In the mid-nineteenth century, comic songs circulated alongside serious hymns, often poking fun at doctors, preachers, and other figures of daily life. One such piece is “The Botanic Doctor” by Edmund Dumas (1810–1882), printed in The Organ, a short-lived periodical edited by B. F. White, compiler of The Sacred Harp. The song lampoons the practice of dosing patients with calomel, a mercury-based medicine once prescribed for nearly every ailment. Its verses describe a sick Colonel Worthy, whose doctor confidently prescribes calomel in ever larger doses, to disastrous effect. With humor and satire, the text reflects both a challenge against medical authorities of the time and growing awareness of calomel’s specific dangers.
Edmund Dumas was a singing school teacher and Primitive Baptist elder in Georgia, remembered today for his enduring contributions to The Sacred Harp. One well-known piece is “White” (p. 288), still widely sung, along with distinctive tunes such as “The Gospel Pool” (p.34), “The Dying Minister” (p.83), “To Die No More” (p.111), “Vain World, Adieu” (p.329). Dumas’s work often carries rhythmic vitality and a strong moral edge, qualities that link even a comic song like The Botanic Doctor with his more serious contributions.
Though probably never sung after the year 1855, The Botanic Doctor is a window into the range of materials that once enlivened singing schools: part entertainment, part social commentary, and very much a product of its time.
The Botanic Doctor
by E. Dumas
Thus Colonel Worthy, he took sick,
Sent for the Doctor in great haste.
The Doctor came with a good will,
To give a dose of Calomel.
He calls out to the patient’s wife,
Have any paper and a knife.
I think your husband will do well,
To take a dose of Calomel.
He took his seat by patient’s bed,
He sets a while very patiently.
He sets a while his pulse to feel,
And then pulls out his Calomel.
She give him paper and a knife,
He measured out a fatal dose.
Its every hour—you by the bell—
Give him a dose of Calomel.
The patient he grew worse and worse,
Sent for the Doctor in great haste.
The Doctor came—with a good will,
To double the dose of Calomel.
Since Calomel became a dose,
How many thousands have been lost.
How many millions have been killed
And poisoned by your Calomel.
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