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![[Bloodletting Calendar] So man zalt nach der geburt Christ M.CCCCC.XIX. Anonymous, German, 1519. Subject: Phlebotomy, Almanacs & Calenders, Astrology, Saints, Uroscopy, Saint Cosmas, Saint Damian.](https://i1.wp.com/freethoughtblogs.com/affinity/files/2018/06/BloodC.jpg?ssl=1)
[Bloodletting Calendar] So man zalt nach der geburt Christ M.CCCCC.XIX. Anonymous, German, 1519. Subject: Phlebotomy, Almanacs & Calenders, Astrology, Saints, Uroscopy, Saint Cosmas, Saint Damian.
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He saw an Apothecary on a white horse… Thomas Landseer, Etching, 1831. Subject: Obstetrics,Pharmacist, Devil, Snuff, The Lancet.
He saw an Apothecary, on a white horse,
Ride by on his avocations;
And the Devil was tickled for it put him in mind
Of Death in the Revelations.
Click for full size. There’s a notation on the bottom, about this being copied from Durer, cf something something 1525. It’s difficult to make out.
A Study Of Proportions. Anonymous, Pen, Black Ink, and Pencil. Subject: Anatomy, Proportion, Anatomy In Art, Albrecht Durer.
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The true and lively Pourtraicture of Valentine Greatrakes Esq…Anonymous, 1794, Publisher W. Richardson. Subject: Faith Healing, Valentine Greatrakes (1628-83).
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The Evil Spirit Of The White House. James Albert Wales, Lithograph coloured, 1881. Subject: U.S.A. Politics, Infectious Disease, Malaria, Contagion, James Abram Garfield.
A most evocative piece by Rockwell Kent, click for full size.
Nightmare. Rockwell Kent, Lithograph. Subject: Nightmares, Suicide.
Click for full size. As you can see, all effort was put into making Joanna Southcott as awful as possible. Ms. Southcott was a self-styled prophetess, and claimed to be pregnant at 64 years of age, and died shortly afterward. It would seem she was held to be nothing more than a con by the medical establishment, with little consideration that she might actually believe all the nonsense she preached. The depiction of her is certainly nothing at all like her actual appearance (there’s a photo at the link.)
A Medical Inspection. Or Miracles Will Never Cease. Thomas Rowlandson, Etching coloured, 1814. Subject: Obstetrics, Prophesy, Pregnancy, Anecdotes, Religious Mania, Joanna Southcott (1750-1814).
Click for full size. There are five of these, so most below the fold.
Singular Effects Of The Universal Vegetable Pills… Charles Jameson Grant, Lithograph coloured. Subject: Proprietary Medicines, James Morison, Morison’s Pills, Vegetable compounds.
This is the oil which birthed Antimacassars. My great-grandmothers and grandmother had antimacassars on everything. Click for full size!
Macassar Oil, An oily Puff for Soft Heads. Thomas Rowlandson, Etching coloured, 1814. Subject: Macassar Oil, Rowland’s Oil,Alexander Rowland,baldness,hair Tonic, Hair Oil,Proprietary Medicines.
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The Winding Up of the Medical Report of the Walcheren Expedition. Thomas Rowlandson, Etching coloured, 1810. Subject: Lucas Pepys (1742-1830), Robert Jackson (1750-1827), Thomas Keate (1745-1821), Dr. James’ Fever Powder, Chelsea Hospital, Walcheren Campaign, Military Medicine, Medical Boards, Drugs.
The Walcheren Campaign involved little fighting, but heavy losses from the sickness popularly dubbed “Walcheren Fever”. Although more than 4,000 British troops died during the expedition, only 106 died in combat; the survivors withdrew on 9 December. […] Along with the 4,000 men that had died during the campaign, almost 12,000 were still ill by February 1810 and many others remained permanently weakened. Those sent to the Peninsular War to join Wellington’s army caused a permanent doubling of the sick lists there.
As for ‘Look Ass Peeps’ (Lucas Pepys):
In 1794 Pepys was made physician-general to the army, and was president of an army medical board, on which it was his duty to nominate all the army physicians. When so many soldiers fell ill of fever at Walcheren, he was ordered to go there and report. As a consequence the board was abolished; but Pepys was granted a pension.
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A Cure for Lying and a Bad Memory. Thomas Rowlandson, Etching coloured, 1807. Subject: Pharmacy, Medicine.
Hugger-MuggerNoun.
1: secrecy
2: confusion, muddle
[Origin: one of a number of similar-sounding reduplicated words in use around this time and meaning much the same thing, including hucker-mucker, which may be the original of the bunch if the root is, as some think, Middle English mukre “to hoard up, conceal.”]
(1529)
Adjective:
1: secret
2: of a confused or disorderly nature: jumbled.
-hugger-mugger adverb.
“No, her book would hold a dark mirror to such conceits. Since Mother Eve’s day, women had whispered of herb lore and crafty potions, the wise woman’s weapons against the injustices of life; a life of ill treatment, the life of a dog. If women were to be kicked into the kitchen they might play it to their advantage, for what was a kitchen but a witch’s brewhouse? Men had no notion of what women whispered to each other, hugger-mugger by the chimney corner; of treaclish syrups and bitter pods, of fat black berries and bulbous roots. – A Taste for Nightshade, Martine Bailey.
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Poisoning the Sick at Jaffa. George Cruikshank, Aquatint coloured, 1814. Subject: Napoleon, Jaffa, Poison, Hospitals, Military Hospitals.