missdanidollie:

biomedicalephemera:

Interior appearance of a cadaver showing constriction and displacement due to corsets

The author notes the particular problems with kidney function when the abdomen is constricted like this - while all of the visceral organs have some degree of flexibility when it comes to where they’re pushed around, the ureters (the tubes that take urine from the kidneys to the bladder) are especially prone to constriction blockage, and subsequent kidney and bladder stones.

Medical Gynecology. Howard A. Kelly, 1913.

whoooooooooo this has been disprooooooved

Don’t site shit from fucking 1913 as fact

Psst…that’s why it says “THE AUTHOR NOTES”. I don’t present this shit as current medical evidence, man. I started this blog to point out the weird, bizarre, errant, and interesting beliefs and practices of the past.

Also, it’s not like all evidence of tight-lacing causing problems has been disproven; only the “evidence” that was supposedly supporting the claim that ALL corsets caused damage has been shown to be total bunk.

The claims of damage to the ureters are largely untrue (though women who tight-laced tended to forgo liquids when they were seeking less bloating, and dehydration certainly harms the bladder and kidneys), but the stomach, liver, and uterus are all affected by this practice.

I’m not for or against it, I’m just stating what science has shown. If you tightlace with gallbladder problems, gallstones are more common. If you have dyspepsia to begin with, it will probably get worse.
The claims of uterine damage to non-pregnant females don’t seem to be supported or rejected by the evidence available to me, but pregnant females can experience problems with the womb pressing against other organs if they continue to tight-lace for any significant length of time into their pregnancy.

Interior appearance of a cadaver showing constriction and displacement due to corsets

The author notes the particular problems with kidney function when the abdomen is constricted like this - while all of the visceral organs have some degree of flexibility when it comes to where they’re pushed around, the ureters (the tubes that take urine from the kidneys to the bladder) are especially prone to constriction blockage, and subsequent kidney and bladder stones.

Medical Gynecology. Howard A. Kelly, 1913.

Alphonso & Imogene: An Idyl of Henry’s Carbolic Salve

Alphonso loved dearly the blithe Imogene whose face was the fairest that ever was seen; but when he proposed, “Alas”, Imogene said “I would gladly accept and with thee would wed, but with ugly eruptions your face is so scarred that all my life’s future, with you would be marred unless you remove them; so if me you’d have, you must cure them with HENRY’S CARBOLIC SALVE.

“You are too ugly to marry me, you ghoul.”

Unlike many Victorian trade cards, the product advertised here, Henry’s Carbolic Salve, was not actually complete quackery - it probably wouldn’t have cleared boils and acne very effectively, but carbolic soaps were the product of choice for Henry Lister, when he was trying to push hand-washing and sanitation before surgical procedures.

Miami University Libraries Digital Collections. Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

Ornithoptera victoriae - Queen Victoria’s Birdwing - Adult, Caterpillar, and Egg

This butterfly is a close relative to the largest butterfly in the world, Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing. The birdwing genres are noted for their bird-like flight, angular wings, bright colors, and exceptional size.

Like many Lepidoptera (the order containing moths and butterflies), their caterpillars are toxic, owing to the plants they consume, and are not commonly  eaten in their natural habitat. The butterflies retain this toxicity through adulthood.

Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London. 1888.

geisterseher:

‘Facsimile of Savery’s picture of the Dodo, in the Royal Gallery at Berlin’ from H.E. Strickland and A.G. Melville. The Dodo and its Kindred; or, The history, affinities, and osteology of the dodo, solitaire, and other extinct birds of the islands Mauritius, Rodriguez and Bourbon. London, 1848.

ofpaperandponies:

Basically, you touch yourself, you turn into a drooling imbecile. 

Also you smell bad and go blind.

The Decorative Home Apiary

“How doth the little busy bee,
   improve each shining hour;
Gathering honey all the day,
   From ev’ry opening flower.”

“Mama, mama! Rufus is eating uncle’s bees!”

The American Bee Keeper’s Manual. T. B. Miner, 1849.

Mastodon Skeleton

The word “mastodon” comes from the Greek roots that translate to “breast [nipple] tooth”. It refers to the nipple-like projections on the mastodon’s teeth, making its dentition pointier, and far more suited to eating leaves from bushes and trees, rather than grass (which the elephant ancestors and mammoths ate). Animals that primarily eat foliage are known as “browsers”, while animals that primarily eat grass and ground plants are “grazers”.

Principles of Zoology: Touching the Structure, Development, Distribution, and Natural Arrangement of the Races of Animals. Louis Agassiz and A. A. Gould, 1851.

So what’s this dapper gentleman saying to his most proper lady?

Snake Skeleton

In Victorian-era households on both sides of the Atlantic, it was considered to be very erudite to have a curio cabinet of insects, animals, and archaeological specimens.

The classiest of these cabinets often included a snake skeleton, a bisected nautilus shell, brightly-colored butterflies mounted either in a classical case or upon a branch (as if still alive), and Egyptian trinkets. Of course, there were many other coveted specimens and baubles, but throughout that entire period, large complete snake skeletons were considered respected additions to any curio cabinet.

Natural History of the Animal Kingdom for the Use of Young People. W. F. Kirby, 1889.

That’s a bitchin wheelchair! And a really good pre-electrical solution to allow for self-propulsion…

Cobra Skeleton, Prepared to Strike

I probably posted this from its original source (Owen’s Anatomy of Vertebrates) at one point, but snake skeletons are just too cool.

Snakes: Curiosities and Wonders of Serpent Life. Catherine C. Hopley, 1882.

Hysteria vs. Epilepsy.

Because of the “convulsions” associated with “hysteric paroxysm” (which were often actually induced by the physicians themselves, before home devices were brought about), epileptic fits and attacks of hysteria were not infrequently confused.

Hysteria & Neurasthenia. J. Mitchell Clarke, 1905.