Ep.20 - Midwives Book

This week, we’re uncovering blood cells - exploring how they were studied, and what turtles had to do with it. The author is William Hewson, and his 1777 book 'Experimental Inquiries: Containing a Description of the Red Particles of the Blood' contains many important discoveries - from the shape of blood cells to how blood clotting works. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Celia Atherton - Researcher/Presenter Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer

This week, we’re uncovering the history of class tickets. Issued to students at the University of Edinburgh, these tickets gave you admission to the classes of individual teachers. Students would pick and choose what courses to take, all over Europe – buying a ticket for anatomy at Paris, botany in the Netherlands and ward rounds in Edinburgh. We uncover how the country-hopping studies of 18th century students was a stark contrast with 21st century university life. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer

This week, we’re exploring early microscopes, 1600s Dutch experimenter Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and red blood cells. Van Leeuwenhoek was an innovator, a microbiologist, and a curious man. Curious enough to make tiny lenses so he could examine leaves, metal and milk, as well as mites, lice and fleas. We uncover his eyeballing of eyeballs as well as his up close examination of exploding gunpowder, faeces and even the crust which developed between his toes after leaving his socks on for 10 days. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer

This week, we’re exploring some womb history. We’re starting off with a bit of menopause magic – symptoms to look out for include a loss of feminine grace and bleeding piles. We dig into some homeopathic remedies and what the womb even is anyway – if Ancient Greeks are to be believed, it’s just an inside out scrotum. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer

This week, we’re exploring the blood-filled art of James Gillray. We uncover the world of excretory medicine – from gentle emetics to breathing a vein. And we dig into the uncouth, evocative and sometimes obscene work of Georgian caricaturists – making a mockery of the strange practices of eighteenth century doctors and their patients. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer

This week, we’re exploring the oozing story of bloodletting ulcers. Bloodletting is often described as gory, weird or baffling – but the stories of patients who were overbled and scarred in the process are often forgotten. In this episode we explore the experiences of those who got the rough end of the lancet when they were prescribed a dose of bloodletting. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer

This week, we’re exploring the history of barber poles. Were these poles once wrapped in real bloody rags? Were there different coloured poles to show the different procedures that barbers carried out? So many myths and stories, but so little evidence to back it up! But one thing we do know, is that barber poles are bloody fascinating objects. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer

This week, we’re examining The Midwives Book and how a female midwife in 1600s England talked, wrote and understood periods, wombs and menopause. Was flatulence a sign of pregnancy? Do periods cause rabies? Can menstruating women kill bees? Find out the answers to these questions and more in this week’s episode. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer

In this episode, we’re unearthing the history of medicinal leeches. From rural swamps to 24 hour leech shops, the leech industry grew and grew across Europe. There were many risks to the use of leeches - from them slithering up your behind to giving you syphilis. One top tip was to not use weird smelling leeches, another was to always squeeze them to empty them out before use. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Dr Kate So - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer

In this episode, we’re digging into the gnarly history of blood transfusion. From dog blood to black urine, we’re looking at 1600s attempts to carry out the first transfusions. A man is allegedly kidnapped off the streets while French and English scientists vie for primacy in this story of innovation, experimentation and bad ideas. _______________ Follow us on: Bluesky - @physiciansgallery Instagram - @physiciansgallery TikTok - @physiciansgallery Facebook - www.facebook.com/PhysiciansGallery Sign up for our newsletter - https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/newsletter To support heritage at the RCPE, please donate: www.rcpe.ac.uk/donate _______________ The Team: Dr Charlotte Holmes (@_CCHolmes_) - Editor/Producer Rachel Forrest - Researcher/Presenter Dr Daisy Cunynghame - Researcher/Presenter Dr Sarah Hayward - Editor/Producer Dr Kate So - Editor/Producer Elizabeth Van Trampe - Editor/Producer