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  • Myth, only prostitutes, homosexuals and 'slack' people go to sexual health clinics so its not for me : Fact, people who use sexual health clinics are people with the sense to get tested / Shaka Services.
  • Thorley's horse and cattle spice is now creating such a sensation throughout the world, that all practical horse-keepers, flock-masters & cattle-feeders are pronouncing it the greatest discovery of the nineteenth century / Joseph Thorley.
  • Thorley's horse and cattle spice is now creating such a sensation throughout the world, that all practical horse-keepers, flock-masters & cattle-feeders are pronouncing it the greatest discovery of the nineteenth century / Joseph Thorley.
  • A penis putting on a condom and applying lubricant and removing after use wrapped in a tissue; a guide to basic condom sense by AIDS: A Positive Co-ordinated Community Response Society of Jasper. Colour lithograph by Marie Joëlle Driard, 1989.
  • If you are having intercourse, using a condom makes sense for lots of reasons : condoms can prevent cervical cancer, chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV infection, syphilis, other sexually transmitted diseases ... and pregnancy, especially when used with a spermicide.
  • If you are having intercourse, using a condom makes sense for lots of reasons : condoms can prevent cervical cancer, chlamydia, gonorrhea, HIV infection, syphilis, other sexually transmitted diseases ... and pregnancy, especially when used with a spermicide.
  • A man with a speech bubble telling us to use condom sense and stop unprotected sex; an AIDS prevention advertisement for the NGO AIDS Cell Centre for Community Medicine in New Delhi. Colour lithograph by N.R. Nanda, ca. 1997.
  • A compendious system of anatomy. In six parts. I. Osteology. II. Of the muscles, &c. III. Of the abdomen. IV. Of the thorax. V. Of the brain and nerves. VI. Of the senses / From the Encyclopaedia. Illustrated with twelve large copperplates.
  • A tortoise climbs up a female figure as she reaches out to a bird; in the background Adam and Eve are chased from Eden by the archangel Michael with his sword; representing the sense of touch. Engraving by N. de Bruyn after M. de Vos.
  • Observations on the causes, symptoms, and treatment of derangement of the mind, founded on an extensive moral and medical practice in the treatment of lunatics / By Paul Slade Knight ... Together with the particulars of the sensations and ideas of a gentleman during his mental alienation, written by himself during his convalescence.
  • Observations on the causes, symptoms, and treatment of derangement of the mind, founded on an extensive moral and medical practice in the treatment of lunatics / By Paul Slade Knight ... Together with the particulars of the sensations and ideas of a gentleman during his mental alienation, written by himself during his convalescence.
  • "All who are visionaries dream of a City Beautiful, but no man in his right senses would dream of putting a pub in it." / Mr. E. Rosslyn Mitchell, M.P. ; issued by the Temperance Council of the Christian Churches of England and Wales, Abbey House, Westminster, S.W.1.
  • Sensation of the day : will visit this town two great and startling novelties : Mr. W. Campbell the celebrated young Scottish giant ... weighs the enormous weight of 48 stone 9 lb ... he is accompanied by that great and beautiful sight Miss M. E. Bland the anglo-saxon wonder! A sight all ladies ought to see. Fourteen years of age ... and weighs the astounding weight of 18 stone 3 lb.
  • Capsicum annuum 'Masquerade' Distribution: Central and South America. This ‘domesticated species’ originated from Mexico (although the centre of Capsicum evolution was much earlier and from Bolivia) and includes the bland salad peppers and the hot chilli peppers, of which capsaicin (sometimes called capsicain), from the lining of the inside of the chilli, is the main active ingredient. Chilli comes from the Aztec language of the Nahuatl people. It was reputedly introduced to Europe by Columbus in the mid-15th century, but was cultivated in Mexico since 4,000 BCE and used in cooking since 7,200 BCE. After its introduction to Europe, its cultivation very rapidly became world-wide. It appears first as a description (Bock, 1539) with the name teutschem Pfeffer. The first illustration, as Siliquastrum, appears in Historia Stirpes commentarii insignis (Fuchs, 1542). Fuchs did not realise it came from the Americas, as he identified it as a plant described by Pliny, Dioscorides and Avicenna and gave their uses of it. It appear in Dodoen's Cruydeboeck (1551) and Lyte's translation (1557) with the note that it is 'hot and drie in the third degree.' He recommended it for dressing meat, and noted that it 'warmeth the stomach' and was good for a sore throat, scrofula, and topically got rid of spots. Fuch's had reported these properties as being described by Avicenna, but what that plant was is unknown. Lindley (1838) wrote: 'It is employed in medicine, in combination with Cinchona in intermittent and lethargic affections, and also in atonic gout, dyspepsia accompanied by flatulence, tympanitis, paralysis etc. Its most valuable application appears however to be in cynanche maligna [=severe sore throat, with impending suffocation] and scarlatina maligna [=severe scarlet fever], used either as a gargle or administered internally.' However, its principal use medically has been in pain relief, applied locally for pain from muscle injury to post herpetic neuralgia. Capsaicin acts on the pain and heat sensing neurones to make them trigger the sensation of pain at body temperature. Repeated exposure to capsaicin depletes the neurotransmitter substance P that is used to perceive pain, so the relevant nerves no longer transmit the sensation of pain/heat from any cause. It is a banned substance in the equestrian events at the Olympics because of its ability to stop perception of pain. Capsaicin has been shown, experimentally, to kill cancer cells by attacking their mitochondria. Particular interest has concentrated on its ability to reduce the size of tumours of the pancreas and prostate. Various cultivars are used in cooking, and the strength (i.e. how hot they are) is measured in Scoville units. A standard chilli pepper used in England would be around 5,000 Scovilles, the hottest peppers are rated over one million Scoville units. 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.
  • Five people, each exercising one of the five senses. Coloured lithograph by L.-L. Boilly, 1823.
  • The five senses represented by five children. Chromolithograph.
  • A woman with some flowers; representing the sense of smell. Engraving, 16--.
  • A gardener smelling a flower; representing the sense of smell. Etching by T. Kitchin after D. Teniers.
  • A woman with a flower; representing the sense of smell. Pen drawing by A. Overlaet, 1761, after D. Teniers.
  • A young woman in love clasps her hands against her heart; representing the sense of touch. Mezzotint by S.W. Reynolds, 1830, after C.-M. Dubufe.
  • An old woman with a flower; representing the sense of smell. Mezzotint by A.H.J. Degmair after P.A. Wille.
  • Electricity: several electrical machines in use, with a man receiving an electric shock in the background. Engraving, [18th century], by B. Cole.
  • Attributes of Brahmā (Tibetan Tshaṅs-pa, the pure one) in a "rgyan tshogs" banner. Distemper painting by a Tibetan painter.
  • Attributes of Brahmā (Tibetan Tshaṅs-pa, the pure one) in a "rgyan tshogs" banner. Distemper painting by a Tibetan painter.
  • Attributes of Brahmā (Tibetan Tshaṅs-pa, the pure one) in a "rgyan tshogs" banner. Distemper painting by a Tibetan painter.
  • Attributes of Brahmā (Tibetan Tshaṅs-pa, the pure one) in a "rgyan tshogs" banner. Distemper painting by a Tibetan painter.
  • An old woman wearing spectacles; representing the sense of sight. Mezzotint by A.H.J. Degmair after P.A. Wille.
  • An old woman with a plate of vegetables; representing the sense of taste. Mezzotint by A.H.J. Degmair after P.A. Wille.
  • A man with a glass of spirits; representing the sense of taste. Pen drawing by A. Overlaet, 1761, after D. Teniers.