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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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Petasites hybridus (L.)G.Gaertn., B.Mey. & Scherb. Asteraceae. Butterbur, Bog rhubarb. Distribution: Europe, NW Asia. Culpeper (1650) writes: “The roots are ... exceeding good in violent and pestilential fevers, they provoke the terms, expel poison, and kill worms.” Modern herbalists recommend it for a wide range of therapies, but it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are hepatotoxic and cause liver cancers. Nevertheless, in a trial aimed at reducing frequency of migraine attacks, a standardised commercial preparation was well tolerated, and was effective at higher doses, but placebo in this trial reduced migraines by over 50% in 49% of the patients (Neurology 2004
  • Petasites hybridus (L.)G.Gaertn., B.Mey. & Scherb. Asteraceae. Butterbur, Bog rhubarb. Distribution: Europe, NW Asia. Culpeper (1650) writes: “The roots are ... exceeding good in violent and pestilential fevers, they provoke the terms, expel poison, and kill worms.” Modern herbalists recommend it for a wide range of therapies, but it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are hepatotoxic and cause liver cancers. Nevertheless, in a trial aimed at reducing frequency of migraine attacks, a standardised commercial preparation was well tolerated, and was effective at higher doses, but placebo in this trial reduced migraines by over 50% in 49% of the patients (Neurology 2004
  • Geranium phaeum L. Geraniaceae Dusky cranesbill. Herbaceous perennial. Distribution: Europe. This seems to be the 'Dove's foote', Geranium alterum, of Lyte (1578). He says it is 'not good in Medicyne. Notwithstanding at this time, it is much used against all woundes, and ulcers being laid therunto.'. Parkinson (1640) classifies cranesbills somewhat differently, but says that 'all are found to be effectual both in inward and outward wounds, to stay bleedings, vomitings and fluxes, eyther the decoction of the herbe or the powder of the leaves and roots used as the cause demands.' No current medicinal use. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
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