https://api.wellcomecollection.org/catalogue/v2/context.json

This condom is made of animal gut membrane, known as caecal. Condoms prevent semen entering the vagina. They are a barrier contraceptive. Animal membrane has been used to make condoms for hundreds of years. Condoms made from lamb intestines are still available. However, most condoms are made from latex or polyurethane. Caecal condoms were effective against pregnancy because animal membrane is porous to viruses. They do not reliably protect against sexually transmitted infections such as AIDS. This example was made by chemists John Bell and Croyden Limited.

maker: John Bell and Croyden Limited

Place made: London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Condom, England, London, England, 1901-1930

Wartime England.

Plague orders; England

Letters from England

A stethometer is used to measure how far the chest expands during breathing. These measurements are useful in diagnosing a disease such as tuberculosis, which in its advanced state can reduce how well a person is able to breathe. This object was owned by John Harley, a physician who worked at King’s College Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital (both in London) during his career. The stethometer was made by Robert Brettell Bate, an optical and mathematical instrument maker.

maker: Bate, Robert Brettell

Place made: London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Stethometer, England, 1808-1847

The weights of babies were recorded using this balance. It measures up to 16lbs (7.2kg). It was used in hospitals. The spring stretched when the child was placed in the pan. The measurement was then read. Babies are now usually weighed regularly after they are born to monitor their early growth.

maker: Best

Place made: London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Spring balance, London, England

2 volumes : frontispiece, portraits, maps, plates ; 23 cm

England and Wales delineated

Ship’s Biscuit was sometimes known as ‘hard tack’ because of its jaw-breaking toughness. It was a staple diet of sailors for centuries. It was baked en masse before long voyages and stored until use. Ship’s Biscuit was made of flour, water and salt, but was often bulked out with other edible or inedible substances such as sawdust. It was one of the few foods that would not perish during a long sea voyage. However, many were bored into by weevils or nibbled by rats by the time the sailors ate them. Their limited nutritional value and lack of vitamin C meant the crew could develop scurvy if they relied on it.

This biscuit belonged to the ship’s carpenter on an expedition to the Arctic in 1875. The expedition involved HMS Alert and HMS Discovery under the command of Captain George S. Nares. 138 officers and crew went on the expedition with several men identified as ‘Carpenter’s crew’ or ‘Carpenter’s mate’. The biscuit bears the government stamp of an inverted arrow. This was placed on all government belongings. It also has the initial ‘D’, which possibly stands for ‘Discovery’. Nares’ expedition was called off early after scurvy affected both ships. Nares was blamed because there was no lime juice to prevent the disease. Difficult weather conditions also made exploring the Arctic virtually impossible.

maker: Unknown maker

Place made: England, United Kingdom

Ship's biscuit, England, 1875

Medical reform in England

Collection of medical recipes [written in the area of Worcestershire, first quarter of the 15th century]. Coloured drawings serve as extravagant decoration for the catchwords.

Cover

Medical Recipe Collection, England

The growing influence of biomedicine in the 1800s did not necessarily replace established forms of treatment based on belief and superstition. What could be referred to as folk medicine – customs that often went back generations – continued to be practised. For example, carrying around this piece of bone was believed to be a cure for rheumatism (aches and pains in the joints), transferring the pain from person to stone. 

Edward Lovett (1852-1933), a collector of British amulets and charms, acquired this piece of animal or human bone in Brandon, Suffolk, England in 1909. Part of Lovett’s collection was purchased by Henry Wellcome in 1930. It is pictured here with two other bones used as a ‘cure’ for aching joints (A79960 and A665266).

maker: Unknown maker

Place made: England, United Kingdom

Bone, England, 1870-1909

Alcoholism in mediaeval England

Posset, made from hot milk curdled with ale or wine, and sometimes thickened with breadcrumbs, was drunk as a popular remedy for colds. Spices could also be added to the mixture. This pot was used to store posset and is made from tin-glazed earthenware. The design of this posset pot, with its straight sides and two handles, is typical of those made in London. The initials “MTD” painted either side of the spout may indicate either the owner or the pot’s maker.

maker: Unknown maker

Place made: London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom

Posset pot, England, 1651

Anthony Bell, a surgeon based in Newcastle, patented the design for his device in 1879. The machine was used to make the surrounding air antiseptic. The hammer tapped the base of a small container of medicated powder, rather like an upside down salt shaker. The powder was sprinkled into the path of a fan in the tinned cylinder at the back of the machine. Air from the fan was propelled through a piece of gauze sprayed with carbolic acid. The medicated powder and the carbolic acid combined to rid the air of germs.

maker: Bell, Anthony

Place made: Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom

Antiseptic machine, England, 1879

A female pianist who had her arm amputated below the elbow used this artificial arm. A blocked leather socket is connected by jointed side steels to a long leather upper arm corset with four strap and buckle fastenings. The arm has a shaped wooden oval wrist with detachable wooden hand. The design has a wide finger spread. The index, middle and ring fingers are shorter than normal. There is also a padded thumb and little finger. This allowed the wearer to span an octave while playing the piano. She played the piano while wearing the arm at the Royal Albert Hall in 1906. It was made by Mr Royden of Abingdon Street in Northampton, England, c. 1904.

