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  • A skeleton of a child born with two backbones and two heads. Collotype by Römmler & Jonas after a radiograph made for G. Leopold and Th. Leisewitz, 1908.
  • An injected arterial vessel system of a 9 month old foetus. Collotype by Römmler & Jonas after a radiograph made for G. Leopold and Th. Leisewitz, 1908.
  • A woman's pelvis after a succesful pubiotomy - a surgical incision of the symphysis pubis generally to widen the birth canal for vaginal delivery. Collotype by Römmler & Jonas after a radiograph made for G. Leopold and Th. Leisewitz, 1908.
  • A skeleton of a child with a set of superfluous limbs and deformed head. Collotype by Römmler & Jonas after a radiograph made for G. Leopold and Th. Leisewitz, 1908.
  • An injected arterial vessel system of a 9 month old foetus. Collotype by Römmler & Jonas after a radiograph made for G. Leopold and Th. Leisewitz, 1908.
  • Cistus incanus ssp creticus Juss. Cistaceae. Rock Rose. Distribution: Crete. Interesting symbiosis with fungus called Tuber melanosporum which increases nutrient absorption for the plant and inhibits growth of other plants in the vicinity. It is a source of the resin ‘labdanum’ (a.k.a. ‘ladanum’) used in perfumes (similar smell to ambergris), as is Cistus ladanifer. It has no medical uses now, and such use was dwindling even in the 18th century. In the 16th century (Henry Lyte’s 1575 translation of Rembert Dodoen’s Cruydeboeck of 1554) its uses were described (directly copied from Dioscorides’ Materia Medica (70AD)) as: ‘Ladanum dronketh with olde wine, stoppeth the laske [periods], and provoketh urine. It is very good against the hardness of the matrix or mother [uterus] layde to in the manner of a pessarie, and it draweth down the secondes or afterbirth, when it is layde upon quicke coles [hot coals], and the fumigation or parfume thereof be received up into the body of women. // The same applied to the head with Myrrhe and oyle of Myrrhe, cureth the scurffe, called Alopecia, and keepeth the heare [hair] from falling of [sic], but whereas it is already fallen away, it will not cause the heare to growe agayne. // ...' and goes on in this vein about its uses for pain in the ears, and removing sores and scars and other things. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Pulmonaria officinalis L. Boraginaceae Distribution: Officinalis indicates its medicinal use in early medicine. Europe. Pulmonaria or Lungwort are names for a lichen and a perennial plant in the Boraginaceae. This is the latter. Lyte (1578) has a woodcut of our plant and also calls it Sage of Jerusalem and says it is of ' no particular use in physicke, but is much used in meates and salads with eggs, as is also Cowslippes and Primroses, whereunto in temperature it is much alike.' He lists and describes the lichen separately. Culpeper (1650) said he found many sorts of lunguewort in perusing Authors ' Pulmonari, arborea and Symphytum maculosum [and the latter is our plant, the others the lichen] and that they 'helpe infirmities of the lungues, as hoarseness, coughs, wheezing, shortnesse of breath etc.' Coles (1657) who espouses the Doctrine of Signatures in a way unrivalled by any other English author, might have been expected to confirm the concept that the mottled leaves looked like the cut surface of a lung which indicates their purpose, but he only mentions the lungwort which is a lichen. However, Porta's beautiful book on the Doctrine, Phytognomica (1588), is clear that the plant called Pulmonaria with hairy leaves like a bugloss, spotted white with purple flowers, commonly called 'cynoglossa' [with a woodcut which could be Pulmonaria officinalis] indicate its use for ulcerated lungs, spitting blood, shortness of breath and asthma equally with the lichen with the same name. Lobel & Pena (1570) call it 'PULMONARIA, masculosa folia Borrago, floribus Primula veris, purpureis [PULMONARIA spotted, Borage-leaved, flowers like Primula veris - Cowslips - purple]' and say that women mix the leaves with a little broth and make it into an omelette for lung disorders and to strengthen the heart. Lobel (1576) calls it Maculosa Pulmonaria and describes a white flowered form with a good woodcut. Gerard (1633) uses the same woodcut as Lobel and calls it Pulmonatia foliis Echii, Buglosse Cowslips with red flowers, and a woodcut of a narrow leaved plant as Pulmonaria masculosa, Spotted Cowslips of Jerusalem with red, blue and purple flowers and says 'the leaves are used among pot-herbes. The roots are aso thought to be good against the infirmities of ulcers of the lungs...'