botany, Expertise, Government, Class

    'Noble Savage' is a satirical depiction of the First Commissioner of Works, Acton S Ayrton Ayrton, Acton Smee (1816–86) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. He denies being a market gardener, having any knowledge of botany, or having any breeding, yet proclaims himself 'King of Kew'. He adds that he occupies 'an office of inferiority', but is superior to the Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
Close   View the register entry >>, Joseph D Hooker Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton (1817–1911) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Ayrton recognises Hooker's botanical expertise, but aserts that either Hooker will have to resign or he will. Notes that when he and Hooker, a 'scientific gentlemen' who 'expects to have his way', disagree about 'a plan / As it ever has been since the world began', Hooker must obey him. Admits that he is no 'respecter of gentlemen / Nor of scientific swells', and urges people to talk to the bear in the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >> about courtesy. Admits that he lacks Ædile's taste, but defies the reader's indignation in wanting Hooker to be dismissed.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Heat, Meteorology, Controversy, Government, Politics, Pollution, Public Health, Mining

    Notes that while the sun is 'in his present excited state' and is emitting 'quadrillions of tons of whatever it is that he makes us hot with', a wise man will be brief. Adds that 'heat expands some things (as the dear little girl knew, who explained that the days were long in hot weather on that account), but does not expand paragraphs'. Also notes that Edward H Stanley (15th Earl of Derby) Stanley, Edward Henry, 15th Earl of Derby (formerly styled 'Lord Stanley') (1826–93) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> called attention to Acton S Ayrton's Ayrton, Acton Smee (1816–86) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'behaviour' towards Joseph D Hooker Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton (1817–1911) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Thinks that Derby is 'the man to right the wrongs of "the judicious HOOKER"'. Also notes the complaint by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald C Tait Tait, Archibald Campbell (1811–82) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, concerning the 'abominable nuisance of the Lambeth Potteries' Smoke', Benjamin Disraeli's Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> discussion of the 'Public Health Bill', and the debates on the bills for coal mines and Irish railways. (34)

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Agriculture, Analytical Chemistry, Charlatanry

    With a title taken from Francis Quarles Quarles, Francis (1592–1644) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, Mr Punch informs the 'British Farmer' that in his recent article on manures (Anon, 'Chemistry for Countrymen', Punch, 62 (1872), 255), he did not intend to claim that everything called 'Phospho-Guano' was worthless. Appeals to Justus von Liebig's Liebig, Justus von (1803–73) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> favourable views on the substance. Advises the British Farmer to 'doctor his land' with these 'medicaments'. Adds that Mr Little Little, Mr (fl.1871) PU1/62/25/2
Close   View the register entry >>, on whose views he based his article, 'disclaims any idea of confounding a worthy manufacture with a quack compound'.

Genre:

Poetry, Satire

Subjects:

Cruelty, Animal Behaviour, Class, Crime

    Possessing the accent of an English cad, the author describes how the 'Nobillaty and Gentery' have two gun clubs, and shoot pigeons at Wormwood Scrubs and at Hurlingham Park. Callously insists that 'The Pidgeons ain't of No Account / If their Leggs and Wings is broke' and points out that since dog-fighting and badger-baiting are illegal, pigeons are 'Priviledged Creeters in the Site / Of the Blessèd British Lawr'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Sanitation, Mining, Health, Adulteration

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Nutrition, Cultural Geography

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Invention, Public Health, Amusement

    A series of news reports, one of which claims that 'A new system of ventilation has been invented for the use of some of our theatres. Two or three stupid plays, and nothing attractive in artistes, and the house, will be quite empty and charmingly cool'.

Genre:

Illustration, Caricature

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

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

Subjects:

Alchemy, Commerce, Politics

    Subtitled 'A Tale of Wonder and Enchantment', the illustration shows French head of state, Adolphe Thiers Thiers, Louis Adolphe (Adolphe) (1797–1897) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, as an alchemist, dressed in a black cape covered with alchemical symbols. He stirs a black cauldron, on which are inscribed the words 'Credit' and 'Confidence', and out of which flows a stream bearing the words '£120,000,000 Loan'. He is flanked by a princess and a witch-like figure who wears a hat bearing the word 'communism'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Agriculture, Nutrition

Publications cited:

Lancet Lancet (1823–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Zoological Gardens

    Discusses a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of a boa-constrictor that 'moped, slept, and refused to be comforted' after its owners departed, but excitedly greeted them on their return. Suggests that future issues of the The Times might include advertisements for lost snakes, and that these animals might fulfil the role of dogs, as they could be burglar deterrents and companions.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

C K Keene, Charles Samuel (1823–91) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Narcotics, Medical Treatment, Gender, Medical Practitioners, Religious Authority, Religion