Artificial arm, Northampton, England

This standard surgical instrument is reputedly from the Tower of London. It appears to have been used as a torture implement. The jaws of the distender separate when the thumbscrew is turned and can forcibly open a mouth. The distender is embossed with the maker’s name, ‘Gill’. It was supposedly found at the Tower after a fire in 1841. Torture was used in the Tower to extract information from prisoners. However, contrary to popular belief only a small proportion of prisoners were tortured.

maker: Gill

Place made: England, United Kingdom

Distender, England, 1700-1800

Spitting was a common and socially acceptable habit during the 1600s and 1700s. Spittoons were used as containers for spit and could be found inside many public places, such as inns and pubs, as well as private homes. From the late 1800s, the practice was discouraged as it was realised that spit contained germs that could spread diseases including tuberculosis, one of the biggest killers of the time.

maker: Unknown maker

Place made: England, United Kingdom

Spittoon, England, 1660-1760

Sex life in England

René Laennec (1781-1826) invented the monaural stethoscope in 1816. It was devised as a diagnostic tool to listen to the heart and breathing in the human body. His design was modified by others over time. This example was developed by pioneering French physician Pierre Piorry (1794-1879). It is made of wood with a metal inner tube. The Piorry-type stheoscope is considered to be the first easily portable stethoscope. 

The holes in the stem are a further modification attributed to distinguished British surgeon Dr William Crowfoot. The plug was removed when listening to the lungs. It was retained when listening to the heart.

maker: Unknown maker

Place made: England, United Kingdom

Stethoscope, England, 1834-1840

A pessary can be a device to support the vagina or rectum, a form of contraception, or a medical treatment. However, these examples probably measured women for diaphragms. The box contains 19 sizes to fit the patient. Each is individually marked. A diaphragm is a dome-shaped disc that covers the cervix. Sperm is prevented from entering the uterus, preventing pregnancy. This set came from the personal collection of F. T. Burkitt (1981-1961). He was a British surgeon and radiologist during the 1920s.

maker: Unknown maker

Place made: England, United Kingdom

Pessaries, England, 1925-1960

Mortars were used with pestles to crush and grind ingredients for drug preparations which were often in the form of powders, ointments or solutions. The mortar and pestle are both ancient tools, traditionally the most recognisable symbols associated with the pharmaceutical profession.

This mortar is made from bell metal, which is a form of bronze. Its bell shape suggests it may have been cast in a bell foundry, which was very common. Marked with the year “1607”, this mortar is heavy at more than 5 kg and would have been a hard-wearing object able to withstand years of use.

maker: Unknown maker

Place made: England, United Kingdom

Bronze mortar, England, 1607

Spitting was a common and socially acceptable habit in Europe until the 1800s. Pottery spittoons like this one were used as containers for spit and could be found both inside and outside of public places, such as inns and public houses. 

From the late 1800s, spitting was discouraged as it was realised that the habit could spread potentially fatal diseases. These included tuberculosis, or consumption as it was then known, one of the biggest killers of the period. This glazed ceramic spittoon has a blue and white ‘tower’ transfer design and is marked underneath with the maker’s name, Spode.

maker: Spode

Place made: England, United Kingdom

Spittoon, England, 1801-1810

Anaesthesia Exhibition: 1946.

Showcase: ether apparatus, England 1847.

Ether apparatus, England 1847.

Alligators such as this one were once commonly hung from the ceilings of apothecary shops. They appear to have been symbols associated with the profession and one was even mentioned by William Shakespeare who, in Romeo and Juliet, describes an apothecary in which hangs “An alligator stuff’d, and other skins of ill-shaped fishes”.

Apothecaries and barber-surgeons were close professions and the latter also had similar creatures on display in their premises.

maker: Unknown maker

Place made: England, United Kingdom

Filter by

Condom, England, London, England, 1901-1930

Wartime England.

Plague orders; England

Letters from England

Stethometer, England, 1808-1847

Spring balance, London, England

England and Wales delineated

Ship's biscuit, England, 1875

Medical reform in England

Medical Recipe Collection, England

Bone, England, 1870-1909

Alcoholism in mediaeval England

Posset pot, England, 1651

Antiseptic machine, England, 1879

Artificial arm, Northampton, England

Distender, England, 1700-1800

Spittoon, England, 1660-1760

Sex life in England

Stethoscope, England, 1834-1840

Pessaries, England, 1925-1960

Artificial arm, Northampton, England

Bronze mortar, England, 1607

Spittoon, England, 1801-1810

Ether apparatus, England 1847.

Model alligator, England, 1801-1900

Be the first to know

Wellcome collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Filter by

Condom, England, London, England, 1901-1930

Wartime England.

Plague orders; England

Letters from England

Stethometer, England, 1808-1847

Spring balance, London, England

England and Wales delineated

Ship's biscuit, England, 1875

Medical reform in England

Medical Recipe Collection, England

Bone, England, 1870-1909

Alcoholism in mediaeval England

Posset pot, England, 1651

Antiseptic machine, England, 1879

Artificial arm, Northampton, England

Distender, England, 1700-1800

Spittoon, England, 1660-1760

Sex life in England

Stethoscope, England, 1834-1840

Pessaries, England, 1925-1960

Artificial arm, Northampton, England

Bronze mortar, England, 1607

Spittoon, England, 1801-1810

Ether apparatus, England 1847.

Model alligator, England, 1801-1900

Be the first to know

Wellcome collectionWellcome Collection

Finding us:

Opening times:

Today's opening times

Wellcome collection