Intends to render science 'somewhat contemptible' by dealing with it 'familiarly'. Describes various astronomical objects, including the planets, sun, stars, and comets. The descriptions of the objects are typically based on satirical interpretations of astronomical names. For example, the planets in the air comprise the 'planet-airy system', the spots on the sun may be due to 'specks of dirt' on the bottoms of savans' telescopes, 'the watchmen on the moon must be horribly overworked' owing to the fact that the 'day' on the moon lasts a fortnight, 'the Milky Way or Whey' is an inappropriate epithet because 'whey to a certain extent is milky', and the 'Band of Orion' is not a musical band. Notes that 'we are entirely in the dark' about comets, apart from knowing that 'they are often coming, but never come'. For further reading, recommends Adams and Walker's 'plans of the universe'.
Responds to the 'outcry' against the 'noble science' of animal magnetism caused by Charles LafontaineLafontaine, Charles
(fl. 1847–66)
RLIN CloseView the register entry >> by listing some of the uses of mesmerism. Notes that 'hen-pecked husbands' can stop their wives' 'oral battery' by 'a few passes of the hand' rather than using 'razors and their garters'. Mesmerism is also 'the only panacea for those morning and evening infantile ebullitions' assigned to the 'teeth, wind, or a pain in the stomach'. For lovers, 'it is a boon sent by Cupid' because it enables parents and bailiffs to be 'rendered powerless and unobtrusive'. It also enables political opponents to be defeated and the Chartist mobs to be quelled. Adds that the clairvoyant powers claimed by mesmerised patients would benefit many individuals. For example, it would enable Lord John RussellRussell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell
(1792–1878)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> to discern the policy of his 'wily adversary' and 'jealous husbands' to see through brick walls and to read the letters of rivals.
Announces that Charles L W SibthorpSibthorp, Charles de Laet Waldo
(1783–1855)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> has 'submitted to an unprecedented and wonderfully successful operation' to amputate his ears which were becoming severely elongated.
Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Charlatanry, Government, Pharmaceuticals, Politics, Health
The dramatis personae include 'Rhubarb Pill' a 'travelling doctor' played by the Prime Minister Robert PeelPeel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet
(1788–1850)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>. Italicised parts of Pill's lines are apparently appropriated from his political speeches. Pill boasts that as the 'professor of sophistry and doctorer of laws' he has come amongst his 'friends and neighbours' with 'old and infallible remedies and restoratives'. Despite the opposition of the 'Cabinet of Physicians', he promises to 'restore the constitution', free of charge. The 'Countryman', played by John Bull, asks Pill to cure his wife. Pill insists that he must direct his own 'administration' and see Lord John Russell'sRussell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell
(1792–1878)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> '"purge" thrown out of the window'. Concludes with Pill singing a song describing himself as a 'political quack' and his attempts to restore to health a nation rendered 'rather sickly' by Russell.
Responds to George Combe'sCombe, George
(1788–1858)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> claim that 'in less than a hundred years' public affairs will be run by the 'rules of phrenology'. Proposes ways in which the 'science ought to be applied'. Thinks ministers of state should be rejected if they have the slightest 'bump of benevolence', royal speech-makers should possess the largest bumps of 'secretiveness', and that Chancellors of the Exchequer with a well-developed faculty of 'number' will be reliable. Expresses concern that the practice might be abused 'by parties bumping their own heads and raising tumours for the sake of obtaining credit for different qualities'.
Punch, 1 (1841), 57.
Labours of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
The author's memories of the British Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Science
CloseView the register entry >>, include 'a day on the water', 'a night at the play-house', 'a morning assemblage of elegant ladies', a 'chemical lecture on lemon and kalis', 'a magnificent dinner', 'lots of wine' and 'broken glasses'.
