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  • Trichuris muris is a parasitic nematode affecting mice. Following ingestion, T. muris eggs hatch in the large intestine where they develop into adults. The anterior end of the worm burrows into the lining of the gut, leaving the posterior end protruding into the lumen of the gut. The worms mate in this orientation, and the resulting eggs are released in to the gut lumen and shed faecally.
  • Adonis vernalis L. Ranunculaceae. Pheasant's eye, the golden flowered spring (or vernal) Adonis, is named in memory of Adonis, the Greek god of plants, who disappeared into the earth in the winter and reappeared in the spring. The flowers were said to have sprung from his blood when he was gored to death by a wild boar, but this plant must have been the blood red Adonis aestivalis, the summer Adonis. Distribution: Eurasia to Spain and Sweden. Gerard (1633) recommends it for renal stone and intestinal colic. Lewis & Elvin Lewis (2003) note it is poisonous, containing cardiac glycosides (adonitoxin, cymarin, K-strophanthin) and flavonoids. The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)) bans its use for ingestion 'no dose permitted' but allow it to be prescribed by a herbal practitioner on a one-to-one consultation. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Bodo saltans ingesting bacteria
  • TEM cell being ingested by phagocytosis
  • Aconitum carmichaelii Debeaux. Ranunculaceae. Chinese aconite, Chinese wolfsbane, Carmichael's monkshood. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution C. to W. China to N. America. Named for Dr J.R. Carmichael (d. 1877), English physician, plant collector and Protestant missionary from 1862-1877 in Guangdong and Shandong, China initially in Canton. He aided Francis Forbes to collect plants for Kew. Aconitum plants are so poisonous that Theophrastus states that death was the punishment for possessing them. Aconitine is the poison and was used - from Aconitum ferox - in the 'curry murder' in London in 2009. It causes respiratory paralysis, bradycardia (slowing of the pulse), cardiac arrhythmias, tingling, sweating, gastric cramps, diarrhoea and death, both by ingestion and by absorption through the mucous membranes and the skin. Despite this it is widely used in Chinese herbal medicine. It is a restricted herbal medicine which can only be dispensed by a herbal practitioner for external use following a one-to-one consultation, or by prescription from a registered doctor or dentist (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Vitamin C imaged with polarised light. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an important vitamin, essential for collagen formation and wound healing, it also facilitates to absorption of iron. A good source of vitamin C is found in a variety of fruit and vegetables, notably citrus friuts, kiwi and broccoli. It is a water soluble vitamin so is excreted by the body and, therefore, needs to be ingested regularly. A lack of vitamin C causes scurvy.
  • Vitamin C imaged with polarised light. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an important vitamin, essential for collagen formation and wound healing, it also facilitates to absorption of iron. A good source of Vitamin C is found in a variety of fruit and vegetables, notably citrus friuts, kiwi and broccoli. It is a water soluble vitamin so is excreted by the body and, therefore, needs to be ingested regularly. A lack of Vitamin C causes scurvy.
  • Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) crystals imaged by cross polarised light microscopy. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and is important for collagen formation and wound healing. A good source of vitamin C is found in a variety of fruit and vegetables including citrus friuts, brussels sprouts and broccoli. It is a water soluble vitamin that cannot be stored in the body so needs to be ingested regularly. A lack of Vitamin C causes scurvy. 100X image magnification.
  • Anemone blanda Schott & Kotschy, Ranunculaceae. Grecian windflower. Genus name may derive from Greek for wind, blanda being Latin for mild or pleasing. Perennial tuberous herb. Distribution SE Europe, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria. Not described until 1854 so no early herbal records under this name. However all species of Ranunculaceae are poisonous, containing protoanemonin, which causes blistering if sap gets on the skin and indigestion if ingested. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Castor oil plant. Palma Christi. Distribution: Mediterranean, E Africa, India. The seeds themselves are pretty, brown, bean-like usually with gold filigree markings on them, and the interior of the seed is the source of castor oil. The outer coat of the seed is the source of the poison ricin, famous (infamous) for the umbrella murder of Georgi Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. The KGB are alleged to have killed Georgi Markov, a dissident Bulgarian journalist, with a pellet containing 0.28mgm of ricin fired into his leg using a specially adapted air gun in an umbrella. While his symptoms were those of ricin poisoning, no ricin was ever found in the pellet that was extracted from his leg. Two seeds, chewed and ingested are said to be fatal, but most people vomit and get rid of the toxin. Ducks are resistant to ricin, and need to ingest more than 80 to be fatal! In Peru the leaves are used as a tea for stomach ache, although they contain small amounts of ricin. It is called Palma Christi in early herbals because of the five pointed leaves, which schematically represent a hand. It is a monotypic genus in the spurge family. