Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Scientific Practitioners

People mentioned:

Carl Linnaeus, Linnaeus (or von Linné), Carl (1707–78) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> Benjamin Franklin, Franklin, Benjamin (1706–90) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> James Watt Watt, James (1736–1819) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Public Health

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Scientific Practitioners, Chemistry

People mentioned:

Joseph Priestley Priestley, Joseph (1733–1804) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Technology, Invention, Mechanics, Hunting

    Shows a man turning a large crank which adjusts the height of a 'New Patent Traction Crane', on the end of which swings a large weight shaped like a fishing bob. The caption reveals that the figure believes he is fishing for a 'Silurus Glanis'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Medical Treatment

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Scientific Practitioners, Natural History, Taxonomy

People mentioned:

Georges Cuvier Cuvier, Georges (1769–1832) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M Du Maurier, George Louis Palmella Busson (1834–96) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Zoology, Animal Development, Animal Behaviour, Futurism, Climatology, Environmentalism, Transport

    This anticipates the results of acclimatising exotic species of animals to the British climate. It shows a busy street in London on which crowd numerous exotic species being used as forms of transport. For example, in the foreground a zebra pulls a cart and a man is walking a kangaroo as if it were a dog; in the background two giraffes pull a coach and several people sit on the back of a giant elephant (whose posterior is marked 'Bank 3d') as if it were an omnibus.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M Du Maurier, George Louis Palmella Busson (1834–96) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Zoology, Animal Development, Animal Behaviour, Futurism, Climatology, Environmentalism

    Similar to George L P B Du Maurier, 'Probable Results of the Acclimatisation Society—The Streets', Punch, 48 (1865), [vi], this shows the results of acclimatising exotic species to the British climate. It shows a crowded scene near the Serpentine Serpentine, lake, Hyde Park
Close   View the register entry >> and several family groups relaxing with animals that appear to have been released from the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>. For example, in the foreground young children sit on top of and near such fierce creatures as a tiger, lion, and a crocodile, while in a tree above a family group sits a large snake and a toucan.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Pneumatics, Instruments, Nutrition, Measurement

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Commerce, Astronomy

People mentioned:

William Herschel Herschel, Sir William (1738–1822) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Philosophy, Sociology

People mentioned:

Auguste Comte Comte, Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier (Auguste) (1798–1857) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment

Publications cited:

Burton 1621 [Burton, Robert] 1621. The Anatomy of Melancholy: What it is. With all the Kindes, Causes, Symptomes, Prognostickes, and Severall Cures of it. In Three Maine Partitions with their Severall Sections, Members, and Subsections. Philosophically, Medicinally, Historically, Opened and Cut up. By Democritus Junior. With a Satyricall Preface, Conducing to the Following Discourse, Oxford: H. Cripps
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Steam-power, Politics

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Industry, Commerce, Medical Treatment, Military Technology

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Medical Treatment, Disease

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Education, Class, Aeronautics, Comparative Philology, Mathematics

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Scientific Practitioners, Mathematics, Natural Philosophy

People mentioned:

Gottfried W Leibniz Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646–1716) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Announcement, Drollery

Subjects:

Matter Theory

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Progress, Reason

    Subtitled 'Being a respectful Comment on the POPE'S Encyclical and its Appendix', this poem criticises the religious dogmatism displayed by the latest edict of Pope Pius IX Pius IX, Pope (1792–1878) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>. In answer to such demands as renouncing 'the faiths we've learnt to view / As keystones of our freedom' and deeming '[the Pope's] dogmas above reason [...] His lore than science wiser', Punch turns the Pope's style of answer back on him with: 'Non possumus'. (6)

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J T Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Progress, Reason

    Following Anon, 'Mr Punch's Non Possumus', Punch, 48 (1865), 6, 9, this responds to Pope Pius IX's Pius IX, Pope (1792–1878) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> latest 'Encyclical' and 'Appendix', which subordinated science and common sense to papal authority. Shows a large bull (being also a papal edict) with its head on the ground near a brick wall and its legs dangling in the air. The bull has crashed against the wall containing bricks marked 'Science', 'Common Sense', 'Toleration', and 'Progress'—aspects of culture which Pius IX opposes.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Periodicals, Publishing, Language, Zoology, Zoological Gardens, Extinction, Chemistry, Methodology

Institutions mentioned:

Wombwell's menagerie Wombwell's Menagerie
Close   View the register entry >>

    Calls on writers and statesmen to stop using, for 'public edification, enlightenment, amusement, or instruction [...] several persons, creatures, and things' which are judged to be 'exhausted, threadbare, stale, and hackneyed', and which are specified in an annexed list. This includes 'The British Lion', which it is claimed will be gratefully accepted by the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, and the 'Couleur de Rose', which is 'Very much faded' and is being replaced by an alternative to be identified by the Royal Society of Chemistry Royal Society of Chemistry
Close   View the register entry >> and others. The phrase of Francis Bacon (1st Viscount St Alban) Bacon, Francis, 1st Viscount St Alban (1561–1626) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, 'Knowledge is Power', is judged to be 'quite reasty, having been served up to every Mechanics' Institute in the three Kingdoms'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Statistics, Mathematics, Amusement, Gender

    Noting the large weight of mistletoe sold in Britain over the Christmas period, the author ponders the question 'how many young ladies on the average are caught beneath a ton of mistletoe'? and the proportion of kisses to weight of mistletoe. Urges Charles Babbage Babbage, Charles (1792–1871) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> 'or some other great calculator' 'to solve this interesting problem'. The writer points out that while she does not 'know what experiments I may make', she thinks 'some of your young lady readers' could collect 'statistics on the subject'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Palaeontology, Evolution

    'Lizard Point to the Isle of Man'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Ornithology, Cruelty, Environmentalism, Crime

    Discusses an extract from an article in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> reporting that anglers in Stockbridge destroyed several kingfishers, an act that Punch thinks should be punished by hanging.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Disease, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Nutrition, Class

    The author describes his attendance on a wealthy patient, whose symptoms are given in elaborate detail, but which turn out to be a simple case of festive gorging. Concludes by suggesting that 'those of us whose circumstances preclude over-indulgence in eating and drinking [... should] go forth among the mansions of the luxurious classes' and teach the virtues of moderation.

Genre:

Serial, Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Amusement, Palaeontology, Geology, Skill

    Gives advice on how to perform as a 'light comedian', advice which explains that slapping friends on the shoulder and poking elderly persons in their ribs are 'valuable relics of a former state of manners, which have been happily preserved for us in the matrix of stage-tradition, as the icthyosauri and pterodactyls in the lias and oolite of the geologist'. Suggests that comedians deal with these 'fossilised manners' 'as reverently as PROFESSOR OWEN Owen, Richard (1804–92) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> would handle a fossil of the Stonesfield slate, or an Elephant's tusk from the Norwich mud'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment, Commerce, Environmentalism

    Discussing a report of the defacement, by advertisements, of 'spots visited for their natural beauty' in Canada, claims that the 'names of pill-mongers are painted on the Pyramids', and anticipates that the dome of St Peter's St Peter's, Rome
Close   View the register entry >> will be 'placarded by quacks'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Education, Human Development, Mathematics, Physical Geography

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Amusement, Ornithology

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Ornithology, Hunting, Politics

    Discusses a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of a 'Buonaparte' gull that has been shot at Falmouth. Delighted that the bird is so rare in the British Isles, and believes the 'two Irish specimens' are 'no doubt, Fenian or Ultra-montane' and that their rarity is 'more remarkable' given the vast number of 'Buonaparte's gulls', who have 'occassionally been shot, particularly on the 2nd December, 1851'—a reference to the bloody quashing of a popular rebellion by Emperor Napoleon III Napoleon III, Emperor of France (originally Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte)) (1808–73) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of France.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Chemistry, Language, Gender

    Reports that Mr Punch informed 'a charming young lady philosopher' that aniline was 'derived from anile', the meaning being 'that when people grow anile, they ought to dye'.

