Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Magnetism, Invention

    Discusses the 'patent magnetic brushes and combs'. Explains that there is a magnet 'enclosed within the back of the brush', which is supposed to treat greying and thinning hair and other symptoms, including headaches. Adds that the brush works by leeching the oxide of iron out of the blood and drawing it into grey hair, which is deficient in iron. Ridicules this idea by suggesting that readers try to attract black hairs with a magnet. Following the success of the 'magnetic brush', suggests the 'magnetic nightcap', consisting of a network of 'magnetic steel wire' which gives the wearer all-night exposure to the magnetic fluid. Stresses the need to keep the cap in a iron casket during the day to prevent the loss of magnetism. Boasts that symptoms such as headache and neuralgia are better treated with the cap than the brush, and that the cap is accordingly 'invaluable to the gourmand and votary of Bacchus'.