Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; Notes

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

C H B, pseud.  [Charles H Bennett] 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:

Scientific Practitioners, Telegraphy, Natural History, Botany, Astronomy, Electricity, Electrochemistry, Philosophy, Architecture, Mathematics, Chemistry, Statistics, Metaphysics, Light, Manufactories

    The illustration, which surrounds and appears in a window within the calendar, shows cartoons of signs of the zodiac through which the 1866 Atlantic telegraph cable is woven. In the window, Mr Punch holds both ends of the cable, at the extremes of which are small mouths with teeth. The calendar is marked by significant dates associated with several scientific practitioners: 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 >>, Luigi Galvani Galvani, Luigi (1737–98) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Nicholas Copernicus Copernicus, Nicholas (1473–1543) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, David Hume Hume, David (1711–76) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Christopher Wren Wren, Sir Christopher (1632–1723) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Joseph Priestley Priestley, Joseph (1733–1804) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Georges L Leclerc, comte de Buffon Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de (1707–88) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, John Graunt Graunt, John (1620–74) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Georges Cuvier Cuvier, Georges (1769–1832) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Roger Bacon Bacon, Roger (c. 1219–c. 1292) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Matthew Boulton Boulton, Matthew (1728–1809) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, August Comte Comte, Isidore Auguste Marie François Xavier (Auguste) (1798–1857) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, Dominique F J Arago Arago, Dominique François Jean (1786–1853) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Gottfried W Leibniz Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646–1716) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>. The calendar also commemorates the introduction of 'Gas' on 16 August.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M, pseud.  [George L P B Du Maurier] 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:

Gender, Health, Education

    Shows women engaged in various forms of physical exercise including swinging on parallel bars and climbing a ladder.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Entomology

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Crime

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

War, Medical Practitioners, Mathematics, Light

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Astrology, Prognostication, Charlatanry

People mentioned:

Richard J Morrison, Morrison, Richard James ('Zadkiel') (1795–1874) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> Francis Moore Moore, Francis (1657–1714?) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Vaccination

Genre:

Instructions, Drollery

Subjects:

Horticulture, Human Development

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M, pseud.  [George L P B Du Maurier] 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:

Domestic Economy, Gender, Nutrition

    Shows a busy kitchen in which women, men, and children engage in various culinary activities.

Genre:

Catechism, Drollery

Subjects:

Alchemy, Medical Practitioners

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Homeopathy, Medical Treatment, Heat

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

C H B, pseud.  [Charles H Bennett] 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, Instruments, Commerce

    Shows a barometer that is calibrated in terms of the bank rate percentage and the emotional state of a stockbroker digesting news of the fate of his investments. The lowest level, '10 per cent', corresponds to 'Despair' and shows the stockbroker furiously receiving news of a bankruptcy; the highest level, '6 per cent', corresponds to 'Joy', and shows the broker merrily tossing his earnings between his hands. Around the top and bottom of the thermometer are carved bulls and bears—references to the different types of stock market trader.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M, pseud.  [George L P B Du Maurier] 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:

Zoological Gardens, Evolution, Animal Development, Animal Behaviour, Human Development

    Shows the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>, where the animals and humans have swapped places: the humans are kept in cages, and various animals (including elephants, hippopotamuses, and a gorilla) are clad in the fashion of the period, and are peering into the cages and enjoying walks around the parks.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M, pseud.  [George L P B Du Maurier] 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:

Medical Practitioners, Gender, Periodicals, Reading, Human Development

    Shows Dr Elisabeth Squills sitting at a dinner table where she looks at a copy of the Lancet Lancet (1823–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> and accepts a cup of tea poured by her husband. Near the table, children play on a harp and rocking-horse. The caption reveals that she is so busy that she 'has barely time to snatch a hurried meal and hasty peep at the periodicals of the day in her husband's boudoir'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [15]

Illustrators:

C H B, pseud.  [Charles H Bennett] 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:

Industry, Commerce, Railways, Transport, Crime, Charlatanry

    Depicts the story of Sam, an 'idle boy', who makes money by 'bri-bing and cor-rup-ting ho-nest e-l-ec-tors' (a reference to bribery and corruption during elections in 1866) and who adds to his fortunes as 'contrac-tor for the A B C Rail-way' (a reference to Samuel M Peto Peto, Sir Samuel Morton (1809–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> who was contractor for the bankrupted London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
Close   View the register entry >>). The illustrations then depict the story of Tom, the 'Industrious Apprentice' who plods his way through life but, despite making 'a fortune', in 'old age' invested his money in 'Sam's Railway' which, on going bankrupt, could not redeem Tom's debentures. This is a further allusion to the London, Chatham, and Dover company which failed to pay its debenture holders.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Disease

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Steamships, War

    Noting the widespread interest in weapons of war in newspapers, discusses an extract from a report of a new aluminium cuirass, an invention that Punch thinks will make soldiers as 'shot proof' as 'floating turrets'.

Genre:

Essay, Spoof

Subjects:

Mathematics, Education

Institutions mentioned:

University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Regular Feature, Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Disease, Gender

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, War

    Describes the gifts given to various European monarchs and statesmen. Notes that King Wilhelm I Wilhelm I, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia (1797–1888) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> of Prussia received his 'passport / To power—a needle-gun', 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 a Chassepot rifle, and John Bull a 'breech-loading, rifled / Ship cannon'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Nutrition, Lecturing, Phrenology, Physiology, Temperance

    Discusses an article in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> on the Christmas celebrations held at William Lawson's Lawson, William (fl. 1867) PU1/52/2/3
Close   View the register entry >> farm. Ridicules the notion of a vegetarian Christmas dinner and the 'mental provender' supplied by Lawson, the latter being a reference to the 'lecturing on phrenology, co-operation, vegetarianism and physiology' presented at 'intervals' during Christmas day. Suggests that phrenology would show that 'the development of vegetarians coincided with that of teetotallers, and that both were also equal in quantity of brain'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Disease, Mining, Accidents

    A bleak assessment of the events of 1866, including laments for 'A murrain on our herds and flocks, / With watchful Cholera at its side' and that 'Death-dealing [...] Kindled the spark the mine that fired. / Its hundreds at a stroke to slay'.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Animal Husbandry, Disease, Sanitation, Health

    A companion and contrasting poem to Anon, 'Annus Plorabilis', Punch, 52 (1867), 17, this is written from the perspective of the year 1866. Focusing on some of the issues covered in the previous poem, 1866 defends the fact that it brought 'blessing' to 'Murrain and Plague [...] Guarding the dirt that breeds disease', and that it proved 'Pestilence another name / For duty shirked, and work ill-done' and 'where air, light, and water came, / How baffled Cholera must run'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Utilitarianism, Class, Education, Industry, Mathematics

    Following the discussion in Anon, 'The Queen in the Black Country', Punch, 51 (1866), 238, , Anon, 'The Black Country. Is it as Black as Mr. Punch has Painted it?', Punch, 51 (1866), 240–41, and , Anon, 'The Black Country, Not all Black', Punch, 51 (1866), 262, this continues Mr Punch's defence of his claim that Wolverhampton is an industrialised 'Black Country'. It presents an extract from 'His correspondent' in Paris, who describes the surprisingly civilised lifestyles of inhabitants of a 'small "black country"' around an iron foundry in France (this is a reference to the firm established by Joseph E Schneider Schneider, Joseph Eugène (1805–75) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> at Le Creusot). The correspondent admires the fact that the factory workers built and owned the factory and praises the education of the children of miners and ironworkers, children who are able to sit 'historical and scientific examinations' and who were not 'allowed to leave the school for the workshop till they could read and write well, and do some arithmetic'. Punch deems this 'no community of hammer-men in Utopia' but an admirable community along the lines of 'Bilston, Tipton, or Dudley'. Admires the way that the 'proprietors' of the iron foundry have accomplished this and suggests that firms in 'our Black Country' should do the same.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Politics, Government, Machinery

