Literary Quizzes, Games & Much More

The Doctors Blackwell, Janice P. Nimura's biography of Elizabeth and Emily Blackwell, explores the tools 19th-century physicians used to address their patients' needs. Many common ailments were believed to be caused by an excess of blood, and consequently removing some of a person's blood was thought to be efficacious; often doctors employed leeches for this purpose.

Most people have a passing familiarity with the leech — a slimy little invertebrate that attaches itself to a living body and obtains nourishment by sucking its host's blood. The leech is actually considered a segmented ...