[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.
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[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).
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[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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