QUACKS OF THE CENTURY.
In all ages there have been pretenders to medical science, and it has been reserved to the present century to elevate the healing art into a real science, based on proper physiological facts, aided by the searching analyses of modern chemistry. The old alchemists had died out, yet they had some pretensions to learning, but the pharmacopœia at the commencement of the eighteenth century was in a deplorable condition. Surgery, for rough purposes, had existed since the earliest ages, because accidents would happen, then as now; and, moreover, there were wars, which necessitated the amputation of limbs, etc., but medicine, except in the knowledge of the virtue of herbs and simples, was in more than a primitive state. Anyone who chose, could dub himself Doctor, and, naturally, the privilege was largely taken advantage of.
The name of quack, or quacksalver, does not seem to have been much used before the seventeenth century, and its derivation has not been distinctly settled. In the ‘Antiquities of Egypt,’ etc., by William Osburn, junior, London, 1847, p. 94, he says: ‘The idea of a physician is frequently represented by a species of duck, the name of which is CHIN: the Egyptian word for physician was also CHINI.’ But neither Pierret, in his ‘Vocabulaire Hieroglyphique,’ nor Bunsen, in ‘Egypt’s Place in Universal History,’ endorse this statement. Still the Egyptian equivalent for cackling, or the noise of a goose, was Ka ka, and in Coptic Ouok, pronounced very much like quack.
The Germans also use the word Quacksalber, and the Dutch Kwaksalver, a term which Bilderdijk, in his ‘Geslachtlijst der Naamwoorden,’ (derivation or gender of men’s names) says, ought more properly to be Kwabsalver, from Kwab, a wen, and Salver, to anoint. Be this as it may, the English word quack certainly means an illegitimate medical practitioner, a pretender to medical science, whose pretensions are not warranted by his knowledge.
The seventeenth century was prolific in quacks—a notable example being John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester. Both Bishop Burnet and De Gramont agree that, during one of his banishments from Court, he lived in Tower Street (next door to the sign of the ‘Black Swan,’ at a goldsmith’s house), and there practised as a quack doctor, as one Alexander Bendo, newly arrived from Germany. There is a famous mountebank speech of his extant, copies of which exist not only in broad sheets, but in some of the jest-books of the seventeenth century, which, genuine or not, is very amusing. It is far too long to transcribe here, but perhaps I may be pardoned if I give a short extract.
‘The knowledge of these secrets I gathered in my travels abroad (where I have spent my time ever since I was fifteen years old to this, my nine and twentieth year) in France and Italy. Those that have travelled in Italy will tell you what a miracle of art does there assist nature in the preservation of beauty: how women of forty bear the same countenance with them of fifteen: ages are no way distinguished by faces; whereas, here in England, look a horse in the mouth and a woman in the face, you presently know both their ages to a year. I will, therefore, give you such remedies that, without destroying your complexion (as most of your paints and daubings do) shall render them perfectly fair; clearing and preserving them from all spots, freckles, heats, pimples, and marks of the small-pox, or any other accidental ones, so that the face be not seamed or scarred.
‘I will also cleanse and preserve your teeth white and round as pearls, fastening them that are loose: your gums shall be kept entire, as red as coral; your lips of the same colour, and soft as you could wish your lawful kisses.
‘I will likewise administer that which shall cure the worst of breaths, provided the lungs be not totally perished and imposthumated; as also certain and infallible remedies for those whose breaths are yet untainted; so that nothing but either a very long sickness, or old age itself, shall ever be able to spoil them.
‘I will, besides, (if it be desired) take away from their fatness who have over much, and add flesh to those that want it, without the least detriment to their constitutions.’
By his plausible manners and good address, he soon gathered round him a large clientèle of servants, etc., for he told fortunes as well as cured diseases. These told their mistresses, and they too came to consult the wise man. Even the Court ladies came incognito to see him, and la belle Jennings, sister to the famous Sarah, first Duchess of Marlborough, went, with the beautiful Miss Price, to have their fortunes told, disguised as orange-wenches, and in all probability their visit would never have been heard of, had they not met with a disagreeable adventure with a somewhat dissolute gentleman named Brounker, who was gentleman of the chamber to the Duke of York, and brother to Viscount Brounker, President of the Royal Society.
John Cotgrave[87] thus describes the quack of his time:
‘My name is Pulse-feel, a poor Doctor of Physick,
That does wear three pile Velvet in his Hat,
Has paid a quarter’s Rent of his house before-hand,
And (simple as he stands here) was made Doctor beyond sea.
