Science in the 19th Century Periodical

The Comic Annual [1st] [2nd]

Introductory Essay
Volume [6]  (1835)
Comic Annual,  6 (1835), v–xiv.

Preface

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[Thomas Hood] Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Genre:

Preface, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

T Hood Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Subjects:

Cruelty, Horticulture, Instruments, Time


    Reflecting on the early appearance of many of the annuals, Hood enquires whether there is not 'something approaching to cruelty to animals' in hauling 'Time' along by his forelock 'until he breaks his shins over his own calendar, or knocks his head against one of his own date trees?' (vi). Hood does not affect 'these unseasonable forestallings'; he is 'content with things as they naturally ripen, without forcing', and his gardener 'who inclines to otium cum dig [leisure with dignity]—is of the same opinion; forcing time is quite out of the question' (ix–x). The illustration captioned 'Otium cum dig—' (facing x) depicts a vacant-looking gardener leaning on his spade smoking a pipe with a tankard by his feet, while a snail ascends the shaft of his spade, and the garden appears in disarray. 'What rational man', Hood asks, 'would give a dump for a chronometer "warranted fast?"'. He thinks it would be no use putting a clock forwards, 'feeling that Sol, who drives the Old Regulator [the name of a make of coach], knows his daily pace too well to be deceived'. (x)



Comic Annual,  6 (1835), xv–xx.

Contents

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[Thomas Hood] Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Genre:

Contents, Illustration

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

T Hood Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Subjects:

Horticulture


    The illustration captioned 'The Prize Hoboy' (xvii) depicts a giant strawberry at the top of a wicker cone, but with a boyish face.



Comic Annual,  6 (1835), 1–64.

The Great Conflagration

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[Thomas Hood] Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Genre:

Reportage, Extract, Spoof; Reportage, Letter, Spoof; Letter, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [3]

Illustrators:

T Hood Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Subjects:

Vulcanology, Political Economy, Chemistry, Electricity, Observatories, Accidents, Steam-power, Invention, Health, Industry, Mathematics


    Provides various accounts of the fire at the Houses of Parliament Houses of Parliament
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, ranging from putative newspaper reports to private correspondence. A report purporting to come from the Britannic Guardian refers the fire to incendiarism, and makes oblique reference to Mount Vesuvius, claiming: 'We stand hourly on the brink of a crater: every step we take is on a solfaterra— [...] a frail crust, with a treacherous subsoil of ardent brimstone!' (2–3). A report of the fire signed 'X.Y.Z.' gives the information that 'Mr. Ricardo Ricardo, David (1772–1823) ODNB
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saved an old tattered flag, which he thought was "the standard of value"' (9). The narrator of a report signed 'SENEX' is a 'warm enthusiast on the subject of ignition', on whom the news of the fire had 'an electrical effect' (12). He has had 'a sort of observatory' erected on the roof of his house from which he hopes to discover any fires in the metropolis (13). Senex regrets that, as a result of 'gas, and new police, steam, and one cause or other', fires are not what they used to be; they have become 'what one might call slow explosions' (15). He describes the sparks of the fire as 'falling like flakes of snow— [...] the red snow formerly discovered by Captain Ross Ross, Sir John (1777–1856) ODNB
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' (17). An unsigned 'Letter to a Labouring Man' (24–27) deprecates claims that the British constitution will be affected by the fire, observing that the correspondent is a British subject, and that his own constitution is unaffected. The illustration captioned 'Our Constitution's Gone!' (facing 25) depicts an ample, seated woman throwing her arms in the air, while a burning building is visible through the window. The private letter to 'Mary Price, Fenny Hall, Lincolnshire' includes the advice: 'In case of yure pettycots catchin don't forgit standin on yure hed, as recommended by the Human Society Royal Humane Society
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, becoz fire burns uppards, but its a posishun as requiers practice' (33). The illustration captioned 'A Refined Woman' (facing 34) depicts a heavily built woman whose shape is that of a sugar loaf. The illustration captioned 'An Adder Up' (40) depicts a snake standing vertically on a stool. The letter from 'Jacob Jubb M.P.' to his bailiff approves the vulcanist metaphor of the Britannic Guardian (41), opining: 'I have not the least doubt, if properly traced, the burning cliff at Weymouth would be found to be connected with Incendiarism, and the Earthquakes at Chichester with our political convulsions' (47–48).



Comic Annual,  6 (1835), 65–70.

I Must Come Out Next Spring

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G Raymond, Esq Raymond, George (b. 1796) WIVP
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Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

T Hood Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Subjects:

Menageries


    The illustration captioned 'I Must Come Out Next Spring' (facing 65) depicts an alarmed man in a menagerie facing a tiger whose cage is open.



Comic Annual,  6 (1835), 83–112.

Sketches on the Road

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[Thomas Hood] Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Genre:

Regular Feature, Short Fiction, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

T Hood Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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[1] The Debutante

Subjects:

Instruments, Time


    A carriage apparently bearing the trademark 'Chronometer' is repeatedly stopped by one of its occupants, and is described as 'losing at the rate of ten miles in the hour' (87). The illustration captioned 'An Old One, but Good with Both Hands in the Ring' (facing 93) depicts a winged figure (possibly Mercury) whose hinged arms form the hands of a clock, the ring-like dial of which surrounds him; he is stripped to the waist, and his fists are in pugilistic pose.



