Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners, Commerce, Political Economy, Politics, Health

    Suggests a 'scientific method' of investigating the 'Health of the Public' to the 'political attendant'. Comprises questions about national economics in the style of a doctor's cross-examination of a patient. For example, 'Put out your capital. Let me see your revenue. So, so! How are your Funds? Tolerably firm—eh? In what state are your Consols?'

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Aeronautics, Animal Behaviour

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Dynamics, Commerce

    Discusses the observation of train wheels rotating at 300 miles per hour without propelling the train forward. Attributes the phenomenon to the 'wonderful smoothness' of the rails, which is ascribed, in turn, to the fact that 'the Share Market has been so extremely flat' as to prevent shares and wheels 'getting any purchase'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Agriculture, Politics, Radicalism

    Discusses the 'revolutionary mania', which 'threatens even to invade the vegetable kingdom', and links these disturbances to such phenomena as potatoes bearing 'an enormous number of black eyes' and carrots threatening to cut their 'carotid arteries'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Disease, Population, Medical Practitioners, Invention, Engineers

    Laments the effect of overcrowding.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment, Agriculture, Horticulture, Health

    Noting the ease with which weak and dubious remedies 'take root' in British soil, discusses the 'Cold Earth Cure', in which patients are allegedly cured after being buried up to their necks in soil and gravel. Recoils from the prospect of being treated like a plant and possibly awaking with such objects as corn and gooseberries growing from the body. Adds that at night, patients are protected by a conservatory or a cucumber frame, and the following morning taken to a hothouse, where, after a diet of 'nourishing herbs', patients are restored to the 'flower' of their youth. Illustrations depict the various stages of the cold earth cure.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment

    Suggests an advertisement for Thomas Holloway Holloway, Thomas (1800–83) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, who has devised imaginative ways of emphasizing the benefits of his 'Ointment and Pills'. The advertisement describes how a patient, long 'addicted to the follow of taking quack medicines' from which he derived no benefit, tried 'Professor So-and-So's Pills' and recovered his senses so much that he no longer takes quack medicines.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Agriculture, Invention

    Responds to news of the invention by Peter R Drummond-Willoughby (Lord Willoughby de Eresby) Drummond-Willoughby (formerly Drummond-Burrell, formerly Burrell), Peter Robert (Lord Willoughby of Eresby and 2nd Baron Gwydir, Joint Hereditary Lord Chamberlain) (1782–1865) Cokayne 1910–59
Close   View the register entry >> of 'a turf-pressing machine which secures uniformity of pressure'. Exploiting the equestrian meaning of 'turf', doubts whether uniform pressure can be achieved because pressure has only been exerted on 'those who could afford to pay'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment, Commerce

    Responds to an advertisement promising a fortune by investing 'in the purchases of Patent Medicine'. Commends the advertisement to 'any knave who may be willing to trade upon the public credulity, and to tamper with the public health'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Error, Engineering

    Discusses the addiction of the electric telegraph to 'falsehood'. Expresses a lack of faith in 'what is going on between you (reader!) and me, and the posts of the Electric Telegraph'. Disappointed that the invention is 'telling lies at the rate of hundreds of miles in half a second', and surprised that it has strayed from the 'straight line'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Politics

    Discusses the possibility of establishing an electric telegraph to produce 'startling intelligence'. Provides a specimen of such fantastical intelligence describing the consequences of a beadle galloping through Kensington, on a donkey, 'with the report that the pump at Hammersmith is in flames, the spout torn out, and the hand in the hands of the Chartists'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Archaeology

    Reports on the latest activities of 'the Archaeologists' at Lincoln, including a detailed 'paper upon the wall' by Edward Hawkins Hawkins, Edward (1780–1867) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, whose 'brother members' were 'sitting on the wall to support and encourage him'. Believes that, had the wall had ears, it would have been 'greatly edified' by the paper. Reports on the poor response to a paper on 'The family of the DYMOCKS'. Concludes by noting that the author of the latter paper was wheeled home in a 'barrow'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Instinct

    Attributes the phenomenon of grouse 'continually clapping their wings' to the birds' enjoyment 'at the unusual lateness of the [parliamentary] Session' rather than to an attack of St Vitus's Dance.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Hospitals, Patronage, Music

    Notes Jenny Lind's Lind-Goldschmidt (née Lind), Johanna Maria ('Jenny') (1820–87) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> donation of £1776 15s to Brompton Hospital Brompton Hospital, Frimley
Close   View the register entry >> for an extension of the building. Suggests that the new construction be called 'The Nightingale Wing'—an allusion to Lind's appellation as the 'Swedish Nightingale'.

Genre:

Short Fiction, Satire

Subjects:

Disease, Sanitation, Government, Expertise, Public Health, Politics

    Consists of three stories that seek to demonstrate the ill effects of self-government. The second story describes a patient who, against the advice of his doctor but following the suggestion of his nurse, 'an advocate for Self-Government', drank a bottle of port to control his fever and died shortly afterwards. The third story describes how 'wise men' tried to banish the ravaging cholera by draining and cleaning their filthy dwellings, but how, much to cholera's delight, 'wiseacres' urged that the best solution was to chant 'Self-Government'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J L, pseud.  [John Leech] Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Technology, Hygiene, Invention

    Shows a man trying to dress himself inside a large cabinet which is rolling about on the ocean waves.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Agriculture, Disease

    Responds to news of a very short-lived potato disease by claiming that the vegetable may be 'suffering merely from a slight cold'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Societies, Gender, Light, Industrial Chemistry

