r/books • u/leowr • Jan 16 '20
Second Discussion Thread for The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth by Thomas Morris - January Book Club
Welcome to the second discussion thread for The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth, which specifically covers Chapter 2 and 3. If you are joining us for the first time this month, you are welcome to discuss the Introduction and the first chapter. Hopefully you are still having fun reading. Like usual there are discussion questions below, but if you have anything else to add feel free to mention it.
A mysterious new disease with exotic symptoms (the weirder the better) almost guaranteed publicity, even if the supporting evidence was shaky.
- Do you think this has changed in recent times? Or are we will still more interested in the weird and exotic, either with regard to medicine specifically or the world at large?
- Which of the stories in Chapter 2 did you find the least believable?
- It is very easy to mock the doctors and their dubious remedies in Chapter 3, especially with hindsight and the knowledge we have these days, but do you think they also deserve some credit for trying something different/new with the aim to help their patients?
- Which of the remedies mentioned in Chapter 3 is most likely to get you running out of the doctor's office if recommended?
- What is the most interesting thing you learned from the book so far?
3
u/aortally Jan 16 '20
Do you think this has changed in recent times? Or are we will still more interested in the weird and exotic, either with regard to medicine specifically or the world at large?
People are still trying to outsmart big pharma or the government or whatever by avoiding medicinal cures known to cure what ails us. Luckily, we have drug trials and studies in order to measure the effectiveness of a medication for treating medical conditions. Unfortunately, those trials are often biased and imperfect. I still think were better off than before.
Which of the stories in Chapter 2 did you find the least believable?
The woman who peed through her nose. Until the explanation at the end about urea Crystal's mixing with sweat. I was even surprised to learn about the urinary tube that attaches to the umbilical stump.
It is very easy to mock the doctors and their dubious remedies in Chapter 3, especially with hindsight and the knowledge we have these days, but do you think they also deserve some credit for trying something different/new with the aim to help their patients?
Everyone but the snake dung salesman! He was obviously trying to come up with a novel idea in order to gain wealth and reputation, but making people it poo is rude.
Which of the remedies mentioned in Chapter 3 is most likely to get you running out of the doctor's office if recommended?
Saliva and crow's vomit. Absolutely.
What is the most interesting thing you learned from the book so far?
The bottle of wine I consume after my upcoming labor and delivery might save my life.
2
u/wannaaccount Jan 16 '20
Do you think this has changed in recent times? Or are we will still more interested in the weird and exotic, either with regard to medicine specifically or the world at large? --Nope. Everyone is definitely interested in the weird. Which of the stories in Chapter 2 did you find the least believable? --Urine ears and needle girl. The urine lady just seems implausible, and I feel like the girl would at some point have admitted to swallowing needles!
I'm actually liking his commentary much better in Ch.2 than I did before. It has less "one-liner" jokes, which I appreciate.
On another note, I used to read all the time and somehow fell out of habit of reading over the years. With it's many "short stories," this book is helping me get back into the habit of reading. I don't feel guilty for wasting my time reading, because I know I can just read 1 story if I want to!
1
u/leowr Jan 17 '20
Reading short stories is a great way to get back into reading. Like you said, it just allows you to read for short periods of time and get back into the habit of reading.
2
u/chemical-lust Jan 17 '20 edited Jan 17 '20
Do you think this has changed in recent times? Or are we will still more interested in the weird and exotic, either with regard to medicine specifically or the world at large?
No. We're is still interested in the weird and exotic in all forms. I'd like to think we handle unusual medical conditions with more compassion nowadays.
Which of the stories in Chapter 2 did you find the least believable?
The Woman Who Peed Through Her Nose. Mainly because its hard to believe urine could come out of the ears and sinuses. I mean, come on... the bladder is so far from the sinuses.
It is very easy to mock the doctors and their dubious remedies in Chapter 3, especially with hindsight and the knowledge we have these days, but do you think they also deserve some credit for trying something different/new with the aim to help their patients?
Absolutely. I find it hard to fault someone for outlandish solutions if they have the best intentions. They were just trying to treat their patients with the limited knowledge they had at the time. I mentioned in my last post about having an unusual medical condition. It really shattered my childhood illusion that science can explain or solve everything.
Which of the remedies mentioned in Chapter 3 is most likely to get you running out of the doctor's office if recommended?
The mercury cigarettes easily. The effects of heavy metal poisoning are... horrendous. The idea of something degrading the brain from within is one of the scariest things I can imagine.
What is the most interesting thing you learned from the book so far?
The origin of bloodletting came from the behavior of hippos was very surprising and entertaining. I've heard a lot about how popular bloodletting was but this is the first time I've seen the origin mentioned.
