Marketplace of the Marvelous: The Strange Origins of Modern Medicine

An entertaining introduction to the quacks, snake-oil salesmen, and charlatans, who often had a point

Despite rampant scientific innovation in nineteenth-century America, traditional medicine still adhered to ancient healing methods, subjecting patients to bleeding, blistering, and induced vomiting and sweating. Facing such horrors, many patients ran with open arms to burgeoning practices that promised new ways to cure their ills. Hydropaths offered cures using “healing waters” and tight w...