The illustration, entitled 'An Association for the Advancement of Science
[an allusion to the
British
Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Science
CloseView the register entry >>] on an excursion',
depicts several geologists having a picnic on a beach. The text describes
geologists' eating habits, including their tendency to deal with pies as if
they were geological strata.
Criticizes a theatre manager's decision to exploit gun cotton, instead of
gunpowder for dramatic purposes. Points out the gunpowder is too powerful for
this purpose and its tremendous noise could be produced by 'toy-guns'.
Presents the insights of a 'celebrated clairvoyante' into the state
of the world's political geography in 1896. These insights reveal several
annexations of countries and changes of ruler. The clairvoyante claims, for
example, that 'Russia will be permanently enlarged, and will occasionally
publish a supplement, either in the shape of Egypt or the Caucasus, or a bit of
Turkey'.
Imagines that if the vibrating wires of an electric telegraph were examined
they might contain 'some ecstatic message from some ardent lover'.
Punch's 'sentimental reflections' on the telegraph are dissipated when
it learns that the telegraphic messages concern coal supplies.
Responding to news that painless surgical operations are now possible, hopes
that the 'invention will soon be applied to the more delicate operation of
politics'. Relishes the prospect of 'cutting off' members from the
'Conservative body' without causing any pain.
Taken from the 'Log of a Commercial Gent', this entry relates an 'attempt to
discover a north-west passage from London to Edinburgh, during the late
snow-storm'—an allusion to
John Franklin'sFranklin, Sir John
(1786–1847)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
ill-fated attempt to discover the north-west passage. The diary consists of
observations of the slow progress of the train, railway travellers, and
dwindling supplies of food.
Quackery, Medical Treatment, Commerce, Travel, Transport
Observing that, 'Advertising is certainly the great vehicle for the age',
laments the proposal to line the insides of omnibuses with advertisements.
Imagines the distress caused by long exposure to advertisements for quack
medicines.
Public Health, Sanitation, Medical Practitioners, Commerce,
Pollution
Mr Punch's response to an advertisement for a salaried 'Officer of Health'
at
Liverpool
Town CouncilLiverpool Town Council
CloseView the register entry >>. Punch promises to find a suitable candidate
and swears that this 'medical gentleman' shall 'endeavour to make money by
private practice only' during his spare leisure moments. Stresses that his
candidate will not let financial considerations blind him to 'nuisances'. For
example, the candidate will 'denounce' a patient who is a 'rich butcher' owning
a slaughterhouse in a 'populous neighbourhood'. Concludes by asking the town
council for money.
Telegraphy, Medical Treatment, Railways, Invention
Describes cases of 'physicians advising their patients through the electric
telegraph' and 'marriages' performed by the 'same electric means', and foresees
'elopements' by telegraph.
Writing from 'Hades. Sixth of the Kalends of Feb., U.C. 2600', the narrator
reproaches Londoners for their water supply being vastly less effective than
that enjoyed by the people of ancient Rome. Mystified by the fact that London
rests on a 'deep bed of chalk', which could supply its inhabitants with 'plenty
of pure water'.
Responds to a proposal to decorate railway stations with paintings by
suggesting various railway- and telegraph-related subjects. Suggestions include
'RUMOUR [...] on the five wires of the Electric Telegraph; an
allegory of Justice overtaking Crime', and the 'Railway King [George
HudsonHudson, George
(1800–71)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>]—driving from triumphal first-class chariot
four-and-twenty railway engines, all running in different directions'.
Physical Geography, Railways, Textbooks, Education, Time,
Schools
Discusses the impact of railways on geography teaching. Notes the changes to
geography textbooks and anticipates that geography questions will soon have
'reference to nothing but railways'. For example, 'What is the capital of
England?', will become, 'What is the capital of the
London and Birmingham
RailwayLondon and Birmingham Railway
CloseView the register entry >>?'. Adds that 'distance, of course, will no longer figure in
the maps, but time will be the substitute'.
Punch, 12 (1847), 60.
