Victorian medicine’s bizarre past comes alive at Dartmouth Senior Center
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Bloodletting, kitchen-cupboard cures and the dawn of X-rays: the strange world of late-Victorian medicine will be on full display at the Dartmouth Senior Center on Monday, June 9 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
The performance, “Myths & Miracles of Victorian Medicine,” will feature Miss Myrtle Mills, a fictional 19th-century woman portrayed by Janet Parnes of Historical Portrayals by Lady J. With wit and historical detail, Mills will guide guests through the odd mix of superstition and science that defined 1800s medicine, where scalpels hit the floor and went right back into patients, even as doctors experimented with early X-ray machines.
Attendees will hear about strange remedies, early disease prevention, pregnancy care and the uphill battle for women entering the medical field along with discoveries that still shape modern medicine today.
The program, rescheduled from May 12, costs $5 per person. Registration is required and can be completed by calling the Senior Center at 508-999-4717.
The event is supported in part by a grant from the Dartmouth Cultural Council, with funding from the Mass Cultural Council. For more about the performer, visit www.women-history.com.
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