Month: January 2015
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Snake-oil and quack medicine
In his speech Consumption: Its Cause and Cure, Halliday Sutherland remarked on the vulnerability of tuberculous people to quack doctors and snake oil merchants: …where the carcase is there shall be the eagles be gathered together. In his newspaper he reads the advertisements for quack medicines and to Cagliostro and his breed he sends all the…
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“In Our Time: Social Darwinism”
“In Our Time” is a program on BBC Radio 4, hosted by Melvyn Bragg. In it, Bragg facilitates a discussion of experts on a topic of historical interest. I have frequently enjoyed the program, particularly on long car journeys. “Social Darwinism” was the topic on 20 February 2014 and it outlined the connections between Darwin’s work, Herbert Spencer, Social…
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Merchiston Castle School 3
In this third post of three concerning Halliday Sutherland’s school days at Merchiston Castle school in Edinburgh, he discusses his friends and interests. My chief friend at school was George Munro from New York. In a disused tool-shed in the grounds he and I held meetings of a secret society. It was a very exclusive society. At…