I vow, as I am Right worshipful, the taking
Of my Degree cost me twelve French Crowns, and
Thirty-five pounds of Butter in upper Germany.
I can make your beauty and preserve it,
Rectifie your body and maintaine it,
Clarifie your blood, surfle[88] your cheeks, perfume
Your skin, tinct your hair, enliven your eye,
Heighten your Appetite; and, as for Jellies,
Dentifrizes, Dyets, Minerals, Fucusses,[89]
Pomatums, Fumes, Italia Masks to sleep in,
Either to moisten or dry the superficies, Paugh, Galen
Was a Goose, and Paracelsus a patch
To Doctor Pulse-feel.’
Then there was that arch quack and empiric, Sir Kenelm Digby, with his ‘sympathetic powder,’ etc., and Dr. Saffold, originally a weaver, who distributed his handbills broadcast, advertising his ability to cure every disease under the sun.
Also in this century is a poem called ‘The Dispensary,’[90] by Sir Samuel Garth, who lived in Queen Anne’s time, which gives the following account of a quack and his surroundings:
‘So truly Horoscope its Virtues knows,
To this bright Idol[91] ’tis, alone, he bows;
And fancies that a Thousand Pound supplies
The want of twenty Thousand Qualities.
Long has he been of that amphibious Fry,
Bold to prescribe, and busie to apply.
His Shop the gazing Vulgar’s Eyes employs
With foreign Trinkets, and domestick Toys.
Here Mummies lay, most reverently stale,
And there, the Tortois hung her Coat o’ Mail;
Not far from some huge Shark’s devouring Head,
The flying Fish their finny Pinions spread.
Aloft in rows large Poppy Heads were strung,
And near, a scaly Alligator hung.
In this place, Drugs in Musty heaps decay’d,
In that, dry’d Bladders, and drawn Teeth were laid.
An inner Room receives the numerous Shoals
Of such as pay to be reputed Fools.
Globes stand by Globes, Volumns on Volumns lie,
And Planitary Schemes amuse the eye
The Sage, in Velvet Chair, here lolls at ease,
To promise future Health for present Fees.
Then, as from Tripod, solemn shams reveals,
And what the Stars know nothing of, reveals.’
Medicine in the last century was very crude. Bleeding and purging were matters of course; but some of the remedies in the pharmacopœia were very curious. Happy the patient who knew not the composition of his dose. Take the following:[92]
‘Or sometimes a quarter of a pint of the following decoction may be drank alone four times a day:
‘Take a fresh viper, freed from the head, skin, and intestines, cut in pieces; candied eryngo root, sliced, two ounces. Boil them gently in three pints of water, to a pint and three-quarters, and to the strained liquor add simple and spiritous cinnamon waters, of each two ounces. Mix them together, to be taken as above directed.
‘The following viper broth (taken from the London Dispensatory) is a very nutritious and proper restorative food in this case, and seems to be one of the best preparations of the viper: for all the benefit that can be expected from that animal is by this means obtained:
‘Take a middle-sized viper, freed from head, skin, and intestines; and two pints of water. Boil them to a pint and a half; then remove the vessel from the fire; and when the liquor is grown cold, let the fat, which congeals upon the surface, if the viper was fresh, be taken off. Into this broth, whilst warm, put a pullet of a moderate size, drawn and freed from the skin, and all the fat, but with the flesh intire. Set the vessel on the fire again, that the liquor may boil; then remove it from the fire, take out the chicken, and immediately chop its flesh into little pieces: put these into the liquor again, set it over the fire, and as soon as it boils up, pour out the broth, first carefully taking off the scum.
‘Of this broth let the patient take half a pint every morning, at two of the clock in the afternoon, and at supper-time.’
In the same book, also (p. 97), we find the following remedy for cancer:
‘Dr. Heister, professor of physic and surgery in the university of Helmstadt in Germany, with many others, greatly extols the virtue of millepedes, or wood-lice, in this case; and, perhaps, the best way of administering them is as follows:
‘Take of live wood-lice, one ounce; fine sugar, two drams; a little powder of nutmeg; and half a pint of alexeterial water. Let the wood-lice and sugar, with the nutmeg, be ground together in a marble mortar, then gradually add the water, which being well mixed, strain it with hard pressing. Two ounces of this expression are to be taken twice a day, shaking the vessel, so that no part of it may be lost.’