    Debates some of the questions associated with parliamentary reform and in particular Bright's aggressive tactics. He tells Bright to 'fight through this coming campaign like gentleman' and that he will support a reform bill that will give suffrage 'to the intelligent, moral, self-respecting Artisan' who 'lives in a decent home' and who educates his children. He warns, however, that the 'Constitution of England is too solemn and serious a thing to be played with', pointing out that it 'contains its own machinery for its improvement, and that machinery shall be worked, and it will work admirably, as of old'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Heat, Instruments, Measurement

People mentioned:

Daniel G Fahrenheit, Fahrenheit, Daniel Gabriel (1686-1736) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> René A F de Réaumur Réaumur, René-Antoine Ferchault de (1683–1757) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Drama, Drollery

Subjects:

Economic Geology, Statistics, Physical Geography, Measurement, Electricity, Light

People mentioned:

Edwin Lankester Lankester, Edwin (1814–74) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Publications cited:

Statesman's Yearbook Statesman's Yearbook (1864–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Anatomy, Religious Authority

    Suggests that a recent lecture 'On the Skeletons of the Primates' was given by permission of the primates of Canterbury, York, and Dublin.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Hunting, Ornithology, Cruelty

    Condemns the gamekeeper who shot 'seven specimens of the Bohemian wax-wing'. Points out that there was no reason to slaughter these 'harmless, unoffending little birds' and that 'we ought to do our best to encourage' such 'rare and interesting' birds to 'live with us'

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Invention, Technology, Domestic Economy, Zoological Gardens

    The writer complains that he has not been allowed to display his patented inventions at the Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris
Close   View the register entry >>. He proceeds to list his inventions which are all 'pocket' versions of everyday objects, including a 'Pocket Poker, with tongs and shovel to match', and a 'Portable Stove and General Kitchen Apparatus'. Concludes by announcing his plans to build a 'portable Zoological Gardens'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Military Technology, Steamships, War, Nationalism

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >>

    Written from the perspective of a slightly illiterate and bluff seaman, this letter is addressed to 'Mr Punch, at the Head of the Fleet', whom the author urges to 'fight well no matter whether it Be with Frigates or with Fistes', and that they should 'hit hard' and 'stand Punishment'. He praises William Palliser's Palliser, Sir William (1830–82) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'Chil'd shot' and its ability to penetrate 'Oak and Iron like a Flash of virtuous indignation', remarking 'Ain't it Wonderful what Science can Do when stimulated By pluck and patted on the Back by the 1st Lords of the Admiralty Admiralty
Close   View the register entry >>'. Concludes that the Navy's use of copper shield and fast shots confirms that Britannia 'rules the Waves as heretofore', but in a postscript asks why none of the ships that 'mrs. england' is always buying is fit for action.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Meteorology, Gas Chemistry, Chemistry, Disease, Health, Language

    Begins by pondering the connotations of ozone and then notes that it is 'An essence rare', although 'Not much about it is known'. Describes how 'Each weather-sage' records 'in his log' the amount of ozone as well as 'Cloud, mist and fog' and suggests that since an excess or deficit of the substance are 'shown' to have effects on health, it could be the cause of the ailments—such as the 'shagreen' character of the skin—associated with cold weather. Concludes by considering the possibility that 'plague and pest' and people's low spirits might be due to the sepulchrally sounding ozone.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Observatories, Astronomy, Language

    'Air Street'.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Heat, Measurement, Instruments, Meteorology, Language

    Presents a question and answer from 'PROFESSOR TINDIAL'—a reference to John Tyndall Tyndall, John (1820–93) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>—concerning the constancy of the amount of 'caloric possessed by two persons, one of whom is abusing the other', a question which took Tindial and his assistant a long time to solve owing to the low state of the thermometer.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Medical Practitioners, Anatomy

Genre:

Address, Spoof

Subjects:

Politics, Government, Animal Husbandry, Disease, Health, Medical Practitioners, Homeopathy, Commerce, Adulteration, Crime, Metrology, Measurement, Accidents, Mining, Industry, Manufactories

    Addressed to members of the Houses of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>, the speaker rejoices in the 'disappearance of the Cattle Plague', discusses fears of the outbreak of a further 'Fenian plague', and notes the 'difficulties' that her 'Constitutional advisers—my State Doctors'—have regarding reform. She also lists a number of subjects on which she hopes parliament will pass legislation. These include 'the prevention of lawless disregard of life through the neglect of easy precautions against disease', the 'improvement of the condition of my poorer subjects, especially the old and the sick in parish and union workhouses', 'the adoption of stringent measures against delusive, extravagant, and fraudulent public companies', 'the summary punishment of dishonest tradesmen who cheat the poor with false weights and measures, and poison them with adulterated food', 'the prevention of fatal accidents' in 'neglected' streets and in mines and other 'scenes of dangerous labour', and the 'diminution of drunkenness and destruction of infant life'.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Surgery, Medical Treatment

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Hunting

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Mathematics, Politics, Measurement

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Aeronautics, Exhibitions, Physiology

People mentioned:

Charles Green, Green, Charles (1785–1870) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> William Harvey Harvey, William (1578–1657) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Polytechnic Institution Royal Polytechnic Institution
Close   View the register entry >>

Reprinted:

Burnand 1868 Burnand, Francis Cowley 1868. Happy Thoughts, London: Bradbury, Evans & Co.
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Regular Feature—Poetry; Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Disease, Railways, Transport, Commerce, Charlatanry, Class, Hospitals, Mental Illness

    Begins with a poem based on Queen Victoria's Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India (1819–1901) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> recent speech on the state opening of the Houses of Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>. This notes Britain's successful campaigns against the Indian famine and the cattle plague, and points out that 'Insolvent Railways' and 'the London sick and other poor' look to Parliament 'for cure'. (63) Moving to its usual summary of parliamentary proceedings, notes Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy's Gathorne-Hardy, Gathorne, 1st Earl of Cranbrook (1814–1906) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'Sick Poor Bill' which proposes assistance to London 'pauper lunatics, very young children, and sick', by building new hospitals and asylums.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Music

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Adulteration, Nutrition, Analytical Chemistry

Publications cited:

Hassall 1857 Hassall, Arthur Hill 1857. Adulterations Detected, or, Plain Instructions for the Discovery of Frauds in Food and Medicine, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Representation, Architecture, Zoological Gardens

People mentioned:

Edwin H Landseer Landseer, Sir Edwin Henry (1802–73) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Politics, Government, Controversy, Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, Race, Quackery, Magic, Ethnology

