Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Natural History, Human Species

Publications cited:

Latham 1854 Latham, Robert Gordon 1854. The Natural History Department of the Crystal Palace Described: Ethnology by Dr. R. G. Latham [...] Zoology and Botany by E. Forbes, London: Bradbury & Evans
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Mesmerism, Spiritualism, Psychology, Mental Illness, Physiology, War

    Describing Mr Punch's 'clairvoyance' as 'natural lucidity', claims that he knew long before war broke out between England and Russia that the 'disordered intellect' of Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> was caused by 'internal evils', specifically a 'bilious disorder'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Ethnology, Display, Natural History, Human Species, Race

    Noting the possibility that the 'Science of Races' is concerned with horse racing, explains that ethnology is 'the science of the human race in particular'. Describes the displays of various human races at the Crystal Palace Crystal Palace
Close   View the register entry >>, including the East Indians, the Malays, the peoples of Sumatra, New Guinea, the Dyaks of Borneo, and the North American Indians. Each description includes remarks on physical appearance (including fashion).

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Commerce, Invention, Technology, Race

    Describes the invention by 'An American genius' of a simple machine for enabling 'young men to sow their wild oats'. Explains that 'It is simply a hand machine' which automatically stamps promissory notes signed by the operator, and processes the note over a certain period, at the end of which the operator is expected to retrieve his note. The processed note will follow the operator until he provides 'actual payment'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Archaeology, Language, Animal Development

    Responding to a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> concerning the Cambridge Archaeological Society Cambridge Archaeological Society
Close   View the register entry >>, criticises John S Henslow Henslow, John Stevens (1796–1861) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> for not knowing that a 'porwigle or polley-wiggle is an undeveloped or undergraduate frog' rather than a young frog.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Manufactories, Invention

    Discusses M Viven's Viven, M (fl. 1854) PU1/27/3/1
Close   View the register entry >> patent for the manufacture of paper from vegetable matter.

Genre:

Illustration, Caricature

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Politics

    Shows a sickly Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> sitting in a chair with a bowl of gruel in his lap, and a can of large pills at his side.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Amusement, Commerce, Temperance

    Questions the veracity of a Builder Builder (1842–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> article claiming that 'friends of Temperance' wish to turn the Surrey Zoological Gardens Surrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
Close   View the register entry >> into a 'Temperance Palace'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Disease, Death, Statistics, War

    Quoting Lee 1854 Lee, Robert 1854. The Last Days of Alexander, and the First Days of Nicholas (Emperors of Russia), London: R. Bentley
Close   View the register entry >>, notes the alarming number of deaths in Circassia, Persia, Poland, and Turkey, during various periods of the nineteenth century. Stresses that Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, not disease, was the cause of these fatalities.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astrology, Charlatanry, Crime, Quackery, Education, Prognostication

People mentioned:

Richard J Morrison, Morrison, Richard James ('Zadkiel') (1795–1874) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Robert C Smith Smith, Robert Cross ('Raphael') (1795–1832) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Ridicules the text on seven cards of 'The knaves who pretend to read the stars for the fools' with which Mr Punch has been favoured. The analysis of the first card from an 'Astral Professor' derides the practitioner's notion of 'vegetable astronomy' and notes his apparent links with quack medicine. Ridicules the fact that the astrologer on the fourth card 'not only reads the skies, but makes machines for protecting you against their influence [umbrellas]'. The fifth card is from an astrologer who pretentiously claims to be 'the only Professor in the Midland Counties who holds a Diploma from the British Scientific Association' (an allusion to the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>). Regards the seventh card, which appears to be an astrological 'prediction of the fortune of a young lady of rank', as 'rubbish and vulgarity'. Laments the fact that people 'are actually found to pay' for astrological forecasting and links this to low educational standards.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Surgery, Medical Practitioners

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Chemistry, Domestic Economy, Gender, Lecturing

    Presents summaries of a series of lectures to be presented 'By a Strong-Minded Woman—with a strong Chemical Turn'. The lectures have less to do with technical aspects of chemistry than domestic problems and include such topics as 'The ODOURS (including musk and patchouli) we love best, and the SMELLS we dislike most, especially that filthy tobacco-smoke'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Nutrition, Charlatanry

