On the philosophy of medicine : on quackery, &c., being the last of a course of lectures delivered in the School of Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne / by R. M. Glover.

  • Glover, Robert Mortimer, 1816-1859.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the philosophy of medicine : on quackery, &c., being the last of a course of lectures delivered in the School of Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne / by R. M. Glover. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    Public morality on this point is at a very low ebb. Some time ago a paragraph went the round of the newspapers, ex- tolling the benefits of advertising, and giving as an illustration the extraordinary energy and skill of Professor HoUoway. Apparently not the least idea was entertained by the writer of the article, or those who copied it, of the fearful immorality of quackery. Nay, as far as I can see, if Professor Holloway became only rich enough, he might be made a baronet as easily as Dr. Bright or Dr. Chambers. As a most singular illustration of popular delusions regard- ing curative means, I shall relate an incident which happened in this town about ten years ago. A new spa of wonderful merit was all at once discovered in a romantic dene near Newcastle. My attention having been attracted to the matter, I went to visit the spot, all the roads to which were covered with crowds bearing pitchers of water from the spa, while hundreds were struggling and pushing which should be first to drink of the salutiferous waters. On making a rough examination of the water, I was amazed at the absurdity of the affair, and wrote a quiz of it in the Gates- head Observer^ under the signature of G. I jocularly hinted at the possibility of the medicinal virtue being owing to the drainings of certain dung-heaps. I did not long want an answer, being attacked in the Tyne Mercury by one who signed Medicus, who called me a wondrous boy and a would-be philosopher, and gave two reasons why the drainings in question could not flow into the spa—one being that the spa ran more than the drainings, and therefore the greater could not hold the less; the other being, that the spa was lower than the middens, so that, of course^ water could not run downhill!! He then proceeded to extol the virtues of the spa to the highest degree. The mania increased to a pro- digious extent, and was not by any means confined to the lower classes; five hundred people might be seen at once around the spot; and I am ashamed to say that some medical men were not bold enough to avoid countenancing the delusion.