Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Poetry

Subjects:

Geology, Animal Development, Palaeontology, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Homeopathy

    Introduces a St Valentine's day poem that reflects the 'character and pursuits' of the person to whom it is addressed. Presents a poem from Mary Shale to 'Micha Slate, Esq., Professor of Geology', which uses geological metaphors to express feelings: for example, the author regards her lover as 'harder than the igneous rocks' and asks, 'Why dost thou leave my merits for the faults / In veins of metal?'. She recollects her emotional response to his talk of 'Submergence and denuded banks' and wonders whether he would have 'dragged my fossil form today' had she cast her lot in 'Oxford clay'. Adds that although she feels 'each day a keener smart, / The "non-progressive" theory is thine' and bids him farewell because he is more interested in geology than in her.

    Continues with a similar poem from Matilda Meagrim to Eusebius Jones, a surgeon. The author fears that her lover's heart will be 'stopped [...] by fibrinous ossification' and worries that whenever she presents parts of her body for 'friendly inspection', he treats them as subjects for harsh medical inspection. Concludes by stressing that her illness cannot be cured by commonplace medical treatments but by 'Cupid's own pharmacopoeia'.