    The illustration shows a doctor conversing with Mrs McCawdle, whose husband can be seen lying ill in bed. The doctor warns Mrs McCawdle to stop giving her husband medicine, adding that 'A sound sleep will do him more good than anything'. Mrs McCawdle agrees but wishes they 'could only get him taw the kirk!!'—a reference to the tedium of sermons.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Sanitation, Pollution, Public Health

    Discusses news that 'extensive plans are now in progress' to utilise the sewage of Windsor Castle Windsor Castle
Close   View the register entry >> and Frogmore House. Considers that this will provide water without the harmful 'additions'. Thinks the water from Windsor Castle will be 'an example to many towns' which could 'utilise' the sewage with which they 'infect' rivers.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Ornithology, Hunting, Cruelty, Politics, Government

    Comprises the utterances of various species of birds which complain about being excluded from the wildfowl bill and thus not protected from game-hunters.

Genre:

Regular Feature, News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Scientific Practitioners, Botanical Gardens, Controversy, Government, Politics

    Reports on further parliamentary debate over the controversy between the First Commissioner of Works, Acton S Ayrton Ayrton, Acton Smee (1816–86) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Joseph D Hooker Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton (1817–1911) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Provides John Lubbock's Lubbock, Sir John, 4th Baronet and 1st Baron Avebury (1834–1913) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> case against Ayrton. Ralph Bernal Osborne Bernal Osborne, Ralph (1808?–82) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> is reported to have said that Ayrton was 'audacious, and also orchidaceous' regarding Hooker, but that he wants them to 'make it up'. Ayrton claimed that he had 'done what he believed to be his duty' and that Hooker did not make himself easily available for 'public service'. Ayrton claimed that his profession (politics) receives 'higher consideration than the science of organic and inorganic matter'. Reports that Ayrton claimed that Hooker had made 'grave charges against him' and that Hooker accused Ayrton of 'evasions and misrepresentations'. Adds that it was left to the Prime Minister, William E Gladstone Gladstone, William Ewart (1809–98) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, to resolve the controversy. (66)

Genre:

Drollery, Drollery

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Scientific Practitioners, Status, Controversy

    Notes that the First Commissioner of Works, Acton S Ayrton Ayrton, Acton Smee (1816–86) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, considers his standing as a politician to be on a par with the standing as scientists of Charles Lyell Lyell, Sir Charles, 1st Baronet (1797–1875) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, Thomas H Huxley Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825–95) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, and James Paget Paget, Sir James, 1st Baronet (1814–99) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Questions why Ayrton is, accordingly, 'so low down the Government stairs'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Phrenology

Publications cited:

Hampshire Independent Hampshire Independent (1834–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Botanical Gardens, Botany, Government, Politics, Controversy, Patronage

    Assuming the role of the 'Noble Savage', the poet 'clearly' but 'merely' sees the 'slighted' Joseph D Hooker Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton (1817–1911) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Asks if 'Him of fair name would substitution rob / For Noble Savage of Ignoble Snob?'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Travel, Navigation, Exploration, Geography

People mentioned:

Marco Polo, Polo, Marco (1254–1324) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> James Cook Cook, James (1728–79) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Societies, Temperance

    Notes that most gatherings of 'professors and philosophers', including the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >> and Social Science Congress Social Science Congress
Close   View the register entry >>, are 'perfectly harmless'. Adds that congregations of 'fanatics and fools', including the United Kingdom Alliance United Kingdom Alliance
Close   View the register entry >> and the Anti-Tobacco Society Anti-Tobacco Society
Close   View the register entry >>, are 'essentially conspiracies against personal freedom'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Human Development, Medical Treatment

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Mineralogy, Chemistry, Commerce

    Argues that the 'chemical difference between the Diamond and Coal is so little, that Coal may be regarded as a form of Carbon approximating to that of Diamond'. Adds that while the difference in value between the substances was 'considerable', the price of coal is now so high that 'Coals are rapidly getting approximated to Diamonds'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Language

Genre:

Notes, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Societies, Natural History

People mentioned:

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

Institutions mentioned:

Zoological Society—Gardens, Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >> Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Upsala Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Upsala
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Agriculture, Education, Colleges

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Physical Geography, Travel, Controversy, Phrenology

    Noting that the source of the Nile has only been conjectured, rather than discovered, by David Livingstone Livingstone, David (1813–73) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, notes that 'Other travellers are still at loggerheads about the question', their fierce letters to newspapers being explained by 'the preponderance of "Locality" and other perceptive organs over those of reflection, which contributes to make men roam, regardless of consequences, among cannibals'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Invention, Language

    Discusses an advertisement for a 'Vowel Washing Machine'. Asks how it works and what function it serves. Wonders whether the machine would be of any service to foul-mouthed individuals, and whether it could be used to purify slang.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Narcotics, Health, Government, Politics

