Ecballium elaterium (L.)A.Rich. Benincaseae Squirting cucumber - when ripe, the seed explodes from its case, squirting some distance. Distribution: Asia, Europe and N. Africa. Contain cucurbitacins which are very bitter, cytotoxic and poisonous. A restricted herbal product, only to be supplied in registered pharmacies or under the supervision of a pharmacist (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.

Nepal; Kunde hospital in the Khumbu, 1986. This is the only hospital in the Khumbu region. A 'Visitors Note' at the gate reads: 'Interested visitors may be shown the hospital between 8 am - 5 pm depending on the availability of staff. For this service a donation is appreciated. The hospital depends on donations.' In 1986, the hospital was remarkably well equipped considering its isolation. There were facilities for minor, and in an emergency, major surgery and dentistry, local and general anaesthesia, and an X-ray machine running off its own generator. Some diagnostic facilities were carried out, and the walls of the main clinic were lined with shelves packed with a good supply of drugs, bandages and sutures.

Apparatus for an apothecary. Wood engraving, 1861.

Personifications of medicine, pharmacy and surgery. Oil painting after (?) Nicolas de Larmessin.

Boer War: the dispensary of the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Deelfontein, South Africa. Process print, 1900.

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