Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Phrenology, Psychology, Quackery, Societies

    Spoof report of paper on 'printing on the brain' by a Major Veryslowsky at the Shadwell Institution for the Encouragement of Human Everything. Veryslowsky describes cases of people who exhibited formidable memory. Introduces his system of 'phrenotypics' in which parts of books to be memorised are 'chalked up on the wall in very large letters'. Notes that the contents of James Grant's Grant, James (1802–1879) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> The Great Metropolis Grant, James 1836. The Great Metropolis, 2 vols, London: Sanders and Otley
Close   View the register entry >> can be memorised with the words 'Grant', 'Quackery', 'Pure', and 'Nonsense'. Notes that Veryslowsky's audience left cheering and exclaiming '"Quackery", "Pure Nonsense" in conformity with' the lecturer's lesson.

Genre:

Essay, Polemic

Subjects:

Machinery, Steam-power, Artisans, Human Development, Progress, Politics, Class, Commerce, Political Economy

People mentioned:

Francis Bacon (1st Viscount St Alban) Bacon, Francis, 1st Viscount St Alban (1561–1626) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    A fiery attack on the greed created by the mechanical systems of manufacture. A court-room confrontation is described in which a puny, 'famine-stricken' labourer sues the manufacturer whose systems of production have forced his family into poverty. The defendant employs a 'Sergeant MAMMON' as his lawyer, who throws 'the scorn of disbelief upon the plaintiff' and advises him to return to 'his cellar' where he will starve with the rest of his family. The plaintiff then identifies the evils of extending manufactures which, following Robert Peel's Peel, Sir Robert, 2nd Baronet (1788–1850) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> view that a connection exists between increased demand for manufactures and increased machine power, he believes will 'bring into play more machinery and not employ manual labour in anything like the rate of the increase in the machine department'. Breaking away from this drama, the author then attacks the progress of machinery as a 'terrible calamity' that has 'made the strong man so much live lumber'. He goes on to ask how 'statesmen and philosophers' are going to 'prepare for the crisis' given that 'tens of thousand-thousand hands' will be 'made idle by the ingenuity of human mind', and believes that the 'multitude' will 'shout for an adjustment of interests'. Concludes by insisting that the 'steam-engine [...] must and will carry statesmen back to first principles. As it is machinery is a fiend to the poor; the time will come when it will be as a beneficient angel'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Natural History, Physiology, Animal Development

    Considers the 'physiology', 'geographical distribution', 'reproduction', and 'food' of the Welsh rabbit (i.e. Welsh Rarebit).

Genre:

Dialogue, Spoof

Subjects:

Phrenology, Race, Anatomy

    Written in patois, it depicts two black people discussing 'cramanology'. Caesar, who has just attended lectures on the subject, describes the practice to Cuffey, who is unacquainted with the subject. Summarises it as 'de hills and de hollows ob de skull, de nobs and de no-nobs, to show de natural genus ob de interlect'. Caesar feels Cuffey's skull and informs his surprised friend that he possesses well-developed organs for 'eatin fish' and singing.

Genre:

Essay, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Phrenology, Anatomy, Class, Psychology

    Explains that the 'sustaining faculties' of the stomach are 'particularly active amongst lower classes of the community' and that the 'Sentiments or Affections draw us by a mysterious and irresistible power towards those viands which are calculated to afford us more refined pleasure'. Thinks his system of 'stomachology' will 'form a valuable indication of human character' and can be used to choose partners, servants, and politicians.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; Poetry, 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:

Medical Practitioners, Hospitals, Education, Physiology, Medical Treatment

    One of twelve woodcuts and poems in a series entitled 'Punch's Valentines!'. Depicts a medical student smoking a pipe and drinking a pot of beer, while standing before a young woman who sits behind a shop counter. Notes that the medical students 'grind instruction just enough to pass / St George's St George's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>, Guy's Guy's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>, North London North London Hospital for Consumption
Close   View the register entry >> and King's College King's College, London—Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>', and thirst alike for 'half-and-half' (a mixture of two malt liquors, commonly ale and porter) and 'knowledge'. The student offers his heart, 'aorta, valves and all', to the young woman. Notes that medical students' 'funds incline' to 'cheap hats and boots'. The young woman eschews the hospital's 'dull gloom' and practices the 'Physiology of Deglutition'. The student declares to her that he'll 'ne'er know peace until our hands / Shall form a "ganglion" with Hymen's bands'. Thinks his beloved is 'as precious and dear as sulphate of quinine'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Extra-Terrestrial Life, Societies

