CHAPTER 4 Punchand comicjournalism in mid-VictorianBritain RichardlVoakes
In fi42 the WestminsterReuiew examineda new comic periodical that had 'Committee ^pparentlybeen established to meetthe demandsof a recent of Council for Education' launchedby the governmentfor improving meth- ods of popular instruction. According to the reviewer,the editor of this 'all new periodicalhad successfullyembraced the moral, scientific,philo- sophical,political, poetical,and intellectualsubjects, requiring to be newly adaptedto the wants of the age'.Adopting a more ausrererone, the reviewer questionedwhether criticismson the part of a quarterlyreview should be confinedto high-priced publicationscirculating exclusively among the wealthy,but having little or no influenceamong the masses.Let it not be said,can any good come out ofNazareth? All the good that the people at large can desire from the labours of the philosopher or man of sciencemust reach them, if it reachesthem at all, through the medium of the cheap literature of the country.
The cheap literary newcomer certainly deservedto be noticed by the 'moral Westwtinster.Itdisplayed superiorrry over comparablepublications, 'wit such as the Satirist, the Age, and John Bull, its elevated and humour' 'desire testified to a growing for somewhat more healthful and intellec- tual meansof pleasurableexcitement than police reports',and its woodcuts 'improvement demonstratedthe in the art of wood-engravingfor practical purposes'.t The subject of the review was Punch: Or the London Chariuari, a weeklythat first appearedon ry July r84r (fig. 1.1. The Westminsterclearly anticipatedthat Punchwould pI^y an important part in the dissemination 'masses', of philosophicaland scientific laboursto the becauseit struck a 'pleasurable balanceberween excitement'and intellectualstimulation. The formula worked, becausePunch outlived most of its rivals in the competi- tive field of Victorian comic journalism. Althou gh Punch struegledduring its early years,within rwo decadesof its launch this ld illustrated comic
9r Comic j ournalism: Punch 9J journal becameone of the most talked about and respecrableinstitutions of British literature.' More has been written about Punch than almost any orher periodical, but little attention has been paid to its scientific conrent.l Only recendy have scholarsbegun to appreciatethe complex representarionsof science tn Punch.In particular,Richard Altick's magisterialaccount of Punch'sfirst decadeillustrates how faithfully it tracked majorscientific, engineering, and medicaldevelopments, and how scientifictopics were used ro com-.nt o1 non-scientific issues.In his generalstudy of Victorian satire and science JamesParadis has surveyed Punch'sironic porrrayal of the increasinglyab- stract fruits of scientific research.James Secord's exploration of Prnc/t's responseto the Wstiges{the lVatural History of Creation (t8++) helps us ro understandthe periodical in the overlappingmetropolitan landscapesof graphicjournalism and scientific spectacle.Roy Porter'sstudy of medical illustrationsshows that Punc/t'srepresentations of medicalpractitioners re- flectednot only an individual artist'ssqyle but alsoa Victorian tradition of 'phenorypically depicting doctors and physiognomic"lly rather asthe pro- fessionmight havewished itself to havebeen seen'. Finally, my recentstudy of Punch'sportrayalof technologicalsubjects and its deploymentof techno- logicalmetaphors helps us to understandthe embeddednessof engineering and invention in Victorian political, social,and cultural discourses.4 For most historiansof sciencePuncb has been a handy sourcefor docu- 'popular' menting reactionsto scientific topics of the d^y, ranging from public health to new inventions.t They treat Punch as a passivemed- iator, rather than an active mediilffi, of science.However, recentwork on the history/of nineteenth-centuryprint culture suggeststhe importance of understandtng Punch as an active producer of knowledg.. Thus in his analysisof Punch's greatcontemporary, the lllusftated London lVews,Peter 'singular Sinnema rightly urges us to treat any periodical as a discursive practice,active in the production of truth(s), and engagedwith a complex arrayof other discourses'.6Studies by Roy Porter Brian Maidmenr re- "rd 'represent' inforcethis argument by insisting that graphic prints always or 'through mediatehistorical events aestheticand gestural.orrr..rrion', and JamesSecord's Victorian Sensation(zooz) demonsrrareshow much pop- ular perceptionsof controversialscientific claims owed ro the way i"ilt claimswere representedin illustrated periodicals.TOf particular i-por- tanceto this chapter is Janet Browne'srecent discussionof caric"tur., of Darwin in Victorian comic periodicals.Browne concludeswith the com- 'are pelling suggestionthat these humorous portrayals nor just a rrans- parent medium of communication, not iust illustrations,but could be 94 Sciencein the lVineteenth-CenturyPeriodical the actual shapers- maybe even reahzers- of nineteenth-centurvpopuiar thought'.8 attemptsro understandhow Punchfunctioned asa medium Thir chapter 'peo- for producing scientificknowledge for what the Westminstercalled the - pl. large'. Concenrratingon the first three decadesof the periodical a "t period .olr.rponding approximatelyto the tenure of the first editor, Mark L.*or, - it that Purrh's production of sciencewas intimately con- "ig,r., nectedwith a function that it sharedwith mostweeklies - the representation of news and topical issues.\il7hat was specific to Punc/t was its use of the techniquesof .o*ic journalism to engagewith and reproducescientific 'served -"t.ri"l. Altick has rightly arguedthat Punch asa weekly illustrated comic supplementto the London Times,reflecting as in a distorting mirror a selectionof the week'snews and jauntily editorialisingon its significance'.e Its dependenceon the ebb and flow of news storieswas neatly captured by Shirley Brooks, a later editor, who boastedthat Punch'set its watch by the clock of The Times'.'oThis chapter showshow the scientific material dependedon Punch'sjournalistic pulse. The contributorsto Punch engaged *ith topical and sensarionalscientific subjects which their readerswould have.rto,ptered in readingnewspapers, visiting exhibitions,and listening to gossip. Buildi"g on the work of Celina Fox, and continuing themesexplored in the introd,r.tion to this book and in chapter z,I shallinitially situatePunch in the merropolitan world of graphic and comic journalism, and outline how its earlf contributors developedthe periodical in order to appeal to the increasinglyaffluent Victorian bourgeoisie."I then examinethe con- tributors themselvesand show how sciencefigured in their backgrounds, interesrs,and in their weekly negotiationsto produce the periodical'scen- 'large trepiece the cut'. Drawing on a systematicstudy of the entire contents of the periodical berweenr84r and r87t, I then surveythe kinds of scientific maierial contained rn Punch, and the literuty and graphical genresdeployed." The journalistic preoccupationsof Punch contributors arespectacularly reflected in its content and form. The scientifictopics that Punch satirizedwould have been familiar, entertaining,or of relevanceto middle-classreaders, and consistedprimarily of commentarieson scientific news items. The final section details how different literary and graphic genres de- ployed by Punch engagedwith scientific issues.I use this approach to support my central contention that Punc/t'ssatires on sciencewere not iniended merely to entertain readers.Instead, Punc/t'sinvolvement with sciencewas frequently serious,informed, and provocative.Although this Comicjournalism: Punch g5
rnaterlalmight have prompted a smile or even a laugh, it was ultimately a soberengagement with the world of science. In this senseLeslie Stephen's 'greatest fi76 description of the of modern humourists' applies ro Punch contributors,for they ofren seemedto be thoroughly Puritan in their com- 'strongest edy,having the perception of the seriousissues which underlie our frivolous lives,the profoundestsense of the infinities which surround our petty world'.'3 The moral conscienceof Punch,so powerfully revealed in its rants over political, religious,and socialissues, also shone forth in its discussionsof science. 'science' Throughout this chapter,I shallbe using asa convenientshort- hand for science,technology, and medicine, and employing an inclusive definition of theserelated aspects of culture. The former -o,r. is not only desirablebut justifiableon the groundsthat in its first three decades Puncb often refcrredto the enterprisesand practitionersof medicine and techno- 'scientific'.ta logy as
TFIE'wORLD CITY, COMIC JOURNALISM, AND PtlLlCH
In chapter z JonathanTopham emphasizedthat London-basedillustrated journals of the late Regencyperiod drew extensivelyon the spectaclesof the metropolitan landscape.Punch was no diffcrent. From fi$ to rgoo the Punchoffice was in a single-storeybuildingat 85 Fleet Street,in the heart of London's blossomi"g journalistic empire. Here its writers and artists often composedtheir material, surroundedby the workplacesof the very professionalswhose writings and deedsfuelled Punclt'scolumns - the myr- iad newspaperoffices on Fleet Street,the Middle and Inner Temples,the Apothecaries'Hall, and the Royal Collegeof Surgeons.From the windows of their office, Punc/t'searly contributors watched the Lord Mayor's Show other Ttd spectaclesthat took placeon one of London'sbusiest thorough- fares,and then turned these displaysinto cartoons and commentaries.'5 Many of thesejournalists learnt their trade in, or followed the examplesof, the new cheapillustrated periodicals ofthe r8zosand r83oswhich o*.d their successto their abiliry to re-presentin comic form the funeralsof monarchs, the processionsof priests,stage dramas, displays of exotic species,exhibi- tions of new machines,illustrated scientifrcdiscourses, and a plethora of other sensationswhich drew the sameLondon crowdswho bought cheap periodicals. London wasthe sourceof eventsthat providedjournalists with their copy, but asstressed in the introduction to this book, it alsopossessed the *."lih, the print technologies,artisans, and readersnecessary/ to the successof any 96 Sciencein the lVineteenth-CenturyPerioc{ical new periodical. For the journalists,engravers, artists, and dramatistswho launched Punch wrth'no higher ambition than to put somebread on their tables',the'\7or1d CiqF'wasthe placeto make a lir.ingfrom re-presenting the week'snews and events.'6The introduction to this book also shares with most historians of Punchthe view that the mass-circulationillustrated periodical was a product of early