METHUSELAH ARCHIVE SOURCES / WELLCOME-FOUR-DONKEYS-HEATH-1830

Four donkeys inhaling foetid gas (Wellcome V0010988)

period print · 1830
type:period print
year:1830
citation:Heath, Henry. Four donkeys inhaling foetid gas and having their backs scrubbed with vitriol; representing John St. John Long's fatal method of therapy. Etching. London: S.W. Fores, 1830. Wellcome Collection reference 11191i / Miro image V0010988. Public Domain Mark.
LINK
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/dazrc3sv
SUMMARY
Satirical etching by Henry Heath, published by S.W. Fores in 1830, lampooning Long's rubbing-and-inhaling method as a treatment fit for donkeys. Confirmed directly against the Wellcome Collection catalogue API (title, artist, publisher, date, rights: Public Domain Mark) and against the rendered wellcomecollection.org work page, which carries the same lettering text in its embedded page data: "It is well known that asses are particularly fond of having their back's rubbed" (used for the verify-quotes block in the grounding log). Direct visual inspection additionally confirms a barrel labelled FOETID GAS, a bowl labelled VITRIOL, and a background sign for a rubbing stable, none of which appear in the archive's own lettering transcription and so are described here rather than quoted.
NOTES

Satirical 1830 etching by Henry Heath (published by S.W. Fores), showing donkeys undergoing a mock version of St John Long’s liniment-and-inhalation treatment amid a graveyard and a shop sign advertising a rubbing stable to let. Wellcome Collection catalogue reference 11191i (Miro V0010988), rights confirmed Public Domain Mark via direct API fetch; the print’s lettering was independently confirmed both in the API response and in the rendered wellcomecollection.org page text.