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  • Area of baldness on the head of a boy suffering from alopecia areata, with the diseased hand of a sufferer of lupus shown below. Chromolithograph by E. Burgess (?), 1850/1880?.
  • Area of baldness on the head of a boy suffering from alopecia areata, with the diseased hand of a sufferer of lupus shown below. Chromolithograph by E. Burgess (?), 1850/1880?.
  • Cistus incanus ssp creticus Juss. Cistaceae. Rock Rose. Distribution: Crete. Interesting symbiosis with fungus called Tuber melanosporum which increases nutrient absorption for the plant and inhibits growth of other plants in the vicinity. It is a source of the resin ‘labdanum’ (a.k.a. ‘ladanum’) used in perfumes (similar smell to ambergris), as is Cistus ladanifer. It has no medical uses now, and such use was dwindling even in the 18th century. In the 16th century (Henry Lyte’s 1575 translation of Rembert Dodoen’s Cruydeboeck of 1554) its uses were described (directly copied from Dioscorides’ Materia Medica (70AD)) as: ‘Ladanum dronketh with olde wine, stoppeth the laske [periods], and provoketh urine. It is very good against the hardness of the matrix or mother [uterus] layde to in the manner of a pessarie, and it draweth down the secondes or afterbirth, when it is layde upon quicke coles [hot coals], and the fumigation or parfume thereof be received up into the body of women. // The same applied to the head with Myrrhe and oyle of Myrrhe, cureth the scurffe, called Alopecia, and keepeth the heare [hair] from falling of [sic], but whereas it is already fallen away, it will not cause the heare to growe agayne. // ...' and goes on in this vein about its uses for pain in the ears, and removing sores and scars and other things. 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.
  • Edwards' "Harlene" for the hair : the great hair dressing : restores the hair... / [Edwards' Harlene Company].
  • Müllern Sie Ihr Haar! : aber nur mit Doktor Müller's Haarwuchs-Elixier : das garantiert sichere Mittel gegen Haarschwund, Haarausfall u. Kopfschuppen... keine Glatze mehr / Dr. Müller.
  • Buckingham's Dye for the whiskers ... : Hall's Vegetable Sicilian Hair Renewer will restore gray or faded hair to its original color as in youth ... / R.P. Hall & Co.
  • "Mama, shall I have beautiful long hair like you when I grow up?" : "Certainly my dear, if you use 'Edwards' Harlene'." / Edwards' Harlene Co.
  • "Mama, shall I have beautiful long hair like you when I grow up?" : "Certainly my dear, if you use 'Edwards' Harlene'." / Edwards' Harlene Co.
  • Buckingham's Dye for the whiskers ... : Hall's Vegetable Sicilian Hair Renewer will restore gray or faded hair to its original color as in youth ... / R.P. Hall & Co.
  • The "Hazeline" brand of the active principles distilled from the bark of witch hazel, hamamelis virginiana... / Burroughs Wellcome and Co.
  • The "Hazeline" brand of the active principles distilled from the bark of witch hazel, hamamelis virginiana... / Burroughs Wellcome and Co.
  • The "Hazeline" brand of the active principles distilled from the bark of witch hazel, hamamelis virginiana... / Burroughs Wellcome and Co.
  • The "Hazeline" brand of the active principles distilled from the bark of witch hazel, hamamelis virginiana... / Burroughs Wellcome and Co.
  • The "Hazeline" brand of the active principles distilled from the bark of witch hazel, hamamelis virginiana... / Burroughs Wellcome and Co.
  • Different treatment for different types of cases : you will find ample proof within... / Arthur J. Pye.
  • The Clifford hair restorer / sole proprietor and manufacturer: W.B. Mason ; sold by Taylors' Drug Co. Ltd.
  • Different treatment for different types of cases : you will find ample proof within... / Arthur J. Pye.
  • A hand with cracked and diseased fingernails; and the upper half of a face with severe hair loss (missing brows and lashes). Chromolithograph, c. 1888.
  • Hépatite C : gérer les effets indésirables des traitements. No.3, Les problèmes de peau et la chute des cheveux / SOS Hépatites Fédération.
  • Hépatite C : gérer les effets indésirables des traitements. No.3, Les problèmes de peau et la chute des cheveux / SOS Hépatites Fédération.
  • Hépatite C : gérer les effets indésirables des traitements. No.3, Les problèmes de peau et la chute des cheveux / SOS Hépatites Fédération.
  • Hépatite C : gérer les effets indésirables des traitements. No.3, Les problèmes de peau et la chute des cheveux / SOS Hépatites Fédération.
  • [Newspaper cutting (1848?) noting the exhibition of Joachim Eleizegui, The Spanish Giant, at the Cosmorama Rooms, Regent Street, London. There are others about the Royal Polytechnic Institution, Regent Street, Grimstone's Aromatic Regenerator (hair restorer) and J. D. Carr and Co.'s nutritious and health giving biscuits].
  • Laurus nobilis (Bay laurel)