    A response to Benjamin Disraeli's Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> recent announcement in the House of Commons House of Commons
Close   View the register entry >> that the Tories intend to introduce a Reform Bill. Likening the cabinet of Edward G G S Stanley (14th Earl of Derby) Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> to the chiefs of an American Indian tribe called the 'Tor-ì-has', describes the meeting of the chiefs at the 'secret Lodge of Dow-nin [Downing Street]' where 'LOR-DER-BEE [Derby]', 'Kau-ka-syun DEE-ZE [an allusion to Disraeli and his Jewish ancestry], foremost of the medicine-men, the Magicians' and other important figures ponder their mission to 'Weave the charm of the Re-for-mahs', despite protests from anti-Tory Reform agitators outside their lodge. Disraeli wonders whether his tribe can 'Fix the wonder-working Franch-ees, / That shall cure the people's ailments, / Give to all what they're in want of, / Wit, wisdom, work and wages'. Describes how 'WILL-YOU-IT, called the Glad Stone' and 'JON-à-WO-BUN [John Bull]' and 'wonder-working Fran-chees' were ambushed 'in Adullam' by several individuals including 'Bright the Big Tongue', who eventually drove them from 'the secret Lodge of Down-nin'. This is a reference to John Bright Bright, John (1811–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and the 'Whig 'Adullamite' opposition to William E Gladstone's Gladstone, William Ewart (1809–98) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 1866 parliamentary Reform Bill, an opposition that eventually led to the downfall of the Liberal administration. Goes on to describe Disraeli's lament at the divisions within his tribe and his resolution to 'deal with the Re-for-mahs', to 'make a mighty med-cine' from the 'med-cine bag of Mo-shun', to secure the 'glory [...] Of the fixing of the Franch-ees, / In the Wig-wam of West-min-stah', and to 'Keep the secret Lodge of Down-nin'. Continues by noting how 'the med'cine maker' led a procession of 'Tor-ì-has' braves to 'West-min-stah' where they stood against Bright, and 'WILL-YOU-IT, called the Glad Stone'. Turns to the controlled speech of the 'med'cine maker', who put forward his 'medicine bag of Mo-shuns' with one hand and a 'Peace-pipe' in the other, and then 'chaunted' 'his med'cine music', 'blew his cloud of vapour', announced that 'the war was ended, / 'Twixt Tor-ì-has and Re-for-mahs', and urged cooperation between the two sides for shaping Reform. Concludes by describing the amazement of the warriors who heard the 'med-cine-man', and their feeling that 'All is bosh and all is bunkum; / He is but a med'cine-maker, / And his medicine moonshine'.

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Societies, Anatomy, Politics, Government

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Politics, Zoology, Botany, Taxonomy, Narcotics, Mental Illness, Medical Treatment, Crime

    The initial letter of the article forms part of an illustration showing several Fenians as bats, sporting large black wings and their usual hats. The text describes a lecture given in Chester by 'PROFESSOR VINEGAR', the geographical reference identifying this as a response to the recent (13 February) failed attempt by Fenians to seize Chester. The lecturer describes to his audience, who consist mainly of Fenians, the various species of a plant 'of the natural order Cannibinaceae'. He points out that this includes two genera, Cannabis and Humulus, and tells his audience that they are undoubtedly familiar with the latter genus, since its chief species is the hop plant. The lecturer then details the properties of Cannabis sativa or hemp, noting that it not only has narcotic properties when taken internally but, when 'twisted into rope' and applied externally, can be used to suppress 'those disorders in the body politic that come under the name of insurrection'. The application of a hemp ligature around the neck of the patient exercises 'a beneficial influence on others', he adds, and warns his audience that if they continue along their present 'road to rebellion', John Bull will hang some of them.

Genre:

Instructions, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Medical Treatment, War

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Government, Military Technology, Steamships, War, Nationalism, Commerce

    Sung to the tune of 'Rule Britannia', the song laments the sorry condition of the Royal Navy's Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >> fleet and criticises the fact that 'Old ships are tinkered up for new, / And then sent forth upon the main'. Wonders, 'When shall our ships be good and sound', and blames the present situation on 'Mismanagement and jobbery'. The chorus accuses Britons of being 'Routine's slaves'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

G B
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Universities, Education, Mathematics

    The initial letter forms part of an illustration showing a student at his writing desk. Above him rises the smoke from his pipe and beneath him lie scraps of paper—evidently drafts of his love letter. In the text, the author tells his beloved that his second attempt at the 'Little-go' examination at the University of Cambridge University of Cambridge
Close   View the register entry >> is imminent and that she is a 'sad hindrance' to his 'studies for this dreadful examination'. The rest of the letter reveals the difficulty the author has in keeping his mind off his beloved and his interpretation of course texts in terms of his love affair. For example, he notes, 'In my Euclid Euclid (fl. 295 BC) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> your happiness is my "problem", your love my "Theorem", and that you should ever prove faithless to me my "reductio ad absurdam"'. Similarly, he tells her that she is 'no Vulgar Fraction', but the 'sum total' of his existence.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Measurement, Charlatanry, Crime, Government, Commerce

    Discusses a petition brought to the House of Commons House of Commons
Close   View the register entry >> from a representative of Southwark tradesmen who seek reformation of the 'arbitrary and unjust mode of inspecting weights and measures'. Suggests that it will only grant some of the wishes of the petitioners. Believes that it would be quite willing to meet the petitioners' request for a 'searching investigation' of the subject with a view to 'amending the law that the standard may be kept correctly thereto', and for magistrates to 'dismiss trivial complaints where no fraud or injustice is committed or intended'. Warns, however, that the petitioners will not be successful in their call for 'informers, and persons otherwise enforcing the law' to be given the power to penalise those who use fraudulent scales, weights, and measures.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Controversy, Railways, Transport

    Exploiting an analogy between the Reform Bill and a railway locomotive, the poet begins by lamenting the fact that the 'five-million-horse-power [a possible reference to the adult male population of England and Wales] Engine / Called "Reform" is off the rails' and describing the way this is hindering oncoming trains and sparking 'bad language' between those engineers [the statesmen] trying to rectify the situation. Proceeds to criticize these disputes and urges statesmen to pull together. Points out that it is better for the locomotive to 'blow off' large quantities of steam rather than 'blow up'. Urges the railway engineers who talk about 'schemes and skills' to 'work, or else your chalks be walking' and to stop wasting time 'in squabble sore'. Concludes by giving each of the engineers—identified as John Russell (1st Earl Russell) Russell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, John Bright Bright, John (1811–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, Robert Lowe Lowe, Robert, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke (1811–92) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, William E Gladstone Gladstone, William Ewart (1809–98) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Benjamin Disraeli Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>—instructions for restoring the train to its tracks.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] 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, Government, Railways, Transport, Engineering, Accidents

    Following Anon, 'A Block on the Line', Punch, 52 (1867), 86, this shows a group of statesmen –—John Russell (1st Earl Russell) Russell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, John Bright Bright, John (1811–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, Robert Lowe Lowe, Robert, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke (1811–92) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, William E Gladstone Gladstone, William Ewart (1809–98) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Benjamin Disraeli Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>—dressed as engineers and standing alongside a steam locomotive labelled 'Reform' which has come off its rails. The superintendent, John Bull, stands before them all and complains that he 'must have the rail cleared', which prompts the engineers to squabble over who is best suited to save the situation.

