Physicians' Gallery

Printed recipe. Text reads: Of the pain in the stomach, called dolor ventriculi. 1. Apply bread hot from the oven, cut in the middle, either by itself or sprinkled with spices. 2. Apply outwardly a cataplasm of bread and milk, with the yolks of eggs and saffron. 3. Or bread from the oven, broken in the middle, and dipt in vingear. 4. Or, which is best, put the patient in a warm bath; for that is most proper.

There’s a whole meal in this 18th century medical treatment for stomach pain – unfortunately to be rubbed on the skin rather than eaten – bread, eggs, milk, vinegar and saffron

Person looking at a botanical book in a museum display case

Only two weeks left! Our Hooked exhibition closes on Friday 13th February.

Last chance to stop by and explore the history of addiction - from heroin to gambling, from alcohol to love.

Find out more 👉
www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...

Two posters advertising films. On the left is 'Reefer madness' with the tagline 'women cry for it - men die for it!', a red and black poster and on the right is a yellow and black poster for 'Marihuana' with the tagline 'weird orgies, wild parties, unleashed passions!'

1930s anti-cannabis propaganda films showed users as violent and depraved. The first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics described cannabis as ‘an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death’

Find out more in Hooked www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...

Ornate brown leather cover of a closed book

Fear of witches spread across Europe from c.1300. The author of this book, Johan Weyer, was a voice of reason in a time of terror - arguing that it was due to mental illness and superstition. He believed this was a problem for doctors, not clerics

A red velvet smoking jacket on a display stand

Fashionable smoking accessories began to appear on the market almost as soon as tobacco first arrived in Europe. The first smoking jacket was designed in the 1850s. Their purpose was to protect expensive suits from falling ash and cinders

Find out more in Hooked www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...

Remnants of spills on Renaissance-era textbook reveal recipes for 'curing' ailments with lizard heads and human feces A novel biochemical analysis of a Renaissance medical text has successfully recovered centuries-old proteins that might be from lizards and hippos.

Researchers are now using proteomics analysis on historical books, discovering all sorts of proteins people left on them centuries ago. 🏺🧪

Good point!

This advert is from 1883

Printed recipe. Reads: Lepra, leprosy. Put a serpent into a barrel of the best wine well stopt, until the serpent putrify, and then cause the leprous person drink of that wine

Life hack: always put the serpent into a barrel of wine to putrify before you use it to treat your leprosy

An open book with an illustration on the title page of a man seated at a desk smoking a pipe

Early modern view on tobacco 'the smoke of it is held to be a great antidote against venom and pestilential diseases'

Find out more in our exhibition ‘Hooked’ www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...

Woodcut illustration in a book showing an artificial hand. The hand is raised as with the palm facing out from the page - the mechanical workings of the hand can be seen

Design for an artificial hand from Les œuvres d’Ambroise Paré, c.1585. Ambroise Pare was a pioneer of battlefield medicine and surgery and devised many prostheses. This hand had springs and catches which mimicked the movement of joints.
#histmed

Printed text. Reads: mesmeric sanatorium, 37 North Castle Street, Edinburgh, Conducted by Messrs Davey and Jackson whose terms for mesmeric treatment, or phrenological delineations, may be obtained on application

What is now a cocktail bar on the corner of Edinburgh’s North Castle and George Streets was once a ‘Mesmeric Sanatorium’ – a venue for both mesmeric treatments and phrenological examinations

Warning may be habit forming!

A blue bumbag with the word 'Vicodin' on the label

This bag promotes Vicodin, an opioid. It was gifted by a pharmaceutical sales rep to a physician. It dates from the early days of the opioid crisis in the US, when the country experienced a sharp rise in the misuse of prescription drugs

Find out more in Hooked www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...

For sure! 😐

An opened red leather wallet with the words ‘medicated gelatine lamels, Savoy and Moore Ltd London’ and ‘Each sheet is divided into 24 small squares. Each small square is an ordinary dose’. Four paper rectangular packages have been removed, only two labels are clearer readable, saying ‘cinnamon and quinine’ and ‘calomel’.

