Posts tagged victoriana
Megatherium americanum - The Giant Ground Sloth
The skeleton of Megatherium set up in the London Natural History Museum, and a depiction of a possibility of Megatherium behavior in life.
Though the population was already decreasing when the first humans arrived in South America, the disappearance of the Giant Sloth was helped along by the new immigrants. Using mammoth-hunting skills, this large and lumbering creature was an ideal kill for a human tribe. It was one of the many Pleistocene megafauna that went extinct during the Quaternary extinctions.
Extinct monsters. H. N. Hutchinson, 1896.
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.
I do, indeed! Actually, aside from ringworm of the scalp, tinea versicolor is actually the most common tinea I’ve seen in old dermatology texts! One can only assume that the clothing of the Victorian and Edwardian era did nothing to improve the condition…a condition that’s promoted by sweatiness and hotness would definitely have a heyday under corsets and heavy jackets and suits!
Megatherium americanum - The Giant Ground Sloth
The skeleton of Megatherium set up in the London Natural History Museum, and a depiction of a possibility of Megatherium behavior in life.
Though the population was already decreasing when the first humans arrived in South America, the disappearance of the Giant Sloth was helped along by the new immigrants. Using mammoth-hunting skills, this large and lumbering creature was an ideal kill for a human tribe. It was one of the many Pleistocene megafauna that went extinct during the Quaternary extinctions.
Extinct monsters. H. N. Hutchinson, 1896.
“I say, chap, that native has trapped us quite the boa!”
Dictionnaire Pittoresque d’Histoire Naturelle et des Phenomenes de la Nature. F. E. Guerin, 1833.
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.
Doesn’t strictly fall under what this blog is about, but this is some pretty fascinating work. Back on the horse tomorrow, guys! It’ll be Sunday, so expect natural history.
Pendants, Chokers, and Earrings by Sarina Brewer - Custom Creature Taxidermy of Minneapolis, MN
These items were created in the tradition of mourning jewelry and memorial art – artifacts of antiquity that were created with the hair, teeth and bones of a deceased loved one. The purpose of creating such objects was to commemorate the dead and to give those in mourning a physical piece of their loved one that they could keep close to them.
Keeping and venerating remains of the dead has been going on for millennia around the world but the practice of creating mourning jewelry in western culture began around the 17th century. It continued in various forms throughout Europe, peaking in popularity during the Georgian and Victorian era but sadly vanishing soon thereafter. Thankfully the philosophy behind the wearing of such mementos has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years and has once again found a place in our collective spirituality. This jewelry is an extension of that philosophy and a parallel means of expression – we keep those we cherish close to us.
None of the animals used in Brewer’s work were killed for the purpose of using them in her art. All animal components are recycled. She utilizes salvaged roadkill and discarded livestock, as well as the many animal materials that are donated to her. Donated animals are often casualties of the pet trade, destroyed nuisance animals, or animals that died of natural causes. A very strict “waste not, want not” policy is adhered to in her studio - virtually every part of the animal is recycled in some manner.
Dude. I found this advertisement inside an 1866 Catalogue of seal and whale specimens in the collection of the British Museum.
Talking fish and Piccadilly Square freak shows! Whoo!
Fear not that you have papular syphiloderm, good sir! Your fantastical moustache will will transfix people more than enough to distract from it!
A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Skin for use by Students and Practitioners. Dr. James Nevins Hyde
This is a grave from the Victorian age when a fear of zombies and vampires was prevalent. The cage was intended to trap the undead just in case the corpse reanimated.
ARE YOU GUYS SERIOUS?!
This was to protect against body snatching!
Here: educate yourself.
haha
Seriously? Trust me, fear of premature burial was there (it’s been stipulated in more than one will that the head is to be cut off before burial “just in case”, so that the person doesn’t wake up underground), but if there were any legitimate fear of zombies, no one would have ever even thought of a “Waking Mortuary”, where rich British people stayed after death, until they started to decompose. No one actually woke up in any of those Waking Mortuaries, by the way.
Even that fear was far more transient a cultural standpoint than the totally legitimate fear of body-snatchers, especially in England. France allowed dissection of executed criminals and unclaimed cadavers from the Revolution onward, but England didn’t allow any sort of dissection (aside from on executed felons - and they had nowhere near as many as in France) until nearly 50 years later.
The only way anatomists could get bodies for quite a while was by buying them from “ressurectionists” who would rob fresh graves. Or, if given the opportunity, would just kill transients and sell those bodies. It was the case of Burke and Hare, who started as resurrectionists but later started killing family-less boarders at Burke’s boarding house, that finally brought the need for cadavers by the medical community to the forefront of the judicial system.
There was finally a law passed in 1832, after the Burke/Hare case, allowing unclaimed corpses to be used in dissection research. This drastically cut down on the number of graves that had bodies stolen from them, but until cement vaults and other structural/security components became standard on graves (not until the 1930s in some places), rich people DID still have their graves robbed for any valuables they may have had on them.
So yeah. Resurrectionists. Body snatchers. Literal grave robbers. All problems. Zombies? Not so much.
Cabbaging Cove is up and running!
The name of the blog makes a lot more sense once you go there and read what it meant in 19th-century vernacular. Trust me.
You know you want more Liquid Bread! :D
A blog for all biological and medical ephemera, from the age of Abraham through the era of medical quackery and cure-all nostrums. Featuring illustrations, history, and totally useless trivia from the diverse realms of nature and medicine.
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