Genre:

Diary, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Societies

Institutions mentioned:

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

Genre:

News-Commentary

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

A C Chasemore, A (fl. 1871) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Entomology, Animal Behaviour, Industry, Societies, Cultural Geography, Politics

    Relates the story of a pet eel kept by a 'learned Fellow of a certain University'. Reports on the account of a 'tame wasp' given by John Lubbock Lubbock, Sir John, 4th Baronet and 1st Baron Avebury (1834–1913) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>. Notes that Lubbock's taming of the wasp was not unprecedented and cites the example of 'Industrious Fleas'. Hopes other insects could be 'brought up to practise some branch of industry' and lists a wide variety of insects that Lubbock might be able to tame. Suggests that anyone who can tame hornets should be appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and pacify the 'Irish hornet's nest'. Believes that Lubbock is suitable for this position, owing to his gentility and 'extraordinary attainment in science'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Taxonomy, Nomenclature, Scientific Practitioners, Archaeology, Anthropology, Phrenology, Biology, Physiology, Entomology, Ornithology, Zoology, Spectroscopy, Astrology, Anatomy, Rationalism, Religious Authority

    Believes that lovers of knowledge must be glad 'when the season comes [...] Of philosophers' meets and fruit, / Of science and sociology'. Notes Augustus H L Fox's Pitt-Rivers, Augustus Henry Lane Fox (1827–1900) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> claim that archaeology is a branch of anthropology, itself, according to Punch, a 'subject that's full of doubt'. Notes that 'the Sages' ignore phrenology but study biology, which it believes is another term for physiology. Considers physiology to be a branch of zoology and notes that some 'names' of fields, notably entomology, conchology and ornithology, 'tax dunces' etymology'. Claims that every science 'has with every other analogy' and accordingly notes that astronomy is related to mineralogy. Believes that 'spectral analysis proves / Things unforetold by Astrology' and that the particulars of Alexander Pope's Pope, Alexander (1688–1744) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> ontology will consequently become 'husks of terminology'. In anatomy, praises homology. Scorns tautology, a lesson that it believes the 'Rationalist School' apply to their 'neology'. Respects 'the wise men's rule, / Which from Science excludes theology'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Geography, Exploration, Race, Religion, Unbelief, Morality, Cultural Geography

    Comments on a Pall Mall Gazette Pall Mall Gazette (1865–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> report containing the 'geographical results of the Looshai Expedition'. Draws attention to the part of the report claiming that the native women do not put rings in their ears and noses or blacken their teeth. Believes native women differ greatly from 'our own' and have not yet 'experienced the benefit of missionary enterprise'. Thinks the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archibald C Tait Tait, Archibald Campbell (1811–82) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, would regard such 'heathen' women as capable of promoting (rather than corrupting) 'good manners'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Nutrition, Machinery, Invention

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Hunting, Cruelty, Class, Politics

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M Du Maurier, George Louis Palmella Busson (1834–96) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Anaesthetics, Gender

    In a hospital, Dr Evangeline, a female practitioner, asks Mr Sawyer whether he is busy tomorrow afternoon, for she has an amputation to perform. Mr Sawyer agrees to do the operation for her but Dr Evangeline points out that she only wants him to 'administer the chloroform'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Disease

    Perplexed by an advertisement placed by a surgeon who, 'being about to retire from ill health', wishes to 'dispose of a first-rate Business'. Notes that, although a surgeon has some control over ill-health, it is not clear how he could 'retire from it', unless by retirement to that place 'from which no traveller returns'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Surgery

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Supernaturalism, Miracle, Experiment, Natural Law, Medical Treatment, Controversy, Faith

    Comments on a controversy sparked by the proposal of Henry Thompson Thompson, Henry (1815–97) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> in the Contemporary Review Contemporary Review (1866–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> to assess the efficacy of prayer experimentally (Thompson 1872 Thompson, Henry 1872. 'The "Prayer for the Sick": Hints Towards a Serious Attempt to Estimate Its Value', Contemporary Review, 20, 205–10
Close   View the register entry >>). In the proposed experiment, two hospitals are built, and to each are admitted 'the same number and the same class of patients', but prayers are said for only one group of patients. If more patients are cured in the prayed-for group, then prayer is efficacious. Notes that the Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> objects to this, asking whether anybody would 'assay the coin' or 'test the bread' given to them by a 'a monarch or learned professor'. Punch thinks that this 'à fortiori argument derived from human dignity' is 'infinitely illogical', because 'under the laws which govern the physical universe, the test of truth, sine quâ non, is crucial experiment'. Nevertheless thinks it a 'blunder' to use the same method in both 'natural and supernatural research'. Points out that the 'experimenter could not be sure of his conditions' and could not be certain that prayers were genuine or being said at all. Proposes that the safest plan would be to execute the experiments in veterinary hospitals because 'dumb animals' would not pray in the vicinity of the patients.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Gender, Disease, Zoology, Medical Practitoners

