The natural history of the tea-tree, with observations on the medical qualities of tea, and on the effects of tea-drinking : Lettsom, John Coakley, 1744-1815 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : I... Previous edition: 1772

To find out more about tea in the late 18th century by reading Lettsom's treatise online: archive.org/details/b280.... And however you take your cuppa, have a very happy #NationalTeaDay!

Black and white illustrations of 'boxes for conveying Plants by Sea'. There are four images, 'A box with plants shut down with the opening at ends and front left for fresh air' 'The cask for sewing seeds with the openings defended by wire' 'The inside of the box showing the manner of securing the roots of the plants surrounded with earth and moss tied with packthread and fastened cross and cross with laths or packthread to keep them steady' 'The box with divisions for sewing different seeds in earth and cut moss.'

Tea might be considered Britain's national drink today, but it was, of course, introduced to the country as one of the commodities grown in and traded via colonised lands. Lettsom includes images of the equipment used to (try) to transport tea plants across the oceans.

Colour illustration of tea plant - camelia sesangua - with dark green leaves, with finely serrated edges and white flowers.

A colour image of Bohea tea showing the dark green leaves with finely serrated edges and multiple white flowers with yellow centres.

Elsewhere in the hundred-page treatise, he addresses other observed effects, such as the afflictions affecting those who package and trade in tea, tea as a treatment for worms in children, its effects on people's teeth, and the dangers to the stomach of drinking it too hot.

Extract from Lettsom's book: 'Some complain that after a Tea breakfast, they find themselves rather fluttered ; their hands less steady in writing, or any other employment that requires an exact command of spirits. This probably soon goes off, and they feel no other injury from it. Others again bear it well in the morning, but from drinking it in the afternoon, find themselves very easily agitated, and affected with a kind of involuntary trembling.'

Extract from Lettsom's book: 'That it enlivens, refreshes, exhilarates, is likewise well known. From all which circumstances it would seem, that Tea contains an active penetrating principle, speedily exciting the addon of the nerves ; in very irritable constitutions, to such a degree as to give very uneasy sensations, and bring on spasmodic affections : in less irritable constitutions, it rather gives pleasure, and immediate satisfaction, though not without occasionally producing some tendency to disagreeable tremours and agitation.'

His descriptions of the stimulant effects that we today understand as being the result of the effects of caffeine on the body are quaintly written but very recognisable:

A colour illustration of a green tea plant with multiple longish green leaves, with finely serrated edges and white flowers.

Lettsom notes that there are varying opinions about the value & dangers of drinking tea, both a stimulant & a relaxant. He attributes the latter affect to 'an odorous fragrant principle, which abounds most in green Tea, particularly that which is most highly flavoured.'

Title page of 'The Natural History of the Tea-Tree wit hobservations on the medical qualities of tea and on the effects of tea-drinking.' By John Coakley Lettsom, 1799

Wax miniature of John Lettsom. A side profile view of a man with curled hair and a cravat in white wax on a black circular disc. On the edge of the disc is the text: 'J.C. Lettsom, M.D. 1744-1815'

In 1799, physician John Coakley Lettsom wrote a fascinating treatise all about tea. Including where & how the plant grows, how it's prepared, & that tea's ascent to the status of a British national drink was not always straightforward. . .
#NationalTeaDay @rcphysicians.bsky.social #histmed

A group of people exploring the garden of medicinal plants with a garden guide

Explore the fascinating world of plants & medicine with the RCP Garden & Museum teams after hours.

🗓️Wednesday 6 May
⏰5.30 - 8pm

Register free now 👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/event/museum...

@rcphysicians.bsky.social #histmed

Portrait of Christopher Merrett, by George Perfect Harding, after an unknown artist. The image shows a white man with long curly light brown hair wearing an orange robe with a white necktie.

In our latest blog the @rcphysicians.bsky.social current Harveian Librarian Anita Simonds explores the career of the RCPs first – Christopher Merrett. With insights into the history of the RCP, medical practice, & social change in 17th century London.

👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/rise-an...

#histmed

Black and white photo of the lead coffin of William Harvey with lead face and inscription on the chest.

5. His resting place took an unusual turn

Harvey was buried in a lead coffin. When his burial chamber later flooded, it led to the taking of a rather eerie photograph. The RCP eventually intervened to repair the vaults and erected a marble memorial.

👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/lapt-le...

An oil painting showing William Harvey holding the heart of deer in a cloth in his hands pointing with a scalpel to show it to King Charles I while a young boy watches.

4. He demonstrated anatomical experiments to a king

Harvey served as court physician to Charles I and also James I. He demonstrated to Charles anatomical experiments, including dissections of royal deer.

Discover more about his experiments 👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/exhibitions/...

Close up of the face of William Harvey in an oil painting from his later years with grey shoulder length hair and a van dyke style beard.

3. He had beady eyes

Aubrey also left us a description of Harvey, who was “not tall, but of the lowest stature; round-faced; olivaster (like wainscot) complexion; little eyes, round, very black, full of spirit; his hair black as a raven, but quite white twenty years before he died.”

2. He had a fiery temper in his youth

According to his friend and biographer John Aubrey, Harvey was ‘very choleric’ [bad tempered] when he was young. Harvey wore a dagger and was quick to draw it.

The catalogue of books donated by William Harvey.

1. He remembered the RCP and fellow physicians in his will

Harvey bequeathed his library to the @rcphysicians.bsky.social. He left his friend Dr William Ent £5 to commission himself a mourning ring, and bequeathed Dr Charles Scarburgh his ‘silver instruments of surgery’ and his ‘best velvet gown.’

An oil painting of William Harvey. A white man with grey hair and a van dyke beard. He is wearing a black robe with the sleeves visible of an orange shirt underneath.