Publications cited:

Schunck 1849 Schunck, Henry Edward 1849. 'On Colouring Matters', Report of the Sixteenth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; Held in Swansea in September 1848, Notes and Abstracts of Communications to the Sections, 57–74
Close   View the register entry >>

    Reports that Henry E Schunck's Schunck, Henry Edward (1820–1903) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> paper on 'colouring matters' at the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >> unexpectedly drove away the 'ladies' who are known for their 'partiality for gay ribbons and smart bonnets'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Proceedings, Spoof

Subjects:

Archaeology, Comparative Philology, Hydropathy, Societies, Scientific Practitioners

People mentioned:

James M Gully Gully, James Manby (1808–83) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Description of the putative activities of members of the British Archaelogical Association British Archaeological Association
Close   View the register entry >>. Notes that 'even in the leisure of refection', members engaged in archaeological research, including displaying the 'beeswing in the port [...] by means of a microscope'. Concentrates on Mr Arden's Arden, Mr (fl. 1848) PU1/15/9/3
Close   View the register entry >> paper on the 'Mummy of an Ancient Cat', which describes the status of the cat in ancient Egypt, and argues that the specimen on display 'passed from the hands of ISIS to the lap of OSIRIS' and was the ancestor of 'Puss-in-Boots and Puss-in-the-Corner'. Notes that the association proceeded to Malvern where it investigated 'the antiquity of the springs that supply the lymph for the cold-water cure'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Statistics, Agriculture, Race, Class, Utility

    Astonished by the number of subjects discussed by members of the Statistical Section of the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>. Subjects include, 'how many meals had been given to Irish beggars in the last twenty years' supported by a table 'showing the number of teeth, subtracting the molars and taking out the canine, employed in the mastication of these twenty years' returns of meals'. Punch ironically notes that 'the great utility of this kind of research and calculation is so very obvious' and that 'the labours of our scientific friends' have been 'ill-naturedly' said to be unprofitable.

Genre:

Letter, Drollery

Subjects:

Race, Spontaneous Generation, Cultural Geography

    Wants to stop the 'Unity of Race' movement which has caused fierce disputes amongst 'half the people of Europe'. Wonders why different European races cannot 'mingle', pointing out the harmony between the ancient Briton, Roman, Saxon, and other European races in his own 'composition'. Concerned that the movement will make his body 'fall to pieces' or make him a 'victim to spontaneous generation'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.[3]

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Domestic Economy, Politics, Government

    Describes applications of the telegraph's 'powers to the operations of everyday life', including the ordering of food and drink, the delivery of Queen Victoria's Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India (1819–1901) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> annual ceremonial speech to the Houses of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>, and writing letters to friends. Puzzled as to how 'articles are to be conveyed by scientific or mechanical means'. Illustrations show the telegraph at the dinner table, the House of Lords House of Lords
Close   View the register entry >>, and the bathroom.

Genre:

Review-Essay, Drollery; Illustration, Drollery

Publications reviewed:

Anon 1848 Anon. 1848. The Hand Phrenologically Considered: Being a Glimpse at the Relation of the Mind in the Organisation of the Body, London: Chapman and Hall
Close   View the register entry >>

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [7]

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Phrenology, Class, Chalatanry

    Responding to the book's argument that character can be ascertained from the fingers, the reviewer announces that he will be 'having a quantity of plaster-casts' made of the hands of 'illustrious men'. Expects the 'wrist will be found fully developed in 'A-WRISTOTLE Aristotle (384–322 BC) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, A-WRISTEDES Aristedes (c. 530–468 BC) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, and the rest of the a-wristocracy of genius that the world has contained'. Believes that 'if the science should be carried to perfection, it will be easy to detect an "itching palm" and that hand that would be ready to serve another at a pinch'. Illustrations show various plaster casts of hands with 'organs' labelled with numbers, and a figure with donkey's ears receiving a 'consultation' from a phrenologist.

Genre:

Obituary, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Engineering, Pneumatics, Invention

    Announces the death of the atmospheric railway which was reputedly hastened by 'want of breath' in the tube that was involved in moving the carriage.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Zoology, Govenment, Politics

    Written by the zebra at the Surrey Zoological Gardens Surrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
Close   View the register entry >> to Peter Laurie Laurie, Sir Peter (1778–1861) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, alderman of the Corporation of London Corporation of London
Close   View the register entry >>, it rejects the 'sneering' paupers' claim that the zebra is a mere 'Jackass in a fine coat'. Compares zebras, 'Asses in fine coats', to aldermen, 'commonest of folks in minever gowns'.

Genre:

Introduction; Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Pollution, Adulteration, Disease, Sanitation

    Complains about the poisonous effluvia emanating from the Serpentine and River Thames, and asks where he and his wife can 'get wholesome diet and unpolluted air'. Proceeds to grumble about the adulteration of British food and drink including wines, spirits, milk, and butter. Argues that if most of what he eats, drinks, and breathes is poisoned then 'what is the odds of taking a little more or less pyroligenous acid in my coffee' (128).

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoology, Animal Development, Evolution, Human Development, Politics

    Responds to a report in a French newspaper concerning a young orang-utan who resembles a three-year-old child, and who is 'very affectionate', 'feeds delicately', and is 'very susceptible of cold'. Believes the animal is Louis-Napoleon Napoleon III, Emperor of France (originally Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte)) (1808–73) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Invention, Breeding, Government, Steam-power, Animal Husbandry, Politics

    Suggests applying Mr Cantelo's Cantelo, Mr (fl. 1848) PU1/14/1/2
Close   View the register entry >> steam-hatching apparatus to parliamentary committees, whose 'incubations' lead to only 'half-a-dozen Reports, more or less unreadable'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Invention, Domestic Economy

    Enthusiastically discusses an advertisement for a process that claims to 'supersede the necessity of shaving'.

