Stories
- Book extract
Ayurveda: Knowledge for long life
The story of medicine in India is rich and complex. Aarathi Prasad investigates how it came to be this way.
- Article
Black pepper to fuel fiery fights and cure haemorrhoids
This common condiment was once very valuable and, until surprisingly recently, used as a versatile medicine.
- Article
Shakespeare and the four humours
Blood. Phlegm. Black bile. Yellow bile. The theory of the four humours informed many of Shakespeare's best-known characters, including the phlegmatic Falstaff.
- Article
When monarchs healed the sick
Our current Queen fortunately doesn’t have to spend hours laying hands on the sick to cure them. But it was a different story for monarchs of the early modern era, whose touch was a sought-after treatment for scrofula.
Catalogue
- Pictures
A pharmacist and his apprentice - the apprentice points out that a customer can't be taking his medicine because he is getting better quickly. Coloured lithograph, c. 1840.
Date: [c. 1840]Reference: 16121iPart of: Notions of the agreeable- Books
Medicina alegre : frades contra medicos / Silva Carvalho.
Carvalho, Silva.Date: [1921?]- Pictures
- Online
A doctor informs his patient's mother-in-law that he may need to resort to tapping - she misunderstands him as meaning tapping alcohol. Wood engraving by C. Keene, 1880.
Keene, Charles, 1823-1891.Date: 1880Reference: 14277i- Books
Laughing at cancer : how to heal with love, laughter and mindfulness / Ros Ben-Moshe.
Ben-Moshe, RosDate: 2017- Pictures
- Online
Two girls commenting on the fact that the new doctor's children are ugly as they pass them in the woods - misinterpreting the theory of natural selection. Wood engraving after G. Du Maurier, 1892.
Du Maurier, George, 1834-1896.Date: 1892Reference: 14295i