Volume 1

Professional anecdotes, or ana of medical literature.

Date:
1825
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Professional anecdotes, or ana of medical literature. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    304/320 (page 284)
    was that of the oil of sulphur; this, from the srmali quantity in which it could be procured, and the difficulty of the operation, as performed before his time, was sold at a higher rate than oil of vitriol; the former being sold at 10d. the ounce, the latter at 5s. 4d. the pound. By burning, however, the sulphur with saltpetre, Dr. Ward sold the oil of sulphur at 2s. the pound; and thus entirely drove the real oil of vitriol out of the market, although the name still remains, and has been applied to his acid. This manufacture he at first carried cn with great secresy, at his house, the last on the right-hand side of Twickenham, before you enter the common, being the one in which Twining, the tea-dealer, afterwards lived. Ward also took the precaution of employing only raw Welsh peasants, who had newly come to Lon- don, and had not yet acquired the English lan- guage; and changed them frequently. The inhabitants of Montpellier-row, who pre- tended to nicer noses than their neighbours, and were remarkable for their pride, prosecuted Ward for a nuisance, and occasioned his re- moval to Richmond. Even this did not please the sot disant extremely-genteel people of Mont- peliier-row; and they affected to be still of- fended by the vapours of the manufactory, which, however, he continued until his death.