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Throat swab used to diagnose diphtheria

Clinical Diagnosis

1901-1930

Throat swab, cotton wool on metal rod, in glass tube, in wooden case, supplied by Kent County Council, early 20th century, for diphtheria diagnosis

Bottle of medicinal water from temple of Asklepios at Epidaurus

Ethnography and Folk Medicine

1920-1930

Bottle, originally for Evian water, containing water from the medicinal well of the temple of Asklepios (Aesculapius) at Epidomos (Epidaurus), Greece, collected in 1930

Chronoscope, England, 1921-1939

Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry

1921-1939

"Chronoscope" for measuring reaction times, electrical mechanism in wooden case, lacks actuating switches, by National Institute of Industrial Psychology, London, early 20th century

Flag from Cable Ship 'Faraday' (sunk 1941), 1923-1941

Telecommunications

1923-1941

Flag from CS 'Faraday' (sunk 1941), unknown maker, British, 1923-1941

Acoustic headband with ear trumpets

Audiology

1900-1930

Ear cornets, 1 of 2 pairs, for constant wear, imitation tortoiseshell with adjustable head band, early 20th century

Cosmos crystal receiver, 1920-1930

Radio Communication

1920-1930

Cosmos crystal receiver, made by the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company, Trafford, Manchester, England, 1920-1930

paper tensile tester

Papermaking

c.1900

Paper tensile tester made in Austria and supplied by J. J. Marshall and Co. Wooden body with dial in middle of one long side, reading 0-50 pounds. Patent Paper Testing Machine, J.J. Marshall & Co, London and Dartford, Made in Austria. Paper clamped with steel plates and thumb scres on top, one side adjustable in half inch lengths, handle at right endtensions right clamp. Brass end plates at both ends

Artifcial left arm, United States, 1915

Orthopaedics

1915

Left above elbow prosthesis with a wooden socket connected to a wooden forearm. Metal mechanical hand with passive flexion and extension of the wrist. Elbow flexion is combined with pronation / supination of the wrist. Made by Carnes Arm Company, United States of America 1915.

Ivory model of back-to-back skull and head

Anatomy & Pathology

Before 1932

Ivory model of a human skull and head, back to back, covered with worms and toads, possibly French

'Tabloid' medicine chest used for a transatlantic balloon flight in 1910

Materia Medica & Pharmacology

1900-1910

Metal chest with hinged lid, `Tabloid' medicine chest used by Walter Wellman for Transatlantic balloon flight, 1910, made by Burroughs Wellcome and Co., 1900-1910

Thomas Lewis’ electrocardiograph

Clinical Diagnosis

1930

Electrocardiograph, used by Sir Thomas Lewis at University College Hospital, London, by the Cambridge Instrument Co., Cambridge, England, 1930

five-line single cord switchboard, 1900-1909

Telecommunications

1900-1909

Five-line single cord switchboard, unknown maker, British, 1900-1909.

X-ray film holder, Europe, 1910-1925

Radiomedicine

1910-1925

X-ray Film holder.

Strowger two-motion selector with vertical mount, 1903-1920

Telecommunications

1903-1920

Strowger two-motion selector with vertically mounted relays, less switching banks, made by the Automatic Telephone Manufacturing Company, Liverpool, England, 1903-1920

Loewe multiple valve radio receiver, 1926-1935

Radio Communication

1926-1935

Loewe multiple valve radio receiver fitted with one coil and one valve, made by Loewe and Company, Tottenham, London, England, 1926-1935

first sealed-off travelling wave tube, 1945-1946

Electronic Components

1945-1946

First sealed-off travelling wave tube, made by Rudolf Kompfner, England, 1945-1946

Wooden cubes for psychometric test

Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry

1937-1949

Cardboard box containing 12 green wooden cubes. Part of Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (Form M)

Artificial right arm

Orthopaedics

1943

Right above elbow heavy duty prosthesis with a blocked leather socket, (not the original). Dural elbow unit with internal/external rotation mechanism and lock (by means of ball-headed pin set on outer side). Detachable metal forearm section, released by rotation of the knurled ring. Similar ring at wrist, rotating externally releases the hand or other terminal device. Rotating the ring in the opposite direction locks the devices. Webbing appendages. The leather flexion cord passes through the back of the elbow and is attached to the stem on the upper part of the forearm. Certalmid hand with index and middle fingers suitably spaced at the base to permit a pen to be held. Fully opposed thumb with a groove at the tip for this purpose. Made by Blatchford, dated 9 December 1943.

