By medical standards of the day, Taylor (1703- 1772) wasn't a total quack. Trained as a surgeon in England, with follow-up study in the Netherlands and France, he had published a book—An Account of the Mechanism of the Eye—while still in his early twenties.
During his first practice in Switzerland he blinded (by his own confession, years later) hundreds of patients before taking to the road in a coach painted with images of eyes and the words qui dat videre dat vivere (he who gives sight gives life).
On travels across Europe, Russia, and Persia, Taylor operated on royalty, nobility, and celebrities—charging hefty sums for his services. On the plus side, in his scientific publications he was the first to correctly describe and illustrate several eye conditions. He also invented, although he didn't perfect, a few surgical techniques that would be regarded as ahead of their time.
On the (weightier) minus side, nearly all of Taylor's eye surgeries were unsuccessful.
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