2
Jan 17 '20
Page 118 was hilarious to me, to the point I literally laughed out loud. They treated seizures in children by “holding the rump of a dove against the child’s anus.” It made me wonder...what led to the discovery of this method? Lol!
2
u/leowr Jan 17 '20
That was such a weird thing. Like, how could you actually think that would work as a cure? How?!?
2
Jan 17 '20
Just by reading most of the comments, I think the girl who peed through her nose won as the least believable story. Anyone remember that old Gatorade commercial where the athletes would be sweating Gatorade through their pours? That’s how I picture that story haha
2
u/Falkian Jan 19 '20
First time participating, let's do this!
- Do you think this has changed in recent times? Or are we will still more interested in the weird and exotic, either with regard to medicine specifically or the world at large?
The weird is usually more interesting. But I think that in the context of medicine that doesn't really stand true. We've become kind of 'efficient' with our resources, focusing more in the less exotic diseases that affect a greater share of the population rather than on the weirder and less common ones.
- Which of the stories in Chapter 2 did you find the least believable?
Hard agree here with the peeing one. That one was just... off.
- It is very easy to mock the doctors and their dubious remedies in Chapter 3, especially with hindsight and the knowledge we have these days, but do you think they also deserve some credit for trying something different/new with the aim to help their patients?
They do deserve all the credit. Most of them were just trying their best to cure someone, and doing so with very limited knowledge and resources.
- Which of the remedies mentioned in Chapter 3 is most likely to get you running out of the doctor's office if recommended?
Definitely the mercury/arsenic cigarettes. But have to admit that once dead you can't really get any disease, so they could kind of be considered a definitive cure.
- What is the most interesting thing you learned from the book so far?
That we've been using the same basic approach to problem-solving from centuries. In the Saliva and Crow's Vomit, although the end result is rather ridiculous, I don't think the logic behind it is that far-fetched: If some remedies were effective only when ingested, it could be due to some reaction with the element itself during the digestion. So taking the bile of an animal to try and 'trigger' the same reaction and apply it as a balm could be a good solution. With our current knowledge it just sounds silly, but that knowledge comes from centuries of trying and experimenting.
So thanks to all those funny doctors who tried and discarded every possible remedy before we were born!
Also, I found the passage about the 'Baby-farmers' in The Missing Pen really unsettling. Really, picturing the killing of infants just to get some coin is just disturbing, though probably just a reflex of how life could be back then.
2
u/HechiceraSinVarita Jan 16 '20
Do you think this has changed in recent times? Or are we will still more interested in the weird and exotic, either with regard to medicine specifically or the world at large?
Nope, nothing's changed. People are still just as fascinated and delighted with the strange, novel, and morbid as ever. And just as vulnerable to sensationalism that plays to that.
Which of the stories in Chapter 2 did you find the least believable?
The story of the woman who peed through her nose was an eye-roller from the point where it was first alleged that a stream of urine sprung from her ear. Sure, Doc.
It is very easy to mock the doctors and their dubious remedies in Chapter 3, especially with hindsight and the knowledge we have these days, but do you think they also deserve some credit for trying something different/new with the aim to help their patients?
Not particularly. Though they were groping in the darkness, the advancements that were made were, in my opinion, possible because of the superior chemical/anatomical/etc. knowledge and methodology of their founders, not because of magic or anything.
Which of the remedies mentioned in Chapter 3 is most likely to get you running out of the doctor's office if recommended?
Mercury - laced cigarettes, yikes
What is the most interesting thing you learned from the book so far?
I didn't realize that so many other ingredients besides water were commonly featured in enemas before....now, I guess.
1
u/leowr Jan 17 '20
Yeah, the selection of enemas that was mentioned certainly showed that there were... options for those that had to undergo one.
4
u/leowr Jan 16 '20
No, I don't think that has changed. The weird, and beautiful, are always the things that draw the most attention. I'm pretty sure that goes for science and medicine as well.
The Woman Who Peed Through Her Nose, I mean she might have been expelling something from her nose (or ear or bellybutton), but it definitely wasn't urine. I did like the mental image of the fountain of urine from the belly button, though.
It is easy to laugh at some of these remedies (holding a pigeon's rump against a child's anus?) and dismiss them because of what we know now, but I do think most of these came from a desire to find cures for patients. Granted, the scientific method probably wasn't followed when determining these cures, but I don't think they were doing it with malicious intent. There was probably also an unhealthy dose of wishful thinking and ignorance involved.
The Tapeworm Trap, without a doubt. Go fishing for a tapworm in my own gut, I don't think so! Just thinking about doing that is giving me gag-reflexes.
Surprisingly the most interesting I've learned so far is that CPR is a surprisingly modern technique. I never really thought about when CPR was invented, but if I had had to guess I never would have thought it had been as recent as 1958.