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  • A sheet of standard weights and measures in use during the twelfth year of the reign of Henry VII. Engraving, 1746, probably by I. Basire, after a manuscript of c.1497.
  • An old man with a wooden leg, probably a former soldier, marches with a shouldered broomstick to the drum beaten by a child behind him. Lithograph by T. Farlow after R. Farrier.
  • Proportions of the human body: annotated illustrations of the human body, with proportions marked, comparing the lengths of the arm and leg. Pen and ink, probably copied from a printed book, 1830/1850.
  • He's not mentioned condoms. He's gotta be positive like me : No condom, so he's probably negative too : Don't assume you're both thinking the same thing / Terrence Higgins Trust.
  • He's not mentioned condoms. He's gotta be positive like me : No condom, so he's probably negative too : Don't assume you're both thinking the same thing / Terrence Higgins Trust.
  • A doctor telling one of his jovial patients that he would probably make jokes on his death bed, the patient retorts he would - being his last chance. Wood engraving by P. May, 1901.
  • No point in using condoms. All the lads here are positive : He's probably negative. He's not put on a condom : Don't assume you're both thinking the same thing / Terrence Higgins Trust.
  • No point in using condoms. All the lads here are positive : He's probably negative. He's not put on a condom : Don't assume you're both thinking the same thing / Terrence Higgins Trust.
  • Detail of a frieze decorating a Greek red-figured vessel (probably a vase) representing a group of richly dressed young women and a seated woman holding a sceptre (Athena ?). Watercolour by A. Dahlsteen, 176- (?).
  • A king presiding over a massacre of infants; soldiers pour the blood of the infants into a boiling vat; probably representing the stage of 'putrefaction' in the alchemical process. Coloured etching after etching, ca. 17th century.
  • [Undated engraving of "I Gemelli Siamesi" (probably Chang and Eng Bunker), siamese twins, joined at the breast bone, playing badminton before a very serious looking audience. It is numbered Fig. 44 and Tav[ola] 13. Possibly 1840-1860].
  • Above, red-figured Greek wine-jug (oinochoe); below, detail of the decoration showing a woman holding a torch (most probably Demeter on her quest to find her daughter Persephone) and a satyr. Watercolour by A. Dahlsteen, 176- (?).
  • Practical observations on the diseases of the Army in Jamaica, as they occurred between the years 1792 and 1797; on the situation, climate, and diseases of that island; and on the most probable means of lessening mortality among the troops, and among Europeans in tropical climates / By William Lempriere.
  • Practical observations on the diseases of the Army in Jamaica, as they occurred between the years 1792 and 1797; on the situation, climate, and diseases of that island; and on the most probable means of lessening mortality among the troops, and among Europeans in tropical climates / By William Lempriere.
  • Practical observations on the diseases of the Army in Jamaica, as they occurred between the years 1792 and 1797; on the situation, climate, and diseases of that island; and on the most probable means of lessening mortality among the troops, and among Europeans in tropical climates / By William Lempriere.
  • Astrantia maxima Pall. Apiaceae. Large masterwort. The botanical name Astrantia is a corruption of the old apothecaries’ name for this plant, Magistrantia “masterwort”, implying its suitability for use only by adepts in herbalism. Probably mildly poisonous. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • 4 Pewter medicine spoons or measures. Medicine spoon or measure, probably pewter, with bowl at either end. Medicine spoon or child's feeding spoon, plated. Hallmark castle in shiled; EP; Co. P; S. Medicine spoon or measure, plted. Hall-mark: Maws's trademark; A; 16 in shield. Veterinary feeding spoon. Hallmark: ETM; fleur-de-lys; C in oval, NS.
  • European priest carrying a book and holding a rosary. At the top of the page is written Faranswa-e Pariz (Francois, the Parisian). Under the minature is writen Hakim Murtaza Husayn, probably the priests Persian name. The front of a double-sided qit'a, a piece or selection or fragment of poetry or prose mounted and given as gifts or used as wall decorations
  • Smilacina racemosa Desf. syn. Maianthemum racemosum (L.)Link Convallariaceae. False Spikenard, False Solomon's Seal, Scurvy berries, Treacle berries. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution: North America. Probably introduced to England by John Tradescant the Younger in 1656 as it appears in his garden plant catalogue in Musaeum Tradescantianum in 1656. Austin (2004) reports on Native American traditional usage: a cold infusion of the roots was used for sore eyes (Cherokee)
  • Teucrium scorodonia 'Crispum Marginatum' L. Lamiaceae Distribution: Europe Teucrium is named after king Teucer (who lived in the era between 1400 and 1000 BC) the first King of Troy. Dioscorides named a medicinal herb after Teucer, and Linnaeus consolidated this in 1753. Probably the Scordium or Water Germander. It was given very similar properties. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Dactylorhiza aff fuchsii Druce ex Soo Orchidaceae Common Spotted orchid. Distribution: Ireland to Mongolia. Roots look like a hand. Coles (1657) calls them Palma Christi sive [or] Satyrion (to distinguish it from Ricinus communis which he calls Palma Christi sive Ricinus. This plant is probably his Female Satyrion and another Dactylorhiza, probably one of the English Marsh orchids, is his Male Satyrion Royal, with purple flowers. In common with Orchis he writes 'The full and plump roots of the Satyrium or Orchis, whereof the Electuary Diasatyrium is made, are of mighty efficacy to provoke to venery, which they that have bulbous roots [meaning the testicle shaped roots of Orchis] do by Signature.'. Terrestrial orchids continue, to be harvested by the millions annually in the Middle East for the production of Salep, including Salep ice cream, because of their mythological aphrodisiacal property. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Leaflet advertising Bromo paper toilet tissue manufactured by Diamond Mills Paper Company of 44 Murray Street, New York, probably about 1878 or early 1880s. The paper contained the "disinfectants and curatives" Bromo chloralum and carbolic acid "as to render its use not only a positive preventive of that most distressing and almost universal complaint, the Piles, but also a thorough deodorizer and disinfectant of the water closet." The paper had a watermark "Bromo" in every sheet.
