Comic Annual,  6 (1835), 83–112.

Sketches on the Road

[Thomas Hood]

Genre:

Regular Feature, Short Fiction, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

T Hood



[1] The Debutante

Subjects:

Instruments, Time


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



[2] The Run-Over

Subjects:

Accidents, Medical Treatment, Quackery, Pharmaceuticals


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



[3] The Discovery

Subjects:

Physiognomy


     The narrator judges the feelings of the occupants of a coach 'according to the rules of Lavater' (109).




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