Genre:

Announcement, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Publishing

Publications cited:

Pass 1846 Pass, Horatio 1846. A Treatise on Artificial Teeth and Palates: With Advice to Parents; And Observations on the Effects of a Residence in Tropical Climates on the Teeth of Europeans, London: John Churchill
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Amusement, Human Development, Animal Behaviour, Cruelty

    Responds to a letter in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> condemning the unhealthy 'practice of exhibiting infants on the stage in pantomimes and burlesques'. Argues that monkeys could be substituted for infants, suggesting that 'an arrangement be made with the Zoological Society Zoological Society of London
Close   View the register entry >> on the one hand, and the Italians who educate PROFESSOR HUXLEY's Huxley, Thomas Henry (1825–95) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> distant relatives, on the other'. Noting that this might not be thwarted by the 'Act for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals', suggests that with 'cosmetic stucco', an ape could be converted into 'a full-grown angel'. Concludes by insisting that 'whatever you may think of "Man's place in Nature" [a reference to Huxley 1863 Huxley, Thomas Henry 1863. Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature, London: Williams and Norgate
Close   View the register entry >>], you will no doubt allow that the place of a child in a pantomime had much better be filled by one of the Simiae'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Meteorology, Prognostication

People mentioned:

Robert Fitzroy Fitzroy, Robert (1805–65) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Meteorology, Language, Instruments

    Suggests that Robert Fitzroy Fitzroy, Robert (1805–65) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> is 'like a careful riddle-maker' because he devotes much of his time to 'a cone-and-drum'—references to the cone-shaped storm warning signal, and the drum used to record meteorological phenomena.

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Industry, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Crime, Patronage

    Condemns the guardians of poor law unions for failing to provide adequate resources for medical men attending workhouses. Notes the 'homeopathic' (i.e. miniscule) pay given to a Holborn Poor Law Union Holborn Poor Law Union
Close   View the register entry >> medical man and the 'homeopathic' (i.e. miniscule) amounts of medicine with which he is supposed to treat paupers. Expressing no surprise that deaths occur through inadequate treatment, insists that the poor law guardians rather than the doctors should be charged with 'manslaughter', and defends the doctors' ability to discern genuine cases of illness among paupers. Concludes by arguing that 'humanity demands that good treatment be procured' and that this requires 'good pay'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Scientific Practitioners, Music, Environmentalism

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Human Development, Time, Health, Natural Law, Domestic Economy

People mentioned:

Thomas Parr Parr, Thomas ('Old Parr') (d. 1635) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Noting the 'great deal' of recent discussion about man's longevity, the writer offers himself as somebody who should be used for testing the claims, and describes his constitution, diet, and lifestyle, stressing that he subsists 'by the exercise of my intellectual faculties in a way calculated to please others rather than myself', and believes from 'statistics' that 'matrimony would prolong my existence'. Suggests that with a 'public subscription' he could gain 'an income sufficient for the purposes of physiological science and my own' and see whether longevity can be secured by 'living [...] in strict obedience to the natural laws of health'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Zoology, Zoological Gardens, Nutrition, Animal Behaviour, Religion

    Apparently written by a women of limited literary ability, who responds to a letter in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> from Francis T Buckland Buckland, Francis Trevelyan (1826–80) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. She insists 'ow I hinvies' the porpoise, especially because of its diet of sprats and eels and its habitation in the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>. Believes the porpoise's tendency to seize fish and jerk them down 'head foremost' is very 'cristian'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Education, Human Development, Physical Geography, Astronomy, Botany

Genre:

Advertisement, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Politics, Disease

People mentioned:

John Bright Bright, John (1811–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Puffs the 'FRANCHISE PILL' of 'DR. JOHN BRIGHT', 'Fellow of Birmingham University'. Notes that this 'inestimable medicament' is the product of 'twenty years of researches in America' and offers a 'Certain cure for all Disorders, physical, mental, moral, social, and political'. The advertisement includes a long list of such disorders, including 'Taxes', 'Corns', 'Tooth-ache', 'Smoky Chimneys', 'Circumlocution', 'Puseyism Pusey, Edward Bouverie (1800–82) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>', 'Davenport Brothers' (William H H Davenport Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> and Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>), 'Sensation Novels', 'Earthquakes', 'Mumps', and 'Black-balling'.

Genre:

Illustration, Caricature

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J T Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Politics, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment

    Shows John Bright (the 'Doctor') as a somewhat pompous looking doctor standing near, and in conversation with, a rough-looking carpenter (the 'Patient') carrying the tools of his trade. The doctor quizzes the patient about his livelihood and on hearing that he earns enough money and food, and is not 'hurt' by the taxes, replies that 'we must change all that. We must go in for reform'. This latter refers to Bright's zealous campaign for parliamentary reform.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Agriculture, Taxonomy, Natural History, Mental Illness, Materialism, Mathematics

    Perplexed by the decision of Dorchester magistrates 'that apples are no agricultural produce' or 'produced from trees that grow in cultured ground'. Following a claim by 'An American philosopher' that 'madness was a mineral', the author suggests that the apple might be an animal and thinks that Dorchester magistrates remind her of 'the 5th Proposition of Euclid Euclid (fl. 295 BC) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>'—the 'Pons Asinorum' or 'Asses' Bridge'.

Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Extract, Spoof

Subjects:

Cultural Geography, Education

    Presenting extracts from the statements of George Heriot Heriot, George (fl. 1865) PU1/48/6/1
Close   View the register entry >> concerning the 'inhabitants of the English province called Scotland', the author notes Heriot's claim that Hugh Miller Miller, Hugh (1802–56) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> says 'There is an order of English mind to which Scotland has not attained'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Gas Chemistry, Technology, Commerce, Comparative Philology, Cultural Geography, Progress

    Comprises correspondence between 'His Celestial and Imperial Highness, Brother to the Sun and Moon Twin to the Twinkling Stars, Cousin of the Comet', and 'T. Jones, Secretary of the Hi Ski Hi Gas Company of Pekin'. The former is told that the reason why his gas supply has been 'discontinued' is because he has failed to pay 'certain moneys', and he subsequently threatens to behead Jones. Although Jones asked the gas company to continue the gas supply, the 'Highness' demands the heads of all connected with it, threats which prompt the 'escape' of the company.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Imposture

People mentioned:

William H H Davenport, Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Politics, Spiritualism, Imposture

    Anticipates the activities of leading statesmen in the new session of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>, including the expectation that Henry G Grey (3rd Earl Grey) Grey, Henry George, 3rd Earl Grey (formerly styled 'Viscount Howick') (1802–94) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> will try to 'prove that all others / are DAVENPORT Brothers [William H H Davenport Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> and Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>], / And he's not a quack, but a seer'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Language, Cultural Geography, Scientific Practitioners, Astronomy, Chemistry

    Ridiculing an extract from the Le Monde Artiste Monde Artiste, Le (1862–1900+) Bibliotheque Nationale
Close   View the register entry >>, which describes the title of 'barronet' being conferred upon 'the Poet Lanwent Alfred Temysson Tennyson, Alfred, 1st Baron Tennyson (1809–92) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>', develops this typographically inept and ill-informed style by suggesting other claims that might be made by the newspaper. These include the question: 'Would they hold FERADAY's Faraday, Michael (1791–1867) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> telescope firmer, or make steadier the crucible of M. AIRY Airy, Sir George Biddell (1801–92) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>?'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Zoology

    Suggests that from the wording of a scene in his Henry IV, part II, that William Shakespeare Shakespeare, William (1564–1616) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> may have been 'a keeper at the Zoological Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>'.

Genre:

Catechism, Spoof

Subjects:

Mathematics, Universities, Education, Human Development

    Subtitled 'At the service of any Mamma, whose Son is returning from Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >> high in the Mathematical Tripos' this states: 'The Mother eyes the "Wrangler" with a smile'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Politics, Cultural Geography, War, Imposture

    Compares the Confederates to William H H Davenport Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> and Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, a claim that Punch thinks will not 'anger' the Union forces.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

C K Keene, Charles Samuel (1823–91) 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, Disease, Narcotics, Patronage

    Shows an elderly 'Family Doctor' sitting near his patient, a 'Country Gentleman', in a large study. After declining a glass of port on the grounds that it causes gout, the doctor is invited by the gentleman to 'stay and dine' with a glass of 'Thirty-Four', a move prompted by the gentleman's imminent jury service.

Genre:

Regular Feature—Proceedings, Drollery; Poetry

Subjects:

Politics, Government, Invention, Patents, Quackery, Railways, Accidents, Commerce

    Includes an 'Idyll of the Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India (1819–1901) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>', which represents and discusses the Queen's speech at the start of the new session of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>. Asks for the Queen's help in 'useful legislation', including the need to 'mend' the situation regarding 'The patient, thoughtful sage, whose painful toil / Strikes out some grand invention' and 'is left / At the no-mercy of a Patent law / By which the shallow greedy quack's enriched'. (63) Later Punch reverts to its usual interpretation of parliamentary proceedings, which includes a report of the government's decision not to 'legislate about Railway accidents', Thomas Milner-Gibson Milner-Gibson, Thomas (1806–84) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> making the apparently contradictory remarks that there were 'few railway accidents' in 1864, but £174,000 was paid in damages for injury arising from accidents (64).