Animal Magnetism, Mesmerism, Quackery, Medical Treatment, Politics, Government
Depicts Robert PeelPeel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet
(1788–1850)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> as 'Sir Rhubarb Pill', a quack doctor, mesmerising a lion sitting in his throne. On a table behind Pill sits a 'Grand Electric Politico Battery' powered by cells bearing such names as 'Stanley'Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th
Earl of Derby
(1799–1869)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> (the Colonial Secretary), 'Lyndhurst'Copley, John Singleton, the younger, 1st Baron
Lyndhurst
(1772–1863)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> (the Lord Chancellor), 'New Taxes', and the 'Pension List' —some of the statesmen and the political subjects which Peel had to grapple with on taking office. The ghostly form of the senior Tory statesman, Arthur Wellesley (1st Duke of Wellington)Wellesley, Arthur, 1st Duke of Wellington
(1769–1852)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, looks on in the background.
Reinforces its purpose to 'convey so-called "information" to the vulgar in articles written by those who 'will work cheaply' and 'know but little of what they are writing about'. Claims that the article is written by a 'gentleman' who will 'mystify a few common-place subjects, in the style of certain articles in the Penny Cyclopaedia[Long, George],
ed. 1833–43. Penny Cyclopaedia for the Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge, 27 vols, London: Charles Knight
CloseView the register entry >>. Presents readers with 'Punch's Guide to Service; or, The Housemaid's Best Friend. Chapter 1. On the Processes and Rationale of Lighting Fires', which describes the art of building and igniting fires in ludicrously technical detail.
Medical Practitioners, Invention, Charlatanry, Government, Politics, Pneumatics
The Prime Minister Robert PeelPeel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet
(1788–1850)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> presents himself to the 'gullible public' as 'Sir Rhubarb Pill, M.D. and L.S.D. [i.e. pounds, shillings, pence], Professor of Political Chemistry and Conservative Medicine to the Carlton Club'. His other distinctions include being the inventor of the 'People's Patent Sliding Stomach-pump' and the 'new Royal extract of Toryism'.
Societies, Medical Treatment, Mesmerism, Surgery, Medical Practitioners, Disease
Describes how medical papers to be presented at the British Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Science
CloseView the register entry >> were lost and found their way into Punch's hands. The spoof papers include Dr Splitnerve's case of a highly 'magnetic' young man, Dr Mortar's cure of an excessive case of squinting, Dr Sexton's evidence supporting his claim that influenza is 'a disease of convenience', and Professor Wynne Slow on the 'Philosophy of Death'.
Explains how 'a few scientific labourers' decided to deliver lectures during weekly meetings 'at one another's cottages'. Papers presented at the society's first meeting concern such subjects as the 'Advantage of an Air-gun over a Fowling-piece, in bringing down pheasants without a noise', and the 'Value of Cheap Literature, and Intrinsic Worth (by weight) of the various Publications of the Society for the Confusion of Useless Knowledge'. Describes the society's rising fortunes, including its new library and museum. Notes the society's Shepperton expedition on board punts. Claims the society intends to 'take a high place [...] in the scientific transactions of the country' and notes that the subject for the 'Prize Essay' will be 'the possibility of totally obliterating the black stamp on the post-office's Queen's heads, so as to render them serviceable a second time'.
Disappointed with the results of the 'public examination of the juvenile members' of the society. The 'infant philosophers' were required to answer such questions as 'the distance, in miles, from the Hanwell Lunatic AsylumCounty Lunatic Asylum, Hanwell CloseView the register entry >> to the Tuesday in Easter week'. Reports the 'creditable progress' of the 'School of Design and Drawing' including one student's controversial design for a monument to Horatio Nelson (Viscount Nelson)Nelson, Horatio, Viscount Nelson
(1758–1805)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>. Reports various additions to the society's museum including 'A small lizard, caught in Regent's Park, preserved in gin-and-water, in a soda-water bottle, and denominated by the librarian "a heffut"'. Notes various library acquisitions including 'bound copy of Sermons preached at Hookham-cum-Snivey Church, by the Reverend Peter Twaddle'.
Defines 'natural history' as the history of 'naturals' such as human species, and of 'simples' such as herbs. Insists that moving from the pine to the hautboy, the gnat to the elephant, and from Lord John RussellRussell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell
(1792–1878)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> to William WhewellWhewell, William
(1794–1866)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> we are reminded of the 'endless variety of all sorts of everything' in nature. Notes that species are given Latin names to make knowledge of natural history 'as difficult of acquirement as possible to everybody'. Dwells on the 'physical structure and peculiarities', 'habits, reproduction, and food', and 'geographical distribution' of one species—the barber of 'homo emollientissimus'.