‘School telephone’ in polished wood case, 1921-1940

Telecommunications

1921-1940

'School telephone' in polished wood case, FH33-234 no.222, made by the General Post Office, British, 1921-1940

Thirty-inch terrestial globe showing cable routes, 1900-1920

Telecommunications

1900-1920

Thirty-inch terrestrial globe showing telegraph cable routes, made by W & A K Johnston Limited, British, 1900-1920

Colt's stretcher for narrow trenches

Nursing & Hospital Furnishings

1915-1918

Colt's stretcher for narrow trenches, first World War, British, 1915-1918

moulded unprocessed Bakelite panel ready for ECME, 1936-1955

Radio Communication

1936-1955

Moulded unprocessed bakelite panel ready for ECME (Electronic Circuit Making Equipment) machine, probably made by Sargrove Electronics Limited, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, 1936-1955.

Wall telephone No. 1, 1900-1911

Telecommunications

1900-1911

Wall telephone No. 1, purchased by the National Telephone Company for use in Britain from Western Electric, Antwerp, Belgium, 1900-1911

instruction booklet for Cosmos crystal receiver, 1920-1930

Radio Communication

1920-1930

Instruction booklet for Cosmos crystal receiver, made by the Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company, Trafford, Manchester, England, 1920-1930

Hospital bed cycle

Therapeutics

1946

Stoke Mandeville bed cycle designed by Dr Ludwig Guttmann while working at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital and used at The Chaseley Trust for Disabled Ex-Servicemen, Eastbourne, Sussex in 1946 until 1994 by people with spinal cord injuries for both independent and assisted exercise

television receiver built from 'Premier Radio' kit, 1945-1955

Radio Communication

1945-1955

Television receiver built from "Premier Radio" kit, made by Premier Radio Company, Hackney, London, England, 1945-1955

Automatic telephone wall, 1900-1910

Telecommunications

1900-1910

Automatic telephone wall set made by Automatic Electric Company, Chicago, United States, 1900-1910

Receiver unit from the ENIAC computer, 1943-1945

Computing & Data Processing

1943-1945

Receiver unit from the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), designed by John Mauchly and J Presper Eckert, made at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, United States 1943-1945

Therapeutic Exercise Chair, Wiesbaden, Germany, 1901-1905

Therapeutics

1901-1905

Exercise chair for patients with poliomyelitis, made by Rossel, Schwarz and Co., Wiesbaden, Germany, 1901 to 1905

Glass necklace worn to prevent bronchitis, Chelsea, London, England, 1914

Ethnography and Folk Medicine

1914

London bronchitis necklet, Chelsea, London, English 1914

Protective goggles used during UV light therapy

Orthopaedics

1930-1950

A pair of protective goggles with green tinted lenses used during light therapy at the Lord Mayor Treloar Orthopaedic Hospital, Alton, Hampshire, England, 1930-1950

Javanese shadow puppet of Arjuna

Cinematography

1900-1950

Javanese shadow puppet or Wayang Kulit puppet depicting Arjuna; gilded; painted; perforated leather with split bamboo support; operating rods. This puppet depicts Arjuna, the third of the Pandawa (Pandava) brothers from the Hindu epic, The Mahabharata.

