Stories
- Article
The yogi as hermit, warrior, criminal and showman
How the modern world changed the life and reputation of the yogi.
- Article
Epidemic threats and racist legacies
Epidemiology is the systematic, data-driven study of health and disease in populations. But as historian Jacob Steere-Williams suggests, this most scientific of fields emerged in the 19th century imbued with a doctrine of Western imperialism – a legacy that continues to influence how we talk about disease.
- Article
Chillies and the trouble with Scoville
Measuring the heat of these peppers can leave you a little lukewarm.
- Article
Aphasia and drawing elephants
When Thomas Parkinson investigated the history of “speech science”, he discovered an unexpected link between empire, elephants and aphasia.
Catalogue
- Books
Ancient faiths and modern : a dissertation upon worships, legends and divinities in Central and Western Asia, Europe, and elsewhere, before the Christian era. Showing their relations to religious customs as they now exist / by Thomas Inman.
Inman, Thomas, 1820-1876.Date: 1876- Books
- Online
Ancient faiths and modern : a dissertation upon worships, legends and divinities in Central and Western Asia, Europe, and elsewhere, before the Christian era : showing their relations to religious customs as they now exist / by Thomas Inman.
Inman, Thomas, 1820-1876.Date: 1876- Books
Western medical reports on Central Eurasia / Ruth I. Meserve.
Meserve, Ruth I.Date: 1997- Books
- Online
Oriental and western Siberia : a narrative of seven years' explorations and adventures in Siberia, Mongolia the Kirghis steppes, Chinese Tartary, and part of Central Asia / by Thomas Witlam Atkinson.
Atkinson, Thomas Witlam, 1799-1861.Date: 1858- Digital Images
- Online
Salvia nemorosa L. Lamiaceae Woodland sage. Balkan clary Distribution: Central Europe, Western Asia. Most of the historical medicinal literature is on common sage, Salvia officinalis. The name Salvia meaning 'healthy'. Elizabeth Blackwell (1737) wrote that it had "... all the noble Properties of the other hot Plants more especially for the Head, Memory, Eyes, and all Paralytical Affections. In short, 'tis a Plant endu'd with so many and wonderful Properties, as that the assiduous use of it is said to render Men Immortal" with which Hans Sloane agreed. Linnaeus (1782) also: 'Timor, Languor, Leucorrhoea, Senectus [fear, tiredness, white vaginal discharge, old age]'. Its health giving and immortality conferring properties were recorded in the aphorisms of the School of Salerno (fl 9-13th century) - quoted in the Decameron [c.1350, translated: Why should man die when Salvia grows in the Garden']. Some salvias, such as Salvia divinorum contain hallucinogenic compounds. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Henry Oakeley