David Haviland > Quotes

“The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.’ Voltaire”
― David Haviland, How to Remove a Brain: and Other Bizarre Medical Practices and Procedures

“The practice of toad-eating is now largely forgotten, but it has had one enduring influence, as it gave us the word ‘toady’. A toad-eater was someone who would risk illness and even death for his boss, which suggests he would have been an unusually lowly, supine, obsequious type of person. Thus, a toady today is a sycophantic employee who will suck up to their boss, and suffer any humiliation on their behalf.”
― David Haviland, How to Remove a Brain: and Other Bizarre Medical Practices and Procedures

“Why are pig farmers particularly likely to have their appendix removed? In 1991, a Finnish scientist called Markku Seiru conducted a fascinating study into pig farmers and abattoir workers in Finland, comparing the rate of appendectomies within this group with that of the general population. The study found that pig farmers were around two and a half times more likely to have their appendix removed than other Finns, while abattoir workers were almost four times more likely to have an appendectomy. But why, you may wonder, should working with pigs carry such a bizarre and specific risk?”
― David Haviland, How to Remove a Brain: and Other Bizarre Medical Practices and Procedures