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy, Discovery, Controversy

    Wishes the planet Neptune to 'come home' to its 'disconsolate parent' (an allusion to Urbain J J Leverrier Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph (1811–77) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>) and warns that if it continues its 'vagabond career, every House in the Zodiac will be closed against you'.

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Telegraphy

People mentioned:

Isambard K Brunel Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806–59) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Reports on a meeting of the shareholders in Punch's troubled fictional railway line. Reports on discussions for working the line, and thinks that re-establishing existing parts of the line will only result in trains carrying 'nothing but misery'. Claims that the electric telegraph alongside the line 'is let out for the purpose of drying clothes'.

Genre:

Song, Satire

Subjects:

Pollution, Disease

    Describes how the river Thames contains the filth of London's 'thousand sewers' and complains about the 'foul Mephitis' that 'ever soars'. A 'Chorus of Aldermen' relish the prospect of wallowing in the mud from whence the Mephitis comes.

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Hospitals, Disease

    Reports on a hospital in Westminster that will only admit 'thoroughly British' cases of cholera.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Natural History, Ornithology, Hunting, Politics

    Reports that the Prime Minister, Lord John Russell Russell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, narrowly escaped being caged in the Zoological Gardens, Dublin Zoological Gardens, Dublin
Close   View the register entry >>. Attacks sportsmen for describing partridges as 'shy', since such birds are not likely to volunteer to be shot. Describes another bird that 'is so extremely shy, that nothing will induce him to come across the water, unless he sees that the coast is clear'—possibly an allusion to Louis Napoleon Napoleon III, Emperor of France (originally Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte)) (1808–73) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Crime, Cruelty, Animal Behaviour

    Reports on news of a salesman who was tried for severely beating an ox, but who was neither fined nor imprisoned since his act was not considered by alderman Thomas Challis Challis, Thomas (1794–1874) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> to harm the animal. Doubts whether Challis could empathize with the ox and thus justify his assertion. Advises 'all butchers who work their own sweet will, unmolested, on their oxen, exchange the blue smock' for a garment which Punch calls the 'Cruelty Wrapper'.

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Observation

People mentioned:

Urbain J J Leverrier Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph (1811–77) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Institutions mentioned:

Observatoire de Paris Observatoire de Paris
Close   View the register entry >>

    Reports on the disappearance of the planet Neptune and states that astronomers are urged to 'keep an eye on him', as he has 'no right to be away sky-larking'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Botany, Pollution, Analytical Chemistry

    Claims that a report about to be submitted to the Commissioners of Woods, Forests, Land, Resources, Works and Buildings Commissioners of Woods and Forests
Close   View the register entry >> will state that the greenness of the Serpentine is due to the 'Stick-to-skin-vericlos'—a 'beautiful little plant', which Lyon Playfair Playfair, Sir Lyon, 1st Baron Playfair of St Andrews (1818–98) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> has found to be 'composed of the same elements as cabbages and green peas'. The report suggests that this substance could be used in 'green soup for charitable Institutions'. The report also argues that lizards and innumerable animaculae can only exist in such a lively state in the river because the river is more conducive to animal life than previously supposed.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery; Illustration, Satire

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Pollution, Disease, Politics

Institutions mentioned:

Corporation of London Corporation of London
Close   View the register entry >>

    The poem represents the Thames as a 'foul' and 'filthy' river. It is nothing but 'one vast gutter' whose 'bubbly bosom' brews 'mephitis' inhaled by 'Christian folks'. Observes how the river is a receptacle for all the city's 'foul abominations', but, also the 'vile cesspool' from which beer is made. Ends by reminding the Lord Mayor (John K Hooper Hooper, John Kinnersley (fl. 1847) http://www.steeljam.dircon.co.uk/lordmayorchrono.htm
Close   View the register entry >>) that 'He who fills the civic chair' has maintained this dire state of affairs. The illustration shows a decrepit 'Father Thames' walking on the bottom of his river, dressed in rags and spearing gruesome objects on the river bed.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Sanitation, Disease, Pollution, Engineering, Government, Politics

    Reports that Anthony A Cooper (Lord Ashley) Cooper, Anthony Ashley, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (formerly styled 'Lord Ashley') (1801–85) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and Edwin Chadwick Chadwick, Sir Edwin (1800–90) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> have told 'FATHER THAMES' that they expect to toast his health and, accordingly, that he will 'stand a drain'. Reports that Ashley is about to deal with the problem of sewers.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Quackery, Commerce

    Responds to an advertisement in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> for the 'Receipt for making a Patent Medicine'. Believes a more effective method of selling the patent would be to announce 'PILLS! PILLS! PILLS!' which extend life, and to auction the pills. There should also be 'The Splendid Advertising Cart' for attracting custom, a 'small select Kennel of Dogs' that are 'kept for the trial of experiments', and 'Gamboge' which can be turned into a 'CERTAIN CURE FOR EVERYTHING' with only a 'few pounds'. Illustrations depict the advertising cart and the cask of 'Gamboge'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Sanitation, Medical Treatment, Disease, Public Health