Genre:

Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Invention, Technology, Industry

    Wonders whether Mr Harrison's Harrison, Mr (fl. 1865) PU1/48/7/2
Close   View the register entry >> invention of 'Weaving by Compressed Air' is 'what has so long been "looming in the future"'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Agriculture, Narcotics

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Military Technology, Nationalism

Genre:

Serial, Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Light, Supernaturalism, Amusement, Invention

People mentioned:

John H Pepper Pepper, John Henry (1821–1900) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Engineering, Public Health, Medical Practitioners, Physiology, Heat, Railways, Politics, Government

    Praises John Thwaites Thwaites, Sir John (1815–1870) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> for his imminent completion of 'the Drains', a feat that will turn the 'breezes of London' into 'balmy breezes'. Notes that the 'Doctor in Roderick Random Smollett, Tobias George 1748. The Adventures of Roderick Random, London: J. Osborn
Close   View the register entry >>, who resolved to distil a certain liquid from tinder, by means of animal heat, was a practical philosopher compared to Mr. Punch', were the latter to 'seek to obtain any Essence out of such tinder-like Parliament as that of the past week'. (73) Reports on a new government inquiry 'into the costs of Railway Conveyance' and the reading of bills about new railways. (74)

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Imposture

People mentioned:

William H H Davenport, Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Ira E Davenport, Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Jesse B Ferguson Ferguson, Jesse Babcock (fl. 1864) Fodor 1934
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Mental Illness, Nutrition, Supernaturalism, Spiritualism, Gender

    Discusses a report from the Hospital of Incurables, Naples Ospedale Gli Incurabili (Saint Maria del Popolo), Naples
Close   View the register entry >>, of a woman with an enormous appetite who acts 'like a mad woman' when her diet is reduced. Insists that while such periodicals as The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> and the Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> are sceptical of her feat, the Spiritual Magazine Spiritual Magazine (1860–77) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> will attribute it to the same agency that they believe to be responsible for the manifestations of William H H Davenport Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> and Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [2]

Illustrators:

D M Du Maurier, George Louis Palmella Busson (1834–96) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Exploration

    Describes an expedition 'in the Northern Sea [...] to catch a Whale', a task which the explorers seek to accomplish with a variety of weapons including 'cutlasses, pikes, marlin-spikes [...] hammers, knives, and brads'. They crept up on the 'brute' which 'Asleep on the deep lay', and shouted for joy when the whale quivered after being harpooned 'by the score'. Despite the crew's bravado about catching the whale, it escaped from the rope tethering it to the boat. The illustrations show scenes from the voyage, including a rowing boat progressing through icy wastes inhabited by polar bears and the boat crew attempting to harpoon the whale.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour

    Discusses a report describing the number of 'geese' (people) who have fallen into various lakes while attempting to traverse their frozen surfaces. Thinks those 'geese' who bathed in the freezing cold water were not as 'silly' as the 'geese' who fell through the ice and unintentionally bathed in the water.

Genre:

Serial, Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy, Prognostication, Politics

    After predicting the 'customary Solar and Lunar disturbances', this report lists the expected 'eclipses' in society, including the eclipse of the 'Present Parliament' by another one.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Zoology, Zoological Gardens, Death

    Describes the death of the porpoise exhibited at the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, a death caused by freezing and the fact that 'They didn't enclose him / A deep enough place in'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoology, Zoological Gardens, Hunting, Scientific Practitioners

    Written from the perspective of the recently deceased porpoise at the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, who asks a number of questions concerning the person responsible for its fate since it left the 'briny wave'. Asks, for example, 'Who dug me a freshwater grave, / And popped me into it' and 'Who cut me open'. The concluding words, 'F—k B—d', reveal that the accused is Francis T Buckland Buckland, Francis Trevelyan (1826–80) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Universities, Education, Palaeontology, Reading, Natural Theology, Religion

    Notes that a 'Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >> undergraduate is informed that 'Pale-on-tology' has nothing to do with the works of the author of Evidences of Christianity Paley, William 1794. A View of the Evidences of Christianity, London: R. Faulder
Close   View the register entry >>', i.e. William Paley Paley, William (1743–1805) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Environmentalism, Politics, Government

    Reports on a 'smart debate' on the 'business' of John P Spencer's Spencer, John Poyntz, 5th Earl Spencer (1835–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> proposal 'to limit, civilise, and rail in' Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common
Close   View the register entry >>, a move that did not meet the expected 'universal adulation'. (85)

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M Du Maurier, George Louis Palmella Busson (1834–96) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Instinct, Animal Behaviour, Zoological Gardens, Photography, Meteorology

    Shows several giraffes crossing a snow-covered courtyard at a zoological gardens. Two of the giraffes have curled their necks into scarves thus, as the caption explains, escaping from 'diphtheria during the winter'. On the right, a photographer is seen attempting to capture this phenomenon.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Photography, Aesthetics, Gender

    Shows a woman in a photographer's studio, waiting to have her photograph taken. She argues that the position she has adopted will suffice because 'it's natural and easy', but the photographer retorts that while such a position 'may do in ordinary life [...] in photography it's out of the question entirely'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Engineering, Steam-power

Institutions mentioned:

Admiralty Admiralty
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Mental Illness, Hospitals, Skill, Textbooks

    Discusses news that Dr Brown Brown, Dr (fl. 1865) PU1/48/9/7
Close   View the register entry >>, the principal of the Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum, New York Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum, New York
Close   View the register entry >>, stated that a number of 'College text-books' including Alder's German and English Dictionary were written by people of 'insane mind'. Punch adds that while Mr Punch 'did not know that any of the New York editors were under restraint as lunatics, he has long thought that more than one of them ought to be'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Human Species

    'Never set your heart on a Doctor. He can only love by fits and starts'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Crime, Psychology

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Environmentalism, Natural History, Amusement, Progress, Engineering, Railways

    Begins by describing a midnight scene on 'West Hill, Wandsworth', where the only sound to be heard is the 'yell and scream of the whistling steam, / As the darkling trains roared by', but also, ''Twixt whistle's yell [...] a voice of woe' that turns out to be the 'Spirit of Wandsworth Common' calling 'The Spirit of Wimbledon Wimbledon Common
Close   View the register entry >>'. In reply, the latter complains that he has not been able to sleep owing to 'Bold invaders, plotters sly', while the Spirit of Wandsworth grumbles that having fallen asleep he allowed himself to be 'scarred and bared to shame' by 'foemen' 'In the shade of SPENCER's Spencer, John Poyntz, 5th Earl Spencer (1835–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> name'. The Spirit of Wandsworth proceeds to describe how he used to be 'Robed in green' and that once there was no 'Freer, fairer' common than he. However, he laments the fact that his vegetation is now in shreds and that instead of being the site on which children can play, he is due to be ruined with a 'Hideous Cockney-villa' and a prison. (92) Concludes with the Spirit of Wandsworth Common warning his fellow spirit that, while Spencer's aims are noble, 'Better than e'en Spencer's guard, / Is his guard that guards himself' (i.e. that Wimbledon Common should protect itself). (93)

Genre:

Serial, Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy, Prognostication, Politics, Aeronautics

    Describes imminent and fabulous social, cultural, and political events as if they were astronomical. For example, 'Aries and Taurus have engaged Henry T Coxwell's Coxwell, Henry (Tracey) (1819–1900) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> balloon to bring them to the Cattle Show Smithfield Club—Cattle Show
Close   View the register entry >>'.

