It’s spring, and that means rhubarb! From strawberry rhubarb pie, to custard, to gin, this vegetable (most often used like a fruit) is either loved or hated by people the world over. Like many plants, rhubarb has been used medicinally for centuries, especially in traditional Chinese medicine. While the various species of rhubarb, and their distribution from Asian countries across the globe have been researched and discussed at length (see Sources and further reading for more), this post will examine the various types of rhubarb and their medicinal uses found in some of the Library’s herbals.
Botanical medicine
Fungus Among Us: How One Type of Mushroom Has Been a Medical Boon Since the 1700s
– by Patrick Magee, Visitor Services/Gallery Associate
Welcome to #MedievalMedicineMonday! On Mondays, Patrick Magee, Visitor Services/Gallery Associate, will be exploring the depths of medieval botanical medicine as depicted by woodcuts found in our early printed books.
Although commonly held beliefs over medicine change quite a bit over time, one thing that’s certain is the ceaseless documentation of every turn of events within the medical world, from plague to poison. Medicinal science involves a lot of trial and error, and sometimes what seems like an inscrutable idea at first can become the backbone of treatment. In this series of posts on medically significant plants, we wanted to beg several questions – which plants do we still use? Which ended up being effectively snake oil? What was for health, and what was for fun? All of these questions and more will be addressed over time, starting in this case with a fungus.
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Patent Medicines and the History of Cocaine
– by Charlie Dawson, Visitor Services/Gallery Associate
From the waning days of the golden age of patent medicine comes this advertisement for pharmaceutical cocaine. The ad was produced by CF Boehringer and Soehne, founded in 1885 Mannheim, Germany, but which soon expanded into New York. By the time of this ad’s publication in 1897, cocaine was available in New York only by prescription.
