Tobacco, resuscitation and medicine
are not words that we're used to hearing in the same sentence today.
But it would not have shocked anyone in 18th century London.
In fact, two physicians, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan,
became increasingly worried about the number of people
wrongly taken for dead and buried alive.
An issue not only in London,
at the same time in France, a new word emerged for undertakers:
'croque-mort' – literally 'dead biters'.
Legend has it that the word emerged from a new practice
by an undertaker to bite a cadaver’s big toe
to make sure they were dead before burying them.
In 1774, Hawes and Cogan created
'The Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned',
known today as The Royal Humane Society.
Indeed, swimming wasn't exactly a fashionable sport in Georgian London,
and only one year before the creation of the Society
123 people had died from drowning.
Hawes and Cogan believed that if a quick and effective treatment
had been administered, some of the victims could have been brought back to life.
In the 18th century, the theory of the four humours was often used by physicians,
such as Hawes and Cogan, to cure diseases.
Established in Ancient Greece, the first mention of the theory of the four humours
can be found in a book called 'The Nature of Man' by Polybus,
pupil and son-in-law of Hippocrates.
The idea was that the body is a small-scale representation of the world.
Good harmony in the Universe is maintained by the right balance between the four elements:
air, water, fire and earth,
and the four seasons: hot, dry, cold and wet.
Good health in the body was maintained by the right balance between the four bodily fluids,
or humours: the phlegm, the black bile, the yellow bile and blood.
In the case of drowning, victims had an excess of cold and wet in their humours.
Hawes and Cogan believed that a simple way to reintroduce a good balance
between the four humours was to introduce a warm, stimulating vapour into the body,
such as tobacco.
Thanks to a set of tubes and nozzles,
tobacco vapours could be introduced directly into the lungs, stomach or rectum
– the latter being the preferred method of administration.
The choice of tobacco may seem strange too,
but in fact the plant has a long history of medicinal use.
When Columbus reached the Americas in 1492,
he observed Native Americans using tobacco plants not just for leisure purposes,
but for medical treatments.
The plant was mixed with lime and chalk as toothpaste,
a tradition still in use today in India.
When the tobacco plant was first introduced to Europe,
physicians and the general public welcomed it with great enthusiasm.
Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Lisbon in the 16th century,
was a strong believer in the medical properties of the plant.
He had it sent to King Francis II
and any eminent member of the French Court
where it became known as the ambassador’s herb
– 'nicotiane', after Nicot himself.
It's popularity as a medical treatment started to fade in the 19th century,
when, after further studies, the plant was shown to contain very dangerous alkaloids.
In the 20th century, medical journals started to raise doubts
about the effectiveness of tobacco as a medical treatment
and it was later completely banned.
Resuscitation kits, such as this one,
were provided by The Royal Humane Society
and located at various points along the River Thames.
A reward of two guineas was offered to anyone attempting a rescue in the area of Westminster
and four guineas was offered to anyone successfully bringing victims back to life.
Oddly enough, when this was implemented,
claims that people had successfully brought victims back to life increased exponentially.
Whether or not this is due to the effectiveness of the treatment,
I'll let you decide for yourself.