The Science and Art of Medicine

 

On Display

Bengue anestile ethyl chloride anaesthetic cylinder, 1860-1940.

This cylinder would have been used for the anaesthetic gas ethyl chloride. It is made of brass and was made in Paris, France. The cooling effect of the volatile liquid was used to produce local anaesthesia. The contents of the cylinder would be spray

 
Jacobean touchpieces, English, 1610-1620.

Gold angel, used as a touchpiece in the ceremony of healing by touch, mint mark in form of a castle, 2nd or 3rd coinage, issued by James I, 1603-1625

 
Maddox wing test instrument, c 1920-1937.

A wooden divination board, known as an itombwa. It is carved in the form of an animal and was used by diviners of the Kuba people to answer questions about an illness. The flat back is covered in oil and water and rubbed with the wooden block. When

 
Wooden statue of St Cornelius, probably French, 17th century.

Wooden statue of St. Cornelius, probably French, c. 1601-1700. Cornelius was ordained as Bishop of Rome in 251. As a saint he is invoked against a number of medical conditions, including earache and epilepsy.

 
Statue of St Anthony the Hermit, Dutch, 16th century.

Statue of Saint Anthony the Hermit, Dutch, 16th century. St. Anthony was patron saint of those afflicted with ergotism, also known as St. Anthony's fire, a skin disease caused by grain infected by the ergot fungus. St Anthony's fire is symbolised by

 
Head of Nefertiti, Egyptian queen, c 1383-1365 BC.

Plaster copy of a bust of Queen Nefertiti, original Ancient Egyptian, 18th dynasty, c. 1383-1365BC. Nefertiti was the consort of the pharaoh AkhEnaton. The original bust was found at Amatha, Egypt, in 1912 and is now housed at the Egyptian Museum in

 
Terracotta statue of St Antonio, Spanish or Italian, early 16th century.

Earthenware statue of Saint Anthony (Antonino) of Florence, Italian, 1701-1850.

 
Ancient Egyptian faience amulet, right eye, 4000-30 BC.

Faience eye of Horus amulet, Ancient Egyptian, 4000-30BC. Sometimes known as the wedjat eye, this amulet had complex meanings within the Egyptian culture, including protection against the 'evil eye'. Faience is a glazed non-clay ceramic material, com

 
Artificial leg, Roman, c 300 BC.

Copy of Roman artificial leg, c.1910. The original was made of bronze and had been excavated from a grave in Capua, Italy. Dating from c.300BC, it was the oldest artificial limb to be discovered. Kept at the Royal College of Surgeons in London, it

 
Greek and Roman mixing bowls with 'Larva Convivialis', 450 BC-200 AD.

Red figure column krater, decorated with drinking scenes by the Cleveland Painter, inscription painted over are of the figures, Attica, Greece, 460-440BC