Stories
- Article
The secret lives of Britain’s first Black physicians
Dr Annabel Sowemimo explores the web of connections between early Black British doctors, the role of empire in West Africa and the pernicious reach of scientific racism.
- Article
Medics and the bomb
Would a nuclear attack on the UK overwhelm the NHS? At the height of the Cold War, despite government optimism, medics predicted doom.
- Article
Deadly doses and the hardest of hard drugs
The invention of the modern hypodermic syringe meant we could get high – or accidentally die – faster than before. Find out how this medical breakthrough was adapted for deadly uses.
- Book extract
How to stay together while keeping apart
Vivek Murthy explores how we can keep physically distant while staying emotionally connected.
![Galega officinalis L. Fabaceae. Goat's Rue. Distribution: Central and Southern Europe, Asia Minor. Culpeper (1650) writes that it ‘... resists poison, kills worms, resists the falling sickness [epilepsy], resisteth the pestilence.’ Galega officinalis contains guanidine which reduces blood sugar by decreasing insulin resistance and inhibiting hepatic gluconeogenesis.. Metformin and Phenformin are drugs for type II diabetes that rely on this group of chemicals, known as biguanidines. Its name gala, meaning milk plus ega meaning 'to bring on', refers to its alleged property of increasing milk yield, and has been used in France to increase milk yield in cows. officinalis refers to its use in the offices of the monks, and is a common specific name for medicinal plants before 1600 and adopted by Linnaeus (1753). The fresh plant tastes of pea pods. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/B0009022/full/282%2C/0/default.jpg)
![Paeonia officinalis L. Paeoniaceae, European Peony, Distribution: Europe. The peony commemorates Paeon, physician to the Gods of ancient Greece (Homer’s Iliad v. 401 and 899, circa 800 BC). Paeon, came to be associated as being Apollo, Greek god of healing, poetry, the sun and much else, and father of Aesculapius/Asclepias. Theophrastus (circa 300 BC), repeated by Pliny, wrote that if a woodpecker saw one collecting peony seed during the day, it would peck out one’s eyes, and (like mandrake) the roots had to be pulled up at night by tying them to the tail of a dog, and one’s ‘fundament might fall out’ [anal prolapse] if one cut the roots with a knife. Theophrastus commented ‘all this, however, I take to be so much fiction, most frivolously invented to puff up their supposed marvellous properties’. Dioscorides (70 AD, tr. Beck, 2003) wrote that 15 of its black seeds, drunk with wine, were good for nightmares, uterine suffocation and uterine pains. Officinalis indicates it was used in the offices, ie the clinics, of the monks in the medieval era. The roots, hung round the neck, were regarded as a cure for epilepsy for nearly two thousand years, and while Galen would have used P. officinalis, Parkinson (1640) recommends the male peony (P. mascula) for this. He also recommends drinking a decoction of the roots. Elizabeth Blackwell’s A Curious Herbal (1737), published by the College of Physicians, explains that it was used to cure febrile fits in children, associated with teething. Although she does not mention it, these stop whatever one does. Parkinson also reports that the seeds are used for snake bite, uterine bleeding, people who have lost the power of speech, nightmares and melancholy. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/B0009095/full/282%2C/0/default.jpg)
![Paeonia officinalis L. Paeoniaceae, European Peony, Distribution: Europe. The peony commemorates Paeon, physician to the Gods of ancient Greece (Homer’s Iliad v. 401 and 899, circa 800 BC). Paeon, came to be associated as being Apollo, Greek god of healing, poetry, the sun and much else, and father of Aesculapius/Asclepias. Theophrastus (circa 300 BC), repeated by Pliny, wrote that if a woodpecker saw one collecting peony seed during the day, it would peck out one’s eyes, and (like mandrake) the roots had to be pulled up at night by tying them to the tail of a dog, and one’s ‘fundament might fall out’ [anal prolapse] if one cut the roots with a knife. Theophrastus commented ‘all this, however, I take to be so much fiction, most frivolously invented to puff up their supposed marvellous properties’. Dioscorides (70 AD, tr. Beck, 2003) wrote that 15 of its black seeds, drunk with wine, were good for nightmares, uterine suffocation and uterine pains. Officinalis indicates it was used in the offices, ie the clinics, of the monks in the medieval era. The roots, hung round the neck, were regarded as a cure for epilepsy for nearly two thousand years, and while Galen would have used P. officinalis, Parkinson (1640) recommends the male peony (P. mascula) for this. He also recommends drinking a decoction of the roots. Elizabeth Blackwell’s A Curious Herbal (1737), published by the College of Physicians, explains that it was used to cure febrile fits in children, associated with teething. Although she does not mention it, these stop whatever one does. Parkinson also reports that the seeds are used for snake bite, uterine bleeding, people who have lost the power of speech, nightmares and melancholy. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/B0009094/full/600%2C/0/default.jpg)
Catalogue
- Books
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The Harveian oration : delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, October 18th 1887 / by W.H. Stone.
