Book from 19th century about foreign objects in orifices
Alfred Poulet wrote the book on foreign bodies found in people's bodies. Literally. His two-volume set from 1880, titled "A Treatise on Foreign Bodies in Surgical Practice," is up for auction on eBay. Click the images above to see larger. From the item description:
* The books describe, for example, a case of a woman who had been experiencing vaginal bleeding for several months, but which failed to respond to conventional treatments. After direct observation, the patient was found to have a live leech in the vagina [after removal of the leech, the doctor recommended her to use an underwear or a cork stopper when going to the river for a bathe]. Leech died of starvation after removal.A Treatise on Foreign Bodies in Surgical Practice (Thanks, Michael-Anne Rauback!)
* There are other cases in which spoons, cups, needles, glass bottles, hair brushes, avocado pits, beans, snails, or a variety of insects, arachnids, or fish were removed from different orifices of the human body.
the latest
latest episodes
A cork... You've come a long way, baby.
I guess it's true, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Women still use corks today, only they call it tampons.
A fish. wow.
I bought a copy from these same eBayers almost 10 years ago, for $130. I'd noticed that they'd listed it a few times, so I asked them how they'd come into the possession of multiple copies of a book from 1880. Frank wrote me back and explained that they'd found TWELVE sets of this book in the collection of one Dr. Poitras, who was a pediatrician in Baltimore. They bought all twelve.
This is really a marvelous book and I highly recommend it.
Japan, are you listening?
I've just decided if I were ever to explore a career where I would have to change my name, I would change it to Alfred Poulet.
What an awesome, obscure, inside reference (pun intended).
Also, if ever the conversation turned to foreign bodies in vaginas I could cheekily remark, "I wrote the book on that!".
Dare to dream people.
Dare.To.Dream.
Unicorn chaser, please?
It doesn't specifically say that they've found a fish in a vagina: "There are other cases in which spoons, cups ... or fish were removed from different orifices of the human body." It might have been a fish in the ear type of mishap.
A fish in the ear. I think I've heard that somewhere...
candiru?
@DX:
Nope, there have been records of fish in the vagina. (quite old fish, at that).
This reminded me of the human factors psychology lectures on the affordances of objects I attended as an undergrad. Basically if the design of something "affords" some kind of interaction then this will likely take place. e.g. when the council of my city decided to make all bus shelters out of glass, it was only logical that many would be smashed every week by drunken youths. It around half the population of the world have reasonable sized cavities it is only logical that many objects of appropriate size will be found in said cavities.
#9, it was all a bunch of babel.
Goblet!
Wait.. do they mean a.. *wait for it* MoonCup?
Oh geez. I just know Great-Gramma's "incident" with the emergency hammer is gonna be in there.
More family shame.
Well, at least it wasn't me this time.
uhmmmm, EEK!
Troof @ 16, I remember that incident!
We kept trying to pull it out, and she kept saying "you can't touch this!" and crab-dancing back and forth around the ward..
This is available via Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=aUq6AAAAIAAJ
I would just like to say that the phrase "a live leech in the vagina" is going to give me nightmares for weeks.
*sobs*
Talia,
Is this any consolation?
@ #18 Arkizzle
Thanks for the unicorn chaser ^^
Imagine pulling one of these critters out of a body cavity! (Yes, it appears to be a real creature here on earth! For more on it, look here. =D Sorry I couldn't find any scientific writeup on this thing, but multiple sightings from different folks would seem to suggest its existence.)
Does catching a non-US citizen sleeping with one's ex count as removing a foreign body from a vagina?
Why has no one mentioned centipedes?
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/5892/22709637.jpg
I'm surprised (and delighted) at your patient restraint, Lucifer. I'd heard otherwise...
And Arkie, "...she kept saying "you can't touch this!" and crab-dancing back and forth around the ward.."
Yeah, that was Great Grammy! Hung as a horsethief, back in 'Ot Two'.
Hey, why aren't we calling these years "Ot Eight" and "Ot Nine"? Man, we missed it! Now we gotta wait til 21-Ot-One. Poop.
Why use the term 'foreign' , cuz is there such thing as a domestic object up the putch ?
How about we just call them 'objects'. Or better yet.. Non-penis objects.
Take a foreign objects in the eye ball.
It's like saying SOME things are OK to be in there, and that's just not the case. I don't want a needle OR my own finger in my peeper.
Just requested these from the library. Should make for a fun read during spring break.
The entire two volume are available for free at
Google Books
http://books.google.com/books?id=aUq6AAAAIAAJ
Internet Archive
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Poulet%2C%20Alfred%22
Open Library
http://openlibrary.org/b/OL7190962M
A compass?
That seems to be the basis for a "Your Mama" joke. Something along the lines of "... so big that ... needs a compass to ..."
Ok, for those interested, I did find the scientific writeup of the creatures I linked. It was the closest I could find to a chaser today, that is marginally on-topic (although: Arkie: FTW!) Enjoy!
Phik, here's a blog I've been following for a while, they blog a new nudibranch video every Friday, there are so many varieties! Enjoy:
http://bouphonia.blogspot.com/search/label/nudibranchs
http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=cerbaffi
Beautiful! Sorry, OT..
Last:
http://photos1.blogger.com/img/234/2258/1024/crassicornis.jpg
Nudibranch sounds so dirty! (I found myself wondering if the link was safe for work.) ;D
Oh yeah, and mighty fine slugs, Arkie! (though I wouldn't want to pull them out of an inadvertent orifice!) ;D
Fusilli Jerry?
One in a million shot, Doc. One in million.
Not to rain all over the hilarity of foreign objects in the vagina, but I wonder how many of these objects were being used to attempt abortions.
#38, I read a bit of the section about the vagina and it was mentioned in length at one point that it has been suspected in many of the cases.
FIND THE FISH!
Literally, he wrote the two books.
Knowing about people in the past who have stuffed foreign objects in their various orifices has made me feel better about my own foreign object orifice abuse! THANKS BOING BOING!
*the more you know music*