And it also seems that much virtue was attached to the great number of component parts in a medicine, as may be seen in the recipe for Arquebusade Water[93] (from the same book, p. 101).
‘Take of comfrey leaves and root, sage, mugwort, bugloss, each four handfulls; betony, sanicle, ox-eye daisy, common daisy, greater figwort, plantane, agrimony, vervain, wormwood, fennel, each two handfulls; St. John’s wort, long birthwort, orpine, veronica, lesser centaury, milfoil, tobacco, mouse-ear, mint, hyssop, each one handfull; wine twenty-four pounds. Having cut and bruised the herbs, pour on them the wine, and let them stand together, in digestion, in horse dung, or any other equivalent heat, for three days: afterwards distill in an alembic with a moderate fire.
‘This celebrated water has for some time been held in great esteem, in contusions, for resolving coagulated blood, discussing the tumors that arise on fractures and dislocations, for preventing the progress of gangrenes, and cleansing and healing ulcers and wounds, particularly gunshot wounds....’
Amongst the empyrical medicines, the following is much cried up by many people, as an infallible remedy:
‘Take two ounces of the worts that grow dangling to the hinder heels of a stone horse,[94] wash them in common water, then infuse them in white wine all night, and afterwards let them be dried, and reduced to powder. The dose is half a dram twice a day, in any proper vehicle. A dram of Venice soap given twice a day, either in pills, or dissolved in some proper liquor, is likewise said to cure a Cancer.’
In the early part of the eighteenth century, the regular physicians were very ignorant. Ward[95] thus describes them, and, although his language was coarse, he was a keen observer.
‘They rail mightily in their Writings against the ignorance of Quacks and Mountebanks, yet, for the sake of Lucre, they Licence all the Cozening Pretenders about Town, or they could not Practise; which shows it is by their Toleration that the People are Cheated out of their Lives and Money; and yet they think themselves so Honest, as to be no ways answerable for this Publick Injury; as if they could not kill People fast enough themselves, but must depute all the Knaves in the Town to be Death’s Journeymen. Thus do they License what they ought carefully to Suppress; and Practise themselves what they Blame and Condemn in others; And that the Town may not be deceived by Apothecaries, they have made themselves Medicine-Mongers,[96] under a pretence of serving the Publick with more faithful preparations; in order to perswade the World to a belief of which, they have publish’d Bills, where, in the true Quack’s Dialect, they tell you the Poor shall be supply’d for nothing; but whoever is so Needy as to make a Challenge of their promise empty-handed, will find, according to the Mountebank’s saying, No Money, No Cure. The disposal of their Medicines they leave to a Boy’s management, who scarce knows Mercurius Dulcis from White Sugar, or Mint Water from Aqua Fortis: So that People are likely to be well serv’d, or Prescriptions truly observed by such an Agent.’
If this was a faithful portrait of a physician in the commencement of the century, what must a charlatan have been? They sowed their hand-bills broadcast. Gay, in his ‘Trivia,’ book ii., says,
‘If the pale Walker pants with weak’ning Ills,
His sickly Hand is stor’d with Friendly Bills:
From hence he learns the seventh born[97] Doctor’s Fame,
From hence he learns the cheapest Tailor’s name.’
So universal was this practice of advertising that, to quote Ward[98] once more, when talking of the Royal Exchange, he says,
‘The Wainscote was adorn’d with Quacks’ Bills, instead of Pictures; never an Emperick in the Town, but had his Name in a Lacquered Frame, containing a fair Invitation for a Fool and his Money to be soon parted.’
The newspapers teemed with quack advertisements. These, of course, we have; but we also have preserved to us a quantity of the ephemeral hand-bills, which, presumably, were kept on account of the intrinsic merits they possessed. They are a curious study. There was the ‘Oxford Doctor at the Fleet Prison, near Fleet Bridge, London,’ who would sell ten pills in a box for sixpence, warranted a cure for the ‘Scurvy, Dropsie, and Colt-evil,’ would provide a remedy for ‘Headach, Sore Eyes, Toothach, Stomachach, Bleeding, Scorbutick Gums, Black, Yellow, foul Teeth, Cramp, Worms, Itch, Kibes, and Chilblains; the Price of each proper Specifick, Twopence. Teeth or stumps of Teeth, Drawn with Ease and Safety, Let Blood neatly, Issues or Setons Curiously made; For Two Pence each, and welcome. By the Doctor that puts forth this paper, you may be Taught Writing, Arithmetick, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, at reasonable Rates by the great, Or Two Pence each of them by the Week.’ Presumably, as he does not advertise it, he could not teach manners at the same traditional price.
