Fri 17 Nov: Finstock Local History Society-Melanie King : Can Onions Cure Earache - Medical Advice from the Eighteenth Century 8.00pm
Melanie King : Can Onions Cure Earache - Medical Advice from the Eighteenth Century
The average life expectancy in the eighteenth century was 44 years, often much less for women due to the dangers of childbirth. The eighteenth century was not a healthy time to be alive. If you got sick, your options were limited: blood letting, vomiting and applying or consuming herbs, or anything you thought might cure you. Remedies included applying mercury to a cancerous lump, bathing or drinking in spa water contaminated with disease, or applying either fried leeks in butter or live leeches to your haemorrhoids. This is an amusing but serious talk on how people tried to keep healthy and cure themselves during the eighteenth century. It will help us to appreciate modern health care systems based on germ theory, antibiotics and the use of anaesthetic.
Finstock Village Hall- Bar opens 7.30pm- Talk at 8pm
All welcome. Visitors £2.50