Science in the 19th Century Periodical

Punch, Or the London Charivari [1st]

Introductory Essay
Volume 12  (January to June 1847)
Punch,  12 (1847), [xi].

March

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Notes, Drollery



Chronology

Subjects:

Astronomy



Punch,  12 (1847), [xiii].

May

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; Reportage, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.



Geological Recreations

Subjects:

Societies, Geology, Scientific Practitioners


    The illustration, entitled 'An Association for the Advancement of Science [an allusion to the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View 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.




^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 2.

Gun-Cotton versus Gunpowder

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Amusement


    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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 9.

Geography for our Grandchildren

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Physical Geography, Mesmerism, Prognostication, Politics, Internationalism


    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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 9.

"Monster, Away!"

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Steam-power, Machinery, Progress, Military Technology


    Responding to a proposal to move the statue of Arthur Wellesley (1st Duke of Wellington) Wellesley, Arthur, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
by detonating it, argues that it can only be done with gun cotton, given the duke's lack of fear of gunpowder.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 14.

Imaginary (Railway) Conversations

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Railways, Psychology


    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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 22.

The New Discovery in Surgery

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Anaesthesia, Surgery, Medical Treatment, Politics


    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.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 29.

Punch's Voyages and Travels

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Diary, Spoof

Subjects:

Exploration, Discovery, Railways, Travel


    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's Franklin, Sir John (1786–1847) ODNB
Close   View 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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 30.

A Stand-Up for Smithfield

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Medical Practitioners, Surgery


    Argues that the removal of Smithfield Market Smithfield Market
Close   View the register entry >>
will threaten the interests of surgeons and the students and teachers at St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>
, who appear to have looked to Smithfield as a source of interesting cases. Urges the preservation of the amicable relations between the Royal College of Surgeons Royal College of Surgeons
Close   View the register entry >>
and the Court of Aldermen Court of Aldermen
Close   View the register entry >>
.



Punch,  12 (1847), 31.

A Nation of Advertisers

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

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.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 44.

The Value of Health at Liverpool

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Public Health, Sanitation, Medical Practitioners, Commerce, Pollution


    Mr Punch's response to an advertisement for a salaried 'Officer of Health' at Liverpool Town Council Liverpool Town Council
Close   View 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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 46.

New Grand Junction Line

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 52.

Pliny and Pump-Water

View full article text

Pliny Pliny
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Engineering, Public Health, Futurism, Sanitation

People mentioned:

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


    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'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 55.

The Fine Arts at Every Station

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Telegraphy, Aesthetics, Representation


    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 Hudson Hudson, George (1800–71) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
]—driving from triumphal first-class chariot four-and-twenty railway engines, all running in different directions'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 59.

Railway Geography

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

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 Railway London and Birmingham Railway
Close   View 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

View full article text

J L, pseud.  [John Leech] Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J L, pseud.  [John Leech] Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Gender, Anaesthesia


    Depicts a wife nagging her husband, who is enjoying the effect of inhaling ether from a balloon.



Punch,  12 (1847), 61.

A Paneless Operation

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Engineering, Medical Treatment, Anaesthesia


    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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 61.

The Progress of Ether

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Anaesthesia, Animal Husbandry


    Reports on the successful attempts by 'various pork-butchers' to control pigs before they are killed.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 63.

Punch Balloons

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Aeronautics, Invention, Periodicals


    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 Reid Reid, David Boswell (1805–63) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
, regarding the most suitable material and descent mechanism for the balloons.



Punch,  12 (1847), 74.

The New Houses of Parliament

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Public Health, Government, Engineering, Charlatanry


    Notes the quarrel between David B Reid Reid, David Boswell (1805–63) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
and Charles Barry Barry, Sir Charles (1795–1860) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
over who is the true 'barrier' to the completion of the new Houses of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>
. Regards Reid's ventilation system to be 'the only regular ill that blows nobody good'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 77.

Libelling a Planet

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Periodicals, Nomenclature


    Following the announcement that the 'new planet' has low circulation and poor 'powers of attraction', suggests that the object should be called the Literary Gazette Literary Gazette (1817–62) Parthenon (1863) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>
.



Punch,  12 (1847), 81.

Painless Operations

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Anaesthesia, Medical Treatment, Accidents


    Alleged extract from a report by the directors of the 'Eastern Counties' Railway' Eastern Counties Railway Company
Close   View 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'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), [89].

Another Version of Johnny Gilpin

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Illustration, Caricature; Poetry, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Government, Politics, Commerce


    Shows Lord George Bentinck Bentinck, Lord George (William George Frederic Cavendish) (1802–48) ODNB
Close   View 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 1997 Altick, Richard D. 1997. Punch: The Lively Youth of a British Institution 1841–1851, Colombus: Ohio State University Press
Close   View 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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 93.

Railways for Ireland

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Railways, Commerce, Cultural Geography, Race, Politics, Government


    Suspects that Punch's disastrous 'Kensington Railway' never occurred to Lord George Bentinck Bentinck, Lord George (William George Frederic Cavendish) (1802–48) ODNB
Close   View 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.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 98.

