MEDICINE CABINET

Sub-titled 'The Story of Health and Disease Told Through Extraordinary Objects' and produced in association with the Science Museum London, this beautifully created and expertly written compendium of over 100 astonishing objects tells the story of medicine. It includes a Bronze Age trepanned skull, healing water from an Ancient Greek well, a 17th century barber's pole, a pharmacist's ceramic leech jar, a gold memento mori ring, the Dorrance hook for amputees, a caecal condom made of animal gut, portable fumigating vans which killed insect infestations, Edward Jenner's lancet, Laennec's stethoscope, a post-mortem table, a euthanasia machine, a midwife's bag, the Finsen lamp to treat skin conditions, a WWI blood transfusion kit and the King's Fund Bed, easily adjusted to care for patients to a prototype MRI scanner among them. Each object is a profound reminder of the fragility of human existence, but also of the extraordinary lengths gone to by scientists, medical professionals and ordinary people in the attempt to conquer mortality. A rich visual exploration of life, death and everything in between, superbly well illustrated with full page colour photos in big glossy hardback, 256pp, 18.5 x 24cm. Colour.
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