Punch,  31 (1856), 197.

Poisons

Anon

Genre:

Introduction; Table, Drollery

Subjects:

Narcotics, Politics, Government, Medical Treatment, Hydropathy


    Introduces a table listing various poisons, their modes of action, antidotes, tests, locations, and the colours of their precipitates. The poisons in question, however, are not chemical substances but habits that Punch considers pernicious to government. They comprise 'Routine', 'Commissions Purchase', 'Public Sinecures', 'Falsehood', and 'Hypocrisy', and their modes of action and antidotes are described as if they were medical complaints. For example, routine 'Stagnates the blood and generally carries off half its victims', and its antidote is cutting away 'all the clothing' and diminishing 'the bulk of the Offices by purging in the most speedy manner'.



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