Pierre Veron (1833-1900) was a frequent contributor to two of the most popular Parisian humorous papers, Le Charivari (which served as the model for the English magazine Punch) and the Journal Amusant, until becoming editor-in-chief of both in 1874, retaining that position until a few months before his death. Although The Merchants of Health (1862) is set on the Planet Fantasia, it really is an ironic reflections on the French medical system of its era. Despite the fact that modern medicine is far more competent and better organized, it is disturbing to see how many of his observations...