Category: medical
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Regency Childbirth
Forceps, anesthesia, and hot, spiced wine: What was it like to give birth in Regency England?
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Vertigo in the Regency
In January of this year, after having 4 barometric migraines in 5 days, I found myself on the floor in my library, vomiting into the trash bin. For the next two weeks, I was told I had positional vertigo, but they didn’t want to treat it beyond medications to control the dizziness and nausea until…
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When Mercury was a Cure-all
Everyone who reads my books knows that I have the Miss Bennets, particularly Mary, and, at times, Charlotte Lucas to be extraordinarily capable alchemists in the stillroom. Rarely is it without a later purpose, from scented waters that may be included in travel kits to medicinals that Miss Kitty needs to ease her cough to…
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How Far We Have Come?
Since the sun crossed the earth’s equinox at 5:01am EDT yesterday morning, I wish a very Happy Spring to my dear Northern Hemisphere readers, and a most Happy Autumn to my dear Southern Hemisphere readers! (No, my nerdiness is not restricted to Regency trivia.) At the time this blog posts, it will have been 13…
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Good For What Ails You: Boozy Medicine In Regency England
“Did people back then just drink their illnesses away?” This question came to my mind when I started reading regency literature and ran across tinctures, elixirs and cordials. I had a vague idea that a cordial was a mild alcohol, and no idea whatsoever about tinctures and elixirs. What were these things, anyway? It turns…
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Invalids in Georgian England
Good morrow, fair readers! Who else is counting down the days until the start of autumn? Cooler temperatures; azure skies; changing leaves… sigh! I am aware such anticipation is limited to those Janeites who live in the Northern Hemisphere, so, my dear Southern Hemisphere readers, are you eagerly awaiting spring’s glorious transformation upon the landscape?…