Genre:

Drama, Drollery

Subjects:

Microscopy, Instruments, Botany, Entomology, Disease, Parasitology, Amusement

    Consists of a dialogue between Uncle Teazle and Fanny. Begins with Teazle giving his niece a microscope with which he hopes she will study botany and entomology. He emphasises that 'Science is fashionable now' and after providing his grateful niece with a definition of entomology, suggests that she uses her microscope to examine the mites in cheese. Their dialogue shifts to the subject of chignons, which prompts Teazle to suggest that his niece use the microscope to 'quiz' her chignon and look for gregarines (a form of parasite) in it. Fanny challenges her uncle's entomological definition of parasites, believing them to be people who 'frequent rich tables', but is then told by Teazle of Eduard von Lindemann's Lindemann, Eduard von (fl. 1867) Lindemann 1867
Close   View the register entry >> discovery of gregarines in the free ends of hair. He then tells his alarmed niece of the robust nature of these parasites and how they infest chignons and ball-rooms. The dialogue concludes with Fanny refusing to conduct a microscopic examination of the gregarines and her uncle urging her to wear a bank-note on her head rather than a chignon.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Military Technology, Steamships, Commerce, Government

Institutions mentioned:

Royal Navy Royal Navy
Close   View the register entry >>

    Criticizes the 'extravagance and mismanagement' to which shipbuilding has been exposed, notably the disagreement between Charles Seely Seely, Charles (1803–87) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> and John S Pakington Pakington, John Somerset, 1st Baron Hampton (1799–1880) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> over the cost of the HMS Frederick William HMS Frederick William
Close   View the register entry >>, and the differences in cost estimated by different dockyards. Urges the Admiralty to take more care over the way it deals with contractors.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

Charles S Keene 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:

Pharmaceuticals, Chemistry, Class

    Shows a chemist and druggist's shop into which a ''Spectable Mechanic', who looks far from respectable, has wandered. He asks the proprietor for 'Pen'th 'Nailsh!' and is then asked to leave the shop by the proprietor who points out that he has not got any nails. The mechanic retorts: 'Wha' d' yer scrash y'r 'ead wi' then, gov'n'r?'.

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Physics, Light, Instruments, Observation, Politics, Superstition, Prognostication

    Begins by noting that some leading statesmen rose early on the morning of 6 March to see the eclipse of the sun. Insists that those who fail to wash and carry out 'ablutions' in order to see such an event are 'not fit' to see it at all. Notes that William E Gladstone Gladstone, William Ewart (1809–98) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and Benjamin Disraeli Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> cared less about the clouds on the 'political horizon' than those that obscured the eclipse. Notes that 'In the times of old' when 'party leaders' knew no science, the eclipse would have been 'regarded as an omen of office lost and won, / In the battle of Reform', but adds that now 'your statesman only reads / To discover the corona, rose-flames, and "BAILY'S Baily, Francis (1774–1844) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> beads"'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Controversy, Charlatanry, Methodology, Chemistry, Astronomy, Mathematics, Phrenology, Mesmerism, Spiritualism, Astrology, Religion, Religious Authority, Controversy, Belief, Faith

    Begins by noting the 'wonder, pity, and contempt' with which such philosophers as John Tyndall Tyndall, John (1820–93) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>, John F W Herschel Herschel, Sir John Frederick William (1792–1871) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, and Augustus De Morgan De Morgan, Augustus (1806–71) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> would respond to the claim that their enterprises were delusions. Contrasts this to the aggressive way in which 'MR. BUMPASS, the phrenologist, MR. COLNEY, the mesmerist, MR. HATCH, the spiritualist, and MR. ZADKIEL [an allusion to Richard J Morrison Morrison, Richard James ('Zadkiel') (1795–1874) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>], the astrologer' would respond to 'assailants of their hobbies', each one calling his attackers 'FARADAYS Faraday, Michael (1791–1867) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> and BREWSTERS Brewster, Sir David (1781–1868) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and other names'. Asks Mr Punch to ask Henry E Manning Manning, Henry Edward (1808–92) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> into which of these two categories the aggressive Irish attackers of a 'Protestant lecturer at Wolverhampton' would fit and to explain why 'cultivators of such sciences as astronomy and chemistry' as well as geologists and medical practitioners do not abuse their abusers, whereas the 'votaries of phrenology, mesmerism, spiritualism, and the like, are generally exasperated by opposition'. Argues that the reason for this difference is that 'the former feel quite sure that they are in the right and the latter do not' and denies that those who believe 'in the marvellous' are 'not entirely satisfied of its truth'. Concludes by pointing out that those who abuse somebody for his religion have shaky grounds for their own faith.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Education

    Describes the activities of Henry Cole Cole, Sir Henry (1808–82) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> of the Department of Science and Art Department of Science and Art
Close   View the register entry >>, including his ability to scorn royal commissions, his taking of the 'tax and toll / Of the grants for Science and Art', his bringing of schools 'on their knees, for alms or fees', and his recent sending of a huge bill to the Treasury Treasury
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Military Technology, Steamships, Museums, Exhibitions, Nationalism

Institutions mentioned:

Museum of Naval Architecture, Museum of Naval Architecture
Close   View the register entry >> Pattern Hospital, Pattern Hospital
Close   View the register entry >> Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Surgery, Disease, Medical Treatment, Vaccination

    Reviewing the 'intentions of the Government' regarding parliamentary reform, notes that several boroughs (including Great Yarmouth and Totnes) are to be disenfranchised or 'cut off from the Borough-body, as members so utterly rotten, that, being past cure, they admit of no treatment but amputation'. Notes that Mr Punch would like this treatment to be applied to other rotten boroughs, although he thinks this might lead to the borough-body being left with 'very few limbs at all'. Proceeds to consider whether this treatment should be 'dealt out' to those corrupt politicians who have 'inoculated' their constituencies with 'plague' and made them rotten.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Politics, Railways, Transport, Telegraphy, Government

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Engineers, Language

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Telegraphy, Engineering, Technology, Manufactories, Discovery, Heroism, Patronage, Nationalism

    Relishes news that Cyrus W Field Field, Cyrus West (1819–92) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> has been awarded a medal from the 'American Parliament Congress, United States
Close   View the register entry >>' 'for having made the Electric Telegraph between England and the States'. While stating that Punch would be the last to deny that 'alone FIELD did it', the writer implicity questions Field's role by sarcastically suggesting that he 'invented electricity, and telegraphy' and 'perfected the Cable which is now laid', as well as single-handedly building the paying-out machinery, launching the Great Eastern Great Eastern, ship
Close   View the register entry >>, and tying the Newfoundland end of the rope. Insists that 'the most modest space' on Field's medal should bear the names of Frederick N Gisborne Gisborne, Frederick Newton (1824–92) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, Richard A Glass Glass, Sir Richard Atwood (1820–73) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, George Elliot Elliot, Sir George, 1st Baronet (1814–93) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, James Anderson Anderson, Sir James (1824–93) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>, and Samuel Canning Canning, Sir Samuel (1823–1908) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Proceedings, Spoof

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Transport, Steam-power, Engineering, Cultural Geography, Politics

    Describes a meeting of 'representative horses employed in and about the Metropolis' held at the Agricultural Hall, Islington Agricultural Hall, Islington
Close   View the register entry >>. After recounting his experiences as a racehorse, the 'Chairman' of the meeting (the oldest cab-horse in London) describes the object as being to protest against the 'leg, back, and heart-breaking business' of walking over 'rough granite on roads' in order to grind the material into Macadam McAdam, John Loudon (1756–1836) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>. His resolution to condemn this practice as 'dangerous, cruel, and unnecessary' is heartily supported by two horses who offer their pitiful accounts of the suffering they endured and urge that Britain should follow France in using steam-rollers to crush the road materials. The second resolution, to ask John J R Manners Manners, John James Robert, 7th Duke of Rutland (1818–1906) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> why he has failed to carry out this practice, is 'carried with enthusiasm'.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Geology, Physical Geography, Metallurgy

