Wellcome uses cookies.

Read our policy
Wellcome Collection homepage
All
Stories
Images
Catalogue
Events
63 results
  • Muscles of the eye.
  • Muscles around eye from Darwin's Expression of the Emotions...
  • The muscles of the eye. From a manuscript D'Honen ABN/ Shag
  • Muscles of the neck, ear, eye, and lower limb: ten figures. Coloured drawing, 18--.
  • Muscles of the head, face, neck, jaw and eye: forty-eight figures. Line engraving by J. Wandelaar, 1745.
  • Muscles of the face, neck and eye: 48 figures. Line engraving by A. Bell after B.S. Albinus, 1777.
  • The muscles of the face and of the eye. Colour mezzotint by A. E. Gautier d'Agoty after himself, 1773.
  • The muscles of the face and of the eye. Colour mezzotint by A. E. Gautier d'Agoty after himself, 1773.
  • Muscles of the eye and larynx and the head shown with a section of skull removed. Colour mezzotint by J.F. Gautier d'Agoty after himself, 1745-1746.
  • Muscles of the eye and larynx and the head shown with a section of skull removed. Colour mezzotint by J.F. Gautier d'Agoty after himself, 1745-1746.
  • 3D view on vessels of a healthy minipig eye. The upper opening corresponds to the pupil as the gateway input of all light into the eye. It is interesting to see the marked abundance of vessels of the pupil which bring energy and food to the muscles to control the amount of incident light. The other large vessels are feeder vessels for the outer layers of the retina and muscles, so, that the eye quickly can perceive the environment and the creature may adapt and survive.
  • Muscles of the head, face, eye and neck: 45 figures. Pen and ink drawing with watercolour, 1830/1835?, after line engraving by A. Bell, 1777/1778, after B.S. Albinus, ca. 1747.
  • Head of an elephant: six figures, including a detail of the eye, and dissections illustrating the bones and muscles of the head. Etching by R. Vinkeles 1787/1800 (?), after P. Camper, 1774.
  • An écorché showing the third layer of muscles, with ligaments, cartilages and bones: front and back views with additional figures detailing an eye, and two feet. Coloured line engraving by J. Pass, 1796.
  • Plaster model of a section of the human eye surrounding bone, muscle and blood vessels
  • Plaster model of a section of the human eye surrounding bone, muscle and blood vessels
  • Plaster model of a section of the human eye surrounding bone, muscle and blood vessels
  • Dissection of the skull, showing the eyes with attached nerves and muscles. Colour lithograph by G.H. Ford, 1864.
  • Dissection of the skull, showing the eyes with attached nerves and muscles. Colour lithograph by G.H. Ford, 1864.
  • Veratrum nigrum L. Melanthiaceae Distribution: Europe. Cows do not eat Veratrum species in the meadows, and human poisoning with it caused vomiting and fainting. In the 1850s it was found to reduce the heart's action and slow the pulse (Bentley, 1861, called it an 'arterial sedative'), and in 1859 it was used orally in a woman who was having convulsions due to eclampsia. Dr Paul DeLacy Baker in Alabama treated her with drops of a tincture of V. viride. She recovered. It was used thereafter, as the first choice of treatment, and, when blood pressure monitoring became possible, it was discovered that it worked by reducing the high blood pressure that occurs in eclampsia. By 1947 death rates were reduced from 30% to 5% by its use at the Boston Lying-in Hospital. It works by dilating the arteries in muscles and in the gastrointestinal circulation. A further use of Veratrum species came to light when it was noted that V. californicum - and other species - if eaten by sheep resulted in foetal malformations, in particular only having one eye. The chemical in the plant that was responsible, cyclopamine, was found to act on certain genetic pathways responsible for stem cell division in the regulation of the development of bilateral symmetry in the embryo/foetus. Synthetic analogues have been developed which act on what have come to be called the 'hedgehog signalling pathways' in stem cell division, and these 'Hedgehog inhibitors' are being introduced into medicine for the treatment of various cancers like chondrosarcoma, myelofibrosis, and advanced basal cell carcinoma. The drugs are saridegib, erismodegib and vismodegib. All the early herbals report on its ability to cause vomiting. As a herbal medicine it is Prescription Only, via a registered dentist or physician (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Veratrum album L. Melanthiaceae Distribution: Europe. Cows do not eat Veratrum species in the meadows, and human poisoning with it caused vomiting and fainting. In the 1850s it was found to reduce the heart's action and slow the pulse (Bentley, 1861, called it an 'arterial sedative'), and in 1859 it was used orally in a woman who was having convulsions due to eclampsia. Dr Paul DeLacy Baker in Alabama treated her with drops of a tincture of V. viride. She recovered. It was used thereafter, as the first choice of treatment, and when blood pressure monitoring became possible, it was discovered that it worked by reducing the high blood pressure that occurs in eclampsia. By 1947 death rates were reduced from 30% to 5% by its use at the Boston Lying in Hospital. It works by dilating the arteries in muscles and in the gastrointestinal