nineteenth-centuryindustrialized print cultures.'7During the r8zosand r83osthe successof suchcheap illustrated weekliesas the Mirror of Literaturedemonstrated to entrepreneursthat the new steampresses and wood-engravingtechniques offered a cheapway of mass-producingweekly journals that blendedpictures and text.'8The new journals alsoshowed the important role that scientificreporting could pl"y 'common in keeping a journal afloat and its team of writers' in work.'e By the time Punchwas launchedin r84r, journals such as the Athenaeumand the Mirror had helped createa growing reading audience for digestsand other re-presentationsof the week'soften spectacularstories of scientific endeavour.For the founders of Punch, ajournal that built its comedy on the week'snews, scientific events were an increasinglyimportant sourceof copy. Punch drew on the early nineteenth-centurytraditions in comic jour- nalism that are explored in the introduction. These included the weekly satiricalprint issuedby engraverssuch asJohn Doyle (fatherof earlyPunch cartoonistRichard Doyl.); cheapradical satirical journals of the rSrosand t8zos, such asthe Agt and Satirist; literary magazineswith humorous con- tent, such asFraser's Magazine and Blackwood.'sEdinburgh Magazine; misce- llanies that included comic material, such as the Mirror and BentleysMis- cellany;expensive journals of genteelhumour including Thomas Hood's ComicAnnualand GeorgeCruikshank's Comic Almanack; andaboveall, the cheapsatirical weeklies of the r83os- such asFigaro in Lond,on(which was edited by Punch founders Gilbert Abbott ) Beckett and Henry Mayhew), Punchin London(edned by leadingPunch contributor DouglasJerrold), and the Paris-based Le Chariuari. Someof the commonestliterary and graphic genresfound rn Punchwere stock aspects of theseearlier genres of periodical publishing: droll commentary on the week'spolitical and socialevents, lit- eraryand theatricalgossip, parodies of literary serials,cartoons, humorous 'ephemera', poems and songs,puns, jokes and and vignette illustrations. Other aspectsof the periodicalhad important precedents:for example,the fictional editor, Mr Punch, was yet another borrowing from the famous, genial,and occasionallyirascible fairground character,and the notion of a fictional editor itself had been usedsuccessfully in the earlyyears of Black- woocl's.Likewise, the double-column format and division of the periodical Comicjournalism: Punch 97 : " - 'departments' lnto varlous had beenused in Figaroin Lonclonwhile Punch's subtitlecleverly exploited the successof Le Chariuari.Punch's strategies for saririzingscience were alsonot without precedent.For example,its carrca' tlrresof statesmenas physjcians and grotesqueanimals, its spoof reportsof scientistspursuing uselesstrivia about the natural world, and its humorous advertisementsfor absurdlychimerical engine ering schemes were familiar to readersof Bentley'sMiscellany, \filliam Hone's Political Shouman at Home (r8zr), and Cruikshank's ComicAlmanack, which themselvesdrew upon standardtechniques of scientificsatire developed in such celebratedworks asThomas Shadwell'sVirtuoso $676), and theMemoirs ofthe Extraorc/indry Lxfe, Workt and Discoueriesof Martinus Scriblerus(t7r4).'" Despiteits obviousreliance on earlierforms of comic journalism, Punch containedgreater variety than most humorous journals of the r83os:for ex- ample,greater flexibiliqy of pagelayout was used,as well asa largerrange of fonts, and more illustrations." As we shall see,representations of scientific events,and in particularspectacular scientific events, helped achieve this va- flet\l.However, by the r85osthe layout had becomemore standardtzed,but by then Punchwas establishedas a British institution and it was no longer necessaryto attract readersby experimentingwith the format. What chiefly distinguishedPunch from its predecessors,and what securedits long-term success,was the elevatedtone of its humour. As the previouslyquoted re- 'moral viewer in the Westminsterrecogn tzed, Punclt's superiority set it apart from earliersatirical papers. By the time Punchwas founded the older and vulgar traditions of comic journalism were dying out, not leastbecause, as 'a Altick suggests, certainclimate of propriety,reasonably pervasive though hardly universal,had settled over the court, aristocracy,and the political establishment'." The chief upholdersof this new climateof respectability- the middle class- were growing in size and wealth, and they were thus increasinglyimportant consumersof literature. It was to this classthat Cruikshank and other earlynineteenth-century purveyors of radical print satireincreasingly directed their energies,moving awayfrom what Marcus 'confrontational \flood callsthe or violently subversive'nature of the print 'whimsical satiretowards the and charmingsocial satire' that would become 'respectable the staplediet of Victori an journals'.'l \X41enPunch's first ed- 'keeping itor Mark Lemon reminiscedthat his journal survivedby to the gentlemanlyview of things', he was underlining that its successdepended on supplying its bourgeois,largely metropolitan, and predominantly male readerswith the kind of humour they increasinglywanted - lessvulgar, lesspersonal, more genteel,and more focusedon generalcharacter rypes.ta Punc/t'sshift from the older and more vulgar traditions of comic journalism 9B Sciencein the lYineteenth-CenturyPeriodical was nor immediate: indeed, during its first decade,the politically turbu- lent r8,1os,it often looked back to thoseearlier traditions and articulated its political and reformist missionsmost emphatically.By the mid-r8Ios, however, this harshermarerial had largely disappearedand Punch had fully acceptedits role as a respectablefamily comic paper, which it retained throughout its mid- and late-Victorianzenith. Thi change in rone is reflectedin the scientific material that Punch carried. Compare, for example,how Punch dealt with scientific societies in its earlyy."tr and in the early r87os.In the early r84os,it published a streamof potent satireson the British Associationfor the Advancement of Science the British and ForeignInstitute. Inde ed,Punch's ndicule of the ""d 'British lamentableactivities ofwhat it calledthe and ForeignDestitute' and rtsad hominem swrpesat the Institute'sfounder, JamesSilk Buckingham, embroiled it in fiercejournalistic controversy.'iSome rwenry-sevenyears later,Punch writers and artistshad developedmuch more respectand even admiration for scientificsocieties. Thus the r87r British Associationmeet- irg prompted a lengthy poem in which comic descriptionsof \Tilliam Thomson'spresidential address were balanced by a serious-tonedchallenge to Tho-rom notion that terrestriallife originated in meteors.'6The tone of the uisualrepresentations of scientific subjectsalso underwent a grad- ual refinemenr. This transformation is powerfully shown when we con- rrast the way medical practitionerswere portrayedby leadingPunch artists of the early r84os and r86os. Representativeexamples are John Leech's r|4z caricatureof a drunken medical student (fig. 4.2) and George Du Maurier's 1865more boldly drawn and'realistic' cut of a woman physician (fig. 1d which highlight the broadertrend towards a more genteelvisual humour. tJnlike many of its rivalsand imitators in the competitivefield of comic journalism, Puruchwas, from late 1842,backed by the highly successful printers \7i11iamBradbury and FrederickEvans. Not only were Bradbury and Evans innovators in woodcut techniques and steam printing, thus enabling the rapid mass production of illustrated journals, but their substantid capital also enabled contributors to experiment with the periodical'scontent and format.'7 This flexibiliry enabledPunch to adapt itself to the preoccupationsof a predominantly male, middle-class,and merropolitan readership.Indeed , Punc/t'ssuccess owed much to the abiliry of its contributors to make readerslaugh at themselves,an achievement that dependedon the culture sharedberween producers and readers.Thus they drew on a common experienceof, say,botanical specimencollecting on holi d^y,and on a sharedknowledg.,via reportsin the Times,of quackery Comic j ournalism : Punch IOI and second-classrailway travel, and of lecturesat rhe Royal Polytechnic Institution. This is not to suggestthat all middle-classreaders enjoyed laughing at themselvesin the periodical. Humour shadedinto brutaliry tn Punch'suse of crude stereoqFpesin portraying Irishmen, Jews,Roman Catholics, and Americans.'8Neither did it pleasecertain individuals notably,the Irish statesmenDaniel O'Connell, thejournalist Samuel Carter Hall, and the impresario Alfred Bunn - who were subjected to highly personaland defamatorycriticism.'e Even regularsubscribers occasionally found someof its materialin poor tasteand *..t objectionable.For exam- 'did pl., in 186rCharles Darwin told Thomas Henry Huxley that he nor 'Monk think' the Punch poem eyani, describingthe conrroversyberween Huxley and Richard Owen over man'ssimian ancestry,'verygood'.3o There were undoubtedlv many literate Victorians who eschewedPunch entirely, 'a its rougher edgeslimiting its appealto what Susanand Asa Briggs call seriesof segments'within the Victorian readingpublig.l'
SCIENCE AROUND THE PUAICH TABLE
