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  • Galega officinalis L. Fabaceae. Goat's Rue. Distribution: Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor. Culpeper (1650) writes that it ‘... resists poison, kills worms, resists the falling sickness [epilepsy], resisteth the pestilence.’ Galega officinalis contains guanidine which reduces blood sugar by decreasing insulin resistance and inhibiting hepatic gluconeogenesis.. Metformin and Phenformin are drugs for type II diabetes that rely on this group of chemicals, known as biguanidines. Its name gala, meaning milk plus ega meaning 'to bring on', refers to its alleged property of increasing milk yield, and has been used in France to increase milk yield in cows. officinalis refers to its use in the offices of the monks, and is a common specific name for medicinal plants before 1600 and adopted by Linnaeus (1753). The fresh plant tastes of pea pods. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Anselmus de Boodt (Boetius), physician to Rudolph II, wearing a chain of office and a ruff, with an elaborate heraldic border. Line engraving by A. Sadeler.
  • Anselmus de Boodt (Boetius), physician to Rudolph II, wearing a chain of office and a ruff, with an elaborate heraldic border. Line engraving by A. Sadeler.
  • A guide to the practical physician, shewing from the most approved authors, both ancient and modern, the truest and latest way of curing all diseases, internal and external, whether by medicine, surgery, or diet ... To which is added an appendix concerning the office of a physician / Theoph. Bonet.
  • A guide to the practical physician, shewing from the most approved authors, both ancient and modern, the truest and latest way of curing all diseases, internal and external, whether by medicine, surgery, or diet ... To which is added an appendix concerning the office of a physician / Theoph. Bonet.
  • A guide to the practical physician, shewing from the most approved authors, both ancient and modern, the truest and latest way of curing all diseases, internal and external, whether by medicine, surgery, or diet ... To which is added an appendix concerning the office of a physician / Theoph. Bonet.
  • A guide to the practical physician, shewing from the most approved authors, both ancient and modern, the truest and latest way of curing all diseases, internal and external, whether by medicine, surgery, or diet ... To which is added an appendix concerning the office of a physician / Theoph. Bonet.
  • A treatise of the use of flogging in venerial affairs : also of the office of the loins and reins ... / by John Henry Meibomius ; made English from the Latin original by a physician.
  • Paeonia officinalis L. Paeoniaceae, European Peony, Distribution: Europe. The peony commemorates Paeon, physician to the Gods of ancient Greece (Homer’s Iliad v. 401 and 899, circa 800 BC). Paeon, came to be associated as being Apollo, Greek god of healing, poetry, the sun and much else, and father of Aesculapius/Asclepias. Theophrastus (circa 300 BC), repeated by Pliny, wrote that if a woodpecker saw one collecting peony seed during the day, it would peck out one’s eyes, and (like mandrake) the roots had to be pulled up at night by tying them to the tail of a dog, and one’s ‘fundament might fall out’ [anal prolapse] if one cut the roots with a knife. Theophrastus commented ‘all this, however, I take to be so much fiction, most frivolously invented to puff up their supposed marvellous properties’. Dioscorides (70 AD, tr. Beck, 2003) wrote that 15 of its black seeds, drunk with wine, were good for nightmares, uterine suffocation and uterine pains. Officinalis indicates it was used in the offices, ie the clinics, of the monks in the medieval era. The roots, hung round the neck, were regarded as a cure for epilepsy for nearly two thousand years, and while Galen would have used P. officinalis, Parkinson (1640) recommends the male peony (P. mascula) for this. He also recommends drinking a decoction of the roots. Elizabeth Blackwell’s A Curious Herbal (1737), published by the College of Physicians, explains that it was used to cure febrile fits in children, associated with teething. Although she does not mention it, these stop whatever one does. Parkinson also reports that the seeds are used for snake bite, uterine bleeding, people who have lost the power of speech, nightmares and melancholy. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Paeonia officinalis L. Paeoniaceae, European Peony, Distribution: Europe. The peony commemorates Paeon, physician to the Gods of ancient Greece (Homer’s Iliad v. 401 and 899, circa 800 BC). Paeon, came to be associated as being Apollo, Greek god of healing, poetry, the sun and much else, and father of Aesculapius/Asclepias. Theophrastus (circa 300 BC), repeated by Pliny, wrote that if a woodpecker saw one collecting peony seed during the day, it would peck out one’s eyes, and (like mandrake) the roots had to be pulled up at night by tying them to the tail of a dog, and one’s ‘fundament might fall out’ [anal prolapse] if one cut the roots with a knife. Theophrastus commented ‘all this, however, I take to be so much fiction, most frivolously invented to puff up their supposed marvellous properties’. Dioscorides (70 AD, tr. Beck, 2003) wrote that 15 of its black seeds, drunk with wine, were good for nightmares, uterine suffocation and uterine pains. Officinalis indicates it was used in the offices, ie the clinics, of the monks in the medieval era. The roots, hung round the neck, were regarded as a cure for epilepsy for nearly two thousand years, and while Galen would have used P. officinalis, Parkinson (1640) recommends the male peony (P. mascula) for this. He also recommends drinking a decoction of the roots. Elizabeth Blackwell’s A Curious Herbal (1737), published by the College of Physicians, explains that it was used to cure febrile fits in children, associated with teething. Although she does not mention it, these stop whatever one does. Parkinson also reports that the seeds are used for snake bite, uterine bleeding, people who have lost the power of speech, nightmares and melancholy. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • A pink background bearing the white lettering: "Discutez de la prévention du SIDA avec votre médecin." [Discuss AIDS prevention with your doctor]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [OFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • A pink background bearing the white lettering: "Sprechen Sie mit Ihrem Artzt über AIDS-Verhütung". [Talk to your doctor about AIDS prevention]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [BAG]. Colour lithograph.
