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  • 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.
  • A collection of 'anti-boche' - ie. anti-German - medicine bottles, next to a scorpion about to be pulverised. Lithograph.
  • 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.
  • Lilium henryi Baker Liliaceae. Tiger Lily. Distribution: China. This commemorates Dr Augustine Henry (1857–1930) who collected plants in China and Taiwan while working for Britain’s Imperial Customs Service (Oakeley, 2012). Reported to cause renal failure in cats. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Lilium henryi Baker Liliaceae. Tiger Lily. Bulbous perennial. Distribution: China. This commemorates Dr Augustine Henry (1857–1930) who collected plants in China and Taiwan while working for Britain’s Imperial Customs Service (Oakeley, 2012). Reported to cause renal failure in cats. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • 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.
  • Eranthis hyemalis Salisb. Ranunculaceae Winter Aconite Distribution: Europe. The reason it was called Winter aconite and linked to Aconitum napellus as being just as poisonous is because plants were classified according to leaf shape in the 16th century. L'Obel's Stirpium adversaria nova (1571) and Plantarum seu stirpium historia (1576) (with a full page illustration on page 384 showing Eranthis and Aconitum together) along with the knowledge that related plants have similar medical properties caused the belief that Eranthis are as poisonous as Aconitum. They are both in Ranunculaceae and while Eranthis (like all Ranunculaceae)is toxic if eaten, it does not contain the same chemicals as Aconitum. Caesalpino (Ekphrasis, 1616) pointed out the error in classifying according to leaf shape and recommended flower shape. It contains pharmacologically interesting chemicals such as khellin, also present in Ammi visnaga. This is a vasodilator but quite toxic, but can be converted into khellin analogues such as sodium cromoglicate – used as a prophylaxis against asthma attacks – and amiodarone which has anti-arrhythmia actions so is used for atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias. It is endangered and protected in the wild (Croatia) because of over-collecting for horticulture. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Eranthis hyemalis Salisb. Ranunculaceae Winter Aconite Distribution: Europe. The reason it was called Winter aconite and linked to Aconitum napellus as being just as poisonous is because plants were classified according to leaf shape in the 16th century. L'Obel's 'Stirpium adversaria nova' published in 1571 and 'Plantarum seu stirpium historia' published 1576 (with a full page illustration on page 384 showing Eranthis and Aconitum together) along with the knowledge that related plants have similar medical properties caused the belief that Eranthis are as poisonous as Aconitum. They are both in Ranunculaceae and while Eranthis (like all Ranunculaceae) is toxic if eaten, it does not contain the same chemicals as Aconitum. Caesalpino (Ekphrasis, 1616) pointed out the error in classifying according to leaf shape and recommended flower shape. It contains pharmacologically interesting chemicals such as khellin, also present in Ammi visnaga. This is a vasodilator but quite toxic, which can be converted into khellin analogues such as sodium cromoglicate – used as a prophylaxis against asthma attacks – and amiodarone which has anti-arrhythmia actions so is used for atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias. It is endangered and protected in the wild (Croatia) because of over-collecting for horticulture. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Acu-moxa chart: Diagram for locating the Four-Flower Points
  • Acu-moxa chart: Diagram for locating the Four-Flower Points
  • Wounded patients lying on stretchers at a dressing station on board H.M.S. Erebus, Monitor, Russia. Glass negative, ca. 1919.
  • Booklets: The Wellcome Historical Medical Library...
  • Edward Jenner and two colleagues seeing off three anti-vaccination opponents, the dead smallpox victims are littered at their feet. Coloured etching by I. Cruikshank, 1808.
  • Paul Ferdinand Gachet. Etching by V. van Gogh, 1890.
  • Paul Ferdinand Gachet. Etching by V. van Gogh, 1890.
  • Paul Ferdinand Gachet. Etching by V. van Gogh, 1890.
  • A physician taking the pulse of a young woman, while an old maid prepares gruel for her. Oil painting by Quirin Gerritsz. van Brekelenkam.
  • The birth of Rustam. Gouache painting.
  • Woman with pails going to collect water in rural area, Zambia
  • Bonnell Thornton lying ill in bed, consulting three physicians and pointing out their inadequacies. Coloured etching attributed to C. Williams.
  • Bonnell Thornton lying ill in bed, consulting three physicians and pointing out their inadequacies. Coloured etching attributed to C. Williams.
  • Patrick Manson experimenting with filaria sanguinis-hominis in Amoy (Xiamen), China. Oil painting by E. Board, ca. 1912.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.