. Quincy (1718) writes: '... it has a glutinous juice ... and heals ulcers and erosions. It is commended in coughs and spitting of blood but is little used either in the Shop or Prescriptions. Not used in modern medicine. It is in the family Boraginaceae whose species are often rich in pyrrolizidine alkaloids that cause liver toxicity and liver cancers, but levels in Pulmonaria officinalis may not be significant. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Pulmonaria officinalis L. Boraginaceae Distribution: Europe. Pulmonaria or Lungwort are names for a lichen and a perennial plant in the Boraginaceae. This is the latter. Lyte (1578) has a woodcut of our plant and also calls it Sage of Jerusalem and says it is of 'no particular use in physicke, but is much used in meates and salads with eggs, as is also Cowslippes and Primroses, whereunto in temperature it is much alike.' He lists and describes the lichen separately. Culpeper (1650) said he found many sorts of lunguewort in perusing Authors ' Pulmonari, arborea and Symphytum maculosum [and the latter is our plant, the others the lichen] and that they 'helpe infirmities of the lungues, as hoarseness, coughs, wheezing, shortnesse of breath etc.' Coles (1657) who espouses the Doctrine of Signatures in a way unrivalled by any other English author, might have been expected to confirm the concept that the mottled leaves looked like the cut surface of a lung which indicates their purpose, but he only mentions the lungwort which is a lichen. However, Porta's beautiful book on the Doctrine, Phytognomica (1588), is clear that the plant called Pulmonaria with hairy leaves like a bugloss, spotted white with purple flowers, commonly called 'cynoglossa' [with a woodcut which could be Pulmonaria officinalis] indicate its use for ulcerated lungs, spitting blood, shortness of breath and asthma equally with the lichen with the same name. Lobel & Pena (1570) call it 'PULMONARIA, masculosa folia Borrago. floribus Primula veris, purpureis [PULMONARIA spotted, Borage-leaved, flowers like Primula veris - Cowslips - purple]' and say that women mix the leaves with a little broth and make it into an omelette for lung disorders and to strengthen the heart.. Lobel (1576) calls it Maculosa Pulmonaria and describes a white flowered form with a good woodcut. Gerard (1633) uses the same woodcut as Lobel and calls it Pulmonatia foliis Echii, Buglosse Cowslips with red flowers, and a woodcut of a narrow leaved plant as Pulmonaria masculosa, Spotted Cowslips of Jerusalem with red, blue and purple flowers and says 'the leaves are used among pot-herbes. The roots are aso thought to be good against the infirmities of ulcers of the lungs...'. Quincy (1718) writes: '... it has a glutinous juice ... and heals ulcers and erosions. It is commended in coughs and spitting of blood but is little used either in the Shop or Prescriptions'. Not used in modern medicine. It is in the family Boraginaceae whose species are often rich in pyrrolizidine alkaloids that cause liver toxicity and liver cancers, but levels in Pulmonaria officinalis may not be significant. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Pulmonaria rubra L. Boraginaceae A red-flowered species, mentioned in 16th and 17th herbals, but with the same properties as officinalis. Distribution: Europe. Pulmonaria or Lungwort are names for a lichen and a perennial plant in the Boraginaceae. This is the latter. Lyte (1578) has a woodcut of our plant and also calls it Sage of Jerusalem and says it is of 'no particular use in physicke, but is much used in meates and salads with eggs, as is also Cowslippes and Primroses, whereunto in temperature it is much alike.' He lists and describes the lichen separately. Culpeper (1650) said he found many sorts of lunguewort in perusing Authors 'Pulmonari, arborea and Symphytum maculosum [and the latter is our plant, the others the lichen] and that they 'helpe infirmities of the lungues, as hoarseness, coughs, wheezing, shortnesse of breath etc.' Coles (1657) who espouses the Doctrine of Signatures in a way unrivalled by any other English author, might have been expected to confirm the concept that the mottled leaves looked like the cut surface of a lung which indicates their purpose, but he only mentions the lungwort which is a lichen. However, Porta's beautiful book on the