There was another who sold the Elixir Stomachum which was sold at the various coffee-houses about town, and he complains thus: ‘☞ Garrowaye, the Apple-man at the Exchange, who had it of me, to sell, for five or six years, I have lately found out, is Counterfeiting it, and have removed mine from him; and what he now sells is a Counterfeit sort, and not the Right, as was formerly Sold there.’
There was a man, living in Blackfriars, who was so modest that he veiled his identity under the initials R.C., who, from two in the afternoon till night, ‘will give to all People a Secret how they may utterly destroy Buggs without injury to their Goods, at reasonable rates; do as you are Taught, and if any be doubtful of the truth of it, they may have full satisfaction of them that have Experienced it.’
Here is a gentleman who gives a minute address. ‘In Petty France, Westminster, at a house with a black dore, and a Red Knocker, between the Sign of the Rose and Crown and Jacob’s Well, is a German who hath a Powder which, with the blessing of God upon it, certainly cures the Stone, &c.... If any person of known Integrity will affirm that upon following their directions the cure is not perfected, they shall have their Money returned. Therefore be not unwilling to come for help, but suspend your Judgment till you have try’d, and then speak as you find.’
There is another, which may belong to the previous century—but it is so hard to tell, either by means of type or wood blocks—put forth by ‘Salvator Winter, an Italian of the City of Naples, Aged 98 years, Yet, by the Blessing of God, finds himself in health, and as strong as anyone of Fifty, as to the Sensitive part; Which first he attributes to God, and then to his Elixir Vitæ, which he always carries in his pocket adayes, and at Night under his pillow; And when he finds himself distemper’d, he taketh a Spoonful or two, according as need requireth.‘ It is needless to say that the Elixir was warranted to cure every evil under the sun, including such diverse maladies as catarrhs, sore eyes, hardness of hearing, toothache, sore throat, consumption, obstructions in the stomach, and worms. The net was arranged to catch every kind of fish. In fact, his business was so profitable that he had a successor, ‘Salvator Winter, Junior,’ who says thus: ‘My father, aged 98 years, yet enjoys his perfect health, which, next to the blessing of God, he attributes to the Elixir Vitæ having alway a bottle of it in his pocket, drinking a spoonful thereof four or five times a day; snuffing it very strongly up his Nostrils, and bathing his Temples; thus by prevention, he fortifies his vital Spirits.’
Nor did the sterner sex monopolise the profession of quackdom, for ‘At the Blew-Ball in Grays-Inn Lane, near Holborn Barrs, next Door to a Tallow-Chandler, where you may see my Name upon a Board over the Door, liveth Elizabeth Maris, the True German Gentlewoman lately arrived.’ It seems that we were much indebted to Germany for our quacks, for ‘At the Boot and Spatter dash,[99] next Door but One to the Vine Tavern, in Long-Acre, near Drury Lane, Liveth a German Dr. and Surgeon, Who by the blessing of GOD on his great Pains, Travels and Experience, hath had wonderful Success in the Cure of the Diseases following,’ &c. There was also ‘Cornelius à Tilbourg, Sworn Chirurgeon in Ordinary to K. Charles the II., to our late Sovereign K. William, as also to Her present Majesty Queen Ann.’
A certain John Choke, whose motto was ‘Nothing without God,’ and was ‘an approved Physician; and farther, Priviledged by his Majesty,’ advertised ‘an Arcane which I had in Germany, from the Famous and most Learned Baptista Van Helmont, of worthy Memory (whose Daughter I Wedded), and whose Prœscripts most Physicians follow.’