    Responding to news of a new vegetarian and teetotal 'Eating House', notes the vegetarian ban on fish and dairy produce and reports on a visit to the 'Eating House' where the menu consisted of such items as grass, vegetable marrow, kidney-beans, and other traditional 'meat' dishes in which the meat was replaced by vegetables.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Engineering, Engineers, Human Species, Steam-power, Machinery

    Responding to the alarming news that engine drivers on the London and North-Western Railway Company London and North-Western Railway Company
Close   View the register entry >> are sleeping on duty, suggests that the directors of the company will discuss the possibility of constructing a 'Steam-Engineman' which will consist of an 'iron mechanism [...] animated by steam'. Draws attention to the advantages of such employees, notably the fact that 'they will never turn out for any increase of wages' or 'ever get tipsy'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery; Dialogue, Spoof

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Technology, Commerce

    Agreeing with the Quarterly Review's Quarterly Review (1809–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> judgement that the electric telegraph 'has yet to come into general use' (a reference to Wynter 1854 Wynter, Andrew 1854. 'The Electric Telegraph', Quarterly Review, 95, 118–64
Close   View the register entry >>), argues that the chief problem with the instrument is that the 'officials entrusted' with it try to 'discourage the transmission of messages'. Explains that the 'pedantic precision' of officials and the extortionate cost of sending messages make the system 'a non-conductor to the wires'. Imagines the experience of Mr Brown, who is so irritated by the pedantry and cost of sending a telegraphic message that he storms out of the telegraphic office.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, War, Medical Treatment, Narcotics

    Responding to news that 'the Government has been engaged in trying antinomial balls' for military use, concludes that this is 'calculated to give all within the sphere of [the ball's] destruction a regular sickener [a reference to the poisonous nature of antimony]'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment

    Reports that Mr Sainsbury Sainsbury, Mr (fl. 1854) PU1/27/8/1
Close   View the register entry >> has received a large order for his soda water from Berlin where, coincidentally, 'an eminent German chemist and physician' has won a gold medal from King Frederick William IV Frederick William IV, King of Prussia (1795–1861) CBD CBE
Close   View the register entry >> of Prussia for a paper on ammonia as a cure for drunkenness.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Gender, Communication

    Argues that the Electric Telegraph Company's Electric Telegraph Company
Close   View the register entry >> employment of women will give 'the gentler sex [...] full scope to their love of rapid talking' and enable them to 'talk as quick as lightning'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Public Health, Sanitation, Medical Practitioners, Expertise

    Likens the omission of Mr Walker Walker, Mr (fl. 1854) PU1/27/8/3
Close   View the register entry >>, a man of 'vast and unacknowledged' public services, from the new Board of Health Board of Health
Close   View the register entry >> to leaving the Prince of Denmark out of Hamlet. Admits that the present head of the board, Benjamin Hall Hall, Sir Benjamin, 1st Baron Llanover (1802–67) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, is 'well versed' in all the scientific and medical knowledge needed for sanitary reform, but thinks 'two heads are better than one'. Agrees that the Board of Health should not be run by a physician since 'the medical faculty is not the faculty of common sense' and because 'the Art of Cure is a different thing from the Science of Prevention'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Archaeology, Societies

    Describes the visit of the 'odd fellows' of the 'British Archaeological Society' (a reference to the British Archaeological Association British Archaeological Association
Close   View the register entry >>) to Chepstow, where they visited a wine merchant's premises believed to rest on the remains of an ancient priory. Notes that the archaeologists subsequently denied this claim. Describes a poorly attended and soporific meeting of the society in which Thomas Wakeman Wakeman, Thomas (fl. 1854) Wakeman 1854
Close   View the register entry >> spoke on the Roman walls of Chepstow (possibly an allusion to Wakeman 1854 Wakeman, Thomas 1854. 'Observations on the Town and Castle of Chepstow', Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 10 249–57
Close   View the register entry >>).

