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  • Frontispiece to Guerison de la paralysie, par l'electricite.
  • Frontispiece to Guerison de la paralysie, par l'electricite.
  • Aconitum carmichaelii Debeaux. Ranunculaceae. Chinese aconite, Chinese wolfsbane, Carmichael's monkshood. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution C. to W. China to N. America. Named for Dr J.R. Carmichael (d. 1877), English physician, plant collector and Protestant missionary from 1862-1877 in Guangdong and Shandong, China initially in Canton. He aided Francis Forbes to collect plants for Kew. Aconitum plants are so poisonous that Theophrastus states that death was the punishment for possessing them. Aconitine is the poison and was used - from Aconitum ferox - in the 'curry murder' in London in 2009. It causes respiratory paralysis, bradycardia (slowing of the pulse), cardiac arrhythmias, tingling, sweating, gastric cramps, diarrhoea and death, both by ingestion and by absorption through the mucous membranes and the skin. Despite this it is widely used in Chinese herbal medicine. It is a restricted herbal medicine which can only be dispensed by a herbal practitioner for external use following a one-to-one consultation, or by prescription from a registered doctor or dentist (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.
  • Strategies, objectives, definitions and steps for AFP surveillance for polio eradication in Kenya. Colour lithograph by Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, ca. 2000.
  • Michel Cullerier. Lithograph by Ducarme after H. Garnier, 1823.
  • A paralyzed woman being transported along the street in a wheelchair. Lithograph by Théodore Gericault, 1821.
  • Selections from the clinical works of Dr. Duchenne (de Boulogne) / translated, edited, and condensed by G.V. Poore.
  • Wolfgang Gschaidtter, a carpenter at Innsbruck, paralyzed for fifteen years, with deformed feet and hands. Line engraving by A. Spängler, 1620.
  • Christ healing a man with the palsy. Engraving by W. de Broen after B. Picart.
  • Jacques Boyol, inventeur d'une machine, servant à guérir ou à soulager les maux qui n'ont pû l'être, ni par les remèdes ni par les eaux minérales : à ses concitoyens.
  • Darlow & Co.'s new patent (1874) Ferro Magnetine.
  • Darlow & Co.'s new patent (1874) Ferro Magnetine.
  • Elizabeth Hardcastle, a patient at the West Riding Lunatic Asylum, Wakefield, Yorkshire. Photograph attributed to James Crichton-Browne, 1872.
  • Elizabeth Hardcastle, a patient at the West Riding Lunatic Asylum, Wakefield, Yorkshire. Photograph attributed to James Crichton-Browne, 1872.
  • Two lame men come to Christ and the apostles. Engraving by A. de Bruyn after P. van der Borcht.
  • Christ cures the paralytic, who rises from his pallet. Etching by school of J. Callot (?).
  • The paralytic is lowered down in his bed from the roof in order that Jesus can cure him. Woodcut.
  • The paralytic is brought on a stretcher to Christ. Engraving by P. Lightfoot after J.B. Jouvenet.
  • The paralytic is brought on a stretcher to Christ. Engraving by Clark and Pine, ca. 1719.
  • A crowd of sick people congregates around Christ. Etching by J-L. Delignon after N.A. Monsiaux.
  • Crowds gather as Christ heals sick people. Engraving by T. Phillibrown after B. West.
  • Mademoiselle Hardouin, a woman who is paralysed in both legs and has to be transported everywhere. Engraving.
  • Mrs John Webb, being nursed when sick in bed with "a dead palsey, and ... convulsion in the nerves", before being cured by Sir William Read. Engraving by M. Burghers, ca. 1700.
  • Christ heals a lame man. Engraving.
  • Christ healing a group of sick people. Engraving by A. Schaufele, 1851, after J. Grünenwald.
  • The interior of the thermal baths, Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. Coloured aquatint by H. L'Evêque, 1814.
  • The paralytic is lowered through the roof of a crowded house so that Christ can reach him and cure him. Engraving by J. Newton, 1795 (?), after C.R. Ryley.
  • A paralysed man is lowered down through the roof so Christ can reach him through the crowds. Wood engraving by A. Gaber.
  • Children with orthopedic disorders. Twenty six pen drawings.