from the collection
The Oddities
Strange treatments, forgotten theories and the curious words of medicine’s past. Each entry is a specimen from the history of how humanity tried to heal itself.
— ⁂ —
-
The Doctors’ Riot of 1788: When New York Rioted Over a Dead Woman’s Arm
Read the entry →: The Doctors’ Riot of 1788: When New York Rioted Over a Dead Woman’s ArmIn April 1788, the United States was barely a country. The Constitution wasn’t even ratified yet. And in New York City, thousands of people were…
-
Body Snatchers: Why Doctors Paid People to Dig Up the Dead
Read the entry →: Body Snatchers: Why Doctors Paid People to Dig Up the DeadImagine burying someone you love, then going back the next morning to find the grave disturbed and the coffin empty. For people in 1700s and…
-
Why Did Plague Doctors Wear Beaked Masks? The Strange Truth Behind the Costume
Read the entry →: Why Did Plague Doctors Wear Beaked Masks? The Strange Truth Behind the CostumeA long black coat. A wide hat. Glass eyes. And that beak. The plague doctor might be the creepiest outfit in all of medical history.…
-
25 Medical Words That Sound Made Up—but Weren’t
Read the entry →: 25 Medical Words That Sound Made Up—but Weren’tMedicine has always had a vocabulary problem. Here are 25 strange, obsolete, and occasionally hilarious medical terms that once appeared in real medical and everyday…
-
Before Germ Theory: When Doctors Thought Bad Air Made You Sick
Read the entry →: Before Germ Theory: When Doctors Thought Bad Air Made You SickFor centuries, foul air was blamed for plague, cholera, and other diseases. Miasma theory may have been wrong, but it shaped medicine, sanitation, and public…
-
The Deadliest Colours in History: When Beautiful Pigments Could Poison You
Read the entry →: The Deadliest Colours in History: When Beautiful Pigments Could Poison YouSome of history’s most beautiful colors came with an ugly secret. From lead white and arsenic green to mercury-rich vermilion and uranium-glazed ceramics, these pigments…
-
Corpse Medicine: When the Dead Were Considered a Pharmacy
Read the entry →: Corpse Medicine: When the Dead Were Considered a PharmacyFrom drinking the blood of executed criminals to rubbing a dead man’s hand over disease, explore the disturbing history of corpse medicine and folk healing.
-
The Four Humours: When Your Personality—and Your Illness—Was Blamed on Bodily Fluids
Read the entry →: The Four Humours: When Your Personality—and Your Illness—Was Blamed on Bodily FluidsFor centuries, physicians believed health depended on balancing four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The theory shaped diagnosis, diet, bloodletting—and even…
-
When Medicine Was Worse Than the Disease
Read the entry →: When Medicine Was Worse Than the DiseaseFrom bloodletting and trepanation to urine remedies and tobacco smoke enemas, explore eight bizarre medical treatments that were once taken seriously.