Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Disease, Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners, Quackery, Politics

    Begins by describing how his apoplexy, an ailment which he believes is brought on by excessive use of the brain and eating, is relieved by resting his brain and stomach, and exercising. Wonders how a doctor would treat him if the latter technique fails to relieve apoplexy, a dilemma prompted by his reading of an article in The Times, outlining the use of bloodletting and of quaffing brandy and water as rival treatments of apoplexy. Goes on to question how the proposed medical bill will distinguish between qualified and unqualified practitioners for administering such treatments. In a postscript agrees that 'Professor Gulloway's' pills (an allusion to Thomas Holloway) and other quack medicines should be destroyed.