Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] *

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment, Agriculture, Horticulture, Health

    Noting the ease with which weak and dubious remedies 'take root' in British soil, discusses the 'Cold Earth Cure', in which patients are allegedly cured after being buried up to their necks in soil and gravel. Recoils from the prospect of being treated like a plant and possibly awaking with such objects as corn and gooseberries growing from the body. Adds that at night, patients are protected by a conservatory or a cucumber frame, and the following morning taken to a hothouse, where, after a diet of 'nourishing herbs', patients are restored to the 'flower' of their youth. Illustrations depict the various stages of the cold earth cure.