William Harvey is remembered as the British physician who scientifically demonstrated that blood is pumped around the body by the heart – a highly controversial revelation, challenging 1,500 years of medical belief.

To mark his birthday #OTD 1578, here are 5 lesser known facts about him:

Our collections officer getting the silver punch bowl out for College Day 2026.

A painting of the RCP committee meeting of the past with the silver bowl in view on the top table while large numbers of men are seated in the audience in the Dorchester Library.

This silver punch bowl has clocked up over 3 centuries of service @rcphysicians.bsky.social. In 1719 the College Censors (officers) donated this bowl for the collection of ballot papers for College Day elections - happening #OTD 2026.

Discover more 👉
history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/silver-...

The founding charter of the Royal college of Physicians with the seal of Henry VIII at the bottom.

In 1518 Thomas Linacre, Henry VIII’s physician, persuaded the king to found a college to regulate the practice of medicine in the City of London & 7 miles around. Discover how this college became the @rcphysicians.bsky.social we know today 👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/timeline

#NationalDoctorsDay

A shelf of books of a variety of shapes and sizes that once belonged to John Dee and are now in the RCP Heritage Library. Photo by John Chase

The RCP Heritage Library holds the largest surviving collection of books from Dee’s library: not those he was forced to sell, but those that were stolen from him in the 1580s. No @rcphysicians.bsky.social were implicated in the theft!

#histmed
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Black and white print of a drawing of John Dee shown as a white man with long pointed beard, wearing an Elizabethan jacket, ruff and skull cap. Beneath the image is the text: 'Dr John Dee From an original picture in the Ashmolean Museum Oxford.'

Signature of John Dee from 1544 on the top corner page of a book.

Elizabethan magus John Dee amassed one of the largest libraries in the country during his eventful lifetime, but by the end of his life he lived in poverty, and had been forced to sell some of his beloved books. He died #OnThisDay in 1609 at the home of his friend John Pontois.

#OTD #rarebooks
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Jamini Sen: The Bengali doctor who made medical history in Britain In 1912, Jamini Sen became the first woman Fellow of Glasgow’s Royal College, founded in 1599 and long closed to women.

Lovely article on the very first female Fellow of the College, Jamini Sen.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

She worked for the Women’s Medical Service of India from 1936-1950. She arranged rural medical services around Delhi from 1951 to 1960, & was an organiser of the All India Women’s Reserve Medical Unit. During the Second World War, she organised medical welfare projects during the Bengal famine.
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A sepia tone photo of Sujata Chaudri. Showing an Indian woman with her dark hair worn back and a decorative sari wrapped over her left shoulder.

#OTD 1901 Sujata Chaudhuri was born.
She was the first woman of colour to be made fellow of the @rcphysicians.bsky.social in 1963.

A professor of medicine she was first physician at Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi.

👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/inspiring-ph...

#WomensHistoryMonth

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A huge book is being held up by a person whose top half isn't visible behind the book.

Want to take a peek inside the pages of the @rcphysicians.bsky.social library's largest - & most spectacular - book?

Join us free at our Museum Late on 2 April to explore the beautiful & important medical books that were the tools of the trade for physicians 👉
history.rcp.ac.uk/event/rcp-mu...

An open medicine chest full of glass bottles. In front of the chest are more bottles, a medical textbook, a feeding cup, and a glass mortar and pestle.

The Church of England might seem an unusual source for info about female medical practitioners in the years 1500-1800. But it is where this story of a brief period of opportunity is set. . . Read the full blog👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/archbis...

#WomensHistoryMonth @rcphysicians.bsky.social #histmed

Find out more about 'Making Visible' a creative output of Catherine James' research & part of current exhibition 'A body of knowledge'.

You can visit to view the artwork & enjoy a free intro tour at 6pm on 19 March: history.rcp.ac.uk/event/making...

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for a lovely, relaxed & creative evening!

Inspired by Catherine James' doctoral research project into the history of women’s ownership & use of books in the @rcphysicians.bsky.social Dorchester library.

#BofyOfKnowledge #WomensHistoryMonth #Histmed

One more for book & history lovers on #WorldBookDay.

Join our event next week to explore women’s book ownership in our beautiful library. Get hands on with rare books & create your very own 'Keepsake book'.

🗓️10 March, 6pm - 8pm
👉 her_book_rcp_library.eventbrite.co.uk

#BodyOfKnowledge

A view of the Dorchester Library showing a huge number of books on shelves making the walls around the edge of a large room with occasional portraits hung on wooden walls in between the shelves.

Elsewhere in the library there are Greek and Roman plays and even an English translation of Cervantes’ classic Spanish story of Don Quixote.

What books do you like to settle down with after a hard day’s work?

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The 15th century copy of the Canterbury Tales in a display case in the exhibition.

A close up of the opening sentences of Chaucer’s Canterbury tales, describes how spring is the ideal time for the group of pilgrims to set out from Southwark to visit the tomb of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.

In our current exhibition 'A body of knowledge' you can see a handwritten copy of one of the most famous collections of stories from English literature: Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

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A shelf of books of different sizes, shapes and colours.

You might think that the heritage library @rcphysicians.bsky.social would be full of only serious intellectual books, but that’s not the case – even physicians sometimes need to unwind with a good story 📖. . .

#WorldBookDay #BodyOfKnowledge

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Visitors gather round a guide holding up a book for photographs.

We were delighted by the enthusiastic response to a recent tour with our rare books librarian for Chinese doctors from the UKMDA group - thanks for visiting!
The book is a c1860s Chinese medical book, Xīyī Lüèlún, in traditional Chinese bindings from our collection.
rcp.soutron.net/Portal/Herit...