The Funny Side of Physic: Or, The Mysteries of Medicine, Presenting the Humorous and Serious Sides of Medical Practice. An Exposé of Medical Humbugs, Quacks, and Charlatans in All Ages and All Countries.Crabtre, Addison Darre
History
The Funny Side of Physic: Or, The Mysteries of Medicine, Presenting the Humorous and Serious Sides of Medical Practice. An Exposé of Medical Humbugs, Quacks, and Charlatans in All Ages and All Countries.
Crabtre, Addison Darre
Medicine -- Anecdotes; Quacks and quackery
"It's no laughing matter for the public, my dear; they can't get rid of me
and my pill; they must take us. There is not a single form of appeal in
the whole range of human advertisement which I am not making to the
unfortunate public at this moment. Hire the last novel--there I am inside
the covers of the book; send for the last song--the instant you open the
leaves I drop out of it; take a cab--I fly in at the windows in red; buy a
box of tooth-powders at the chemists--I wrap it up in blue; show yourself
at the theatre--I flutter down from the galleries in yellow. The mere
titles of my advertisements are quite irresistible. Let me quote a few
from last week's issue. Proverbial title: 'A pill in time saves nine.'
Familiar title: 'Excuse me, how is your stomach?' Patriotic title: 'What
are the three characteristics of a true-born Englishman?--his hearth, his
home, and his pill;' etc.
"The place in which I make my pill is an advertisement in itself. I have
one of the largest shops in London. Behind the counter, visible to the
public through the lucid medium of plate glass, are four and twenty young
men, in white aprons, making the pill. Behind another, four and twenty
making the boxes. At the bottom of the shop are three elderly accountants,
posting the vast financial transactions accruing from the pill, in three
enormous ledgers. Over the door are my name, portrait, and autograph,
expanded to colossal proportions, and surrounded, in flowing letters, the
motto of the establishment: 'DOWN WITH THE DOCTORS.' Mrs. Wragge
contributes her quota to this prodigious enterprise. She is the celebrated
woman whom I have cured of indescribable agonies, from every complaint
under the sun. Her _portrait_ is engraved on all the wrappers, with the
following inscription: 'Before she took the pill,' etc."
[In this country we are familiar with the ghostly looking picture of a
man, the said proprietor of a medicine, "before he took the pill" (aloes),
and "after;" the "after" being represented by a ridiculous extreme of
muscular and adipose tissue.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account