Sale of the Bentinck Stead Stud

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; Reportage, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J L, pseud.  [John Leech] Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Railways, Commerce, Accidents, Politics, Government

People mentioned:

George Stephenson Stephenson, George (1781–1848) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>


    Spoof report of a sale of Lord George Bentinck's Bentinck, Lord George (William George Frederic Cavendish) (1802–48) ODNB
Close   View 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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 103.

The Idea of Irish Railways

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Railways, Engineering, Cultural Geography, Politics, Government, Controversy


    Relishes the House of Lords' House of Lords
Close   View the register entry >>
rejection of Lord George Bentinck's Bentinck, Lord George (William George Frederic Cavendish) (1802–48) ODNB
Close   View 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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 103.

The Progress of Song

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Illustration, Caricature; Song, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Phrenology, Mesmerism, Charlatanry, Music


    Reports on the singing activities of the 'Mesmerist and Phrenologist', Mr Hullah Hullah, Mr (fl. 1847) PU1/12/10/3
Close   View 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.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 112.

Parliamentary Acoustics

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Drama, Drollery

Subjects:

Physics, Sound, Politics, Government, Music


    Notes that the Houses of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View 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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 113.

The Clerical Churn

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Invention, Religious Authority, Nutrition


    Reports on William Whewell's Whewell, William (1794–1866) DSB
Close   View 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'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 116.

SmithField Martyrs—Smithfield "Salubrity"

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Public Health, Disease


    Notes Thomas S Smith's Smith, Thomas Southwood (1788–1861) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
opposition to 'private slaughter-houses in the thickest parts of London', places which he believes give off a 'mortal effluvia'. Argues that this is 'either design or pure ignorance' on Smith's part and needs to be balanced with Deputy Bedford's Bedford, Deputy (fl. 1847) PU1/12/13/1
Close   View the register entry >>
opinion that Smithfield Market Smithfield Market
Close   View the register entry >>
is 'salubrious' to the City'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 122.

Explosion of the Gun-Cotton

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, War


    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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 123.

Lord Palmerston's Consolations of Philosophy

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Light, Invention, Public Health, Disease, Politics, Government


    Discusses the address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>
by Foreign Secretary Henry J Temple (3rd Viscount Palmerston) Temple, Henry John, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784–1865) ODNB
Close   View 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
Close   View 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'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 125.

Physic for Ireland

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

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's Russell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878) ODNB
Close   View 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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 127.

Smithfield and St. Bartholomew's

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Hospitals, Education, Public Health


    Surprised that St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>
staff have not protested against the 'abolition' of Smithfield Market Smithfield Market
Close   View the register entry >>
, a move that will diminish St Bartholomew's medical students' and dressers' 'source of "interesting cases"' and opportunities for practising 'bonesetting and bandaging'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 134.

Protection for British Quackery

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Illustration, Satire; Reportage, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment, Commerce, Class


    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 Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View 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.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 141.

The Greatest Agitator in the World

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Politics


    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-Phillipe Louis-Phillipe, King of the French (1773–1850) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>
of France could likewise bring England 'under his thumb' through daily telegraphic contact with Queen Victoria Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India (1819–1901) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
.



Punch,  12 (1847), 141.

The Blessing of Ether

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Anaesthesia, Surgery


    The poet praises the benefits of ether because it removed his 'emotions distressing' on seeing a dentist's forceps.



Punch,  12 (1847), 143.

Photographic Failures

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay, Drollery; Ballad, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Photography


    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.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 173.

Mrs. Harris on the Electric Telegraph

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Telegraphy


    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!'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 176.

Britannia and the Blacks

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay, Drollery; Illustration, Satire

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Race, Pollution, Public Health


    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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 183.

How to Keep a Good Meteorological Table

View full article text

Jack Robinson Robinson, Jack
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Meteorology, Periodicals, Population

People mentioned:

René A F de Réaumur Réaumur, René-Antoine Ferchault de (1683–1757) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>


    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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 186.

"Sweets to the Sweet"

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Song; Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Public Health, Sanitation, Disease, Government, Engineering


    Presents two songs sung by the City of London Commissioners of Sewers City of London Commissioners of Sewers
Close   View 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
Close   View 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 Smith Smith, Thomas Southwood (1788–1861) ODNB
Close   View 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'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 190.

The Dirty London Alderman

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary; Song, Satire

Subjects:

Sanitation, Disease, Public Health


    Presents a 'nursery song' on the subject of the Corporation of London Corporation of London
Close   View 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
Close   View 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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 191.

The Dirty London Alderman

View full article text

John Leech Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Illustration, Caricature; Song, Satire

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

John Leech Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Sanitation, Disease, Public Health


    Following Anon, 'The Dirty London Alderman', Punch, 12 (1847), 190, shows 'Nurse MORPETH Howard, George, 6th Earl of Carlisle (formerly styled 'Viscount Morpeth') (1773–1848) ODNB
Close   View 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 London Corporation of London
Close   View 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'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 198.

