Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.) THE DOCTOR. [Illustration: HENRY VIII. RECEIVING THE BARBER-SURGEONS.] THE DOCTOR IN HISTORY, LITERATURE, FOLK-LORE, ETC. EDITED BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S., AUTHOR OF "BYGONE ENGLAND," "OLD CHURCH LORE," ETC. HULL: WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, & CO., LTD. 1896. Preface. In the following pages I have attempted to bring together from the pens of several authors who have written expressly for this book, the more interesting phases of the history, literature, folk-lore, etc., of the medical profession. If the same welcome be given to this work as was accorded to those I have previously produced, my labours will not have been in vain. WILLIAM ANDREWS. THE HULL PRESS, HULL, _November 11th, 1895_. Contents. BARBER-SURGEONS. By William Andrews, F.R.H.S. 1 TOUCHING FOR THE KING'S EVIL. By William Andrews, F.R.H.S. 8 VISITING PATIENTS 22 ASSAYING MEAT AND DRINK. By William Andrews, F.R.H.S. 24 THE GOLD-HEADED CANE. By Tom Robinson, M.D. 32 MAGIC AND MEDICINE. By Cuming Walters 42 CHAUCER'S DOCTOR OF PHYSIC. By W. H. Thompson 70 THE DOCTORS SHAKESPEARE KNEW. By A. H. Wall 76 DICKENS' DOCTORS. By Thomas Frost 90 FAMOUS LITERARY DOCTORS. By Cuming Walters 102 THE "DOCTOR" IN TIME OF PESTILENCE. By William E. A. Axon, F.R.S.L. 125 MOUNTEBANKS AND MEDICINE. By Thomas Frost 140 THE STRANGE STORY OF THE FIGHT WITH THE SMALL-POX. By Thomas Frost 153 BURKERS AND BODY-SNATCHERS. By Thomas Frost 167 REMINISCENCES OF THE CHOLERA. By Thomas Frost 181 SOME OLD DOCTORS. By Mrs. G. Linnaeus Banks 192 THE LEE PENNY 209 HOW OUR FATHERS WERE PHYSICKED. By J. A. Langford, LL.D. 216 MEDICAL FOLK-LORE. By John Nicholson 234 OF PHYSICIANS AND THEIR FEES, with some Personal Reminiscences. By Andrew James Symington, F.R.S.N.A. 252 INDEX 285 THE DOCTOR IN HISTORY, LITERATURE, AND FOLK-LORE. Barber-Surgeons. BY WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S. The calling of the barber is of great antiquity. We find in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (v. 1) allusions to the Jewish custom of the barber shaving the head as a sign of mourning.