Lens from prototype Cox selenium-cell magnifier equipment, 1910-1920

Telecommunications

1910-1920

Lens from prototype Cox selenium-cell magnifier equipment used in experiments carried out by Kenwrick Cecil Cox, made by Clement and Gilmer, Paris, France, 1910-1920

Copy of a statue showing a deformed cranium, Cairo, Egypt, 1920-1933

Classical & Medieval Medicine

1920-1933

Head of daughter of Akhenaton, plaster copy, showing deformed cranium, Egyptian, 3000-1000BC

home built 405-line television receiver, 1951-1953

Television

1951-1953

Home-built 405-line television receiver with 7 inch screen constructed by electrical engineer J Hueting of Peckham, London, England, about 1952. Assembled using an ad-hoc assortment of electronic parts. Similarly the cabinet is constructed from scrap wood and metal collected at the time.

Morse tape on which signals were recorded by means of a coherer, 1900

Radio Communication

1900

Morse paper tape, unknown maker, probably British, 1900. Used to record signals received by means of a coherer in 1900 at a distance of 135 miles by Captain Henry Jackson

"Ingersoll" wrist watch

Time Measurement

1915

"Ingersoll" wrist watch with leather strap, pin pallet escapement and luminous hour hand, 1915

Burroughs Class 4 1000 hand operated adding and listing machine

Mathematics

1925-1935

Burroughs Class 4 1000 hand operated adding and listing machine with keyboard for Sterling currency, serial number 4-1282626 with bag

Motor brake 3rd, SR 2-Bil Unit

Locomotives and Rolling Stock

1937

Motor coach, Southern Railway and British Railways Southern Region, motor brake 3rd, No. 12123, from 2-Bil Unit No. 2090, built 1937.

Underground telephone cable marker

Telecommunications

c.1940

Cast-iron underground telephone cable marker from the reign of King George VI (1936-1952).

Glass medicine spoon

Pharmacy-ware

1901-1940

Glass medicine spoon, made in Czechoslovakia, supplied by Savory and Moore Ltd., 1901-1940

'His Masters Voice' record player

Sound Reproduction

c.1935

'His Masters Voice' record player made by the Gramophone Co. Ltd, Hayes, c. 1935.

Miniature Bild Lilli doll (unclothed), made of all

Domestic Appliances

1955

Miniature Bild Lilli doll (unclothed), made of all-rigid plastic and jointed limbs. 1955.

Bioscope 35-mm cine-projector

Cinematography

c.1900

Bioscope 35-mm cine-projector, made by Aubrey Franks, Manchester, c.1900.

Reason slot meter, c.1920.

Electricity Supply

1918-1922

Reason slot meter, c.1920.

Rigged model of the "Cutty Sark"

Water Transport

1900-1933 (model); 1869 (original)

Rigged model, scale 1:48, of the clipper ship, 'Cutty Sark' (1869), an iron and wood composite sailing vessel with a copper-lined hull, built by Wm Denny and Brothers Limited, Dunbarton, Scotland; model made by Charles Nepean Longridge, model maker, 1900-1933 (see note)

Mauveine acetate dye in microcrystalline form in a cork-stoppered glass bottle

Industrial Chemistry

1906

Mauveine acetate dye in microcrystalline form in a cork-stoppered glass bottle labelled: 'Original Mauveine Prepared by Sir William Perkin in 1856', actually prepared by Sir William Henry Perkin, England, 1906. The label is ambiguous. It could mean that the sample was prepared by the same method as the original dye in 1856. As crystalline mauveine acetate, it could not have been prepared before 1862 and chemical analysis suggests that it is identical to the contents of a similar bottle at Columbia University, New York, and hence probably prepared for the mauve anniversary celebrations in 1906.

Spa water from Aachen

Materia Medica & Pharmacology

1931

Glass bottle, contains spa water from Aachen

Metal case containing glass tubes from 'Tabloid' first aid kit

Materia Medica & Pharmacology

1919

Metal case containing six glass tubes (pts 3-8) for tablets, by Burroughs Wellcome and Co. , English

telephone pole finial

Telecommunications

c.1930

Wooden finial for telephone pole, c.1930.