    Ponders the meaning of 'the world'. Believes this is the 'age of astronomy' owing to the fact that 'more worlds are mentioned in daily conversation' than William Herschel Herschel, Sir William (1738–1822) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> ever observed. Identifies several worlds in society including 'the scientific world' which is 'full of smoke and noise as the birthplace of steam ought to be'. Thinks the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >> should identify which of these is 'by pre-eminence, the World'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

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:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment

    Describes his experience of opening a new surgery. Notes that his patients are 'select rather than numerous' and explains how he managed to raise his reputation by treating a case of a dislocated shoulder. Explains that he has thrown away the labels on his bottles of medicine because of the illiteracy of people in his neighbourhood. Describes a case in which a local patient rubbed her leg with a poisonous lotion. The illustration shows a small girl being served in an apothecary's shop.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Invention, Progress, Domestic Economy, Progress

    Considers that a newspaper advertisement for a 'Reflecting Oven' says a great deal for the 'march of the intellect' and anticipates the arrival of an 'Imaginative Gridiron' and 'Sensible Warming-Pan'.

Genre:

Review, Drollery

Subjects:

Electricity, Amusement

    Describes a visit to the Victoria Theatre Victoria Theatre
Close   View the register entry >> to see a 'new drama'. Went along to be 'electrified', having been attracted by an advertisement boasting the play's 'powerfully electric situations'. Reports that the 'conductor' of the 'stage electricity' was Miss Vincent. Describes other 'powerfully electric situations'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Geology, Scientific Practitioners, Prognostication, Medical Practitioners, Controversy

    Concerns the earthquake that failed to hit London. Tells a 'Dr Dree' and 'Dr Dee Dee, John (1527–1608) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>' that despite their 'prophecies of woe' the earthquake amounted to 'no / very great shakes at all'. Draws the moral that 'for once two Doctors did agree' but that 'they were wrong'.

Genre:

Short Fiction, Satire, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Hospitals, Disease

    Continues the story of Joseph Muff from Joseph Muff, 'A Few Lines from Mr Joseph Muff', Punch, 2 (1842), 87. Describes Muff's surgery and introduces his assistant, Jack Randle. Reports that Muff has succeeded in causing cases of fever, rheumatism (which Muff hopes will prove 'chronic'), and ringworm, and is trying to introduce ringworm into a local school. Describes Randle's highly dangerous technique for 'keeping people awake who have taken laudanum' and his skill at 'toothdrawing'. Introduces the story of 'Mr Rapp's Farewell Feast', Mr Rapp being a house-surgeon to 'St. Tourniquet's Hospital'. Believes that 'next to imprisonment for debt there are few positions in life more cheerfully exhilarating than that of house-surgeon to a hospital'. Lists many reasons why a surgeon's life is 'enviable', including being surrounded by 'scenes of the most peasant and mirth-inspiring description', 'breathing the purest atmosphere in the world', and 'lunch upon hospital cheese'. Notes that few medical students refuse invitations especially if they come with offers of 'unlimited half-and-half [a mixture of malt liquors, often ale and porter], inexhaustible tobacco-jars, or uncounted pipes'. Adds that Muff has left his assistant and accepted Rapp's invitation to his farewell feast.

Genre:

Illustration, Satire

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:

Metaphysics, Matter Theory, Philosophy

    Depicts a drunken scene in a room. One drunken figure smoking a cigar converses with another holding a glass of wine. Another man is slumped on a table and the feet of another figure poke out from under the table-cloth. A book by Immanuel Kant Kant, Immanuel (1724–1804) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> lies on the floor. The smoker agrees with the drinker's notion of 'Corporeity' but points out that it 'presupposes—(hic)— the idea of absolute spirituality—(hic)—perfection' and is incompatible with the 'definition of space'. The drinker replies 'Well!—don't—go—old fellow. Have some more m-m-m-ore g-g-g-r-o-grog'.

