Tagged with Medicine
Resource : “Waterloo Teeth”
This set of dentures is fitted with real human teeth, extracted from the mouths of dead soldiers.
Resource : Portrait of James Barry
Born Margaret Bulkley, James Barry lived most of his life as a man, qualifying as a doctor and becoming an accomplished and respected military surgeon. His identity as a woman was only revealed when his maid laid him out after his death. It is not known whether Barry identified as a man or whether he simply kept up a disguise in order to have a medical career, at a time when women were denied this opportunity.
Resource : Prosthetic leg of Earl of Uxbridge
This is one of three prosthetic legs made for Henry Paget, Earl of Uxbridge, who commanded the British cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo.
Resource : Weir smallpox vaccinator
In the 1700s smallpox was probably the single most lethal disease in Britain – especially among children. But in 1796 Edward Jenner made a discovery that would eradicate the disease and lead to a revolution in public health – it would become known as vaccination.
He noticed that dairymaids who caught a minor disease called cowpox, from infected cows, seemed immune to smallpox – a common but much more serious disease.
Resource : Chloroform Inhaler
Today it’s hard to imagine having an operation with no pain relief. But before the 1840s, major procedures such as amputating a leg were done without anaesthetics.