  • A pink background bearing the white lettering: "Parlate con il vostro medico della prevenzione dell'AIDS." [Talk to your doctor about prevention of AIDS]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [UFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • A green background bearing the white lettering: "Pourquoi ne pas parler du SIDA à votre médecin?" [Why not talk about AIDS with your doctor]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [OFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • A blue background bearing the white lettering: "AIDS und Kind: Ein Thema für Arzt und Eltern" [AIDS and children: An issue for doctors and parents]; an advertisement by the FMH / BAG, Swiss Physicians and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. Colour lithograph.
  • An orange background bearing the white message "Your doctor has a duty of confidentiality. And you have freedom of speech on AIDS, sexuality and drug problems"; an advertisement by the FMH / BAG in association with the Swiss Physicians and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.
  • A blue background bearing the white lettering: "Fragen Sie ihren Arzt, was am "AIDS-Test" positiv und negativ ist" [Ask your doctor what the "AIDS test" positive and negative is]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [BAG]. Colour lithograph.
  • A green background bearing the white lettering: "Anche L'AIDS può essere un tema da affrontare. La vostra dottoressa." [AIDS may also be an issue to be addressed. Your doctor.]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [UFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • A blue background bearing the white lettering: "L'enfant et le SIDA: un thème de discussion pour les parents et les médecins." [Children and AIDS: a discussion topic for parents and doctors]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [OFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • A blue background bearing the white lettering: "Interrogez votre médicin sur les aspects positifs et négatifs du test du SIDA" [Ask your doctor about the positive and negative test of AIDS]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [OFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • A turquoise background bearing the white lettering: "L'AIDS e i bambini: un tema che concerne il medico e i genitori." [AIDS and children: a subject that concerns the doctor and parents]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [UFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • A green background bearing the white lettering: "AIDS ist für Ihren Arzt kein Tabu. Sprechen Sie mit ihm darüber." [AIDS is not a taboo subject for your. Talk to him about it]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [BAG]. Colour lithograph.
  • Five senior French army officers in military dress: two administrators, the chief surgeon, a pharmacist and a physician, ca. 1804. Coloured lithograph by G. David, ca. 1858, after A. de Marbot.
  • Five senior French army officers in military dress: two administrators, the chief surgeon, a pharmacist and a physician, ca. 1804. Coloured lithograph by G. David, ca. 1858, after A. de Marbot.
  • A dark green background bearing the white lettering: "Per la vostra dottoressa l'AIDS non è un tabù. Parlatene (anche) con lei." [For your doctor AIDS is not a taboo. Talk (even) with her.]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [UFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • A green background bearing the white lettering: "AIDS ist für Ihre Ärztin kein Tabu. Sprechen Sie mit ihr darüber."[AIDS is not a taboo subject for your doctor. Talk to her about it]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [BAG]. Colour lithograph.
  • A dark blue background bearing the white lettering: "Chiedete al vostro medico quali sono gli aspetti positivi e negativi del "test dell' AIDS" [Ask your doctor what are the pros and cons of the "test of 'AIDS]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [UFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • A dark green background bearing the white lettering: "Le SIDA n'est plus un tabou, il est devenu un sujet de discussion important. Votre médecin." [AIDS is no longer a taboo, it has become an important topic. Your doctor]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [OFSP]. Colour lithograph.
  • Rodgersia aesculifolia Batalin Saxifraginaceae Chestnut-leaved Rodgersia. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution: Northern China. Named for Rear Admiral John Rodgers (1812-1882), American naval officer who commanded the Pacific expedition 1852-1856 when the genus was first discovered. Used as a Traditional Chinese Medicine for rheumatism, bronchitis, dysentery, asthma, and gastritis. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • An orange background bearing the white lettering: "Vous pouvez parler librement du SIDA, de la sexualité et de la toxicomanie. Votre médecin est tenu au secret professionnel." [You can talk freely of AIDS, sexuality and drug addiction. Your doctor is bound by professional secrecy]; an advertisement by the Swiss Physicians [FMH] and Swiss Federal Office of Public Health [OFSP]. Colour lithograph.