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62 results
  • Newmarket embrocation, or White oils : recommended for allaying swellings, inflammation, sprains, bruises, stiff joints, &c., &c. ... / Alfred Parker.
  • Dr. Fenner's Golden Relief : this remedy cures all pain, as toothache, neuralgia, rheumatism, backache, cures fresh cuts and bruises, cures diarrhoea, summer complaints, dysentery... / M.M. Fenner.
  • Dr. Fenner's Golden Relief : this remedy cures all pain, as toothache, neuralgia, rheumatism, backache, cures fresh cuts and bruises, cures diarrhoea, summer complaints, dysentery... / M.M. Fenner.
  • A malt bruiser, a kind of hand turned mangle. Wood-engraving, 19th century.
  • Fowke & Aston's black oils are invaluable amongst horses and cattle, in all cases of bruises occasioned by the saddle, swellings, fistula, ulcer, sore shoulders : also to sheep when bitten by dogs, and ewes when bruised in lambing : or when applied in time to any serious wound, will prevent gangrene / prepared only by Fowke & Aston, chemists, Stafford.
  • Dead Python with subcutaneous bruising
  • Laverack's embrocation : for horses and cattle : one of the best applications for general use in the stable and farmyard : for splints, curbs, sprains, sprung sinews, lameness, bruises, sore throat, influenza, wedged ures, &c., &c. : may be used with great advantage by human beings / Laverack and Sons.
  • Laverack's embrocation : for horses and cattle : one of the best applications for general use in the stable and farmyard : for splints, curbs, sprains, sprung sinews, lameness, bruises, sore throat, influenza, wedged ures, &c., &c. : may be used with great advantage by human beings / Laverack and Sons.
  • Dead Python with severe bruising of heart
  • Baker's Purified Driffield Oils : for preventing gangrene, or mortification after lambing or calving and for wounds in horses, cattle, calves, sheep and lambs, such as tumours, hard swellings, sprains, strains, broken knees, sore shoulders, saddle crushes, cracked heels, kicks, cuts, bruises, sore teats, fly galls and sore heads in sheep, and external inflammation of all kinds / Baker & Son (Geo. F. Bevis).
  • Polygonum bistorta L. Polygonaceae Bistort, snakeweed, Easter Ledges. Distribution: Europe, N & W Asia. Culpeper: “... taken inwardly resist pestilence and poison, helps ruptures, and bruises, stays fluxes, vomiting and immoderate flowing of the terms in women, helps inflammations and soreness of the mouth, and fastens loose teeth, being bruised and boiled in white wine and the mouth washed with it.” In modern herbal medicine it is still used for a similar wide variety of internal conditions, but it can also be cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The use to relieve toothache, applied as a paste to the affected tooth, seems to have been widespread. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Bergenia ciliata (Haw.)Sternb. Saxifraginaceae. Elephant's ears. Named for Karl August von Bergen (1704-1759), physician and botanist, professor at Viadrina University, Frankfurt. Has hairy leaves, hence ciliata. Distribution: E. Afghanistan, Himalayas, Assam. Used for fevers, diarrhoea, bruises and boils, coughs, renal stones, diabetes, heart disease, haemorrhoids, stomach disorders (Harish et al www.ijabpt.com). It was described in the 1820s so there is no early literature. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Primula veris L. Primulaceae. Cowslip, Herba paralysis Distribution: W. Asia, Europe. Fuchs ((1542) quotes Dioscorides Pliny and Galen, with numerous uses, from bruises, toothache, as a hair dye, for oedema, inflamed eye, and mixed with honey, wine or vinegar for ulcer and wounds, for scorpion bites, and pain in the sides and chest, and more. Lobel (1576) calls them Primula veriflorae, Phlomides, Primula veris, Verbascula. Like other herbals of the 16th and 17th century, the woodcuts leave one in no doubt that Primula veris was being written about. However, other translators of Dioscorides (Gunther, 1959 with Goodyear's 1655 translation
  • Prunella vulgaris L. Lamiaceae Self Heal, Carpenter’s Herb, Sicklewort, Consolida minor. Distribution: Europe. Culpeper (1650): ‘See Bugle. So shall I not need to write the same thing twice, the vertues being the same.’ Under Bugle he writes: ‘Bugula. Bugle or middle Comfrey ... excellent for falls or inward bruises, for it dissolves congealed blood, profitable for inward wounds, helps the rickets and other stoppings of the Liver, outwardly it is of wonderful force in curing wounds and ulcers, though festered, as also gangrenes and fistulas, it helps broken bones and dislocations. To conclude, let my countrymen esteem it as a Jewel...’ Bugle is Ajuga reptans which has the same creeping habit, but is in another genus. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Primula veris L. Primulaceae Cowslip, Herba paralysis Distribution: W. Asia, Europe. Fuchs ((1542) quotes Dioscorides Pliny and Galen, with numerous uses, from bruises, toothache, as a hair dye, for oedema, inflamed eye, and mixed with honey, wine or vinegar for ulcer and wounds, for scorpion bites, and pain in the sides and chest, and more. Lobel (1576) calls them Primula veriflorae, Phlomides, Primula veris, Verbascula. Lyte (1578) calls them Cowslippe, Petie mulleyn, Verbasculum odoratum, Primula veris, Herbae paralysis and Artheticae. Along with cowslips and oxeslips, he says they are 'used dayly among other pot herbes, but in Physicke there is no great account of them. They are good for the head and synewes ...'. Like other herbals of the 16th and 17th century, the woodcuts leave one in no doubt that Primula veris was being written about. However, other translators of Dioscorides (Gunther, 1959 with Goodyear's 1655 translation
