Physicians' Gallery

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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

Printed recipe. Reads: For beardiness. To shave often, and wash the beard with the boiled juice of sybbous, or seallions, will cause it grow very quickly; or, wash with water, wherein rusty iron has been laid, upon the places you want hair to grow. But, remember, these cures will not answer the hair of the head, cures being given, as you may see in this book, quite different. Now, to hinder a beard to grow, be it too strong, to make it weaker: take a handful of euphrasie, and as much of water cresses, boil them together, and anoint therewith as occasion requires - otherwise, singe the beard with the light of a whale oil lamp, or braland berries, by some called crow berries. Or, if you want to be free of a beard altogether, the blood of a batt once applied, wll do the turn. Probatum est.
A woman with long dark brown hair, tied up in a bun, bending over an open museum display cabinet with her hands placed on either side of a large parchment scroll
Black and white photograph of a lecture theatre. On the rear wall is a display of 15 obstretric images - images of wombs, a woman mid-birth and foetal body parts. At the base of the wall sit two men - on the left a man in a top hat and uniform, appearing like a guard, and on the right sits a man holding an obstetric phantom, another one by his side and his elbow resting on an obstetric birthing model
A colour image of a plant with red fruits, two butterflies can be seen alongside a caterpillar
Titlepage of a book. 10 images around the page all show a man and a horse – in each image the man is taming, riding, or treating the horse in different ways.
A colourful board game, with a similar layout to Monopoly
Blood bags made from fabric, plastic and other materials hang from red thread from the ceiling and walls. Some have faces, people or other shapes on them. A person with pink hair reaches up and touches one of the bags.
Handwritten text. Reads: Dr Dolman in York A gouty disposition at the bottom of your complaints, but your constitution shattered by many & various accident leaves little hope of bringing that disposition to take a proper course. No medicines can do. Bark & bitters will do harm. The only plan is to palliate by Opium, brandy, [amusement?] exercise, the 2 first as little & the 2 last as much as possible -- & at the same time a Regimen. which should be ex media materia. Light animal food, moderately.
Promotional image showing illustration of man having blood removed from his arm. Text reads: Physicians' Gallery Podcast, blood transfusion
An open book showing coloured illustrations of ovaries and a breast
Hand drawn sketch of a lion
In the background is a large painting in a gold frame, showing an Indian woman in a red sari, resting her arm on a small table. In the foreground are six people, two men, two women and two young children, facing the camera.
A modern stethoscope
An open book. On the left page are two illustrations, one is of a selection of bladed implements, the other is a man sitting in a chair, to one side is a man, on the other side another man stands next to a suspended dog
Text reads: Project Library Cataloguer £34,384 pro rata 6 month contract at 35 hours per week Option for flexible/part time working Deadline: 2 July 2026
Large mortar, metal with two handles. A metal pestle sits in the mortar
Promo image. Text reads: Queering the collections, new blog'
A white cotton head wrap and face mask on a head-shaped mount
A green ceramic jar with a lid and handles. Gold embellishment on the jar spells out the word 'leeches'
Two hand coloured illustrations of plants, on the left is a thistle, and on the right red grapes
Handwritten letter, reads: Sir I am the young man whose Case Mr Barry laid before you I am extremely sorry to find from your advice laid delivered to me by him that my disorder appears to be so bad: tho I believe I rather showed you the worse view of it as I wrote out my case in a fit of Melancholy which conti¬ nued but a short time I have followed with the utmost exactness the regimen prescribed & I hope to derive benefit from it. The nocturnal pollu¬ tions<https://cullenproject.ac.uk/items/s1> still continue tho not near so frequently generally once in two weeks and always bring along with them such a degree of melancholy that during the time it continues which is ge¬ nerally two days I am often tempted to put an end to my own life, after this my spirits be¬ gin gradually to
Promotional image. Text reads: 2026 History of Medicine Award Apply now
A black bracelet with a woven band
A seated naked man, with his body covered from head to toe with different skin conditions
Glass bottle containing white pills
An open volume filled with dozens of colour images of animals - including a snake, a donkey and a unicorn
A square wooden medicine chest on a table. Two drawers have been removed and sit in front of it. The chest is full of different sized glass bottles
A black and white photograph of a show window, text on the window reads 'Dr Massie Hygiene Specialists'
Five receipts, each with a printed letterhead showing images of machinery or the buildings of the companies who the bills were issued by
An open book. On the right page is a black and white illustration of two connected tubes and above and to the left of this are some spherical blobs
A metal gun-shaped tool, with a plastic syringe attached
An open book showing an illustration of a human hand. The hand is partially dissected – the veins and arteries are on display. The hand does not look like that of a corpse – its fingers are spread and the forefinger rests on a closed book
Metal tool, with a handle. Similar in design to a rotary whisk
An illustration of a woman wearing a thick heavy skirt and headscarf, carrying a wicker basket over her arm and another on her back
A cardboard box, about the size of a large matchbox. Text on it reads ‘Perkins National Herbs for the blood, liver and kidneys’
Text reading 'Sorry we're closed 3rd and 6th April'
Ilustration of a man sitting on a large weighing machine. He reaches forward to a table in front of him, on which are cups, plates and cutlery
Stack of paper pages. Top page reads: Toast water Take 1 slice bread Toast it as crisply as possible without burning Put in a jug and pour over it 1 pint of cold spring water Let is stand ½ hour Strain Serve plan or add the juice of a lemon
Open book with illustration of a woman, her body open to show her womb and a flower covering her genitals
Cover of a book, titled Directions for preparing aerated medicinal waters
Two outdoor images, to the left is a meadow and tree, to the right is the exterior of a brick building
Image of a sunrise over a landscape
Illustration of rowan branch with white flowers and red berries
Open wooden medicine chest with dozens of medicine bottles on display
Open wooden medicine box containing rows of glass bottles with cork stoppers.
A photograph of two people, one of them is taking a photo on their phone of a display of fabric blood bags
A person with long hair looking at a medicine chest in a display case
Two photographs. On the left is a women dressed in a white nightgown sitting on a chair. One shoulder is exposed and both legs are bare, one leg is outstretched towards the camera. The text reads ‘Hystero-epilepsie’. The other photograph shows a woman in a white nightgown sitting on a bed with her legs crossed. She looks upwards with both hands raised. The text reads ‘attitudes passionnelles’
A model of the upper part of a person’s face, showing their nose, closed eyes and forehead. There appear to be red dots around the eyebrows, possibly indicating a skin condition.
Promo image. Text reads 'sorry we're closed Friday 20th February'
A small metal cup, like a shot glass
Open book with paper pasted over a section of text
Handwritten text. Reads: Is affected with a praeternatural discharge of urine, passing it in the space of 24 hours to the extent of lb VI. It is of a greenish colour but is sweet to the smell & taste
Black and white image of a seven headed sea creature, looking a bit like a many-headed loch ness monster with a long tail and sharp teeth. Above it are two birds and some sort of flying lizard
Printed recipe. Text reads ‘For melancholy. Rub the body all over with nettles’
Promotional image, text reads: rag a history of blood
Promotional image. Text reads: 2026-27 research funding apply now
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.
Person looking at a botanical book in a museum display case
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!'