Wellcome uses cookies.

Read our policy
Wellcome Collection homepage
All
Stories
Images
Catalogue
Events

Stories

  • Article

The origins and meanings of pharmacy symbols

What have snakes, unicorns and crocodiles got to do with pharmacies? The history of these modern signs goes back to the Greek gods.

  • Article

The extraordinary body of Evatima Tardo

Darling of 19th-century American freak shows, Evatima Tardo remained serene as she withstood crucifixion and the bites of poisonous snakes. But she took the secret behind her abilities to her grave.

  • Article

Plant portraits

The beautiful and mysterious illustrations in medieval herbals convey a wealth of knowledge about the plants they portray.

  • Article

Theriac: An ancient brand?

The name theriac survived for around for two millennia as a pharmaceutical term. But a ‘brand’ name is not always a guarantee of quality.

All stories (4)

Images

  • Snake charmer holding an Egyptian cobra (<I>Naja haje</I>), whose venom immobolises its prey by attacking the nervous system. The Brooklyn Museum Papyri from Ancient Egypt includes a book of snakebites which describes all the possible snakes to be found in Egypt with a compendium of treatments. The papyri were translated in 1966-1967 by Serge Sauneron.
  • The Thanatophidia of India : being a description of the venomous snakes of the Indian Peninsula, with an account of the influence of their poison on life, and a series of experiments / by J. Fayrer.
  • The Thanatophidia of India : being a description of the venomous snakes of the Indian Peninsula, with an account of the influence of their poison on life, and a series of experiments / by J. Fayrer.
  • The Thanatophidia of India : being a description of the venomous snakes of the Indian Peninsula, with an account of the influence of their poison on life, and a series of experiments / by J. Fayrer.
  • Ricerche fisiche sopra il veleno della vipera / di Felice Fontana.
  • Left, poisonous fang of an asp viper; right, head of an adder, with mouth wide open and tongue protruding. Chromolithograph by H.J. Ruprecht, 1877.
  • Saint Luis Beltrán. Oil painting after F. Zurbarán.
  • Saint Luis Beltrán. Oil painting after F. Zurbarán.
  • Saint Luis Beltrán. Oil painting after F. Zurbarán.
  • Saint Luis Beltrán. Oil painting after F. Zurbarán.
All images (25)

Catalogue

All works (175)