The Wasp — 1891 — page 222: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page is primarily **advertising and commercial listings** for San Francisco-area steamship companies, railroads, and businesses (circa 1890s based on the header date references). The only significant illustration is **Dr. Gibbon's Dispensary advertisement** featuring a bearded man's face. The accompanying text warns against mercury-based treatments for syphilis, cautioning that such "ointments for sores" damage internal organs. Dr. Gibbon's advertises his alternative cure, claiming it works systemically rather than topically. This reflects late-19th-century medical advertising and the prevalent problem of mercury poisoning from standard venereal disease treatments. The ad targets a specific health concern common to sailors and transient populations served by the steamship companies advertised throughout the page. The page itself contains no political cartoons.