    Attacks the Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> for claiming that slaughtermen are so used to living in filth that they are immune from disease, and that being 'too full of health [...] their disorders have a tendency to run into inflammation which cannot be reduced'. Points out that the aim of healthy inflammation is 'subsidence' and claims: 'atmosphere less foul, disease less malignant'. Punch feels strongly that it should rectify the Morning Post's 'erroneous medical views'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Climatology, Meteorology, Invention, Health

    Discusses a respirator that allows the user to inhale the air of his choice. Expects the culture of breathing such airs to mirror that of wine-drinking.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Nutrition, Medical Treatment

Institutions mentioned:

Corporation of London Corporation of London
Close   View the register entry >>

    Criticizes aldermen for their notorious greediness, and recommends that 'all manner of persons' take caution in their diet. Advises eating game, truffles, port, and other high-quality food and drink, and avoiding an intake of vegetables and low quality meats. Recommends eating 'as much as is good for you, and are at liberty to eat more, if you like'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Observation

    Responding to alleged sightings of the 'Sea Serpent', believes the monster to be a column of one of Thomas C Anstey's Anstey, Thomas Chisholm (1816–73) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> speeches (Anstey was a stateman notorious for his lengthy parliamentary speeches).

Genre:

Drama, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals, Government, Commerce, Pollution

People mentioned:

John Abernethy, Abernethy, John (1764–1831) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> William Cullen Cullen, William (1710–90) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Institutions mentioned:

Corporation of London Corporation of London
Close   View the register entry >>

    A parody of Act V, Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, presents a dialogue between an alderman and an apothecary in which the alderman describes the apothecary as a man 'in rusty black, and green steel spectacles, / Weighing out powders: scaly were his looks, / His frame appeared to be a bag of bones'. Describes the 'coloured bottles' in the apothecary's shop and concludes that 'if we need an Officer of Health, / To toil upon the lowest salary, / This object is the very man for us'. Having heard the apothecary remind him that 'Physic affords no fees to make thee rich', the impoverished apothecary agrees 'to explore the sinks and sewers' of London, observing, 'My poverty, but not my skill, consents'.

Genre:

Illustration, Satire

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals

    Illustration to accompany Anon, 'The Alderman and the Apothecary', Punch, 15 (1848), 172. Shows a Corporation of London Corporation of London
Close   View the register entry >> alderman and an apothecary conversing in a street in a slum area of London. The caption duplicates much of the text of the accompanying article and indicates that the latter is based on William Shakespeare's Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Romeo and Juliet.

Genre:

Report, Spoof

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Controversy, Observation, Amateurism

    Three letters from members of the crew of HMS Daedalus HMS Daedalus
Close   View the register entry >> testifying to the appearance of the 'Kraken'. Written apparently by semi-literate seamen, the letters discuss the circumstances surrounding the appearance of the serpent. Thomas Carey describes the serpent as a beast with 'an 'ead with firy eyes', which 'reared itself up and snorted three times distinctly, gashing its teeth, which a middle-sized man might ave stood uprite in the mouth thereof'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Anaesthesia, Cruelty

    Ridicules the use of fly-paper in London and suggests that flies be 'killed, without pain, by Chloroform, or be exterminated wholesale by some ethereal process'.

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Railways, Commerce, Controversy

    Identifies the rival to the 'Great Sea Serpent' as the lawyer's bill for 'one of the leading Railway lines', which 'lies coiled up in one of the apartments of the Company' and weighs 'four hundred thousand pounds'.

Genre:

Essay, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

R D, pseud.  [Richard Doyle] Doyle, Richard (1824–83) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Botanical Gardens, Botany, Zoology, Religion, Gender

Publications cited:

Paley 1794, Paley, William 1794. A View of the Evidences of Christianity, London: R. Faulder
Close   View the register entry >> Paley 1802 Paley, William 1802. Natural Theology; or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity: Collected from the Appearances of Nature, [London]: R. Faulder
Close   View the register entry >>

    The 'Old Lady' thanks Mr Punch for giving her instruction on 'the great Oolite' and 'the mysteries of Zoology'. Expresses shame at being suspicious of the 'Palae–something–graphical' Society Palæontographical Society
Close   View the register entry >>, an institution whose name she now believes derives from William Paley Paley, William (1743–1805) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>. In response to her son's 'talk out of MR. PALEY about the wonders of the vegetable world', she visits the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
Close   View the register entry >>, where she sees 'hot-houses upon hot-houses' and ugly-looking plants in a conservatory under the care of 'William Hookey' (i.e. William Hooker Hooker, Sir William Jackson (1785–1865) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>). Describes the awful heat and strange plants in the 'Palm-house' and goes on to describe how she got stuck on the spikes of a 'Hugh Forbeses', and her encounter with 'Cereus Senilis', a plant resembling a old man. Emphasizes that she would rather be 'among Christians' than in Kew. The illustration depicts an old woman and her family standing back in horror from 'Cereus Senilis'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment, Religious Authority

    Reports on Thomas Holloway Holloway, Thomas (1800–83) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, who allegedly used his famous ointment to treat successfully a Waterloo veteran suffering from gout. Believes Holloway is 'setting a trap for the Pope's leg-ate' and is offering to 'undertake the cure of soles'. The illustration shows a dark figure emerging from a box of 'Holloway's Pills'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Nutrition, Health

    Discusses various aspects of the 'great Vegetarian movement', including the movement's chief organ, Vegetarian Advocate Vegetarian Advocate (1848–51) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, 'vegetarian missionaries' who go 'about the country inculcating the doctrine of peas and potatoes', and prizes for eating large quantities of vegetables.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Sanitation, Disease, Nutrition, Health, Monstrosities

    Discusses a Morning Chronicle Morning Chronicle (1769–1862) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> article containing a table of the recommended diet to be taken 'During the Prevalence of the Epidemic Cholera'. Regards the 'bill of fare' as excessively rich, and suitable only for a creature with the gastric capacity 'of an Alderman' or the 'Sea Serpent'. Believes the Morning Chronicle correspondent would turn the British into a 'prize people' and notes that there is 'hardly any luxury that he forbids except cucumber and green apples'. Thinks that the diet-table is intended for the union workhouses where cholera rages and where gammon should be used as a 'regimen'.