Curative and magical powers seem to have extended from seventh sons of seventh sons to women—for I find an advertisement, ‘At the Sign of the Blew-Ball, at the upper end of Labour in vain-Street, next Shadwell-New-Market, Liveth a Seventh Daughter, who learn’d her Skill by one of the ablest Physicians in England (her uncle was one of K. Charles’s and K. James’s twelve Doctors), who resolves all manner of Questions, and interprets Dreams to admiration, and hath never fail’d (with God’s Blessing) what she took in hand.’ Also there was a book published late in the seventeenth century, called ‘The Woman’s Prophecy, or the Rare and Wonderful DOCTRESS, foretelling a Thousand strange monstrous things that shall come to pass before New Year’s day next, or afterwards—. She likewise undertakes to cure the most desperate Diseases of the Female Sex, as the Glim’ring of the Gizzard, the Quavering of the Kidneys, the Wambling Trot, &c.’ A man who lived at the ‘Three Compasses’ in Maiden Lane, also issued a hand bill that he would infallibly cure ‘several strange diseases, which (though as yet not known to the world) he will plainly demonstrate to any Ingenious Artist to be the greatest Causes of the most common Distempers incident to the Body of Man. The Names of which take as follow: The Strong Fives, the Marthambles, the Moon-Pall, the Hockogrocle.’
Then there was a medicine which was administered to children even in my young days, ‘Daffy’s famous Elixir Salutis, prepared by Katharine Daffy. The finest now exposed to Sale, prepar’d from the best Druggs, according to Art, and the Original Receipt, which my Father, Mr. Thomas Daffy, late Rector of Redmile, in the Valley of Belvoir, having experienc’d the Virtues of it, imparted to his Kinsman, Mr. Anthony Daffy, who publish’d the same to the Benefit of the Community, and his own great Advantage. This very Original Receipt is now in my possession, left to me by my father aforesaid, under his own Hand. My own Brother, Mr. Daniel Daffy, formerly Apothecary in Nottingham, made this ELIXIR from the same Receipt, and Sold it there during his Life. Those, who know me, will believe what I Declare; and those who do not, may be convinc’d that I am no Countefeit, by the Colour, Tast, Smell, and just Operation of my Elixir.’ This was, however, disputed by one John Harrison—and the rivals of nearly two centuries ago, remind us forcibly of the claimants to the original recipe of Bond’s Marking Ink.
A man sold a useful medicine. ‘A most excellent Eye Water, which cures in a very short time all Distempers relating to the Eyes, from whatever Cause soever they proceed, even tho’ they have been of seven, eight, nine, or ten Years’ continuance.... This excellent Water effectually takes away all Rabies or Pimples in the face, or any Part of the Body; it also dissolves any small, or new-come Wens or Bunches under the Skin, so easily that it can hardly be perceived.’
One quack blossomed forth in verse, and thus describes himself: ‘In Cripplegate Parish, in Whitecross Street, almost at the farther End, near Old Street (turning in by the sign of the Black Croe, in Goat Alley, straightforward down three steps, at the sign of the Blew Ball), liveth one of above Forty Years’ Experience, who with God’s Blessing performeth these cures following:
‘To all that please to come, he will and can
Cure most Diseases incident to Man.
The Leprosie, the Cholic, and the Spleen,
And most Diseases common to be seen.
Although not cured by Quack Doctors’ proud,
And yet their Name doth ring and range aloud,
With Riches, and for Cures which others do,
Which they could not perform, and this is true.
This Doctor he performeth without doubt, }
The Ileak Passion, Scurvy, and the gout, }
Even to those the Hospitals turn out.’ }
Such ground as one did not cover, another did. Take, for instance, the following: ‘In Surry-Street, in the Strand, at the Corner House with a White-Balcony and Blue-Flower pots, liveth a Gentlewoman, who
‘Hath a most excellent Wash to beautifie the Face, which cures all Redness, Flushings, or Pimples. Takes off any Yellowness, Morpheu, Sunburn, or Spots on the Skin, and takes away Wrinckles and Driness, caused too often by Mercurial Poysonous Washes, rendring the worst of Faces fair and tender, and preserves ’em so. You may have from half a Crown to five Pound a Bottle. You may also have Night Masks, Forehead Pieces, incomparable whitepots, and Red Pomatum for the lips, which keeps them all the Year plump and smooth, and of a delicate natural colour. She has an admirable Paste to smooth and whiten the Hands, with a very good Tooth powder, which cleanses and whitens the Teeth. And a Water to wash the Mouth, which prevents the Scurvy in the Gums and cures where ’tis already come.
‘You may have a Plaster and Water which takes off Hair from any part of the Body, so that it shall never come again. She has also a most excellent Secret to prevent the Hair from falling, causing it to grow where it is wanting in any part of the Head. She also shapes the Eye-brows, making them perfectly beautiful, without any pain, and raises low Foreheads as high as you please. And colours Grey or Red Hair to a lovely Brown, which never decays, changes, or smoots the Linnen. She has excellent Cosmeticks to anoint the Face after the Small Pox, which wears out any Scars, Marks, or Redness; and has great skill in all manner of sore Eyes.
