The trajectory of physicians and barber-surgeons in Rio de Janeiro during the second half of the nineteenth century

Abstract

This work analyzes aspects of the healing work performed by doctors and barber-surgeons in Rio de Janeiro between 1840 and 1889, based on the names and addresses in the Laemmert Almanaque. This not only provided the geographic location of where these agents were active within the city, but also identified the advertisers who featured repeatedly and those who moved to other locations. By cross-referencing this data with notary public sources and church records, which identified objects used in therapeutic practices, such as fleams, cupping-glasses and lancets, one can to better understand the way these therapists worked in a context characterized by the disqualification of the popular arts of healing, the slavery crisis and changes in academic concepts about diseases.