Stone, William H.Date: 1887- Books
- Online
The london kalendar; or, court and city register, for England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, for the year 1800; Including a List of the present Parliament, more extensive and useful than in any other Book of the Kind yet published. Containing, England. I. Lists of both Houses of Parliament; the State, Law, Revenue, and Public, Offices, at the Court, in the City of London, and different Parts of the Kingdom; the Army and Navy; Baronets, Universities, Seminaries, Medical Societies, Hospitals, &c. &c. Scotland. II. All the Peers, Baronets; State, Law, Revenue, and Public, Offices; Universities, Physicians, &c. Ireland. III. Both Houses of Parliament; a List of the Baronets; all the Law, State, Revenue, and public, Offices, Bankers, Deans, &c. &c. America. IV. The Military and Civil Establishments; Governors, Law and Revenue Officers, &c. &c. Carefully corrected at the respective Offices.
Date: [1800]- Books
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The london kalendar; or, court and city register, for England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, for the year 1799; Including a List of the present Parliament, more extensive and useful than in any other Book of the Kind yet published. Containing, England. I. Lists of both Houses of Parliament; the State, Law, Revenue, and Public, Offices, at the Court, in the City of London, and different Parts of the Kingdom; the Army and Navy; Baronets, Universities, Seminaries, Medical Societies, Hospitals, &c. &c. Scotland. II. All the Peers, Baronets; State, Law, Revenue, and Public, Offices; Universities, Physicians, &c. Ireland. III. Both Houses of Parliament; a List of the Baronets; all the Law, State, Revenue, and public, Offices, Bankers, Deans, &c. &c. America. IV. The Military and Civil Establishments; Governors, Law and Revenue Officers, &c. &c.CAREFULLY Corrected at the respective Offices.
Date: [1799]- Books
- Online
The london calendar, or court and city register for England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, for the year 1787; Including a Complete and Correct List of the present Parliament, more extensive and useful than in any other Book of the Kind yet published. Containing England. I. Correct Lists of both Houses of Parliament; the State, Law, Revenue, and Public Offices, at the Court, in the City of London, and different Parts of the Kingdom; the Army and Navy; Baronets, Universities, Seminaries, Medical Societies, Hospitals, &c. &c. Scotland. II. All the Peers, Baronets, State, Law, Revenue, and Public Offices, Universities, Physicians, &c. Ireland. III. Both Houses of Parliament, a complete List of the Baronets, all the Law, State, Revenue, and public Offices, Bankers, Deans, &c. &c. America. IV. The Military and Civil Establishments; Governors, Law and Revenue Officers, &c. &c. Carefully corrected at the Respective Offices.
Date: [1787]- Books
- Online
The london calendar; or, court and city register, for England, Scotland, Ireland, and America, for the year 1793; Including a Complete and Correct List of the present Parliament, more extensive and useful than in any other Book of the Kind yet published. Containing, England. I. Correct Lists of both Houses of Parliament; the State, Law, Revenue, and Public Offices, at the Court, in the City of London, and different Parts of the Kingdom; the Army and Navy; Baronets, Universities, Seminaries, Medical Societies, Hospitals, &c. &c. Scotland. II. All the Peers, Baronets, State, Law, Revenue, and Public Offices, Universities, Physicians, &c. Ireland. III. Both Houses of Parliament, a complete List of the Baronets, all the Law, State, Revenue, and public Offices, Bankers, Deans, &c. &c. America. IV. The Military and Civil Establishments; Governors Law and Revenue Officers, &c. &c. Carefully corrected at the Respective Offices.
Date: [1793]