Still very "Hit and Miss" in the late
18th to early 19th century - people =
dying from treatments from
DOCTOR'S and APOTHECARIES that
were designed to help them
LEECHES were used
for bleeding, and
cutting veins was still
a common practice
Healers did not practice hygiene
Rarely washed their hands
Rarely bothered to change bandages
Long-term patients could lie in
bed for weeks in SOILED
clothes and bed linen
Water was NOT BOILED and
often contaminated with
human wastes
Such unsanitary conditions and practices spread
illness and infections, and those who were trying to
saves lives actually spread germs more rapidly
HYGIENE
REGENCY
DOCTORS/PHYSICIANS
Positioned on the HIGHEST RUNGS of
the medical social ladder
Often the 2nd/3rd of GENTLEMEN; they made their living in one of the
few professions that a man of their social standing were ALLOWED to
pursue
Anotações:
Gentlemen: a man of noble birth attached to a royal household; good social position, especially one of wealth and leisure
CARTOONS, eg. "William Hogarth's Consultation of
Physicians", made fun of their self-importance and general
ignorance
Doctors preferred to be paid in a more discreet
manner, and would dine with the family, as they
would not directly accept a fee for their services
Because surgeons performed physical labour,
such as amputations, they occupied a SOCIAL rung
LOWER than physicians/doctors
if they stayed with families for any
length of time, they probably dined
with the UPPER SERVANTS
Attended PRESTIGIOUS schools like Oxford/Cambridge
and studied Greek/Latin - their training (no
apprenticeship/practice with actual patients) consisted
of observing medical procedures in a lecture hall
As gentlemen, they would not soil their
hands with manual labour, eg. dissecting
a corpse for intruction
SURGEONS IN THE GEORGIAN ERA
Before mid-18th century: surgeons performed major surgery on
patients, and BARBERS carried out minor surgery, eg. bloodletting and
pulling teeth (except for going through an apprenticeship, neither man
was educated)
ETHER did not appear until 1846, and surgery
was a painful experience
Doctors prescribed alcohol, opium, cannabis and
mandrake to relieve the pain; less effective methods
included: blood letting, ice to coll the affected area,
nerve compression and hypnosis
If the pain of the surgery didn't kill the
patient, then the chance of dying from
INFECTION was high:
Before the 17th century: members of the
BARBER-SURGEONS COLLEGE included distillers,
musicians, dyers, tailers, innkeepers, hosiers,
candle-makers and the like
1745: a billed was passed to separate barbers and
surgeons, and by the end of the 18th century, barbers
had stopped practicing surgery (except in areas where
surgeons were not available)
~ Pre-17th century:
~ 1745:
~ Pre-mid-18th century:
~ End of 18th century:
barbers had stopped performing
surgery (except in areas were
surgeons were not available)
surgeons performed major surgery,
and barbers till performed minor
surgeries
bill passed to separate barbers and
surgeons
members of Barber-Surgeons
college (various professions)
T
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M
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L
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19TH CENTURY APOTHECARIES
Essentially a poor man's doctor;
In rural areas, where doctors and surgeons were scarce,
apothecaries made house calls or treated patients
The technology of creating drugs was rudimentary and most remedies were to come
degree toxic: digitalis, quinine, and calamine were quite effective, but their discovery had
been ACCIDENTAL
Most remedies were made with water or alcohol-based extracts, minerals
(eg. ground mercury), animal by-products, and a variety of poisons; this
meant that a patient could just as soon die from an apothecary's drugs that
they sold
Because they laboured with their hands, their
place on the medical social ladder was below that
of the surgeon
Their chances of dining
with the family were slim,
but if they had to stay
over, they most likely
dined with the servants
Were shopkeepers, and couldn't charge a customer
for their advice, only for the drugs they sold
MIDWIVES
Before 18th century: FEMALE midwives enjoyed a secure position,
obtained licenses from the bishop and made a respectable living
By the end of the 18th century: men had infiltrated the profession; this
meant many female midwives became targets for PERSECUTION , and
were even accused of being witches
Male midwives: tended to use instruments, females did not; if they delivered a healthy
baby, they would receive an additional fee from the godparents
Male physicians primarily assisted in the births
of UPPER-class women; eg, botched birth of
Princess Charlotte's still-born son
(revolutionised obstetrics forever)
Although male midwives were associated with the
scientific progress, cases of child bed fever rose with
the increased use of forceps during delivery with the
increased use of forceps during delivery
By the early 19th century: midwives were relegated to assisting only the birth of
LOWER-class women, and their SOCIAL ranks had fallen to reflect their customers'.
REGENCY HOUSEWIVES and COMMON ILLNESSES
Woman of the house was in charge of treating common illness, eg. a cold,
headache, stomach ache or rash.
Daughters would inherit recipes for herbal remedies/folk medicine from
their mothers, who would teach they which herbs and plants to grow in the
kitchen or collect from nature
18th/19th century cookbooks offered recipes for
lozenges, tinctures and poultices
CURES: hot wines, syrups, soups and herbal tea infusions