Museum & Herb Garret
Poison as Medicine at the Old Op
Posted: July 11, 2024
Throughout its long, complex history, medicine has always been depended on poison. Poisons – the scientific definition of which is any substance which harms your body – have been cures,…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Insomnia
Posted: June 12, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Colic
Posted: June 12, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Asthma
Posted: June 12, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Diarrhoea
Posted: June 12, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Wound Healing
Posted: June 12, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Depression
Posted: June 12, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Coughs
Posted: June 12, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Anti-Inflammation
Posted: June 7, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Antiseptics
Posted: June 7, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Wound Dressings
Posted: June 7, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Constipation
Posted: June 7, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Headaches
Posted: June 7, 2024
Disclaimer The research and writing done for this project were not completed by a medical practitioner, and thus any recommendations made must be taken with caution. Please understand that this…
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Herbals & Pharmaceuticals: Introduction
Posted: June 6, 2024
We’ve all heard jokes about how trivial things like coughs, fevers, or even an ill-timed fall could easily kill in the olden days, and it’s easy to laugh; we’ve developed…
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Featured Object: Apothecary Jars
Posted: October 31, 2022
What medicines were given to hospital patients in the 18th century? How did apothecaries store medicines? How do we know what these jars contained? Want to learn more? Read our…
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Featured Object: Pestle and Mortar
Posted: October 31, 2022
How did St Thomas’ Hospital contribute to the local economy? Why did apothecaries need mortars and pestles of different sizes and materials? Why did they stop using metal mortars? Want…
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Featured Object: Rhubarb
Posted: October 31, 2022
What caused the 18th-century ‘rhubarb mania’? What was rhubarb used to treat? How did rhubarb end up as an ingredient in British puddings? Want to learn more? Read the full…
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Featured Object: Leech Jar
Posted: October 31, 2022
What was the 19th-century leech craze? Why did St Thomas’ Hospital use over 50,000 leeches in 1822? Want to learn more? Read the full blog. See our Featured Objects playlist on YouTube…
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How Did St Thomas’ Hospital Contribute to the Local Economy?
Posted: September 29, 2022
While providing care for the sick and injured, St Thomas’ Hospital was a significant contributor to the local economy in Southwark and the City of London, providing employment, and buying…
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Deciphering the Contents of Apothecary Jars
Posted: September 29, 2022
From the middle of the 17th century, the designs on apothecary jars began to include a cartouche (label) with a Latin abbreviation indicating the jar’s contents. Deciphering the abbreviations on…
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How Were Prescriptions Prepared in the 18th-century Hospital?
Posted: September 29, 2022
If you found yourself suffering with carbuncles in the early 18th century, the treatment recommended by a physician from St Thomas’ Hospital might have been a poultice made with onions,…
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Leeches: An Early Nineteenth-century Obsession
Posted: December 9, 2021
In 1822 St. Thomas’ Hospital used over 50,000 leeches for medical bloodletting, over 31 times more than just four years previously. It is a remarkable increase in use, and one…
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‘Gold, Silver and Rhubarb’, Britain’s mystery wonder drug that became its favourite pudding
Posted: October 3, 2021
Strange as it seems, until relatively recently rhubarb was an exotic mystery plant from unknown lands. Nowadays it may be more at home in a pie or a crumble than…
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Unicorns and Disingenuous Apothecaries
Posted: August 1, 2019
On the 30th of January I attended the opening of the current exhibition at the Royal College of Physicians, ‘A Cabinet of Rarities’: the Curious Collections of Sir Thomas Browne.…
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