[2] The Run-Over

Subjects:

Accidents, Medical Treatment, Quackery, Pharmaceuticals


    A coachman describes to his passengers the astonishing survival of various individuals in coach accidents. In one case a man, who had a 'gig-shaft [...] driv right through his body', leaving a 'regular tunnel through him', recovered after treatment by 'Dr. Maiden of Stratford', who 'giv him lots of physic to provoke his stomach, and make him eat hearty: and [...] in course of time he filled up' (95–97). The coachman declares: 'I don't know the philosophy of it [...] but it's a remark of mine about recovering, if a man says he will, he will,—and if he says he won't, he won't—you may book that for certain' (97). When those on the coach witness a man run over by a waggon, they look for a doctor. A 'squat vulgar-looking personage' claims to be a medical man, since he sells 'Morison's pills'; his wares are held in low esteem by fellow passengers (104).



[3] The Discovery

Subjects:

Physiognomy


     The narrator judges the feelings of the occupants of a coach 'according to the rules of Lavater Lavater, Johann Kaspar (1741–1801) CBD
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' (109).




Comic Annual,  6 (1835), 113–19.

I Cannot Bear a Gun

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[Thomas Hood] Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

T Hood Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Subjects:

Quackery, Pharmaceuticals


    The illustration 'James's James, Robert (1703–76) ODNB
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Powder' (facing 115) depicts a boy being knocked over in an explosion, as his toy canon, a candle, and various bits of debris are blown into the air.



Comic Annual,  6 (1835), 125–44.

Ode to J. S. Buckingham, Esq., M.P. Buckingham, James Silk (1786–1855) ODNB
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On the Report of the Committee on Drunkenness Report from the Select Committee on Inquiry into Drunkenness: Report from the Select Committee on Inquiry into Drunkenness, with Minutes of Evidence, and Appendix, House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, Session 1834 (559), 8, 315–771
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[Thomas Hood] Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Genre:

Poetry, Satire

Subjects:

Temperance, Medical Practitioners, Expertise, Biblical Authority, Invertebrate Zoology, Human Species


    Satirizes the general object of, and selected passages from, the Report of the Select Committee on Inquiry into Drunkenness. Responding to the medical opinion that the habit of drunkenness was often the result of over-stimulation caused by the 'forcing system', Hood enquires why the doctor was not also asked about 'forcing-pumps' (139). Quotes the evidence of John R Farre Farre, John Richard (1775–1862) ODNB
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that vegetable food was appointed for the human species in Genesis, 'when the restorative power of man was complete', as it still is in the polypus. He then enquires whether he would not be considered 'Farre gone' if he expounded a belief that pre-lapsarian man was 'a polypus' who 'made other men when he was hash'd or minc'd'. (140)



Comic Annual,  6 (1835), 162–66.

The Comet. An Astronomical Anecdote

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[Thomas Hood] Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [2]

Illustrators:

T Hood Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Subjects:

Astronomy, Observatories, Gender, Discovery, Intellectual Property, Astrology, Superstition

People mentioned:

Edmond Halley, Halley, Edmond (1656?–1743) DSB
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Tycho Brahe Brahe, Tycho (1546–1601) DSB
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    The name of 'H******l' (i.e. John F W Herschel Herschel, Sir John Frederick William (1792–1871) DSB ODNB
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) is often and very justly cited amongst professors of astronomy, as he is 'hand in glove / With ev'ry bright intelligence above', and so often watches the stars that 'once upon a time he got be-knighted' (162). The poem describes his observation of a new comet. He is imagined in his observatory 'coquetting / With Venus', 'flirting with the winking stars', 'Acting the spy', and behaving as a peeping Tom, 'ogling thro' his glass / Some heavenly lass'. The discovery of the comet causes him to exclaim: '"My stars!"—he always puts that stress on my— / "My stars and garters!"' [the reference is to the insignia of his knighthood]. Herschel wishes the comet had been predicted: 'he ought / To have been caught / With scientific salt upon his tail!' [an allusion to the jocular advice given to children to catch birds by placing salt on their tails]. (163) Herschel is described as 'Heaven's Grand Inquisitor'. He is interrupted by his serving-man, telling him it is supper time, but expostulates that he cannot come since he is 'supping with the heavenly bodies', which the servant misconstrues (164). Herschel's protestation that he is 'engaged with a celestial stranger' leads the servant to suggest the stranger might need feeding, but Herschel points out that 'He wants no meat or drink, / And one may doubt quite reasonably whether He has a mouth, / Seeing his head and tail are joined together' (165). Shown the comet, the servant, 'full of Vauxhall Royal Gardens, Vauxhall
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reminiscences, cries, "A rare good rocket!"'. Herschel explains that the comet 'With fear of change [...] / Perplexes sovereigns', but the servant is heedless, since he has no sovereigns. (166) The illustration captioned 'Posse Cometatis' (facing 164) depicts a startled man in night-cap and dressing gown standing on his roof, and dropping his telescope, as the sky lights up with shooting stars. The illustration captioned 'The Harvest Moon' (166) depicts a crescent moon with a handle attached, so as to form a sickle.



Comic Annual,  6 (1835), 176–80.

The Lament of Toby, the Learned Pig

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[Thomas Hood] Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

T Hood Hood, Thomas (1799–1845) ODNB
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Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Education, Natural History


    The plaint of a learned pig now being fatted up for eating: 'Old Mullins used to cultivate / My learning like a gard'ner; / But Giblett only thinks of lard, / and not of Doctor Lardner Lardner, Dionysius (1793–1859) ODNB
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' (177). The illustration captioned 'A Stuffed Bird' (facing 176) depicts a fat baby being fed by its mother; its clothes, plump breast, and short, forward-facing feet give it the appearance of a bird.