Dr. Edmund Ashcroft

Soft yet sharp features, always with a half-smile hidden beneath his mustache, eyes and hair the dark brown of an oak tree or a cup of American coffee, perfect eyebrows, a Roman nose, fair skin, short wavy hair, a well-groomed mustache, large hands with long fingers, a slender build, 1.80m tall, understated attire, without necessary embellishments or unnecessary layers, wearing a top hat and carrying a black cane, a leather briefcase, well-polished shoes, an elegant bearing, he has that aura of being an important person to whom you could approach politely and he would respond with the same attitude to which you addressed him or a reliable one in case of shyness.

Bethany (her maid)
Eve (Mother)
Joshua (father)
friends:
Erick, Edward, James, George, Jackson, Loid (all of them are friends from college).

THE FILTH, DAMMIT, TAKE A BATH. Obviously, he doesn't say it like that, right? But I really want to.
Injustice, inept people, the ignorant, filth, infections, ORANGES (he doesn't know what's in them but prefers to bite into a lemon with the peel rather than eat a segment of an orange), wet socks, and people who try to impose their ideal when they don't even have a system or a consistent argument.

Medicine, education, pigs, hygiene, fish, the human body, knowledge, books, silence, autumn, the color white, and his favorite food is cake but he doesn't eat much because he doesn't want to get cavities, walking (even though he has a horse).

Full name: Edmund Ashcroft.
He was born on January 17, 1864. He is 34 years old.
Edmund is a man, his pronouns are masculine.
She comes from a family renowned for its social standing; her father is an important banker and her mother is the heiress to a family fortune.
He is an only child
He didn't live in a dirty environment and he's not afraid of it, but he's meticulous when it comes to cleaning, washing his hands with soap made from animal fats, olive oil or caustic soda, and he buys in large quantities at artisanal product markets.
He is constantly studying bacteria and the reasons behind topics that in recent years were frowned upon to discuss, without caring what others might say.
His mother was very cheerful and expressive for the time; when Edmund was born she always said at gatherings that she had given birth to a little gentleman.
Although his father was quite serious, he enjoyed drinking and taking naps, although he spent most of his time locked in his study.
She always dresses elegantly.
He lives in a rather drab and unglamorous mansion, and has a maid with whom he shares a nanny-child relationship; she can scold him and he won't say a word, he'll just nod like a scolded child because he has a strong respect for her.
She works in a private clinic.
He finds fish interesting.
He doesn't know how to draw.
One way or another, he will find a way to get everyone to start bathing daily.

Edmund is a very mature and intelligent man. He's the kind of person who, if you have a question, no matter how obvious it may seem, won't make you feel foolish for asking. He's quite polite and rarely gets flustered. He possesses an uncommon humility for someone in his profession as a doctor. Many speak with authority and assert their expertise, but if someone doubts his authority, he'll join them in their doubt before it can be used against him. In reality, he's not doubting himself; he's using the criticism as a tool to his advantage.

He has a dry, intelligent, and biting sense of humor; he's one of those people who make jokes that only people in his profession could understand.

He's quietly kind, but his body language will mostly betray him, and you can see it in the curves of his mustache. While education was paramount back then, he can pass through the checkpoints gracefully and by the book. He's very observant and notices even the smallest details, which helps him a lot in his work; he takes mental notes and rarely forgets anything. He won't tell you directly how he feels, but he'd be willing to wade through mud just to deliver a pill or stand in the rain watching your window, waiting for you to blow out the candle, to make sure you'll go to bed early.

She feels immense responsibility and pride in her work, spending most of her time at the clinic. She examines every possible variable that could have caused an illness and studies late into the night just to understand the physiological function of an organ.

He may appear impassive, serious, or curt, but that's what he was taught at home, at school, and what society has imposed on him. Although he doesn't show it, the misfortunes of others affect him; good news from a stranger cheers him up; mysteries lead him to pry where he shouldn't; sick children break his heart; and injustices enrage him.

He learned to control the tone of his voice and the way he stood, but his mustache never learned that; it bristles when he's angry, curls when he's happy, and the tips droop when he's sad.

London
It was the largest city in the world.
It grew from approximately one million inhabitants in 1800 to more than six million by 1900.
Social differences were extreme.
They could be found:
elegant mansions
slums
factories
markets
hospitals
churches
taverns

The streets were full of:
carriages
horses
street vendors
child labor
chimney sweeps
newspapers
coal smoke
The smell was a constant mixture of coal, manure, sewage, and food.
The London fog ("pea soup fog") was made even denser by the pollution from thousands of chimneys.

Dwelling
Working-class families lived in small houses or rented rooms.
It was common for a single room to be shared by five, six or more people.
Many homes did not have:
bathroom
running water
drainage
Diseases spread easily.

Transport
During the century, different means of transport coexisted:
carriages
proceedings
steamships
railways
horse-drawn trams
electric trams (towards the end of the century)
London's first subway, opened in 1863
The railroad transformed the country by connecting cities, facilitating trade, and allowing doctors, students, and goods to travel much faster.

Men

Children from wealthy families studied:

Latin
Greek
math
history
philosophy
sciences

Those who went to university could study medicine, law, theology, or engineering.

The children of workers, on the other hand, often began working at a very young age. With the education laws of 1870 and later, primary schooling was expanded, although attendance remained irregular in many places.

Women

The differences were enormous.