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; Poetry, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Pollution, Analytical Chemistry

    Describes the evils of 'KING SMOKE', including his veiling of sunlight and overlaying the 'toilet' of 'many a maiden'. Notes that although 'The chemist applied all his learning [...] their fuel men kept half-burning / Whence still the dark fumes arose'. The illustration shows a black figure who wears a smoking chimney pot for a hat and who smokes a pipe fuelled by a coal gas stove.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Disease, Periodicals, Controversy, Expertise

    Complains about the nauseating and contradictory 'prescriptions for cholera' that doctors publish in the newspapers. Concludes that, while the recommendation to 'let well alone' is valuable, 'it is still more desirable to "let ill alone", if a sick man is subject to be poisoned by one or more of the numerous concoctions suggested in the newspapers by the medical practitioner'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Technology, Commerce, Steam-power

    Report of Punch's 'snug little suburban line' that illustrates the small-scale nature of the operation. For example, it boasts that its rolling stock includes a 'garden roller', that it had lost a 'moral engine which the Company once possessed in the support of a now apathetic press', and that its boiler 'is not yet out of hot water, nor likely to be for some time to come'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Gas Chemistry, Meteorology, Electricity, Education, Religion

    Asks the author of an English Journal of Education English Journal of Education (1843–64) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> article on the unholy 'atmosphere' outside the home on Sunday, to explain 'the composition of that atmosphere which is capable of hailing a day otherwise than for hailing for twenty-four hours' and which is made up of chemical compounds other than those out of which it is known to be composed. Also asks the author to explain 'how the atmosphere desecrates the day by hailing it with Punch'. This is probably a response to Anon 1854 Anon. 1854. 'On the Sunday of Public Schools', English Journal of Education, 8, 300–02
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Amusement, Temperance

    Considering the fact that teetotallers will be controlling the Surrey Zoological Gardens Surrey Literary, Scientific and Zoological Institution—Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, wonders what they will have in place of the 'volcanos' which, Punch speculates, will be considered inappropriate because they are the 'aggregate result of repeated drops of the "crater" [the ancient Greek vessel for holding wine]'.

Genre:

Notes, Spoof

Subjects:

Chemistry, Astronomy

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Lecturing, Astronomy

    Reports on John H Pepper's Pepper, John Henry (1821–1900) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> lectures on the 'Precession of the Equinoxes' at the Royal Polytechnic Institution Royal Polytechnic Institution
Close   View the register entry >>. Discusses the attempts by a 'manager of a minor theatre' to introduce this 'procession [sic]' into a 'Grand Eastern Spectacle' involving the Great Bear and the Little Bear.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Gender, Education, Commerce

Institutions mentioned:

Society of Apothecaries—Apothecaries' Hall, Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London—Apothecaries' Hall
Close   View the register entry >> Royal College of Surgeons Royal College of Surgeons
Close   View the register entry >>

    Responding to an article in the New York Tribune New York Tribune (1881–87) British Library Catalogue
Close   View the register entry >> on female physicians, speculates on the costume worn by such practitioners. Argues that there is 'no great absurdity in the notion of female physicians' because all physicians are 'fee-male' and, owing to their 'softer and more musical' voices women can deal with difficult cases 'as effectually as a man can'. Thinks the Ladies' College Ladies' College, Bedford Square
Close   View the register entry >> should grant medical degrees and points out that there is no law against women being apprenticed to general practitioners.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Spiritualism, Periodicals

    Describes the Spiritual Telegraph Spiritual Telegraph (1852–60) Herald of Progress (1860–64) BUCOP
Close   View the register entry >> as 'a kind of Telegraph between the Past and the Present'.

Genre:

Proceedings, Spoof

Subjects:

Class, Education, Human Species, Societies

    Discusses the visit of Edward G G S Stanley (14th Earl of Derby) Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> to the Liverpool meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>. Stanley apparently 'presented himself as a specimen of nobleman ignorance' which prompted Richard Owen Owen, Richard (1804–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> to note the 'moral qualities that, when put forth under a coronet, may exert an extraordinary fascination upon mankind in general'. Owen proceeded to show the monetary 'secretions' of the 'specimen before him [Stanley]' that could 'have a most noble influence upon all surrounding bodies'. Describes how Stanley and members of the association joined in song, which prompted members to declare the ignorance of a 'true nobleman' preferable to the 'bothering knowledge of a bundle of professors'.