Genre:

News-Commentary; Drama

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals, Crime, Commerce, Political Economy

    Reports on the case of a woman charged with attempting to commit suicide by taking laudanum. Notes that Samuel Birch Birch, Samuel (fl. 1848) PU1/15/18/6
Close   View the register entry >> of the London Hospital London Hospital
Close   View the register entry >> supported the charge with a view to stopping chemists and druggists selling laudanum. Criticizes 'Free Trade' in the sale of poisons and suggests that vendors should be fined and imprisoned for selling such drugs to people without a 'warrant, signed / By a physician, or the officer / Of Public Health'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Government

    Applauds the civic authorities for correcting their earlier statement concerning the salary of their medical officer, but continues to criticize them for fostering misleading estimates of salaries.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Transport, Invention, Railways, Travel

    Discusses the advantages of the new cab design but mocks the idea that merely repositioning the door of the cab constitutes grounds for a new patent.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [3]

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Health, Invention, Steam-power, Railways

    Reports on the discovery of 'Atmo-pathy', a process for curing 'every disease [...] by the application of steam'. Believes the process involves establishing a 'steam communication between the patient's mouth and a boiler'. Should it come into fashion, it will allow railway companies to 'redeem themselves' by allowing passengers to pay for the therapeutic benefits of steam. The illustrations show giant kettles being aimed into a patient's mouth and into a bathroom.

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Agriculture, Nutrition, Meteorology, Animal Husbandry

    Attributes recent cases of thinness of milk to excessive wet weather saturating the cows.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

R D, pseud.  [Richard Doyle] Doyle, Richard (1824–83) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Politics, Radicalism

    Depicts the 'Sea Serpent' with the face of the allegorical figure of 'Liberté'. On a boat in front of the serpent sit members of the French 'Ancien Regime'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Sanitation, Public Health, Railways, Medical Practitioners, Class, Disease

    Points out that Edwin Chadwick's Chadwick, Sir Edwin (1800–90) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> call for 'drainage and dry atmosphere' has not adequately been observed on second- and third-class railway travel. Urges the adoption of Chadwick's measures on the railways, since 'the ague is quite an epidemic on some of the lines'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Public Health, Expertise, Education

    Attacks the author of a hoax advertisement in the Leeds Mercury Leeds Mercury (1718–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> for a medical officer for the Howden Union Board of Guardians. Believes that had the advertisement been intended as a 'squib', then the author should have 'mentioned among the requisites for the medical officership' that he should expect to live extremely modestly because the 'remuneration for the discharge of his arduous duties will very probably leave him out of pocket'. Claims that the author wanted to malign the Howden Union for offering 'an educated practitioner' a measly salary for attending a large district. Urges the author to refute this imputation to the Howden Union 'which would be unspeakably disgraceful to them if it were true'.

Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Universities, Education, Mathematics, Amusement, Nutrition, Lecturing, Religious Authority

    Introduces two letters of application for professorships in two 'new sciences' at the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >>. The first letter, from Benjamin Bendigo, is written to suggest the lack of literacy of the author, and reveals that one of the new professorial chairs is in boxing. Bendigo wonders 'whether all your Algibry and Mathamadix, your Greik and Latn and that, would serve a young man half so well as a nollidge of sparring and fibbing' and proposes to 'your Royal Ighness [i.e. the chancellor, Prince Albert Albert [Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha], prince consort, consort of Queen Victoria (1819–61) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>] and the Eads of Ouses, to allow the manly and trew English Scients of Boxint to be took up for honours by the young gentlemen of Cambridge'. The second letter, from Corydon Soyer, an allusion to the French cook Alexis B Soyer Soyer, Alexis Benoît (1810–58) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, reveals that the second professorial chair is in eating. Soyer argues that eating 'is both a physical and moral science—physical, it acts on the health; moral, on the tempers and tastes of mankind'. Demands that the 'SOYER PROFESSORSHIP of Culinarious Science' be established so that the 'young ecclesiastic' leaving Cambridge can teach the inhabitants of 'a distant and barbarous province' how to improve their diet and live more harmoniously.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [4]

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Sanitation, Public Health, Disease

    Recommends establishing a 'Sanitary Police Force' empowered to deal with 'Filth and Malaria'. Its powers would include ordering 'the stagnant pool to move on', dispersing 'large crowds of persons in small houses or single rooms', arresting 'a pestilential vapour', and confining 'open drains'. Suggests that the officers carry 'a shovel and a box of disinfecting agents'. The illustrations depict the officers inspecting various suspected sources of disease and carrying their disinfecting tools.

Genre:

Essay, Spoof

Subjects:

Disease, Public Health, Class

    Discusses the advice given by the Royal College of Physicians Royal College of Physicians
Close   View the register entry >> on dealing with cholera. The advice is evidently meant to show the college's complete ignorance of the social and economic difficulties experienced by those most susceptible to cholera—the 'labouring classes of the community'. Thus, for example, the college allegedly advises that 'All persons crowded together in small ill-ventilated houses are recommended to take at once more commodious apartments, and those individuals who are insufficiently clothed must give orders forthwith to their tailors for making necessary measures'. Argues that those among the labouring classes experiencing 'difficulty in acting on this advice' should apply anywhere but the college.

