Connecticut western news., 1873-01-31
THE OUACKS.

THE QUACKs.
 The quacks of the present day are sufficiently numerous, and meet with success enough to cause astonishment to every thinking person; but, compar- ed with their predecessors of the eigh- teenth century, they pale into insignifi- canoe. Coolers, tinkers and footmen, (some not able to read their own adyer- tisements,) assumed the title of doctor. and pretended to be able to cure every known disease. They advertised par tlculars of their wonderful cures, and by the use of scraps of Latin or dog gerel rhymes, or by claiming to be seventh son of seventh son." or an unborn doctor" secured the patron age of the lower orders. They put for ward the most extraordinary assertions, as inducements for the public to con tide in their medical ability. One as- serted that he had arrived at the knowledge of the green and red dragon. and had discovered the female fern seed; another stated that s.he had studied thirty years by candle light for the good of his countrymen;" whilst a third, by heading his bills with the word
 "TErRAcHxMAeoeoN,"
 insured their being read by crowds of people. of whom the majority when sick would go to no other but this learned man.
 One of the most pertinacious adver- users ln the early part of the century was Sir William Read. Originally 8 tailor he became oculist to Queen Anne, and afterward to George the First. From Queen Anne he received the honor of knlghthood. Though so ignorant that he could hardly read, yet, by an unusual amount of lmpudence, and by the use of few scraps of latin in his advertise ments, he obtained great reputation for learning, and such an amount of patronage as enabled him to ride in his own chariot. When travelling in the province he practised (s'by the light of nature not only in small towns and villages, where the ignorance of the in- habitants might be supposed to favor hls pretensions, but also in the princi- pal seats of learning. In one of his ad- vertlsements he calls upon the Vice Chancellor, University and City of Ok ford, to vouch for his cures. He adver- tised in The Idtle7. that he had been thirty five years in the practice of couchlng cataracts, taking of all sorts of wens, curing wry necks, and hair lips, without blemish, though ever so de- formed. His wife assisted him. and after his death, which occurred on the 24th of May, 1715, carried on his busi- ness. M
 In those days the quacks advertised testimonials from grateful patients.
 Dr. Grant was celebrated advertis- ing quack. Commencing life as tin- ker, he afterward, though very illiterate became g Baptist preacher in South wark, then turning quack, he eventual y became oculist to Queen Anne. Speaking of Read and Grant, @ writer In The Grub Street Journal says:
 Her Majesty, sure, was in surprise.
 Or else was very short sighted;
 And the mountebank Read was knighted."
 Mir. Moore, the apothecary, was known as the "Worm Doctor" :" because of celebrated worm powder that he sold. In one of the numbers of The I'dtter London Tradesman advertises that he had been cured of Rheumatism by MT. Moore, of the Pestle and Nor tar, Abchulch lane.
 Early in the century fourished Dr. Tam Saffold, who used 10 publish his bills in verse, thus:
 Here's safold,s pihs. mucb bett.r ina, +hs -ou. Deservedly has gained the name of best: 4honge Son Of {, eighteen E . pills for eighteen pence
 1house it is too cneap in any mans won sense.n
 He is said to have gained more bv this couplet, than Dryden by all his works.
 The sterner sex were not, however. %n n-JH quackery. One of the best known characters of the last century was Mrs. Mapp, the bone-setter, who, after lead ing a wandering life for some time, settled down at Epson, then a place of fashionable resort. The remarkable strength with which she was endowed, together with such knowledge as she had acquired from her father Himself a bone-setter), mainly contributed to the success which, in many cases, undoubt. edly attended her operations. She Journled to town twice week in coach. and-four, and at the Grecian Coffee House operated on her town ients, carrying their crutches back to Epson as trophies of her skill. During one of these visits she was called into the the aid of Sir Hans Sloane's niece. and VaAO oAOOOoo WhACu SnC l1Gt W1bQ on 6D1e occasion became the talk of the town. A comedy called "The Husbands Re lief, or the Female Bone-setter and the Worm Doctor" ]" was brought out at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Mrs Mapp attended the first performance accompanied by Ward and Taylor, two quacks. A song in her praise was sung of which one verse runs:
 You doctors of London, who puzzle your bates 10 ride in your coaches and purchase estates;
 Glve over, TOT shame, for your pride has a fall,
 Ana tne Doetress of Epson has outdone you all"
 Many remarkable cures affected by her are noted in the public journals o1 the day, and there is no doubt that she was in receipt of very large income The following abstract from The Gyul Street Jo,sr,tus, of the 18th of April 1736, will give the reader a sufficient insight into her brief married life: "We hear that the husband of Mrs. Mapp the famous bone-setter of Epson, rar away from her last week, taking witt him upwards of hundred guineas, an6 sueh other portable things as lay nax to his hand Several letters from Ep