Laudanum secretions ... to support the system ... [and] as a soporific". The limited pharmacopoeia of the day meant that opium derivatives were among the most effective of available treatments, so laudanum was widely prescribed for ailments from colds to meningitis to cardiac diseases, in both adults and children. Laudanum was used during the yellow fever epidemic. Innumerable Victorian women were prescribed the drug for relief of menstrual cramps and vague aches. Nurses also spoon-fed laudanum to infants. The Romantic and Victorian eras were marked by the widespread use of laudanum in Europe and the United States. Mary Todd Lincoln, for
An Old Master bullocks bent to their yoke, and lifted the waggon from the gluepot. He was 'An Old Master'." A reviewer in "The Telegraph" (Brisbane) noted: " Mr. Dennis's work is not confined to the rhyming in slang, which were the sole attraction of some of his earlier and lucrative efforts. "An Old Master," with which the volume opens, stands out as one of Mr. Dennis's best." An Old Master "An Old Master" is a poem by Australian poet C. J. Dennis. It was first published in "The Bulletin" magazine on 4 August 1910, and later in the poet's poetry collection "Backblock