Charles LafontaineLafontaine, Charles
(fl. 1847–66)
RLIN CloseView the register entry >> seeks 'a few fine able-bodied young men' who won't flinch when pins are driven into their legs, and who can 'stare out an ignited lucifer without winking'.
Medical Treatment, Charlatanry, Government, Politics
Criticises the Prime Minister Robert Peel'sPeel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet
(1788–1850)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> support of the Poor Law and remedy for saving the patient 'labouring under a consumption' from 'a trip across the Styx'.
Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism, Government, Charlatanry, Politics, Electricity, Quackery, Medical Treatment
Reports on a hirsute London practitioner of animal magnetism whose attempts to deprive his patients of their senses proved difficult because they 'left all the sense they possess at home'. Suggests, in view of his ability to send politicians to sleep and to stupefy John Bull, that the Prime Minister Robert PeelPeel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet
(1788–1850)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> is the 'Charles LafontaineLafontaine, Charles
(fl. 1847–66)
RLIN CloseView the register entry >> of political mesmerism'. Compares Lafontaine's tactics to those of Peel. For example, 'one resorts to electrics, the other to election tricks'.
Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners, Government, Charlatanry, Quackery, Politics
'Dr' Peel, a representation of the Prime Minister Robert PeelPeel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet
(1788–1850)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> as a 'quacksalver', is asked to cure a horse. Notes that Peel refused to use his strange medicines on his 'patient' (the allegorical figure of Britain, John Bull) until he was paid a fee. Peel will not write Bull a prescription until he has studied the diseases and the 'whole Materia Medica'.
Concerns the findings of a 'survey of the coast between Arundel-stairs and Hungerford-market pier'. Notes the discovery of 'a large number of curious specimens in natural history' which it viewed at the 'Stangate-and-Millbank-both-sides-of-the-water-united-for-the-advancement-of-Science-Association' (an allusion to the British Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Science
CloseView the register entry >>). Specimens include the 'shells of the native oyster' (which are to be discussed at the spoof Hookham-cum-Snivey Institution) and a 'skeleton of some unknown animal'.
Describes a controversy at the spoof Geological Society of Hookham-cum-Snivey over whether the local soil is 'crustaceous' or carboniferous. Supporters of the former point to bread crusts found in the soil while supporters of the latter position note the 'regular strata of undoubted cinders'. Notes how the opening of a local sewer promised to resolve the dispute but the 'hard substance' found in the sewer caused confusion and a physical struggle between those concerned. Notes Mr Grubemup's observations of the soil and fossils under the milestone in Kensington Road.
Announces several works in natural history in which the author and/or contents are satirically related to the title of the work. For example, 'Humming Birds' is described as a work containing a 'Memoir and Portraits of Robert PeelPeel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet
(1788–1850)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> [the Prime Minister], Lord StanleyStanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th
Earl of Derby
(1799–1869)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> [the Colonial Secretary], and Lord AberdeenGordon, George Hamilton-, 4th Earl of Aberdeen
(1784–1860)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> [the Foreign Secretary]'.
Putatively by the statesman Henry J Temple (3rd Viscount Palmerston)Temple, Henry John, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
(1784–1865)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, this guide to 'the best mode of getting a place for your relations' is a list of definitions of terms used in politics, all of which are parodies of geometrical propositions. For example, 'a line in politics is interest without principle' and 'an obtuse angle is that in which the inclination is evidently to the TreasuryTreasury
CloseView the register entry >>'.
