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  • Cistus incanus ssp creticus Juss. Cistaceae. Rock Rose. Distribution: Crete. Interesting symbiosis with fungus called Tuber melanosporum which increases nutrient absorption for the plant and inhibits growth of other plants in the vicinity. It is a source of the resin ‘labdanum’ (a.k.a. ‘ladanum’) used in perfumes (similar smell to ambergris), as is Cistus ladanifer. It has no medical uses now, and such use was dwindling even in the 18th century. In the 16th century (Henry Lyte’s 1575 translation of Rembert Dodoen’s Cruydeboeck of 1554) its uses were described (directly copied from Dioscorides’ Materia Medica (70AD)) as: ‘Ladanum dronketh with olde wine, stoppeth the laske [periods], and provoketh urine. It is very good against the hardness of the matrix or mother [uterus] layde to in the manner of a pessarie, and it draweth down the secondes or afterbirth, when it is layde upon quicke coles [hot coals], and the fumigation or parfume thereof be received up into the body of women. // The same applied to the head with Myrrhe and oyle of Myrrhe, cureth the scurffe, called Alopecia, and keepeth the heare [hair] from falling of [sic], but whereas it is already fallen away, it will not cause the heare to growe agayne. // ...' and goes on in this vein about its uses for pain in the ears, and removing sores and scars and other things. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • First edition of Bencao Gangmu; Chinese, 1590
  • Chinese Materia Dietetica, Ming: Final-month month snow water
  • Chinese Materia Medica illustration, Ming: Cassia blossom
  • A physician in his study writing a prescription for his waiting patient. Oil painting by Pieter Jakob Horemans, 1745.
  • A physician in his study writing a prescription for his waiting patient. Oil painting by Pieter Jakob Horemans, 1745.
  • A physician in his study writing a prescription for his waiting patient. Oil painting by Pieter Jakob Horemans, 1745.
  • A physician in his study writing a prescription for his waiting patient. Oil painting by Pieter Jakob Horemans, 1745.
  • Inula helenium L. Asteraceae. Elecampine, Elecampane, Enulae campinae Distribution: Britain, S. Europe to the Himalayas. Used medicinally for 2,000 years. Culpeper (1650) writes ‘Elecampane, is ... wholesome for the stomach, resists poison, helps old coughs and shortness of breath, helps ruptures and provokes lust
  • C15 Chinese medical primer: Correlations of the pulses
  • Edward Jenner vaccinating patients in the Smallpox and Inoculation Hospital at St. Pancras: the patients develop features of cows. Watercolour after J. Gillray, 1802.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • A verger's dream: Saints Cosmas and Damian performing a miraculous cure by transplantation of a leg. Oil painting attributed to the Master of Los Balbases, ca. 1495.
  • C15 Chinese medical primer: Pulse diagnosis table
  • Chinese woodcut, Famous medical figures: Shen Nong
  • Chinese Materia Dietetica, Ming: Plum rain water
  • Acupuncture prohibitions for pregnancy, Chinese/Japanese
  • Acupuncture prohibitions for pregnancy, Chinese/Japanese
  • Acupuncture prohibitions for pregnancy, Chinese/Japanese
  • Acupuncture prohibitions for pregnancy, Chinese/Japanese
  • Acupuncture prohibitions for pregnancy, Chinese/Japanese
  • Acupuncture prohibitions for pregnancy, Chinese/Japanese