Physicians' Gallery
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physiciansgallery.bsky.social
Physicians' Gallery
@physiciansgallery.bsky.social
A free museum and library exploring the science and humanity of medicine at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

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Our new Physicians' Collections Research Grant provides funding, space and research support.

Find out more and apply 👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/education/ph...
Questionable 1700s treatment for melancholy... rubbing yourself all over with nettles
February 9, 2026 at 7:48 AM
Join us on 26 Feb for the launch of our new exhibition 🩸 Rag: A History of Blood 🩸

There'll be wine, tours and talks from experts Prof Helen King and Prof Marc Turner.

More info 👉 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/exhibition...
February 6, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Physicians' Gallery
Italian health pass enabling bearer to pass despite quarantines due to plague, 1722. The word quarantine was derived from the Italian words quaranta giorni, meaning 40 days - the number of days a ship coming from an infected port had to sit at anchor before entering Venice.
February 1, 2026 at 12:58 PM
Our new Physicians' Collections Research Grant provides funding, space and research support.

Find out more and apply 👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/education/ph...
February 1, 2026 at 7:45 PM
There’s a whole meal in this 18th century medical treatment for stomach pain – unfortunately to be rubbed on the skin rather than eaten – bread, eggs, milk, vinegar and saffron
January 31, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Only two weeks left! Our Hooked exhibition closes on Friday 13th February.

Last chance to stop by and explore the history of addiction - from heroin to gambling, from alcohol to love.

Find out more 👉
www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...
January 30, 2026 at 8:38 AM
1930s anti-cannabis propaganda films showed users as violent and depraved. The first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics described cannabis as ‘an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death’

Find out more in Hooked www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...
January 28, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Fear of witches spread across Europe from c.1300. The author of this book, Johan Weyer, was a voice of reason in a time of terror - arguing that it was due to mental illness and superstition. He believed this was a problem for doctors, not clerics
January 25, 2026 at 10:26 AM
Fashionable smoking accessories began to appear on the market almost as soon as tobacco first arrived in Europe. The first smoking jacket was designed in the 1850s. Their purpose was to protect expensive suits from falling ash and cinders

Find out more in Hooked www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...
January 23, 2026 at 7:09 AM
Reposted by Physicians' Gallery
Researchers are now using proteomics analysis on historical books, discovering all sorts of proteins people left on them centuries ago. 🏺🧪
Remnants of spills on Renaissance-era textbook reveal recipes for 'curing' ailments with lizard heads and human feces
A novel biochemical analysis of a Renaissance medical text has successfully recovered centuries-old proteins that might be from lizards and hippos.
www.livescience.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:18 PM
Life hack: always put the serpent into a barrel of wine to putrify before you use it to treat your leprosy
January 21, 2026 at 7:14 AM
Early modern view on tobacco 'the smoke of it is held to be a great antidote against venom and pestilential diseases'

Find out more in our exhibition ‘Hooked’ www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...
January 19, 2026 at 8:47 AM
Reposted by Physicians' Gallery
Design for an artificial hand from Les œuvres d’Ambroise Paré, c.1585. Ambroise Pare was a pioneer of battlefield medicine and surgery and devised many prostheses. This hand had springs and catches which mimicked the movement of joints.
#histmed
January 12, 2026 at 9:38 AM
What is now a cocktail bar on the corner of Edinburgh’s North Castle and George Streets was once a ‘Mesmeric Sanatorium’ – a venue for both mesmeric treatments and phrenological examinations
January 15, 2026 at 7:55 AM
This bag promotes Vicodin, an opioid. It was gifted by a pharmaceutical sales rep to a physician. It dates from the early days of the opioid crisis in the US, when the country experienced a sharp rise in the misuse of prescription drugs

Find out more in Hooked www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hoo...
January 12, 2026 at 8:33 AM
Melt in your mouth chloroform anyone? Gelatine sheets from the #WW1 battlefront, marketed as containing morphine, aspirin and quinine
January 7, 2026 at 7:59 AM
Reposted by Physicians' Gallery
'Tis the season!

Physicians expressing their thanks to Influenza. Coloured etching attributed to Temple West, 1803.

#skystorians #medhist #medicalhistory #histmed #histsci #sciart #fluseason #flu
December 30, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Sore legs? Considered putting herrings on your feet? - Handy 1785 medical tip
January 5, 2026 at 7:06 AM
New Year, new you? For anyone whose New Year's resolutions involve gym membership - we jump into the history of gyms and exercise 👉 rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/gym...
January 1, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Born #NewYearsEve 1514, Andreas Vesalius, anatomist, physician and author of the influential text 'On the Fabric of the Human Body' #histmed
December 31, 2025 at 7:29 AM
2025 wrap up!

This year, we have…

🎉 Expanded our museum to add a new gallery
🎉 Had our digitised books downloaded over 440,000 times!
🎉 ran 15 events and 72 tours for 3,811 people!
(we’re especially proud of our bladder-themed event, who knew so many people were fascinated by bladders!)
December 29, 2025 at 10:23 AM
16thc trepan, used to drill holes in a patient's skull as a treatment for a whole range of conditions including headaches, hysteria and epilepsy. "Press the trepan on the thickest part, and in this take good heede..."
December 19, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Handy eighteenth century tip for curing 'Warts in the Private Members'... nothing too complicated, just the blood of an eel, of course
December 15, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Reposted by Physicians' Gallery
It's #FestiveClothes for today's #ArchiveAdventCalendar with @arascot.bsky.social. These beautifully embroidered gloves (c.1600) belonged to our College founder & surgeon, Peter Lowe. We probably wouldn't recommend wearing them to make snowballs though 😆❄️
heritage.rcpsg.ac.uk/items/show/37
December 12, 2025 at 12:35 PM
This style of ceramic inhaler was invented in the 1860s. Medical infusions were placed in the inhaler and boiling water was poured over them. Common medicines used included chlorine, iodine, creosote, vinegar and henbane.

This object is on display in our gallery 👉 www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/joy...
December 9, 2025 at 9:19 AM