Punch may not have appealedto certain segmentsof Victorian society, but its mid-Victorian circulation was neverthelessimpressive for a comic journal. In the early l86os, for example,Punch was selling approximateiy 6o,ooo copieseach week, compared with the zo,ooo copiesof Fun and the ro,ooo of Tomahautk,two relativelynew comic weeklies.3'Commenrators on Punch from the Victorian period to the presenragree that the successof the periodicaldepended greatly on the political and moral characterof its satire,but alsoon the friendshipsand cordial professionalrelationships be- rweenthe periodical'swriters, artists,and publishers.l3Despite differences in socialbackground, person ality, and attitude, the periodical'sproducers becamean important British literary community and their informal weekly 'large meetingsto discussthe week's cut' functioned asan exclusiveclub to which many aspiringlitterateurs sought invitations. Contributors brought to Punch their skills in journalistic reporting, editing daily and weekly papers,writing stagefarces, poetry, and novels,and illustrating books and periodicals.They moved in the overlappingworlds of literature, fine arts, the theatre,exhibitions, and pageants.They poked fun at socialconvention and class,and inveighed against such vices as fraudulence,hypocrisy, and obscurantism.Their periodical was strong on politics and dominated by discussionof the celebrated,notorious, and newsworthy m€n of the d^y - thus making Puncha periodicalwritten largelyby men for a predominantly male audience. roz Sciencein the IVineteenth-CenturyPerioclical 'Punch The Brotherhood' was weakenedby bitter rivalries - notably betweenThackeray and Jerrold- and occasionaldisruptions (for .""*p1., the Catholic Richard Doyle resignedin r85c owing to Punc/t'swaspish satireson papal aggression),but Mark Lemon was generallysuccessful in engenderingharmony among Punchstaff. Changes in the group, however, affectedthe tone of the periodical.The changesberween the r84osand early rB6osnoted abovewere in part due to the loss,by eitherdeath or resignation, of many of the initial contributors including Jerrold,Thackeray, Rchard Doyle, Gilbert Abbott ) Beckett,and Albert Smith. The evolution of the magazine'scontent led EdmundYates,the editor of TbmpleBar, to assertin 'wit, t8Q that Punchhad lost the humour) and pointed sarcasmof former years'andhad degeneratedinto'sheer, wilful nonsense'.34But its sustained circulation figures suggestthat by the mid-r86os a new qFpeof reader enjoyed the subtle socialwit of Shirley Brooks, the grotesquecartoons of Du Maurier, the supremedraughtsmanship of Tenniel'spolitical cuts, and the work of the other rising starsof mid-Victortan Punc/t. Despitethe recognitionthat Punch'sbrotherhood was crucial to the suc- cessof the periodical,little attention hasbe en paid to the question of how this social group negotiatedthe contents of eachweek's issue. Although most Punch articleswere either anonymous or written from the perspec- 'Mr. tive of Punch', ledger books held in rhe Punch library in London enable us to identift writers and artists and thus deepen our analysisof this literary group.stA preliminary survey of theseledgers supports the argument that contributors with medical and scientificbackgrounds were the foremost producersof the periodical'scommentaries on science.36For example,John Leech, Albert Smith, and PercivalLeigh had been fellow studentsat St Bartholomew'sHospital, and they contributed most of the cartoons(in the caseof Leech)and texts (in the casesof Smith and Leigh) on medicalstudents, medical legislation, and quackery.37 Contributors who lacked a scientific background constituted a smallerbut not insignificant portion of the creatorsof Punclt'sscientific content. For thesewriters and artists, information about sciencewas just as accessibleas gossip about politics and fashion, and could likewise be satirized.A good example is Punch'sseccnd editor, Shirley Brooks, who abandoneda legal careerfor journalism in the earlyr84os, and subsequentlyearned an income asa par- liamentary and travel reporter on the Morning Chronicle and as a writer of comic journalism and stagefarces. In r85r he beganwriting for Punch where he published satiricalpoems and news commentariespertaining to science,gleaning information from readingnewspapers, hobnobbing with scientificpersonalities, and visiting metropolitan sitesof scientificactiviry. Comic i ournalism;Punch ro3
His biographerrecords that, in the r87os,Brooks developedan acquain- rancewith the zoologistThomas Henry Huxley and the sciencer,vriter John GeorgeWood. He also attendedthe Royal GeographicalSocierys debate on the expedition to observethe transit of Venus in 1882,and dined with the explorer Henry Morton Stanleyand the biologist St GeorgeJackson Mivart. Having read Richard Owen's January fi74 letter to the Timesdis- missingnews of the discoveryof a dodo, h. scribbledthe comic poem, 'The Dodo Demolished',which subsequentlyappeared in Punch.lsBrooks was one of many Punchcontributors *ho a stock of material "..,t-rlated for scientificjournalism through suchcontacts, and whosecareers illustrate the overlapberween Grub Streetand scientificLondon. Another insight into the we.kly businessof producing a comic journal is afforded by the dtary of Henry Silver, who recorded his experiencesat the weekly Punch dinners between1858 and fi7o.le The discussions,dis- agreements,and anecdoteshe documentedillustrate that Punc/tmen were surprisinglyknowledgeable about scientific developmentsand frequently engagedwith them intelligently and penetratingly.Around the large deal table,where food, wine, cigars,jottings, and newspaperscirculated, Mark 'Professor' Lemon recountedhis meetingswith GeorgeStephenson, Percival 'lectured' Leigh on phrenology,and others pondered such dramatic news as Robert Fitzroy'ssuicide.ao These interestsand passionswere reflected in the seriousand informed way in whi ch Punc/t contributors frequently engagedwith scientificnews. How Punch contributors worked together to turn scientific news into an article is illustrated by the following extract from Silver'saccount of the 'large cut' meeting of 9 April 186z:
S[hirley]B[rooks] proposes Gladstone making a houseof cards.But all agreethat theIron Shipsquestion is the one.So take his Vulcan and Neptune notion of last week,which J[ohn] L[eech]modifies into sea-nymphsarming Neptune as John Bull. P[ercival]L[eigh] proposesshoeing the Seahorses, but negatived.M[ark] 'Jack L[emon]suggests Britannia in Crinoline- but this repeatsthis week's in Iron'.4t
For most of those presentat this dinner, Gladstone'sbudget speechwas far lessimportant than the government'srecent decision to savethe Royal N"ty by replacingits vulnerablewooden shipswith state-of-the-artiron- clads.Brooks's, Leech's, and Leigh'sproposals were soon rejected,but Punch contributors'support for iron shipswas so strong that they adoptedan alter- 'metallic' nativerepresentation of the anticipated stareof the Royal N"ty - a cartoon of severalsailors dancing below deck in suits of armour.4' ro4 Sciencein the lVineteenth-CenturyPerioclical
The deliberationsover iron ships highlight the journalistic preoccupa- tions and skills of Punch'swriters and artists their insatiabledrive to representtopical and spectacularissues, and their selectionof topics that 'the were appropriate for stageof Punc/t'stheatre' (to cite Mark Lemon's phrase).a3Silver's observations document the immersion of Punc/t contrib- utors in worlds of mid-Victorian comedy and metropolitan science.In bridging theseworlds they drew on their masteryof the comic literary and graphical techniqueswell understood and enjoyed by Victorian readers, and on their acquaintancewith contemporary scienceand scientists.In discussingiron ships they exploitedstock aspectsof Victorian comedy by articulatingmany falsecongruities and unlikely associations.The comic ef- fect of juxtaposingsymbols of, on the one hand, the mythological, angelic, and conservative,and on the other, the novel, material, and progressive, underpinned the idea of Britannia in a crinoline. As LeslieStephen com- 'farce mented in his fi76 analysisof humour, the world wasregarded as a - a melancholy farce,indeed, for otherwisethere would be no contradiction - but a farce where the sublime must never be separatedfrom its shadow, the ridiculous' .+4Later in this chapter,we will seethat Stephen'sanalysis of farceapplies to most articlesin Punch.
PUAICH,S KIND OF SCIENCE
The foregoing analysisof eventsat the Punch table shows how the cornic journalistic goalsand interestsof the periodical'scontributors shapedthe content of one article. This sectiontakes a much broader approachto the question. It examinesbroad patterns in the scientific content of the first thirty years of Punch and looks at the way in which these trends reflect Punchcontributors' preoccupationswith comedy,topicaliry, spectacle, the vicissitudesof social,political, and cultural life, and the heroic, ingenious, hypocritical, and corrupt aspectsof the Victorian landscape.This section also identifies and analyzesthe locations of scientific material within the periodical format of the leading Victorian comic journal. lJnlike many 'Puncht other topics coveredrn Pwnch,such as the long-running Essence 'Fine of Parliament' or the regular Arts' articlesthat appearedin the early r84os,there were no dedicatedscientific columns. Instead,scientific mat- erial was spread over a wide vanety of literary and graphic genres, in- cluding commentarieson scientificnews reported elsewhere, spoof reports on science,mock proceedingsof learnedsocieties, pseudonymous letters, 'cuts', poems, songs,large and small burlesquesof seriahzedfiction and stagedramas, illustrated vignettes and illuminated letters,jokes, puns, and Comicf ournalism: Punch rot 'ephemera', other column-filling and spoofadvertisements (many of which poked fun at the very kinds of new medical treatmentsand contraptions that Punch advertisedon its wrappers)(fig. 4.4). In Punch the news commentary was the most prevalent genre for dis- 'scientific'articles cussingscience; of 6,zoo publishedduring the first three decades,there were z,zoo news commentaries,compared with 7zo ca.- toons, jzo comic poems,{oo mock letters,z6o spoof advertisements,and r8o droil songs(all figuresbeing approximate).Scientific topics rarely fea- 'large tured in the weekly centrepiece- the cut' - and they were even less likely to appearin such other covetedplaces as on the title pagesof bound volumes.Nonetheless, the foregoing figuresgive powerful support to the argument that Punch'sscientific material - like so much of its other con- tent - was strongly dependenton what was being reported, displayed,or 'scientific' gossipedabout elsewhere.A article alsooften combined literary genres- for instance , Tvignetteillustration that prefaceda poetic paro dy,^ spoof news report that was followed by a pseudonymousletter, or a poem 'sci- that was in fact a commentary on an actual item in a newspaper.Few entific' articles tn Punc/t exrstedin isolation and were usually in dialogue with articlesappearing in the sameor earlierissues, or with entirely separate publications. For example,an rStt poem describingFaradays analysis of the Thames water was positioned next to John Leech'slarge cut of Fara- 'Father d^y confronting a gruesome Thames' emerging from his equally 'The filthy river.a5Less straightforward was the r8i3 spoof prospectusfor 'the Locomotive Table Company'. This explainedthat following proof of faciliry with which Thblescan be moved by meansof a Company, through merevolition, after the handsof the Compan)/havebeen placed for a short time on the Thble',the'Company'believed it could'supersedeSteam En- 'where gines on Railways'by placing a table the engine is at present, in 'a front of the train' and having certain number of the Directors of the Company. . . seatedat a board in connexionwith it; which will insure that additionalguarantee of saferyso much wanted on railroads'.46The comedy dependedon an explicit referenceto the motive force supposedlyexerted 'table-turning' by individuals participating in - a practicemuch derided in - Punch but an implicit allusion to a John Leechcartoon published a few weeksearlier, showing a proposedmethod of reducing railway accidents: qving two railway company directors to the front of a steam locomotive operatedby their frrm.a7 In general, Punch focusedon thosescientific topics that its contributors thought would entertain and provoke a resp..r"bl. male and merropoli- tan readership.This audiencewas particularly aware of thoseareas of science l- ro6 Sciencexn the |Vineteent/t - Century Periodica I