Wonderful Effects of Ether in a Case of Scolding Water
With a title alluding to the recent use of ether for 'painless' surgery, the
author invites 'some scientific man' to improve the roof of the Quadrant on
Regent's Street. Warns people with rheumatism to avoid this area, 'for the
paneless operation of inhaling the "ethereal mildness"' would not do them any
good.
Describes Punch's plans to construct a balloon that will assist the
'Punchillization of our fellow-men'. Presents suggestions from the notorious
inventor,
David B ReidReid, David Boswell
(1805–63)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>,
regarding the most suitable material and descent mechanism for the
balloons.
Railways, Anaesthesia, Medical Treatment, Accidents
Alleged extract from a report by the directors of the
'Eastern Counties' Railway'Eastern Counties Railway Company
CloseView the register entry >>
in which it is proposed to prepare rooms at every station where 'persons who
dislike being hurt or injured, or are foolishly apprehensive of danger, may
have the option of inhaling the ether', enabling them to endure the rest of the
journey 'in a state of insensibility'.
Shows
Lord
George BentinckBentinck, Lord George (William George
Frederic Cavendish)
(1802–48)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> as a jockey riding a steam locomotive as if it were
a horse, his arms clasped around its smokestack. This alludes to Bentinck's
notorious fascination with horse-riding, and his introduction of a bill into
parliament that proposed to build a new railway in Ireland. According to
Altick 1997Altick, Richard D. 1997. Punch: The Lively Youth of a
British Institution 1841–1851, Colombus: Ohio State University
Press
CloseView the register entry >>, the figure of
£16,000,000 appearing in the smoke belched from the engine was the amount
that Bentinck needed to raise for the project.
Railways, Commerce, Cultural Geography, Race, Politics,
Government
Suspects that Punch's disastrous 'Kensington Railway' never occurred
to
Lord
George BentinckBentinck, Lord George (William George
Frederic Cavendish)
(1802–48)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, the architect of the Irish Railways Bill. Describes
the former scheme as a 'road leading from a place where nobody ever was, to a
place where nobody was ever going'. Hopeful that the line would make a profit
once it is extended at both ends, but warns that no amount of extension to the
Irish railways would make them profitable. The illustration shows a deserted
railway station.
Spoof report of a sale of
Lord
George Bentinck'sBentinck, Lord George (William George
Frederic Cavendish)
(1802–48)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> various railway locomotives, each one assessed as
if it were a horse. 'King Death', for example, a 'well-known engine'
with several deaths to its name, was run into the yard and 'pronounced "no
go"', and despite 'great difficulty experienced in getting him to start',
proceeded 'at a slapping pace, then stopped short, and finally "backed" over
the temporary embankment'. The characteristics of other locomotives make
cynical allusions to railway mania and the Irish question. The illustration
strengthens the comparison of locomotives to horses.
Railways, Engineering, Cultural Geography, Politics, Government,
Controversy
Relishes the
House of
Lords'House of Lords
CloseView the register entry >> rejection of
Lord
George Bentinck'sBentinck, Lord George (William George
Frederic Cavendish)
(1802–48)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> Irish Railways Bill, arguing that giving
'railroads to Ireland would be doing her about as much good as sending her
assiettes and wine-coolers'. Points out the engineering difficulties
facing such a scheme, including having track laid on steep gradients, machinery
being repaired 'with bits of string', and lazy guards.
Reports on the singing activities of the 'Mesmerist and Phrenologist',
Mr HullahHullah, Mr
(fl. 1847)
PU1/12/10/3 CloseView the register entry >>.
Presents verses allegedly from one of his songs, which include such lines as,
'this cast displays a combination / Of Benevolence deficient, with excessive
Veneration'. The illustration shows Hullah pointing to a phrenological bust,
whilst singing with piano accompaniment.
Notes that the
Houses of
ParliamentHouses of Parliament
CloseView the register entry >> 'have been constructed with such a beautiful regard to
the science of Acoustics that it will be necessary for the speakers to regulate
their voices in conformity with the principles of harmony'. The construction
will force statesmen to speak in a specific key and prevent them from making
'abrupt changes of note'.