Genre:

Serial, Address, Spoof

Subjects:

Education, Pharmaceuticals, Chemistry

    Denying an intention to make his audience of lawyers natural philosophers, the writer observes that contemporary 'Science, like a Vauxhall ham, is spread over a wonderfully extensive surface' and urges that attorneys should not be left 'without a mouthful of the ham of science'. Adding that 'Chemistry smoothes the way to its most elaborate laboratories' and knowledge of 'mysterious drugs', implores lawyers to 'taste of everything, from physic to philosophy'. (208)

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Disease, Public Health, Pollution, Controversy

    Regards the Serpentine as a 'more disgusting object' than the 'Great Sea Serpent', owing to its green coating, its 'loathsome appearance', and its tendency to belch forth the 'black and noxious fluid' from its bed when stones are thrown into it.

Genre:

Introduction; Letter, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [2]

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Observation, Amateurism, Controversy

    Introduces a letter from John Skull, 'a most intelligent and conscientious waterman', who claims to have observed the 'Sea Serpent' in the Thames. A letter from Skull, written to represent his limited literacy, points out that he had 'too much ale and gin-and-water' to be 'afeard' of 'a long black sarpint-like thing upon my wether bow', and proceeds to describe, in words and pictures, the appearance of the beast. The illustration shows the author's feeble attempt to represent the sea-serpent.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Universities, Education, Physics, Dynamics, Mathematics, Amusement

    Claims that the University of Oxford University of Oxford
Close   View the register entry >>, reacting to the instigation of 'mixed' science teaching by the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >>, is 'bent on blending the practical with the theoretic'. Quotes the advertisement of an Oxford-educated private tutor offering to teach undergraduates during the vacation while providing for hunting and fishing. Suggests that the tutor's educational regime would include such unlikely mixtures as: 'Wednesday. HERODOTUS construe, with crib and run with harriers. Duck-shooting at night. Illustrations of Dynamics in the punt, and of equality of action and re-action, from recoil of duck-gun. Hot grog and Ethics about the small hours'.

Genre:

Illustration, Satire

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Natural History, Zoology, Palaeontology, Naturalists, Controversy

    Shows two drunken naturalists discussing the alleged 'Sea Serpent'. The 'First Naturalist' believes the sea-serpent and ichthyosaurus to be 'nonshe-ense' while the 'Second Naturalist' replies 'Who said Ich-(hic)- Ichthyosaurus? I said a (hic) Plesi-o-(hic) saurus plainenuff'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J Leech Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Railways, Commerce, Charlatanry

    A parody of a scene from William Shakespeare's Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Macbeth, this shows Mac-Bull, a Scottish incarnation of John Bull, standing before a steaming cauldron, while the backdrop is a gloomy industrialized landscape rather than a Scottish heath. Around the cauldron sit three craggy witches, whose cloaks indicate that they are the seedy directors of the Great Western Railway Company Great Western Railway Company
Close   View the register entry >>, the North Western Railway Company North Western Railway Company
Close   View the register entry >>, and the London and South Western Railway Company London and South-Western Railway Company
Close   View the register entry >>. The railway witches drop 'evil remedies' into the cauldron—specifically, 'No Return Tickets' and 'Higher Fares'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy

    Claims that Saturn has been appearing without his rings and that other planets have accused him of having pawned them.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Universities, Education, Mathematics, Political Economy

    Laments the passing of the 'olden time' at the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >> when students 'took "a coach" with cram what brains he'd left to stow— / Arithmetic to the Rule of Three, and some Algebra, also'. Referring to the university's decision to teach political economy, grumbles that the 'Cantab' will 'put off the old ADAM for the new one—ADAM SMITH Smith, Adam (1723–90) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>; / Political Economy will bring provate, p'r'aps therewith; / At Ge— or else The—ology he'll spend his pluck and pith, / Tea and Theorems ousting loo and lush, which will all be a myth'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J L, pseud.  [John Leech] Leech, John (1817–64) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Universities, Education, Political Economy, Mathematics, Physics, Geology, Botany, Comparative Anatomy, Controversy

    Referring to the decision of the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >> to introduce political economy into its curriculum, this shows Prince Albert Albert [Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha], prince consort, consort of Queen Victoria (1819–61) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> storming the 'Pons Asinorum [Bridge of Asses] 'after the manner of Napoleon taking the Bridge of Arcola'. Albert carries a book marked 'political economy' and a flag labelled 'moral sciences', and leads students carrying scrolls of paper marked with such subjects as 'physical sciences', 'botany', 'geology', 'orthography', and 'comparative anatomy'. Albert is resisted by students carrying scrolls of paper bearing such protests as 'Algebra up to Quadratic Equations' and 'Boats and no Botany'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Political Economy, Universities

    Responding to the news that political economy is to be taught at the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >>, Paterfamilias tells Mr Punch that he wishes the university would teach its students 'personal frugality'.