Genre:

Poetry, Satire

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Religion, Reason, Astronomy, Technology, Steam-power, Electricity, Scientific Practitioners

    Argues that we should return to a time when authority rests on 'faith' rather than 'the senses' or 'reason' and that 'all facts, but Rome' are set 'at mere defiance'. Denounces Copernican astronomy and astronomy itself as 'a delusion' that has been 'forged by demons'. Adds that 'The powers of steam and electricity' are 'diabolic emanations', chemistry is sorcery, and the stars are 'lamps suspended from the sky', and that earth is flat. Regards Isaac Newton Newton, Sir Isaac (1642–1727) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Galileo Galilei Galilei, Galileo (1564–1642) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Joseph Priestley Priestley, Joseph (1733–1804) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, William H Wollaston Wollaston, William Hyde (1766–1828) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Humphry Davy Davy, Sir Humphry, Baronet (1778–1829) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> as the Devil's 'crew'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Societies, Astronomy, Publishing, Taxonomy

    Noting the preparation of a directory of stars by the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>, warns that the reliability of the work is reduced by the observation of 'Northern circumpolar stars' at Oxford, which Punch thinks is a reference to 'the gathering of contributors to Blackwood's Magazine Edinburgh Monthly Magazine (1817) Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine (1817–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>'. With this 'truth', reports that the British Association has asked each star to 'furnish all the necessary information respecting himself', including 'Names and Titles in any Scientific or Learned Bodies [including Arabian and Roman names]', and 'Medical or Surgical Offices held by him [information required by the astrologer 'Zadkiel' Morrison, Richard James ('Zadkiel') (1795–1874) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>]'. Points out that addresses for double stars and nebulae 'need only be filled up by one of the firm'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Public Health, Microscopy, Mapping, Measurement, Light

    Discusses news that a scientific correspondent in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> claims to be able to map bad smells. Concludes that this will show that 'every odour will have its shape' and will confuse 'the celebrated dispute between the eyes and the nose in regard to the spectacles'.

Genre:

Drama, Satire

Subjects:

Human Species, Evolution, Animal Behaviour, Class

    Represents 'ACUTE and OBTUSE SWELLS' discussing Richard Owen's Owen, Richard (1804–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> paper on 'Anthwopomawfus Apes' at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science British Association for the Advancement of Science
Close   View the register entry >>, a version of which later appeared as Owen 1855 Owen, Richard 1855. 'On the Anthropoid Apes', Report of the Twenty-Fourth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; Held at Liverpool in September 1854, Notices and Abstracts of Miscellaneous Contributions to the Sections, 111–13
Close   View the register entry >>. Acute explains to Obtuse that an anthropomorphous ape is one that resembles man insofar as it has such gentlemanly features as a 'exquisitely arranged' moustache, and a 'fautless' tie. Acute tries to convince Obtuse that the ape to which Owen was probably referring was one that wears a red jacket, drinks claret, gambles, amuses itself backstage in a theatre, and chatters about its pastimes. The complacent Acute and the incredulous Obtuse conclude that they must be the species of ape discussed by Owen.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Politics, War, Animal Behaviour

    Proposes that the Russian prisoners of the Crimean war be employed by David W Mitchell Mitchell, David William (1813–59) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> of the Zoological Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >> to 'construct a new a den for the Russian bear at the Gardens'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Sanitation, Disease, Engineering, Government

    Notes that with falling temperatures, the 'prevailing epidemic' of cholera has declined and thus reduced the fears of the 'Boards of Guardians and Parochial, and Municipal authorities'. Observes that while the necessity for such sanitary measures as drain building will abate, 'the ensusing season is the proper time for abating nuisances', while ratepayers believe there is time for the latter task 'another day'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Chemistry, Politics

    Debates the meaning of a Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> report that Prince Joseph M X F Poniatowski Poniatowski, Prince Joseph Michael Xavier François (1816–73) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> is about to become a 'neutralised French subject'. Likening a neutralised French subject to 'a living neutral salt', argues that neutralisation is achieved with 'Gallic acid'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Electricity, Technology, Charlatanry, Commerce, Race, Scientific Practitioners

    Criticises the 'fibs' and 'falsehoods' transmitted by the electric telegraph and the broken promise that the invention 'was going to diffuse / Truth o'er the world' and link nations in peace. Laments the tardiness of telegraphic communication and describes the 'rage' of the 'calm philosopher' and the 'quiet sage' who see 'Fair Science thus abused'.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Phrenology, Gender

    Reports on a phrenologist who wants Mr Punch to inform young ladies of 'the absurdity of wearing their hair a l'Impératrice, indiscriminately, and without reference to the shape of the forehead'. By 'aping' the French empress, he insists, ladies 'only show the poverty of their Imitation, and their sad deficiency in Wit'—the two phrenological organs that, owing to the arrangement of her hair, the Empress appears to possess in enlarged size.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Telegraphy, War, Technology