Reports on
William
Whewell'sWhewell, William
(1794–1866)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> invention of a 'Clerical Churn', a machine for making
lumps of 'Cambridge butter', each one bearing a 'mitre' stamp. Expects great
demand for the machine as clergymen prefer bread 'when buttered with a
mitre'.
Notes the declining enthusiasm for gun cotton, which has failed to fulfil
such 'brilliant promises' as doing 'away with war, by making the destruction of
the human species so easy that a baby might be a Field-Marshall'.
Astronomy, Light, Invention, Public Health, Disease, Politics,
Government
Discusses the address to the
British
Association for the Advancement of ScienceBritish Association for the Advancement of Science
CloseView the register entry >> by Foreign Secretary
Henry J Temple (3rd
Viscount Palmerston)Temple, Henry John, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
(1784–1865)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>, who argued that the 'contemplation of the
vastness of the universe was admirably calculated [...] to render us
indifferent to sublunary woes'. Claims that Palmerston put his theory to
practice since, having contemplated astronomical subjects, he ignored important
foreign affairs. Adds that Palmerston suggested that the government employ the
astronomer
William Parsons (3rd
Earl of Rosse)Parsons, William, 3rd Earl of Rosse
(1800–67)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> to ensure that the Irish, 'by the visual assurance
that nebulae are astral agglomerations', sustain the 'loss of the potato'.
Concludes with Palmerston's proposal to use a 'night telescope' in fever
hospitals to prevent 'bodily anguish'.
Medical Treatment, Disease, Quackery, Cultural Geography, Race,
Government, Politics
Compares the 'case of Ireland' to a patient whose symptoms can only be
remedied with 'a very bitter pill', and who, consequently, resorts to quack
remedies. Continuing the metaphor, likens the Prime Minister
Lord John Russell'sRussell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell
(1792–1878)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>
'eleventh hour' prescription of the 'Poor-Law Pill' to Ireland, to a 'regular
practitioner' treating a patient at the last minute, and prescribing 'physic
that should have been administered in the first place'.
Reports that, following the government abolition of inter-mural interments,
'extreme agitation' has broken out amongst 'proprietors of patent medicines',
who have 'vested interests' in churchyards. Explains that 'poor people not only
consume the patent medicines but the patent medicines consume the poor people',
and thus the churchyard is 'self-supplying'. Notes that vendors of patent
medicine will be meeting to petition the
Houses of
ParliamentHouses of Parliament
CloseView the register entry >> against the 'loss of revenue' occasioned by this
measure. The illustration depicts patent pills of various shapes and sizes
participating in this meeting.
Stresses that electric telegraphs laid between Vienna, St Petersburg, and
Berlin, would improve communication between these 'courts' and lay one half of
Europe 'under their secret influence'. Argues that
King
Louis-PhillipeLouis-Phillipe, King of the French
(1773–1850)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> of France could likewise bring England 'under his
thumb' through daily telegraphic contact with
Queen
VictoriaVictoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India
(1819–1901)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>.
Discusses the fact that photographic portraits fade gradually and thus 'keep
pace with those fleeting impressions or feelings under which it is usual for
one to ask another for his or her miniature'. The narrator presents an
illustration to show the dramatic fading of his own portrait, produced by
'cheap photography', and appends a 'pathetic ballad' from his lover, lamenting
the disappearance of his nose and facial hair from the portrait.
Reports that on being told that 'such was the audacity of science' that the
electric telegraph allowed communication between London and Portsmouth 'in one
minute', Mrs Harris remarked on the rapidity but added, 'I suppose they can
only carry one at a time!'.
Regards the 'Ethiopian mania' in London as 'a very disagreeable nuisance'.
Extending an analogy between 'a shower of blacks' brought about by 'tremendous
puffs that circulate on all sides of us' and an atmospheric nuisance, calls on
those who 'cure smoky chimnies' to 'get rid of the blacks that darken the
atmosphere of the world of amusement in London'. Hopes that the 'breath of
public approbation' will terminate the 'present glut of Ethiopians'. The
illustration shows Britannia and her lion being rained upon by black
figures.
