Join us this #HeritageWeek2024 for a wonderful talk with Dr Carly Collier on Typhoidland's successful exhibition here at RCPI! Get your free tickets here: eventbrite.ie/e/fear-fever-l… #histmed #histsci #typhoid #irishmuseums #vintagemedical #medicalmuseum

To celebrate #Paris2024 here's a fabulous woodcut illustration from De arte gymnastica (c.1577) by Girolamo Mercuriale. It was the first complete text to be published on sports medicine and exercise. #Olympics

Described as 'elegant' and 'beautiful', John Lizars' A System of Anatomical Plates of the Human Body (early 19thC)

⭐ Free #Edinburgh exhibition ⭐ If you're in town for #EdFringe check out our exhibition Wild & Tame. Exploring animal history from unicorns and mermaids to Charles Darwin and the SuperVet Find out more: rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/wild-…

The publisher of this book, Christian Egenolff, argued that nobody should have exclusive right in depicting a natural thing – conveniently not mentioning his images were copies taken from other books. To find out more, visit our free exhibition 'Wild & Tame'

The Birth of Mankind, or The Womans Book - the first printed book in English about pregnancy and childbirth, C16th

These sutures belonged to surgeon Lord Joseph Lister. Those in the jar are in carbolic acid, the same substance used by Lister to help reduce infections during surgery. The dry sutures were prepared with tannic acid, but this caused them to dissolve too quickly to be of use.

Oldest-surviving anatomical theatre, located in Padua and built in 1594. Over the entrance is the Latin inscription: “hic est locus ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitam.” Roughly: “this is the place where death delights to help life (or the living).” Photo: Rolando Paolo Guerzoni.

Handy tip from an 18thc medical guidebook – always remember to prepare your medicinal woodlice in the same manner as your bees

Lovely day for a wee bit of heliotherapy 🌞 Patients on the veranda at Mearnskirk hospital c.1933

Unicorns were a popular feature in European medieval crests because it was believed their powdered horn could cure poisoning. They’re still listed in this book of drugs listing animal parts, published in 1694. Find out more in our free #Edinburgh exhibition Wild and Tame

The morbid art of flaying human skin for anatomical study - one visiting student wrote that they had seen a skeleton on display with ‘a shirt made of his own bowels and shoes of his own skin’

The Kitsune mask is part of a Japanese tradition in which masks are worn to invoke the gods – in this case the Shinto god Inari, god of rice, prosperity and fertility. To find out more, visit our exhibition rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/wild-…

The early 1900s Veedee Vibratory Massager – short for ‘Veni Vidi Vici’ (I came, I saw, I conquered!). This massager is hand operated by rotating the handle, which causes the rubber pad to vibrate. Later versions were powered via steam or electricity

This anatomical flap book was the largest and most detailed of its time. This figure represents Eve. Her genitals are covered with a plume of smoke, with text below it ‘As the Phoenix lives after it has been consumed by fire: thus man who is the likeness of smoke is also ash’.

Join us and Edinburgh Zoo vet Prof Simon Girling at our Christmas charity lecture on 5 Dec. Wine, mince pies, and a fascinating talk on Scotland's exotic animals! Book here👉eventbrite.com/e/christmas-ch…

A practical and useful cover or just a bit rude? The book cover of American physician Benjamin Jeffries’ ‘Color: Blindness’ might not be clear to everyone

George Rae was appointed Edinburgh's "plague doctor" in 1645 after the first doctor died. He was promised a huge sum of money as it was expected that he, too, would die before he could collect. Rae tended to the sick & survived. He spent 10 years trying to collect the fee.

Born #OTD 1624 – Thomas Sydenham, ‘The English Hippocrates’, considered the founder of clinical medicine for his emphasis on the importance of patient examination and medical experience over theoretical classroom teaching

Snakes have often had a mystical status in cultures around the world, often signifying evil and death. The first evidence of snakes as medical symbols comes from Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt around 3000 BC. Visit our exhibition Wild and Tame to find out more