The Wasp — 1878 — page 365: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a humorous twelve-panel comic strip depicting a man's suffering from a toothache. The narrative follows a darkly comedic progression: a couple dines together (panel 1), the man develops tooth pain (panel 3), and his condition deteriorates through increasingly desperate remedies—tobacco smoke, whisky, poultices, and finally a "red hot poultice" that makes him "squirm and cry" (panel 8). By panels 11-13, he's bedridden with severe suffering, attempting various bed-based cures. The satire mocks both the trivializing of dental pain ("but a little tooth") and the era's ineffective home remedies. This appears to be Part I of a two-part story, likely from the 19th century based on The Wasp magazine's publication period, offering social humor about common medical frustrations.