Privateering Doctor
DR. QUICKSILVER: LIFE AND TIMES OF THOMAS DOVER, M•D'
1660-1742. By L. A. G. Strong. (Melrose, 21s.)
THIS grandson of Captain Robert Dover, founder of Olympic Games in the Cotswolds and friend of poets, was with Dampier 111 the 1708-11 privateering expedition to the South Seas that rescued Alexander Selkirk from Juan Fernandez Island. The net profits of the expedition being £170,000, Dover became a wealthy than, but he returned to practice. His Ancient Physician's Legacy to His Country went through several editions and was translated int° French. His 'Dover's Powder,' though losing prestige to aspirin, is still in use. His nickname arose from his advocacy, in later years, of mercury as an almost universal panacea. No doubt this was a legacy from his sailing days, for it was the usual treatment for a malady frequent in seaports. The known facts of Dover's life are few, but Woodes Rogers, the leader of the expedition, wrote an account of it. Out of this material and the medical background of the period, Mr. Strong has produced a colourful and well-illustrated addition to the Rogues' Gallery Series. This classification is libellous, for, as the author points out, Quicksilver was a lawfully recognised privateer: Bristol merchant adventurers financed the expedition and, accord' ing to the DNB, many Quakers were subscribers. When, as a consequence of sleeping in a church where plague victims had recently been interred, 180 of his men became infected, he bled them in both arms, taking 100 oz. of blood from each and gave them diluted sulphuric acid to drink. All but eleven recovered.
Mr. Angus Wilson, among other reviewers, has noted the decline of English pugnacity. Perhaps only the robust and pugnacious survived the empirics of the past. Still, Sir Richard Burton made a similar note in 1885. His explanation was that prior to the cholera epidemics towards the middle of last century, Englishune,11 had been costive. This made them irascible and warlike. This generalisation is no worse than many others offered today. Mr' Strong has written an interesting book.
J. S. BARWEri'
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