'l i v titl, p i;; lu I\ih:i;hi,i. ,:re t^r {,r\rtr i;ii:;:..ii"::'j.*."|.l}';.ail;i..i''.-.t.;-,"l;:':lT!iisi}4ti'r;'i,r*,.'i,i:*j,::.*.:-::t:;i$*lljil Ifii:;::'":]Tjj;:'J.l'.Fil;;.l'|ir1*l,ti.'.:."::;:I:i]R"3jI,},0AI}A3I}TrgEtEtl:F.0 A d+tcndr;\. i.oc..gr,ts" lati ) I. qrr: r.:.:t,:::4 U\ ." : o"ii,$11;:i::"11,,'i'li,*:i #::*;t"i:l*.**,*t$ji!ill-$itt: ii*;;,':i{tl*Siliifl,i,**i$fr hdtt i$t t..rr-ljri:4 tYr i.iri::r;+$ 't! ,t a!t: :1rr: ili :)::: i i i.!.:ii:{,t),::: :l) t;r. riiltlr:,yr'-.;::::liiita.. tt >.r:: ir)t..,- r: :$ (i srrr;ir. t:{i:!ia.t.i i (it! .ifrr:f;i-ti?f Nrr* i. 1*...i.r, Siy{:iia){ \':.il:r'i:+. i:::.{ *s*Iiffi{#ffi#ij tiffi iiffi$ffiit$fft$ff::;i#g$,:r'$;$ii{X ffiSi{'#;X;fi#;i.3.1'S,f-f5ffflf#riffiffiii . . lir,llni*t,"nl;,1';a;:;r*ilx;#nt1;,*l''ri:iiliii;+il.;;i]'jFl+;i1i..?bd!*}ijfill;.l;l.;.iir,Ml:ff.)x.|^f{}l'1'IXt:''i"f.Kfiii.&[i{"G;i.;fJ'}I]i1l1]]l*l1#..'*.**'. ii,,ui;r sj-*Hm;'if,,Y '.Yii*,,."* / , iitt#i#,f$,tr$::{i;:r:$;}tr {rJixj^iii.it&ijlJill'*?r::iililllll ;;li*"^rii;iiii:;;.;.x;.|ri',ii*";1"..';ilkl'}i'1..r'ii'.l'':|:si'r'^..i{D9f.{},|Lcu!gi:'''.1lii1i.'lili.!l'F..I|il,,rNn.!t?.,!t!fYtf.tiI5T's'n''.siRfmsji?td|tf}'ifTffjN. * tixr: Pijt}.:Y.'ti:};I'I}:I{Il:r1t:c&:]}":{!ljJ;I|iU*^}lsh$"l",i'Yf;'}[;-*;;-i'lt?'Iijti*.-.,.i;ii.filti-ti";i;ffi}"i1-1I"'".iffir,$l}.v};A''l:1.':it*-Jr1'ijuI.}":*l}!;lliUt^'.lsh$":;-*ill,;'ii;;l'.;.l'i;[:J'lii;;,*'i;i,l:l:..tillli:,;is:'"#,l:l;*::*-'lffi.Y0xEs'sbouesst}rsAifu:'-*iJ>1itri+n.r.r1l1.}t.l,li. g..ltlrl'l".,:i'.+*,*'.'".9,ir+qitir9jt"l;'a'g;i*.ic$HTi Li..l' lt: (r].,tJj{1{t...' t:.rrj }1F!.i;,r'} $:*j';;1"*;;iT..\t ( " ri::t::ahcrr 3*rr.'.,ri *lri ti+ rr.*rts<, il;*:li..xllE;*;j;#::iJ:l'i&'^.[:;l,'i]:..8i*J;$];"i!sJ6j'.l'..',;$11,l}.|er$j..];;i.',l*- i\r",A,i.l;;'.A-.';;.;;*;;;;:;F1|'{'TAY|o$t\,:...*..*..-.i-.*i.--!-ier $F\lR'or"rFrfirrayro$r\.; ; :* :- . -i :':,Tri' ;1"---i ii*$;i,;;J.ltjf.i.,Silliilf;ii:ffi ilitj:*-.iflf:};r.5$,;tr^Jij,,,f6::$;i,:,;i3,.*iJ;ry:i,j,i'i:'"*,:.*.",t'r;:;:i*t:' I i I dtr iff:illller#riiji}'iitii$*iffr$ uii*rir+:.,i''l[r!]*es i!rrin',1i:,1...ij:i.;isi;t1!;.iif;L''f.:|$$iTj.$fllAIt'r;'-yr.iiiTi..}:i*i:}i;i},l]'ultlrl1}0i-.-iW...,...,..iilr: &[ ^&. tr|ir:a.r:s.taF $;#it**;irt;ri::,:'-' .*: 1.;.*j ffi,h i#:$*lrj*:i{{:ffi,4',ffi *{!r}1.:rblr: {hs:.i{. tE Figure 4.4. The wrappers of Punch for r4April 1849contain puffs for various medical 'Balsam products including the Copaiba' patent organic capsulesfor remedying nausea (in the left column), a textbook on hydropathy and an'Invisible Spine Supporter' (in the middle column), and the'Pomade Depurative'for curing baldnessand the'Amandine' hand-softening treatment (in the right column). Reproduced by permission of Richard Noakes. Comic i ournalism: Punch ro7 that were prominently discussedor displayedelsewhere, or that possessed generalintellectual interest or had direct implications for health, securiry, and daily life. Punchoften selectedfor comment scientificissues that were newsworthy; thus a cluster of articlesmight closelytrack the development of ascientificevent familiar to most readers.For example,the rBit cluster of articleson military technology followed rumours concerning a secret weapon devisedby Lord Dundonald to defeat the Russian Fleet in the Crimea; and the 186r cluster on animal behaviour followed the French- American explorer Paul Du Chaillu's claims regarding the aggressivebe- haviour of African gorillas.Scientific articles rarely contain.d just scientific material.Indeed, the comedy of Punch often dependedon mixing incon- gruoussubjects, such as statesmen and medicalquackery, steam locomotives and spiritualism,or civil servantsand the behaviourof entozoa. 'pure' Particularly prominent among the scientific topics discussed in Punc/t'sfirst three decadeswere animal behaviour and development, zoolory, astronomy, analytical and industrial chemistry, human develop- ment, natural history, and electriciry.These topics impinged most exten- sivelyon the livesofreaders, either because theywere intellectually accessible or stimulating, or becausethey possessedimplications for the readers'daily routines.Natural history, for example,was often discussedin relation to amateurcollecting activities; analytical chemistry frequendy occurred in the context of polluted water; and electricityrypically appearedin discussions of telegraphyand new electricalmachines. The coverageof the physical sci- ences,and the more technicalaspects of all the sciences,was unsurprisingly small for a journal that sought to hold the attention of non-specialistintel- ligent read.ers.Indeed, the,rrost common causefor discussingsuch abstract scientificissues was to poke fun at scientificpractitioners' obscurantism. Medical and technologicaltopics were far more prevalenttn Punch than 'pure' the sciences,let alonethe technicallymore demandingscientific sub- jects. This concentration lends further support to the claim that Punch was mainly interestedin those scientific topics that were most familiar or relevantto readers.Among the most common subjectsof discussion werethe fair and foul deedsof medicalpractitioners (physicians, surgeons, nurses,and quacks), new medical legislation,novel remediesand other treatments,questions of public health, sanitation, and disease,railways and steam locomotives (especiallyas the causeof commercial manias, zc- cidents,and environmentaldamage), ironclads and other new weaponsof war, the electrictelegraph, steamships, balloons, spectacular new engineer- ing structures,and the ingenious and disingenuousaccomplishments of inventors. ro8 Sciencein tbe IVineteenth-CenturyPeriodical As we sha1lse e throughout the remainderof this chapter,rhe notorious interestsof Punch contributors in anything that exposedoddities of so- cial convention and classor which smackedof fraudulence,obscuranrism, and hypocrisy alsoinformed their choiceof scientifictopics for discussion. Thus, there are plenty of humorous articlesreflecting on the possiblead- vantagesof steamlocomotives and the electrictelegraph to the routines of political and domesticlife, the inability of rustics,old sea-salts,and cock- neysto come to termswith new inventions,and the curious behaviourand languageof delegatesat meetingsof scientificsocieties. Similarly, the appar- ently shady individuals whom Punch contributors denouncedso passion- ately at their weekly dinnerswere targetedfor much sober-tonedcriticism in print. Quacks, dissolutemedical students,mercenary railway company directors, inventors of dubious machines,astrologers, and spirit-rappers were caricaturedand demon tzedfor much the samereason that Punch con- tributors inveighed againstgreedy aldermen, misguided statesmen,hypo- critical journalists,avaricious merchants, and corrupt priests.as These explanationsof Punch'schoice of scientific topics also accounr for the scientificpractitioners, places, and publicationsfeatured in articles and illustrations.Although patriotism may explainthe repeatedreferences to such British scientific worthies as IsaacNewton, Edward Jenner,and George Stephenson,at least as much material was devoted to scientific personalitieswho would have been familiar to metropolitan readers,such asRichard Owen, Michael Faraday,Charles Darwin, CharlesBabbage, and GeorgeAiry. Punch also coveredlesser-known scientific personalities who burst into the news for a variery of savouryor unsavoury reasons.Thus, there areaplethora of articleson, or allusionsto, JarnesGlaisher and Henry Coxwell and their heroicballoon ascents,David BoswellReid and his much- ridiculed apparatusfor ventilating the Palaceof \Testminster,and Cowper Coles and his armoured turret for iron shipsthat was, accordingto Punch, shamefully neglectedby the Admir"lqF. Punc/t'sengagements with storiesof theselesser-known personalities did not simply reflectthe news,but acrively contributed to the fame or notoriery of theseindividuals . Puncbs frequent allusions to the Zoological Gardensat Regent'sPark, to the Crystal Palace, London's hospitals, the Royal Collegesof Surgeonsand Physicians,the '\7yld's Royal Polytechnic Institution, the Royal Greenwich Observ atory, Great Globe', and the SocialScience Congress, again reflect the interestsof the periodical'slargely metropolitan audience.References ro now-forgotten sites of spectacularnew engineeringdevelopments, filthy workhousesor polluting factories,or bird-slaught.iirtg gt; clubs, also underl tnePunch's closeconcern with institutions that might improve or har:mthe minds and bodiesof readers. Comi c i ournalism : Punch ro9 Referencesto published works included many rc new scientific books (notably the Wstigesof rhe Jvatural Historlt { Creation (t8++), Darwin's Origin { Species(t859), and Du Chaillu's Explorationsancl Aduenturesin EquatorialAfrica Q86r)).Yet in comparison*ith the 3oo-odd referencesro scientificmonographs, pamphlets, and other publishedworks in the period from t94t to r87r, there were nearly 7oo referencesro scientifi. p.riodicals (notablythe Lancet)or scientificdiscussions that appearedin g.