Wellcome uses cookies.

Read our policy
Wellcome Collection homepage
All
Stories
Images
Catalogue
Events

Stories

  • In pictures

Tesla, quacks and violet rays

Imagine a device that can treat everything from baldness to gout. Too good to be true? Yes, and it was banned – but not before hundreds were hoodwinked.

  • Article

Identifying skin lightening agents in cosmetics

Could your moisturiser be damaging your health? If it contains skin-lightening agents, the answer is yes. But this is an area where consumers definitely do not have the upper hand.

  • Article

Death and our digital ghosts

When we die, our data lives on. And as companies are increasingly spotting money-making opportunities from digital legacies, now could be the time to think about – and control – yours.

  • Article

History of condoms from animal to rubber

Come on a journey from the first recorded condoms in the 16th century to the modern female condoms in the 1990s – and everything in between.

All stories (135)

Images

  • Probable case of erythema multiforme
  • Trepans, probably 16th century.
  • Pruriginous eruption, probably lichen planus
  • Mummified Egyptian foot, probably from Memphis
  • A metal anklet. Probably West African
  • Statue , probably Saint Francis of Assisi.
  • Male figure in silver, probably amuletic. Peru
  • Parturition chair, continental, probably 17th century.
  • Parturition chair, probably Italian 18th century.
  • A procession, probably in Peru. Wood engraving.
All images (1.8K)

Catalogue

All works (5.2K)