" The wig
known as the full-bottomed wig was worn by the medical profession:--
"Physic of old her entry made
Beneath the immense, full-bottom'd shade;
While the gilt cane, with solemn pride
To each suspicious nose applied,
Seemed but a necessary prop
To bear the weight of wig at top."
We are told Dr Delmahoy's wig was particularly celebrated in a song
which commenced:--
"If you would see a noble wig,
And in that wig a man look big,
To Ludgate Hill repair, my boy,
And gaze on Dr Delmahoy."
In the middle of the last century so much importance was attached to
this portion of a medical man's costume, that Dr Brocklesby's barber was
in the habit of carrying a bandbox through the High Change, exclaiming:
"Make way for Dr Brocklesby's wig!"
Professional wigs are now confined to the Speaker in the House of
Commons, who, when in the chair, wears a full-bottomed one, and to
judges and barristers. Such wigs are made of horse-hair, cleaned and
curled with care, and woven on silk threads, and shaped to fit the head
with exactness.
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