Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Disease, Medical Treatment, Quackery, Homeopathy, Vaccination, Sanitation, Public Health

    Responds to a letter in the Daily News from the homeopath John Epps, who attacks a proposal to vaccinate school children against scarlet fever and upholds the efficacy of 'a globule of belladonna' in the treatment of the disease. The writer questions the grounds for this claim, given the dubious nature of this treatment and Epps's lack of standing among 'the great majority' of the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of Surgeons, and the Society of Apothecaries. Alarmed by Epps's suggestion that the only treatment for scarlet fever is the consumption of his globules, rather than 'flushing of sewers [...] scouring of drains [...] abolition of filth', and other sanitary measures. Concludes by noting that most people escape the ravages of scarlet fever and that most readers will avoid Epps's treatment. Thinks that Phineas T Barnum should include Epps in his definition of 'Humbug'.