    Does not think that the 'haste' of the 'sleepless Tatar', the 'steamboat's prow', 'the train-sped mails', and the 'Electric fires, along the wires', can 'match the speed, wherewith at need, hope, fear, and love combined, / In their strong flight, to the scene of fight, will sweep the unresting mind [waiting for news of the Crimean War]'. Can almost 'curse the skill perverse, that so far having gone, / To Conquer space and time efface, halts ere its work is done'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Disease, Medical Treatment, Religious Authority, Quackery, Faith, Supernaturalism

    Responds to news that the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Costantino Patrizi Patrizi, Costantino (d. 1876) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, has directed that 'dried anatomical preparations' of saints be 'exposed to the adoration of the faithful' in order to avert cholera. Contends that faith was behind the use of 'Mummy' in the 'materia medica' and is in operation in the cardinal's cure.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Domestic Economy, Gender, Education, Colleges

    Addressed 'To the Shade of COBBETT Cobbett, William (1763–1835) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>', announces the existence, in London, of a 'COLLEGE OF DOMESTIC ECONOMY [...] for the INSTRUCTION OF LADIES, as well as of Female Servants'. Points out that pupils do not learn such scientific subjects as 'Geography, Astronomy, and the Use of Globes', but the 'COOKING OF VICTUALS'. Thoroughly recommends the institution, not least because it fulfils Mr Punch's idea that 'every wife is, or ought to be the SERVANT of her husband'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

War, Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners

Institutions mentioned:

Army

    Laments the lack of proper medical attention required by the wounded and sick British soldiers fighting in the Crimea.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Sanitation, Public Health, Government, Cultural Geography, Pollution

    Compares improvements in Parisian buildings and sanitation with the opposition to such measures in London. Attacks the Corporation of London's Corporation of London
Close   View the register entry >> 'Vested Interests' in preserving the status quo and notes how proposals to install proper drains, to clean the smoke from the air, and to build wider streets are met with gruff and repeated barks of 'Centralisation!'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Palaeontology, Politics, Exhibitions, Agricutlure, Religion

Institutions mentioned:

Great Exhibition Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations (1851)
Close   View the register entry >>

    Notes that while 'Everybody has a passing acquaintance with the Plesiosaurus, the Megatherium, and so forth', this species 'is only to be found at Castle Hedingham Hedingham Castle, Essex
Close   View the register entry >>' and resembles a Tory squire, who once 'talked to the agricultural interest' and who strongly upholds the Protestant foundations of 'true conservatism'. Believes the power of the jaw in this species is greater than the power of the swing of the megalosaurus's tail.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Surgery, War, Government, Nationalism, Status, Cultural Geography

Institutions mentioned:

Army

    Reports that 'whether our forces have, or have not, been provided with sufficient surgical aid in the Crimea', French troops have adequate medical treatment and that is due to the French surgeons, who are encouraged by respect and awards from the state. Criticises the comparatively low status of English surgeons, and attacks the government for considering the surgical profession to be 'as dignified as that of a tea-dealer'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

War, Surgery, Medical Practitioners

Institutions mentioned:

Army

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Extra-Terrestrial Life, Controversy, Astronomy, Language, Mental Illness

    Engages with David Brewster Brewster, Sir David (1781–1868) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and William Whewell's Whewell, William (1794–1866) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> conflict over extra-terrestrial life. Represents Brewster as denying that 'Nature makes worlds for mere lanterns, or fuel' and claiming that 'all planets are swarming with life'. Whewell replies by calling his opponent an 'old Cock' and 'Creation's whole cluster / 'S as empty as you and your volume, Sir D.' The poem ends with Brewster inviting Whewell to 'sleep on it' and Whewell suggesting that Brewster have his head shaved.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Surgery, Quackery, Commerce, Medical Practitioners, Status

    Analyses two advertisements—one for a gentleman assistant to a surgeon and the other for a youth to assist in surgery—that suggest that 'Medicine is evidently looking down'. Draws attention to the poor remuneration and considerable work-load required by these positions, and worries that 'if medical assistants are paid at the rate of common mechanics, and engaged to perform the services of pages and tigers, we shall soon have our prescriptions dispensed by boys broken out with buttons'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Exploration, Heroism, Public Health, Class

    Describing the inhospitable character of winter weather, considers the 'poor unhappy souls / Homeless in the cold who wander' and the 'icy plains / Where for Science martyrs lay dying, FRANKLIN Franklin, Sir John (1786–1847) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and his crew are lying'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Education, Exhibitions, Amusement, Chemistry, Electricity, Instruments

