Life, 1893-01-19 · page 13 of 16
Life — January 19, 1893 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three satirical cartoons mocking the medical profession circa early 1900s. **"Old Chums Meet"** depicts two doctors reuniting. One has switched from traditional medicine to homeopathy (a pseudo-scientific practice using extreme dilutions). The joke: the first doctor sarcastically notes his colleague's conversion, suggesting homeopathy is so ineffective it's almost non-violent compared to conventional medicine's harmful treatments. **"A Striking Brunette"** (upper left) uses visual pun—a fashionable woman literally "strikes" poses. **"Malignant Dyspepsia"** shows a doctor visiting a patient with digestive problems. The patient blames the doctor's own previous medical advice as the cause—a joke about doctors giving harmful prescriptions that create new ailments. The overall theme satirizes late 19th/early 20th-century medicine's questionable practices and the irony that doctors often caused more harm than good, whether through aggressive conventional treatment or worthless alternative medicine.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
OLD CHUMS MEET. Dr. D.: Couldn't do violence to my conscience any R. L.: Changed colors, eh? Five years ago you were longer; | killed too many people. Now 1 am thankful I old school; now your silver plate tells me you are a __ have found a better way. homeopathist. Dr. L.: Of killing people ? = i i SYR | ‘1 MALIGNANT DYSPEPSIA. M.D.: THIS 18 QUEER, HAVE YOU TAKEN ANYTHING THAT DISAGREED WITH YOU? NOTHING SIMPLER, The Patient; NOTHING RUT YOUR ADVICE OF YESTERDAY, comicbooks.com