    Addressed to his recent seaside companion, Mrs Smythe, the letter-writer criticises her daughters for wearing 'monstrous' chignons and expresses relief that the girls have now removed these 'hideous' excrescences. Supports his argument with an extract from a a 'clever medical paper' which describes Eduard von Lindemann's Lindemann, Eduard von (fl. 1867) Lindemann 1867
Close   View the register entry >> continuing investigations into the parasitic bodies found in chignons and other false tresses, animals that eventually 'penetrate into the interior of the human organism' and produce a range of disorders. The letter-writer urges the recipient that they should both 'raise their voices against flaunting of false hair, with all its nasty, noxious, horrors'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Botanical Gardens, Government, Politics

    Claims that a 'London Correspondent of a respectable country paper states that "it is rumoured that MR. AYRTON Ayrton, Acton Smee (1816–86) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> has turned Spiritualist"'. Adds that the report also claims that Ayrton has developed into a medium in which capacity he has 'laid out a market-garden, carved a statuette, painted a picture, made a copy of verses, and dictated (in a trance-state) a courteous official letter'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, News-Digest, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy, Chemistry, Monstrosities, Zoological Gardens, Comparative Philology, Zoology

    Promises readers that they will be 'the first to hear from the ardent astronomer' when a 'new planet swims into his ken' (a quote from John Keats's Keats, John (1795–1821) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Sonnet IX), and when the philosopher 'discovers another lustrous metal'. Announces that it had hoped to give information on the 'elusive' 'Sea Serpent' and expects to see the creature in the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >> within a year. Thinks an expedition should be organised to search for other mythical creatures, including the mermaid, unicorn, and phoenix. Reminds readers of new creatures at the zoo, including mammals and marsupials. Notes the increasing vogue for aquaria and a proposal to display a turtle in one of them. (133)

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Societies

Institutions mentioned:

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

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Mental Illness

People mentioned:

Forbes B Winslow Winslow, Forbes Benignus (1810–74) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Human Development, Disease

    Shows the de Tomkyns and Jenkins families on a crowded beach. Mrs de Tomkyns tells her husband to stop their son playing with a 'strange child' and to do so by telling the lie that their child is 'just recovering from scarlet fever'. Mr Tomkyns does so, but the parents of the 'strange child', Mr and Mrs Jenkins, reply that 'It's all right, Sir!' because their child is also just recovering from the disease.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Alchemy, Commerce, Political Economy

    Announces that a person in California has discovered how to transmute baser metals into gold, and to produce it 'by the ship-load'. Thinks this means that the United States of America will not take the '(comparatively) few sovereigns MR. LOWE [the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Lowe Lowe, Robert, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke (1811–92) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>] was going to send over [...] between now and next "Fall"'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Disease, Pollution, Analytical Chemistry

    Announces that a chemist has claimed that cattle disease is caused by a 'noxious principle' in the atmosphere which also causes the 'Strike epidemic'. Adds that the 'principle' is imponderable and only detectable by its effects on 'unthinking creatures'.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners

    The narrator considers that he would have made a 'capital Doctor'. He explains that he would have allowed the patient to 'prescribe for himself, unconsciously' and details the ways in which he would cross-examine and handle patients.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Photography, Language

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Scientific Practitioners, Animal Behaviour, Natural History

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Superstition, Astronomy, Scientific Practitioners

People mentioned:

Galileo Galilei Galilei, Galileo (1564–1642) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Discovery, Mechanics, Charlatanry

    Following Henry M Stanley's Stanley, Sir Henry Morton (1841–1904) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> discovery of David Livingstone Livingstone, David (1813–73) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, suggests that Stanley should 'set to work to discover' a number of notorious chimeras. These include 'Perpetual Motion' and 'Who takes the Umbrellas'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Crime

    Notes from The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> that the Prussians have 'invented a most destructive gun called "the Mouser"' (a mis-spelling of 'Mauser'). Suggests that the Prussians use the gun on 'our garotters' to 'save us the trouble of applying the cat'.

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Hospitals, Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals

    Laments the fact that remedies for one's 'maladies' can be obtained without a ticket and without attendance at dispensaries, hospitals, or infirmaries. Explains that there are some 'Philanthropic Chemists' who sell medicine 'at any time, by ringing the bell' of their shop.

