A grimacing invalid seated before a bowl having received an emetic, another man clasps his head compassionately. Etching by J. Gillray, 1804, after J. Sneyd.

A woman doctor examining a girl's finger. Engraving after J. Northcote.

A hypochondriac at home with his anxious nurse. Wood engraving.

A giant claw pierces the breast of a sleeping naked woman, another naked woman swoops down and stabs the claw with a knife; representing the surgical treatment of breast cancer. Watercolour by R. Cooper.

A man composed of pharmaceutical equipment wandering the countryside; representing an apothecary as if he were an itinerant. Coloured lithograph.

A surgery where all fantasy and follies are purged and good qualities are prescribed. Line engraving by Boulonnois, 16--.

An apothecary composed of the attributes of the trade. Line engraving.

A young woman convalescing in her boudoir with a visiting couple, while her maid prepares her medicine. Reproduction of a coloured aquatint.

A man pulling a peculiar face as he is about to take some medicine. Coloured etching by I. Cruikshank, 1801, after J. Gillray.

A man standing by a fire place, pulling a peculiar face after taking some medicine. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1800.

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The doctors are represented by prominent politicians. On the left Henry Addington is being kicked out of the patient's bedroom, dropping a bottle labelled "Composing draft". William Pitt the younger, who is booting him out, holds up a medicine bottle labelled "Constitutional restorative", and has his foot in the mouth of Charles James Fox. Pitt also has a bundle of pamphlets in his back pocket, one of which is entitled: "Art of restoring health". Fox, sprawled on the floor, is holding up a bottle labelled "Republican balsam" while in the other hand he has a bonnet rouge; from his pocket, dice and a container inscribed "Whig pills" have fallen. Britannia is approached on the right by a skeletal death-figure with the head of Napoleon, who knocks over the medicines and prescriptions on the patient's bedside table

1 print : etching, with watercolour ; platemark 25.4 x 37.4 cm

Britannia as a patient who is in danger of death owing to disagreement between her three doctors over their competing remedies; representing the weakness of Britain during the replacement of Addington by Pitt as Prime Minister and the exclusion of Fox. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1804.

1 print : steel engraving ; platemark 8.4 x 11.8 cm

Leamington Spa, Warwickshire: pharmacy shop. Steel engraving.

In the early nineteenth century there were several rival medical systems, including Brunonianism, the system of Broussais, phrenology and homoeopathy, in addition to variations on traditional western medicine. Brunonianism, the theory of John Brown (1735-1788), regarded most illnesses as due to a deficit of stimulation, requiring treatment with medicines based on opium or alcohol. In France, François Joseph Victor Broussais (1772-1838) proposed a theory of irritability which was to be controlled by purging and especially bloodletting. Brown acquired a European reputation, especially after his death. Broussais tried to ridicule Brown and his followers in many of his verbose writings. The short-lived success of their competing systems illustrates the fatal attractiveness of over-simple theories. This drawing, probably by a French or German hand, shows a battle between the rival partisans of Brown (on the left) and Broussais (on the right): they are identified by military standards (flags) inscribed "Brown" (left) and "Broussai<s>" (right)

1 drawing : pen and ink ; image 35.4 x 45.2 cm

A fierce battle between the supporters of John Brown (Bruno), in favour of treatment with stimulants, and those of F.J.V. Broussais, in favour of bloodletting. Pen drawing.

1 print : wood engraving ; image 47.1 x 32.1 cm

An apothecary in his laboratory concocting a mixture. Wood engraving by F.Mc F (?) after, 1876, after H.S. Marks.

The medicine vendor sits on horseback, centre, holding a sword. He has snakes around his neck and shoulders. In front of him, a man who has had a tooth extracted: with his finger he feels the cavity where the tooth had been. Left, the vendor's assistant, on foot, blowing a trumpet to attract the crowd; he has a chest of medicines suspended in front of him. Left, right, and in the backgrounds, townsfolk and buildings. In the right foreground, a cobbler. Next to the horse, a woman with her hand on her cheek indicates that she wishes to have a tooth extracted
Proskauer interprets the action of the tooth-drawer as meaning that he has used the sword to prise out the tooth. It is possible however that he is only using the sword to display the tooth. It is possible that the man who acts as if he has had a tooth extracted is really a colleague of the tooth-drawer

1 print : line engraving and etching ; platemark 23.2 x 35.7 cm

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Medicine bottles

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Britannia as a patient who is in danger of death owing to disagreement between her three doctors over their competing remedies; representing the weakness of Britain during the replacement of Addington by Pitt as Prime Minister and the exclusion of Fox. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1804.

Leamington Spa, Warwickshire: pharmacy shop. Steel engraving.

A fierce battle between the supporters of John Brown (Bruno), in favour of treatment with stimulants, and those of F.J.V. Broussais, in favour of bloodletting. Pen drawing.

An apothecary in his laboratory concocting a mixture. Wood engraving by F.Mc F (?) after, 1876, after H.S. Marks.

A travelling tooth-drawer and medicine vendor in a town near Rome. Engraving by A.L. Richter, ca. 1834, after D.W. Lindau.

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Wellcome uses cookies.

Medicine bottles

Images

Catalogue

Britannia as a patient who is in danger of death owing to disagreement between her three doctors over their competing remedies; representing the weakness of Britain during the replacement of Addington by Pitt as Prime Minister and the exclusion of Fox. Coloured etching by J. Gillray, 1804.

Leamington Spa, Warwickshire: pharmacy shop. Steel engraving.

A fierce battle between the supporters of John Brown (Bruno), in favour of treatment with stimulants, and those of F.J.V. Broussais, in favour of bloodletting. Pen drawing.

An apothecary in his laboratory concocting a mixture. Wood engraving by F.Mc F (?) after, 1876, after H.S. Marks.

A travelling tooth-drawer and medicine vendor in a town near Rome. Engraving by A.L. Richter, ca. 1834, after D.W. Lindau.

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