The Health of the Metropolis

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Editorial, Drollery

Subjects:

Public Health, Pollution, Government


    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
Close   View the register entry >>
were removed.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 220.

Tales of the Telegraph

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Amusement


    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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 226.

The Billstickers' Exhibition

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Reportage

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment, Commerce


    Reports on Thomas Holloway's Holloway, Thomas (1800–83) ODNB
Close   View 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
Close   View 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's Parr, Bartholomew (1750–1810) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
Pills'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 233.

The Government Ships

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [2]

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 235.

Queen Christina on Vesuvius

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Manufactories, Pollution, Politics


    Reports that Queen Maria Christina Maria Christina, Queen of Spain (1806–78) CBD
Close   View 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 Phillipe Louis-Phillipe, King of the French (1773–1850) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>
of France invited the 'men of Birmingham' to construct an 'iron house' that Christina could inhabit on the volcano's crater.



Punch,  12 (1847), 236.

The Health of Towns Bill

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Public Health, Pollution, Politics, Sanitation


    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
Close   View the register entry >>
who threatens to abolish them. Fears that Morpeth 'has allowed himself to be led by the nose'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 244.

Naural History of the City Pig

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 245.

Punch's Medical Advice to the Nation

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

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'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 248.

A Cambridge Election Song

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Universities, Mathematics, Status


    Refers to the election of the parliamentary candidate for the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >>
. Reflecting on the university's appointment of Prince Albert Albert [Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha], prince consort, consort of Queen Victoria (1819–61) ODNB
Close   View 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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 248.

Salubrity of Smithfield

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Public Health, Pollution, Commerce


    Ponders the amount of 'dirt one drinks' in Thames water and the argument that given that 'there is something salubrious in filth' then Smithfield Market Smithfield Market
Close   View 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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 249.

The Sun Snuffed Out

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Photography, Magnetism, Instruments


    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.



Punch,  12 (1847), 249.

Railway Break and Breakage

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Invention, Accidents


    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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 249.

Burdens on Property

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Engineering, Politics, Measurement


    Notes that enormous weights are used to test the strengths of viaducts and suggests that the value of Benjamin Disraeli's Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
'Election Addresses' be tested by their ability to be supported by viaducts.



Punch,  12 (1847), 250.

A Favourite Antipathy

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Environmentalism, Politics


    Lists Charles de L W Sibthorp's Sibthorp, Charles de Laet Waldo (1783–1855) ODNB
Close   View 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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 251.

A Dangerous Character

View full article text

John Leech Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Illustration, Caricature

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

John Leech Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Railways, Pollution, Public Health, Politics, Government


    Depicts Charles de L W Sibthorp Sibthorp, Charles de Laet Waldo (1783–1855) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
(a notorious opponent of railway extension) as a policeman leading a railway locomotive 'to the House Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>
' because this machine, here shown belching thick plumes of black smoke, has 'done quite mischief enough'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 255.

Zoological Intelligence

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Zoology, Animal Behaviour


    Reports that the death of the Surrey Zoological Gardens Surrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>
elephant, a 'highly respected creature', left a 'vacancy [...] which will not be filled up very easily', and an empty 'trunk'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 258.

The Lepus Vastator

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Agriculture, Disease, Animal Behaviour, Hunting, Politics


    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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 259.

Ethereal Experiences

View full article text

Cimabue Potts Potts, Cimabue
Close   View the register entry >>
Thomas Lint Lint, Thomas
Close   View the register entry >>
John Fee MD FCP Fee, John
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof; Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

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's St Bartholomew's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>
', describes 'ether parties [...] amongst our fellows', imagining himself 'past the Hall Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
Close   View the register entry >>
and College', and feeling 'out of debt, and as if in large practice'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 259.

The Great Caxton Meeting

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Natural History, Publishing, Lecturing


    Reports on a speech by William Buckland Buckland, William (1784–1856) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>
on a monument to the printer William Caxton Caxton, William ([1415–22]–1492) ODNB
Close   View 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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 263.

Jullien's Audience in Rainy Weather

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Animal Behaviour, Sound, Instruments, Music


    Describes the animals that comprised Louis A Jullien's Jullien (or Julien), Louis Antoine (1812–60) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>
'chief audience' during his musical concerts at the Surrey Zoological Gardens Surrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
Close   View 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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 264.

Dissolving Portraits

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Photography, Representation


    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.



^^ Back to the top of this issue

Punch,  12 (1847), 267.

Self-Acting Furniture

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Invention, Domestic Economy


    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'.



Punch,  12 (1847), 270.

Strange Epidemic

View full article text

Anon

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Disease, Mental Illness, Medical Treatment


    Reports on symptoms exhibited by the clerks who pay money-orders at the General Post Office General Post Office
Close   View 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'.



^^ Back to the top of this issue