Genre:

Short Fiction, Satire, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Surgery, Education, Dissection, Anatomy, Pharmaceuticals, Class

    Describes revelries at Mr Rapp's farewell feast. The lecture-room skeleton was 'placed in a classical attitude' in the banqueting room, and the base of its skull used as a 'tobacco-box, proving that medical students, in their most idle moments, never lose sight of their studies'. Notes that the 'dissections' of the meat were 'speedily carved into anatomical preparations'. One guest, Mr Mahhug, sings a song entitled 'An Assistant wanted'. The song requests a 'gentleman' for a 'country practitioner highly genteel / With a union of paupers to physic and heal'. He asks for somebody who has a wide range of medical skills including the ability to 'bleed with precision, ne'er missing a vein' and to 'draw double teeth without fracture or pain'. He must know the 'Pharmacopoeia by heart', 'ne'er seem reluctant—when sent for—to go', and 'come in the parlour to dinner and tea', but return to his surgery when the meal's over. He must also be 'well dress'd', be able to 'walk like a postman', always be 'making a draught, mixture, or pill', and be able to 'sleep in a garret, small, dreary, and chill'.(155)

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Animal Behaviour, Publishing, Government, Politics

    Subtitled, 'A True Story, Dedicated to Thomas Wakley Wakley, Thomas (1795–1862) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, M.P.', it describes an 'odd event' at the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>. A man tries to feed a pine-apple to the 'great polar bear' in the gardens, but the bear, who is depicted in the illustration as a creature with Wakley's face, rejects the food as 'contemptible', an allusion to Wakley's fierce opposition to the Copyright Bill. The bear insists that the only thing on earth it really relishes is 'guts'.

Genre:

Extract, Spoof

Subjects:

Nomenclature, Philosophy, Disease

    A 'Specimen of a Proposed Philosophical Dictionary' proposing alternative etymologies for several common words and phrases. Entries include: 'Dust—A title originated by philosophers, in respect of its worthlessness, and perpetuated by the swell mob and the undergraduates of the two learned Universities, in respect of its pithiness'; 'Tin—Frequently acquired by brass; species pro specie; possibly from Τιυειυ, to pay'; and 'Oil of Palms—Mataphora venustissima. A specific much in vogue for rigid fingers and horny fistedness; thought, strange to say, it only serves to augment the itch that so often affects the hand. It is absorbed into the system with singular facility, but requires a tremendous squeeze to re-express it'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Geology, Natural History, Ethnography, Class

    Observes that the geology of the Seven Dials district of London consists of 'granite rhomboids placed closely together, the whole forming a [...] carriage way'. Its 'Natural History' consists of domestic animals, 'boxes of mignonette', 'large quantities of mustard and cress', and 'cabbage leaves [...] thickly sown in every gutter'. Its inhabitants are 'a brave and affable race, whose manners and customs are more worthy of observation than emulation'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

[7] The British Museum

[16] The Admiralty

[20] Bazaars

[23] Hospitals

Genre:

Introduction; Poetry, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals

    Subtitled 'Mr. Wakley Wakley, Thomas (1795–1862) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, the Modern Orpheus', the illustration depicts Wakley as Orpheus and the text responds to Wakley's claim that 'he could mix up a poem as well as any of the regular practitioners, and licentiates in the same verse line'. His recipe consists of eight lines of Latin text including 'Zephyrorum murmur / Osculorum candent', 'Virginum lacrym / Hominum perjur'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Geology, Societies

    Describes the Geological Society's Geological Society of London
Close   View the register entry >> inspection of 'the treasure of the dust-hole'. After this 'rich mine of geological lore' was opened up a cloud of 'ashy particles' filled the room. Exploring the contents of the hole, the president of the society found cinders, 'chiefly to be found in the neighbourhood of Mount Vesuvius' and 'a good deal of vegetable matter'. The society also discovered a piece of slate among the ashes—the result of 'an experiment of the coal-merchant [...] desirous of witnessing the combination of slate and carbon'—and a 'tertiary deposit of potato peelings'.