Complains that 'not one person out of five thousand' understands such
meteorological 'riddles' as 'N.N.W.' and '63' Fahr.', and suggests using a
person's clothing as a more 'intelligible' weather indicator. Gives a diary of
his changes of clothing, arguing that, for example, 'Mackintosh' points to wet
and 'Summer Trowsers' is the 'very best sign of "change"'. The illustration
shows a male figure taking down measurements from a weather cock. His desk sits
atop a small terrestrial globe suspended in space.
Pollution, Public Health, Sanitation, Disease, Government,
Engineering
Presents two songs sung by the
City of London Commissioners of
SewersCity of London Commissioners of Sewers
CloseView the register entry >> to celebrate their conclusion that London's '"paving,
drainage, sewerage, lighting, health and cleanliness" is inferior to that of no
city in the Empire', and that the Metropolis will be included in the
'operation' of the Health of Towns Bill of
George Howard (Viscount
Morpeth)Howard, George, 6th Earl of Carlisle (formerly
styled 'Viscount Morpeth')
(1773–1848)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>. The songs ironically defend the importance of filth and
disease. The first song describes the sewers that 'give up their tribute
steaming / Through traps that lend / Their aid to send these sweets through
London streaming'. Imagines 'Taste', 'Sight', and 'Smell' arguing over which of
the senses the sewers were meant to satisfy, and ends by praising 'the perfect
London drainage'. The second song calls on Londoners to oppose sanitary
legislation in various ways including rallying 'round your cesspools, and your
sewers, and your sinks', showing teeth to frighten off the sanitary reformer
Thomas S SmithSmith, Thomas Southwood
(1788–1861)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>,
and refusing to be 'sweet and clean by the compulsion of a bill'. Upholds the
need to liberate diseases such as the 'Typhus', which, 'like the wind, shall
revel free'.
Presents a 'nursery song' on the subject of the
Corporation
of LondonCorporation of London
CloseView the register entry >>, which recoils from coming under the Health of Towns Bill
of
George Howard (Viscount
Morpeth)Howard, George, 6th Earl of Carlisle (formerly
styled 'Viscount Morpeth')
(1773–1848)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>. The narrator of the poem tries unsuccessfully to shame the
corporation into washing itself, and laments its mud-strewn thoroughfares, open
sewers, and leaky gas pipes.
Following
Anon, 'The Dirty London Alderman', Punch, 12 (1847), 190, shows 'Nurse
MORPETHHoward, George, 6th Earl of Carlisle (formerly
styled 'Viscount Morpeth')
(1773–1848)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>', the architect of the
Health of Towns Bill, attempting to clean a London alderman. The latter is the
embodiment of the
Corporation
of LondonCorporation of London
CloseView the register entry >>, depicted here as a stubborn and dirty boy. Morpeth sits
at a washstand on which rests a bar of 'sanitary soap'; the washbasin is marked
'Health of Towns'.
Reports on the good health of London and its suburbs. Adds that medical men
think London's health could be improved if 'sanitary regulations were better
observed', if it took a 'few draughts of a bill' being compounded in 'the great
laboratory for all sorts of drugs at St. Stephen's', and if the statue of
Arthur Wellesley (1st
Duke of Wellington)Wellesley, Arthur, 1st Duke of Wellington
(1769–1852)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> were removed.
Reports that the adoption of the electric telegraph at Epsom Racecourse has
had 'such an effect on the minds of several of the old workers' of the
'old-fashioned telegraph', that these 'poor creatures' were allowed to use
their invention to send 'a set of incoherent signals'. Admires the humane
spirit in which these individuals 'indulge a sort of garrulity through the
medium of those signals' on the old telegraph.