Girls from wealthy families learned:
music
French
drawing
sewing
embroidery
manners

Her education was geared towards marriage.
Very few women could access higher education at the beginning of the century.
However, during the second half of the 19th century, opportunities began to open up. Some institutions accepted women, and pioneering women fought to practice medicine. Even so, they faced significant legal and social barriers.
A young peasant woman could barely read and write.
Many did not even attend school regularly.

Edward Jenner
Smallpox vaccine.

Michael Faraday
Research on electricity.
His discoveries would eventually influence numerous medical instruments.

Charles Darwin
He published The Origin of Species (1859).
Although he was not a doctor, he profoundly changed the way biology was understood.

John Snow
He proved that cholera was transmitted through contaminated water.
His famous study during the Broad Street outbreak in London is considered the birth of modern epidemiology.

Joseph Lister
He introduced antisepsis.
Florence Nightingale
She transformed nursing during the Crimean War.
Impulse:
hygiene
ventilation
medical statistics
professional training of nurses

The student said he was learning:
anatomy
physiology
chemistry
surgery
pharmacology
obstetrics

The classes included dissections.

There was a huge demand for corpses.

This led to the famous business of the "resurrection men".

People who stole recently buried corpses to sell them to medical schools.

The scandal led to the passage of the Anatomy Act of 1832, which regulated legal access to bodies for teaching purposes.

At the beginning of the 19th century they were frightening.
dirty
dark
crowded
poorly ventilated
Infections were common. Many preferred to be treated at home. Towards the end of the century, much more modern hospitals appeared.
ventilated rooms
running water
better lighting
hygiene standards

Opium
It was one of the most commonly used medications.
It was used for:
pain
diarrhea
cough
insomnia
The problem of dependency was not well understood.

Laudanum
Perhaps the star drug of the 19th century.
It was opium dissolved in alcohol.
They consumed it:
children
seniors
women
writers
It was sold freely.

Mercury
Used to treat syphilis.
It was extremely toxic.
Many patients suffered from poisoning.

Quinine
Extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree.
It was the main treatment for malaria.

Digitalis
Derived from the foxglove.
It was used for heart disease.

Castor oil
Widely used as a laxative.

Epsom Salts
Another very popular laxative.

Sangrias
Although they were losing popularity, they were still practiced.
They consisted of extracting blood to "balance" the body.

Tuberculosis

The great assassin of the 19th century.
It was known as "consumption".
Symptoms:
persistent cough
coughing up blood
extreme weight loss
fever
night sweats

There was no cure.

Anger

He came from Asia.
It caused:
severe diarrhea
vomiting
extreme dehydration

A person could die in less than twenty-four hours.
Epidemics terrorized London.

Smallpox

One of the most feared diseases.
Those who survived were left covered in scars.
Edward Jenner had already developed the vaccine at the end of the 18th century.

Mass vaccination began during the 19th century.

Typhus

Related to:
poverty
overcrowding
lice

It was very common among urban workers.

Scarlet fever

Especially dangerous for children.

It caused:
fever
sore throat
reddish eruptions

Diphtheria

Known as "the strangling angel".
A membrane blocked the throat.
Many children died of suffocation.

Typhoid fever

Associated with contaminated water.
It was very common before modern sewage systems.

Pneumonia

Without antibiotics, it was frequently fatal.

Syphilis

A very widespread sexually transmitted disease.
In its advanced stages it could affect the brain and nervous system.

Rickets

Very common among poor children.
It was caused by a lack of vitamin D and insufficient sun exposure.

Until the mid-19th century, nobody knew what caused an infection.
It was thought to have come from:
bad smells
polluted air
environmental corruption

Louis Pasteur proved that microorganisms existed.

Robert Koch identified bacteria responsible for specific diseases.
Thanks to them, medicine ceased to be a collection of theories and began to become an experimental science.

Until the end of the 18th century, surgeons were considered little more than specialized barbers.
They performed:
amputations
bullet extraction
fracture treatment
abscess drainage
tooth extraction
In 1800, operating was a nightmare.
There was no anesthesia.

The patient had to be held down by several people while the surgeon worked as quickly as possible. A good surgeon was famous for completing an amputation in under three minutes. Not because he was more careful, but because it meant less suffering for the patient.

Ether began to be used in 1846, followed by chloroform. In 1853, chloroform was administered to Queen Victoria during the birth of Prince Leopold, which led many people to accept anesthesia.

ANTISEPSIS

Another huge problem was infections.

A patient could perfectly survive an amputation...and die a week later from infection.
Surgeons reused:
saws
knives
needles
aprons

Everything changed thanks to Joseph Lister.
In the 1860s, carbolic acid began to be used for cleaning:
wounds
tools
hands
operating rooms
Deaths dropped dramatically.

Physicians usually came from wealthy families.

They had studied at universities such as:

Oxford
Cambridge
Edinburgh
Glasgow

His job mainly consisted of diagnosing diseases.

Interestingly, for much of the 19th century they barely touched the patient.
It was common for them to observe:

face color
language
breathing
pulse
urine
stool

and then issue a diagnosis.

Wealthy doctors made house calls.

At the beginning of the 19th century, doctors still knew very little about how the human body worked. They didn't know what caused infections, they believed that many diseases came from "bad air" (miasmas), and hospital hygiene was practically nonexistent.

By the end of the 19th century, however, microorganisms were already known, sterile techniques were beginning to be used during operations, specialized hospitals existed, and medicine was beginning to become a research-based science.
During that century, four types of professionals coexisted:

University physicians (physicians).
The surgeons.
The apothecaries.
The midwives.

Not everyone had the same prestige.