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  • The red ribbon : symbol of AIDS awareness : wear a ribbon to show your commitment to the fight against AIDS : promoted in the UK by the World AIDS Day steering group / produced by the National AIDS Trust on behalf of the World AIDS Day steering group with the support of the Health Education Authority.
  • The red ribbon : symbol of AIDS awareness : wear a ribbon to show your commitment to the fight against AIDS : promoted in the UK by the World AIDS Day steering group / produced by the National AIDS Trust on behalf of the World AIDS Day steering group with the support of the Health Education Authority.
  • The red ribbon : symbol of AIDS awareness : wear a ribbon to show your commitment to the fight against AIDS : promoted in the UK by the World AIDS Day steering group / produced by the National AIDS Trust on behalf of the World AIDS Day steering group with the support of the Health Education Authority.
  • The red ribbon : symbol of AIDS awareness : wear a ribbon to show your commitment to the fight against AIDS : promoted in the UK by the World AIDS Day steering group / produced by the National AIDS Trust on behalf of the World AIDS Day steering group with the support of the Health Education Authority.
  • Fourteen human skeletons performing activities symbolic of life and death. Engraving, 1740 or 1780, after C. Martínez, ca. 1680 (?).
  • A perturbed young woman asleep with a devil sitting on her chest; symbolizing her nightmare. Stipple engraving by J.P. Simon, 1810.
  • A perturbed young woman asleep with a devil sitting on her chest; symbolizing her nightmare. Stipple engraving by J.P. Simon, 1810.
  • Basil Valentine contemplates a chemical jar containing homunculi of a man and woman holding hands, and a child emanating from them (alchemical symbol of conception); he is suddenly visited by Sabine Stuart de Chevalier, who reveals that she has the key to his works and crowns him as the king of alchemists. Etching by J. Le Roy, ca. 1781, after Hostoul after Sabine Stuart de Chevalier.
  • World War One: a large snake, symbolic of a gas attack, strikes at a sleeping soldier. Colour halftone after a crayon drawing by L. Raemaekers.
  • 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.
  • Pen-drawing of a tree, 1702
  • At a polling booth, reserve voters, consisting of disabled and sick men and others, proceed up the stairs to take oaths; in the background Britannia sits in a coach that has broken down while the coachman and footman play at cards. Engraving by William Hogarth and François Morellon de la Cave, 1758.
  • Three doves with a dovecote and church in the distance, all surrounded by bay tree branches entwined in an ornate border. Engraving by H. Terasson after F. Barlow.
  • Arithmologia sive de abditis numerorum mysterijs qua origo, antiquitas et fabrica numerorum exponitur; abditae eorundem proprietates demonstrantur; fontes superstitionum in amuletorum fabrica aperiuntur; denique post cabalistarum, Arabum, gnosticorum, aliorumque magicas impietates detectas, vera et licita numerorum mystica significatio ostenditur / [Athanasius Kircher].
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant (fennel) with seed-pods resembling the crest of a bird, and (below) a bird's head. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant with roots resembling a crayfish, and (below) a crayfish. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • Ikonographie der christlichen Kunst / [Karl Künstle].
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant (arum) with seed-pods resembling the horn of a unicorn, and (below) a unicorn's head. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • A Lohan (disciple of Buddha), seated on a rock, holding prayer beads. Woodcut in the manner of an ink stone rubbing, China, 18--?.
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant with spots resembling those of a fish, and (below) a fish. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant (hound's tongue) with leaves resembling the tongue of a dog, and (below) a dog's head. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • A Lohan (disciple of Buddha), seated on a rock beside an incense-burner (?), holding a tablet. Woodcut in the manner of an ink stone rubbing, China, 18--?.
  • A Lohan (disciple of Buddha), seated in a rocky alcove, his eyes closed in meditation (?). Woodcut in the manner of an ink stone rubbing, China, 18--?.
  • A Lohan (disciple of Buddha), seated on a rock, reading. Woodcut in the manner of an ink stone rubbing, China, 18--?.
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant with flowers resembling the human eye, and (below) a pair of eyes. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant (crowfoot) resembling the antlers of a stag, and (below) the head of a stag. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant with roots resembling the human hand, and (below) a hand. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant with seed-pods resembling the horns of a bull, and (below) a bull's head. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • Doctrine of signatures: (above) a plant with leaves resembling a butterfly, and (below) two butterflies. Coloured ink drawing by C. Etheridge, 1906, after G.B. Della Porta.
  • A Lohan (disciple of Buddha), seated on a rock holding a fan. Woodcut in the manner of an ink stone rubbing, China, 18--?.