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  • Article

Illuminated manuscripts, illuminating medicines

From rare bugs to exorbitantly priced plant parts, find out more about the artistic and medical uses of pigments from the past.

  • Article

Fake news and the flu

Discover how history shows that fake news could play a deadly role – by generating potentially lethal misinformation during a future pandemic.

  • Article

The metamorphosis of masturbation

Throughout history, medics and campaigners have tried to stamp out masturbation – but is modern science transforming its reputation?

  • Article

Heating up and drying out

Menopause doesn’t have to signify old age, but when your body feels like it’s letting you down, it’s hard not to believe that your useful life may be over.

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Images

  • A red orchid open wide to reveal a phallic looking erect yellow stamen representing 'Love Question No 266', Carl Lewis runs 100 meters in 9.86 seconds - how quickly can you get a condom on?; one of a series of safe sex AIDS prevention advertisements by Folkhälsoinstitutet, RFSU and RFSL. Colour lithograph by Garbergs, ca. 1995.
  • Viola canina L. Violaceae Distribution: Europe. Culpeper (1650) writes 'Violets (to whit the blew ones, for I know little or no use of the white ones in physic) ... provoke sleep, loosen the belly, resist fevers, help inflammations, ... ease pains in the head, help the roughness of the windpipe, soreness in the throat, inflammations in the breast and sides, pleurisies, open stoppings of the liver and help the yellow jaundice'. 'Violet leaves, they are cool, ease pains in the head proceeding of heat, and frenzies, either inwardly taken or outwardly applied, heat of the stomach, or inflammation of the lungs.' It still has the same reputation in modern herbal medicine, and while its safety is not known, it is regarded as edible and flowers are used to garnish salads. Larger quantities are emetic – make one vomit. Not licensed for use in Traditional Herbal Medicines in the UK (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Vacunese contra la fiebre amarilla selvatica.
  • Vacunese contra la fiebre amarilla selvatica.
  • A yellow quarantine flag, signalling yellow fever, raised on a ship anchored at sea some distance from a port. Watercolour by E. Schwarz-Lenoir, 1920/1950 (?).
  • A woman sitting on a motorbike is embraced by her partner representing a message about the 'ABC' for life: 'A'bstinence, 'B'e faithful and 'C'ondoms; an advertisement by the Malaysian Ministry of Health and the Heal Programme. Colour lithograph, ca. 1995.
  • A dying unscrupulous medical practitioner confesses the errors of his ways to a nurse. Coloured etching by W. Heath.
  • A dying unscrupulous medical practitioner confesses the errors of his ways to a nurse. Coloured etching by W. Heath.
  • A couple sit at a bar wondering if each other is 'safe' representing a message about the 'ABC' for life: 'A'bstinence, 'B'e faithful and 'C'ondoms; an advertisement by the Malaysian Ministry of Health and the Heal Programme. Colour lithograph, ca. 1995.
  • Acorus gramineus 'Oborozuki'
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Catalogue

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