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Physicians' Gallery

@physiciansgallery.bsky.social

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A free museum and library exploring the science and humanity of medicine at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Sign up to our newsletter www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 9

Visit our free #Edinburgh exhibition Hooked.

Exploring pills, drink, snuff and cigarettes, we uncover the many faces of addiction and the many attempts to combat it.

📍 Physicians’ Gallery, 11 Queen Street, EH2 1JQ

📅 Mon – Fri, 10am – 4.30pm

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

Three people looking into museum display cases

A person looking at an interactive display showing a gambling fruit machine

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · 9h

Dr Ebenezer Sibly, using his miracle tincture, the occult, and mesmerism to 'cure' a patient, ('A Key to Physic and the Occult Sciences')

An 18th century coloured print. Two figures - on the right is a seated woman in a green dress, on the left, standing over her, is a man in a red frockcoat. He holds up his hands and rays - dotted lines - emanate from his hands to her face

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · 7d

18thc medical advice for #internationalcoffeeday – try opium in your coffee for ‘the Coffee takes of the narcotic quality of the Opium’ cullenproject.ac.uk/docs/5939/

Handwritten text. Reads: opium in strong coffee

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · 9d

This is the first known illustration of a straitjacket (1794). Despite many seeing it as an extreme method of restraint, it was introduced as a humane solution. Although still dehumanising, it was an improvement on manacling and chaining patients to walls

Black and white print of 7 images - a person restrained on a bed, the bed itself, a person wearing a straitjacket, manacles and wrist restraints

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · 14d

Old and stale urine of a man anyone?

Printed text. Reads: for blisters. 1. Anoint the place either with old and stale urine of a man. 2. Or, with the rust of iron. 3,. Or, with sanguis draconis. 4. Or, with cinnabarum.

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Reposted by Physicians' Gallery

Cat Irving @anatomicalcat.bsky.social · Aug 29

Looking at this 18thC model of female pelvic anatomy, you see three foetuses. This isn’t showing pregnancy with triplets - it’s an intended to show different types of ectopic pregnancy. You can see ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal. It was produced by sculptor Francesc Citarelli to teach obstetrics

A model of the female pelvic region where you can see the kidneys and major abdominal blood vessels, and three foetuses lying outside the uterus

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · 16d

Magiae Naturalis or Natural Magic. This book includes a recipe for Witches’ Unguent that supposedly allowed witches to fly at night… or at least they thought they could, due to its hallucinogenic properties!

A book frontispiece showing a man in a long robe holding a sword pointed at a mirror - another hand inside the mirror also hold a sword, pointing it back at the man

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Reposted by Physicians' Gallery

RCPSG Heritage @rcpsgheritage.bsky.social · 26d

Chomp!

Love this little guy taking a bite out of the gastronomy map of France (Cours gastronomique, ou, Les diners de Manant-ville, c.1809) 😋

Illustration of a man taking a bite out of the title of the book

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · 20d

1800s medical kit containing Spanish fly. Also known as Blister Beetles because they were applied to the skin in order to create blisters which supposedly forced the sickness out

A wooden box with the glass lid slid open - showing the contents, a mass of green beetles

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · 26d

Blog post! Prohibition stories...

Anti-tea and coffee spokespersons had once decried those drinks as creating ‘tea mania’ and ‘coffee drunkards’. But by 1920 the Temperance Movement was advocating for more coffee shops and tearooms as an alternative to pubs.

👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/her...

Promotional image. Text reads: Blog post, Hooked, last orders. Image shows an empty bottle with the label 'Jamaica Ginger'.

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · 29d

Chinese utensils used in preparing and drinking tea, from a 1600s work by Simon Paulli

Find out more about the history of tea in our exhibition ‘Hooked’ www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...

Black and white illustration showing tea-related implements - three teapots, an oval tub, and three long thin implements

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Reposted by Physicians' Gallery

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · Sep 6

The hematologist Oswald H. Robertson pioneered the idea of "blood banks" in WWI by packing glass jars of citrated blood from universal donors in an ice-filled chest that he had constructed from ammunition cases. Learn more in my book THE FACEMAKER: drlindseyfitzharris.com/the-facemaker/

A blue-grey box with a Red Cross on it, which reads: "BLOOD TRANSFUSION SET."

