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  • Gardenia jasminoides J.Ellis Rubiaceae. Cape jasmine - as erroneously believed to have come from South Africa. Distribution: China. Named for Dr Alexander Garden FRS (1730-1791) Scottish-born physician and naturalist who lived in Charles Town, South Carolina, and corresponded with Linnaeus and many of the botanists of his era. The fruits are used in China both as a source of a yellow dye, and for various unsubstantiated medicinal uses. Other species of Gardenia are found in tropical Africa and the roots and leaves have all manner of putative uses. Gardenia tenuifolia is used as an aphrodisiac, for rickets, diarrhoea, leprosy, gall bladder problems, toothache, liver complaints, diabetes, hypertension, malaria and abdominal complaints. It causes violent vomiting and diarrhoea. It, and other species, are used to poison arrows and to poison fish. Some native, muthi medicine, healers regard Gardenia as a ‘last chance’ medicine, given to patients when all else fails – the patient either dies or recovers (Neuwinger, 1996). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Euphorbia milii Des Moul. Euphorbiaceae. Crown of Thorns - so called because of its very spiny stems. Distribution: Madagascar. The latex contains a copper-containing amine oxidase, a lectin, lipase, peroxidase, and a diamine oxidase. In vitro the latex is synergistic with ketoconazole against Candida albicans (thrush). All Euphorbia have a toxic white latex, and in Europe this has been used as a folk remedy to treat warts. It can cause skin allergies and the smoke from burning them is toxic. the genus named for Euphorbus (fl. circa 10 BC – 20 AD), the Greek physician to the Berber King Juba II (c. 50 BC – 23 AD) of Numidia, Euphorbia milii is one of the tropical spurges, with fierce, cactus-like spines, grown as a house plant. The sap of spurges is used in folk medicine for treating warts (not very effective), and, historically, as a purgative - the word spurge being derived from the French word for purgation. The sap (probably dried) was administered inside a fig because it is so corrosive that it would otherwise burn the mouth and oesophagus – a technique used today, rather more subtly, with ‘enteric coated’ medications. The sap contains a potential anti-leukaemic chemical, lasiodoplin, and is also used in drainage ditches to kill the snails which carry the parasitic trematode which causes fasciolaris. It does not kill the fish. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Catharanthus roseus (L.)G.Don Apocynaceae. Madagascar Periwinkle Distribution: Madagascar. It is the source of vincristine and vinblastine, which impair cell multiplication by interfering with microtubule assembly, causing metaphase arrest and are effective medications for leukaemias, lymphomas and some solid tumours. The mortality from childhood leukaemia fell from 100% to 30% once it was introduced - not a drug that could ethically be tested by double-blind trials. These chemicals were initially discovered by investigators in 1958 who were looking for cures for diabetes so tested this plant which was being used in the West Indies to reduce blood sugar levels. There are 70 different alkaloids present in this plant, and some - catharanthine, leurosine sulphate, lochnerine, tetrahydroalstonine, vindoline and vindolinine - lower blood sugar levels. However, the toxicity of this plant is such that this is not a plant to try at home for diabetic management. The vincristine content of the plant is 0.0003%, so two kilograms of leaf are required to produce sufficient vincristine for a single course of treatment for a child (6gm). Fortunately it is a vigorous weed and easy to grow in the tropics. Artificial synthesis has now been achieved. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Satirical veterinary frontispiece, 1771
  • The Wellcome Trust illustrated history of tropical diseases / edited by F.E.G. Cox.
  • Memoirs : with a full account of the great malaria problem and its solution / by Ronald Ross.
  • Memoirs : with a full account of the great malaria problem and its solution / by Ronald Ross.
  • Memoirs : with a full account of the great malaria problem and its solution / by Ronald Ross.
  • Panama City: the school of medicine subsequently converted into the Gorgas Memorial Laboratory. Photograph, ca. 1928.
  • A plant (Brucea species): flowering stem with floral segments. Coloured etching by J.F. Miller, c.1796, after himself.
  • Cinchona plant (Cinchona caribbaea): flowering and fruiting branch. Coloured etching by J. Pass, c. 1801, after J. Ihle.
  • Cinchona plant (Cinchona officinalis): flowering and fruiting branch. Coloured etching by J. Pass, c. 1801, after J. Ihle.
  • Cinchona plant (Cinchona officinalis): flowering and fruiting branch. Coloured etching by J. Pass, c. 1801, after J. Ihle.
  • Surinam quassia wood (Quassia amara): flowering stem and leaf. Coloured zincograph, c. 1853, after M. Burnett.
  • Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, Wigmore Street, London: a head-hunter's hut, south east New Guinea, in the Hall of Primitive Medicine. Photograph.
  • Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, Wigmore Street, London: a head-hunter's hut, south east New Guinea, in the Hall of Primitive Medicine. Photograph.
  • Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, Wigmore Street, London: west wall of the Gallery of Pictures. Photograph.
  • Mosquito breeding ground in a hole in a tree trunk: museum exhibit. Photograph, 1900/1930.
  • Coffee plant (Coffea arabica): flowering and fruiting stem with floral segments. Coloured engraving with etching by J. Miller, c. 1774, after S. Taylor.
  • Madar plant (Calotropis gigantea (L.) R.Br.): flowering and fruiting stem. Line engraving after C. de Bruin, 1705.
  • Arabian coffee tree (Coffea arabica): flowering stem, fruit and seed. Coloured zincograph, c. 1853, after M. Burnett.
  • Dhak or palas tree (Butea monosperma): flowering branch with fruit and floral segments. Coloured etching, c. 1799, after J. Ihle.
  • Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, Wigmore Street, London: the galleried Hall of Statuary. Photograph.
  • Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, Wigmore Street, London: the galleried Hall of Statuary. Photograph.
  • Flowering stems of the indigo plant (Indigofera tinctorum) and coffee plant (Coffea arabica). Line engraving after C. de Bruin, 1706.
  • A map of Paraguay and surrounding area, illustrating where cinchona (quinine) was allegedly first discovered in 1626(?). Etching by D.V. Rossi.
  • Coconuts and trees (Cocos nucifera), a cinnamon tree (Cinnamomum verum) and pinang tree (Areca catechu), in a tropical landscape. Line engraving after J. Nieuhoff.
  • A galled tree (Mimosa cinerea), a Jamaica pepper tree (Pimenta dioica) and a Turkey rhubarb plant (Rheum palmatum). Coloured engraving, c. 1827.
  • Paul Ferdinand Gachet. Etching by V. van Gogh, 1890.
  • Paul Ferdinand Gachet. Etching by V. van Gogh, 1890.