Genre:

Extract, Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy, Periodicals, Hospitals, Medical Treatment

    Taken from a periodical whose title evokes Hanwell Lunatic Asylum County Lunatic Asylum, Hanwell
Close   View the register entry >>, these extracts are appropriately bizarre, including news that 'The planet Venus, now so conspicuous an object in the heavens, has put forth a tail' which 'may account for the fact that the Moon has been making faces'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Cultural Geography, Industry, Light, Exploration, Astronomy, Metrology, Pollution, Agriculture, Museums, Religious Authority, Steamships, Military Technology, Politics, Government

    Reporting on the 'debate on the condition of Ireland', Punch notes that Ireland's 'climate made her properly a pasture country', which suggests that 'until we can make her a manufacturing nation—the priests will hinder this—if they can, the Irish must emigrate'. It warns that Mr Punch can see 'all the little games' played by 'Parliament men' in this debate and 'In proof that he does, he hereby lights up this business with his Magnesium Wire, even as PIAZZI SMYTH Smyth, Charles Piazzi (1819–1900) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> has just done unto the interior of the Pyramid'. Proceeds to note the debate on sewage and the recent discovery of its great value as fertiliser, although this conversion process remains a mystery. Later describes the 'grand Museum British Museum
Close   View the register entry >> debate', and notes that it fully 'expects to see a general onslaught upon the stuffed collection', expressing dislike of stuffed giraffes, especially when live ones can be seen. Also discusses the 'Gun debate' in which Henry J Baillie Baillie, Henry James (1804–85) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> called unsuccessfully for an inquiry into the armaments on Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >> ships. The debate also touched on the means of rifling guns and the 'awful expense of repairing ships'. (96)

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Exploration, Light, Heat, Instruments, Measurement, Technology, Commerce, Charlatanry

    Notes Charles P Smyth's Smyth, Charles Piazzi (1819–1900) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> recent illumination of the Great Pyramid of Giza Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt
Close   View the register entry >> 'with the Magnesium flame', but considers that magnesium lighting poses a threat to those despotic gas company directors and shareholders responsible for 'bad gas', 'dear gas', and 'dribbled gas'. Warns that 'before long, your meter will not be the common meter it is now; your piping times are coming to a close', and so advises gas companies to 'Be abundant, be brilliant, be cheap' and to 'satisfy our Equitable demands, and make our houses light-houses'. Concludes by warning them of a 'great Magnesium ribbon conspiracy' which will make gas 'an exploded antiquity'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Hospitals, War, Medical Treatment

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Imposture, Proof

    Notes that D Palmer Palmer, D (fl. 1865) Fodor 1934
Close   View the register entry >> and William H Fay Fay, William H (fl. 1865) Fodor 1934
Close   View the register entry >>, the 'touters' of William H H Davenport Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> and Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, are 'not to be silenced by failure and exposure', and that Palmer demands that their powers be assessed by a 'jury of twelve'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Exploration, Race, Cultural Geography

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Hospitals, Railways, Steamships, Military Technology, Engineering, War, Pollution, Environmentalism, Manufactories, Politics, Government

    Notes the debate in the House of Lords House of Lords
Close   View the register entry >> on the 'new military hospitals, said to be constructed on the "glass and glare" principle', and later discusses a debate on 'Railway Mismanagement', a problem that Punch thinks should be put before a 'British Jury'. Proceeds to an extended discussion of 'Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >> Estimates' in which Clarence E Paget Paget, Lord Clarence Edward (1811–95) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> revealed the number of Britain's ironclads and 'iron-plated Line-of-Battle Ships' and promised that the nation will have 'Four Ships of tremendous speed', 'a "really" sea-going vessel [...] on CAPTAIN COWPER COLES'S Coles, Cowper Phipps (1819–70) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> principle', and 'new Docks for the new set of large armour-clad ships'. Later reports arguments, criticism, and praise for the government's ship designer, Edward J Reed Reed, Sir Edward James (1830–1906) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, and support for the Royal Sovereign Royal Sovereign, ship
Close   View the register entry >>, 'which is adapted to COWPER-COLES'S plan, and is stated to be the best ship in the navy'. (105) Also reports on Robert Montagu's Montagu, Lord Robert (1825–1902) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> attempt to 'carry a measure for protecting all the Rivers of England' from pollution, an attempt thwarted by John Bright Bright, John (1811–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> who insisted that 'better the fish die than the manufacturers' (106).

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Disease, Environmentalism, Hunting, Comparative Philology, Manufactories, Commerce

    Begins by lamenting the fact that 'we now can taste no more' the fishes that swam in rivers owing to 'the foul pollution / Of our cities'. Comparing the benefits of 'Rus in urbe' to 'Urbs in rure', condemns the factory 'poison' that mixes with 'the turbid streamlet' and sends fish and birds fleeing from the foul rivers. Ponders the form in which Plutus will turn 'poor old England' and believes that 'River-gods' should now be 'represented / Not as bearing urns, but pails'. Develops the classical metaphors by describing how the nymphs of the lake, the Naiads, 'and their mistress, CLOACINA, / Holds with you divided reign / O'er what something is between a / River and an open drain'. Concludes by wondering whether 'our money-makers' consider the 'fever, / Sweeping Britain's crowded soil' and lamenting the fact that such people always win the battle for the land.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Environmentalism, Manufactories, Commerce, Industry, Mining, Politics, Government, Religion

    Discusses an extract from a report in the Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> describing John Bright's Bright, John (1811–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> criticism of Robert Montagu's Montagu, Lord Robert (1825–1902) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'motion for a Bill to prevent the rivers of England from continuing to be poisoned and polluted with the sewage of towns and the washings of mines and chemical works'. Criticises Bright for believing Montagu to be acting on 'sentimental feeling', pointing out that such 'gentlemen' as Bright 'are trying to make us all ashamed of sentiment' because it 'does not tend to the creation of material wealth'. Adds that Bright would probably believe that Thames water is fit for drinking and that 'If the Thames ran drab as a member of the Society of Friends Society of Friends
Close   View the register entry >> he would say 'What matter?'. Insisting that all members of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >> agree that the Thames reeks, suggests that Bright is claiming that 'if the Thames is offensive to sentimental people, it is good enough for the beverage of people who are not more nice than they need to be'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Race, Human Development, Cultural Geography

    'Am I not a Man and a bother'.

Genre:

Drama, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Invention, Politics

    Begins with an extract from one of the 'London Papers' announcing the completion of a telegraph from Karachi, via Constantinople, to London. Proceeds to a drama in which Charles Wood Wood, Charles, 1st Viscount Halifax (1800–85) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, the Secretary of State for India, grows so irritated by the incessant telegrams sent to his office, most of which concern exceedingly trivial matters, that he wishes that the 'infernal telegraph [...] would snap', that 'somebody would cut it' or the 'Turks would steal it'. (108)

Genre:

Song, Drollery; Illustration, Caricature

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

[C H B] Bennett, Charles Henry (1828–67) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Meteorology, Scientific Practitioners, Instruments, Quackery

    The initial letter of the song forms part of a picture showing several individuals being buffeted by a strong wind emerging from giant bellows worked by Robert Fitzroy Fitzroy, Robert (1805–65) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, here portrayed as a sailor, around whom fly various meteorological instruments (a thermometer and a self-registering drum). The song describes some of the disagreeable aspects of walking in the streets during winter, including 'the foul museums of the quacks'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Chemistry, Class, Universities, Religious Authority, Religion, Patronage

    Notes that in declining an offer of a position at the University of Berlin Königliche Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Berlin
Close   View the register entry >>, Justus von Liebig Liebig, Justus von (1803–73) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> used the honorific title 'the Cross of the Commander in the Order of Merit of Holy St. Michael'. Pondering the identity of the St Michael who 'presides over the chemical Order of Merit', suggests that Pope Pius IX Pius IX, Pope (1792–1878) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> may have 'canonised a Protestant philosopher yet living, and constituted that eminent man of science who adorns our Royal Institution Royal Institution of Great Britain
Close   View the register entry >> ST. MICHAEL FARADAY Faraday, Michael (1791–1867) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Politics, War, Spiritualism, Imposture

People mentioned:

William H H Davenport, Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Government, Politics

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Reason, Progress, Astronomy, Chemistry, Geology, Superstition

    Discusses some of the latest actions of Pope Pius IX Pius IX, Pope (1792–1878) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, including his reaffirmation of 'the comic decrees of his Encyclical condemning civil and religious liberty' and his usual technique of confronting 'the inexorable logic of facts' with the 'inexorable logic of Popery'. Anticipates the 'fun' caused by the pope shrinking 'from no consequences of his theology', by publishing 'another Bull, condemning all the physical sciences, especially astronomy, chemistry, and geology, as diabolical illusions, corresponding to the Witchcraft of the Ages of Faith'.

Genre:

Drama, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Technology, Government

    Similar to Anon, 'The Torture of the Telegraph', Punch, 48 (1865), 108, 111, this pokes fun at Charles Wood's Wood, Charles, 1st Viscount Halifax (1800–85) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> irritation at the number of telegrams he receives via the newly completed Karachi-London telegraph. It begins with a song, sung by the 'HEAD CLERK' to the tune of 'In my Cottage', which describes the incessant flow of telegrams 'both bad and good' that he will send to Wood, each of which has taken 'eight hours' and 'five pounds ten' to send. The 'Chorus of Telegraph Clerks' chants out 'Needles and pins! Needles and pins! / When a man telegraphs, trouble begins'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Imposture

    'The man who knows how to hit the happy Medium'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Quackery, Medical Treatment

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

F E Eltze, Fritz (fl. 1868) Spielmann 1895
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Lecturing, Education, Magnetism, Gender, Accidents

    Shows a densely crowded room used for 'Old Bunger's scientific conversazione'. The lecturer's attempt to demonstrate the 'power of a large magnet' is ruined by the attractive force between the magnet and the iron frames of the crinoline dresses worn by several ladies. Accordingly, the women are dragged to the lecture bench and fall over each other.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Steamships, Railways, Religious Authority, Cultural Geography, Politics, Government

    Reports on Francis H F Berkeley's Berkeley, Francis Henry Fitzhardinge (1794–1870) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> criticisms of Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >> ships' cannons, and Colman M O'Loghlen's O'Loghlen, Sir Colman Michael (1819–77) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> attempt to pass a bill 'giving Irishmen an opportunity of travelling on railways upon Sundays' (125). Also agrees with James H Harris (3rd Earl of Malmesbury) Harris, James Howard, 3rd Earl of Malmesbury (1807–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and Anthony A Cooper (7th Earl of Shaftesbury) Cooper, Anthony Ashley, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (formerly styled 'Lord Ashley') (1801–85) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> that a magistrate sending a man to a lunatic asylum on the basis of only one doctor's certificate (when the law demands two) 'must give a good reason why [the lunatic] should be retained in the Commission of the Peace' (126).