Medical Practitioners, Anatomy, Education, Hospitals, Universities, Pathology
Describes the academic and social life of a medical student at the University of LondonUniversity of London
CloseView the register entry >>. Aspects of his social life are linked with medical claims. For example, the author claims that the student abstains from drinking beer after being warned about the 'collywobbles' described in James Copland'sCopland, James
(1791–1870)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> Medical Dictionary[Copland,
James] 1832–58. A Dictionary of Practical Medicine,
Comprising General Pathology, the Nature and Treatment of Diseases, Morbid
Structures and the Disorders Especially Incidental to Climates, to the Sex and
to the Different Epochs of Life, with Numerous Prescriptions, a
Classification of Diseases, a Copious Bibliography, with References; and an
Appendix of Approved Formulae, 3 vols, London: Longman, Brown, Green,
Longmans & Roberts
CloseView the register entry >> and John Gregory'sGregory, John
(1724–73)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>Practice of PhysicGregory,
John 1768–69. Lectures on the Practice of Physic,
Edinburgh: J Balfour
CloseView the register entry >>. The student perceives the 'rich reward of watching the gradual progress of a fellow-creature to convalescence, and the insignificance of worldly gain compared with the pure treasures of pathological knowledge'. Takes the perspective of the student, Joseph Muff, who describes his fellow students as 'dissipated and irreligious'.
Geology, Stratigraphy, Sociology, Class, Analogy, Human Species
Likening social to geological strata, society is divided into 'three great strata, called High Life—Middle Life—and Low Life'. The article further divides society into the 'Superior Class', 'Transition Class', 'Metamorphic Class', and 'Primitive Formation'. Details characteristics of each class. For example, 'Superior Class', also labelled the 'St. James' Series', includes people 'wearing coronets' and those who are 'related to coronets'. The 'Transition Class', is subdivided into 'Russell-square group', including people 'who give dinners to the superior classes', and the 'Clapham group', which includes people who 'keep a shop "concern" and a one-horse shay, and go to Ramsgate for three weeks in the dog-days'. Notes that this latter stratum is 'characterised by its fossil remains', such as watches and snuff-boxes. The 'Primitive Formation' is subdivided into the 'Whitechapel group', and 'St Giles's Group', which consists of 'Tag-rag and bob-tail in varieties'.
Notes that within 'two months of the first winter session' the medical student has studied so hard that he's nothing but 'ink-stains and industry', a 'walking chronicle of pathological statistics', and imagines himself as an 'embryo HunterHunter, John
(1728–93)
DSB CloseView the register entry >>'. Upholds the importance of the stethoscope and the benefits of using it on oneself.
Considers three political problems: 'to describe an Independent Member upon a given indefinite line of politics'; 'from a given point, to draw out a Radical Member to a given length'; and, 'from the greater opposition of two members to a given measure to cut off a part, so as it may agree with the less'. Shows how to solve each problem by arguments which parody the reasoning used in Euclid'sEuclid
(fl. 295 BC)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> geometry.
Medical Practitioners, Education, Colleges, Lecturing, Anatomy, Botany, Textbooks
Describes social and intellectual exploits of Joseph Muff, a medical student at the University of LondonUniversity of London
CloseView the register entry >>. Notes that the student is now mature because he takes notes at each lecture but intersperses them with 'a larger proportion of portraits of the lecturer, and other humorous conceits'. At this point the student beings 'an steady course of imaginary dissection'—a 'chimerical account of extremities whose minute structure he has deeply investigated'. Describes the student's lecture-room pranks and inventions, and how his conversation turns from anatomy lectures to pub exploits. The student 'gets' his anatomical prize 'by stealth, cribbing his answers from a tiny manual of knowledge'. Copies Joseph Muff's letter to his father in which he boasts about his conscientiousness, his purchase of several leading medical text-books and his hiring of a 'private demonstrator'. Describes the experiences of a student at 'Botanical Lectures' in the Society of Apothecaries Chelsea Physic GardenWorshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Chelsea Physic Garden
CloseView the register entry >>, and how students conducted themselves during 'botanical excursions'.
Describes society using geological terms. Describes the characteristics of the 'Transition Class'. Notes that individuals in this class tend to 'mix with the superior strata' and explains the causes of the 'elevation' of members of this group. Describes the 'Russell-square group' that consists of individuals distinguished by their tendency 'to give dinners to their superior series'. Notes the scarcity of 'fossil animals' in this group. Notes that the highest class, the 'St James' Series', consists of 'specimens' that are usually found 'attached to coronets' and in which one is most likely to find 'precious stones'. Notes the occurrence of the 'larking vein' in all classes and that specimens in each strata depend on the 'situation in which they are found'. The illustration shows a man drinking beer while lying on his back. The caption reads 'embedded in quarts(z)'.