Reprinted:

Burnand 1868 Burnand, Francis Cowley 1868. Happy Thoughts, London: Bradbury, Evans & Co.
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Ornithology, Cruelty, Hunting

    Written from the perspective of a little sparrow, the letter-writer tells Mr Punch of his alarm at reading an advertisement for a new West End club for shooting sparrows and starlings. Laments that while he has recently become engaged to another sparrow he feels that his future family will be threatened by the activities of this club. Suggests that he might have to remain a bachelor.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Steamships, Metallurgy, Analytical Chemistry

    Discusses news that the value of pig iron used to pave dockyards has been analysed by Ryland and Co Ryland and Co, firm
Close   View the register entry >> and John Percy Percy, John (1817–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> who agree that it is more valuable than thought by Charles Seely Seely, Charles (1803–87) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>. Suggests that this iron is a kind of 'prize pig'.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Class, Medical Treatment

    Notes the successful passage of Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy's Gathorne-Hardy, Gathorne, 1st Earl of Cranbrook (1814–1906) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> 'Bill for the benefit of the Sick Poor' (116).

Genre:

Announcement, Spoof

Subjects:

Surgery, Railways, Transport, Astronomy

Genre:

Recipe, Spoof

Subjects:

Medical Treatment, Pharmaceuticals

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Telegraphy, Periodicals, Religious Authority

    Dismisses the imminent engine drivers' strike as unimportant, pointing out that 'we don't want to go out of town', 'see anybody', or receive letters, and that 'the contents of Punch' will be telegraphed to the provincial clergy who will spread its wisdom.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Astronomy, Prognostication, Observation, Periodicals

    Attacks 'the fellows who write Almanacks' for wrongly predicting that the recent solar eclipse would be 'visible at Greenwich'. Describes the efforts he made to get to One Tree Hill (near Greenwich) on time to see the event but his disappointment that his observations were ruined by clouds. In a postscript he notes that a French scientific colleague is writing a paper on the impossibility of observing solar eclipses from Greenwich.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Parasitology, Amusement

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Adulteration, Measurement, Commerce, Crime, Government, Politics

    Noting the prosecution of a Swiss landowner who increased the quantity of milk by adding water, reflects on how easy it has been for some tradesmen to escape this kind of legal action and urges that 'Now that a Reform Bill is on the stocks' rogues using false weights and measures and adulterating commodities should be disenfranchised.

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:

Periodicals, Medical Practitioners, Reading, Parasitology, Amusement, Gender

    Shows an elderly man and his nephew relaxing in a parlour. The older man, who is reading a newspaper, asks his nephew whether he has read 'that article in the Lancet Lancet (1823–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> about chignons' (a reference to Eduard von Lindemann's Lindemann, Eduard von (fl. 1867) Lindemann 1867
Close   View the register entry >> evidence of the large numbers of gregarines (parasites) in this fashion accessory). His nephew, an 'Invalid Captain' from India, clearly has, because he is appalled by the idea of 'Gwegowines' and thinks it is now unsafe to attend church in the company of ladies.

Genre:

Drama, Drollery

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, Gender, Politics

    Consists of an exchange between two women academics, Professor Podgers and Dr Harriet Brown, on the question of the representation of women in Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery, Serial

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M, pseud.  [George L P B Du Maurier] 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:

Gender, Physiognomy, Phrenology

    Shows a young man and woman sitting in a parlour. The man is a wealthy aristocrat and statesman, while the woman is 'eight-and-twenty, with £100,000'. Owing to the similarity of their 'political opinions' and the prospect of mutual financial advantage, the man proposes marriage. Punch observes: 'judging from the physiognomy of each, we do not think either will be over-exacting on the score of conjugal tenderness' and, 'speaking phrenologically', that the man will 'find two heads considerably more than twice as good as one'.

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Commerce, Class

Genre:

Drama, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Transport

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Nationalism, Cultural Geography

Institutions mentioned:

Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris
Close   View the register entry >>

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

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Mental Illness, Crime, Railways, Transport, Commerce

    Notes the remarks of 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 >> on the 'dangerous practice of releasing criminal lunatics' and mentions a debate on the question of whether the state should absorb the debts of railway companies (146).

Genre:

Essay

Subjects:

Crime, Gender

    Compares the ease of 'wife-killing' with the difficulty of 'wife-murder' resulting from the tendency of juries and judges to exonerate the murderer on the grounds that it 'Sarved her right'. Considers the possibility of slowly killing one's wife, a method that severs the 'nuptial tie' without leading to imprisonment or heavy sentence. Believes this method 'is to administer quiet cruelty in small doses, and to keep it up, varying the treatment, if you like, by more energetic exhibitions of fist or stick, starvation or exposure, from time to time'. Insists that 'Ne quid nimis should be the motto of the uxoricide as of the physician'.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Geology, Time, Archaeology, Palaeontology, Human Development, Controversy

People mentioned:

T England England, T (fl. 1867) PU1/52/15/3
Close   View the register entry >>

Publications cited:

Manchester Guardian Manchester Guardian (1821–63+) Newspaper Press Directory
Close   View the register entry >>

    Begins by explaining that geological studies have prompted him to challenge 'the popular belief' regarding the age of the earth—namely, the claim by geologists that the planet is much older than five thousand years and that the human species appeared on the planet long before then. Presents an extract from a newspaper describing the controversy between James Hall Hall, James, Jr (1811–98) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> and Edward Maguire Maguire, Edward (fl. 1867) PU1/52/15/3
Close   View the register entry >> over the age of some bones exhumed in New York State: Hall argues that the bones were from a Mastodon 25,604 years old, whereas Maguire insists that the bones were from a 'menagerie elephant' that died forty years previously. This shatters the letter writer's faith in evidence for the 'high antiquity' of the earth and humans, and he proceeds to note reports of smoking-pipes found among the remains of 'extinct organisations'. Thinks that the 'Mastodon' bones and smoking pipes suggest that 'all manner of other pre-historic objects' might be found which are 'indistinguishable from contemporary' ones, and that ancient man had possessions more like our own.

Genre:

Caricature, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] 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, Electricity, Instruments, Physics, Scientific Practitioners

    Shows Professor D—r—i (Benjamin Disraeli Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>) as a natural philosopher standing in front of a low table on which stands a large Leyden Jar labelled 'Reform'. Behind the professor are other instruments associated with his electrical interests including an electrostatic generator and some cells. The professor speaks to two experimental subjects, one of whom holds a wire connected to the outside of the jar, the other moves his hand towards the knob connected to the inside of the jar. The experimental subjects are dressed as representatives of the upper and lower classes and therefore of different points on view on the question of reform. Nonetheless, the professor urges them to 'complete the circle, positive and negative must join hands', a satire on Disraeli's belief that his reform measures depend on collaboration between the extremists on this question.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Railways, Transport, Commerce, Charlatanry

    Notes Samuel M Peto's Peto, Sir Samuel Morton (1809–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> proposal for a select committee to examine the 'entire history' of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Company
Close   View the register entry >> and the 'conduct of its managers', although Benjamin Disraeli Disraeli, Benjamin, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (1804–81) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> and William E Gladstone Gladstone, William Ewart (1809–98) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> told him that 'the House had other business beside the whitewashing railway people'.