^.r"1 peri- odicals.Thus, as far as scienceis concerned,Punch drew *oi hearrilyo' periodicalsthan on books.This analysisalso supports Brooks's contention that Punch'setits watch by the clock of The Times'sinceapproximately one third of the referencesto scientificmaterials in periodi.Jr were to articles in the leading London daily. The dialogu. b.t*. en Punch andother news- paPerswas, of course,rwo waY,as illustrated by the occasionallystinging exchangesberween Punch and such dailies as the Morning Post,and more flatteringly,the Timeisregular inclusion of small extractsfro- punch.4eAl- though Punchoften made explicit the sourceson which it dreq references 'Mon- weresometimes merely implicit. This is powerfully illustratedby the keyani poem which was published in Punch on 18 M"y 186r.1.n. poem endedwith the non-referencedphrase, ""Io rwice slay th. ,l"irr"', which many readerswill have recognrzedas the last line in a l.it., that Huxley had written to theAthenaeumfive days earlier.to Thus, the comprehensibiliryof Punch's scientific articles,like the rest of its material, oft.r depend.i o., readers'familiarrty with a broad rangeof periodicals. T'V7ISTING SCIENTIFIC I{E\TS Although su-rveyof the contentsand literary " and graphic forms of science tn Punch is valuable,we also need to appreciatethJ.o-plex ways in which individual scientificarticles functio".d- This 'scientific' secriontakes a closerlook at several texts and illustrations from Punch'sfirst three decades.I shallexplore how newswas re-presented and adaptedfor enrerrainmentand instruction, and how sciencewas appropriated ir ord.r ro enablepunch to survivein the cut-throat world of mid-Victorian Grub Street.Throughout thefollowing discussion,we will seetha t Punchsengagement with scientific topics was not superficial.It dependedon and t.irt$tced sober and often profound perceptionsconcertitg the placesand usesofscience in Victorian cuiture. Remaking scientifc netrs Punclt'scommentaries on scientificnews varied considerably in tone, length, and content. After presentingreaders with the outlines of a scientificnews 3I Period.ical 1ro Sciencein the lYineteenth-Century item (usuaily from a named source)or quotations from another publica- rion, contriburorsto Punch qrptcallyadded expressions of anger,adulation, bewilderment,or amusement,often with allusionsto themesalready artic- ulatedby the periodical.The following examplefrom an 1858instalment of 'Essence the of Parliament'illustrates how political debatesbearing on sci- entific topics provided amplematerial for Punchto vent its spleenabout the more reprehensibleaspects of science.He rc Punch rcminded readersthat \Tilliam Cowper'sMedical Reform Bill wasbeing readfor the secondtime 'Mr. in the House of Commons, but then pointed out that Punch intends to move a clauseempowering a Magistrateto order anyAdvertising Quack 'Nothing to be flogged, and branded with a Q, explainingthat: short of this will stop the murderous systemof heartlesstraders in misfortune.'i' The efforts of other scientific practitionersto treat the body politic were representedwith much more warmth. In 1855,for example,Punch praised :j i Michael Farad"fr use of analytical chemistry to addressone of the most 'l atr intractable public health problems - the foul state of the River Thames. ,u After the savant published a letter in the Timesannouncing his discovery ; of myriad unwholesomeconstituents in the capital'sriver, Punch hailed the 'CrrnvrrcAl. letter as a work of small sizeand great importance' that would 'effect eventually a saving of life still greaterthan that which has resulted from his predecessor's[Humphry Davy's] safety-lln.p'.52 Punchwasfar lessimpressed with individualswho, from reportsin other periodicals,appeared to be hoodwinking the British public with their ap- parently dubious inventions supportedby unsound arguments.On these occasions Punch adoptedits idiosyncraticmode of arbitration. In October t8j7 , for example,it was so puzzledby a descriptionin the Timesof John de la Haye'smethod for submergingsubmarine cables that it comparedthe 'the invention ro devicesof the Laputansages'. The project involved coating telegraphlines with a mysteriouscompound which delayedthe descentof the cablesto the seafloor, but Punch pointed out that whatever the nature of the compound, it would be washed off by the Atlantic's large waves. Punch sought to exposetechnological fraud with comedy, and suggested that de la Haye'sproposal was possible, but only if impracticableconditions 'Iced were met - the cablesshould be coatedwith vastquantities of cream' and the Atlanric should be dead calm.t3The theme of obscurantismap- pearedagain in 1865when Punch notedthat a recentissue of the Mechanics' Magazine contained a puzzling extract from the French scientific period- lthe ical Cosmosdescribing how a savant had calculatedthat mechanical 't,zi9 equivalentof the ,or"l light of the sun' was septillion of "bougies"'. 'lucid' 'arithmetical Thir news item ril/asneither nor useful becausewhen Comi c j ournalism: Punch III athletes. . . distort themselvesby piling up theseabsurd heaps of millions anCbiilions. . . no one caresabout givinghimselfthe trouble,either to ver- ify, or disprovethem' .i4Punclt contributorswere, of course,not themselves exemptfrom abusinglanguage since they exploitednew scientificterms as 'science rich sourcesof puns and word pl^y. For example,a Gossip' col- umn of 1868announced that A Scientific Ghost-storywill shortly appear in fortnightly numbers, founded on SpectrumAnalysis'.5i It is hardly surprising that a periodical so preoccupiedwith news and comedy should contain many spoof news reports.These satiricalreports presenteda newsworthy or familiar topic from a new and comic perspec- rive, typically by associatingthe topic with other, and often incongruous, themes.As the following examplesillustrate, science was often the primary topic of discussionor was woven into a report of what was an ostensi- bly non-scientific issue.An astonishing range of topics was featured in 'The the Irish Yahoos'appearing in mid-December 186r.This far-fetched 'Pope's 'Irish report describeda to*dy -..rirrg at the Head"'where the ' Yahoos'had convened to express joy and exultation' at England's immi- nent involvement in the American Civil Var and the anticipated large 'chaired' number of casualties.The mob was by the appropriatelynamed 'O'DoxocHyAHoo' 'hailed whose criesof abuseagainst the Englishwere with frantic howling and pealsof convulsivelaughter, like that of a multi- 'calamities tudeof idiots'.After gloating on the they expect[.d] for England' 'several the meeting ended with rounds of hurroos for the Popn' and then yelping,whining, and howling, after the manner of the canine species,ro which the Yahoo is nearly allied, being a creatureberween the mongrel and 'report' the baboon'.t6This featured the common srereorypeof the Irish aswild animals but here Punch'sracism was linked, implicitly and explic- 'Yahoos', itly, with myriad other themes including Jonathan Swift's bestial Britain'sgrowing hostiliry to America, the evilsof Roman Catholicism, and, most significantly,to Paul du Chaillu's recent account of the aggressivena- ture of African gorillas and Darwinian theoriesof man's simian ancestry.t7 Despiteits obvious comic format, this spoof news reporr powerfully illus- tratesPunclt's active participation in debatesover the possiblemeanings of science. News of non-scientificevents provided further opportunities for Punch contributors to analyze the cultural usesof science.This was particularly common during discussionof allegedmiraculous and supernaturalph.- nomena. For example, Punch contributors seizedon occasionalreporrs of the apparentliquefaction of the blood of Saint Januariusin Naples. In OctoberrBy9, for instance,it insistedthat this'so-called"miracle"'ctuld be rtz Sciencein the IVineteenth-CenturyPeriodical 'dead 'science', achievedwith greaterrapidiry and certainqF'by using steam, 'appearance' bellows, or a hot poker. Moreover, the allegedsimultaneous of the Januariusmiracle and the appearanceof the saint'sblood in Puzzoli 'guaranteed' (wherethe saintwas beheaded) could be by connectingNaples 'clearly and Puzzoliby electriciqy.Belief in suchmiracles was incompatible 'In with scientific knowledge'because placeswhere the steam-enginehas never been inspected,and where electrictelegraphr are utt erly undreamr of, their agenciesmight readily affect a so-thought "miracle", and deceive the eyesightsblinded by the darkenedsuperstitions which are the stock-in- trade and groundwork of the Romish Church.'58On such occasions,when the social order was threatenedby tricks perpetratedby cunning priests or other charlatans,Punch writers penned forcef,ulendorsements of the superioriqFof science. Scienceand engineeringcould be recruited to rein- force cultural contrastsmade more explicitly elsewherein the periodical. Drawing on suchgrand spectacles as the GreatExhibition of r8tr, contribu- tors to Punc/t revelledin the marvelsof scienceand engineeringwhich, they considered,not only enhancednational pride and confirmed their faith in progress,but alsodemonstrated Britain's superiority over other nationsand the supremacyof Protestantsover Catholics. I Ilus trating sc i enc e/p o liti cs Illustrations were crucial to the overallappeal of Punch and to the variery it offered its readers(fig. 49. Ranging from tiny illustratedvignettes to the week'slarge cut, Punc/t'sillustrations represent some of the most complex engagementswith sciencein the periodical.Articles were often illustrated 'illuminated' by visual vignettesor lettersthat evokedcomic scenes.Thus a sober186r discussion of the sensationaltrial of a pharmacistwas headed by cartoon showing a quack about to introduce a dubious-looking tablet " into the mouth of a frightened patient.tuR.presentations of sciencewere often made in the small engravings,which occupiedbetween a quarter and half a page. Like other Punch material, these illustrations often explored the comic impact of the eccentricworld of scienceand scientistson social 'Quite convention. This is succinctly illustrated in Leech's a Novelry' of 'Amiable rSi4,which showsan Experimentalist'sitting down to dinner with friends in a room whosewalls are adornedwith pictures of fungi. Much to the distasteof his gueststhe eccentricsavant enthusiastically provides them with technicaland stomach-churningdescriptions of the mushroomsthey are all about to eat.6o n1 Sciencein the lVineteenth-CenturyPeriodical Other Punchartists were more renownedfor usingcaricature to reinforce the dangers, ingenuiqy,and sheerdrama of the personalities,practices, and products of science.This is evident in an 1845illustration of what Punch thought Great Britain would look like rn t847: developingits cynicalview 'benefits' of the conferredby expandingthe railway nerwork, it showed the country entirely coveredwith railroads.6'Other examplesare Du Maurier's satireon Darwinian evolution portrayinga zookeeper'snightmare in which the different speciesof animals have exchangedheads, and Charles Ben- nett's busy cartoonsof the mid r86os that caricatureddelegates at British Associationmeetings as the subjectsof their papers.6'In all thesecases, the standardtechniques of graphic satire- exaggeration,reversal, and incon- gruous juxtaposition - were usedto spectaculareffect. Thus in one of his cartoonsBennett drew scientistswith large headsatop emaciatedbodies, whilst riding, clutching, and embodying the instruments of their trade: the optical expert David Brewsterrode a pair of spectacles,the chemist \Tilliam Crookesupheld, and balancedon, fasks containing his new car- bolic spray,and the astrophysicistVilliam Huggins was shown clutching a chemical balanceand jar, and sporting an enormousspectroscope prism for a head,the symbolsof the opti."l-chernicalappro".hio celestiatotlects (fig. 4.6). In a later cartoon