The Wasp — 1880 — page 315: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page from *The Wasp* contains satirical commentary on medical practice and vaccination, not a visual cartoon. The text critiques doctors and the medical profession through dialogue and narrative. The main satire targets physicians' authority and competence. It mocks how doctors were regarded as infallible authorities despite questionable practices, comparing their status to that of "Doctors of Divinity." The piece sarcastically notes that becoming a doctor required no real experience—just a diploma. The vaccination section specifically attacks doctors' inconsistency: they promoted vaccination for common people while allegedly avoiding it themselves. The text cites a German case where vaccinated children became diseased, challenging doctors' claims about vaccination's safety and effectiveness. The overall point: medical professionals deserved skepticism, not blind trust, and their pronouncements on public health were unreliable.