--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Some medical beast had revived tar-water…" description: "\"Some medical beast had revived tar-water in those days as a fine medicine, and Mrs. Joe always kept a supply of it in the cupboard; having a belief in ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/966/charles-dickens-34_beast_some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water_347960.jpg" --- # Some medical beast had revived tar-water in those days as… ![“Some medical beast had revived tar-water in those days as a fine medicine, and Mrs. Joe always kept a supply of it in the cupboard; having a belief in its virtues correspondent to its nastiness. At the best of times, so much of this elixir was administered to me as a choice restorative, that I was…” quote by Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/966/charles-dickens-34_beast_some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water_347960.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/966/charles-dickens-34_beast_some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water_347960.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/966/charles-dickens-34_beast_some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water_347960.jpg) > “Some medical beast had revived tar-water in those days as a fine medicine, and Mrs. Joe always kept a supply of it in the cupboard; having a belief in its virtues correspondent to its nastiness. At the best of times, so much of this elixir was administered to me as a choice restorative, that I was conscious of going about, smelling like a new fence.” [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator describes a dubious remedy, reflecting on its mixed reputation and personal experience with it. **In simple terms:** Skepticism about a questionable medicine. Key Takeaway Question the efficacy of unproven treatments. Themes medicine skepticism historical health Mood cautious curious Type historical educational When to use this quote - research - consult doctors - avoid self‑medication - historical study Key Concepts pharmacology folk remedies critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What modern alternatives exist for this condition? - How do you evaluate health claims? A Different Perspective Historical remedies often lacked scientific validation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beast/) [Beast Revived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beast-revived-3220161/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) [Cupboards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cupboards/) [Elixir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elixir/) [Elixir Administered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elixir-administered-3220160/) [Expectations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations/) [Fence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fence/) [Fine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fine/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Great expectations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-expectations/) [Great expectations important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-expectations-important-75975/) [Humorous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humorous/) [Medical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medical/) [Medical Beast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medical-beast-3220159/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Nastiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nastiness/) [Revived Tar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revived-tar-3220158/) [Tar Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tar-water-2863397/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [ \[Tar water\] is of a nature so mild and benign and proportioned to the human constitution, as to warm without heating, to cheer but… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/tar-water-is-of-a-nature-so-mild-and-benign-and-proportioned-to-the/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) > [My guiding star always is, Get hold of portable property.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/my-guiding-star-always-is-get-hold-of-portable-property/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [It was understood that nothing of a tender nature could possibly be confided to old Barley, by reason of his being totally unequal to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-was-understood-that-nothing-of-a-tender-nature-could-possibly-be/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [It may be only small injustice that the child can be exposed to; but the child is small, and its world is small, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-may-be-only-small-injustice-that-the-child-can-be-exposed-to-but/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [... Take another glass of wine, and excuse my mentioning that society as a body does not expect one to be so strictly conscientious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/take-another-glass-of-wine-and-excuse-my-mentioning-that-society-as-a/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [It is a most miserable thing to feel ashamed of home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-is-a-most-miserable-thing-to-feel-ashamed-of-home/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [And could I look upon her without compassion, seeing her punishment in the ruin she was, in her profound unfitness for this earth on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/and-could-i-look-upon-her-without-compassion-seeing-her-punishment-in/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Now, I return to this young fellow. And the communication I have got to make is, that he has great expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/now-i-return-to-this-young-fellow-and-the-communication-i-have-got-to/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More by Charles Dickens > [“All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/all-other-swindlers-upon-earth-are-nothing-to-the-self-swindlers-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-can-be-no-disparity-in-marriage-like-unsuitability-of-mind-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [A new heart for a New Year, always!