Natural History, Physiology, Nutrition, Human Species
Parodying the language of natural history, it describes the 'physiology', 'habits', 'moral characteristics', 'reproduction', diet ('sustenance'), and 'geographical distribution' of opera-dancers.
Describes the academic and social life of a medical student at the University of LondonUniversity of London
CloseView the register entry >>. Notes the student's religious attendance at the dissecting-room and his prankish activities there. Protagonist Joseph Muff joins other men dissecting the brain in search of the hippocampus major. The student's many 'jocose pursuits' include administering poison to the 'toxological guinea-pigs' and hunting rabbits 'kept for galvanism'. Describes the students' preparation for and sitting of a Latin examination. Notes medical students' gregariousness and aversion to dining alone.
Punch, 1 (1841), 189.
List of the Premiums Awarded by the Hookham-Cum-Snivey Literary and Scientific Society
Awards given include those to 'Count D'OrsayD'Orsay, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel
(Gédéon Gaspard Alfred de Grimaud), Count
(1801–52)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>' for 'the most approved Essay on Cultivating a Flower Pot, and the Expediency of growing Migionette in preference to Sweet Pea on the Window-sills', and to 'Peter BorthwickBorthwick, Peter
(1804–52)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>' for a treatise proving that 'a Member requires no Brains, instancing his own case, where the deficiency was supplied by the length of his ears'.
Notes that 'philosophers' claim that steel is the only substance capable of producing a 'magnetic effect' but adds that after observing the behaviour of the 'heroine' of the story, they would have concluded that gold has greater magnetic attraction than steel.
Observes that in preparation for the 'ordeals of the Hall and College' the student resolves to abstain from drinking. Notes medical students' appreciation of cramming. Observes that the medical teacher is a 'man of the most varied and eccentric knowledge', acquainted with 'the different branches to be studied', and a master of 'all their minutiae'. Describes 'grinding-class'—a preparation for the examination at the Apothecaries' HallWorshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
CloseView the register entry >>. Here, Joseph Muff and other students irritate the 'grinder' by managing only sloppy answers to questions and by their jocose behaviour.
Notes the controversy between 'physicians, apothecaries, and surgeons' over a fasting man, Bernard CavannahCavannah, Bernard
(fl. 1841)
PU1/1/17/3 CloseView the register entry >>. The illustration shows two barber-surgeons fighting each other with domestic utensils. The caption reads: 'Surgere in Armis'.
One character, Mrs Waddledot, strongly opposes vaccination and links it to the dullness of children. Notes the opposition between practices of vaccination and inoculation.
Notes that one medical student sought to learn 'the whole of his practice of physic by setting the description of the diseases to music'. Produces two verses of his 'Poetry of Steggall'sSteggall, John
(fl. 1829–60)
WBI CloseView the register entry >>ManualSteggall,
John 1829. A Manual for Students Preparing for Examination at the
Apothecaries' Hall or other Medical Examinations, London: [n. pub.]
CloseView the register entry >>' which relate to the 'symptoms, treatment, and causes of Haemoptysis and Haematemesis'. Praises the poet as somebody who 'might have turned Cooper'sCooper, Samuel
(1780–1848)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>First Lines of SurgeryCooper, Samuel
1807. The First Lines of the Practice of Surgery: Being an Elementary Work
for Students, and a Concise Book of Reference, London: Richard
Phillips
CloseView the register entry >> and Copland'sCopland, James
(1791–1870)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> Medical Dictionary[Copland,
James] 1832–58. A Dictionary of Practical Medicine,
Comprising General Pathology, the Nature and Treatment of Diseases, Morbid
Structures and the Disorders Especially Incidental to Climates, to the Sex and
to the Different Epochs of Life, with Numerous Prescriptions, a
Classification of Diseases, a Copious Bibliography, with References; and an
Appendix of Approved Formulae, 3 vols, London: Longman, Brown, Green,
Longmans & Roberts
CloseView the register entry >> into a tragedy'. Notes that as examinations approach, the economy of the medical student changes from 'butterfly to chrysalis': he spends all his time studying, moving between 'the grinder and his lodgings'. Notes the medical student's 'assiduity' and interest in the 'statistics of the HallWorshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
CloseView the register entry >>'.