  • Vicia faba L. Fabaceae. Broad beans, Fava bean. Distribution: N. Africa, SW Asia. Culpeper (1650) writes: 'Fabarum. Of Beans. Of Bean Cods (or Pods as we in Sussex call them) being burned, the ashes are a sovereign remedy for aches in the joints, old bruises, gout and sciaticaes.’ The beans are perfectly edible for the majority, but 1% of Caucasians, predominantly among Greeks, Italians and people from the Eastern Mediterranean regions, have a genetic trait in that they lack the ability to produce the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. As a consequence, eating broad beans or even inhaling the pollen, causes a severe haemolytic anaemia a few days later. This condition is known as favism. The whole plant, including the beans, contains levodopa, a precursor of dopamine, and some patients with Parkinsonism report symptomatic improvement after commencing on a diet that contains these beans regularly. A case of neuroleptic malignant-like syndrome (fever, rigidity, autonomic instability, altered consciousness, elevated creatine phosphokinase levels) consequent on abrupt discontinuation of a diet containing plenty of broad beans, has been described in a patient with Parkinsonism. This is usually seen when patients abruptly discontinue L-dopa therapy. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Succisia pratensis Greene Asteraceae. Devil’s Bit Scabious, Blue Buttons. Distribution: Europe, W Asia, Africa. Culpeper (1650), under ‘Herbs’ he writes: ‘Succisa, Morsus diobolo, Devil’s Bit. Inwardly taken it easeth the fits of the mother [probably uterine spasm or pain], and breaks wind, taketh away the swellings in the mouth, and slimy phlegm that sticks to the jaws, neither is there a more present remedy in the world, for those cold swellings of the neck, which the vulgar call the Almonds [lymph nodes] of the neck than this herb bruised and applied to them. Folk lore attribute it as a cure-all which was so successful that the Devil bit off the bottom of the roots when he saw it growing down into Hades. However, the roots show no sign of such damage to support the myth. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Arctium lappa L. Asteraceae. Greater Burdock. Distribution: Europe to India and Japan. Dioscorides (Beck, 2003) writes: '... helps those who spit blood and who suffer from abscesses ... plastered on it stems the pains around the joints that stem from twistings. The Leaves are applied beneficially on old ulcers.' Culpeper (1650) writes: ‘Burdanae, etc. Of Bur, Clot-Bur or Burdock, ... helps such as spit blood and matter, bruised and mixed salt and applied to the place, helpeth the bitings of mad dogs. It expels wind, easeth pains of the teeth, strengthens the back, helps the running of the reins, and the whites in women, being taken inwardly.’ The roots contain inulin, which is made into a non-digestible sweetener for diabetics. It has a multitude of uses in herbal medicine, in particular it is a component of a compound called ‘essiac’ that has been widely used as a treatment of cancers in the USA, but which is of no proven benefit. The young roots can be eaten raw or cooked. The seeds are hairy and care should be taken when harvesting them as inhaled they are reported as ‘toxic’. The root is licensed for use in Traditional Herbal Medicines in the UK (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Arnica Montana (Arnica)
  • Hamamelis virginiana (Witch hazel)
  • Christ trampling the head of the serpent; Moses lifting up the serpent on a cross-shaped pole (Num. 21.8-9). Etching by P. Rothwell.
  • Hyssop (Hyssop officinalis L.): flowering stem with separate leaves and floral segments and a description of the plant and its uses. Coloured line engraving by C.H. Hemerich, c.1759, after T. Sheldrake.
  • Calvert's Carbolic Ointment : preserve your teeth by using Calvert's Carbolic Tooth Powder.
  • Calvert's Carbolic Ointment : Calvert's Carbolic Tooth Powder.
  • Calvert's Carbolic Ointment : Calvert's Carbolic Tooth Powder.
  • Calvert's Carbolic Ointment : preserve your teeth by using Calvert's Carbolic Tooth Powder.
  • Solomon's seal (Polygonatum odoratum (Mill.) Druce): entire flowering plant. Coloured etching by M. Bouchard, 1772.
  • Royal Baths : shampooing, Turkish medicated, vapour, sulphur, barege, tepid & shower baths : no. 9, Suffolk Place, Pall Mall East : the original establishment by B. Dominiceti M.D., 1764 is now conducted on the same principles by Mr. Seaman.
  • A leering bear with soiled clerical bands, a pot of beer and a club is pictured behind a dog urinating on pamphlets. Engraving by T. Cook after W. Hogarth.
  • Advertisement for Dr Steer's Chemical Opodeldoc, c 1794