  • Loimologia: or, An historical account of the plague in London in 1665: : with precautionary directions against the like contagion. / By Nath. Hodges, M. D. and Fellow of the College of Physicians, who resided in the city all that time. To which is added, An essay on the different causes of pestilential diseases, and how they become contagious: with remarks on the infection now in France, and the most probable means to prevent its spreading here. By John Quincy, M. D.
  • Iris graminea L. Iridaceae Grass-leaved flag. Flower de Luce. Distribution: Central and Southern Europe. This is probably the Iris bulbosa minor sive angustifolia [the lesser bulbed or narrow-leaved Iris], Lesser bulbed Flower de luce of Parkinson (1640). He advised that the properties of all Flag Irises were more or less the same, but says there is no agreement about the properties of the bulbous kinds (such as this plant). Of the Flag Irises, Culpeper (1650) writes that the roots 'resist poison, help shortness of the breath, prove the terms [menstruation]
  • Origanum dictamnus L. Lamiaceae Dittany of Crete, Hop marjoram. Distribution: Crete. Culpeper (1650) writes: ‘... hastens travail [labour] in women, provokes the Terms [menstruation] . See the Leaves.’ Under 'Leaves' he writes: ‘Dictamny, or Dittany of Creet, ... brings away dead children, hastens womens travail, brings away the afterbirth, the very smell of it drives away venomous beasts, so deadly an enemy is it to poison, it’s an admirable remedy against wounds and Gunshot, wounds made with poisoned weapons, draws out splinters, broken bones etc. They say the goats and deers in Creet, being wounded with arrows, eat this herb, which makes the arrows fall out of themselves.' Dioscorides’ Materia Medica (c. 100 AD, trans. Beck, 2005), Pliny the Elder’s Natural History and Theophrastus’s Enquiry into Plants all have this information, as does Vergil’s Aeneid where he recounts how Venus produced it when her son, Aeneas, had received a deadly wound from an arrow, which fell out on its own when the wound was washed with it (Jashemski, 1999). Dioscorides attributes the same property to ‘Tragium’ or ‘Tragion’ which is probably Hypericum hircinum (a St. John’s Wort): ‘Tragium grows in Crete only ... the leaves and the seed and the tear, being laid on with wine doe draw out arrow heads and splinteres and all things fastened within ... They say also that ye wild goats having been shot, and then feeding upon this herb doe cast out ye arrows.’ . It has hairy leaves, in common with many 'vulnaries', and its alleged ability to heal probably has its origin in the ability of platelets to coagulate more easily on the hairs (in the same way that cotton wool is applied to a shaving cut to hasten clotting). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Succisia pratensis Greene Asteraceae. Devil’s Bit Scabious, Blue Buttons. Distribution: Europe, W Asia, Africa. Culpeper (1650), under ‘Herbs’ he writes: ‘Succisa, Morsus diobolo, Devil’s Bit. Inwardly taken it easeth the fits of the mother [probably uterine spasm or pain], and breaks wind, taketh away the swellings in the mouth, and slimy phlegm that sticks to the jaws, neither is there a more present remedy in the world, for those cold swellings of the neck, which the vulgar call the Almonds [lymph nodes] of the neck than this herb bruised and applied to them. Folk lore attribute it as a cure-all which was so successful that the Devil bit off the bottom of the roots when he saw it growing down into Hades. However, the roots show no sign of such damage to support the myth. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Silphium perfoliatum L. Asteraceae Indian Cup. Distribution: North America. Austin (2004) records that another species, S. compositum, was used by Native Americans to produce a chewing gum from the dried sap of the roots, and Native American medicinal uses for 'Indian Cup' are probably referrable to S. compositum and not S. perfoliatum. Silphium perfoliatum contains enzymes that inhibit trypsin and chymotrypsin which gives it resistance to fungal, bacterial and insect attacks. Male gall wasps (Antisotrophus rufus) alter the chemistry of the plant to enable them to locate females, making it a 'signpost' plant. The gall wasp lays its eggs in the stem of Silphium laciniatum, to provide food for the larva on emergence, and the galls containing a male or a female wasp will cause the plant to give off a different chemical odour. Emerging male wasps can search for female wasps, which emerge later, by locating this chemical fragrance which acts as a sex pheromone proxy (Tooker et al Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Nov 26
