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  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Sketches towards a Hortus botanicus americanus, or, Coloured plates (with a catalogue and concise and familiar descriptions of many species) of new and valuable plants of the West Indies and North and South America : Also of several others, natives of Africa and the East Indies; arranged after the Linnaean system.
  • Glaucium flavum Crantz Papaveraceae Yellow horned poppy. Distribution: North Africa, Western Asia to Europe. Contains glaucine which is toxic but in small doses may be bronchodilator. As Papaver corniculatum luteum it was known to Parkinson (1640) who reports it as bitter, so advises taking it in honey, as a purgative and analgesic
  • Euphorbia nicaeensis All. Euphorbiaceae. Distribution: North Africa, Southern Europe to Turkey. Root extracts have been shown to have cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory action in experimental situations. Euphorbia species all have toxic sap, and had many names in early literature, eg esula, about which Culpeper (1650) says that '(taken inwardly) are too violent for vulgar use
  • Islamic map of the world. The north is at the bottom, with the west to the right surrounded by unknown seas. The Indian Ocean, with the Red Sea, is on the left, with China, India and Iran in boxes to the right. The other sea shown is the Mediterranean next to which is a black square indicating Rome and a circle Constantinople. The Nile flows from the Mediterranean to the east and into the north then turn east and head towards a large circle indicating its source in Africa.
  • Reseda lutea L. Resedaceae Wild Mignonette. Dyers Rocket. Herbaceous plant. Distribution: Eurasia and North Africa. This plant, and in particular R. luteola, is the source of 'weld' a yellow dye from luteolin a flavonoid in the sap. It is said to have been used since the first millennium BC, but curiously Dioscorides, Lyte, Gerard, Lobel, Fuchs, Coles, Quincy, Linnaeus (1782) either do not mention it or make it synonymous with Eruca, Rocket, and make no reference to it as a dye source. The name Resedo means 'I sit up' in Latin, which Stearn (1994) interprets as 'I heal' which makes its absence even more strange. It is noted as the dye source by Bentley (1861). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Northern and central Africa: indigenous peoples, landscapes and animals. Lithograph.
  • A tent with a Bedouin family in Northern Africa. Photograph.
  • Cynara cardunculus L. Asteraceae. Cardoon, Globe Artichoke, Artechokes, Scolymos cinara, Cynara, Cinara. Distribution: Southern Europe and North Africa. Lyte (1576) writes that Dodoens (1552) could find no medical use for them and Galen (c.200 AD) said they were indigestible unless cooked. However, he relates that other authors recommend that if the flower heads are soaked in strong wine, they 'provoke urine and stir up lust in the body.' More prosaically, the roots boiled in wine and drunk it cause the urine to be 'stinking' and so cures smelly armpits. He adds that it strengthens the stomach so causing women to conceive Male children. He goes on to say that the young shoots boiled in broth also stir up lust in men and women, and more besides. Lyte (1576) was translating, I think with elaborations, from the chapter on Scolymos cinara, Artichaut, in Dodoen's Croydeboeck (1552) as L'Ecluse's French translation, Dodoens Histoire des Plantes (1575) does not mention these latter uses, but Dodoen's own Latin translation, the Pemptades (1583), and Gerard's Herbal (1633) both do so. It is useful in understanding the history of these translations to realise that Gerard uses, almost verbatim, the translation of the 'smelly armpit' paragraph from Lyte. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Cynara cardunculus L. Asteraceae. Cardoon, Globe Artichoke, Artechokes, Scolymos cinara, Cynara, Cinara. Distribution: Southern Europe and North Africa. Lyte (1576) writes that Dodoens (1552) could find no medical use for them and Galen (c.200 AD) said they were indigestible unless cooked. However he relates that other authors recommend that if the flower heads are soaked in strong wine, they 'provoke urine and stir up lust in the body.' More prosaically, the roots boiled in wine and drunk it cause the urine to be 'stinking' and so cures smelly armpits. He adds that it strengthens the stomach so causing women to conceive Male children. He goes on to say that the young shoots boiled in broth also stir up lust in men and women, and more besides. Lyte (1576) was translating, I think with elaborations, from the chapter on Scolymos cinara, Artichaut, in Dodoen's Croydeboeck (1552) as L'Ecluse's French translation (1575) does not mention these latter uses, but Dodoen's own Latin translation, the Pemptades(1583), and Gerard's (1633) both do so. It is useful in understanding the history of these translations to realise that Gerard uses, almost verbatim, the translation of the 'smelly armpit' paragraph from Lyte. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • South Africa: the circumcision dance of the Magwamba tribe, Northern Transvaal. Photograph by H.F. Gros, ca. 1888.
  • Map of Northern Africa; African people in a rococo frame on the upper right hand of the map. Coloured engraving, 1772.
  • 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.
  • Geography: the comparative heights of the highest mountains. Coloured engraving by J. Emslie.
  • A woman posing naked in a photographic studio, holding aloft a tambourine, standing in front of a painted backdrop. Photograph, c.1900.
  • A demoiselle (a small crane) next to a damselfly. Coloured etching.
  • A group of soldiers posing for an informal portrait. Photograph, 193-.
  • A group of soldiers posing for an informal portrait. Photograph, 193-.
  • Fourteen pipes and smoking accessories from various countries. Wood engraving, ca. 1882.
  • An Asian man holds up a condom as another hand reaches out to touch his hand. Colour lithograph.
  • An Asian man holds up a condom as another hand reaches out to touch his hand. Colour lithograph.
  • A man in drag poses wearing delicate attire; curled up on a piece of furniture. Photographic postcard, 191-.
  • A man in drag poses wearing delicate attire; curled up on a piece of furniture. Photographic postcard, 191-.
  • Anchusa azurea 'Loddon Royalist'