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Accidents, Commerce, Skill

    Addressing company directors, the singer begins by noting 'Lots killed and maimed' in another collision; thus, 'There will be much to pay' in 'damages' which will 'Reduce our dividends'. Suggests that an actuary should compute how much money the company looses from accidents and asks whether it would be more cost-effective to spend more money on wages 'To make collisions rare'. Concludes by affirming that the company needs 'more skilled hands', so that 'each pointman' is 'no mere clown'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Vulcanism, Geology

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Instruments, Invention, Narcotics, Measurement

    Discusses a recent inquest at which it was revealed that the police had wrongly concluded that the insensibility of the victim had been caused by drunkenness. The inquest found that his insensibility was due to a fracture of the skull, which the man had received during an assault. Criticizes the police for their blundering and suggests that an 'ingenious medical mechanician' should devise an instrument for measuring drunkenness.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Religion, Publishing, Mathematics, Pharmaceuticals

Genre:

Exam Paper, Spoof

Subjects:

Steamships, Navigation, Engineering, Instruments, Instrument-Makers, Railways

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >>

    A series of ridiculous nautical questions for naval cadets, many of which pun on nautical terms. These include: 'Can you procure, at a Nautical Instrument Makers, any spectacles specially adapted for Dead-Eyes?'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Religion, Scientific Practitioners

People mentioned:

Emanuel Swedenborg Swedenborg, Emanuel (1688–1772) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Animal Development, Animal Husbandry

People mentioned:

Charles R Darwin Darwin, Charles Robert (1809–82) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Electricity, Imperialism, Internationalism

    Responds to messages exchanged by telegraph between the Lord Mayor of London, Sills J Gibbons Gibbons, Sir Sills John (1809–76) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, and the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Adolph H F Bartels Bartels, Adolph Heinrich Friedrich (d. 1878) WBIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mayors_and_Lord_Mayors_of_Adelaide
Close   View the register entry >>. The author boasts that telegraphy can place a 'girdle round about the earth' in half the time Puck took to do the same feat. Notes that the 'tie' that hitherto bound Britain and the antipodes was made of gold, but adds that, owing to the 'electric fire', the tie now consists of 'a few strands of copper' that 'is likelier to last'. The electric wire enables the antipodes to be 'one in soul' with Britain, to be 'still at home, howe'er far off you settle', and to flash its 'warmth of kindred' to Britain. Despite the size of the world, where 'seasons stand reversed and nature new', the telegraph keeps 'Australian hearts and English true'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Mesmerism, Psychology, Photography, Human Development

    Discusses a lecture on mesmerism in the Spiritualist Spiritualist (1869–82) Psyche (1882) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> describing how an Indian yogi sought to purify his soul by sitting on sacred grass, called koos, and concentrating 'on one object alone'. Wishes to procure a photograph of the 'self-mesmerising' yogi whose trance reminds the author of a baby mesmerised by a wafer stuck on its nose by a 'naughty little clown of a boy'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Language

    Noting that naturalists have concluded that 'fishes have a language', suggests that 'it is most probably Finnish'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Darwinism, Animal Behaviour

    A series of statements from Mr Punch to his dog, Toby. In one statement he claims that he does not 'hold with Darwinism. We are not related to the animals. See here. Among birds the hen is always the dowdy, quietly feathered, humble looking creature, while the cock (peacock and pheasant, for instance) blazes out in splendour. While among ourselves—but you perceive the argument'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

G B Bowers, Georgina (b. 1836) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Disease, Medical Treatment, Veterinary Science

    Shows an equestrian 'Noble Sportsman' at a hunt talking to a 'Huntsman' standing beside the horse. The noble sportsman complains that his doctors advise him not to hunt this season owing to difficulties he experiences in breathing. The huntsman suggests ignoring the doctors and trying 'a mild blister', and the noble sportsman agrees and resolves to 'consult the 'vet'.

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Animal Magnetism, Invention, Machinery, Crime

    Recognises that animal magnetism is 'still in its infancy' but thinks it will develop to the point where mesmerists will be able to 'place any number of criminals convicted of robbery with violence en rapport with each other; so that one flogging will do for them all'. Proposes the invention of a 'whipping-engine or thrashing-machine, wherewith garotters could be steam-flogged'. Believes that had our ancestors possessed 'modern mechanical knowledge and resources' they would have invented a steam-powered machine for flogging, branding, and shaving rogues.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Animal Development, Breeding, Darwinism

    The narrator writes memos to ask Charles R Darwin Darwin, Charles Robert (1809–82) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> whether larks derive from fowls, and whether apes can become cows. (205)

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

C K Keene, Charles Samuel (1823–91) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Education, Schools, Geography, Religion

    Shows a young woman teacher in a classroom in which several boys and girls stand. She asks them to name the four quarters of the world. One pupil answers 'air, earth, fire, and water', but another interjects with 'No teacher,—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Military Technology, Steamships, Government, Politics