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Health, Disease, Pharmaceuticals

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Nationalism, Commerce, Manufactories, Transport, Steam-power, Light, Horticulture, Invention

    Notes that some people have not attended the Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris
Close   View the register entry >>, on the grounds that so much of the space is 'still left empty' owing to the difficulty that some nations have faced in transporting their goods. Boasts that 'England on the whole looks very well in the gasometer [a reference to the shape of the exhibition building]' and that the Punch Punch (1841–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> trophy is attracting 'a vast crowd of admirers'. Laments several omissions in the catalogue and lists some of them. These include 'A specimen of roadway, macadam McAdam, John Loudon (1756–1836) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>ised upon the English plan of using costly-carriage wheels in lieu of cheap steam-rollers', and 'Half a dozen patent sunbeams' extracted from cucumbers.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Light, Industry, Commerce, Chemistry,

    Begins by emphasising Mr Punch's desire 'to see the best gas supplied at the least price that can possibly be charged for it' and noting that given that making 'bottled sunshine is all moonshine', gas is 'the cheapest light'. Proceeds to describe how this 'necessity of life' has been debated in the House of Commons House of Commons
Close   View the register entry >> where the Conservatives have introduced the 'liberal' bill for reducing the price and regulating the quality of gas. Discusses a report in The Times The Times (1777–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> of the parliamentary discussion which suggests that the new bill would mean reducing the dividends allowed to gas companies and thus breaching the contract between Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >> and the gas companies. Shares The Times's angry view that the bill would mean the depreciation of investments in the company without compensation, and thus an 'Act of confiscation' by the government.

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Domestic Economy, Pharmaceuticals

    'Druggists'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

E G, pseud.  [Ernest Griset] Griset, Ernest Henry (1844–1907) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Reading

    Shows five commissioners of the Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris
Close   View the register entry >>, sitting around a table. Four of them have fallen asleep out of boredom with the exhibition catalogue, but the commissioner at the head of the table continues reading it avidly.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Astronomy, Observation

Reprinted:

Burnand 1868 Burnand, Francis Cowley 1868. Happy Thoughts, London: Bradbury, Evans & Co.
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Anatomy, Invention, Gender, Politics

    This considers Lydia's 'mimic ear / Cast in caoutchouc so queer', which will 'feel no nipping breezes', and which will mean that she will turn 'A cold deaf ear' to her lover. This may refer to the female suffragist Lydia E Becker Becker, Lydia Ernestine (1827–90) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, who first came to public prominence in March 1867.

Genre:

Poetry

Subjects:

Disease, Medical Treatment, Military Technology, Cultural Geography

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

War, Military Technology

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

Ernest Griset Griset, Ernest Henry (1844–1907) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Amusement, Animal Behaviour

    Shows a pool in the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >>. In the middle of the pool is a wooden platform on which stands a man feeding a fish to a seal, while around the edge of the pool are railings behind which crowds peer in at the spectacle. In the top left and right hand corners of the illustration are other recollections including camel rides and performing bears.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Manufactories, Industry, Commerce

Institutions mentioned:

English India Rubber Company English India Rubber Company
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Commerce, Charlatanry

People mentioned:

Samuel M Peto Peto, Sir Samuel Morton (1809–89) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Scientific Practitioners, Mathematics, Sound, Pollution

    'Stillorgan'.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Narcotics, Nationalism

    Discusses an extract from an article in the British Medical Journal British Medical Journal (1857–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> presenting the views of Peter Millar Millar, Peter (fl. 1867) PU1/52/18/7
Close   View the register entry >>, a 'Baillie of Musselburgh', who claimed that the finest toddy was made from the worst water in the town. Argues that the reason for this is because it 'forms with whiskey a union of body and spirit' which it then develops as 'animal matter with spirit' and 'animal spirits'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Temperance, Politics

Institutions mentioned:

Colney Hatch Asylum Colney Hatch Asylum
Close   View the register entry >>

    Begins by savouring Samuel R Graves's Graves, Samuel Robert (1818–73) Stenton and Lees 1978
Close   View the register entry >> abandonment of his aggressive parliamentary bill on liquor and urges the statesman to participate in the related but less insane venture of the National Temperance League National Temperance League
Close   View the register entry >>, whose president is 'Scott', a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society Royal Astronomical Society
Close   View the register entry >> (this is possibly a reference to Robert H Scott Scott, Robert Henry (1833–1916) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>).

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Railways, Transport, Accidents, Government

    Notes several speeches on 'Communication between Railway Passengers and Guards' and praises Henry B Sheridan Sheridan, Henry Brinsley (1820–1906) Stenton and Lees 1978
Close   View the register entry >> for introducing a bill forcing railway companies to 'make the necessary arrangements', although it notes the government's opposition to the bill, including Stephen Cave's Cave, Sir Stephen (1820–80) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> claim that making directors take care of their customers would be a 'personal insult'. Observes that Mr Punch means to 'insult them [the directors] a little more'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Medical Practitioners, War

    Discusses an extract from a report in the British Medical Journal British Medical Journal (1857–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> announcing that medical officers in the Army Army
Close   View the register entry >> are to be given higher status and better pay. Hopes that army surgeons will benefit from these improved conditions. Argues that, while the British Medical Journal hopes that the Army Medical Department Army Medical Department
Close   View the register entry >> will soon become popular, 'Mistrust' might postpone that state of affairs 'indefinitely'. Suggests that the moment of popularity could be brought forward with more convincing promises of higher status and better pay for army medical officers.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Botany, Amusement, Parasitology, Periodicals

    Begins by describing the physical characteristics of the chignon and then discusses an advertisement for a work on 'The Chignon Fungus' in Hardwicke's Science Gossip Hardwicke's Science Gossip: A Monthly Medium of Interchange and Gossip for Students and Lovers of Nature (1865–93) Science Gossip: An Illustrated Monthly Record of Nature and Country-Lore (1893–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> (Fox 1867 Fox, William Tilbury 1867. 'The Chignon Fungus', Hardwicke's Science Gossip: An Illustrated Medium of Interchange and Gossip for Students and Lovers of Nature, 3, 106–110
Close   View the register entry >>). Noting the scientific credibility of Robert Hardwicke Hardwicke, Robert (1822–75) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>, the publisher of Science Gossip, suggests that the chignon is like the earth in that it is globular and 'teems with life'. Goes on to emphasise the 'philosophic foreign naturalist' (Eduard von Lindemann Lindemann, Eduard von (fl. 1867) Lindemann 1867
Close   View the register entry >>) who has 'discovered' the 'minute organisations' living in chignon, and William T Fox's Fox, William Tilbury (1836–79) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> discovery of 'vegetable structures'—notably chignon fungus—in this fashion accessory. Concludes by explaining allusions to these organisms in poetry.

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 Treatment, Chemistry, Nutrition, Human Development, Animal Husbandry

    Shows a man wearing a night gown and standing before a mirror in his bedroom. To his horror he discovers that he has sprouted small tusks on his head. The caption reveals that he has eaten too much of Justus von Liebig's Liebig, Justus von (1803–73) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> 'Extractum Carnis'.