Melt in your mouth chloroform anyone? Gelatine sheets from the #WW1 battlefront, marketed as containing morphine, aspirin and quinine

A cartoon depicting the flu as a person, seated, while physicians in wigs honor him and bow to him. This image is from the Wellcome Collection in London.

'Tis the season!

Physicians expressing their thanks to Influenza. Coloured etching attributed to Temple West, 1803.

#skystorians #medhist #medicalhistory #histmed #histsci #sciart #fluseason #flu

😂

Printed recipe. Text reads: For swelled legs. Take salt herrings, open them, pulling out the back-bone, lay them to the soles of your feet: by doing this once per day, for 7 days, you will experience the benefit.

Sore legs? Considered putting herrings on your feet? - Handy 1785 medical tip

Hi Andrew. No it isn't - James Gifford was inspired in his work by Rontgen and was following his lead, but he didn't copy him directly

Illustration of a man sitting in a chair. One of his leg's is raised and resting on a piece of mechanical equipment which has rods, a wheel and levers.

New Year, new you? For anyone whose New Year's resolutions involve gym membership - we jump into the history of gyms and exercise 👉 rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/gym...

On the left is a portrait of Andreas Vesalius - with short hair, a long beard and a dark but ornately designed top. On the right is an illustration of a standing skeleton with its hands raised to its skull, as if it was weeping

Born #NewYearsEve 1514, Andreas Vesalius, anatomist, physician and author of the influential text 'On the Fabric of the Human Body' #histmed

Image of two children looking at an anatomical model. Text reads: 2025 wrap up! Read more

Image of a person with long brown hair looking at a medicine chest. Text reads: We've expanded our museum, opening a new permanent gallery - all thanks to a generous bequest from Dr Joyce Grainger!

Image of a child with short hair holding a colostomy bag. Text reads: we ran 15 events and 72 tours for 3,811 visitors! Including the 240 young people who turned up to our bladder-themed Fringe event

2025 wrap up!

This year, we have…

🎉 Expanded our museum to add a new gallery
🎉 Had our digitised books downloaded over 440,000 times!
🎉 ran 15 events and 72 tours for 3,811 people!
(we’re especially proud of our bladder-themed event, who knew so many people were fascinated by bladders!)

Illustration of a collection of instruments which look like spikes, pliers and drills. In the bottom right is a skull with a hole in it

16thc trepan, used to drill holes in a patient's skull as a treatment for a whole range of conditions including headaches, hysteria and epilepsy. "Press the trepan on the thickest part, and in this take good heede..."

We've got a few spot recipes that include urine, which might be even worse!

Agreed!

Printed recipe. Text reads: For warts in the private members. Apply the blood of a drake, or blood of an eel, and you may depend upon being cured. Probatum est.

Handy eighteenth century tip for curing 'Warts in the Private Members'... nothing too complicated, just the blood of an eel, of course

Historic embroidered gloves

It's #FestiveClothes for today's #ArchiveAdventCalendar with @arascot.bsky.social. These beautifully embroidered gloves (c.1600) belonged to our College founder & surgeon, Peter Lowe. We probably wouldn't recommend wearing them to make snowballs though 😆❄️
heritage.rcpsg.ac.uk/items/show/37

A teardrop shaped inhaler with a glass tube protruding from the top

This style of ceramic inhaler was invented in the 1860s. Medical infusions were placed in the inhaler and boiling water was poured over them. Common medicines used included chlorine, iodine, creosote, vinegar and henbane.

This object is on display in our gallery 👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/joy...

Promotional image with the words: The Object Series, Physicians' Gallery Podcast, Tree of Intemperance

New episode! This week, we’re talking about an object from our temporary exhibition ‘Hooked’ – The Tree of Intemperance, an 1800s American illustration with an admonishing moral message.

Listen now 👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/tre...