Part of what inspires this observation is that I just finished reading a Regency romance (a first for me.) At one point the heroine shoots the antihero to defend herself from his advances. Then she calls for a surgeon, who is of course a guy with leeches. The antihero who becomes more heroic over the course of the book refuses the surgeon, which certainly helps make the case for his intelligence.
1. The Electric Six - She's White
2. Kat Edmonson - I Just Wasn't Made for These Times
3. A.C. Newman - Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns
4. The Kinks - Berkeley Mews
5. Brian Eno & David Byrne - I Feel My Stuff
6. The New Pornographers - All the Old Showstoppers
7. Grizzly Bear - Dory
8. David Bowie - Queen Bitch
9. Ben Folds Five - Sky High
10. Diana Krall - Where or When
3 comments:
It's funny you began this piece by talking about vomiting as emetics were also commonly used by doctors in the distant past. Amazing as it is to know that bloodletting was practiced for more than 2000 years, what's more surprising is that humanity survived the practice. Perhaps we owe our live to the fact our ancestors were too poor to see doctors.
Did you know leeches are still used in some post operative medical treatments? They stop localized blood coagulation when fingers are reattached and also are better at cleaning dead tissue from deep wounds than anything else available.
Yikes, this week's FR10 on Saturday has only three groups I'm familiar with. I know you're thinking I should get out more.
It doesn't really shock me that leeches are useful for some procedures. That's the thing. Our medical and technological senses seem to be an all or nothing deal, so once something is adopted for one purpose, doctors want to use it for everything. Yeah, we may be lucky that our ancestors didn't see them very often.
Get out more? I'm sure wherever you go is just fine.
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