California, Southwest Region
“Do Not Physic Them”: Medicine in Jane Austen’s Time
December 3, 2011
JASNA-SW’s lively Winter 2011 meeting was held at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on December 3. Over 150 attendees learned how fortunate women (and men) are to live in the 21st Century with all of benefits of modern medicine.
Coffee and pastries awaited members as they arrived and registered for the day’s events. They had an early peek at books on sale and talked with the authors throughout the day:
- Jane Austen Made Me Do It authors Laurie Viera Rigler, Syrie James, Laurel Ann Nattress, and Diana Birchall
- Second Impressions author Dr. Sandy Lerner
- Imagining Minds: the Neuro-Aesthetics of Austen, Eliot and Hardy and Ordinary Pleasures author Dr. Kay Young
Dr. Cheryl Kinney, a practicing gynecologist and Co-Coordinator of the 2011 AGM in Dallas, started off the meeting with “A Dangerous Indulgence: Women’s Health in Jane Austen’s Day.” Dr. Kinney’s lively tour through the horrors of 18th century medical practice had members empathizing with those women who managed to avoid the dangers of childbirth with primitive and dangerous birth control only to face the purgings and bleedings thought necessary during menopause. Life expectancy for all was lower, but for women, in particular, it was half of today’s 80+ years.
Arnie Perlstein, a lawyer and independent scholar, addressed “Concealed Pregnancy in Austen’s Novels.” Mr. Perlstein presented his thesis that Jane Austen consciously wrote two stories into her novels: one the surface story that we all can grasp at a casual reading, and the second story requiring deeper analysis of the words which often (but not always) reflected some sexual behavior that was not normally talked about in company at the time. He gave several examples of double meanings possible in the text, and then specifically addressed a number of possible pregnancies in the novels, including characters from Jane Bingley to Jane Fairfax.
In the afternoon, Walter Nelson, Librarian at Rand Corporation and historical re-enactor, spoke to the group about “Quackery, Snake Oil and Flim-Flam Medicine.” Mr. Nelson extended the theme of medical care from Jane Austen’s period, when miracle cures and apothecary’s potions were really poisonous to the human being, into the Victorian era when mesmerism and phrenology captured the world’s attention. With a shy, but willing, assistant he demonstrated both “sciences” in period dress.
A delicious lunch was topped off by homemade Rout Cakes (thanks to Jan Fahey and Nancy Gallagher). Members also received souvenir vials of Gowland’s Lotion, Lavender, or Hartshorn, compounded by Cheryl Kinney’s specialty pharmacy. Photos and the really yummy recipe for Rout Cakes are located at JASNA-SW Winter Meeting webpage.
—Claire Bellanti
Dr. Cheryl Kinney, Walter Nelson and Arnie Perlstein