Chemistry: vessels for heating with furnaces, including apparatus for bathing, making beer, making vinegar, etc. Engraving by A.J. Defehrt after L.J. Goussier.

A barber trimming a man's moustache in his bedchamber; in the left-hand background a man attends to various heated hair-dressing implements. Engraving.

Actors in a confrontational scene, in which the villain (Ichikawa Danjūrō VII) threatens a boy with a heated poker. Colour woodcut by Kunisada I, 1852.

A Japanese man heating his sword before using it to torture or kill a man tied to wooden staves. Colour process print after a woodcut (?).

An old gallant is hosed down by two interfering young men; thus preventing any over-heating of the old lecher's heart. Coloured lithograph by F.S. Bach.

The eyes of a man; expressing, according to Lavater, a character upon which "you can easily impose, unless his imagination be heated by his uncommon vivacity". Drawing, c. 1794.

Assam, India: a kala-azar out-patient centre: a small group of men, women and children sit beneath a grass-roofed shelter with some metal bowls (for heating water for sterilisation ?). Photograph, 1900/1920 (?).

A chemist and his assistant as "puffers" heating a substance in a retort; representing a theatre critic who "puffs" the actor Joseph Holman at the bidding of his editor. Etching attributed to T. Rowlandson, ca. 1786.

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.

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.

Yoga practice illustrated with thermography

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