  • Euphorbia milii Des Moul. Euphorbiaceae. Crown of Thorns - so called because of its very spiny stems. Distribution: Madagascar. The latex contains a copper-containing amine oxidase, a lectin, lipase, peroxidase, and a diamine oxidase. In vitro the latex is synergistic with ketoconazole against Candida albicans (thrush). All Euphorbia have a toxic white latex, and in Europe this has been used as a folk remedy to treat warts. It can cause skin allergies and the smoke from burning them is toxic. the genus named for Euphorbus (fl. circa 10 BC – 20 AD), the Greek physician to the Berber King Juba II (c. 50 BC – 23 AD) of Numidia, Euphorbia milii is one of the tropical spurges, with fierce, cactus-like spines, grown as a house plant. The sap of spurges is used in folk medicine for treating warts (not very effective), and, historically, as a purgative - the word spurge being derived from the French word for purgation. The sap (probably dried) was administered inside a fig because it is so corrosive that it would otherwise burn the mouth and oesophagus – a technique used today, rather more subtly, with ‘enteric coated’ medications. The sap contains a potential anti-leukaemic chemical, lasiodoplin, and is also used in drainage ditches to kill the snails which carry the parasitic trematode which causes fasciolaris. It does not kill the fish. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Asphodeline lutea Rchb. Yellow asphodel, King's spear, Hastula regia. Hardy rhizomatous perennial. Distribution Mediterranean and Caucasus. It is the flower of the dead, as Homer writes that it carpets an area in the gloomy darkness of the underworld (Hades), in Greek mythology where the souls of the dead are found. However this may be a misinterpretation of the Greek where 'Asphodel' has been read instead of 'ash-filled'. In the etymology of flower names, it is suggested that the yellow 'daffodil' is a corruption of French or Flemish 'de asphodel' (both ex Steve Reece, 2007). An Aristotelian epigram, refers to it growing on tombs: 'On my back I hold mallow and many-rooted asphodel ...' The asphodel was sacred to Persephone, goddess of the underworld, who was seized and wed by Hades, god of the underworld, and taken to his kingdom. Her disappearance brings the winter, and her reappearance each year, the spring. The only reliable source of information about its early medical uses is, probably, Dioscorides although the plant in his De Materia Medica may be A. ramosus or A. albus. He gives its properties as diuretic, induces menses, good for coughs and convulsions, an antidote to snake bite, applied as a poultice for sores of all sorts, and in compounds for eye, ear and tooth pains, and to cure alopecia and vitiligo, but induces diarrhoea and vomiting and is an anti-aphrodisiac. Fuchs (1542), as Ruel’s commentaries (1543) note, makes a big mistake as he has Lilium martagon as his concept of A. luteus. Ruel only illustrates its leaves and roots, calling it Hastula regia (Latin for King’s spear) but Matthiolus's Commentaries (1569 edition) has a reasonable woodcut also as Hastula regia (1569). Dodoen's Cruydeboeck (1556) does not mention or illustrate Asphodelus luteus. L'Escluse's French translation Histoire des Plantes (1557) follows the Cruydeboeck. Dodoen's Latin translation Stirpium Historia Pemptades Sex (1583) adds A. luteus with text and woodcut, with no uses. Henry Lyte's (1578) translation illustrates Asphodelus luteus as Asphodeli tertia species and 'Yellow affodyl' (vide etymology of 'daffodil') and also does not describe any uses for it. Gerard's translation The Herbal (1597 and 1633) continues the muddle and does not give any uses for this plant. Parkinson's comments (1640) on the lack of medicinal properties of asphodels, refer to quite different plants coming from wet areas in Lancashire, Scotland and Norway . He calls them pseudoasphodelus major and minor which he writes are called Asphodelus luteus palustris by Dodoens, and not 'King's Spear' which he illustrates with a good woodcut of A. luteus and calls it Asphodelus luteus minor. Once herbals started to be written in northern Europe, the knowledge of the arid loving, Asphodelus luteus of south east Europe was lost. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ars magna sciendi, in XII libros digesta, qua nova et universali methodo per artificiosum combinationum contextum de omni re proposita plurimis et prope infinitis rationibus disputari, omniumque summaria quedam cognitio comparari potest. Ad qugustissimum Rom. imperatorem Leopoldum primum, justum, pium, felicem / [Athanasius Kircher].