Bennett further exploitedreports of the British Association drama by showing Thomas Henry Huxley and Richard Owen locked in an affectionate embrace - thus satirizing their widely known antipathy. Bennett'scaricatures are significant in the early history of Punclt because they were among the few illustrationsthat depicted identifiable scientific personalities.Rarely were individual scientistsportrayed in the week'slarge cut. Savantswho did enjoy such prominent representation- including Richard Owen and Michael Faraday -would previouslyhave been encoun- tered by readersin illustrated periodicals,scientific memoirs, exhibitions of portraits, photographic shops,and public lectures.6sIn contrast to the r84os, scientific personalitieshad by the r86os become far more familiar to the public through illustrated media and public spectacle.Bennett, in particular,exploited this increasedvisibility of scientistsin his cartoons. Scientific subjectsdid not often fcature in the large weekly cur, the ex- ceptions being mesmerism,railway mania, the Dover-Calais and Atlantic submarinetelegraphr, the disease-riddenThames, solar eclipses, Armsrrong heavy artillery, the controversy over gorillas and man's simian ancestry, the hatching of pphon eggs at the Zoological Gardens, and the Cattle Plague.6+Th.se topicswere chosenfor their currenrnewsworthiness - thus displacingless exciting political and socialsubjects - and becausesome of II5 Sciencein the IVineteenth-CenturyPeriodical them werevisual enough to makefor powerful graphicre-presentation. Yet, like most illustrations tn Punch, there are plenqy of large cuts that defi. a 'scientific' 'non-scientific'. straightforwarddistinction between and Indeed, it is the cuts that blend scientificand non-scientificmaterial that illusffate most powerfully how Punchcontributors developed commentaries on non- scientific topics by associationwith scientific subjects,and vice versa.A striking example is John Tenniel's Another Eclipse for India' , a large cur appearingin Punch for t September1868 (fig. 4.).6t The main caption would have reminded readersof the astronomicalevent of the year- the solareclipse of 18August that wasbest observed from India. The cartoon,the restof the caption,and, aboveall, a poem appearinga few pagesafter the cut, would havehelped readers to understandthe allusionsin the illustration and reflecton the similariry betweenrecent astronomical and political events.66 The cartoon showsthe allegoricalfigure of India crouching in fear of the shadow of a man wearing an enormous cocked hat, and John Lawrence, 'India' the Viceroy and Governor-Generalof India, who reassures that she 'light' 'eclipse' need not fearher being extinguishedby the other becauseit is only being causedby Lord Mayo, who had recentlybeen announced as Lawrence'ssuccessor and who promised to continue Lawrence'srecord of raising the socio-economicstatus of Indi" by developingits resourcesand improving its administration. Tenniel'scartoon createdanalogies between the sun and India, and betweenthe moon and Mayo, and howevermuch readersmay havedismissed such analogies as the product of a comic artistic imagination,the cartoonwas one of manywaysin which Punchparticipated in creatingand propagatingknowledg. of a scientificevent. Re-presentingingenui4t and questioningprogress \When Punch writers parodied the literary genres of science they were simultaneously mocking scientific practitioners themselves. Drawing heavily on the conventionsof scientificsatire established in such works as 'Mudfog Martinus Scriblerusand Charles Dickens's Papers',these writers poked fun at scientificstereoqFpes for their unconventionalbehaviour, pom- posiry, obsessiveinterest in trivial details,and their pursuit of apparendy implausibleresearch projects. Few occasionsprovided richer material than the annual meetingsof the British Associationfor the Advancementof Sci- ence.unlike most other eventsin the scientificcalendar, British Association meetingswere widely reported in the pressand would have been familiar to most Punchreaders. Moreover, its meetingswere repletewith the pomp, personalities,and pageantrythat Punchwriters were expertat turning into IIB Sciencein tbe JVineteenth-CenturyPerioclical humorous material.In the r84os Punch publishedseveral spoof proceedings of the British Association which were timed to coincide with- the 'Brightish ".rn.r-"l meetingin late summer.The fi$ serieson the Associationfor the Advancementof Everything' containedthe key elementsof scientificsatire 'proceed- that Punch would develop further over the next thirry years.The ings'of the meeting developedseveral comic contrasts,norably betweenthe notoriously lof,y tone and absurdcontent of papersdelivered, and berween the sublime aspirationsof scientificmen and the utterly trivial, chimerical, 'Mathematical or abstruseproducts of their labours.Thus tn Punch's and 'Dn- PhysicalSciences' section a SpncrnuM' presenreda paper on the ap- 'Presence parently important topic of the of PrismaticColo1rrr in Potaro.i', 'prismatic which describedthe colours'presented to the eyeand the purple colour imparted to the eyelid when the author was struck in the .y. by " flying Potato.6zL1k other humorous articles, Punc/t'ssatires of the Britirh Associationevoked contemporary themes familiar ro the reader.For exam- ple' in 1843Punch informed its readersthat Alfred Bunn, the impresario whose plays were a recurrent sourceof ridicule, had undertaken "noth., futile task: at the forthcoming British Associationmeeting h. 'the would read report of the Committee for the Reduction of Stars on a Method of Hypothetical Representation,as applied ro Impossible Results, by PnopnssoRMuooLuwrrz'.68 Parodiesof scientificreporrs also gave punih contributorsrichlite raryresources for questioningthe benefits expertise ""d 'Political of social rypesot/ter than scientific savants.A hilarious exampleis Zoology: The Red-Tapeworm'of Februaryr8tt in which Pinch combined a powerful reminder of the dry and esotericsryle of natural historical de- scription with another swipe at the bureaucratswhom it clearly believed were chiefly resPonsiblefor the woeful stateof the British soldiersduring 'T,e,xm 'Red-Thpeworm-' the Crimean \Var. Introduced as OrprcrAlrs' rhe 'one was characterrzedas of the entozoawhichinfest the body-poliiic' char- actetizedby.'a strong aftachment to place, and where it once lodges, there 'Like it sticks,with prodigious adhesiveness'. mosr crearuresof low organ- isation',it noted, the Red-laPewormadmits of being cut up almost indefinitelywithout being apParentlythe worse for the operation; its separateportions wriggling themselves together again, and uniting, in a short time, as ifnothing h"J h"pip.n.d. The processhas over and over again been performed by various journ"iirrr; but the Red Thpeworm has hitherro survivedthe severestslashing. symptoms produced by the Red-Tapeworm alarming weakness Th. "r. "n and wasting away, attended with confusion, and impairment of f"I.rlties and Comic jottrnalism: Punch n9 functionswhich it occupies,and which becomes,in the end, hopelesslyprostrated by paraiysis,and sinks into collapse.The emaciationand atrophy of the rroops beforeSebastopol have beenclearly traced to the agencyof the Tenia Officialis.6t Punc/t'sspoofs of scientificreports and proceedingsrypically presented readerswith ambivalent imagesof science.On the one hand, they illus- trated Punch contributors' admiration for scientificingenuiq., which they explicitly and soberlypraised for its power to vanquish such afflictions as mortal disease,superstition, and internationalconflict. On the other hand, Punc/t'sparodies of scienceshow how much contributorsshared the Scrible- rian anxierythat the reachof scientificpractitioners, engineers, and doctors often appeareddangerously to exceedtheir grasp.ToThis tension berween admiration and anxiety is succinctlydisplayed in an r84z parody of a sci- entific report on the inane topic of buns, which included such pompous 'Naturalists statementsas: having occasionally(very rarely)observed a sorr of ossificationresembling a currant upon the surfaceof the bun, were led to undertakea mining speculation,for the discoveryof any of thesecuri- ositieswhich might by chancebe concealedin the bowels.'7'Similarly, in the same \learPunch contributed to the relentlesstorrent of advertisemenrs for railway schemeswith a puff for a railway from England to China. The 'passing tunnel would reachfrom London to Canton through the centreof the glob.', and the whole enterprisewas in the hands of the chief engineer 'Sinko Shaft', whose trusrworthinesscould b. judged from his belief that the centreof the globe is inhabited by peoplewho had fallen there during earthquakes.T' Punc/t'sambivalence towards recent scientific developmentswas devel- oped in a welter of spoof letters,poems, and songs.Spoof letters and comic poems allowed Punch contributors to deliver their sharpestcriti- cism and satire on sciencebecause they could assumethe pseudonymous persona of Mr Punch, or some other individual, animal, place, or inan- imate object that praised,condemned, or reflectedon recent changesin science.By adopting the sqFleof an obnoxious,arrogant, illiterate, or hope- lesslymisguided character, Punclt could represent,ridicule, and promote a range of (often extreme)positions on scientific developmentsfamiliar to readers.Few issuesprompted this kind of responsemore forcefully than news of technological development. Thke, for example, the differ- ent assessmentsof technology developedin spoof letters from fi46 and 'disinterested' t866, the former from a yokel, and the latter from a pro- 'Simon moter of gas lighting. The earlier letter was from Hodgskirrr', " IZO Sciencein tbe lVineteenth-CenturyPeriodical farmer of limited lite rary abiliry, .,vhoexplained that while reading a reporr 'took of a recent meeting of the Roy"l Agricultural Soci.ry, he was aback to read about all the noo implements for farmun as was show'd there; - Nar-weegun Harrers, Hay-band-meakers,Pattent Haxuls'. He could not 'laafun' help at new clod-crusherand corn-crushermachines and, uphold- 'farm itg tradition over innovation, invited Mr. Punch down to his in Hampshur'and then'Thke aeta one of my carters,and if you dwoant say that the best clod-crushersor corn-crusherseither be their bootsnever you trust SIMON HODGSKINS.'73 Punclt'sbourgeois readers were implicitly invited to dismissthe views of this muddled and ignorant scepticof tech- nological development and instead to sympathtzewith the producersof fashionablenew inventions. Likewise,readers were invited to opposeAudi Alteram Patrem',writing to Punchtnr866,who reflectedon the newsthat the Housesof Parliamenr had