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  • Surgical splints, 18th century.
  • Surgical leg-splints, 18th century.
  • Surgical instruments, 15th, 16th, 18th century.
  • 18th century surgical instrument case of Dr. Gillespie,
  • Two cases of surgical instruments, 16th and 18th century.
  • Surgical instruments laid out on a table, for use in cataract and hernia operations during the mid 1500s, with two men in 16th century dress standing behind it. Colour facsimile process print after a 16th century manuscript, 1925.
  • Pulsatilla vulgaris Mill. Ranunculaceae Distribution: Europe. Lindley (1838) and Woodville (1790) knew this as Anemone pulsatilla, the common name being Pasque (Easter) Flower. At the end of the 18th century it was recommended for blindness, cataracts, syphilis, strokes and much more, treatments which, as was clear to physicians at the time, were valueless. Gerard (1633) writes: ‘They serve only for the adorning of gardens and garlands, being floures of great beauty’. It is in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, all members of which are poisonous. It was recommended, by mouth, for ‘obstinate case of taenia’ (tapeworms). One hopes it was more toxic to the worm than the patient. Flowers with a central disc and radiating florets were regarded as being good for eye complaints under the Doctrine of Signatures. Porta (1588) writes (translated): ‘Argemone [Papaver argemone], and anemone, have flowers of this shape, from this they cure ulcers and cloudiness of the cornea’. There were occupational diseases even before there were words like pneumoconiosis, and Lindley writes that ‘the powder of the root causes itching of the eyes, colic and vomiting, if in pulverising it the operator do not avoid the fine dust which is driven up.’ Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Pulsatilla vulgaris Mill. Ranunculaceae. Pasque flower. Distribution: Europe. Lindley (1838) and Woodville (1790) knew this as Anemone pulsatilla, the common name being Pasque (Easter) Flower. At the end of the 18th century it was recommended for blindness, cataracts, syphilis, strokes and much more, treatments which, as was clear to physicians at the time, were valueless. Gerard (1633) writes: ‘They serve only for the adorning of gardens and garlands, being floures of great beauty’. It is in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, all members of which are poisonous. It was recommended, by mouth, for ‘obstinate case of taenia’ (tapeworms). One hopes it was more toxic to the worm than the patient. Flowers with a central disc and radiating florets were regarded as being good for eye complaints under the Doctrine of Signatures. Porta (1588) writes (translated): ‘Argemone [Papaver argemone], and anemone, have flowers of this shape, from this they cure ulcers and cloudiness of the cornea’. There were occupational diseases even before there were words like pneumoconiosis, and Lindley writes that ‘the powder of the root causes itching of the eyes, colic and vomiting, if in pulverising it the operator do not avoid the fine dust which is driven up.’ Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Pulsatilla vulgaris Mill. Ranunculaceae Pasque flower. Distribution: Europe. Lindley (1838) and Woodville (1790) knew this as Anemone pulsatilla, the common name being Pasque (Easter) Flower. At the end of the 18th century it was recommended for blindness, cataracts, syphilis, strokes and much more, treatments which, as was clear to physicians at the time, were valueless. Gerard (1633) writes: ‘They serve only for the adorning of gardens and garlands, being floures of great beauty’. It is in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, all members of which are poisonous. It was recommended, by mouth, for ‘obstinate case of taenia’ (tapeworms). One hopes it was more toxic to the worm than the patient. Flowers with a central disc and radiating florets were regarded as being good for eye complaints under the Doctrine of Signatures. Porta (1588) writes (translated): ‘Argemone [Papaver argemone], and anemone, have flowers of this shape, from this they cure ulcers and cloudiness of the cornea’. There were occupational diseases even before there were words like pneumoconiosis, and Lindley writes that ‘the powder of the root causes itching of the eyes, colic and vomiting, if in pulverising it the operator do not avoid the fine dust which is driven up.’ Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • An ophthalmic surgeon operates on the eye of a patient who is strapped to a chair. Line engraving.
  • Marechal Ferrant et Operant (Farrier shoeing a horse)
  • Contraption with straps for holding horse down
  • Case of surgical instruments by Evans, 1793. Used by Thomas Major, naval Surgeon.
  • A surgeon and his assistant operating on a patient's head and using a drill to perform the trephination. Engraving, 1731.
  • An allegorical figure wearing a large variety of surgical instruments including some on his head and hands. Etching after an engraving by N. de Larmessin, 1695.
  • An allegorical figure wearing a large variety of surgical instruments including some on his head and hands. Etching after an engraving by N. de Larmessin, 1695.
  • Interior of a surgery with a surgeon treating a wound in the arm of a man, with a boy and five other figures. Oil painting by Matthijs Naiveu.
  • Interior of a surgery with a surgeon treating a wound in the arm of a man, with a boy and five other figures. Oil painting by Matthijs Naiveu.
  • Interior of a surgery with a surgeon treating a wound in the arm of a man, with a boy and five other figures. Oil painting by Matthijs Naiveu.
  • Interior of a surgery with a surgeon treating a wound in the arm of a man, with a boy and five other figures. Oil painting by Matthijs Naiveu.
  • Interior of a surgery with a surgeon treating a wound in the arm of a man, with a boy and five other figures. Oil painting by Matthijs Naiveu.
  • A surgeon amputating a patient's leg with a saw, he is being held in a particular position by two attendants. Engraving, 1738.
  • A surgeon amputating a patient's leg with a saw, he is being held in a particular position by two attendants. Engraving, 1738.
  • A surgeon amputating a patient's leg with a saw, he is being held in a particular position by two attendants. Engraving, 1738.
  • A surgeon amputating a patient's leg with a saw, he is being held in a particular position by two attendants. Engraving, 1738.
  • A surgeon amputating a patient's leg with a saw, he is being held in a particular position by two attendants. Engraving, 1738.
  • A surgeon amputating a patient's leg with a saw, he is being held in a particular position by two attendants. Engraving, 1738.
  • A barber-surgeon extracting stones from a woman's head; symbolising the expulsion of 'folly' (insanity). Watercolour by J. Cats, 1787, after B. Maton.
  • A barber-surgeon extracting stones from a woman's head; symbolising the expulsion of 'folly' (insanity). Watercolour by J. Cats, 1787, after B. Maton.
  • Blood letting 18th- 19th century: artificial leeches.