Wellcome uses cookies.

Read our policy
Wellcome Collection homepage
All
Stories
Images
Catalogue
Events
83 results
  • The Thorn Spider (Gasteracantha cancriformis) is a neotropical spider of the Micrathena schreibersi species of orb weavers (Araneidae). The spider has a wide distribution throughout Central and South America. Females are large and brightly colored, and have a triangular abdomen with black margins and 10 prominent spines. Males are smaller and less conspicuous than females and are less frequently encountered.
  • A woman standing in a window is caught in a spider's web. Watercolour by M. Bishop, 1969.
  • A leafy plant (Chlorophytum elatum), related to the spider plant. Chromolithograph by L. van Houtte, c. 1875.
  • A woman standing in a window is caught in a spider's web. Watercolour by M. Bishop, 1969.
  • A giant spider catching crowds of humans in its web; representing tuberculosis. Colour lithograph by B. Cascella, ca. 1920.
  • A giant spider catching crowds of humans in its web; representing tuberculosis. Colour lithograph by B. Cascella, ca. 1920.
  • A giant spider catching crowds of humans in its web; representing tuberculosis. Colour lithograph by B. Cascella, ca. 1920.
  • A spider, annoyed by a swallow which was catching all the flies, plans to catch the swallow in its web, but is shown to be deluded when the swallow carries off both the spider and the web; illustration of a fable. Etching by D. Stoop, 1665.
  • A large barbary spider with her young in her web. Etching by J. Pass, ca. 1796, after J. E. Ihle.
  • A microscopic animal (Aseroe rubra) and a spider, both with anatomical segments. Engraving by Sparrow, ca. 1792, after J. Piron.
  • A small bird, the wall creeper (Tichodroma muraria), spotting a spider on a wall. Coloured lithograph by E. Travies, ca. 1830.
  • A woman caught in a spider web: female genital mutilation in Sudan. Colour lithograph by Ahfad Reproductive Health Centre, ca. 1999.
  • A mother stops flies from pestering her young son by constructing a fake spider's web out of wool. Colour process print, 1909.
  • The four heroic retainers of Raikō (Yorimitsu) with flaming torches, about to kill the great earth spider in its web. Colour woodcut by Kunisada I, 1810s.
  • A spanner and an adjustable spanner, as if in conversation, standing against a brick wall covered with a spider's web. Colour lithograph after G.R. Morris, 1945.
  • Left, a ship symbolising British commerce is going at full speed; right, the ship symbolising German commerce is rusty and covered with spider's webs. Drawing by A.G. Racey, 191-.
  • Putti perform an anatomical dissection on a dog; others hold a jar containing a human foetus; two more play with a spider; representing anatomy and natural history. Etching by B. Picart, 1729.
  • Allegorical figures hold up two scrolls, separated by a spider's web: one shows a straight line between "Charitas" and "Iustitia"; the other a crooked line between "Invidia" and "Avaritia". Etching by C. Murer after himself, c. 1600-1614.
  • Above, two perches, two insects and a hairy spider. Engraving by Heath.llitory of the wall, a peacock, a limpet, the stalk of a flower, a fish (pegasus), two insects, a pelican and a bird; below, a pe.
  • Phrenological propensities: adhesiveness, inhabitiveness, constructiveness, combativeness, destructiveness; illustrated by a couple stuck in a bog, a snail in its shell, a spider in its web, a huge brawl, a bull in a china shop. Etching by G. Cruikshank, 1826.
  • Phrenological propensities: adhesiveness, inhabitiveness, constructiveness, combativeness, destructiveness; illustrated by a couple stuck in a bog, a snail in its shell, a spider in its web, a huge brawl, a bull in a china shop. Etching by G. Cruikshank, 1826.
  • The spider and fly : the advertiser takes this opportunity of informing his friends and a discerning public, that he continues the trade of making drunkards, paupers, thieves, beggars, adulterers, and murderers, on the most reasonable terms, and without notice.
  • Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench Asteraceae. Coneflower. Distribution: North America. Austin (2004) records that the roots were chewed, or used as a tincture for coughs by the Choctaw. It was combined with Rhus typhina to treat venereal disease by the Delaware. Very little record of this being used by Native Americans, who used E. angustifolia very widely - Regarded as a panacea and magical herb. This and E. pallida were used to treat snakebite, spider bite, cancer, toothache, burns, sores, wounds, flu and colds. E. purpurea in modern times has been used as an ‘immunostimulant’, but is known to cause a fall in white cell count, and to be purely a placebo. Licensed for use as a Traditional Herbal Medicine, which does not require proof of efficacy, in the UK. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench Asteraceae. Coneflower. Distribution: North America. Austin (2004) records that the roots were chewed, or used as a tincture for coughs by the Choctaw. Combined with Rhus typhina to treat venereal disease by the Delaware. Very little record of this being used by Native Americans, who used E. angustifolia very widely - Regarded as a panacea and magical herb. This and E. pallida were used to treat snakebite, spider bite, cancer, toothache, burns, sores, wounds, flu and colds. E. purpurea in modern times has been used as an ‘immunostimulant’, but is known to cause a fall in white cell count, and to be purely a placebo. Licensed for use as a Traditional Herbal Medicine, which does not require proof of efficacy, in the UK. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench Asteraceae. Coneflower. Distribution: North America. Austin (2004) records that the roots were chewed, or used as a tincture for coughs by the Choctaw. It was combined with Rhus typhina to treat venereal disease by the Delaware. Very little record of this being used by Native Americans, who used E. angustifolia very widely - Regarded as a panacea and magical herb. This and E. pallida were used to treat snakebite, spider bite, cancer, toothache, burns, sores, wounds, flu and colds. E. purpurea in modern times has been used as an ‘immunostimulant’, but is known to cause a fall in white cell count, and to be purely a placebo. Licensed for use as a Traditional Herbal Medicine, which does not require proof of efficacy, in the UK. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench Asteraceae. Coneflower. Distribution: North America. Austin (2004) records that the roots were chewed, or used as a tincture for coughs by the Choctaw. It was combined with Rhus typhina to treat venereal disease by the Delaware. Very little record of this being used by Native Americans, who used E. angustifolia very widely - Regarded as a panacea and magical herb. This and E. pallida were used to treat snakebite, spider bite, cancer, toothache, burns, sores, wounds, flu and colds. E. purpurea in modern times has been used as an ‘immunostimulant’, but is known to cause a fall in white cell count, and to be purely a placebo. Licensed for use as a Traditional Herbal Medicine, which does not require proof of efficacy, in the UK. Licensed as a Traditional Herbal Remedy in the UK (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Two giant crabs of Japan shown under water. Colour line block after T. Carreras.
  • Animal Materia medica.
  • A postcard wishing good luck illustrated by various lucky charms. Chromolithograph.
  • A bird's beak cuts a woman's hand; representing the sense of touch and the fact that it persists longer (in pain) than the other senses. Engraving, 16--.