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Chemistry, Invention, Progress

    Begins with an extract from the Standard Standard (1827–60) Evening Standard (1860–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> announcing the invention of 'A substitute for gunpowder' by L H G Ehrhardt Ehrhardt, L H G (fl. 1865) PU1/48/12/2
Close   View the register entry >>. Written from the perspective of an Enfield rifle, the poem laments the fact that this news spells doom for him. It opens by comparing a rifle to a dog, both of which 'has his day', and then describes the various rifles used by the Army Army
Close   View the register entry >>, beginning with the 'Brown Bess', whose bullet 'won't keep the axis / And terribly wobbles about', the Minnie, which 'made a tremendous ado' with its spiral grooving and long range, and himself—the Enfield—who engaged attention, became 'The rage', and 'just suited the age'. Goes on to note recent changes—'WHITWORTH'S Whitworth, Sir Joseph, 1st Baronet (1803–87) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> grooving' and William W Richards's Richards, William Westley (1790–1865) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> 'improving' breach—and awaits the moment when he will be replaced by Ehrhardt's 'potash and resin' gunpowder and 'a change in the lead'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Representation, Exhibitions, Engineering, Aeronautics

Institutions mentioned:

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

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Sanitation, Agriculture

    Written from the perspective of Father Thames, who begins by pondering the benefits of clearing his 'tide' of 'feculence' or conveying his 'outfall [...] to the disinfecting main'. Ridicules such towns as Barnes and Mortlake, whose 'fertilising filth' he has to carry, and Windsor, whose 'sordes' has made him 'Infectious'. Goes on to ponder his future, including his 'current' that will become 'heavy, thick, and slab' and be diverted 'to agricultural affairs'. Concludes by asking that he be no longer corrupted with 'base alloy', which he hopes will be spread 'o'er the field'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Accidents

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Amusement, Hunting, Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Steamships, Commerce, Language

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Methodology, Imposture

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Religion, Controversy, Military Technology

    Likens the attack by 'the bench of the Bishops' on John W Colenso Colenso, John William (1814–83) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> (prompted by Colenso 1862–79 Colenso, John William 1862–79. The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined, 7 parts, London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green
Close   View the register entry >>) to the explosion caused by Joseph Whitworth Whitworth, Sir Joseph, 1st Baronet (1803–87) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'exploding a big shell'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Railways, Government, Politics

    Discusses the attempt by Colman M O'Loghlen O'Loghlen, Sir Colman Michael (1819–77) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> to pass a bill to 'compel Irish Railway Companies to run trains on Sundays', and ponders the implication that such companies are being 'reduced to pray' that they might 'not be forced to run trains by which nobody travelled'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Engineering

    Discusses the opening of the Southern Main Drainage Works Southern Main Drainage Works
Close   View the register entry >> by Prince Edward Edward VII, King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions Beyond the Seas, Emperor of India (1841–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Quackery, Pharmaceuticals, Human Development, Narcotics, Crime, Mining, Disease, Health, Politics, Government

    Reports on the fate of two 'Anti-Quack' bills proposed by Fitzroy Kelly Kelly, Sir Fitzroy (1796–1880) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and John Shelley Shelley, Sir John, 9th Baronet (1848–1931) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, both of whom sought to punish 'the low class of Chemists and Druggists' for 'poisoning children'. In a short poem, the writer explains Kelly's insistence on making chemists 'aware of what kills', and George Grey's Grey, Sir George (1799–1882) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> argument for having both Kelly's and Shelley's bills considered by a committee. Later notes the introduction by George W F Kinnaird (9th Baron Kinnaird) Kinnaird, George William Fox, 9th Baron Kinnaird (1807–78) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> of a bill 'for placing Metalliferous Mines under inspection, for the benefit of the health of the miners'. (138)

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Natural History, Cruelty, Ornithology, Education, Class, Periodicals, Extinction

Institutions mentioned:

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Close   View the register entry >>

    Discusses a report in the East Sussex Gazette East Sussex Gazette (cited 1865) PU1/48/13/3
Close   View the register entry >> illustrating 'The ignorance of natural history disgracing the rustics who till the soil of certain parts of England', including their apparent belief that 'the cuckoo changes into a sparrow hawk'. The report reveals that despite Punch's campaign, members of the Shipley Sparrow Club Shipley Sparrow Club, West Sussex
Close   View the register entry >> persist in exhibiting thousands of heads of sparrows and believe that their actions have not caused a 'scarcity of birds'. Calls on the 'local gentry' to impart the 'requisite instruction' to 'such louts' concerning the increase in agricultural pests caused by their murderous actions. Suggests establishing a 'Clodhopper's Institution' were such rustics could receive lectures on ornithology, although believes a 'Caterpillar Club', in opposition to the Sparrow Club, would be more effective, for preserving sparrows and destroying pests.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Societies, Discovery

    Reports on a dinner held at the Royal Astronomical Society Royal Astronomical Society
Close   View the register entry >> to celebrate the first complete revolution around the sun by the planet Uranus since it was 'discovered' by William Herschel Herschel, Sir William (1738–1822) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Cruelty, Animal Husbandry, Animal Behaviour, Crime

    Discusses the conviction and punishment (in a house of correction) of John Birley Birley, John (fl. 1865) PU1/48/13/5
Close   View the register entry >>, a farmer charged by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Close   View the register entry >> with having 'tortured four cows and a calf'. Reveals that the farmer had deprived the cattle of food and criticises the fact that had he allowed them to die he would have 'received the fullest allowance of correction' that could have been 'legally awarded him'. Ridicules 'British benevolence' for merely subjecting the farmer to the punishment of a thief and accordingly wonders what would have happened had Birley been a poor law guardian who allowed paupers to die from starvation. Points out that 'There is no County crop or treadmill, or oakum-picking, or crank for "Cruelty to Paupers"'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Charlatanry, Evolution, Human Development, Animal Development, Comparative Anatomy, Controversy

    Opens by describing the search through 'Church and State' for 'April-fools / Of all professions, crafts and schools' (144). One of Punch's candidates for the position is 'Science' because it 'wrangles' over 'brain-folds and jawbone-angles / About man's kin to monkey' and 'so tangles' 'man with monkey' that 'We scarce care which may win it' (145).

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Education, Mathematics, Gender

    Discusses an advertisement for a female teacher at an 'Old-Established Ladies' School', who must be 'a thorough arithmetician' and 'well versed' in other subjects. Suggests that Charles Babbage Babbage, Charles (1792–1871) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> could fill this position, 'were he a lady'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Sanitation, Engineering, Public Health, Environmentalism, Politics, Government

Institutions mentioned:

Crossness Pumping Station Crossness Pumping Station
Close   View the register entry >>

    Reports on the House of Lords House of Lords
Close   View the register entry >> debate on metropolitan sewers, citing classical references to sewers and adding that Prince Edward Edward VII, King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions Beyond the Seas, Emperor of India (1841–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> began the 'engines' for the sewers at Crossness and that it 'was a great day' for John Thwaites Thwaites, Sir John (1815–1870) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and Joseph Bazalgette Bazalgette, Sir Joseph William (1819–91) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. Later notes the 'considerable opposition' to the second reading of the 'Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common
Close   View the register entry >> Inclosure Bill' of John P Spencer (5th Earl Spencer) Spencer, John Poyntz, 5th Earl Spencer (1835–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, which prompted suggestions that the bill 'go before the Private Bill committee'. (148)

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Hunting, Nutrition, Pollution, Sanitation, Hunting

