152 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



So what signifies learning, or going to school, 

 When woman can do without reason or rule ? " 



England in the eighteenth century has been truly named the " Para- 

 dise of Quacks." Our ancestors were assuredly a nostrum-loving lot, 

 from the King to the peasant. Truly they must have thought "with the 

 prophet, " The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth ; and he 

 that is wise will not abhor them " (Ecclesiasticus xxxviii, 4). Perhaps 

 the most remarkable of unblushing quacks who flourished toward the 

 end of the eighteenth century was Dr. Graham, a graduate of Edin- 

 burgh, and a fellow-student of Sir James Mackintosh. He introduced 

 Mesmerism into England, and was nearly as successful as his master. 

 In 1780 he went to London and occupied a magnificent mansion, which 

 he designated the " Temple of Health and Hymen." It was gorgeously 

 furnished, and a fortune was spent 'on the decorations. The spacious 

 rooms were adorned with marble statues, stands of armor, plates of 

 burnished steel, and superbly lighted with wax-candles ; sweet strains 

 of distant music were continually floating through the air, and delicious 

 perfumes were always burning in swinging censers ; at the door were 

 stationed two gigantic porters, clad in showy liveries covered with 

 gold lace. In this " Enchanting Elysian Palace " Dr. Graham deliv- 

 ered his lectures on health and procreation at two guineas a head, and 

 he did not want for hearers. In his s'eances he was assisted by a beau- 

 tiful woman, whom he called Vestina, the rosy goddess of health she 

 who afterward became Lady Hamilton, the favorite of Nelson. In 

 the daytime he was assisted in his electrical experiments by Dr. Mit- 

 ford, the father of the celebrated authoress. In this temple was a 

 celestial bed standing on glass legs and ornamented with the richest 

 hangings ; he pretended that childless married pairs who slept in this 

 bed would be certain to have heirs. The price was 100 a night, and 

 many persons of high rank eagerly accepted the terms. He then 

 advertised an elixir of life, which, it is said, he sold to more than one 

 noble simpleton for 1,000. One mode of treatment he recommended 

 for prolonging life was the frequent use of mud-baths. Soon, from 

 his religious extravagances, Graham became unpopular, and, retiring 

 from public life, he died poor in the neighborhood of Glasgow. 



A species of quackery called " Perkinism," which made a stir in the 

 world in the beginning of the present century, I must now shortly 

 describe, for, among the delusions which have succeeded in imposing 

 on men of education and position, it is pre-eminent. It orignated in 

 America, and to Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes I am indebted for most 

 of my information on the subject. Dr. Elisha Perkins was born in 

 Connecticut, in 17-40 ; he practiced with success for many years, but, 

 being inspired by the recent discoveries of Galvani, he conceived the 

 idea that metallic substances applied in a certain manner might remove 

 disease. In 179Ghegave to the world his metallic "Tractors." These 

 consisted " of two pieces of metal, one iron and one brass, about three 