refusedthe Imperial GasCompan)i permission to build gasworksin the lush surroundings of Victoria Park, Hackney tVick. Given Punc//s earher praise for Parliament'sdecision, readersmight have assumedthat this was another straightforwardattack on polluting factories.TaCloser reading of the spoof letter, however, shows Punc/t'smore subtle way of questioning technologicaldevelopment. Presenting himself as an impartial onlooker, the author explainedthat the defeatof the Imperial Gas Company had in- spiredHackney \X/ick residentsto opposea parliamentarybill allowing the 'odorifer- GasLight and Coke Company to establishwhat they consideran ous plant' nearVictoria Park.The author'strue loyaltieswere soon revealed 'illuminating when he praised London gas companiesfor their power', 'readiness low-cost gas,moderate profits, to accommodatethe public' and 'the declaredhis support for interestsof a greatCompany' (the Gas Light and Coke Compaty). Readers'sympathies with the author would have crumbled when he stated that he had advisedgas companies to try to 'Bill keep their to erect Gasworks for that purpose out of the lists of [Parliamentarfl Orders of the D"y that appear in the newspapers'.He 'choicest 'residual alsoreminded Mr Punch that since scents'arise from the products' of the Gas Light and Coke Company's works, such a gas plant would have enhancedthe smell of flowers in the park. In conclusion, the author suspiciouslyinsisted that he had not been bribed by the Gas Light 'an and Coke Company and was of course entirely disinterested party'.7t By satirrzing and demonizing a promoter of gas-lighting, ?n individual so 'interested' that he believed gascompanies were actually doing local com- munities a favour by polluting the air, Punch raised dilemmas faced by many readerswho enjoyed gas-lightingand other technolcgicalluxuries, Comic j ournalism: Punch TZI and.presented readers with one of its most subtleand powerful strategies for debatingtechnological progres s per se. .THE CoNCLUSIoN: FIRST SCIEI{TIFIC JOURNAL OF THE O.tY,? In her pioneeringstudy of Victorian readinghabits, Amy Cruserecalled an anecdoteof a young girl who approachedBenjamin Disraeli and, despite 'I havingnever seen the Conservativestatesman before, said: know lou, I've seenyou tn Puncl.t.'76She was not the only personto believein a correlation berween Punch artrclesand the real world. In 1883a very different reader, 'The HenryJames,opined: accumulatedvolumes of this periodicalcontain evidenceon a multitude ofpoints ofwhich thereis no mention in the serious works - not even the novelsof the day.The smallestdetails of socialhabits are depictedthere.' He also believedthat Punch's'ironicalview of these things. . . doesnot injure the force of the testimony,for the irony of Punch, strangelyenough, hasalways been discreetand delicate'.77 Other Victorian readerswould haveknown the personalitiesand'smallest details' of science from reading Punch. Recent work by Janet Browne has emphasizedthe exrent to which late-Victorian perceptionsof CharlesDarwin as a genial sagedepended on caricaturespublished tn Punchand other mass-circulation 'ironical comic periodicals.TsPunch writers and artistscertainly took the 'things', view' of scientific and usedthe techniquesof textual and graphic 'testimony' sarireto achievetheir journalisticgoals. The resultwas distorted about science,but it wastestimony nonetheless, and everyweek it impacted on severalhundred thousandVictorians.Te This chapter has suggestedseveral ways of understanding how these Victorians understoodscience from reading comic periodicals.It has ex- amined the complexitiesof satirizingscience in the most celebratedof all Victorian comic journals,from the kinds of scientificmaterial enriching the varieqyof Punch to the complex ways in which the periodical contributors 'ironic' imposedtheir viewson this material.I havesuggested that the con- tent and form of sciencein Punchweredetermined by the journalisticpreoc- cupationsof the contributorswho soughtto entertainthe public eachweek. Their socializingwith scientific personalities,their trawls through daily papers,their discussionsaround the Punch table,and their private jottings and sketchesusually resulted in far more than a superficial treatment of scientific material for pure comic effect. Just as Punc/t contributors used satireto make seriousmoral and intellectualpoints about thorny political and religiousissues, so they exploitedcomedy to developserious arguments about the usesand abusesof science.I am not suggestitg,asdid Mr Punch T7Z Sciencein the lVineteenth-CenturyPeriodical in 186o,that Punchshould be recognizedas'the f;rst scientific journal of the d^y'; rather,I haveargued that its iole in shapingand determining popular knowledg. and opinions about scienceshould not be underrated.8o Historians and sociologistsof sciencehave long recogntzedthepowerful role of rhetoric and other linguistic and visual techniquesof persuasionin the construction of natural knowledge.stThese studies show that many of the common tropesofVictorian comic journalism- for example,caricature and exaggeration- havebeen used by scientiststhemselves to convinceeach other and their publics of the credibility of their scientific claims.Indeed, scientiststhemselves were not aboveexploiting scientific satiresin comic journals in their own rhetorical strategies.In r9r9, for instance,the age- ing physicist Lord Rayleigh addressedthe Society for PsychicalResearch with a speechthat used a Punch cartoon of mesmerism to illustrate the 'public' scepticalattitude of the mid-Victorian towards an obscurepsychi- cal phenomenon that, Rayleighsanguinely noted, had sincebecome more acceptableto medical practitioners.s'Rayleigh's straregy reveals how im- portant Punch and, for that matter, other comic periodicals,could be in shaping the scientific discoursesof 6lite savantsas well as rhe knowledg. of the mass-readingpublic. His useof Punchis a further reminder that far more needsto be known about the placesand usesof sciencein nineteenth- century comic periodicals.Systematic studies of the scientific material in late-Victorian Punch and the welter of other Victorian comic journals promisesto show in even greaterdetail the dependenceof satireson sci- entific eventstaking place,and reported,elsewhere in nineteenth-century cultures; the entanglementof comic journalistsand the increasinglypro- fessionahzedcadre of scientific experts;and the relationship betweenthe public's changingperceptions of scienceand what made them laugh. 4. P UNC,H AND COMIC JOURNALISM IN MID-VICTORIAN BRITAIN 'E.', 'The r. Philosophy of Punchj, VestminsterReuieu 38 G8+z), z65118 Qt6-r). I thank Patrick Leary,Jittr Paradis,and Ji- Secordfor their help in prep ara- tion of this chapter.I am indebted to Patrick Learywho allo*ed me ro dr"* 'Table on his^ulPublished researcheson Punch. SeePatti.k Leary, Talk and Print Culture in Mid-Victorian Britain: Th e PunchCircle, r858-r874' (un- published PhD dissertation,Universiry of Indiana, zooz). I would also like to thank Helen Valasek and Brigitte Istim for their help in locat ing Punch material. For permission to reproducematerial in their collections I thank Punch Library, London. The sourceof attribution of Punch articlesis from the contributor s ledgerbooks held tn Punchlibrary. Throughout thesenores Punchis abbreviatedas'P'. L. Richard D. Altick, Puncb: The Liuefit Youthofa British Institution, fi4rt85r (Columbus:Ohio StateUniversity pres s, tgi), pp. r-4o. IVotesto pages%-94 27r most informativestudies of Victorian Punchare: M. H. Spielmann,The ).The 'Punch'(London: Historyof Cassell,r8ll); CharlesL. Graves,Mr. Punchi Hh- toryofModern England, 4vols. (London: CasseII,ryzr-z); R. G. G. Price,A l{is- toryof Punch(London: Collins, r9r); SusanBriggs and AsaBriggs (eds.) , CoP and,Bell: Punchi Chronicleof EnglishHistory in theMabing, r94r-fu (London: Macdonald, ry72); Celina Fox, GraphicJournalism During the r83osand r84os (New York: GreenwoodPress, 1988); Altick, Punch. 'Satire 4.Altick, Punch,pp. tjz-6, 646-52;James G. Paradis, and Sciencein Victorian Culture' in Bernard Lightman (.d.) , Victorian Sciencein Context (Chicago:Chicago Universiqy Press, r99), pp. r+3-7t;JamesA. Secord,Vicro- rian Sensation:The Extraordinary Publication, Reception,and SecretAuthorship of rhe Wstiges{tbe lVatural History of Creation (Chtcago: Chicago Universiqy Press,zooo),pp. 4j5-6o; Roy Porter,Bodies Politic: Disease, Death, and Doctors in Britain, 165o-1900(London: Reaktion Books, zoor), z6z-7r (268);Richard 'Representing'A Noakes, Century of Inventions":Nineteenth-Century Tech- nology and Victorian Punch',in LouiseI{enson, et al. (eds.), Cultureand Sci- encein lVineteenth-CenturyMed.ia (Aldershot:Ashgate Press, zoo4), pp. r5r- 62. Other discussionsof Punch, science,technolo6y, and medicine can be found in Graves,Mr. Punch'sHistory, vol. I,pp.6r-8o, vol. II, pp. ry6-47, vol. III, pp. r98-zra vol. IV, pp. r8r-93; Briggs and Briggs, Cop and Bell, pp. ro6-7, zor-5;Asa Briggs, Victorian Things (London: Batsford, 1988), p. l,8z; 'The 'Empry-Headed 'Sweet and SuzanneLe-May Sheffield, Beaury' and the Girl Graduate':Vomen's ScienceEducation in Punch,186o-189o', in Henson et al. pp. ry-28. ,. See,for example,Anthony Wohl, Endangered.Liues: Public Health in Victorian Britain (London: Dent, 1983);Briggs, Victorian Things. 6. PeterM. Sinnema, The Dynamics of the PicturedPage: Representing the lVation 'Illustrated in the LondonIVeus'(Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998), pp. r-2. 'ReviewArticle: 7. Roy Porter, Seeingthe Past',PAst and Present(February 1988), 186-zo5; B. E. Maidment, Reading Popular Prints r79o-r870 (Manchester: ManchesterUniversiry Press,1996), Second, Victorian Sensation.Citation from Maidment, ReadingPopular Prints, p. rr. I am not suggestingthat we should stop using Punch or any other comic periodical to gauge popular engage- mentswith scientificculture: on the conffary,studies by Martin Rudwick and JanetBrowne persuasivelyargue how much satiricalmaterial can revealabout otherwiseundocumented attitudes towardsscientific enterprises: Martin J. S. 'Caricature Rudwick, as a Source for the History of Science:De la Beche's 'squibs Anti-Lyellian Sketchesof r83r', Isis66 Q97), 9+-6o; JanetBrowne, and Snobs:Science in Humorous British UndergraduateMagazines Around r83o', History of Science)o (rggr), fi5-g7. 'Darwin 8. JanetBrowne, in Caricature:A Study in the Popularisationand Dis- semination of Evolution', Proceedingsof theAmerican Philosophical Society 45 (zoor), 496-roq (lol). 