A village barber-surgeon standing in front of his shop, holding a razor and a lancet; in the distance are the village stocks. Coloured etching by J. Bretherton after H.W. Bunbury.

L.M. is an abbreviation for Licentiate in medicine, a British qualification to practise medicine or surgery or both, bestowed by a bishop or archbishop. The motto "In utrumque paratus" (prepared for both) refers to barbering and surgery, represented respectively by the razor and the lancet; it is derived from Virgil ("ad utrumque paratus", Aeneid II.61). Under his arm he holds a bowl for use in shaving or bloodletting. A bob wig is one which turns up into curls at the back. A bob major is a peal of bells, but is here used presumably to mean a long bob wig. A scratch wig is a small, short wig. A washball is a ball of soap; a breeches-ball is a ball of composition for washing breeches (definitions from the Oxford English dictionary). Scotch pills (also called Anderson's pills) were marketed as laxatives.