    Addressed to the lords of the Admiralty Admiralty
Close   View the register entry >>, the writer argues that 'One gun that will pierce, mind, is worth any number / Which will not' and that small ships loaded with large guns are better and safer than large ships.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Engineering, Steamships, Darwinism, Human Development, Gender

    The author is happy to announce that Henry Bessemer Bessemer, Sir Henry (1813–98) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> is likely to 'abolish' mal de mer, but he is not pleased to learn from a review of Charles R Darwin's Darwin, Charles Robert (1809–82) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> Darwin, Charles Robert 1872. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, London: John Murray
Close   View the register entry >> Descent of Man Darwin, Charles Robert 1871a. The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, London: John Murray
Close   View the register entry >> that 'blushing "seems likely to be lost"', since he considers women look 'so charming under their flying colours'.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Force, Lecturing

    Remembers hearing a lecture by Michael Faraday Faraday, Michael (1791–1867) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> on the 'Conservation of Forces' (possibly a reference to Faraday 1854–58 Faraday, Michael 1854–58. 'On the Conservation of Force', Proceedings of the Royal Institution, 2, 352–65
Close   View the register entry >>) and boasts that he was 'the only person in the room, except the lecturer, who understood it'. Suggests that somebody should lecture on the 'Conservation of Farces'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Domestic Economy, Technology, Heat

    Notes that since stone and iron are no longer considered 'good' for fire-proofing a building, 'we must go back, 'tis said, to wood'. Questions whether brick burns faster than timber, and suggests that india-rubber may provide the best solution.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Charlatanry

    Responds to news of a Parisian man who has established himself as a mesmerist. Notes that he is called 'the Zouave JACOB' and considers him the modern counterpart to Valentine Greatrakes Greatrakes, Valentine ('the Stroker') (1629–83) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Noting that Jacob bolsters his income by working as a hatter, anticipates that some readers will think Jacob is 'as mad as a hatter'. However, Jacob should be considered 'as mad as a mesmerist'.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Exploration, Engineering, Transport, Heroism

People mentioned:

William E Parry, Parry, Sir William Edward (1790–1855) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Henry Bessemer Bessemer, Sir Henry (1813–98) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Botanical Gardens, Convtroversy

    Points out that the First Commissioner of Works, Acton S Ayrton Ayrton, Acton Smee (1816–86) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, 'thrust the phalanx of Science, contemptuous aside', and 'slapped Hooker's Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton (1817–1911) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> face, in the teeth, black and blue'. Tells Ayrton that he now faces the 'rough tongues' of Charles Bradlaugh Bradlaugh, Charles (1833–91) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and George Odger Odger, George (1813–77) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> on a very different charge from that which Hooker and Lubbock Lubbock, Sir John, 4th Baronet and 1st Baron Avebury (1834–1913) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'o'erbore'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Crime, Darwinism, Animal Behaviour, Evolution, Human Development

Publications cited:

Darwin 1871a, Darwin, Charles Robert 1871a. The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, London: John Murray
Close   View the register entry >> Darwin 1872 Darwin, Charles Robert 1872. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, London: John Murray
Close   View the register entry >>

    The initial letter of the text forms part of an illustration showing a monkey sitting on a tree, while holding a book labelled 'Darwin'. The text notes that Richard Baxter Baxter, Richard (1615–91) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> allegedly exclaimed, on seeing a criminal on his way to the gallows, 'There, but for divine grace, goes RICHARD BAXTER'. Imagines that Charles R Darwin Darwin, Charles Robert (1809–82) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> would utter a 'corresponding though different reflection'. On seeing a monkey scratching itself in the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, Darwin might observe, 'There, but for Natural Selection and the Struggle for Existence, sits Charles Darwin'.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Pharmaceuticals, Agriculture

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Commerce, Government, Politics, Imperialism, Charlatanry

    Describes an application made to Punch in the ensuing parliamentary session for an act to incorporate the 'Aërial Railway Company' which will begin 'at a point 10,000 feet or thereabouts above the Treasury in Downing Street' and 'terminating at a point 10,000 feet or thereabouts above the White House' and at a similar location above the imperial palace in Berlin. The promoters also wish to build 'Castles, Stations, Liquor-bars' and other conveniences along the line, to pay for the scheme by selling important British buildings and also 'JOHN BULL and the British Lion', and to amalgamate 'dignitaries and undignified persons whose names create discord and excitement'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M Du Maurier, George Louis Palmella Busson (1834–96) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Psychology, Gender

    Shows a group of people conversing in a drawing room. In the foreground, several men gather around a young woman, and in the background the woman's husband talks to a doctor. The husband, Mr Kiljoye, tells the doctor that he thinks his wife has 'Such fearful depression of spirits!'. But when the doctor interjects that his wife looks like the 'life of the party', Mr Kiljoye points out that while she 'bears up in company' she is not so happy 'when we are together alone'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Time, Instruments, Transport, Military Technology, Astronomy

