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  • Phrenological snuff-box. The lid bears different views of the skull (anterior and lateral) with the Gall-Spurzheim areas marked out into 27 organs, each numbered. The key to these numbers is on the bottom of the box.
  • Achillea millefolium L. Asteraceae. Yarrow or sneezewort, the latter because ground up it made a snuff to induce sneezing. Evergreen, herbaceous perennial. Distribution: Europe, Asia and North America. Dioscorides calls it Achilles’ woundwort, sideritis, writing that the ground-up foliage closes bleeding wounds, relieves inflammation and stops uterine bleeding. Gerard (1633) says that put up one’s nose it causes a nosebleed and so stops migraines. Named for the Greek warrior, Achilles, who used this plant for healing wounds – having been taught its properties by his teacher, Chiron the centaur. Millefolium because of the thousands of fronds that make up the leaf, and which, when applied to a bleeding wound, facilitate coagulation by platelets. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Plumbago auriculata Blume Plumbaginaceae Plumbago, Leadwort. Distribution: South Africa. It is used traditionally to treat warts, broken bones and wounds. It is taken as a snuff for headaches and as an emetic to dispel bad dreams. A stick of the plant is placed in the thatch of huts to ward off lightning.” Iwou (1993) reports other Plumbago species are used to cause skin blistering, treat leprosy, induce blistering, and to treat piles, parasites and to induce abortions. The genus name derives from the Latin for lead, but authors differ as to whether it was used as a treatment of lead poisoning, or that when it was used for eye conditions the skin turned the colour of lead. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • The Duke of Wellington as an old woman wearing a bonnet and carrying a candle stick and snuffer. Etching by William Heath, 1829.
  • Sir Robert Peel holds a candle-snuffer inscribed "Conservatism" about to extinguish a low candle inscribed "Whiggery". Coloured lithograph by H.B. (John Doyle), 1841.
  • Specimens of stone and volcanic matter found on Mount Vesuvius, including lava enclosed in marble. Coloured etching by Pietro Fabris, 1776.
  • A French physician. Engraving by M. Darly, 1771.
  • A French physician. Engraving by M. Darly, 1771.
  • A French physician. Engraving by M. Darly, 1771.
  • A tobacco plant (Nicotiana tabacum), its flowers and seeds, bordered by six scenes illustrating its use by man. Coloured lithograph, c. 1840.
  • The figure of a man with extra large head made up from cigars, pipes, tobacco leaves, etc. Coloured lithograph by T. Worth?, c. 1880.
  • Fourteen pipes and smoking accessories from various countries. Wood engraving, ca. 1882.
  • Two men wearing revolving top hats with several attachments for optical aids and tobacco etc. Coloured etching by R. Seymour, 1830.
  • Two men wearing revolving top hats with several attachments for optical aids and tobacco etc. Coloured etching by R. Seymour, 1830.
  • Two men wearing revolving top hats with several attachments for optical aids and tobacco etc. Coloured etching by R. Seymour, 1830.
  • A man vomits into a bowl as his companion lifts his wig and steadies the bowl. Coloured etching by T. Sandars, 1773, after J. Collier.
  • One man vomits into a bowl as his companion lifts his wig and steadies the bowl. Etching by T. Sandars, 1773, after J. Collier.
  • Thirty tobacco-pipes from various countries of the world. Wood engraving, c. 1873, after J. T. Balcomb.
  • Asarabacca (Asarum europaeum L.): flowering stem with separate floral segments and cross-sections of the stem and a description of the plant and its uses. Coloured line engraving by C.H.Hemerich, c.1759, after T. Sheldrake.
  • An elaborately dressed woman pampers a man in a vapour-bath. Coloured etching after G. de Cari.
  • An elaborately dressed woman pampers a man in a vapour-bath. Wood engraving after G. de Cari.
  • An elaborately dressed woman pampers a man in a vapour-bath. Coloured etching after G. de Cari.
  • An elaborately dressed woman pampers a man in a vapour-bath. Coloured etching after G. de Cari.
  • Boilly, The contrast
  • An audience at a cockfight. Etching by E. Riepenhausen after W. Hogarth.
  • Rome: a crowd of revellers in the Corso celebrate the end of carnival by snuffing out candles. Etching by B. Pinelli, 1830.
  • Eldridge. Line engraving after T. Hillyard.
  • Eldridge. Line engraving after T. Hillyard.
  • A man with gout seated at a table drinking with a parson and a woman. Coloured etching.
  • A man with gout seated at a table drinking with a parson and a woman. Coloured etching.