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  • Bronze figure of Shen Nung, Japanese god of medicine.
  • Plan of Wellcome museum galleries: 3rd floor showing new arrangement, 1942, Dr Daukes scheme: cosmogony, evolution, prehistory, primitive medicine, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, library etc...
  • Prunus mume Siebold & Zucc. Rosaceae Chinese Plum, Japanese Apricot. Distribution: Eastern Asia. The fruit is used to flavour alcohol and used as a digestive to improve appetite. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Acer japonicum Thunb. Sapindaceae. Japanese maple. Small tree. Distribution: Japan, North Korea. Can be tapped in early spring for its sugar-rich sap although it is not as abundant as in Acer saccharum. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Illicium anisatum L. Illiciaceae Japanese Star Anise. Distribution Japan. This was also called Illicium religiosum and the fruits are toxic. Effects of taking Illicium anisatum tea include epilepsy, vomiting, shakiness and rapid eye movements (US Food and Drug Administration report, 2003). Lindley (1838) and Bentley (1861) thought that I. anisatum was used in cooking, but they were describing the uses of I. verum which is used as a spice in Asia. Illicium anisatum syn. religiosum is 'used to make incense in Japanese and Chinese temples and was called Skimi by Kaempfer. This derives from the Japanese word 'shi-kimi'. The seed pods of both species contain shikimic acid (the name being derived from the Japanese) from which Tamiflu, the antiviral drug was synthesised. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Illicium verum Hook.f. Illiciaceae Chinese Star Anise Distribution: China. Illicium anisatum Japanese Star Anise. Distribution Japan. Illicium verum is used as a spice in Asian cooking and for Star Anise tea. The distilled oil is added to cough mixture used by children. Introduced to Europe in 1588 (Pharmacographia Indica, 1890). Illicium anisatum syn. religiosum, has been confused with it (Lindley, 1838, Bentley 1861) but is poisonous and was used to make incense in Japanese and Chinese temples. It was called Skimi by Kaempfer. The seed pods of both species contain shikimic acid (the name being derived from the Japanese word for the plant - shi-kimi) from which Tamiflu, the antiviral drug was synthesised. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Skimmia japonica Thunb. Rutaceae 'Rubella' Distribution: China, Japan and E. Asia. The genus name is derived from the Japanese word shikimi (Stearn, 1994). All parts of the plant are poisonous, containing skimmianin. It is said to cause vomiting and, if eaten in large quantities, cardiac arrest. (Duke, 1985) Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Fatsia japonica (Thunb.) Decne. & Planch. Araliaceae False castor oil plant. Distribution: Japan, South Korea. Not even in the same family as the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis. An ornamental plant, Fatsia from the Japanese word for 'eight' hachi referring to the eight-lobed leaf. The sap can cause dermatitis. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Athyrium niponicum (Mett.) Hance var. pictum (Maxwell) Fraser-Jenk. Woodsiaceae. Japanese Painted fern. Hardy fern. Distribution: Japan. Young fronds are boiled and eaten in Japan. However after the discovery of thaiminases in certain ferns Pteridum aquilum (bracken), Marsilea drummondii and Cheilanthes sieberi cautions are given regarding the risk of thiaminase in all ferns. It can be mostly removed by boiling, but otherwise causes vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency and beriberi in a matter of weeks. Eating Bracken fern also causes cancer, as do the spores, but I could find no report of other ferns being toxic. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Acupuncture figure: Japanese. White papier mache with points joined by black lines.
  • Shen Nung: Japanese netsuke of carved ivory.
  • Japanese anatomical figure, ivory.
  • Japanese anatomical figure.
  • Japanese anatomical figure covered with human skin.
  • Chinese anatomical figure reclining on a black wooden stand.
  • Chinese and Japanese figures used in acupuncture and diagnosis.
  • Chinese anatomical figure of a reclining woman.
  • Chinese anatomical female nude figure reclining on a couch. For lady patients to point out where the ailment is to the doctors.
  • Japanese anatomical figure covered with human skin.
  • Chinese anatomical figure of man used in acupuncture
  • Illustration which identifies and names the acupuncture points in some of the fourteen bodily tracts on the body. This illustration is derived from Chinese medical illustrations and depicts figures whose dress, facial hair and hairstyles identify them as Chinese; Japanese reading marks have been added to the text to ease understanding.
  • The real triumph of Japan : the conquest of the silent foe / by Louis Livingston Seaman.
  • The real triumph of Japan : the conquest of the silent foe / by Louis Livingston Seaman.
  • The real triumph of Japan : the conquest of the silent foe / by Louis Livingston Seaman.
  • The real triumph of Japan : the conquest of the silent foe / by Louis Livingston Seaman.
  • In a war hospital in 1905, with every equipment of medical science : the striking progress of science in modern Japan.
  • In a war hospital in 1905, with every equipment of medical science : the striking progress of science in modern Japan.
  • The Japanese army surgeon in his element : first aid to the wounded in the Manchurian battlefield / Photo-Nouvelles Agency.
  • The Japanese army surgeon in his element : first aid to the wounded in the Manchurian battlefield / Photo-Nouvelles Agency.
  • Russo-Japanese War: soldiers bringing in the wounded to an open air Japanese field hospital. Wash drawing by G. Soper, 1904, after a photograph by J. Ruddiman Johnston.