Keyword search: Origins of Species Animals were studied in the ancient world, most famously by Aristotle who classified fauna according to scala naturae – the idea that the natural world could be arranged on a scale like the rungs of the ladder, each organism in its rightful place according to its degree of ‘perfection’. Read more Myths and Monsters Animals appear everywhere in human societies, both in a physical sense and as cultural metaphors and myths. When the first animals were domesticated, they stopped being just the predators... Read more Untold LGBTQ+ Histories in Medicine and Dr Sophia Jex-Blake Who Was Sophia Jex-Blake? Dr Sophia Jex-Blake (1840 – 1912) was a trailblazer. She fought hard for women’s rights and was a pioneer of social change from within the... Read more Slavery, Medicine, and Philanthropy in Scotland The Edinburgh Medical School The Edinburgh Medical School was founded in 1726 by an act of the Town Council. It stood unrivalled as the most vibrant medical faculty in... Read more In Loving Memory: Widowhood The loss of a wife rarely altered a man’s status, but the loss of a husband changed a woman’s life forever. Becoming a widow brought risks, but there was... Read more Rest in Peace: Mourning Rituals Mourning is the outward display of grief. It can make the personal, societal. It is loss shared. For much of history the formal rituals surrounding mourning were widely understood.... Read more Morbid Anatomy: What Happened to the Body The rituals that followed dying at home made death a community event up to the 1900s. Friends and family gathered to share stories and assist in the preparation of... Read more Diagnosing Death Death is universal. But despite this, the way we view our own deaths, the way we prepare for, think about and respond to death, varies significantly. In medieval times,... Read more Remote Healthcare or Mail-Order Quackery in Victorian Australia In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the College’s Council heard a number of disciplinary cases regarding doctors accused of “unbecoming and unprofessional” behaviour by advertising their services... Read more Neoclassical Sculpture in the College The College's collection provides a fascinating insight into both neoclassical sculpture and the history of the College itself. The portrait busts tell some of the College’s history as the... Read more Save our Skin: A History of Treatments Remedies to improve the complexion and remove warts, spots and boils have been in use since antiquity. Donkey milk, turpentine and crocodile faeces were all applied to the skin.... Read more Breaking Boundaries: Working Class Skin Working-class skin was a source of fear and a source of knowledge. In the 1800s an increased understanding of contagionist theory lead to an increased fear of the proximity... Read more Pagination Current page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Next page