The Quack Doctor

I’m attempting to use the long ‘s’ for this transcript – I hope Wordpreſs doesn’t do anything weird with it:

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HYſtericon, or Antidote againſt Fits, Vapours,
Hypochondriack Melancholy, Vertigoe, Gid-
dineſs or Swimming in the Head, Phrenzy, or
Deprivation of Senſes, Suffocations, or Riſings in
the Throat, Faintings, Swoonings, &c. (common-
ly called Fits of the Mother) for all which, it’s a
moſt admirable thing for Prevention as well as
Cure, whether the Cauſe be Suppreſſion, or Stop-
page of the Spleen, &c. or Hypochondriack, in
admirably prevailing againſt, and taking away
the very Cauſe of ſuch Diſtempers, that they ſel-
dom return again; wonderfully comforts, relieves
and cheriſhes Languiſhing Nature, reſtores and
corroborates the weaken’d Faculties, revives the
Spirits, and enlivens the whole Body, with ſo
much Celerity, Eaſe, Safety, and Pleaſure, that
it has ſcarcely its Equal. Sold at Mr Stephens’s
in Broadſtreet, near the Royal-Exchange, at
1s. 6d. a Bottle, with Directions.

Source: A Review of the Affairs of France, 12 April 1705

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Ancient Greco-Roman theories of gynaecology presented the womb as a roving organ that could end up out of place within the body, even interfering with the brain or causing choking sensations in the throat. Independent and troublesome, it was attracted to pleasant smells and repulsed by foul ones. If a woman showed hysterical symptoms, this must be due to the womb rising, and it made sense to waft a variety of unpleasant substances in front of her face in order to deter the rogue womb from travelling any further.

By the 18th century the structure – and stationary nature – of the womb had been determined, but the traditional remedies persisted and a woman suffering from ‘fits of the mother’ might be assailed with any number of strong smells – for example sal ammoniac, asa foetida, garlic, bitumen or burnt feathers. Some doctors thought blowing tobacco fumes directly into the woman’s mouth would do the trick. Thomas Otway joked about this in his comedy A Soldier’s Fortune (1681), where Clarinda describes her decrepit husband Sir Davy thus:

“Then for his Person ’tis incomparably odious; he has such a breath, one kiss of him were enough to cure the fits of the mother, ’tis worse than assa foetida”

I don’t know whether the Hystericon (which I haven’t been able to find advertised anywhere except as above in Defoe’s Review) was supposed to be smelled or ingested, but there were certainly medicines to be taken inwardly – though not necessarily from the head end of the alimentary canal. Camomile clysters were one option, while oral medicines might contain amber (in salt or oil form) or herbs such as mugwort and valerian. Should convulsions occur, the Peruvian bark was recommended, and of course the ubiquitous blood-letting was always worth a try.

John K’eogh, in Zoologia Medicinalis Hibernica, (Dublin, 1739) a book about the medicinal properties of animals, described the following strange remedy:

A girdle made of the skin of a buck killed in coition with a doe, squeezed about the belly in the paroxysm or fit, is said to cure the suffocation of the Womb, or fits of the Mother.

But however peculiar the 18th-century remedies, the Victorian fascination with hysteria produced some far more discomfiting treatments. Thankfully this post is long enough without describing them!

 This is the oldest advert featured on The Quack Doctor so far – it’s from a 1705 edition of Daniel Defoe’s periodical A Review of the Affairs of France. Defoe began the publication in February 1704 as a weekly opinion piece, but by the time of this example he was publishing it every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. If I were a trendy, down-with-the-kids TV historian I’d say “he was an 18th-century blogger!” But I’m not, so I won’t. 

This advert was one of a few that Defoe repeatedly used depending on how much space he had left to fill. Look out for a couple of others at a later date.

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The   Royal   Essence   for   the   Hair  of  the  Head
and   Perriwigs,   being   the   most    delicate   and
charming   Perfume   in   Nature,  and  the  greatest
Preserver  of  Hair  in  the  World,  for  it  keeps that
of Perriwigs  (a  much  longer  time  than  usual)  in
the  Curl,  and  fair  Hair  from  fading  or  changing
colour,  makes  the  Hair  of  the  Head  grow  thick,
strengthens and confirms its Roots  and  effectually
prevents   it   from   falling   off   or   splitting   at  the
ends, makes the Powder continue in all Hair longer
than it possibly will, by  the  use  of  any  other  thing.
By   its   incomparable   Odour    and    Fragancy   it
strengthens the Brain, revives the  Spirits,  quickens
the Memory, and  makes  the  Heart  chearful,  never
raises  the Vapours in Ladies, &c., being wholly  free
from  (and   abundantly   more   delightful   and  plea-
sant  than)  Musk,  Civet,   &c.   ‘Tis   indeed   an  un-
paralled  fine  Scent  for  the  Pocket,  and  perfumes
Handkerchiefs,   &c.,   excellently.   To   be  had  only
at  Mr.  Allcrafts,  a  Toyshop  at  the  Blue-Coat  Boy
at  the  Royal  Exchange  in  Cornhill.  Sealed  up,  at
2s. 6d. a Bottle with Directions.

Source:  A Review of the Affairs of France, with Observations on Transactions at Home, Tuesday 13 March 1705

Notes: Fragancy and un-paralled are as they appear in the original. Chearful was a normal 18thC spelling.