In this first lecture of the medicinal plant lecture series of 2018 the topics covered will be plants used in anaesthesia and the College's Pharmacopeia Londinensis on its' 400th anniversary. The Poynter lecture of the British Society for the History of Medicine will follow on medical practitioners as collectors and curators.
1.30pm Registration with refreshments
2pm Lecture
3pm Tea and coffee with garden tours of relevant plants by RCP garden fellows
4pm Lecture
5pm Drinks reception
6pm Poynter lecture of the British Society for the History of Medicine
7pm Event finishes
Plants in Anaesthesia by Dr David Wilkinson, former consultant anaesthetist, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, and historian of anaesthesia
A history of plant products used in general & local anaesthesia, including curare, opium, cocaine – and lettuce!
Unicorn Horn and London Treacle by Tony Cartwright, retired pharmaceutical regulatory consultant
The story of the College’s Pharmacopeia Londinensis on its 400th anniversary
Poynter Lecture of the British Society for the History of Medicine, 6pm
The Doctor as Collector by Dr Simon Chaplin
This lecture will focus on medical practitioners as collectors and curators in London in the latter part of the eighteenth century, making some reference to the Hunters and other anatomists but also to physician-botanists such as Hans Sloane and John Fothergill.
Simon Chaplin is Director of Culture and Society at the Wellcome Trust, and previously Head of the Wellcome Library.
The price of £10 allows entry to all the lectures on this day.