    Responds to news that the proprietors of the Royal Polytechnic Institution Royal Polytechnic Institution
Close   View the register entry >> are 'about to introduce dramatic readings and singsongs' into their normal diet of 'scientific education'. Discusses William Shakespeare's Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> likely knowledge of chemistry, and suggests ways of combining science and drama. For example, it recommends that 'scenes of thrilling interest might easily be got up with the voltaic battery' and that 'MR. PEPPER Pepper, John Henry (1821–1900) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> might make the reading of various compounds quite simple, and if he could not reach the sublime, might at least achieve a sublimate'. The illustration shows two thespians exploring the powers of a large electrical machine.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Government

    Makes some suggestions for the forthcoming Lord Mayor's Show, many of which play on the astronomical connotations of name of the new mayor, Francis G Moon Moon, Sir Francis Graham (1796–1871) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. For example, suggests that the 'streets should be converted into a novel kind of milky way', and that the 'Remembrancer shall carry a large stick of Lunar Caustic' rather than a mace.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Human Development, Exhibitions, Measurement, Physics, Domestic Economy

    Responding to news of obese babies winning prizes at an Ohio baby show, suggests that the award of prizes should depend on specific gravity as well as weight. Having explained the meaning of specific gravity, insists that 'Not crying and freedom from catarrhal symptoms' be considered in judging competitors.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition, Agriculture

    Asks Justus von Liebig Liebig, Justus von (1803–73) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, a 'Scientific Sir' who has analysed and is partial to 'ALLSOP's Pale Ale', whether the price increase of the beverage is necessary. Notes that brewers Samuel Allsop and Sons Allsop (Samuel) and Sons, brewers
Close   View the register entry >> have raised the price because of the failure of the hops crop, but Punch wants Liebig to state exactly the quantity of hops in the beverage.

Genre:

Poetry

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

War, Medical Practitioners, Gender, Medical Treatment, Disease, Hospitals, Heroism

    Playing on the ornithological connotation of Florence Nightingale's Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> name, invites wounded soldiers in the Crimea to listen to the 'tale of the tender NIGHTINGALE' whose charm will ease their pain and who 'sings' medical treatments, including 'bandages and lint; salve and cerate without a stint', and 'fever's thirst allayed, and the bed you've tumbled, made'. The illustration shows Nightingale attending a wounded solider.

Genre:

Proceedings, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, War, Gender

    Reports on a meeting of 'a large number of young ladies' who, emulating the example of Florence Nightingale Nightingale, Florence (1820–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, considered the 'question of proceeding to the Crimea, in the capacity of Nurses'. The ladies, whose names are typically based on well known dances (following the ornithological connotations of Nightingale's name), express much enthusiasm about going to the Crimea. (193) Later in the proceedings, 'DOWAGER LADY STRONGI'TH'HEAD' advised 'a day's experience at Saint Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >>' but urged that it is the government's business to provide nurses for military hospitals. The illustration shows a nightingale with Florence Nightingale's face, perched near the bed of wounded solider. (194)

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Disease, War, Medical Treatment, Politics

    Describes an encounter between Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of Russia and 'The CHOLERA' which identifies the Russian emperor as 'my Brother in the FIEND' and 'fellow CURSE'. The disease tells Nicholas that his mission is to 'torment, to ruin, and to kill' more humans and points out that Nicholas will be much easier to cure than himself, the cure for Nicholas being the combined forces of England, France, and Germany. The cholera leaves announcing his imminent trip to Sebastopol, where he intends to 'carry on the work thou didst begin in Turkey there'.

Genre:

Drama, Satire

Subjects:

Astronomy, Measurement, Gravity

    A lengthy discourse between Porrex, 'A Young Sage', and Ferrex, 'A Young Swell', concerning George B Airy's Airy, Sir George Biddell (1801–92) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> attempt to 'weigh the Earth' down a coal-pit. Ferrex jokingly suggests that Airy 'As an Astronomer should know / a Shorter course. In his own Zodiac / Hang Libra, or the Scales. Let him take them, / And go his weighs'. Porrex explains that Airy wants to explore the dependence of density on depth but Ferrex insists that the astronomer could have done this by examining buckets raised from coal pits. Following Ferrex's insistence that Airy should stick to astronomy, albeit in the coal-pit, Porrex explains how Airy used pendulums and electric clocks to ascertain 'the fact of density's / Increase'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Invention, Sanitation, Public Health

