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  • Peasant women feeding a cow. Gouache on cloth, tipped onto silk over boards, Central Asia (?), 18--.
  • Three female hunters carrying dead animals and birds on poles on their shoulders. Gouache on cloth, tipped onto silk over boards, Central Asia (?), 18--.
  • A man from central Asia, carrying a sword and a shield. Gouache painting by an Indian artist.
  • Rhodiola rosea L. Crassulaceae Golden root, roseroot Distribution: Arctic, Eastern North America, mountains of central Asia. Herbalists regard it as having curative properties for diseases as diverse as cancer, influenza, depression and other conditions. It has not been licensed for use in manufactured herbal medicines in the UK. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Ornithogalum umbellatum L. Hyacinthaceae Star of Bethlehem, Grass lily. Distribution: Central Europe, SW Asia, NW Africa. All parts are poisonous, especially the bulbs. The toxin is a cardiac glycoside with effects similar to digoxin, vomiting, cardiac irregularities and death in humans and livestock. Only used for decoration by Native Americans (it is a non-native plant that has escaped into the wild from cultivation) and called Sleepydick (Moerman, 1998). One of its toxins is Convallotoxin, also present in Lily of the Valley, Convallaria majalis. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Galega officinalis L. Fabaceae. Goat's Rue. Distribution: Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor. Culpeper (1650) writes that it ‘... resists poison, kills worms, resists the falling sickness [epilepsy], resisteth the pestilence.’ Galega officinalis contains guanidine which reduces blood sugar by decreasing insulin resistance and inhibiting hepatic gluconeogenesis.. Metformin and Phenformin are drugs for type II diabetes that rely on this group of chemicals, known as biguanidines. Its name gala, meaning milk plus ega meaning 'to bring on', refers to its alleged property of increasing milk yield, and has been used in France to increase milk yield in cows. officinalis refers to its use in the offices of the monks, and is a common specific name for medicinal plants before 1600 and adopted by Linnaeus (1753). The fresh plant tastes of pea pods. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Salvia nemorosa L. Lamiaceae Woodland sage. Balkan clary Distribution: Central Europe, Western Asia. Most of the historical medicinal literature is on common sage, Salvia officinalis. The name Salvia meaning 'healthy'. Elizabeth Blackwell (1737) wrote that it had "... all the noble Properties of the other hot Plants more especially for the Head, Memory, Eyes, and all Paralytical Affections. In short, 'tis a Plant endu'd with so many and wonderful Properties, as that the assiduous use of it is said to render Men Immortal" with which Hans Sloane agreed. Linnaeus (1782) also: 'Timor, Languor, Leucorrhoea, Senectus [fear, tiredness, white vaginal discharge, old age]'. Its health giving and immortality conferring properties were recorded in the aphorisms of the School of Salerno (fl 9-13th century) - quoted in the Decameron [c.1350, translated: Why should man die when Salvia grows in the Garden']. Some salvias, such as Salvia divinorum contain hallucinogenic compounds. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • A Persian captive lying on the road chained by his neck to a post embedded in the road. Wood engraving.
  • A Tartar warrior mounted on an ox, behind him an encampment of tents (left), and a ploughed field (right) Engraving by Rennoldson, c.1760.
  • Tibet: Kamba Bombo warns Sven Hedin not to proceed further south towards Lhasa. Drawing by F.C. Dickinson, 1902, after Sven Hedin.
  • Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Blue Spire'
  • Peking, Pechili province, China: a camel with its owner. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.
  • Peking, Pechili province, China: a camel with its owner. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.
  • Peking, Pechili province, China: a camel with its owner. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.
  • Peking, Pechili province, China: a camel with its owner. Photograph by John Thomson, 1871.
  • Malus domestica 'Court Pendu Plat'
  • Canton, Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, China: two seated musicians. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.
  • Canton, Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, China: two seated musicians. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.
  • Shanghai, China: a woman wearing a velvet snood. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.
  • Shanghai, China: a woman wearing a velvet snood. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.
  • Map of health
  • Peking, Pechili province, China: a knife-grinder. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.
  • Peking, Pechili province, China: a knife-grinder. Photograph by John Thomson, 1869.
  • A man and woman read a list of advice regarding sexual health on a wall representing an AIDS prevention advertisement by Amref, Tanzania. Colour lithograph, ca. 1996.
  • A woman wearing a head scarf holds up a condom to a man who beckons her towards a bed; a safe-sex and AIDS prevention advertisement by Amref and Mutan, Tanzania. Colour lithograph, ca. 1995.
  • A woman and a man holding a bottle enter the 'Santa Guest House' as two men sitting at a table drinking look on; a safe-sex and AIDS prevention advertisement by Amref and Mutan, Tanzania. Colour lithograph, ca. 1996.
  • Geum rivale 'Leonards Variety'
  • Geum rivale 'Leonard's Variety'
  • The Plague Expedition to Anzob in Russian Turkestan. Photograph album by A.M. Levin, 1899.
  • The Plague Expedition to Anzob in Russian Turkestan. Photograph album by A.M. Levin, 1899.