Prof. Hamilton's Diary: April 7, 1935

Mary Elizabeth keeps them busy; Dr. High has a carbuncle

On this Sunday, Professor Hamilton repeated last week’s practice of taking Gwennie to Sunday school and then passing the time reading in a hotel until she was through.

“Mary Elizabeth kept us busy most of the day,” he wrote, ”with demands for food, playing, etc. She walked a little, with our help. She ate moderately.”

One of her doctors, Dr. High, came by to check on her and said he had been sick for several days with a carbuncle.

What’s a carbuncle? I did a Google search for this rather wonderful Old English word, and discovered that some of the images are so horrifying that Google blurs them and requires an extra step just to let you see them. Read on to learn more about this malady, which also has a strange connection to Sherlock Homes — if you dare!

The satirical cartoon, showing “a carbuncled woman retiring to bed,” was accessed through Wikimedia Commons.