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Parasitology, Amusement, Human Development, Microscopy, Class, Cultural Geography

    Sung to the tune of 'The Ivy Green', this begins by describing the snug and 'dainty' habitation provided by chignons for gregarine parasites, species that are 'save by a microscope, seen' and which, as the chorus chants, creep 'where 'tis not quite clean'. Goes on to note how such parasites move between different heads—from the 'skull of a serf' in a 'foul-smelling Russian back-slum' to the head of an 'English beauty'—and 'tho' lowly his birth', the parasite gains 'a free entrance [...] To the highest society here' where he sleeps in the chignon until woken during a dance.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [9]

Illustrators:

E G, pseud.  [Ernest Griset] Griset, Ernest Henry (1844–1907) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Hunting, Class, Animal Behaviour

    A sequence of illustrations charting the successful attempt of a 'Respectable Gentleman' to gain the excitement of hunting wild boar.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Utilitarianism, Health, Gender, Industry, Pollution, Disease, Amusement

    Describes the repugnance of the 'philosopher' to a 'lovely woman' 'enslaved' in a 'fashionable dress', on realizing that the dress had been made by 'a poor needlewoman' working in unhealthy conditions. Outlines one way in which these 'sad thoughts' can be dissipated—the 'Bright, clean, airy workrooms' of a London dressmakers'. Urges husbands to buy dresses for their wives from this firm unless the 'lady is certain that her own milliner has been equally careful of the health and comfort of her own workpeople'.

Genre:

Reportage, Spoof

Subjects:

Amusement, Display, Astronomy, Medical Treatment

Institutions mentioned:

Royal College of Surgeons Royal College of Surgeons
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Nutrition, Zoology

People mentioned:

Isidore Geoffrey Saint-Hilaire Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Isidore (1805–61) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

Ernest Griset Griset, Ernest Henry (1844–1907) WBI
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Zoology, Dissection, Scientific Practitioners

    An ironic representation of a 'dissecting room' in which 'Scientific Celebrities' take the 'Cast of a Whale'. Far from showing a hygienic dissecting room and orderly scientific practitioners, this illustration shows several labourers cleaning a stranded whale with brooms and mops.

Genre:

Address, Spoof

Subjects:

Gender, Politics, Psychology, Instinct, Reason, Physiology, Mathematics, Nutrition, Chemistry, Methodology

    Opposes the enfranchisement of women by challenging the arguments of John S Mill Mill, John Stuart (1806–73) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> and others that women have the qualities to make them 'free and independent' voters. Denies that women are 'endowed with reason' and insists that they are 'actuated by instinct', blindly driven by fashion, and governed by the heart—'a muscle of involuntary motion' that 'pulsates under the influence of a part of the nervous system distinct from that through which other muscles are moved and controlled'. Argues that since 'cookery is a rational art', women only make 'good executive cooks' while men alone can act as the 'head-cook', and adds that 'There are female mathematicians—they are very few; but perhaps a female mathematician is less rare than a female chef'. Continuing the culinary theme, Barnowl explains to his audience that while a woman may obediently 'boil a round of beef [...] after the manner prescribed by LIEBIG Liebig, Justus von (1803–73) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>', she will not 'apprehend the principle of the process'. Concludes by conceding that there are undeniably some women 'endowed with reason' but that since 'the rational faculty [...] remains undeveloped' in women, they are 'unfitted to exercise political functions'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Adulteration, Crime, Chemistry, Temperance

    Discusses a report of the trial of a tradesman who was charged with 'having sold to a publican a quantity of treacle or saccharine matter to be used in the adulteration of beer', and describes some of the dubious substances with which the tradesman adulterate spirits.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

D M, pseud.  [George L P B Du Maurier] 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:

Gender, Natural History

    Shows two women standing on the steps leading into a summer house. They wear identical garments, including exceedingly long dresses.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Animal Behaviour, Spiritualism

Publications cited:

Spiritual Magazine Spiritual Magazine (1860–77) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Class, Hospitals, Utilitarianism, Morality, Periodicals, Reading

    Supports a proposal made in the Pall Mall Gazette Pall Mall Gazette (1865–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> to urge people 'plethorised with magazines and newspapers' to save them for 'our hospitals and workhouses', where they may 'lighten many a heavy hour spent on the sick bed of a hospital' or in prison or a workhouse. Explains how people could donate parcels of such reading matter each month, and anticipates the 'treasure' that Punch would be in a hospital.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Zoology, Cruelty

    Notes that the managers of the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >> have been accused of cruelty by allowing the python to 'swallow rabbits alive', and suggests that they might 'feed the reptile in public without offence if they were to give it a Welsh rabbit'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Commerce, Mathematics

People mentioned:

Euclid Euclid (fl. 295 BC) DSB
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Supernaturalism, Miracle, Chemistry, Heat, Physiology, Experiment

    Insists that 'There exists no record of any supernatural occurrence which, having been investigated, was publicly attested by competent observers'. Discusses an extract from a report in the Tablet Tablet (1840–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> describing a recent alleged liquefaction of a sample of the blood of St Januarius Januarius, Saint (or San Gennaro) (d. c. 305) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> which was witnessed by 'thousands of the faithful'. Noting the regularity of this occurrence, suggests two ways to demonstrate that the phenomenon is miraculous. First, that on the day of the alleged miracle, the vessel containing the blood should be maintained at 32ºF and that if the blood still melts while being watched by a 'committee of chemists' it can be declared a miracle. Second, that if the blood does not melt when heated to 212ºF (the temperature at which water boils) then the miracle is more likely to have happened. Warns, however, that the latter would need to be confirmed by showing that the blood (guarded against tampering) could melt 'by any other means than a heat higher than that of boiling water'.

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Military Technology, Religious Authority, Religion

    Discusses an article in the Tablet Tablet (1840–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> describing how a 'French nobleman' has presented the pontifical government with fifty thousand Francs for 'breech-loaders'. Noting the 'divers breech-loading rifles', wonders which variety will be adopted by Pope Pius IX Pius IX, Pope (1792–1878) CBD
Close   View the register entry >>, suggesting that he will have 'an arm of infallible precision' rather than an Enfield 'converted to Popery'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

J T, pseud.  [John Tenniel] 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, Crime, Medical Practitioners

    A reference to the prosecution of the Fenian soldier Ricard O'Sullivan Burke Burke, Ricard O'Sullivan (1838–1922) Lynch and O'Donoghue 1999
Close   View the register entry >> who, owing to public pressure, was sent to a penal colony rather than being hanged. The illustration shows Dr Bull standing outside the gates of the prison, whilst talking to the allegorical figure of Ireland, Hibernia. On the left, the prisoner in chains (Burke) stands by a guarded prison door, awaiting the decision of Dr Bull, who tells Hibernia that he will not adopt her suggestion of beheading the prisoner but will 'just crop him, and shave him, and take good care that he does no more mischief'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery

Relevant illustrations:

wdct. [2]

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:

Hunting, Ornithology, Class, Cruelty

    On the left, members of the 'Upper Class' are seen standing in a field, with one of them shooting a pigeon. On the right members of the 'Lower Class' are seen shooting a gull from a rowing boat at sea. The title of the illustration questions whether the aristocratic form of hunting is any more legitimate than that practised by the lower classes.

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Hunting, Cruelty, Ornithology, Morality, Class, Government

    Similar to Charles S Keene, 'Sport (?)', Punch, 52 (1867), 238, this begins with an appraisal of the activities of the Gun Club Gun Club
Close   View the register entry >>, whose aristocratic members take pleasure in injuring and crippling pigeons and whose inhumane activities are defended as a 'purer sport' than other forms of game-hunting which only 'slaughters for the table'. Proceeds with a defence of the sport of 'gull-shooting' which involves working-class people massacring 'birds in comfort'. (238) Presents an account of these activities as recited by a Cockney poacher who takes considerable pleasure in killing so many birds. Concludes by suggesting that the Gun Club should admit the lower-class people who practice gull-shooting, and that the statesmen who belong to this club should also legalise 'cock-fighting and dog-fighting' because 'the lower orders, as soon as they are represented in Parliament Houses of Parliament
Close   View the register entry >>, will put the higher [classes] on an equality with themselves by constituting pigeon-shooting unlawful on the score of cruelty' (239).