Doctrine, Phytognomica (1588), is clear that the plant called pulmonaria with hairy leaves like a bugloss, spotted white with purple flowers, commonly called 'cynoglossa' [with a woodcut which could be Pulmonaria officinalis] indicate its use for ulcerated lungs, spitting blood, shortness of breath and asthma equally with the lichen with the same name. Lobel & Pena (1570) call it 'PULMONARIA, masculosa folia Borrago. floribus Primula veris, purpureis[ PULMONARIA spotted, Borage-leaved, flowers like Primula veris - Cowslips - purple] and say that women mix the leaves with a little broth and make it into an omelette for lung disorders and to strengthen the heart. Lobel (1576) calls it Maculosa Pulmonaria and describes a white flowered form, with a good woodcut. Gerard (1633) uses the same woodcut as Lobel and calls it Pulmonatia foliis Echii, Buglosse Cowslips with red flowers, and a woodcut of a narrow leaved plant as Pulmonaria masculosa, Spotted Cowslips of Jerusalem with red, blue and purple flowers and says 'the leaves are used among pot-herbes. The roots are aso thought to be good against the infirmities of ulcers of the lungs...'. Quincy (1718) writes: '... it has a glutinous juice ... and heals ulcers and erosions. It is commended in coughs and spitting of blood but is little used either in the Shop or Prescriptions. Not used in modern medicine. It is in the family Boraginaceae whose species are often rich in pyrrolizidine alkaloids that cause liver toxicity and liver cancers, but levels in Pulmonaria officinalis may not be significant. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • A woman doctor is taking the pulse of a male patient seated in an armchair. Wood engraving after G. Du Maurier, 1865.
  • The work of medical women in India / by Margaret I. Balfour ... and Ruth Young ... with a foreword by Dame Mary Scharlieb.
  • A doctor and colonel discussing the medical prognosis of the new (modern) woman. Wood engraving by G. Du Maurier, 1895.
  • A young lady reclining, being attended by a physician. Lithograph.
  • A black woman thanking a doctor for curing her husband. Reproduction of a drawing after G. Belcher, 1916(?).
  • A physician examining the urine of a pregnant girl. Oil painting attributed to a Netherlandish painter, 18th century.
  • A physician examining the urine of a pregnant girl. Oil painting attributed to a Netherlandish painter, 18th century.
  • A physician examining the urine of a pregnant girl. Oil painting attributed to a Netherlandish painter, 18th century.
  • A physician examining the urine of a pregnant girl. Oil painting attributed to a Netherlandish painter, 18th century.
  • A physician examining the urine of a pregnant girl. Oil painting attributed to a Netherlandish painter, 18th century.
  • A woman recovering from childbirth; a physician; and three people. Coloured engraving, 183-.
  • A physician talking to his patient's wife on his way out after visiting him. Pen drawing by J. Ulrich.
  • A gleeful physician closely examines the buttocks of a middle-aged lady. Colour process print after J-A. Faivre, 1902.
  • A doctor demonstrating electrotherapy on a young semi-nude woman in front of an audience of physicians (?), her mother or chaperone is seated at the front. Coloured pencil drawing by D. Urrabieta Ortiz y Vierge.
  • A doctor demonstrating electrotherapy on a young semi-nude woman in front of an audience of physicians (?), her mother or chaperone is seated at the front. Coloured pencil drawing by D. Urrabieta Ortiz y Vierge.
  • A physician holding up a flask of urine for an old lady holding a basket and walking stick. Woodcut by Jost Amman.
  • A doctor demonstrating electrotherapy on a young semi-naked woman in front of other doctors and a nurse, other female patients are waiting in the background. Process print of a wood engraving by G.D.I. after D. Urrabieta Ortiz y Vierge.
  • A physician taking the pulse of a young woman, while an old maid prepares gruel for her. Oil painting by Quirin Gerritsz. van Brekelenkam.
  • A doctor demonstrating electrotherapy on a young semi-naked woman in front of other doctors and a nurse, other female patients are waiting in the background. Process print of a wood engraving by G.D.I. after D. Urrabieta Ortiz y Vierge.
  • An attractive female doctor being approached by three burly men enquiring about nursing work. Wood engraving by G. Du Maurier, 1870.
  • Two female doctors discussing a patient. Reproduction of a drawing after G. King, 1907.