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Matter Theory, Lecturing

    Believes there is 'something in' George Berkeley's Berkeley, George (1685–1753) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> claim that everything is immaterial, following news that 'lectures are being given by a gentleman' who asserts that William Shakespeare Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and Pickford (an allusion to the haulage firm Pickford's Pickford's, firm
Close   View the register entry >>) are myths.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Zoology, Government, Controversy

    Argues that if, as Richard Owen Owen, Richard (1804–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> has claimed, the 'Sea Serpent' is one of the 'Great Seals', then the Lord Chancellor has failed in his duty.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [5]

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Zoology, Controversy

    Circumlocutionary discussion of the probable existence of the 'Sea Serpent', which concludes, from its own 'peculiar sources', that the monster is 'something like a horse' to some and 'very like a whale' to others. Challenges Richard Owen's Owen, Richard (1804–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> claim that the monster is a 'Seal desirous of taking an ice', and thinks it will be appearing in Christmas pantomimes and on household objects. Illustrations depict these appearances.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Public Health, Disease, Engineering

    Responds to a report compiled by Mr Walker Walker, Mr (fl. 1848) PU1/14/3/4
Close   View the register entry >>, Thomas Cubitt Cubitt, Thomas (1788–1855) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Isambard K Brunel Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806–59) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, declaring the superiority of London's sewerage system and that 'only a little more water' is needed to cleanse the city. Punch's 'own engineer' supports this conclusion with a report that makes such trivial suggestions as flushing London's sewers with lavender-water.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astrology, Prognostication, Charlatanry, Commerce, Crime

    Responds to news that an astrologer named Sidrophel (an allusion to the astrologer Robert C Smith Smith, Robert Cross ('Raphael') (1795–1832) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, known as Raphael) has published a 'Prophetic Almanac' predicting a series of calamities to affect the earth. Offers to cast the author's horoscope based on his own book. The horoscope implies that astrologers are cheats and impelled by mercenary rewards. Thinks that the author is 'under the Sun', and 'one of the greatest humbugs beneath it', and from the positions of the moon and planets, predicts how the astrologer told a maidservant that her solider lover would 'ultimately marry her'. Consequently the maid steals food from her master to feed her lover and has to pawn her clothes 'to meet the Astrologer's demands'. Finally, the astrologer is convicted for receiving money 'under false pretences'. Declares, 'May common sense preserve all simple folks from quacks and impostors!'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Light, Invention, Technology, Electricity, Chemistry, Progress, Transport

    Reports on a company for lighting streets and the inside of houses with 'electric fluid'. Describes the succession of new lighting inventions that have snuffed out their predecessors, ending with the electric light that 'now threatens to supersede all'. Believes the 'universal use now made of electricity' indicates that omnibuses may be provided with lightning rather than ordinary conductors.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [3]

Subjects:

Meteorology, Heat, Light, Amusement, Observation

    Discusses the excitement and scenic effects caused by the appearance of the aurora 'Bore-alis'. Claims that the 'eye of science' found its 'socket' filled with a large stick belonging to a firework, which bore a close resemblance to the aurora. Adds that it too mistook a firework display for the meteorological phenomenon. Illustrations depict the fireworks.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Hospitals, Class, Industry, Disease

    The narrator, Stephen Witcher, describes how he went to 'CAPTAIN POORE, an order for to beg / For the Hospital at Winchester, to cure my dreadful leg'. Having gained Poore's permission to be sent to the care of 'Muster Mayo' (i.e. Herbert Mayo Mayo, Herbert (1796–1852) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>), he enjoyed excellent 'tendance and skill' at the hospital. Following an outbreak of 'erysip'las' he was sent home with Mayo's certificate requesting the 'Union Board' to provide the author with 'warmth and nourishment'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Popularization, Lecturing, Measurement

    Responds to news that 'one of the Professors who are engaged to make science popular' is lecturing on 'the philosophy of an empty bottle'. Notes that 'a good deal of philosophy is sometimes required in reference to a bottle which has been paid for as a quart, but which turns out to hold scarcely a pint'. Relishes the thought of cracking with the professor 'over his bottle'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Zoology, Controversy

    In the manner of 'Who killed poor cock robin?', represents Richard Owen Owen, Richard (1804–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, 'In Zoology so knowing', as claiming that he 'killed the sea-serpent'. Can Capt. McQuhae McQuhae, Capt (fl. 1848) PU1/15/24/1
Close   View the register entry >> (of HMS Daedalus HMS Daedalus
Close   View the register entry >>) confirm his evidence for the sea serpent? (see Thomas Carey James Clavers Dennis Corcoran John Swabster Thomas Cheeks, 'The Great Sea Serpent', Punch, 15 (1848), 177). Denying that the monster is a seal or an eel, upholds the existence of a beast 'with a mane on its back / And a tail and not a track'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Light, Electricity, Technology, Invention, Morality, Politics

    Regards the 'Electric Light' as an 'impertinent and presumptuous' invention and an attempt to destroy the interests of darkness and the appearance of celestial objects. Objects strongly to the light being tested in Trafalgar Square, because it inhumanely exposes the nymphs at night-time and makes the square 'sport for the stranger' all day and night. Appends other responses to this invention, including one 'gentleman' who could read much more writing than he had perceived before, another gentleman who, having caught, by use of the light, his lover handing a pigeon pie to a mounted guardsman, judged the invention to be 'a great agent in public morality', and Benjamin Disraeli Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, who, 'standing opposite the Treasury Treasury
Close   View the register entry >>, by the astonishing power of the Electric Light saw himself—in office'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Class

    Baffled by some expressions in an advertisement in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> for partners in a medical practice, such as 'Aged Practice', 'Applicant fond of field sports would tell', and 'Connexion the cream'. Concludes that the advertiser is illiterate and a snob.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Monstrosities, Zoology, Controversy

    Proposes several candidates for the 'Sea-Serpent' including 'the MRS. HARRIS of the ocean', 'a great seal, dropped from DAVY JONES'S midnight watch', and 'An infinite deal of nothing'.

