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New web pages on materia medica at Kew Gardens


  • Date:   Thu, 28 Jul 2005 17:58:41 +0100
  • To:  sthc-l@lists.ucla.edu
  • From:   Mark Nesbitt   < m.nesbitt AT rbgkew.org.uk >
  • Subject:   New web pages on materia medica at Kew Gardens
  • Message-ID:   42E91CD1.24620.26E6986@localhost

New web pages are available describing some of the extensive 
materia medica collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

The pages are at:
http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/collections/ecbot/materia_home.htm

and focus on the c 10,000 specimens given by the Royal 
Pharmaceutical Society in 1983.

The overall holdings of Kew's Economic Botany Collection are 
50,000 artefacts and plant products illustrating uses of plants 
through the ages. Perhaps a third of these relate to medicinal uses.

Specimens mostly date to 1800 - 1930, so later than the main 
interests of the Medicinal Receipts group. The advantage of the 
19th century material is that identifications are usually secure and 
there is a large body of associated literature, often relating to 
studies of the actual specimens held here. We are keenly 
interested in making this material better known to the medical 
history community and are investigating ways of making images, 
collections data and associated archives and printed material 
available online.

Mark


*********************************
Dr Mark Nesbitt
Project Manager, PLANT CULTURES
Royal Botanic Gardens
Kew
Richmond, Surrey
TW9 3AE

Tel (direct): +44 (0)20 8332 5719
Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 5768
www.plantcultures.org.uk

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