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38 results
  • Cabbalistic amulet for the cure from jaundice, 18th c.
  • Cabbalistic amulet for the cure from jaundice, 18th c.
  • Baldwin's Bilious and Liver Pills : cures sickness, dizziness, shoulder pains, yellowness of the eyes, skin, brown or yellow coated tongue, bile, jaundice, constipation, piles, all liver troubles.
  • Baldwin's Bilious and Liver Pills : cures sickness, dizziness, shoulder pains, yellowness of the eyes, skin, brown or yellow coated tongue, bile, jaundice, constipation, piles, all liver troubles.
  • Rosmarinus officinalis L. Lamiaceae Rosemary. Woody perennial. Distribution: Mediterranean. Quincy (1718) commended the flowers for epilepsy, apoplexy, palsies, uterine obstruction, jaundice, gout, and syringed into the ear with warm water for dislodging wax. It is licensed for use in Traditional Herbal Medicines in the UK (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Carthamus tinctorius L. Asteraceae. Safe Flower, False Saffron - Distribution: W. Asia. Dioscorides (in Beck, 2003) notes the seeds as a purgative, but also advises it made up with 30 figs, which must have helped. Gerard (1640) calls it Atractylis flore luteo the yellow distaffe thistle. and follows Dioscorides in its uses, but does get the reader confused with Cnicus benedictus, calling both plants 'wild bastard saffron'. Culpeper makes no mention of it in his early works, but later (1826) have the following: ‘Wild Saffon, or Saf-flower ... accounted a pretty strong cathartic [causing diarrhoea and vomiting], evacuating tough viscid phlegm, both upwards and downwards, and by that means is said to clear the lungs, and help the phthisic [now equated with tuberculosis]. It is likewise serviceable against the jaundice
  • Viola canina L. Violaceae Distribution: Europe. Culpeper (1650) writes 'Violets (to whit the blew ones, for I know little or no use of the white ones in physic) ... provoke sleep, loosen the belly, resist fevers, help inflammations, ... ease pains in the head, help the roughness of the windpipe, soreness in the throat, inflammations in the breast and sides, pleurisies, open stoppings of the liver and help the yellow jaundice'. 'Violet leaves, they are cool, ease pains in the head proceeding of heat, and frenzies, either inwardly taken or outwardly applied, heat of the stomach, or inflammation of the lungs.' It still has the same reputation in modern herbal medicine, and while its safety is not known, it is regarded as edible and flowers are used to garnish salads. Larger quantities are emetic – make one vomit. Not licensed for use in Traditional Herbal Medicines in the UK (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Hepatica nobilis Mill. Ranunculaceae. Liverwort - not to be confused with the lichen of the same name. Distribution: North America. Liverwort (‘liver plant’): discontinued herbal medicine for disorders of the liver. The name and the use to which the Liverworts have been put medicinally is suggested, according to the doctrine of signatures, by the shape of the leaves which are three-lobed, like the liver. It is little used in modern herbalism but was employed in treating disorders of the liver and gall bladder, indigestion etc. It is highly toxic. Hepatica acutiloba was widely used for liver disorders in the 1880s, with up to 200,000 kilos of leaves being harvested per annum to make liver tonics - which eventually caused jaundice. Gerard (1633) calls it Hepaticum trifolium, Noble Liverwort, Golden Trefoile and herbe Trinity and writes: 'It is reported to be good against weakness of the liver which proceedeth from a hot cause, for it cooleth and strengtheneth it not a little. ' He adds ' Baptista Sardus[a Piedmontese physician fl. 1500] commendeth it and writeth that the chiefe vertue is in the root
  • Hepatica nobilis Mill. Ranunculaceae. Liverwort - not to be confused with the lichen of the same name. Distribution: North America. Liverwort (‘liver plant’): discontinued herbal medicine for disorders of the liver. The name and the use to which the Liverworts have been put medicinally is suggested, according to the doctrine of signatures, by the shape of the leaves which are three-lobed, like the liver. It is little used in modern herbalism but was employed in treating disorders of the liver and gall bladder, indigestion etc. It is highly toxic. Hepatica acutiloba was widely used for liver disorders in the 1880s, with up to 200,000 kilos of leaves being harvested per annum to make liver tonics - which eventually caused jaundice. Gerard (1633) calls it Hepaticum trifolium, Noble Liverwort, Golden Trefoile and herbe Trinity and writes: 'It is reported to be good against weakness of the liver which proceedeth from a hot cause, for it cooleth and strengtheneth it not a little. ' He adds ' Baptista Sardus [a Piedmontese physician fl. 1500] commendeth it and writeth that the chiefe vertue is in the root
  • A man surrounded by a feast while professing to have no appetite, his doctor observing how yellow he and his surroundings appear; suggesting the man's jaundiced view of life. Coloured lithograph, 1835.
  • MS Hebrew A29
  • MS Hebrew A29
  • Compliments of Dr. Seth Arnold Medical Corporation, Woonsocket, R.I. : semper fidelis / Dr. Seth Arnold Medical Co.
  • Compliments of Dr. Seth Arnold Medical Corporation, Woonsocket, R.I. : semper fidelis / Dr. Seth Arnold Medical Co.
  • Cnicus benedictus (Holy thistle)
  • Xanthorhiza simplicissima Marshall Ranunculaceae. Yellow root. Distribution: North America, where it was discovered by the plant collector and explorer William Bartram in 1773. Austin (2004) reports that of the Native Americans, the Cherokee use the crushed plant to make a yellow dye
  • Xanthorhiza simplicissima Marshall Ranunculaceae. Yellow root. Distribution: North America, where it was discovered by the plant collector and explorer William Bartram in 1773. Yellow-root. Austin (2004) reports that of the Native Americans, the Cherokee use the crushed plant to make a yellow dye
  • Yellow fever: organs of the mouth and neck of a patient infected with yellow fever. Watercolour, 1930/1950 (?), after a drawing (?) by Amadeu Fialho, 1929.
  • Ayer's cathartic pills : a safe, pleasant and reliable family medicine / Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co.
  • Ayer's cathartic pills : a safe, pleasant and reliable family medicine / Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co.
  • Liver: HIV and drug-induced cholestasis
  • The fight for the standard : Ayer's Pills / Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co.
  • The fight for the standard : Ayer's Pills / Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co.
  • Centaurea hypoleuca 'John Coutts'
  • Saponaria officinalis 'Alba Plena'
  • C16 Chinese woodcut: Daoyin technique for 'Yellow swelling'
  • C14 Chinese medication chart: Vomiting, coughing etc.
  • Ayer's Sarsaparilla purifies the blood, stimulates the vital functions, restores and preserves health, and infuses new life and vigor throughout the whole system / Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co.
  • Chinese tongue diagnosis diagram: 'Red star' tongue
  • Ayer's Sarsaparilla purifies the blood, stimulates the vital functions, restores and preserves health, and infuses new life and vigor throughout the whole system / Dr. J.C. Ayer & Co.