Browse Artefacts (885 total)

Tincture of Myrrh, labelled by Sir Stuart Threipland in his medicine chest as ‘Ti Myrrh’. Myrrh is a resin extracted from commiphora habessinica, here combined with liquid to make an infusion. Tinctures of myrrh were used as astringents and…

A small cylindrical medicine vial with screw top lid labelled ‘Tonsillitis’. The vial is filled with a number of greyish pills that, according to the label, contain: Tr. Aconite 1-5 gtt., Tr. Belladonna 1-10 gtt., Tr. Bryonia 1-10 gtt., and Red…

Illustration from the collection of Alexander Morison. Signed A Johnston. The drawing is of one of a pair of sculptures by Caius Gabriel Cibber made for the gate of Bethlem Hospital and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Elliptical, cog-like metal head with wooden handle. No label.

Wooden handle with one flat side and one curved side. No carvings. No label.

This bottle probably contained a substance called ‘Gregory’s Powder’ as evidenced by the pinkish hue of the surviving powder. The powder was named after its inventor Dr James Gregory, a physician in Edinburgh and was used as a laxative. It…

This bottle is empty and unlabelled.

This bottle is mostly empty but there are remnants of a dark red powder.

This bottle is empty.

A small glass bottle with cork stopper labelled ‘Veratrum Album’, filled with a number of white, spherical pills.

A perennial plant native to Europe, growing in ‘wet meadows and swampy places’, veratrum album sports a bitter and acrid…