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  • "Cruelty free" weekend : booking form 1992 / RSPCA.
  • This is Billy : his owner stuffed him into a plastic bag and threw him out with the rubbish / RSPCA.
  • Leave your pets in safe hands! : some simple steps to make sure your pets will get the care they need while you're away / RSPCA.
  • When your pet dies : some tips to help you to cope / RSPCA.
  • Please make your rubbish animal-friendly / RSPCA.
  • This is Billy : his owner stuffed him into a plastic bag and threw him out with the rubbish / RSPCA.
  • Myrtus communis L. Myrtaceae Myrtle Distribution: Europe. Dioscorides (Beck, 2005) recommends the fruit for treating haemoptysis (‘spitting blood’) and cystitis, and, if boiled, he said it made a fine wine. In various forms it was used as a hair dye, for sore eyes, anal and uterine prolapse, dandruff and shingles, all sorts of inflammations, scorpion bites and even sweaty armpits. Our plant has white berries, but he regarded those with black berries (they become black later in the season) as being more effective. Lyte (1576) adds that the juice of the berries kept the hair black and stopped it falling out, and prevented intoxication. He notes that it only flowered in hot summers in England, but it is reliable in flower now, either due to global warming or selection of suitable clones. According to Lyte, it is named after Merlyne, a fair maiden of Athens in ancient Greece, who judged the athletic games. Slain by a disgruntled competitor, the goddess Minerva brought her back as the myrtle tree in perpetual memory. The myrtle tree is also an ancient Jewish symbol for peace and justice. Myrtle wine is still made in Tuscany and now even in China. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • The "cruelty free" weekend : programme of events : Saturday 7 November & Sunday 8 November 1992, Regent's College, Regent's Park, London NW1 : all proceeds to the RSPCA / RSPCA, Tesco.
  • The "cruelty free" weekend : programme of events : Saturday 7 November & Sunday 8 November 1992, Regent's College, Regent's Park, London NW1 : all proceeds to the RSPCA / RSPCA, Tesco.
  • Free range pork : nature's choice / Tesco.
  • Freedom food : RSPCA monitored : RSPCA assurance of farm animal welfare / Tesco.
  • Free range pork : nature's choice / Tesco.
  • Freedom food : RSPCA monitored : RSPCA assurance of farm animal welfare / Tesco.
  • Free range pork : nature's choice / Tesco.
  • Prizes for improved vermin traps : First, £50, second, £25 / John Colam.
  • Prizes for improved vermin traps : First, £50, second, £25 / John Colam.
  • 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.
  • Australian evidence on the effect of castration with the (trade mark) "Burdizzo" pincers upon growth of stock : the greatest value is in the condition that stock put on after the operation.
  • Australian evidence on the effect of castration with the (trade mark) "Burdizzo" pincers upon growth of stock : the greatest value is in the condition that stock put on after the operation.
  • A report on the first year / COPUS.
  • A report on the first year / COPUS.
  • The head of a cat with green eyes wide open above a road. Colour lithograph after L. Cusden.
  • A handprint with a bleeding cut in the heel, representing the danger of septicaemia. Colour lithograph after L. Cusden.
  • A workman lifting a metal bar and placing strain on his body. Colour lithograph.
  • A lathe in use. Colour lithograph after L. Cusden.
  • A man wearing a patch over his left eye, as a result of not wearing protective goggles. Colour lithograph after L. Cusden.
  • A woman standing at the wet roadside holding an umbrella against the rain. Colour lithograph after L. Cusden.
  • The face of a man wearing goggles, his right goggle cracked. Colour lithograph after L. Cusden.
  • An adjustable spanner placed on a girder from which it could fall. Colour lithograph after Blake.
  • A lathe in use. Colour lithograph after L. Cusden.