    Begins by toasting the possibility of bigger trout and salmon in the Thames 'next grass' and the need for clean water to keep them 'spawning'. The song then toasts the 'ladders by which the fish scale' and stresses that 'it costs but clean water to feed them'. Concludes by urging the exclusion of poachers and 'poisonous matter' from the river, for the purpose of producing 'finer or fatter' fish.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Accidents

    Shows a woman staring anxiously into a mirror, her hair having developed huge leaf- and root-like forms.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J T Tenniel, Sir John (1820–1914) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Pollution, Sanitation, Engineering, Public Health

Institutions mentioned:

Crossness Pumping Station Crossness Pumping Station
Close   View the register entry >>

    Shows a bearded 'Father Thames' dressed as a 'Waterman' on the river embankment, saluting Prince Edward Edward VII, King of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions Beyond the Seas, Emperor of India (1841–1910) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. The number of swans and fish seen in the river testifies to its cleanliness, while the caption has Father Thames boasting that he has not been the same river 'since I gave up scavenging and turned waterman'. This illustration refers to news of the prince's official opening of London's main drainage works at Crossness.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Quackery, Commerce, Imposture, Periodicals, Reading

    Begins by urging readers to read Courtenay 1865 Courtenay, Francis Burdett 1865. Revelations of Quacks and Quackery: A Series of Letters, by "Detector" reprinted from "The Medical Circular", London: Bailliere, Tindall and Cox
Close   View the register entry >>, which is the republication of several articles originally appearing in the Medical Circular Medical Circular (1852–65) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>. The author attacks those quacks who advertise in 'low newspapers' and praises the fact that the pamphlet meets his demand for 'a nominal list of these miscreants'. Notes that the foul deeds of quacks are 'fully set forth' in the pamphlet and goes on to explain that the Medical Circular 'has a great advantage over a non-medical journal' because it can expose quacks 'without incurring the danger of an action for libel'. Criticizes the British legal system for making it so easy for quacks to 'plead their cause' and receive damages, but points out that no such outcome can be expected by attacking 'a periodical almost restricted to the medical profession'. Concludes by suggesting that readers should not read the pamphlet as a warning to themselves so much as a means of warning the 'simpletons' with whom they are acquainted.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Technology

    'A Reuter's Reuter, Paul Julius Freiherr von (1816–99) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> Ready Pen'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Gas Chemistry, Aeronautics, Meteorology, Astronomy, Light, Health, Death

    The poet ponders the identity of ozone, which he has been reading about in 'the Press'. Explains that he has read that Henry T Coxwell Coxwell, Henry (Tracey) (1819–1900) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and James Glaisher Glaisher, James (1809–1903) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> have 'seen / A quantity of Ozone' during their ascent to the cold heights, but observes that neither of them explained the nature and etymology of ozone. Goes on complain that while John R Hind Hind, John Russell (1823–95) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> has explained the diminution in the brightness of 'some Heavenly body' by 'The quantities of Ozone', he too has failed to reveal its nature. Throughout the poem, the author suggests that it might be 'something to eat' or drink, or a bird, and in conclusion he points out that 'modern doctors' have argued for the dependence of life on ozone but complains of still not knowing what it is.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Vaccination, Disease, Homeopathy, Cultural Geography

    Notes John Gamgee's Gamgee, John (1831–94) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> warning that the 'vagrant cur nuisance' is causing an increase in hydrophobia in Ireland. Thinks that if the 'canine virus and the vaccine may be somewhat analogous', then 'a happy cure may be effected by a mad dog biting a rabid Irishman'.

Genre:

Extract, Reportage, Drollery

Subjects:

Disease

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Light, Commerce, Photography, Geology, Astronomy

    The letter writer seeks Mr Punch's assistance in interpreting an advertisement for 'Coils of Sunshine'. Proceeds to offer his own reflections and explanations. For example, he suggests that whilst 'Photographers have done their best to stare the daily luminary out of countenance', 'some audacious speculator is going to take the shine out of him, and drop it in our letter-boxes', and wonders how 'such an inflammable enclosure be secured'. Begs for Mr Punch's help on the grounds that he has read a 'shocking report that the speculators' will next 'supply us with rolls of earthquake by book-post' and stars from the Milky Way.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Ethnology, Race, Evolution, Human Development, Animal Behaviour, Politics, Supernaturalism

    Begins by explaining that the 'Sages' at the Ethnological Society Ethnological Society of London
Close   View the register entry >> have lately had a 'grand debate / About the Negro's place / In Nature, if he is indeed, / A man and brother, or of breed / Below our nobler race'. Notes that certain physical features of the 'Negro', notably his 'wool', 'skin', 'facial angle', and 'odours', do not resolve the question. Goes on to note Benjamin Disraeli's Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'widely known' choice between 'Ape or Angel', but asks 'Philosophers' to choose between 'cherubs or the chimpanzees' as ancestors. Comparing 'The Negro's and the Gorilla's shape', wonders what 'kin' this 'anthropoid ape' is to 'that pithecoid man'. Observes that any degree of kinship between them would make the gorilla 'Our cousin some degrees removed', but that, if there is no kinship between them, then the 'Negro' would take 'his stand' with 'fellow men / And angels'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Religion, Railways, Amusement, Class, Commerce

    Discusses the presentation of an address by Anglican clergymen to the directors of the South Eastern Railway Company South Eastern Railway Company
Close   View the register entry >> and the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
Close   View the register entry >> to stop excursion trains on Good Fridays. Points out that these directors are mainly dissenters who do not share the 'superstitious observance' of Good Friday. Explains that the directors would say, if they replied to the clergymen, that 'people are not driven into Church, by being shut out of the Crystal Palace Crystal Palace
Close   View the register entry >>, or debarred of Excursion Trains', and might end up in public houses. Asks for these clergymen to confine their religious bans to Canterbury.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Ornithology, Cruelty, Crime

    Begins with an extract from the Gateshead Observer Gateshead Observer (1837–86) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> which reports that the president of the Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club
Close   View the register entry >>, Rev. G C Abbs Abbs, Rev G C (President of the Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club) (fl. 1865) PU1/48/15/5
Close   View the register entry >>, calculated that 6,307,000,000 caterpillars would have been eaten by the 6,000 sparrows killed by members of the '"Sparrow-Club" in Essex'. Believes this supports the pejorative description of Essex inhabitants as 'calves'. Condemns the Essex bird murders as 'swinish' and points out that this abuse of 'the teaching of naturalists' is injurious to their own interests.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Pneumatics, Zoology, Animal Behaviour, Crime

Genre:

Proceedings, Spoof

Subjects:

Religion, Race, Zoology, Cultural Geography, Commerce, Exploration, Steam-power

    Recounts the proceedings of a 'Meeting of Capitalists' and others interested in launching a company for developing 'the traffic in objects of worship with the various tribes of savages who practised the religion called fetichism'. The chairman notes that 'A splendid prospect for the idol-trade was opened up by the late discoveries of DR. LIVINGSTONE Livingstone, David (1813–73) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and CAPTAIN BURTON Burton, Sir Richard Francis (1821–90) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> in the interior of Africa', and upholds the commercial gain from selling 'figures' of animals. He challenges Mr Dibbins's suggestion that they should sell steam-powered fetiches on the grounds that such idols would be 'expensive and too good for barbarians'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Sound, Spiritualism

People mentioned:

William H H Davenport, Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

C H B Bennett, Charles Henry (1828–67) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Machinery, Invention, Domestic Economy, Human Development, Mathematics, Industry, Spiritualism, Futurism

    The initial letter forms part of an illustration which, like the article itself, concerns the mechanisation of domestic chores. It shows a man enjoying the benefits of elaborate machines that perform various tasks including brushing hair, polishing shoes, and cutting food and passing it into the mouth. The author begins by praising the 'Gigantic [...] Strides of the Genius of Modern Mechanism' and then explains that after many 'experiments', he can inform the public that the trouble of its 'domestic affairs' can be reduced by mechanism. Proceeds to explain how this unspecified machine can temporarily remove 'a Mother-in-law' by putting her in a 'small room' that keeps on 'ascending and descending' for three hours. After a short poem detailing the tasks that can be performed by machinery, explains how it will perform the work of 'Those necessary nuisances, known as servants', without the danger of 'impudence' or 'broken glass'. Proceeds to explain how the daily routine can be improved by the machine, which has no 'Davenport humbug' (a reference to the mediums William H H Davenport Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> and Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>). Puffs the 'Hydraulic Teapot' and, in a short poem, explains the workings of the 'Egg-eating' machine. Concludes by boasting that Charles Babbage's Babbage, Charles (1792–1871) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> 'Calculator is a mere mechanical infant to our gradually matured inventions' and anticipates that after 'thinking of machinery we shall at last arrive at thinking by machinery, and Man himself shall be, as presented in this initial etching, a mere machine'.

