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  • Article

Yoga gets physical

Modern yoga owes a debt to the physical culture movement that created a world obsessed with health and fitness.

  • Article

Guide dogs or good dogs from the Middle Ages

Medieval illustrations often show blind people, sometimes with dogs. But working out whether these were actually guide dogs involves a mix of detailed detective work and expert speculation.

  • Article

How architecture builds a profession of stress

Architects might produce buildings that enhance our health, but at what cost? Kristin Hohenadel explores architecture’s pressurised and stressful culture.

  • In pictures

In pursuit of purity

Many cultures associate physical cleanliness with spiritual purity, while disease and dirt are signs of moral pollution.

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  • The physical atlas; a series of maps illustrating the geographical distribution of natural phenomena / [Heinrich Karl Wilhelm Berghaus].
  • On the geographical distribution of some tropical diseases and their relation to physical phenomena / by R.W. Felkin.
  • On the geographical distribution of some tropical diseases and their relation to physical phenomena / by R.W. Felkin.
  • Rohdea japonica Roth Convallariaceae Distribution: Japan. It is a monotypic genus known as omoto in Japan, meaning ‘evergreen’. It is regarded as a symbol of long life and good fortune
  • Polygonatum x hybridum Brugger Convalliariaceae. Hybrid Solomon's Seal (P. multiflorum x P. odoratum) It has the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Rhizomatous herbaceous perennial. Distribution: Garden plant whose parents come from Europe and Asia. Dioscorides (70 AD ex Beck, 2005) reports that Polygonatum is good for wounds if a poultice is applied, and that it also removes facial blemishes. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Pinus mugo Turra, Pinaceae Mountain pine. Distribution: Mountain regions in south and central Europe. Source of pine cone syrup used in cooking. Pine trees in general have a small edible pine nut in the pine cone, which Lyte (1578) writes are 'good for the lungs, they cleanse the breast, and cause the fleme to be spit out: also they nourish well and engender good blood, and for this cause they are good for such as have the cough.' He wrote that it was used for burns, wounds, dysentery, and as a diuretic. Quincy says of fir (Pinus) cones that they strengthen the genital parts, and increase the quantity of seed, or increase Desire without adding to Ability or Performance. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • The accomplish'd female instructor: or, a very useful companion for ladies, gentlewomen, and others. In two parts. Part I. Treating of generous breeding and behaviour; choice of company, friendship; the art of speaking well [etc.] ... Part II. Treating of making curious confectionaries, or sweet-meats, jellies, syrups, cordial-waters ... to know good provisions, dye curious colours, whiten ivory ... physical and chyrurgical receipts ... and a great number of other useful and profitable things.
  • The accomplish'd female instructor: or, a very useful companion for ladies, gentlewomen, and others. In two parts. Part I. Treating of generous breeding and behaviour; choice of company, friendship; the art of speaking well [etc.] ... Part II. Treating of making curious confectionaries, or sweet-meats, jellies, syrups, cordial-waters ... to know good provisions, dye curious colours, whiten ivory ... physical and chyrurgical receipts ... and a great number of other useful and profitable things.
  • The accomplish'd female instructor: or, a very useful companion for ladies, gentlewomen, and others. In two parts. Part I. Treating of generous breeding and behaviour; choice of company, friendship; the art of speaking well [etc.] ... Part II. Treating of making curious confectionaries, or sweet-meats, jellies, syrups, cordial-waters ... to know good provisions, dye curious colours, whiten ivory ... physical and chyrurgical receipts ... and a great number of other useful and profitable things.
  • Tussilago farfara L. Asteraceae. Coltsfoot. Distribution: Europe, N. Africa, W & N Asia . Culpeper (1650) writes: ‘Tussilago. Coltsfoot. ... they are admirable good for coughs and consumptions of the lungs, shortness of breath etc. It is often used and with great success taken in a tobacco pipe, being cut and mixed with a little oil of Annis seeds.’ It is hepatotoxic genotoxic and carcinogenic due to the pyrrolizidine alkaloids that it contains. It should not be taken internally (Medicines Control Agency, 2002). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
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