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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.
  • Zantedeschia aethiopica (L)Spreng. Calla lily, Arum lily. Half hardy annual. Distribution: South Africa. The genus name commemorates Giovanni Zantedeschi (1773-1846) an Italian physician and botanist. Born in Molina he studied medicine in Verona and Padua. He corresponded with the German botanist, Kurt Sprengel, who named the genus Zantedeschia in his honour in 1826, separating it from Calla, where, as C. aethiopica, it had been previously described by Linnaeus. He had broad interests, including the effect of different parts of the spectrum of light on plant growth, reporting in 1843, that red, orange and yellow light are heliotropically inactive. The botanic museum in Molina is dedicated to his memory. Aethiopica, merely means 'African'. The leaves are used as a warm poultice for headaches in ‘muthi’ medicine. It has become an invasive weed in parts of Australia. It was introduced, as a greenhouse plant, to Europe in the mid-17th century, where the long lasting flowers are popular in flower arranging and for weddings and funerals – a curious combination (Oakeley, 2012). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Medical extracts: on the nature of health, with practical observations: and the laws of the nervous and fibrous systems / By a friend to improvements [R.J. Thornton].
  • Medical extracts: on the nature of health, with practical observations: and the laws of the nervous and fibrous systems / By a friend to improvements [R.J. Thornton].
  • Medical cautions : chiefly for the consideration of invalids. Containing essays on fashionable diseases, the dangerous effects of hot and crouded rooms, an enquiry into the use of medicine during a course of mineral waters, on quacks, and quack medicine, and lady doctors. And an essay on regimen, very much enlarged ... / By James Makittrick Adair.
  • Medical cautions : chiefly for the consideration of invalids. Containing essays on fashionable diseases, the dangerous effects of hot and crouded rooms, an enquiry into the use of medicine during a course of mineral waters, on quacks, and quack medicine, and lady doctors. And an essay on regimen, very much enlarged ... / By James Makittrick Adair.
  • Medical cautions : chiefly for the consideration of invalids. Containing essays on fashionable diseases, the dangerous effects of hot and crouded rooms, an enquiry into the use of medicine during a course of mineral waters, on quacks, and quack medicine, and lady doctors. And an essay on regimen, very much enlarged ... / By James Makittrick Adair.
  • Booklets: The Wellcome Historical Medical Library...
  • Edward Jenner and two colleagues seeing off three anti-vaccination opponents, the dead smallpox victims are littered at their feet. Coloured etching by I. Cruikshank, 1808.
  • Veronicastrum virginicum 'Pink Glow'
  • Veronicastrum virginicum 'Pink Glow'
  • Popular science, Arthur Mee, 1912.
  • Paul Ferdinand Gachet. Etching by V. van Gogh, 1890.
  • Paul Ferdinand Gachet. Etching by V. van Gogh, 1890.
  • Paul Ferdinand Gachet. Etching by V. van Gogh, 1890.
  • A mother looks forlornly at her new baby in her husband's arms: family planning in Nigeria. Colour lithograph by Family Planning Council of Nigeria , ca. 1993.
  • A physician taking the pulse of a young woman, while an old maid prepares gruel for her. Oil painting by Quirin Gerritsz. van Brekelenkam.
  • The birth of Rustam. Gouache painting.
  • A man discusses the care of his 3 children below with his brother: family planning in Nigeria. Colour lithograph by Family Planning Council of Nigeria , ca. 1993.
  • A mother looks forlornly at her new baby in her husband's arms: family planning in Nigeria. Colour lithograph by Family Planning Council of Nigeria , ca. 1993.
  • Bonnell Thornton lying ill in bed, consulting three physicians and pointing out their inadequacies. Coloured etching attributed to C. Williams.
  • Bonnell Thornton lying ill in bed, consulting three physicians and pointing out their inadequacies. Coloured etching attributed to C. Williams.
  • Popular science, Arthur Mee, 1912.
  • Patrick Manson experimenting with filaria sanguinis-hominis in Amoy (Xiamen), China. Oil painting by E. Board, ca. 1912.
  • 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.