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Sep 5

Fishwives, or ‘oyster lasses’, were common figures in the streets of 1700s Edinburgh. Oysters were so plentiful that they were considered to be cheap snack food. The shells themselves, when ground up, were taken to relieve heartburn

Black and white illustration of a woman carrying a wicker bag on her back and another on her arm. She is wearing a headscarf and long striped skirt.

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Reposted by Physicians' Gallery

RCPSG Heritage @rcpsgheritage.bsky.social · Aug 25

Class card belonging to Murdoch Cameron, a pioneer in caesarean section under antiseptic conditions. The card shows attendance at Joseph Lister's Clinical Lectures on the Cases of Surgical Patients, held in 1867 at Glasgow Royal Infirmary

Small card showing that Mr Murdoch Cameron attended Lister's class. The card is dated 1867

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Sep 1

Good point!

Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Sep 1

I think I prefer the summer treatment…winter is a bit too uriney

Printed recipe. Text reads: To cause one look younger-like. Clean your face in summer with the juice of wild roses; and in winter with your own urine, or the juice of camphire: in doing this, you will appear ruddy, and of a goodly complexion

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 25

Charcot was a French neurologist who studied hypnotism in cases of hysteria. He held public displays of his skills which were attended by actors, authors and others, including a young Sigmund Freud. They were viewed as salacious as they often involved semi-clad young women

Two black and white photographs of young women in nightgowns - the woman on the left poses on a chair with her leg outstretched, on the right she sits on a bed with her legs crossed and arms raised

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 22

A strong start to your 1600s surgical textbook when you begin with allegorical winged and cloaked death images like these – a stark reminder to all medical students

A black and white illustration showing two sentient skeletons, gazing at each other while holding a winding sheet filled with decomposing corpses

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 19

This 16thc text contains descriptions of over 200 spas as well as collecting together the works of over 70 classical, Arabic and contemporary writers on the subject of bathing. This illustration shows visitors bathing, drrinking and defecating at the spa

A black and white illustration of an early modern spa. In the centre is the pool, with buildings on every side. The pool is busy, people can be seen bathing, drinking water and outside riding horses, walking and carrying goods

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 16

Stop by today! It is our 🎉 FREE 🎉 #Edinburgh science fun day!

10am – 2pm

🔬 Try testing ‘urine’ in our lab

🐍 Meet a real snake and learn what snakes have to do with bladders

💪 Get sparkly with glitter tattoos

🩺 Listen to talks from real doctors

FREE

Find out more www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/sna...

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 14

Condom, or ‘rubber sheath’, over 100 years old. This was used as evidence in the court case of
a quack imposter physician ‘Dr’ Massie in Edinburgh in 1914

Condom in a paper wrapper. An attached rag reads Police court Edinburgh, 14 Dec 1914, the two rubber sheaths, purchased in shop 17 W Register Street'

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 9

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 7

Blog! The science behind murder, exploring the murder weapon collection of forensic expert Sydney Smith

👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/her...

Promo image with a picture of an axe. Text reads: The science behind murder Sydney Smith

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 6

The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh first opened its doors #OTD 1729 after a fundraising campaign by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. It was known as the Little House and, showing it was a hospital for all of Scotland, its first patient came from Caithness

Black and white illustration of a building. People can be seen in the street.

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 5

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Physicians' Gallery @physiciansgallery.bsky.social · Aug 5

18thc copy of ‘Aristotle’s Masterpiece’, a sex manual and midwifery guide. According to one theory, the hairy woman on the frontispiece served as a warning – if you lusted after a man other than your husband during pregnancy, both you and your child could become deformed.

Book frontispiece. On the left is a naked, hairy woman and a young child standing in what looks like a study - a studious looking man sits at a desk, behind him are bookshelves. On the right is the book title which reads 'Aristotle's compleat masterpiece. In three parts: displaying the secrets of nature in the generation of man. Regularly digested into chapters and sections, rendering it far more useful and easy than any yet extant. : To which is added, A treasure of health; or, The family physician, being choice and approved remedies for all the several distempers incident to human bodies.'

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