s disuse would mean a
gain in the supply of flour, of which it was largely made, for
consumption. Short hair, or "crops," soon came into fashion as a means
of evading the tax and "dishing" the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a
re-action which was responsible for the following parody of _Hamlet_:--

To crop, or not to crop, that is the question:--
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind, to suffer
The plague of powder and loquacious barbers;
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And, by the scissors, end them?

From the old Royston Book Club debates of last century it will be
remembered that I quoted the result of a vote upon--which of the three
professions, of divinity, law and physic, was most beneficial to
mankind, and that the doctors could only get one vote, against a
respectable number for law and divinity. I ventured to suggest that
the bleeding, blistering and purging at certain seasons was probably
responsible for {80} the low estimate of the medical profession, and of
this may be given the following example--

In 1799, the parish doctor's bill for the Therfield paupers contained
twelve items for "blisters," eight for bleeding (at 6d. each!), and in
another, eight for "leeches."

There was a much more detailed account given in the old doctors' bills
of a century ago than in the curt missives which are now usually
limited to the "professional attendance" with which the old bills
began, and the "total" with which they finished; "bleeding, blistering,
leeches, vomits, julep, boluses," &c., were all duly accounted for.
The following is a _bona fide_ doctor's bill of 1788, delivered to and
paid by a resident in one of the villages of this district:--

s. d.
Bleeding----Daughter . . . . . . . 1 0
A febrifuge Mixture . . . . . . . 2 4
Bleeding----Self . . . . . . . . . 1 0
A Cordial Mixture . . . . . . . . 2 4
A Diuretic Tincture . . . . . . . 1 6
Two Opening Draughts . . . . . . . 2 0
The Mixture repd . . . . . . . . . 2 4
Bleeding----Daughter . . . . . . . 1 0
Two Opening Draughts . . . . . . . 2 0
--------
L0 15 6

The item "Bleeding----self" is a trifle ambiguous, but probably it was
the parent and not the doctor upon whom the operation was performed!

Inoculation has already been referred to, but I may here state that the
fi