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Castor oil plant. Palma Christi. Distribution: Mediterranean, E Africa, India. The seeds themselves are pretty, brown, bean-like usually with gold filigree markings on them, and the interior of the seed is the source of castor oil. The outer coat of the seed is the source of the poison ricin, famous (infamous) for the umbrella murder of Georgi Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. The KGB are alleged to have killed Georgi Markov, a dissident Bulgarian journalist, with a pellet containing 0.28mgm of ricin fired into his leg using a specially adapted air gun in an umbrella. While his symptoms were those of ricin poisoning, no ricin was ever found in the pellet that was extracted from his leg. Two seeds, chewed and ingested are said to be fatal, but most people vomit and get rid of the toxin. Ducks are resistant to ricin, and need to ingest more than 80 to be fatal! In Peru the leaves are used as a tea for stomach ache, although they contain small amounts of ricin. It is called Palma Christi in early herbals because of the five pointed leaves, which schematically represent a hand. It is a monotypic genus in the spurge family. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Castor oil plant. Palma Christi. Distribution: Mediterranean, E Africa, India. The seeds themselves are pretty, brown, bean-like usually with gold filigree markings on them, and the interior of the seed is the source of castor oil. The outer coat of the seed is the source of the poison ricin, famous (infamous) for the umbrella murder of Georgi Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. The KGB are alleged to have killed Georgi Markov, a dissident Bulgarian journalist, with a pellet containing 0.28mgm of ricin fired into his leg using a specially adapted air gun in an umbrella. While his symptoms were those of ricin poisoning, no ricin was ever found in the pellet that was extracted from his leg. Two seeds, chewed and ingested are said to be fatal, but most people vomit and get rid of the toxin. Ducks are resistant to ricin, and need to ingest more than 80 to be fatal! In Peru the leaves are used as a tea for stomach ache, although they contain small amounts of ricin. It is called Palma Christi in early herbals because of the five pointed leaves, which schematically represent a hand. It is a monotypic genus in the spurge family. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ricinus communis L. Euphorbiaceae Castor oil plant. Palma Christi. Distribution: Mediterranean, E Africa, India. The seeds themselves are pretty, brown, bean-like usually with gold filigree markings on them, and the interior of the seed is the source of castor oil. The outer coat of the seed is the source of the poison ricin, famous (infamous) for the umbrella murder of Georgi Markov on Waterloo Bridge in 1978. The KGB are alleged to have killed Georgi Markov, a dissident Bulgarian journalist, with a pellet containing 0.28mgm of ricin fired into his leg using a specially adapted air gun in an umbrella. While his symptoms were those of ricin poisoning, no ricin was ever found in the pellet that was extracted from his leg. Two seeds, chewed and ingested are said to be fatal, but most people vomit and get rid of the toxin. Ducks are resistant to ricin, and need to ingest more than 80 to be fatal! In Peru the leaves are used as a tea for stomach ache, although they contain small amounts of ricin. It is called Palma Christi in early herbals because of the five pointed leaves, which schematically represent a hand. It is a monotypic genus in the spurge family. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Camassia leichtlinii (Baker)S.Watson Hyacinthaceae. Great Camas, Quamash. The species was named for Maximillian Leichtlin (1831-1910 of Baden , Germany, bulb enthusiast who corresponded with J.G. Baker at Kew. Bulbous herb. Distribution: North America. The bulbs of Camassia species were eaten by the Native Americans, the Nez Perce, after cooking by steaming for a day - which suggests they may be poisonous raw. They gave them to the American explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clerk, on their expedition (1804-1806) when they ran out of food. The bulbs of the similar looking 'Death camus', Toxicoscordion venenosum have been fatal when ingested by mistake (RBG Kew on-line). Steroidal saponins, which are precursors in the manufacture of steroids and cytotoxic activity has been detected in the sap of the bulbs. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • TEM of cell performing phagocytosis
  • A family sit around a table eating their Christmas meal and greet the arrival of the plum pudding which is being carried in on a large tray. Colour process print after Cecil Aldin.
  • Three types of hyena and many vultures surrounding a kill on the African plains. Coloured lithograph by W C Harris.
  • The Asylum for Female Orphans, Lambeth: the interior of the dining room. Coloured aquatint by Hill, 1808, after A.C. Pugin and T. Rowlandson.
  • A man vomiting after overeating and drinking; representing the sense of touch. Engraving by J.J. Kleinschmidt after Jan van de Velde the younger.
  • A donkey carries wood while people shelter and eat near a fire; representing winter. Etching, 17--, after F.G. Bassano the younger.
  • A Greenwich Pensioner sits at table, eating soup, attended [?] by three others: all are disabled in various ways. Lithograph.
  • A crane inserts its beak into the mouth of a wolf; illustrating Aesop's fable. Etching by C. Murer after himself, c. 1600-1614.
  • Eupatorium fortunei
  • Rhamnus cathartica (Common buckthorn)
  • Eupatorium purpureum (Gravel root). Also known as Joe Pye weed.
  • A variety of rhizopods, some cross-sectioned. Line block.
  • A variety of rhizopods, some cross-sectioned. Line block.
  • Chelsea Pensioners hearing the news of the battle of Waterloo, outside the Duke of York public house. Engraving by J. Burnet, 1831, after D. Wilkie, 1822.
  • Metamorphosis of Filaria bancrofti.
  • Calcium oxalate crystals in urinary sediment