Aims to acquaint the public with 'the exact geographical position of this inhabitable world'. Questions refer to broad geographical concepts but are typically answered in terms of metropolitan locations. For example, geography is defined as 'the looking for places on a map, or in Downing-Street, or anywhere else in the world' 'any districts containing a number of separate residences and distinct tenements, as St. James's, St. Giles's'. Several answers are parodies of the terms given in the question. For example, the sea is defined as 'any small collection of water, as at Chelsea, Battersea'.
Introduces an item of 'poetic pathology' from Toby, a dog. The poem describes the symptoms of ascites, an illness that can be cured by 'squill, blue pill, and other means'. Describes the symptoms of 'Tympanitis', which can be cured with a 'cordial laxative, mix'd up with some carminative' and by 'avoiding food that's flatulent'.
Points out that before he enters the Apothecaries' HallWorshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
CloseView the register entry >>, the student collects 'testimonials of attendance to lectures and good moral conduct in his apprenticeship'. Advises students to obtain the testimonial of attendance while the testifier (the lecturer) is too busy to investigate the actual record of attendance. Produces a 'Code of Instructions' for examination candidates, which includes such jocose items as 'previously to going up, take some pills and get your hair cut', and 'should things appear to be going against you, get up a hectic cough'. Describes the behaviour of various students in the interval before, during, and after the examination.
The protagonist, Joseph Muff, is invited to answer questions on the subjects drawn from 'pharmacopoeias, books of prescriptions, trays of drugs, and half-dead plants'. Describes the award of certificates and the ensuing merriment. A student sings a song entitled 'The Student's Alphabet'. Each line of the song describes an aspect of medical school life described by a word beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet. For example, 'Oh, A was an Artery, fill'd with injection; / And B was a Brick, never caught at dissection'.
Reports that Peter LaurieLaurie, Sir Peter
(1778–1861)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, on learning that the planets Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, could be seen 'every evening in the west', invited them to 'the later Polish Ball'. The planets were advised 'to come by water' and Laurie waited for his 'fiery stranger' at the 'Tower Stares'.
Using the analogy with phrenology, argues that the stomach possesses several 'faculties' including those for 'roast beef' and 'devilled kidney'. Adds that the stomach is a compound organ each part of which receives 'its own proper kind of ailment' and develops itself by 'outward bumps and prominences'. Introduces his 'system of Stomachology' and anticipates that his system will replace anatomy. Divides faculties into four classes: 'sustaining faculties' (basic foods), 'sentiments or affections', 'superior sentiments', and 'intellectual tastes' (fashionable foods).
Describes the activities of various students the morning after their post-examination merriment. Describes the scene in the dissecting room, where students rejoice at hearing the news that the anatomy teacher is 'unavoidably detained'. Students consequently indulge in various naughty activities including schemes to kill a hen and another to let loose domestic animals in the dissecting room.
Believes a pot of 'half-and-half' (a mixture of two malt liquors, commonly ale and porter) is as essential to the 'proper illumination of a Medical Student's faculties' as 'sulphuric acid is to the ignition of the platinum of the hydropneumatic lamp'. Notes that, despite the efforts of the Royal College of SurgeonsRoyal College of Surgeons
CloseView the register entry >>, pots of beer find their way into the dissecting room. Relates gossip and mirth enjoyed by medical students over pots of beer.
Describes how the protagonist of the story, Joseph Muff, undergoes the process of 'grinding' in anatomy, before presenting himself at the Royal College of SurgeonsRoyal College of Surgeons
CloseView the register entry >>. Describes medical students' preparations for their last examination at the college. Students irritate the 'grinder' again by giving sloppy and jocose answers to medical questions. Compares the college examination favourably with those at the Apothecaries' HallWorshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
CloseView the register entry >>. The conclusion states that the articles have 'endeavoured to show the medical student as he actually exists—his reckless gaiety, his wild frolics, his open disposition'. Adds that students look back on their education with affection but also with a sense of the 'lamentable inefficacy of the present course of medical education pursued at our schools and hospitals, to fit a man for future practice'.