The Lancet

Background

The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It was founded in 1823 by Thomas Wakley, an English surgeon, but has grown to become one of the oldest and best known general medical journals. The title of the journal itself was inspired by both the surgical instrument the lancet, and the architectural term ‘the lancet arch’ which was used to describe a narrow arch with a pointed crown. This suggests the Wakley wanted to stress that it was medical journal but also that its content would ‘let in the light’ (of wisdom) as the lancet arch would do.

The Okey Sisters Scandal

Wakley’s main aim for The Lancet was to expose and denounce quackery. In his very first leading article he stated that he would seek to end ‘mystery and concealment’ in medicine in order to ‘detect and expose the impositions of ignorant practitioners’. This became problematic when one of his close friends, John Elliotson, who he had trained with at St Thomas’s hospital, became one of the leading pioneers of mesmerism in Britain. Initially Wakley used The Lancet to broadcast Elliotson’s pioneering research on topics, such as the cause of hay fever and efficacy of pure quinine, which boosted Elliotson’s reputation. However, after writing seven lengthy reports detailing Elliotson’s research and lectures on mesmerism, he decided that the absurdity of mesmerism was damaging the reputation of the scientific discipline. In August 1838, Wakley invited Elliotson to bring the Okey sisters to his house where he tested the girls’ ability to distinguish mesmerised water and metal before a party of witnesses. When the results were inconsistent, Wakley pronounced that the girls were fake and that all mesmerism was quackery. By September he had published his findings in The Lancet, noting that Elizabeth Okey ‘excelled by few actresses on stage’. This ultimately led to Elliotson’s resignation from the University College London and the University College hospital where he was a professor and a senior physician respectively.

Wendy Moore has used the Okey sisters scandal to suggest that Wakley and his use of The Lancet were instrumental in launching and destroying Elliotson’s career. However, Elliotson continued to pioneer mesmerism and launched his own journal called The Zoist where he documented his research and experiments on mesmerism.