Genre:

Drama, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Amusement

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Pollution, Sanitation, Engineering, Patronage, Government

    Discusses a report in the Observer Observer (1791–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> that a knighthood is to be conferred upon John Thwaites Thwaites, Sir John (1815–1870) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works Metropolitan Board of Works
Close   View the register entry >>, for opening London's 'great system of intercepting sewers'. Insists that Thwaites deserves more than a knighthood, as this reward is generally given to 'an Alderman who earns that title by making his own fortune'. Believes that because of his service to the state, Thwaites deserve a baronetcy.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Health, Disease, Cultural Geography, Religion

    Begins by pondering the commotion amongst 'good people', in particular the 'M.D.'s in hot haste note-taking', and 'Local Government and Nuisance' who are so 'eager to brush clean' statutes. The author reveals that he is the reason for this activity, and identifies himself as 'your old friend, Typhus', who has had a 'poor' harvest in Russia but expects a much better one in England. Explains that he is 'Yearly, 'mongst your homes I'm rife as / In St. Petersburg's black ciphers', and that he is carrying through 'God's work', 'smiting selfishness with scourges, / Wherewith from Plagues wasting surges / Retribution's hand emerges, / And CHRIST'S lasting lesson urges, / 'Do as you'd be doe unto'.

Genre:

Song

Subjects:

Ornithology, Animal Behaviour, Music

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Hospitals, Patronage, Government

    Notes the government's introduction of a bill to reform Greenwich Hospital Royal Naval Hospital, Greenwich
Close   View the register entry >>, and explains that 'sailors are to have out-pensions' and that the hospital is to be 'kept for the infirm' (179).

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

C H B Bennett, Charles Henry (1828–67) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Human Development, Animal Development

    Shows a man staring at a penguin who stands behind a railing on which the man is leaning. The man and penguin share several physical features, including a beaked nose, a black back, and a white front. In a rare Punch use of speech balloons, the man is seen making the ironic remark: 'Dear Me!'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Photography, Animal Behaviour

    Shows the studio of a 'Country Photographer' in which the photographer is removing the cap from the lens of his camera while his subject contends with a 'lively wasp' hovering near his nose.

Genre:

Introduction; Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Universities, Lecturing, Mathematics, Geology

    Introduces a 'notice' describing the ways in which 'one of our Universities [University of Oxford University of Oxford
Close   View the register entry >>] is trying to combine instruction with amusement'. These include the Savilian Professor of Geometry (Henry J S Smith Smith, Henry John Stephen (1826–83) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>) attending 'his own lecture whenever he likes' and the Professor of Geology (John Phillips Phillips, John (1800–74) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>) 'making a good betting-book on the Extinct Races of Animals'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Breeding, Invention, Physiology, Railways, Agriculture, Commerce, Nutrition, Disease

    Discusses extracts from an article in the Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> which praises the healthy condition of English livestock, but criticises the ways in which cattle are carried to market by railway. Explains that a Mr Reid Reid, Mr (fl. 1865) PU1/48/17/6
Close   View the register entry >> has solved this problem with an invention, a model of which was exhibited at the West Lothian Agricultural Association West Lothian Agricultural Association
Close   View the register entry >>. Notes Reid's concerns for the exhausted and thirsty state of cattle after crowded railway journeys and his argument that such suffering causes a reduction in the quality of meat and thus in the value of the cattle. Goes on to note that Reid's invention, in which water is channelled into troughs in each cattle truck, will largely prevent 'scab on sheep' and raise the quality of meat.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Commerce, Military Technology, War

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Progress, Reason, Rationalism, Mesmerism, Animal Magnetism, Physiognomy, Spiritualism, Homeopathy, Phrenology

    Written from the perspective of the eighteenth-century seer Hannah More More, Hannah (1745–1833) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, the letter writer begins by giving reasons why talk of the 'enlightened Eighteenth Century' and the shattering of superstition by reason is in vain: for example, she points out that 'at this very time MESMER Mesmer, Franz Anton (1734–1815) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> has got £100,000 by animal magnetism', that 'LAVATER'S Lavater, Johann Kaspar (1741–1801) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> physiognomy books sell at fifteen guineas a set', and that 'the divining-rod is still considered oracular in many places'. She explains that she addressed these remarks to Horace Walpole Walpole, Horatio (Horace), 4th Earl of Orford (1717–97) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> in 1788 and asks Mr Punch how much she should alter them if she were to address Walpole's descendant, Spencer H Walpole Walpole, Spencer Horatio (1806–98) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, noting that she has heard of 'Spirit-Rapping, Mesmerism, Homeopathy, Puseyism, Phrenology, Fortune-Telling' and 'other characteristics of the enlightened Nineteenth Century'.

Genre:

Proceedings, Spoof

Subjects:

Cruelty, Politics, Government, Animal Behaviour, Amusement, Crime

    Describes a trial at a police court in which several statesmen were charged with 'Cock-fighting' by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Close   View the register entry >>: the aggressive debates in the Houses of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >> are likened to blood sports. Inspector Punch, who 'appeared in support of the prosecution', testified to the 'rat-matches, dog-fighting and badgering', while the prisoners protested their innocence.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Representation, Mathematics, Force, Physics

    Grumbling about the difficulty of writing criticisms on works of art, the author wishes that Mr Punch, who had given him his card for a 'Private View at the Royal Academy', would have given him 'only such subjects as Logarithms, or the Conservation of Forces, or the Differential Calculus' even though some people are 'so awfully sharp-sighted that they would discern allusions even in a treatise on these'.

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Universities, Religion, Religious Authority, Unbelief

    Discusses the competition between 'nine holy men' in the Senate House of the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >> for the 'Rectory of Ovington', a position with an annual income of £436 and 400 souls to cure. Considering the possibility that such souls do not need curing, suggests that the rector might devote his leisure time to such activities as confuting 'Popery and Dissent, the dissipation of doubt, and the reconcilement of theology with the natural sciences'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Accidents, Invention

    Reports on William Payne-Gallwey's Payne-Gallwey, Sir William, 2nd Baronet (1807–81) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> attempt to 'force the railway people to give a means of communications between passengers and guards'. Notes that '196 inventions' have been discussed by the companies and suggests that Punch will attempt to shoot the first 'Signal-man we pass after we are alarmed'. (200)

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy, Lecturing, Music

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Representation, Class, Industry, Education

    Describes an exhibition at the Palace of Westminster Palace of Westminster
Close   View the register entry >> of paintings by leading statesmen of 'the working man' (some of which are reproduced in Anon, 'The Working-Man, From the Royal Westminster Exhibition', Punch, 48 (1865), [203]) These reveal several statesmen's attitudes towards and perceptions of the working classes, including William E Forster's Forster, William Edward (1818–86) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> representation of a working man seated at a desk 'absorbed in the task of mental improvement'. Punch adds that at first it took the picture to be 'a portrait of GALILEO Galilei, Galileo (1564–1642) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> in his cell, or a philosopher in his study'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Education, Class

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Meteorology, Prognostication

    Noting that James Glaisher Glaisher, James (1809–1903) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> is to succeed the late Robert Fitzroy Fitzroy, Robert (1805–65) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> as director of the Meteorological Office Meteorological Office
Close   View the register entry >>, believes Glaisher to be eminently qualified, not least because of his 'high' ascent into the atmosphere.

