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  • Veratrum nigrum L. Melanthiaceae Distribution: Europe. Cows do not eat Veratrum species in the meadows, and human poisoning with it caused vomiting and fainting. In the 1850s it was found to reduce the heart's action and slow the pulse (Bentley, 1861, called it an 'arterial sedative'), and in 1859 it was used orally in a woman who was having convulsions due to eclampsia. Dr Paul DeLacy Baker in Alabama treated her with drops of a tincture of V. viride. She recovered. It was used thereafter, as the first choice of treatment, and, when blood pressure monitoring became possible, it was discovered that it worked by reducing the high blood pressure that occurs in eclampsia. By 1947 death rates were reduced from 30% to 5% by its use at the Boston Lying-in Hospital. It works by dilating the arteries in muscles and in the gastrointestinal circulation. A further use of Veratrum species came to light when it was noted that V. californicum - and other species - if eaten by sheep resulted in foetal malformations, in particular only having one eye. The chemical in the plant that was responsible, cyclopamine, was found to act on certain genetic pathways responsible for stem cell division in the regulation of the development of bilateral symmetry in the embryo/foetus. Synthetic analogues have been developed which act on what have come to be called the 'hedgehog signalling pathways' in stem cell division, and these 'Hedgehog inhibitors' are being introduced into medicine for the treatment of various cancers like chondrosarcoma, myelofibrosis, and advanced basal cell carcinoma. The drugs are saridegib, erismodegib and vismodegib. All the early herbals report on its ability to cause vomiting. As a herbal medicine it is Prescription Only, via a registered dentist or physician (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Veratrum album L. Melanthiaceae Distribution: Europe. Cows do not eat Veratrum species in the meadows, and human poisoning with it caused vomiting and fainting. In the 1850s it was found to reduce the heart's action and slow the pulse (Bentley, 1861, called it an 'arterial sedative'), and in 1859 it was used orally in a woman who was having convulsions due to eclampsia. Dr Paul DeLacy Baker in Alabama treated her with drops of a tincture of V. viride. She recovered. It was used thereafter, as the first choice of treatment, and when blood pressure monitoring became possible, it was discovered that it worked by reducing the high blood pressure that occurs in eclampsia. By 1947 death rates were reduced from 30% to 5% by its use at the Boston Lying in Hospital. It works by dilating the arteries in muscles and in the gastrointestinal circulation. A further use of Veratrum species came to light when it was noted that V. californicum -and other species - if eaten by sheep resulted in foetal malformations, in particular only having one eye. The chemical in the plant that was responsible, cyclopamine, was found to act on certain genetic pathways responsible for stem cell division in the regulation of the development of bilateral symmetry in the embryo/foetus. Synthetic analogues have been developed which act on what have come to be called the 'hedgehog signalling pathways' in stem cell division, and these 'Hedgehog inhibitors' are being introduced into medicine for the treatment of various cancers like chondrosarcoma, myelofibrosis, and advanced basal cell carcinoma. The drugs are saridegib, erismodegib and vismodegib. All the early herbals report on its ability to cause vomiting. As a herbal medicine it is Prescription Only, via a registered dentist or physician (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Chinese Materia Dietetica, Ming: ' Salt gall' water
  • Acu-moxa aid: landmark measurements, Chinese MS, late Qing
  • Body measurements, front view, Chinese woodcut, 1443
  • Patient suffering under conventional medicine compared with health via Morisonian alternative medicine; represented by trees, one bloated and dying under the varied administration of conventional doctors and the other drained of impurities and healthy. Coloured lithograph.
  • flip image!
  • A black woman stands in a field with flowers holding a red ribbon above her head with the sun behind; advertisement by the National Urban League, Inc for those with or affected by AIDS. Colour lithograph by P. Beane.
  • Egyptian carving, dwarf demon Bes, taken in 1989
  • The medicine Buddha (Bhaiṣajyaguru) and Tsongkhapa (1357-1419). Distemper painting by a Tibetan painter.
  • The medicine Buddha (Bhaiṣajyaguru) and Tsongkhapa (1357-1419). Distemper painting by a Tibetan painter.
  • The medicine Buddha (Bhaiṣajyaguru) and Tsongkhapa (1357-1419). Distemper painting by a Tibetan painter.
  • Egyptian carving, dwarf demon Bes, taken 1989
  • A human anatomical figure. Drawing, Nepalese, ca. 1800 (?).
  • A human anatomical figure. Drawing, Nepalese, ca. 1800 (?).
  • Symbiosis, embroidery on fabric. 2015
  • Egyptian carving, dwarf demon Bes, taken 1989
  • Egyptian carving of dwarf demon Bes, taken 1989
  • Egyptian carving, dwarf demon Bes, taken 1989
  • Humane research donor card scheme / Animal Aid.
  • The female sign incorporating the faces of five women who work in the AIDS field with a list of list of HIV-related conditions common in women by the Maricopa Area Health Education Center. Colour lithograph by Jeff Dorgay and Creative Syndicate.
  • The message in Swedish 'Don't forget. Men'; one of a series of AIDS prevention advertisements by the RFSL, the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights. Colour lithograph, ca. 1997.
  • Red apples representing healty living with a message about how AIDS patients can learn to live with the disease with the help of the assistance of the Diocesan Caritas Association for the Archdiocese of Cologne eV AIDS-Hilfe Unit. Colour lithograph by Hüsch & Hüsch Aachen and Werbung.
  • Humane research fund appeal / Mark Gold.
  • Dr Richard Price kneeling on a large crown (with a demon on his back) to look through a peep-hole at a group of ruffians ransacking Marie Antoinette's bedroom; representing a speech by Price which allegedly advocated the French Revolution. Coloured etching by I. Cruikshank, 1790 (?).
  • Two trees being cultivated by doctors; symbolising the differences claimed by James Morison between the 'organic' and his 'hygeist' approached to health. Lithograph, c. 1835.
  • Two trees being cultivated by doctors; symbolising the differences claimed by James Morison between the 'organic' and his 'hygeist' approached to health. Lithograph, c. 1835.
  • Two trees being cultivated by doctors; symbolising the differences claimed by James Morison between the 'organic' and his 'hygeist' approached to health. Lithograph, c. 1835.
  • Two trees being cultivated by doctors; symbolising the differences claimed by James Morison between the 'organic' and his 'hygeist' approached to health. Lithograph, c. 1835.
  • Human chromosomes in a cancer cell