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Commerce, Charlatanry

    A parody of Leporello's aria, 'Madama, il catologo e questo' from Wolfgang A Mozart's Mozart, (Johannes Chrysostom) Wolfgang Amadeus (1756–91) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> opera Don Giovanni. According to Anon, 'Leporello Recounting the Railway Loves of Don John', Punch, 15 (1848), [247], Leporello is to be played by George Hudson Hudson, George (1800–71) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and is the servant of John Bull, who is a railway speculator rather than a Lothario. He describes to Donna Elivira, who is played by Britannia, some of John Bull's nefarious speculations. He explains that his master has 'shares in plenty' in European railways, has 'millions' in English lines, that railway schemes have been 'suspended through his troubles', and that for most of his lines he believes in 'Paying nought, or paying less'. The illustration shows the Sphinx Sphinx, Cairo
Close   View the register entry >>, with the face of Hudson, looking onto a steam locomotive and carriages running past it, possibly a reference to his Egyptian railway dealings.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Commerce, Charlatanry

    Following Anon, 'The Railway Don John', Punch, 15 (1848), 246, this is a parody of Leporello's aria, 'Madama, il catologo e questo' from Wolfgang A Mozart's Mozart, (Johannes Chrysostom) Wolfgang Amadeus (1756–91) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> opera Don Giovanni, in which Leporello describes the number of conquests of the Lothario. Leporello is played by George Hudson Hudson, George (1800–71) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and is the servant of 'Don' John Bull, who is a railway speculator rather than a Lothario. The figures stand in front of a railway terminus and Leporello holds up a long scroll on which is inscribed a list of all the railway lines in which 'Don John' has invested.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Status, Radicalism

    Thinks a recent Lancet Lancet (1823–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> advertisement for a union workhouse medical assistant illustrates the shocking 'existing relation between medical labour and wages'. Attacks the person ultimately responsible for the advertisement for allowing an assistant to work for only £30 per annum, a salary less than that of workers in such lower trades as bricklaying. Believes 'nothing but high moral feeling can be depended upon to hinder so ill-paid a workman from converting his pestle and mortar into mischievous weapons' and becoming a Chartist. Gloomily anticipates seeing 'young surgeons in want of employment at a statue fair [...] for hire'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Invention, Technology, Imperialism

    Responds to news of a proposed floating railway in the Tay estuary, with the comment that Britannia is now ruling the waves 'with rods of iron'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Travel, Gender, Charlatanry

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Politics

    Doubts the 'utility' of the proposed submarine electric telegraph between Holyhead and Dublin, because 'ill tidings', which tend to be received from Ireland, 'always travel fast enough without being expedited' by this invention.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Agriculture, Chemistry, Lecturing

    Written to imitate an illiterate Hampshire farmer, this letter by Cowslip describes to his correspondent, Veather, a visit to the 'Polly Ticnic' Royal Polytechnic Institution
Close   View the register entry >> in London, where he heard a lecture by Dr Ryan Ryan, Dr (fl. 1848) PU1/15/25/4
Close   View the register entry >> 'On the food of plants'. Explains how plants 'zucks up their nourishment for all the world like a sponge', and 'gits a good bit out o' the air'. Expects his correspondent will 'stare' when he learns that plants eat such substances as 'Zillicur', 'Potash', and 'Fosforric' acid for food.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

N, pseud.  [William Newman] Newman, William (fl. 1842) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Sanitation, Public Health, Engineering, Monstrosities

    Claims that many have mistaken the hoses that the Sanitary Commissioners use to drain cesspools, and which are left on thoroughfares, for the 'Sea Serpent'. Begs Edwin Chadwick Chadwick, Sir Edwin (1800–90) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> to remove the hoses, which the accompanying illustration depicts.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [2]

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Periodicals, Railways

    Proposes to communicate specimens of its jokes via the electric telegraph. Boasts that sending a small parcel of jokes to a Yorkshire railway terminus caused 'boisterous merriment' in the waiting room. Illustrations depict Mr Punch at a telegraph apparatus and people dancing outside a telegraph room.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; News-Commentary

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Railways, Invention, Technology, Travel

    Responding to news of a proposed floating railway line, warns that the 'scheme may work well enough when matters go smoothly' but expects the traffic on the line to be 'swamped' when 'NEPTUNE has a bill—or a bill-ow—to take up'. The illustration shows a railway line and carriages following the curves of the ocean waves.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Heroism, Vaccination

    States that William Harvey Harvey, William (1578–1657) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> wishes to know when a statue of Edward Jenner Jenner, Edward (1749–1823) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> is to be erected, given that another statue of Arthur Wellesley (1st Duke of Wellington) Wellesley, Arthur, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> has been erected. Thinks Jenner has saved 'millions of faces' and that when women 'set up bronze to the soldier' they should not 'forget the Vaccinator'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Light, Electricity, Invention, Technology

    Observes that electric light—the 'brightest thing [...] of the present day', dies 'with most annoying rapidity'. Notes that this has caused people to consider the merits of William E Staite's Staite, William Edwards (d. 1854) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> patent for improvements to an electric arc lamp to be 'over-stated'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Sound, Invention, Amusement, Domestic Economy

    Discusses a new invention, the 'Telakouphanon, or Speaking Trumpet', which enables the speaker to be heard in three different places at once. Thinks that Benjamin Lumley Lumley, Benjamin (1811/12–75) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, the London opera manager, could endeavour to develop the invention so that opera could be heard at home.