    Pokes fun at an advertisement for 'Patent Sewerage'.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Public Health, Disease, Pollution, Government

    Describes a proposal by the directors of the Crystal Palace Crystal Palace
Close   View the register entry >> to construct, inside the palace, a model of the courts of 'our lower London and provincial city districts'. Noting that this is intended to raise awareness of such poor living conditions, describes the ways in which it is proposed to represent the filthy gutters and noxious atmospheres of the courts. To ensure that the model court accurately represents the 'perfect mismanagement' and the 'unhealthy state' of the courts, it will be run by 'parish authorities' and the Board of Health Board of Health
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

News-Commentary,

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Status, Medical Treatment, War, Surgery

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses an alarming report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> that the alarmingly low number of assistant-surgeons in the Black Sea fleet is due to the exclusion of such personnel from the officers' mess. Warns that the low status accorded assistant-surgeons will only encourage incompetent practitioners.

Genre:

Essay, Satire

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Public Health, Sanitation, Time, Technology,

    Discusses some of the advantages of living in London, which turn out to be disadvantages. These include water drawn from the Thames, a river acting as 'the largest Sewer in the World', and clocks that never agree with each other. The illustration shows Mr Punch in Elizabethan costume standing over sewage pipes beneath a street.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Periodicals, Universities, Societies, Mathematics, Language

    Reports that the former editor of the Morning Advertiser Morning Advertiser (1792–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> has 'accepted the appointment of Regius Professor of Penny-a-lineism', a post created by the efforts of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Cambridge Philosophical Society
Close   View the register entry >>, which appears to have been subscribing to newspapers more than philosophical publications. Suggests questions that the professor will set for examination and these display the overlap between the discourses of journalism and those of academic subjects. For example, the second question asks the student to 'extract the roots' of the '"most enormous gooseberry" [...] and show that they are "inversely" as the Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, and directly at the "square" of the Printing House'.

Genre:

Introduction, Drama

Subjects:

Telegraphy, War, Error, Technology, Charlatanry

    Includes a scene in a railway carriage in which two travellers are discussing the 'very sad' business of the Russian war and the much-delayed latest news from the battlefield. One traveller, Jones, claims that 'The Electric Telegraph is truly called / "A great invention"—for it doth invent some novel fiction nearly every day'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Education, Religious Authority, Government

    Discusses Christ's Hospital's Christ's Hospital
Close   View the register entry >> attempt to expel 'DR JACOB Jacob, George Andrew (1807–96) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> from the Head Mastership of the Bluecoat School, for having, in preaching them a sermon from the pulpit, pointed out to [the Hospital Committeemen] certain defects in the management of that Institution, which it was their duty to attend'. Thinks that the 'failure of these high-minded men in this generous attempt, is to be regretted by all Beadledom'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, War, Steamships, Railways

    Responds to a proposal in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> that Sebastopol should be battered with Perkins's steam-gun. Insists that while the proposal might seem 'perfectly absurd', it is no less preposterous than steamboats or railroads which were also greeted with derision when 'first started'. Considers the claim of the son of Jacob Perkins Perkins, Jacob (1766–1849) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> that iron balls weighing a ton can be fired five miles from one of Isambard K Brunel's Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806–59) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> ships. Having ridiculed the idea of a gun loaded with steam rather than powder, points out the 'we do try some things which we are by no means sure will answer'. Assesses the risk of Perkins's proposal against the number of lives saved, and concludes that the proposal is only amusing because it has not been tried.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Anatomy

    Introduces the report of a post mortem examination held on an effigy of John Bright Bright, John (1811–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> which was burnt on Guy Fawkes' Night. The observations in the report allude to Bright's political shortcomings: for example, 'The chest presented an almost total absence of heart', the liver was of a 'remarkable' white colour, and the 'head contained an average proportion of brain, but it had been all converted into lignine or woody fibre'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Controversy, Heat, Human Species, Military Technology, War, Politics

    Claims there exists 'ample proof' that spontaneous combustion 'often happens in warehouses', whether or not it occurs in the human body. Quotes in evidence a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>, which describes an attempt to burn down a Manchester warehouse with oily cotton. Believes the crime was caused by 'Russian agency' or arsonists hired by Emperor Nicholas I Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia (1796–1855) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of Russia.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Botany, Military Technology, War