Reports on
Thomas
Holloway'sHolloway, Thomas
(1800–83)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> new advertising slogan. Lists some of the ailments that
Holloway's 'marvellous ointment' is 'warranted' to cure. Suggests that it is
Mason G Stratford
(5th Earl of Aldborough)Stratford, Mason Gerard, 5th Earl of Aldborough
(1784–1849)
Cokayne 1910-59 CloseView the register entry >>, Holloway's most distinguished 'patient',
whose portrait graces the advertisement. Points out that Holloway is not the
first to 'associate the fine arts with advertising hand-bills'. The
illustration shows a wall in front of the London skyline. It is plastered with
advertising posters, including ones for 'Parr'sParr, Bartholomew
(1750–1810)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> Pills'.
Military Technology, Invention, Hydropathy, Aeronautics
Reports on the 'top-heaviness' of warships caused by the 'extreme weight of
guns' on the decks of the vessels. Believes that a 'cold-water cure' has been
'seriously recommended', allowing the ships to take in water as ballast, and
attaching balloons to their masts to prevent them from sinking. Illustrations
depict these suggestions.
Medical Treatment, Manufactories, Pollution, Politics
Reports that
Queen Maria
ChristinaMaria Christina, Queen of Spain
(1806–78)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> of Spain has been advised to spend the summer near Mount
Vesuvius, its 'sulphur air' being 'more congenial with her ardent temperament'.
Adds that
King Louis
PhillipeLouis-Phillipe, King of the French
(1773–1850)
CBD CloseView the register entry >> of France invited the 'men of Birmingham' to construct an
'iron house' that Christina could inhabit on the volcano's crater.
Reports that a 'deputation of the principal Metropolitan Odours' has been
protesting to
George Howard (Viscount
Morpeth)Howard, George, 6th Earl of Carlisle (formerly
styled 'Viscount Morpeth')
(1773–1848)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> who threatens to abolish them. Fears that Morpeth 'has
allowed himself to be led by the nose'.
Natural History, Zoology, Government, Pollution, Public
Health
Description of the characteristics of the 'City Pig', which is a
thinly-veiled portrait of metropolitan aldermen. Draws attention to its
'excessive voracity' and 'love of dirt', its indiscriminate eating habits and
affinity for 'the foulest mud', 'cess-pools and sewers'. Adds that the animal
fiercely resists any attempt to move it from the 'slush of its choice' and
notes the thickness of its skin and density of its skull. Calls on the
government to either remove the pigs or clean them up.
Medical Treatment, Railways, Commerce, Cultural Geography, Disease,
Nutrition
Analyses and suggests treatment for the symptoms of John Bull (the
personification of Great Britain), the symptoms being major contemporary social
and political issues. Mr Bull's problems include 'the effects of the railway
fever', which 'produced a most serious disturbance of your economy', 'a local
disease, situated in your Irish region', and a 'tightness of the chest [Bank]'.
Links the 'obstruction' in the centre of Bull's 'circulation' to an 'inordinate
craving' for gold, but rejects 'bleeding' as a treatment, owing to the fact
that Bull is already suffering from 'excessive venesection'. Recommends
avoidance of 'artificial stimulants' and 'extreme moderation in diet'.
Prescribes medicine at the cost of 'only about three per cent' and reassures
Bull that his vital organs are 'untouched' and that his disorder is 'merely
functional'.
Refers to the election of the parliamentary candidate for the
University of CambridgeUniversity of Cambridge
CloseView the register entry >>. Reflecting
on the university's appointment of
Prince AlbertAlbert [Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha],
prince consort, consort of Queen Victoria
(1819–61)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> as
chancellor, a move confirming the university's 'disregard of scholarship',
observes that he 'ne'er had passed his little go'—a reference to the
university's preliminary examination. Believes Cambridge would, 'For honours
mathematical or classical renown'd, / Choose nobody, but choose a man with
honours already crowned'.
Ponders the amount of 'dirt one drinks' in Thames water and the argument
that given that 'there is something salubrious in filth' then
Smithfield
MarketSmithfield Market
CloseView the register entry >> is wholesome. Reports that Punch's analysis of water
in the vicinity of Smithfield Market showed 'Mammon' and 'folly' to be its
chief ingredients. Announces its preparation of a filter to remove this
'foulness'.
