The doctors who attended Queen Victoria in her last illness received two thousand guineas each; while Dr. Lapponi’s skill in removing a cyst from the Pope’s side a few years ago was recompensed with two thousand five hundred dollars. Dr. Dinsdale, for his journey to Saint Petersburg and vaccination of the Empress Catharine II, received fifty thousand dollars as his fee, twenty-five thousand dollars for traveling expenses, and a life pension of two thousand five hundred dollars a year.
The fees of the physicians who attended King Edward during the illness which preceded his coronation amounted to more than one hundred thousand dollars.
BEFORE THE FORK WAS THOUGHT OF.
FINGERS DID WORK THOROUGHLY.
The Elegance of Dinner Parties and the
Daintiness of the Hands Must Have
Suffered Considerably, However.
Fingers were made before forks and used instead of forks until a comparatively recent period; indeed it is evident that forks have not even now superseded them altogether, though there is no doubt about there being a great improvement in the manner of eating since the days when the fork was unknown.
The Greeks and Romans, as well as other ancient nations, knew nothing of any such implement, and meat was commonly prepared in stews. Eating was hardly a dainty operation under such circumstances, and we should probably find ourselves overcome with disgust if we were obliged to take a meal in the company of our ancestors of even three hundred years ago.
Each man had his own knife, and at dinner seized the joint with his hand and cut off what he wished. The dish was then passed on to the next, who did the same. The knife then cut up the portions into small pieces, which were put into the mouth by the fingers of the hand unoccupied by the knife.