The last hope of the undertakers in bad times - the physicians.

A group of bewigged and pompous looking physicians examine the quality of the urine of a rich patient, therefore the extraordinary solemnity of the deliberation. Some inspect the urine with their spectacles and one even examines it with his tongue! A Latin inscription at the bottom reads: Et plurima mortis imago, i.e. "Everywhere the face of death."

THERAPEUTIC VIOLENCE

The Amputation

Thomas Rowlandson (1756 – 1827), artist

The Toothache Or Torment And Torture

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827), artist

Treatment in the days before anesthesia was as painful as the ailment.

Photo source: http://www.countway.med.harvard.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/satires/page_2.html

CORRUPTION & INEFFECTIVENESS OF PHYSICIANS

Metallic Tractors

James Gillray (1757-1815), artist

In 1796 Elisha Perkins, a physician from Connecticut, patented the metallic tractors shown in this print. He claimed the tractors could cure disease through electric force.

The Central Board of Health: Cholera Consultation

George Cruikshank (1792-1878), artist

In the early nineteenth century cholera epidemics were common, instilling fear in the public. Medical science was ineffective against cholera until John Snow's discovery of its contagion through contaminated water in 1848. Callouts of health officials toasting each other read: "Long life to our Central Board . . . May we preserve our health by bleeding the country . . ."

In the early nineteenth century cholera epidemics were common, instilling fear in the public. Medical science was ineffective against cholera until John Snow's discovery of its contagion through contaminated water in 1848. Callouts of health officials toasting each other read: "Long life to our Central Board . . . May we preserve our health by bleeding the country . . ."

The Central Board of Health: Cholera Consultation

A Sore Throat

H. Pyall (fl. 1833), artist

The Gout

James Gillray(1757-1815), artist

Cholic

George Cruikshank (1792-1878), artist

Indigestion

George Cruikshank (1792-1878), artist