‘She has a most excellent Dyet Drink which cures the worst of Consumptions, or any Impurity of the Blood: And an Antiscorbutick spirit, which, being taken one spoonful in the Morning, and another at Night, with moderate Exercise, cures the Scurvy, tho’ never so far gone, and all broke out in Blotches: with many other Secrets in Physick, which you may be satisfied in when you speak with her.... She has an approved Remedy for Barrenness in Women.’
Very late in the preceding century (he died May 12, 1691), there was a most famous quack, Dr. Thomas Saffold, one of whose handbills I give as a curiosity:
‘Dear Friends, let your Disease be what God will,
Pray to Him for a Cure—try Saffold’s Skill,
Who may be such a healing Instrument
As will Cure you to your own Heart’s Content.
His Medicines are Cheap, and truly Good,
Being full as safe as your daily Food.
Saffold he can do what may be done, by
Either Physick or true Astrology:
His Best Pills, Rare Elixirs, and Powder,
Do each Day Praise him Lowder and Lowder.
Dear Country-men, I pray be you so Wise, }
When Men Back-bite him, believe not their Lyes, }
But go see him and believe your own Eyes; }
Then he will say you are Honest and Kind,
Try before you Judge, and Speak as you Find.
‘By Thomas Saffold, an Approved and Licensed Physician and Student in Astrology, who (through God’s Mercy), to do good, still liveth at the Black Ball and Old Lilly’s Head, next Door to the Feather-Shops that are within Black-fryers Gate-way, which is over against Ludgate Church, just by Ludgate in London. Of him the Poor, Sore, Sick, and Lame may have Advice for nothing, and proper Medicines for every particular Distemper, at reasonable Rates ready prepared, with plain Directions how to use them, to cure either Men, Women, or Children of any Disease or Diseases afflicting any Body, whether inward or outward, of what Name or Nature soever (if Curable); Also of this you may be sure, he hath Medicines to prevent as well as Cure.
‘Lastly, He doth with great certainty and privacy: Resolve all manner of Lawful Questions, according to the Rules of Christian Astrology, and more than Twenty One Years’ Experience.’
Talk of modern quacks—they are but second-rate to Saffold! His Pillulæ Londinenses, or London pills, were advertised that ‘not only the meaner sort of all Ages and each Sex, but people of Eminence, both for their Rank in the World and their parts, have found admirable success in taking these Pills.’
This panacea was warranted to cure ‘Gout, Dropsy, Coma, Lethargy, Caries, Apoplexy, Palsy, Convulsions, Falling Sickness, Vertigo, Madness, Catarrhs, Headache, Scald, and Sore Heads, sore Eyes, Deafness, Toothache, sore Mouth, sore and swollen Throat, foul Stomach, bad Digestion, Vomiting, Pain at the Stomach, sour Belching, Colic, Twisting of the Guts, Looseness, Worms, all Obstructions of the Pancreas, of the Mesaraic Veins, of the passages of the Chyle, and of the Liver and Spleen, the Jaundice, Cachexy, Hypochondriac Melancholy, Agues, Itch, Boils, Rheumatism, Pains and Aches, Surfeits by Eating and Hard Drinking, or by Heats and Colds (as some call them).’
Then there comes a charming bit of candour almost sufficient to disarm the unwary: ‘They are also good in taking the Waters. I would not advise them by any means in the Bloody Flux, nor in continual Fevers, but they are good to purge after either of those Diseases is over, or to carry off the Humor aforehand. They must also be foreborn by Women with Child. Otherwise they are good for any Constitution, and in any Clime. They are Durable many years, and good at Sea as well as on Land.’
Thomas Saffold knew well the value of advertising, and scattered his very varied handbills broadcast. Presumably, like modern quacks, he made money. Of course he died, and his epitaph is as follows (he originally was a weaver):
‘Here lies the Corpse of Thomas Saffold,
By Death, in spite of Physick, baffled;
Who, leaving off his working loom,
Did learned doctor soon become.
To poetry he made pretence,
Too plain to any man’s own sense;
But he when living thought it sin
To hide his talent in napkin;
Now Death does Doctor (poet) crowd
Within the limits of a shroud.’
There was a harmless remedy advertised, even though it was a fraud—and this was the loan, or sale, of necklaces to be worn by children in teething.