Genre:

Drama, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Physical Geography, Exploration, Astronomy, Heroism, Mapping, Instruments, Race, Telegraphy

    Introduced as a 'Libretto of the grand new Old Opera' (a reference to Giacomo Meyerbeer's Meyerbeer, Giacomo (1791–1864) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> opera L'Africaine), which opens in the 'Council Chamber of some King of Portugal', where 'MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL LISBON GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY' and others lament the possible death of Vasco da Gama Gama, Vasco da (c. 1469–1525) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, the 'great discoverer'. Vasco, however, makes a surprise entrance but is then imprisoned by 'Bishops and Grand Inquisitors' for claiming that there are 'other countries than those mentioned in the Scriptures'. Later, in his dungeon, furnished with books, maps, and several measuring instruments, he is seen rotating a globe in his hand, uttering 'But it still moves. Stop, I ought not to say that. I am not GALILEO Galilei, Galileo (1564–1642) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>'. His beloved Selica, an African queen whom he has brought to Portugal, explains how she was sold to Roderick I Murchison Murchison, Sir Roderick Impey, 1st Baronet (1792–1871) DSBODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and escaped from him 'by submarine telegraph'. (206) Later, Vasco and his cellmates escape to Madagascar, where Selica is queen, and where such spectacles as 'caves of Elephanta [and] Giants' Causeways' are seen. The opera also features a scene around an upas tree which is 'very splendid, with red leaves, but surrounded with dead elephants, giraffes, and others who have ventured within reach of its poison'. It concludes with Selica learning of Vasco's fate from Nelusko's reading of Charles Knight's Knight, Charles (1791–1873) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Cyclopaedia of Geography (published in Knight 1854–70 Knight, Charles, ed. 1854–73. The English Cyclopaedia: A New Dictionary of Universal Knowledge, 26 vols (including supplements), London: Bradbury & Evans
Close   View the register entry >>). The illustration shows the gory scene around the upas tree. (207)

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Astronomy, Instruments, Pollution, Environmentalism

    Discusses an item in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> reporting the decision of the board of visitors of the Royal Greenwich Observatory Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Close   View the register entry >> to entreat the Admiralty Admiralty
Close   View the register entry >> to ban railways from Greenwich Park. Notes that this 'deplorable decision' was based on 'ascertained facts' that trains 'would disturb the scientific instruments' at the observatory. Regrets that there is not an observatory in every park because this would satisfy those who think that the 'Iron Horse' has 'kicked down too many lovely scenes' and is becoming an 'insufferable nuisance'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Zoology, Zoological Gardens, Religious Authority, Religion

    Reports that the seal at the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >> has denied any relationship with 'the now notorious Seal of Confession'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Steamships, Military Technology, Architecture, Cultural Geography

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Pollution, Public Health, Museums, Government

People mentioned:

John Thwaites Thwaites, Sir John (1815–1870) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

    Notes the introduction by Henry T Liddell (1st Earl Ravensworth) Liddell, Henry Thomas, 1st Earl Ravensworth (1797–1878) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> of 'A Bill for preventing Local Authorities to dispose of Sewage, instead of sending it into our rivers'. Punch believes this is 'too mild' and urges towns around London to 'do what is proper without waiting to be made to do it'. Later notes a debate on the British Museum British Museum
Close   View the register entry >>. (210)

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Machinery, Class

    Shows a town boy and a country boy outside a barber's shop. The town boy explains that the busts in the shop window belong to the customers who had 'their 'eads brushed off by machinery'.

Genre:

Introduction, Drollery; Address, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Aeronautics

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals, Language, Gender

    Ponders the strange 'Name of a drug'—'Opoponax'—and suggests that it is 'but a maiden's hint', namely: 'Oh, pop, and ax Mamma'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Health, Environmentalism, Railways, Engineering, Government

    The writer argues for the introduction of an 'Air and Exercise Bill' because his 'medical adviser' has urged him to take 'air and exercise', notably by horse-riding. Goes on to explain the difficulties of 'procuring an animal exactly suited to a gentleman of far from strong nerves', and in conclusion advises bills for suppressing such nuisances as 'All bridges across the Thames', and 'All railway bridges in the outskirts of the Metropolis'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Nutrition, Botany, Animal Behaviour

    Insists that the 'Teetotaller who is also a vegetarian may be accused of cannibalism' because a 'plant drinks nothing but water' and the teetotaller/vegetarian thus 'devours his own species' when he eats vegetables.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Narcotics, Government

People mentioned:

Daniel D Home Home, Daniel Dunglas (1833–86) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Mining, Industry, Disease, Health, Manufactories, Pollution, Government, Politics

    Reports on the slow progress of the bill moved by George W F Kinnaird (9th Baron Kinnaird) Kinnaird, George William Fox, 9th Baron Kinnaird (1807–78) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> for the protection of the health of miners in metal-ore mines, and on the satisfaction of Edward G G S Stanley (14th Earl Derby) Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'at the success of his measures for regulating Alkali Works (219).

Genre:

Essay, Drollery

Subjects:

Magic, Skill, Spiritualism

    Discusses some feats of conjuring that Punch believes are so silly as hardly to deserve the name. Laments those who paid 'a guinea' to see William H H Davenport Davenport, William Henry Harrison (1841–77) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> and Ira E Davenport Davenport, Ira Erastus (1839–1911) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, performers of 'asinine' tricks, but urges those in quest of a good conjuror to visit 'Colonel' Alfred Stodare Stodare, Alfred ('Colonel') (1832–66) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> at the Egyptian Hall Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly
Close   View the register entry >>, whose performance Punch praises.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Pneumatics, Heat, Natural Law, Controversy

    Reports that Prof. Sac de Foine Foine, Prof Sac de (fl. 1865) PU1/48/21/3
Close   View the register entry >> of the Westminster Institution City of Westminster Literary, Scientific, and Mechanics' Institution
Close   View the register entry >> is to announce his 'new system of producing vacancy by pressure, and immediately filling up the same by sun and air'—an announcement that some of his colleagues believe to be 'wholly at variance with recognised law'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Sanitation, Health, Gender, Human Development, Class, Patronage, Medical Practitioners, Education

    Presents Mr Punch's response to a visit to a meeting of the Ladies' Association for the Diffusion of Sanitary Knowledge Ladies' National Association for the Diffusion of Sanitary Knowledge
Close   View the register entry >>, an association which aims to 'promote the health and comfort and well-being of the poor, by making them acquainted with the common laws of health'. Notes that the association's other goals include 'collecting money for Sanitary improvements', requesting medical officers of health to 'deliver popular free lectures', holding mothers' meetings where 'Sanitary and domestic instruction' is imparted, and 'establishing Nurseries for motherless babies'. Believes these are 'Plain, practical and sensible' and draws attention to the short pamphlets published by the association, including The Worth of Fresh Air (probably a reference to Anon 1858 Anon. [1858]. Health for the Household (The Worth of Fresh Air. The Use of Pure Water. The Value of Good Food. The Influence of Wholesome Drink. The Advantage of Warm Clothing. The Gain of a Well-Trained Mind), London and Norwich: [Jarrold and Sons?]
Close   View the register entry >>), The Power of Soap and Water (probably a reference to Anon 1869 Anon. 1869. 'On the Cruise of the Lords of the Admiralty', The Times, 28 September 1869, p. 6
Close   View the register entry >>), and The Health of Mothers and How to Manage a Baby—versions of the last two works may have been published as Powers 1866 Powers, Susan Rugeley [1866]. The Mother's Book of Health, and How to Manage a Baby, London: Ladies' Sanitary Association
Close   View the register entry >>. Proceeds to praise the association for caring for impoverished children by taking them to parks, and urges that such benefits are made possible by donating money to the association. Concludes by noting Mr Punch's admiration for 'Lovely Woman', especially when she is 'employed in doing good work', such as helping the 'poor to health and happiness'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Magnetism, Amusement, Force

    Begins by describing a 'pow'r whose sway is famed', a 'metal more attractive' than love, and which 'draws the clown or high-born dame'—the 'Derby Horseshoe Magnet'. Notes that this power draws 'all sorts of chaps' to 'Will horses, ass, or mules 'ack', 'All kinds of food in hampers', and all people 'to be jolly'. Concludes by asking for soldiers to have a 'leave of absence' and be summoned by the power of the 'Derby Horseshoe Magnet'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

C H B Bennett, Charles Henry (1828–67) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
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Subjects:

Magnetism, Amusement, Force

    Follows on from Charles H Bennett, 'The Derby Horseshoe Magnet', Punch, 48 (1865), [224]. Using the magnet to symbolise the attractive power of the Epsom Derby, this illustration shows two horse-racing 'magnates' sitting astride a giant upturned horseshoe magnet, itself pivoting on an enormous horsewhip. The magnetic poles are seen drawing large groups of horse-racing punters, and bags of money. The rest of the picture includes illustrations of the jockeys and their horses, and the food and drink associated with the horse-race.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Ornithology, Cruelty, Breeding, Animal Behaviour, Hunting, Crime, Agriculture, Class

    Written from the perspective of a rustic, this poem begins by describing the mating, breeding and nurturing activities of 'little birds paired on St. Valentine's Day'. Calls on 'farmers, to sparrer clubs all who belong' to slaughter the newly bred birds and to sew 'pison'd grain' on the fields to 'silence the zingungbirds' strain'. Argues that 'Aitch pair as you kills you kills many moor by' and urges them to seek out the birds and 'try if you can't put your salt on their tails'. Explains that 'little birds' feed their young on such pests as caterpillars and that by killing the birds 'thousands o' palmers and weevles you spare'. Ironically asks farmers to kill birds to 'encourage' the breeding of pests who have done them no harm. Concludes by urging farmers to count the number of birds that they have killed, and the vermin that they have saved.