    Describes the properties of 'a certain sort of Fungus' popularly known as 'German Tinder' which catches fire so easily 'that 'twas used to strike a light, / Ere the time of Congreve Congreve, Sir William (1772–1828) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> matches'. Wishes 'another German thing / Were as quick of inflammation', because then the German nation could be fired up to join the British against the Russians.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Technology, Progress

    Discusses a report in the Sydney Herald Sydney Herald (1831–42) Sydney Morning Herald (1842–1900+) RLIN
Close   View the register entry >> of the 'first Railway in Australia', which suffered a troublesome birth when the locomotive only started moving after considerable pushing from porters, policemen, and others. Hopes that 'the Australians will get up their steam a little better than they did on the inauguration of their first Railway', but notes that a recent report would suggest otherwise.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Nutrition, Adulteration, Chemistry, Medical Treatment, Physiology, Pharmaceuticals

    Responds to a Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> report of 'an assemblage of medical and scientific gentlemen' who discussed legislation on 'rubbish' admitted to the human body. Explains how the consumer is cheated out of the real nutrients supposed to be contained in food and that instead he is subjected to heavily adulterated bread, cream, grains of Paradise, honey, and peppermint lozenges. Concludes by noting that 'it does not appear that the meeting succeeded in devising any adequate punishment for the adulteration of diet and medicine' and suggests that offenders be punished by subjecting them to their own adulterated food.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Societies, Periodicals, Reading, Scientific Practitioners, Publishing, Discovery, Organic Chemistry

People mentioned:

John C Adams, Adams, John Couch (1819–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> John R Hind Hind, John Russell (1823–95) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses a recent legal case concerning the Cambridge Philosophical Society Cambridge Philosophical Society
Close   View the register entry >> and its subscription to newspapers. Upholds the philosophical content of newspapers and their consequent suitability for consumption by members of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. Points out that, conversely, 'the so-called philosophical journals contain news', such as the discovery of a new star or a 'new method of preparing monoditetrethylomethylopropylamylamonium'.

Genre:

Introduction; Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Surgery, War, Heroism, Disease

Institutions mentioned:

Army Army
Close   View the register entry >>

    Penned at Sebastopol, notes the 'deep debt of gratitude' that the author hopes will one day be paid 'by the army and the country' to 'the Officers of the Medical Service'. Describes the 'heroism' of assistant-surgeon Thompson of the 44th regiment who was killed after performing gallant service to the wounded. The author's pseudonym is an allusion to the field marshall in charge of British forces in the Crimea, Fitzroy J H Somerset (1st Baron Raglan) Somerset, Lord Fitzroy James Henry, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, War

    Discusses complaints that shells used in the Crimea do not explode on reaching the ground.

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, War, Disease, Mental Illness, Pharmaceuticals, Homeopathy, Quackery

    Consists of spoof letters from tradesmen trying to sell their goods to wounded troops in the Crimea. Under the title 'Blessing to the Nervous', Dr Millis Mozely offers to send a cure for 'nervous or mental disease' and puffs his work on 'Nervous and mental Complaints'; and under the title of 'No Wooden Legs Wanted', Professor Galloway offers to send troops 'a waggon-load of my PILLS [...] and an equal quantity of my OINTMENT'. Inevitably, Galloway notes that he can supply a testimonial from Mason G Stratford (5th Earl of Aldborough) Stratford, Mason Gerard, 5th Earl of Aldborough (1784–1849) Cokayne 1910-59
Close   View the register entry >>, the notorious patron of homeopathy.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, War, Military Technology, Government

    Criticises government ministers for thinking that Sebastopol can be 'reduced by homeopathic doses'. Attacks George H Gordon (4th Earl of Aberdeen) Gordon, George Hamilton-, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (1784–1860) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> for attempting to fight the Crimean war using infinitesimal amounts of gunpowder rather than by using 'the regular old practice'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Technology, Gender

    Notes women's excellence as telegraphic clerks but points out the difficulty in preventing such clerks 'from having the last word'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Politics

    Notes the likely effect on the length of the 'Messages' of the United States President (Franklin Pierce Pierce, Franklin (1804–69) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>) were he to transmit them by the electric telegraph.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Physiology, Politics

    Notes medical students' opinion that introducing foreign bodies into Britain will cause 'constitutional irritation'.