Fevers: Shaved Heads, etc.
Posted by SuzanneR on August 30, 1998 at 14:14:21:
In response to she's hot... let's shave her head!, written by P. Bingham on August 30, 1998 at 02:30:54
] This sounds oddly familiar, though. As if I've read something like this happening in some other novel. Jane Eyre, perhaps? Captain, have you ever heard of shaving the head for a fever and does this have something to do with bad humors? Did they shave the head for similar reason as bloodletting?
I skimmed Jane Eyre very fast, specifically the part about the typhus epidemic at Lowood School. I couldn't find any reference to heads being shaved, but did learn something new: "An odour of camphor and burnt vinegar warned me when I came near the fever room..." They must've thought that illness could be spread by odors (reminds me of the herbs strewn on the dock in the Old Bailey and the posies carried by judges to ward off jail fever).
The head shaving sounds familiar to me too, but I can't place it. I keep thinking it's a children's story in which the little girl had to have her head shaved, and then her hair grows back in delightful curls. I wish I could remember.
Anyway, might they have shaved the feverish person's head to provide a cooling effect?
] I'm reading book 10 of O'Brian's Jack Aubrey series and have just come across s feverish patient. She is the victim of a botched abortion and Maturin is faced with saving her life.
Patricia: what is this series? Sounds interesting.
Suzanne
- Mal Air Ea Ken 07:40:06 8/31/98
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- The head P. Bingham 15:42:13 8/30/98
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- Shaved heads and the Humors: I found a quote SuzanneR 01:19:34 9/02/98
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- very good detective work! (nfm) P. Bingham 03:28:39 9/02/98
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- very good detective work! (nfm) P. Bingham 03:28:39 9/02/98
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- One more question (and thanks for the info about Aubrey series) SuzanneR 18:23:30 8/31/98
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- Vinegar Caroline 16:59:05 9/01/98
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- Vinegar & Jack & Jill Patricia Bingham 23:58:21 9/04/98
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- Vinegar and brown paper Lesley 01:27:56 9/07/98
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- Really!? (nfm) P. Bingham 17:16:39 9/07/98
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- Really!? (nfm) P. Bingham 17:16:39 9/07/98
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- Vinegar and brown paper Lesley 01:27:56 9/07/98
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- Proof Ken 15:11:42 9/02/98
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- Thank you, Caroline. Those archived posts were fun to read NFM SuzanneR 01:28:43 9/02/98
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- burning vinegar P. Bingham 18:34:16 9/01/98
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- microbes and germs Caroline 12:42:21 9/02/98
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- I'd be very interested Marie-Bernadette 10:36:27 9/03/98 (2)
- microbes and germs Caroline 12:42:21 9/02/98
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- Vinegar & Jack & Jill Patricia Bingham 23:58:21 9/04/98
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- Vinegar Caroline 16:59:05 9/01/98
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- one for sure and a guess Constanza 17:01:26 8/31/98
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- Egad--that's it!! SuzanneR 18:32:30 8/31/98
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- Egad--that's it!! SuzanneR 18:32:30 8/31/98
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- Heads Up Ken 07:47:38 8/31/98
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- Fevers and shaved heads Captain Everett 23:05:28 9/01/98
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- fever conditions P. Bingham 03:46:06 9/02/98
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- fever conditions P. Bingham 03:46:06 9/02/98
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- Long threads and bleeding P. Bingham 02:57:10 9/01/98
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- Fevers and shaved heads Captain Everett 23:05:28 9/01/98
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- Shaved heads and the Humors: I found a quote SuzanneR 01:19:34 9/02/98
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