Artificial Leeches: In The News On September 10th, 1850

I was scanning the paper for today's curious news item when this advertisement caught my eye:



From the second page of the New-York Daily Tribune,
Tuesday, September 10, 1850

 

The print is a bit difficult to read, so I have typed up the advertisement:

Artificial Leeches- Alexandre's Artificial Leeches, approved by all the practitioners that have seen them. They possess over the natural leech the advantage of economy, cleanliness and facility of application, and deserve the especial attention of country physicians and farmers. An invoice just received and for sale by a5 1m* ALEXANDRE & CO. 23 Malden-Lane, N. Y.

After reading the ad, I was dying to know what these highly superior "artificial leeches" actually looked like. I found that they varied a great deal. Some were very small, seemingly innocuous items. For instance, the "Glass Leech" (invented in 1827 by Doctor Francis Fox) looked almost like an oddly-shaped glass bowl with metal rim.

On the right are two glass leeches.*

Some looked more like vacuum cleaners that suctioned blood instead of dirt.

Here's a picture of a French artificial leech, known as a terabdella, or "large leech." *



Regardless of what the artificial leeches looked like, I am sure that nineteenth century patients must have preferred them to their living counterparts. After all, in the words of Andrew H. Smith (inventor of one of the multitude of artificial leeches that were available in the 1800s):

"In the first place the appearance of the animal is repulsive and disgusting, and delicate and sensitive persons find it difficult to overcome their repugnance to contact with the cold and slimy reptile. This is especially the case when it is a question of their application about or within the mouth. Then again, their disposition to crawl into cavities or passages results sometimes in very annoying accidents. Another source of annoyance is that they are often unwilling to bite—the patience of all concerned being exhausted in fruitless efforts to induce them to take hold." *

"Then again, their disposition to crawl into cavities or passages results sometimes in very annoying accidents."

The most horrifying sentence ever written in the English language.

*Pictures and quote obtained from "The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology," a fascinating public domain EBook by Audrey Davis and Toby Appel.

Professor Henry, Clairvoyant: In The News On November 24, 1886

I found this one entirely by accident, while scanning advertisements in the Dallas Daily Herald. At first I thought it very novel that people in 1886 took phrenology and clairvoyance seriously enough to keep dear Professor Henry in business, but after a few minutes I remembered that there are still people today who consult psychics. So, I suppose the take-home message here is actually how little things have changed since 1886, if clairvoyance was then and is still a viable career path.

Dallas Daily Herald, November 24, 1886

 

As it turns out,  clairvoyance and phrenology were quite  competitive industries. All of the following advertisements come from the same page of The Evening Statesman, a paper based in Walla Walla, Washington. They were printed in November of 1903.

  

 I particularly enjoyed Mme. Kent's "Others are making from $10 to $15 a day, why not you." If the amounts were adjusted somewhat, that could easily be the title of an internet ad today.

Saved A Friend By Stabbing A Shark: In The News On September 8th, 1884



Here’s a unique story from the 1880s…

From the first page of the New-York Tribune
Monday, September 8, 1884.



As a side note, the term “bathing” as it is used in this article likely means “swimming” so the fifty young men were probably out getting exercise, not bobbing around with sponges and soap!

I did some research on the setting of this little drama, and found Jasper Francis Cropsey’s depiction of the view of the Narrows from Staten Island. This painting was completed in 1868, about sixteen years before John Taylor’s adventure.

 This idyllic scene doesn't match the story very well, but try to picture the tiny figures of a man and a shark locked in mortal combat somewhere in the water. 

 Until next time!