Genre:

Short Fiction, Satire, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals, Gender, Mental Illness

    Describes Jack Randle's attempts to treat a female patient who is suffering from a 'fit of hysterics'. Notes that he placed 'cupping glasses' on the patient's head and a tourniquet on her arm, and informed her that 'these measures would counteract the photographic circulation, caused by too much excitement of the tariff and system in general'. Describes Randle's experiences bleeding a farmer, and in response to Joseph Muff, asks whether he 'ever imagines that medical men know what etiquette meant' and insists that Muff 'cannot think what a generous, liberal-minded, open-hearted set of men they are'.

Genre:

Introduction; Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Display, Machinery, Gender, Zoology, Military Technology, Instruments

    Introduces two 'effusions of some highly mechanical bard who has found in the Tank at the Polytechnic another Hippocrene', an allusion to exhibits at the Royal Polytechnic Institution Royal Polytechnic Institution
Close   View the register entry >>. 'The Song of the Bell, (not Schiller's Schiller, Friedrich (Johann Chrisoph Friedrich von) (1759–1805) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>)', which puns on the word 'belle', invites Miss Brown to dive into the large water tank at the Polytechnic in its famous 'Diving Bell'. Explains how Miss Brown can obtain more air and that she can expect to see various fish and 'pieces of the ship, / That is blown up thrice a day' in the tank. 'He Wore a Suit of Moses' describes an encounter with one of the Polytechnic's divers, who descended to the bottom of the water tank and later placed some gunpowder in a model of the HMS Royal George HMS Royal George
Close   View the register entry >>, which was to be destroyed by Charles W Pasley's Pasley, Sir Charles William (1780–1861) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'batteries'. The author notes how the diver later emerged from the tank and drank some beer 'behind the air-pump stand'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Entomology, Animal Behaviour

    Describes the features and habits of various 'insects' to be observed in London where the reported behaviour of the 'insect' typically refers to that of a certain type of Londoner who shares a name with the insect. For example, 'Sweeps' are described as all having a 'dusty brown' head and thorax and as having antennae which are either dirty white feathers or deep orange; 'Painted Ladies', numerous 'towards evening', are considered to 'fall easy prey to any one inclined to pursue them'; 'Red Admirals' are considered 'very rare' although one was seen in Portland Place; and the 'Hawk tribe' can be found 'about the young sprigs' on Epsom Downs.

Genre:

Proceedings, Spoof

Subjects:

Societies, Physics, Mechanics, Scientific Practitioners, Light

    Describes a meeting of the 'Practical Association of Parochial Philosophers'. Gives an absurdly technical account of how one member opened a bottle of ginger beer, and reports other members' equally technical discussions of what happened after the bottle was opened. For example, one 'gentleman' who was struck in the eye by the cork, said that it 'struck me (loud cheers) that there was a smart pain in my left organ of vision, and there was a sort of flashing sensation in the part affected, that was exceedingly interesting, and in the highest degree curious'. The meeting, which 'was kept up till late an hour' and which was sustained by consumption of liquor, also established a number of conclusions about beer drinking, including the fact that 'the force employed in the social operation, usually called "the honours" after drinking a toast, imparts a centrifugal force to a tumbler, which is sufficient to bring it in contact with a window at a distance of fourteen feet'.

Genre:

Short Fiction, Satire, Serial

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Education, Collecting, Natural History, Botany

    Considers summer courses in natural history taught at medical schools to be 'most exciting' and crucial to making a 'medical man' trustworthy. Notes that medical botanists are considered 'harmless and inoffensive maniacs' by the students, and 'would lecture to themselves and their vegetables' were it not for the few pupils they can take on botanical 'excursions'. Introduces Dr Wurzel, a professor of botany, who took some of the protagonists of the story on a botanical excursion.