The Mesmerist: The Society Doctor Who Held Victorian London Spellbound

Synopsis

Medicine, In The Early 1800s, Was A Brutal Business. Operations Were Performed Without Anaesthesia While Conventional Treatment Relied On Leeches, Cupping And Toxic Potions. The Most Surgeons Could Offer By Way Of Pain Relief Was A Large Swig Of Brandy. Onto This Scene Came John Elliotson, The Dazzling New Hope Of The Medical World. Charismatic And Ambitious, Elliotson Was Determined To Transform Medicine From A Hodge-podge Of Archaic Remedies Into A Practice Informed By The Latest Science. In This Aim He Was Backed By Thomas Wakley, Founder Of The New Magazine, The Lancet, And A Campaigner Against Corruption And Malpractice. Then, In The Summer Of 1837, A French Visitor - The Self-styled Baron Jules Denis Dupotet - Arrived In London To Promote An Exotic New Idea: Mesmerism. The Mesmerism Mania Would Take The Nation By Storm But Would Ultimately Split The Two Friends, And The Medical World, Asunder - Throwing Into Focus Fundamental Questions About The Fine Line Between Medicine And Quackery, Between Science And Superstition. Wendy Moore. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.