D: VICTORIAN LIFE
Jessica Cashion, Jade Nelson, Daniel Adams
Condensed Medical Timeline [19th century]
1800 - Sir Humphry Davy finds anesthetic properties in nitrous oxide [used 45 years later by dentists].
1816 - Rene Laennec invents stethoscope
1818 - James Blundell becomes the first doctor to preform a successful human blood transfusion
1849 - Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman to complete and receive a medical degree
1867 - Joseph Lister publishes a paper on cleanliness of operating rooms and their impact on patient infections and death rates. This paper also developed the idea of using antiseptics to clean operating rooms, surgical tools, and patients wounds. The ideas and practices which came from this paper created an immediate success, reducing the infection death rate from 60% to 4%.
1870s - Louis Pastuer and Robert Koch created the germ theory in which they believed and proved that certain germs and organisms created certain illnesses. Before this realisation doctors thought that illness came from from spontaneous generation and therefore would not worry about washing their hands in between an autopsy and treating another patient -thus spreading infections.
1879-1882 - The first vactionations were created [cholera, anthrax, and rabies]
1897 - The first vaccination is created for the plague [The Black Death].
1899 - Felix Hoffman created acetylsalicylic acid [more commonly known as aspirin]
Family Education Network. 2015. Medical Advances Timeline. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0932661.htm
The social life and Hierarchy in the Victorian Period
work is noble, and creates happiness
if a man is not getting work done, he is not happy
work is sacred
‘the latest gospel’ is about knowing oneself and developing skills one might not have
labor is seen as ‘holy’ and gives one “self-knowledge’
“all true work is religion”
the upper class speaks for the lower class
Democracy is not seen as correct, but god and religion are
racist
unsure about the 'leap to completed democracy’ in England
etiquette important, especially for the higher class.
associations and also how they act are very, very important. high standards.
women's careers were to marry, and then represent their husband. They must be graceful, and if thy were to do charity work it would be sewing for the poor or constructing food baskets
higher class had to keep track of who did what in your social class was also important
middle class had the option to be victorian house servants, but they had to learn etiquette.
higher class was not to be addressed, unless necessary and it must be in few words
shopkeepers, doctors, nurses, schoolmasters and parish priests were middle-class professions
differences between the middle and upper class were the wealth you had, and how you flaunted it; along with how many servants you had employed (more than one servant usually meant you had money)
Victorian society did not recognize the lower class
Chimney sweeps, rat catchers, and factory workers were seen as low-class jobs. the poor seemed to be ‘invisible’
general thought was ‘the poor deserved to be poor due to bad choices’
seen as ‘burdens on the public’
the few who tried to help the lower class failed to improve the conditions, as workhouses were built, however, it was awful and was better to live on the street.
while there was no etiquette in the lower class, there was social stigma and pride
Sources:
Prose of the Victorian Period, Pg 141 - Pg 169