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Hunting, Crime

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Spiritualism, Astronomy, Psychology, Philosophy

Genre:

Letter, Spoof

Subjects:

Environmentalism, Industry, Manufactories, Health, Disease, Human Development, Race, Animal Behaviour, Zoology, Degeneration

    Begins by suggesting that some lines from Milton 1667 Milton, John 1667. Paradise Lost. A Poem: In Ten Books, London: Peter Parker [and 2 others]
Close   View the register entry >> (describing the fall of the Devil, the 'architect of Pandemonium', from paradise) or some other 'warning to the same purpose' should be 'planted at convenient intervals around Victoria Park Victoria Park, Hackney
Close   View the register entry >>' in order to stop new buildings being erected on it by 'the building and money-grubbing demon'. Reminds Mr Punch that although the attempt to build a gasworks on the park was foiled, the demon is trying to perpetuate an 'abomination' in the park as he has done in other green spaces. Laments that a Londoner will soon have nowhere to go for a 'constitutional walk' by which he can 'refresh his soul as well as his body' and will only be able to enjoy this luxury by travelling to it by railway. Agrees that 'it is very sentimental to care for the preservation of landscapes' but that sentiment can also be applied to money. Insists that 'immaterial utility' is as valid a notion as 'Material utility' and wonders what 'Englishmen' will become when they can no longer enjoy the landscapes that have made their character. Considering the link between the growing population and encroachment of buildings, relishes the stationary population in France and advocates emigration as a solution to the problem. Fears that unless this is done 'posterity will all be turned to apes, with foreheads villanous low, or else to a sort of human pig, having oblique eyes like Chinamen', and that 'the day of degeneration' will be witnessed. Concludes by upholding the need to save the park.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Military Technology, Steamships

Institutions mentioned:

Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Music, Exhibitions, Sound, Instruments, Supernaturalism, Spiritualism, Charlatanry

Publications cited:

Spiritual Magazine Spiritual Magazine (1860–77) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >>

    Begins by wondering what 'the FARADAYS Faraday, Michael (1791–1867) DSB
Close   View the register entry >> and BREWSTERS Brewster, Sir David (1781–1868) DSB ODNB
Close   View the register entry >>' and Mr Punch will make of a Morning Post Morning Post and Daily Advertising Pamphlet (1772–1900+) Waterloo Directory
Close   View the register entry >> report that some of the musical instruments displayed at the Exposition Universelle (1867) Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris
Close   View the register entry >> appeared to play by themselves. Anticipates that the aforementioned scientists would attribute this phenomenon to the 'touch or breath of some unseen attendant or passer-by', but points out that the author of the report could find no such person after a diligent search. Suggests that the music was performed by the 'spirit' of 'some great composer', in contrast to the 'spirits of minstrels' who perform at the seances 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 >>. Notes that the principal difficulty of the 'spiritual' theory is the 'absence of any medium' and proceeds to describe the difficulties currently being faced by the Davenport brothers in Russia.

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:

Cruelty, Ornithology

    Shows a farmer boxing a young boy on the ear for beating his 'Goslin's'. The weeping boy cries 'What furr'd they gors-chicks feyther boite oi then furr?!'.

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery / Letter, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Illustrators:

E G, pseud.  [Ernest Griset] Griset, Ernest Henry (1844–1907) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> Spielmann, Marion Harry Alexander 1895. The History of "Punch", London: Cassell
Close   View the register entry >>

Subjects:

Military Technology, Exhibitions, Force, Dynamics, Music, Instruments, Amusement, Invention

    The illustration shows two large guns on miniature steam engines. The guns possess large barrels from which emerge streams of shot produced by organ-grinders who are cranking large wheels attached to the gun barrels. The letter begins by explaining the accompanying illustration, which shows a 'big gun' that the author has invented and which he wished he had displayed at the Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris
Close   View the register entry >>, 'a temple of peace' but displaying many other 'articles of war'. Explains that his weapon was anticipated by another shown to Emperor Napoleon III Napoleon III, Emperor of France (originally Louis Napoléon (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte)) (1808–73) CBD
Close   View the register entry >> and that it propels its shots by centrifugal force: by turning a large crank, he claims he can achieve the same results as 'half-a-ton of gunpowder', but that owing to its small weight, it will be suitable for 'light artillery'. Boasts that his gun also fires without making any smoke or much noise. This will afford employment for organ-grinders who could attach a barrel-organ to his gun and turn it into a gun-barrel-organ, an instrument that could fire shot and a cacophony of tunes to thwart the enemy.

Genre:

Regular Feature, Proceedings, Drollery

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Military Technology, Steamships, Commerce, Vaccination, Medical Treatment, Death, Quackery

    Notes a 'thundering debate on the Great Ordnance' in which Henry J Baillie Baillie, Henry James (1804–85) WBI
Close   View the register entry >> announced that the 'Armstrong Armstrong, Sir William George, Baron Armstrong of Cragside (1810–1900) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> gun was chosen for jobbing reasons' and was a failure, before denouncing other guns. Punch wonders 'where the truth lies' in this debate. Notes the progress of the 'Compulsory Vaccination Bill' through 'Committee', and Robert Montagu's Montagu, Lord Robert (1825–1902) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> startling claim that the number of deaths from small-pox has risen from '4,000 to between 6 and 7,000 a year'. Insists that this justifies Punch's attack on those 'Quacks' who rail against 'the semi-miraculous preventive'

Genre:

Song, Drollery

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Zoology, Taxonomy, Nutrition, Animal Behaviour

    A serenade sung by a professor to his beloved in a zoological garden. He notes that while they both have fangs 'named canine', which ally humans 'to the carnivora', they eat 'all varieties of food' and so both he, his beloved, and 'the piggywiggies' are omnivorous.

Genre:

News-Commentary, Drollery

Subjects:

Religious Authority, Natural History, Animal Behaviour

    Reports on a 'great number of locusts seen about Rome'. Denominated 'L. clericalis', these are evidently Catholic clergymen, and are described as having 'long, black, grey, or brown envelopes' and as feeding 'on the fat of the land'.

Genre:

Notes

Subjects:

Government, Politics, Utilitarianism, Disease, Class, Health

    'ERNEST HART'S Hart, Ernest Abraham (1835–98) ODNB
Close   View the register entry >> best testimonial—The Metropolitan Sick-Poor Act'.

Genre:

Diary, Spoof, Serial

Subjects:

Exhibitions, Instruments

Institutions mentioned:

Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris Exposition Universelle (1867), Paris
Close   View the register entry >>

Genre:

Notes, Drollery

Subjects:

Agriculture, Disease

Genre:

News-Commentary

Subjects:

Zoological Gardens, Crime, Charlatanry

    Proposes that now the Zoological Society Gardens Zoological Society of London —Gardens
Close   View the register entry >> are open to everybody on Sunday, 'somebody should do something to keep away the nobodies' and suggests ways of deterring pickpockets and similar unscrupulous individuals.