https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/laughter-in-the-time-of-cholera 

The scams of the time are reminiscent of the scams of our time. NFTs.

The 1830s marked the dawn of a great age of réclame (advertisement) in France and spurious ads for all sorts of miracle drugs and vitality-restoring contraptions were becoming increasingly frequent in the popular press.

Having just announced, “with pleasure”, that the world is about to be turned to ashes thanks to a comet set on a collision course with Earth, Dr Scarlatin joins the other characters in a jaunty danse macabre. 

Just like the movie “Don’t Look Up.”