Reports that the 'dip has been burning at both ends lately': the discovery
of the 'dip of the magnetic needle' followed by the use of lighted candles in
portrait photography.
Hopes that Mr Lee's invention of a 'Patent Railway Break' will supersede the
commonest break on railways—'that of railway bridges and passengers'
necks'.
Notes that enormous weights are used to test the strengths of viaducts and
suggests that the value of
Benjamin
Disraeli'sDisraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield
(1804–81)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> 'Election Addresses' be tested by their ability to be
supported by viaducts.
Lists
Charles de L W
Sibthorp'sSibthorp, Charles de Laet Waldo
(1783–1855)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> 'objections against Railways', which include the fact
that they 'cut up the country' and 'are the greatest levellers in the world'.
His 'antipathy against the smoke cannot be described in colours black
enough'.
Reports that the death of the
Surrey Zoological GardensSurrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
CloseView the register entry >> elephant,
a 'highly respected creature', left a 'vacancy [...] which will not be filled
up very easily', and an empty 'trunk'.
Discusses the claim that the potato blight has been caused by varieties of
the 'Lepus vastator', creatures more commonly known as the hare and
rabbit, which 'constitute a perfect scourge to agriculture'. Regards the
rabbit's extraordinary 'fecundity' as a measure of the 'sterility which they
occasion' and advises the 'extirpation of these noxious vermin', however
'pernicious' that might be to 'the landed interest'.
Anaesthesia, Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners
Discusses news that ether is superseding alcohol as a means of producing
'agreeable excitement'. Presents letters from people 'describing effects of the
new stimulant'. Cimabue Potts reported such strange experiences as 'imagining
herself in Rome', feeling 'immortal', and making large sums of money from a
painting produced under the ethereal influence. Thomas Lint, a 'Student at
Bartholomew'sSt Bartholomew's Hospital
CloseView the register entry >>', describes 'ether
parties [...] amongst our fellows', imagining himself 'past the
HallWorshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
CloseView the register entry >>
and College', and feeling 'out of debt, and as if in large practice'.
Reports on a speech by
William
BucklandBuckland, William
(1784–1856)
DSB CloseView the register entry >> on a monument to the printer
William CaxtonCaxton, William
([1415–22]–1492)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >>.
Buckland's speech, evidently delivered on a tour of Caxton's birthplace, is
devoted to such natural historical matters as the 'early history of the Woods
and Forests', and the closest he comes to even uttering Caxton's name is
mentioning the 'invention of printing'.
Zoological Gardens, Animal Behaviour, Sound, Instruments,
Music
Describes the animals that comprised
Louis A
Jullien'sJullien (or Julien), Louis Antoine
(1812–60)
ODNB CloseView the register entry >> 'chief audience' during his musical concerts at the
Surrey Zoological GardensSurrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
CloseView the register entry >> during
rainy weather. Notes the 'malicious opposition from the beasts towards the
band', including the bear's attempt to 'drown the ophycleide in growls' and the
hyena's struggle to 'laugh down the piccolo'. Adds that the animals have
succeeded in having it 'all their own way'.
Suggests that the motto for photographic portraits should be 'Light come,
light go', owing to their inability to preserve images for longer than about a
month.
Mystified by recent advertisements for 'self-acting furniture', describes
some of the items of furniture which would greatly benefit daily life including
'a dining-table which, the instant the guests had eaten and drunk as much as
was good for them, should walk out of the dining-room and into the
kitchen'.
Reports on symptoms exhibited by the clerks who pay money-orders at the
General Post
OfficeGeneral Post Office
CloseView the register entry >>. Symptoms include 'vacant staring of the eyes directly an
order is presented to [them] for payment', 'speechlessness', an apparently
'paralysed' hand, and a 'species of coma' which renders the paying-out
operation 'painful to witness' and 'exceedingly tedious'.