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/a-new-heart-for-a-new-year-always/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The suspense: the fearful, acute suspense: of standing idly by while the life of one we dearly love, is trembling in the balance; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-suspense-the-fearful-acute-suspense-of-standing-idly-by-while-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mrs-joe-was-a-very-clean-housekeeper-but-had-an-exquisite-art-of/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There seems a magic in the very name of Christmas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/there-seems-a-magic-in-the-very-name-of-christmas/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“evening, they began to think that although he could never hope to be an Englishman, still it would be hard to visit that affliction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/evening-they-began-to-think-that-although-he-could-never-hope-to-be/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Besides which, all that I could have said of the Story to any purpose, I had endeavoured to say in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/besides-which-all-that-i-could-have-said-of-the-story-to-any-purpose/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The wheels rolled on, and rolled down by the Monument, and by the Tower; and by the Docks; down by Ratcliffe, and by Rotherhithe;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-wheels-rolled-on-and-rolled-down-by-the-monument-and-by-the-tower/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“The three customers pulled off their hats to Madame Defarge, with three flourishes. She acknowledged their homage by bending her head, and giving them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/the-three-customers-pulled-off-their-hats-to-madame-defarge-with/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“What a situation!' cried Miss Squeers; '...What is the reason that men fall in love with me, whether I like it or not, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/what-a-situation-cried-miss-squeers-what-is-the-reason-that-men-fall/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“Mr. Pickwick was a philosopher, but philosophers are only men in armour, after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/mr-pickwick-was-a-philosopher-but-philosophers-are-only-men-in-armour/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) [Explore all 2,309 Charles Dickens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) ## More Beast quotes > [We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [“Once upon a time, there was a naïve and innocent girl who thought she could tame the beast and live happily ever after. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-na-ve-and-innocent-girl-who-thought-she/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [Is man no more than this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the worm no silk, the beast no hide, the sheep no wool, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/is-man-no-more-than-this-consider-him-well-thou-ow-st-the-worm-no/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [In giving us dominion over the animal kingdom God has signified His will that we subdue the beast within ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lancaster-spalding/in-giving-us-dominion-over-the-animal-kingdom-god-has-signified-his/) [John Lancaster Spalding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lancaster-spalding/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As a beast of toil an ox is fixed capital. If he is eaten, he no longer functions as an instrument of labour, nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-a-beast-of-toil-an-ox-is-fixed-capital-if-he-is-eaten-he-no-longer/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [« He squeezed his hands into fists. I picked up a grapefruit-sized rock and handed it to him. It went flying. Home run, Beast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/he-squeezed-his-hands-into-fists-i-picked-up-a-grapefruit-sized-rock/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [Was man made stupid to see his own stupidity? Is God by definition indifferent, beyond us all? Is the eternal truth man's fighting soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-eberhart/was-man-made-stupid-to-see-his-own-stupidity-is-god-by-definition/) [Richard Eberhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-eberhart/) > [When a man is treated like a beast, he says, 'After all, I'm human.' When he behaves like a beast, he says 'After all,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/when-a-man-is-treated-like-a-beast-he-says-after-all-i-m-human-when/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [The American people are incredibly generous and even playful when you open yourself up and feed the media beast until it goes away satisfied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krystal-ball/the-american-people-are-incredibly-generous-and-even-playful-when-you/) [Krystal Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krystal-ball/) > [Wherever I am, I see the yoke on women in some form or another. On some it sits easy for they are but beasts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abby-may-alcott/wherever-i-am-i-see-the-yoke-on-women-in-some-form-or-another-on-some/) [Abby May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abby-may-alcott/) > [“He's a beast. A monster. And he looks like he wants to devour me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-darhower/he-s-a-beast-a-monster-and-he-looks-like-he-wants-to-devour-me/) [J.M. Darhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-darhower/) > [ Antichrist is the pope and the Turk \[Muslim\] together. A beast full of life must have a body and soul. The spirit or soul… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/antichrist-is-the-pope-and-the-turk-muslim-together-a-beast-full-of/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [My hero among heroes is my grandmother, she's the epitome of strength and I try to mock that strength all the time. She's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeriel-miranda/my-hero-among-heroes-is-my-grandmother-she-s-the-epitome-of-strength/) [Aeriel Miranda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeriel-miranda/) > [You've heard tales of beauty and the beast. How a fair maid falls in love with a monster and sees the beauty of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-maitland/you-ve-heard-tales-of-beauty-and-the-beast-how-a-fair-maid-falls-in/) [Karen Maitland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-maitland/) [Browse all 1,640 Beast quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beast/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Some medical beast had revived tar-water in those days as a fine medicine, and Mrs. Joe always kept a supply of it in the cupboard; having a belief in its virtues correspondent to its nastiness. At the best of times, so much of this elixir was administered to me as a choice restorative, that I was conscious of going about, smelling like a new fence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Dickens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water-in-those-days-as-a-fine/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beast" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water-in-those-days-as-a-fine/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/966/charles-dickens-34_beast_some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water_347960.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/966/charles-dickens-34_beast_some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water_347960.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/966/charles-dickens-34_beast_some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water_347960.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Some medical beast had revived tar-water in those days as a fine medicine, and Mrs. Joe always kept a supply…” — Charles Dickens", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Dickens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Some medical beast had revived tar-water...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water-in-those-days-as-a-fine/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/some-medical-beast-had-revived-tar-water-in-those-days-as-a-fine/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```