9. Altick, Punch,p. xix. ro. Brooks cited in Briggs and Briggs, Cop anclBell p. xviii. )a) IVotesto pagesg4-r0r II. Fox, GraphicJournalism. rz. In.this chapterI do not considerPunch's Almanacbs or the wrappersof indi- vidual issuesof the periodical.From fi46 theAlmanackswere itr".d separately froT the periodical and so I treat them as an independent publication. For analysisof Punch'sAlmanach seeMaureen Perkins, VisionsiTttrt Future: Al- mznncs,Time and Cultural Changery75-r870 (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1996), pP.r4t*9. Punch'swrappers are not consideredowing ro the difficulry of ac- cessingsuch rare material. However,a completerun of Punth with wrappers is held'in the PunchLibrary and deservesdetailed analysis. 'Humour', 13. Lesliestephen, Cornhill Magazine33 ftg76), yg-26 (lr+). 'Tire 14. See,for example,[Gilbert Abbott ) Beckett], Disadvantageioi Science', P u (18+6),179, which discussesthe electrictelegraph and the 'Hero railwayswhile [Douglas SurgeonS',P 18 (r8lo), 'peopleJerrold], irg, deemsmilitary r,rrg.or* to be of science'. rt. Price,History {Punch, p.J7o. 6. Altick, Punch,p. xvii. 'Berween 17. Fox, Graphic David Kunzle, 'Punch': Journalism; BroadsheetCaricature and CheapNewspaper Cuts for the Lo-werClasses in the r83os' ArtJournal 'The , +l Gg8), ng-+6; Amanda-JaneDoran, Developmenr of ,h. f,ril-f"g. Vood Engravingin Punclt',lournaloflVeuspaper and Piriodical History l Gggi), +8-61; Marcus \7ood, Radical Satire and Print Cuhure ry90-r7zz- (Oxford: Clarendon Press,1994); Maidment, Readingpopular prints. 18.PatriciaAnderso n, ThePrinted Imageand the TmnsformationofPopular Cu7ure 179o-1860(oxford: Clarendon Press, r99r), pp. t6-$; M"idmenr, Reading PopularPrints, pp. r4i-8. 19. Cross, The Common Ng.t _ Writer: Life in IVineteenth Centuryu Grub Sneet (Cambridge:Cambridge Universiry Press,rg8l) . 'science zo. Paradis, and Satire'; Porter, 'E-nglish Bodies Politic; fuchard M. Koppel, Satireand Science, 166o-17jo' , unpublished PhD thesis,Unirr.rsiqy of Rochesrer,New York, Ggfi). 'Punch's zr. RichardD. Altick, FirstTen Years:The Ingredienrsof Success' ,Journai of Alewspaperand PeriodicalHistory f Gggi, 5-16l )) Altick, Punclt,p. 4. 23.\food, Radical Satire,pp. z7o-r. 24. Cited in Arthur A. Adrian, Marh Lemon:First Editor of Punch(Oxford: Oxford Universiry Press, 1966),p. t8. 'British 2r.See,for examplg,[Anon.], Associationfor the Advancemenrof Every- in General,and Nothing in Particular', I!i"g'British P 3 ft842),6-7; [DouglasJerrold], and Foreign Destitute', P 6 ft844), ,3r.For Punch and,d,r.kirgh"- seeAltick, Punth, pp. 617-+2. 'The 26. irom Taylor], Tluth afterThomsoo', p 6t (rg7r),62-3. 27. Fox, GraphicJournalism, pp.zr}-r9. 28. For Punch and Ireland see R. F. Foster, Paddy and Mr. Punch: Connec- tions in lrish_and_English History (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, r99r), pP. r7r-94- For Jews and the Victorian comic pressr.. Atrthony S. \7oH, IYotesto pagesrur-ro3 273 "'Dtzzi-Ben-Dizzr": Disraeli as Alien' , Journal 0f British Studies34 (tlgl), 165-4rr. For Punch on America and Roman Catholicism seeAlti ck, Punc/t, pp.16l-79, 466-92. 29. SeeAlti ck,Punch, pp. 343-to, 683-6,698-7o7. Porter, 10. Darwin to Huxl ey,zzM"y 186r,in FrederickH. Burkhardt, Duncan Joy Harvey,and Marsha Richmond (eds.), The Correspondenceof Charles Daruin, volume tx, 186r (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,r99+), pp. r34-t Gt+)- 31. Briggsand Briggs,C"p and Bell (eds.),p. xxvi. .,/) Basedon his analysisof the'paperand print' ledgerbooks in the Puncharchive, )/J' Patrick Learyhasclaimed that in the late r85osand earlyr86os, Punch achieved lveekly salesof between56,ooo and 6t,ooo: personalcommunication from Patrick Leary. Circulation figures for Fun and Tbmahawkrn Alvar Ellegild, Daruin and the GeneralReader: the Reception of Darwin's Theoryof Euolution in the British PeriodicalPress, r8y9-72 (Chicago: Chicago University Press,r99o), pp. 374,383. Seecomments of Mark Lemon recordedby Henry Silver in his Diary: Henry 1.,j. 'Silver Silver'sDiary, Punch Library, London (hereafter Diary'), entry for z7 June fi66. For recent explanationsof Punclt'ssuccess see Briggs and Briggs, Cop and Bell, pp. xiv-xv; Alti ck, Punth, pp. 4r-66; Cross, Common Writer, p. ro7' j4. [Andrew Halliday],'Comic Literature', TbmpleBar g (r86i.),t9o-l 3go). For attribution seeSilver Diary, entry for 4 November1863. 3t. Seenote r. The ledgerbooks list namesof authors,titles of articles,and amount of column spacefor eacharticle. They beginwith the issue of 4March 1843and conrinue, with severalshort breaks,to the twentieth century.Approximately 7, percent of the articlesin any given issueare listed, but many of the smaller onesare omitted. 'science 36.Paradis, and Satire',pp. r49-ro. 37.For Leigh, Smith, and Du Maurier seeDl/B. For Mayhew seePrice, History of Punch,27 . Although Atbert Smith Ieft Punchin fi$ he was responsiblefor 'The one of its most famous portrayals of medical students, the r84r series Physiology of the London Medical Student'. 38. George Somes Layard, A Great "Punc/t" Editor: Being the Life, Letters, and Diaries Brooks(London: Sir IsaacPitman 8c Sons,r9o7), pp. izi, i39, {shnley 'The 49j, 516,5r8, j79. Brooks'spoem was publishedas Dodo Demolished', P 66 (t8Z4 , 19. 39. Silver Diary. For analysissee Leary,'Thble Talk and Print Culture'. 40. Silver Diary, entries for r September1858 (Stephenson), zi February r8i9 (phrenology), 3 May 1865(Fitzroy). 4r. Silver Diary, entry for 9 April fi62. The last sentenceis from [Henry Silver], 'Iron-CladJack. A Sea-Songof the Future',P 4z (136z),146. For the interaction 'suggestors' berween Punch artists and of illustrations seeJohn Bush Jones and PriscillaShaw; Artists and "suggestors":The PunchCartoons 1843-1848', Victorian PeriodicakReuieut z (tgl8), z-14. I z7q lVotes to pages n3-rr6 4;-. [JohnLeech],'The "British Tar" of the Future',P +t G86z),lt+Zl. 'The 4j.Cross, CommonWriter, p. roz. lMark Lemon?], Moral of Punch', P r (r84r),r. 'Humour' 44. Stephen, , 1,zo. 'Faraday 4t. [PercivalLeigh], A PhilosopherAfloat', P t9 (r8l;) , z6; [JohnLeech], GivingHisCardtoFatherThameS,,Pz9Q855),|'il 'The 46. [Anon.], LocomotiveTable Compan/', P 14 (rSll),2o9. 'How 47. [John Leech], to InsureAgainst RailwayAccidents', P z4 (t8;l), rzr. 48. See Silver Diary, entries for 8 and ry August 186o, z6 February,y March 1862,and 19March fi62 which revealPunch contributors' scepticismrowards spirit-rapping. 49.For the symbiosisberween Punch and other Victorian periodicalssee Altick, Punch, pp. 6Z-go. 'Gorilla' 'Monkeyana', 'Man to. [Anon.], P 4o (186r), zo6; Thomas H. Huxley, and Apes',AthenaeLtm, 13 April r86t, 498 'I.[ShirleyBrooks],.Punch,,E,,.,,ceofParliament,,Pl+(r818),z33-4Ql) 'r3tz. [Anon.], A PhilosopherAfloat'. 'Will [P.r.i.r"l Leigh], it \fash?', P (r8 fi3. 'Light ll t7), t4. [HoraceMayhew], and Hair', P +g (r86y), rr4. tr. [Anon.], "'ScienceGossip"', P (1868), zoz. 'The S+ 56. [PercivalLeigh], Irish Yahoos',P 4t (r86r), z4r. 57. Foster, Paddy and Mr. Punc/t, pp. r7r-94; Perry Curtis, Apes and Angels: The lrishman in Victorian Caricature(Vashington and London: Smithsonian Institution, znd edn, 1996). 18.[HenrySilver],.St.JanuariuSatitAgain,,P37('8lq),I49 'Representative ,9. [PercivalLeigh], Rascals',P (t86r), ,j. 'Quite 4t 6o. J[ohn] Lleech], a NovelV', P z7 Q8r4),4o. 6t. lGilbert Abbott ) Beckett], A Railway M"p of England', P 6j 'The 9 ft8a), 62. [George] D["] M[aurier], Keeper Nightmare', P 6o (rSZr), , 'The l6-Zli C[harles]H. Bfennett], British Association, P 49 (r86y), rr3_r4 Q.R[ichard]D[o;'1e],.MannerSandCustomsofyeE,nglyshe(NewSeries) No.ro:AScientificInstitution_DuringyeLectureofanEminent.Savan,,,P 'Faraday 19 (r85o), ry6; [Leech], . 64. J[ohn] L[eech], Animal Magnetism; Sir Rhubarb Pill Mesmerising the 'Lord British Lion', P r (r84r), 16il; J[ohn] Leech, Brougham's Railway 'Effect , Nightmare', P 8 (r8+l), Ito7l; Jlohn] L[eech], of the Submarine j Telegraph;or, Peaceand Good-\7ill BetweenEngland and France', P 19 (r85o), 'The , fttZl; Leech, Useof Adulteration',P z9 (t8l;),l+il; Leech], 'FatherJohn Uohn , Thames Introducing His Ofrspring to the Fair Ciry of Lond on', P 35 : (l8l8),[l];J[ohn]T[ennie1],.AnotherEclipseforIndid,Pr(r858),[ror];Uohn 'The Leech?], New RussellSix-Pounder', P $ (186o),[rzr]. [John Leech?], 'The 'The Lion of the Season', P 4o (136r), lzryh I Leech?], Parliamen- 'TheJohn tary Python', P T[enniel], PoliticalCow-Docrors', P -; 4z Q86z),[81]; to " (1866), 16gl. 'Another 65. T[enniel], Eclipse'. IYotes to pages u6-rzj 27, 'Eclipse 66. [To- Tayior], in India',P jt (r868), ro4-r. 'Fourth 67. llvlark Lemon], Meeting of the Brightish Association for the Advancementof Everythins: SectionA - Mathematicaland Physical Science', P ; (1843),67. 'Fourth 68. [Lemon], Meeting'. For Punc/t'stussles with Bunn seeAltick, Punc/t, pp. 698-707. 'PoliticaJ,Zoology: 69. [PercivalLeigh], The Red-Tapeworm',P z8 (r8ll),7r. 'English For analysisof Scriblerianssee Koppel, Satire',pp.196-44. 70. 'Buns', [Anon.], P 4 (r8+i),7L. 7r. 'Grand [Anon.], Railwayfrom Englandto Chin&',P I G8+z),zo5. 72. 'Simon 'Fudge 7j. Hodgskins'[Percival Leigh], for Farmers',P rr (r846), 4o Leigh's italics. 'Punch's [ShirleyBrooks], Essenceof Parliament',P g (1866),zo8-9; 74.See 'Fresh fPercivalLeigh], Air! Or, Victoria Park Preserved',P 5o (1366), zr4; Clharles]H.B[ennett],'Punch on the People'sParks', P p (1866),rj8. 75. Audi Alteram Patrem' [PercivalLeigh], A Gas Plant at Victoria Park', P ,o (r866), zt9. 76. Amy Cruse, The Victoriansand their Reading(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., r%), p.3g4. 'Du 77. Henry James, Maurier and London Sociery', CenturyMagazine z6 Q88), 49-6t (;t). Cited in Altick, Punch,p.o. 'Darwin 78. Browne, in Caricature'.See also Bert Hansen,America's First Medical Breakthrough:How PopularExcitement about a FrenchRabies Cure in r88y RaisedNew Expectationsfor Medical Progress',American Historical Reuieu rc3 $998), lll-4r8. I owe this referenceto Jim Secord. 79. This is based on the principle that the actual number of readers of a periodical is roughly five times the number of copies sold. Thus copies of Punch in the r86os would have been read by approximately - 5 x 6o,ooo 3oo,ooopeople. For this principlesee Altick, Punch,p. ]8. 'Effects 8o. [Henry Silver], of the RecentEclipSe', P n (186o),39. 8r. For sociologicalanalysis of scientists'jokes seeG. Nigel Gilbert and Michael Mulkay, Opening Pand.ora'sBox: A SociologicalAnalysis of Scientists'Discourse (Cambridge:Cambridge Universiry Press, rg8+), pp. r7z-87. For scienceand rhetoric seeAlan G. Gross, TheRhetoric of Science(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UniversiryPress, r99o). 'Presidential 82. Lord Rayleigh, Address', Proceedingsof the Society Psychical for 'V.ty Research3o (19r8-r9),27t-9o (tl6). Rayleighwa-s ref.rrirrg to [A"o".], Odd!', P z4 (r8ll) , rzo.