    Addressing policemen, who were recently on strike, the poet had 'no more dreamed of thee being false to thy beat / Than the choicest chronometer that for the fleet / Ever Airy Airy, Sir George Biddell (1801–92) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> at Greenwich Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Close   View the register entry >> did choose!'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Education, Universities, Patronage

    Responding to news that Irish Catholics wish the Catholic University of Ireland, Dublin Catholic University of Ireland, Dublin
Close   View the register entry >>, to be funded by the state, asks why academic subjects, including astronomy, physiology, geology, and chemistry, 'should be adapted for the Romish Church' as much as 'wines and some other goods are qualified for the British market'. Asks whether history and science should be 'doctored' and 'cooked' by doctors of theology.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Breeding, Technology, Agriculture

    Discusses news that a Cape Town farmer has hatched ostrich eggs by an incubator of his own construction. Surmises that to cope with such large eggs the farm would have to be of 'Brobdingnagian dimensions' and speculates on the large size of the incubator.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Lecturing, Astronomy, Cosmology

People mentioned:

Peter M Duncan Duncan, Peter Martin (1824–91) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Institutions mentioned:

South Kensington Museum South Kensington Museum
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Race, Language, Cultural Geography

People mentioned:

John Lubbock Lubbock, Sir John, 4th Baronet and 1st Baron Avebury (1834–1913) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Engineering, Steamships, Transport, Comparative Philology

    Hails Henry Bessemer Bessemer, Sir Henry (1813–98) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, whose invention for keeping a ship level in the water scorns 'Neptune's bile-disturbing state' and, 'more than Britannia's self aspires to do', rules the waves. Believes those who cross the English Channel pray that Bessemer will 'thrive' in his 'match 'gainst Neptune'. Like the Greeks, who 'read fates in names', the poet changes the letters of Bessmer's name to read 'Baissez-mer' or 'Sea, lie low!'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Sanitation, Public Health, Engineering

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Military Technology, Steamships, Government, Politics, Commerce, Morality

    Describes the fate of two iron-clads from Woolwich Dockyard Royal Navy—Woolwich Dockyard
Close   View the register entry >> as if they were twins, raised by their uncle, the First Lord of the Admiralty Admiralty
Close   View the register entry >>, George J Goschen Goschen, George Joachim, 1st Viscount Goschen (1831–1907) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, who, unable to 'maintain' the infants considered it 'best to murder them [...] by accident'. Despite a bloody struggle, Goschen succeeds in drowning his infants near Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard
Close   View the register entry >>, 'in ancient Medway's arms'. The author thinks it a 'shame for Merry England that her Children should thus drown' and points out that there are 'thirty thousand Englishmen' who would throw Goschen overboard. It ends on a happier note, however, with the Royal Humane Society Royal Humane Society
Close   View the register entry >> exacting its revenge on Goschen by hoisting the vessels to the surface and returning them to Woolwich.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Mapping, Navigation, Geography

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Phrenology, Exploration, Natural History, Collecting

    Wonders whether the study of phrenology makes 'folks mean': proceeds to relate the story of a phrenologist who was anxious to study 'some poor man's head, so got him to shave it'. He then dismissed the man, who was too poor to buy a wig. The author also describes a recent dinner party where a lady referred to 'this grand new sea-bottom exploration' (a reference to the HMS Challenger HMS Challenger
Close   View the register entry >> expedition) and said that 'it was delightful to learn that invisible shells could be found at awful depths, but that it would be much more delightful to hear that the dredgers had brought up some real Treasures of the Deep'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Exploration, Oceanography, Zoology, Meteorology, Astronomy, Hydrography, Observation, Exhibitions, Patronage, Government

People mentioned:

Charles W Thomson Thomson, Sir Charles Wyville (1830–82) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Written from the perspective of HMS Challenger HMS Challenger
Close   View the register entry >>, which describes its physical appearance and points out that its voyage is neither 'a cruise to train' seaman, nor an expedition to 'practise manoeuvres, or study steam-tactics'. Rather, it is heading for an expedition to 'sound Ocean', 'to dredge up samples precise of [Neptune's] mattress's stuffing', to 'study the dip and dance of the needle', and 'test the currents of ocean and air'. After learning whether the 'Austral Antarctic Aurora' outdoes the aurora in the Isle of Kerguelen, it will 'look on at the transit of Venus'. Notes how the ship has turned into a 'peripatetic / Polytechnic Royal Polytechnic Institution
Close   View the register entry >> marine exhibition'. To John Bull's question regarding the funding of the expedition, the ship replies that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Lowe Lowe, Robert, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke (1811–92) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, decided that the expedition would 'cost no more than keeping my hull in commission' and would 'pay by results'. Proud to be sailing on a 'grand cruise of science' on which 'high souls have reliance', despite the fact that Lowe has 'no objection to knowledge / So long as it don't cost a bob'. Wants to challenge the notion that 'nothing of nothing can come'.

