Stories
- Article
Deadly doses and the hardest of hard drugs
The invention of the modern hypodermic syringe meant we could get high – or accidentally die – faster than before. Find out how this medical breakthrough was adapted for deadly uses.
- Article
A brief history of tattoos
The earliest evidence of tattoo art dates from 5000 BC, and the practice continues to hold meaning for many cultures around the world.
- Article
Bleeding healthy
For thousands of years, and in many different cultures, people have practised bloodletting for health and medical reasons. Julia Nurse explains where and when bleeding was used, how it was done, and why.
Catalogue
- Pictures
A soldier in 19th-century costume (hussar?) defending the peoples of the world by spraying flies with a spray gun of Flit insecticide. Colour lithograph, 1930.
Date: [193?-?]Reference: 676494i- Pictures
William Cobbett dressed as a farmer marches out of step towards the sea behind a recruiting serjeant and a drummer-boy. Etching by J. Gillray, 1809.
Gillray, James, 1756-1815.Date: 29 September 1809Reference: 603148iPart of: The life of William Cobbett, - written by himself- Pictures
- Online
A doctor reading a newspaper article on the prospect of a decrease in influenza - his wife hopes for the reverse. Wood engraving by G. Du Maurier, 1892.
Du Maurier, George, 1834-1896.Date: 1892Reference: 14297i- Pictures
- Online
A man with an excruciating headache. Coloured etching by H. Cook, 1827, after M. Egerton.
Egerton, M., active 1824-1827.Date: April 1827Reference: 11885i- Pictures
A doctor's advice to two lady patients - that the attractive one return to see him frequently whereas the other must seek a new climate in New Zealand. Wood engraving by G. Du Maurier, 1889.
Du Maurier, George, 1834-1896.Date: 1889Reference: 14292i