circulation. A further use of Veratrum species came to light when it was noted that V. californicum -and other species - if eaten by sheep resulted in foetal malformations, in particular only having one eye. The chemical in the plant that was responsible, cyclopamine, was found to act on certain genetic pathways responsible for stem cell division in the regulation of the development of bilateral symmetry in the embryo/foetus. Synthetic analogues have been developed which act on what have come to be called the 'hedgehog signalling pathways' in stem cell division, and these 'Hedgehog inhibitors' are being introduced into medicine for the treatment of various cancers like chondrosarcoma, myelofibrosis, and advanced basal cell carcinoma. The drugs are saridegib, erismodegib and vismodegib. All the early herbals report on its ability to cause vomiting. As a herbal medicine it is Prescription Only, via a registered dentist or physician (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Atropa belladonna L. Solanaceae. Deadly nightshade. Dwale. Morella, Solatrum, Hound's berries, Uva lupina, Cucubalus, Solanum lethale. Atropa derives from Atropos the oldest of the three Fates of Greek mythology who cut the thread of Life (her sisters Clotho and Lachesis spun and measured the thread, respectively). belladonna, literally, means 'beautiful lady' and was the Italian name for it. Folklore has it that Italian ladies put drops from the plant or the fruits in their eyes to make themselves doe-eyed, myopic and beautiful. However, this is not supported by the 16th and 17th century literature, where no mention is ever made of dilated pupils (or any of the effects of parasympathetic blockade). Tournefort (1719) says 'The Italians named this plant Belladonna, which in their language signifies a beautiful woman, because the ladies use it much in the composition of their Fucus [rouge or deceit or cosmetic] or face paint.' Parkinson says that the Italian ladies use the distilled juice as a fucus '... peradventure [perhaps] to take away their high colour and make them looke paler.' I think it more likely that they absorbed atropine through their skin and were slightly 'stoned' and disinhibited, which made them beautiful ladies in the eyes of Italian males. Distribution: Europe, North Africa, western Asia. Culpeper (1650) writes: 'Solanum. Nightshade: very cold and dry, binding … dangerous given inwardly … outwardly it helps the shingles, St Antonie's Fire [erysipelas] and other hot inflammation.' Most of the 16th, 17th and 18th century herbals recommend it topically for breast cancers. Poisonous plants were regarded as 'cold' plants as an excess of them caused death and the body became cold. They were regarded as opposing the hot humour which kept us warm and alive. Poultices of Belladonna leaves are still recommended for muscle strain in cyclists, by herbalists. Gerard (1633) writes that it: 'causeth sleep, troubleth the mind, bringeth madnesse if a few of the berries be inwardly taken, but if more be taken they also kill...'. He was also aware that the alkaloids could be absorbed through the skin for he notes that a poultice of the leaves applied to the forehead, induces sleep, and relieves headache. The whole plant contains the anticholinergic alkaloid atropine, which blocks the peripheral actions of acetylcholine in the parasympathetic nervous system. Atropine is a racemic mixture of d- and l- hyoscyamine. Atropine, dropped into the eyes, blocks the acetylcholine receptors of the pupil so it no longer constricts on exposure to bright light - so enabling an ophthalmologist to examine the retina with an ophthalmoscope. Atropine speeds up the heart rate, reduces salivation and sweating, reduces gut motility, inhibits the vertigo of sea sickness, and is used to block the acetylcholine receptors to prevent the effects of organophosphorous and other nerve gas poisons. It is still has important uses in medicine. Atropine poisoning takes three or for days to wear off, and the hallucinations experienced by its use are described as unpleasant. We have to be content with 'madness', 'frenzie' and 'idle and vain imaginations' in the early herbals to describe the hallucinations of atropine and related alkaloids as the word 'hallucination' in the sense of a perception for which there is no external stimulus, was not used in English until 1646 (Sir T. Browne, 1646). It is a restricted herbal medicine which can only be sold in premises which are registered pharmacies and by or under the supervision of a pharmacist (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • The arteries of the head after Haller; the eye, after Ruysch, Cowper and Bidloo. Engraving by A.J. Defehrt, 1762.
  • The arteries of the head after Haller; the eye, after Ruysch, Cowper and Bidloo. Engraving by Benard, late 18th century.
  • Muscles of the right side of the head and neck. Colour mezzotint by J.F. Gautier d'Agoty, 1745-1746.
  • Just Christian von Loder. Engraving by J.G. Müller after F. Tischbein, 1801.
  • The arteries of the head after Haller; the eye, after Ruysch; the tongue after Heister. Engraving by Benard, late 18th century.
  • The arteries of the head after Haller; the eye, after Ruysch; the tongue after Heister. Engraving by Prevost, 1762.
  • Skull sculpture
  • Face sculpture