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  • 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.
  • Vulcan at his forge; representing fire. Engraving by E. Jeaurat, 1716, after N. Vleughels.
  • Vulcan at his forge; representing fire. Engraving by E. Jeaurat, 1716, after N. Vleughels.
  • A treatise, or reflections drawn from practice on gun-shot wounds ... / by Henry Francis Le Dran ... ; translated from the French original.
  • A treatise, or reflections drawn from practice on gun-shot wounds ... / by Henry Francis Le Dran ... ; translated from the French original.
  • A course of lectures on midwifery / [Christopher Kelly].
  • Episodes in the history of cinchona 2: the countess of Chinchón takes cinchona. Oil painting.
  • Episodes in the history of cinchona 2: the countess of Chinchón takes cinchona. Oil painting.
  • Episodes in the history of cinchona 2: the countess of Chinchón takes cinchona. Oil painting.
  • Annual report for the year 1902 (fifth year of issue) / Metropolitan Asylums Board.
  • A scholar-alchemist pores over a book, searching for inspiration. Etching by F. Basan after D. Teniers the younger.
  • A scholar-alchemist pores over a book, searching for inspiration. Etching by F. Basan after D. Teniers the younger.
  • Medical instructions towards the prevention and cure of chronic diseases peculiar to women: for the use of those affected by such diseases, as well as the medical reader : to which are added, prescriptions, or efficacious forms of medicine in English, adapted to each disease / by John Leake.
  • A dying man in bed is surrounded by a group of people praying for him. Etching.
  • Villiers Street, Strand: the north-east part, including the shop of William Challice, chemist and druggist; Alsopp's dining and oyster rooms; and a cigar shop. Photograph, 189-.
  • An old woman wearing spectacles picking fleas or lice from a man's hair; behind her stands a man who holds up a jug. Engraving by J. Aliamet after A. van Ostade.
  • A husband and wife ask a quack doctor for advice about health: he suggests substituting himself for the husband in the wife's affections, and she agrees. Engraving by J.J. Balechou, 1743, after E. Jeaurat.
  • A woman breast feeding her baby in the family's home and workshop; perhaps a comparison to the Holy Family. Engraving by J. Le Bas and P. Martini, 1772, after Rembrandt van Rijn, 1640.
  • Paul and Virginie are found by their slave Domingue and their dog Fidele when they are lost in the forests of Mauritius. Engraving.