Genre:

Song

Subjects:

Astronomy, Meteorology

    Ponders the composition of the meteors 'which of late across the sky have shot'. Denies that they are aerolites and proposes that they bear some relation 'to the quantity of water that has floated in the air'. Inspired by reports that 'washy weather' commonly follows the 'celestial fireworks' produced in meteors' 'nocturnal flight'. Notes that some think that Biela's Biela, Wilhelm von (1782–1856) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> comet has arrived prematurely and 'burst up into' the meteors. Claims that the earth may have had a 'brush' with its tail, thus explaining why 'it has rained cats and dogs like mad'. Notes the persistence of wet and muggy weather despite changes in pressure and wind speed. Believes that the earth may have just had an 'escape' from the comets which 'may but vapour be, or gas'. Expects that the comet, which has 'switched us with its tail', will be seen for earth.

Genre:

Review

Publications reviewed:

Darwin 1872 Darwin, Charles Robert 1872. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, London: John Murray
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Descent, Darwinism, Evolution

    Responds to Darwin's claim that 'our male semi-human progenitors "possessed great canine teeth"' and 'if our ears had remained moveable, their movements would have been highly expressive'. Links this to Dogberry's remark in William Shakespeare's Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Much Ado About Nothing: 'Dost thou not suspect my ears?'. Believes that 'nobody can suspect' Darwin's ears, otherwise Punch would have suspected 'the ears of the philosopher [...] of egregrious longitude'.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Agriculture, Publishing

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Exploration, Education, Oceanography, Ornithology, Geology, Physical Geography, Botany, Meteorology, Comparative Philology, Societies, Patronage

    Argues that the purpose of the HMS Challenger HMS Challenger
Close   View the register entry >> voyage is to inculcate interest in topography and a greater appreciation of 'round the world' expeditions. Describes the places to be visited and the tasks to be completed during the expedition. In most cases, the task is related to the place. For example, the ship will explore 'the seas that wash the coasts' of Sweden and Switzerland, it will dredge the Atlantic, 'German', and other oceans, and will visit the Canaries 'for the information of the ornithologists of the party'. It will visit Australia to procure 'tinned meat and kangaroo soup' and 'explore the mountains which are believed to project from the bottom of the Antipodean Sea'. It will explore the Gulf of Carpenter, 'out of respect' for William B Carpenter Carpenter, William Benjamin (1813–85) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>. On its return journey, it will investigate 'the Fauna and Flora of the various Pacific Oceans', attempt to explore the Gulf Stream 'and its influence on the weather and conversation', and to determine whether the 'Bight of Benin' is dangerous or not. By the time it returns the expedition will have 'mixed in best Arctic Circles' and dredged the Spanish Main for galleons and the Cape for 'warm clothing'. The author attributes any inaccuracies that may have crept into his account of the expedition on his lack of the latest edition of Alexander K Johnston's Johnston, Alexander Keith, the elder (1804–71) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> atlas. Remarks that several learned institutions, including the Royal Society Royal Society of London
Close   View the register entry >>, Zoological Society Zoological Society of London
Close   View the register entry >>, and the Admiralty Admiralty
Close   View the register entry >>, consider the most important part of the expedition to be the 'acquisition of a Sea Serpent and capture of a live Mermaid'. Believes the cost of the voyage can be met from the sale of 'stuffed remains' of creatures to learned institutions, such as the British Museum British Museum
Close   View the register entry >> and the Royal College of Surgeons Royal College of Surgeons
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Mental Illness, Psychology, Homeopathy, Medical Practitioners, Gender

    Responds to a report in the Homeward Mail Homeward Mail from India, China and the East (1857–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of a woman who fell into an 'insensible' state whenever she was in the presence of her husband, even when the latter was 'carefully disguised'. The woman's parents tried to legally separate the couple on grounds of the woman's health. The case was investigated by Dr Cullen Cullen, Dr (fl. 1872) PU1/63/24/2
Close   View the register entry >> and the court concluded that, since the husband 'unconsciously mesmerised' his wife, the couple should be legally separated. Punch doubts the authenticity of the story, not least because it believes 'there are more facts in physiology and psychology than are dreamt of in Incredulity's philosophy'. Notes that homeopaths and mesmerists would recommend that the husband, having involuntarily mesmerised his wife into unconsciousness, should mesmerise her out of it. Believes this is more humane practice than that used by most husbands dealing with their cataleptic wives, and that marital happiness should result from a wife being able to share all her husband's pleasures 'by mesmeric sympathy'.