Particles of the Past at the NLI
Last week the National Library of Ireland opened a new exhibition entitled 'Particles of the Past', which celebrates the Library's scientific holdings. The exhibition contains an array of material from different time periods looking at different aspects of the sciences.
One exhibit is a eighteenth century volume containing home remedies for everything from sore throats to piles. Co-curate Aoife O'Connor said of this item;
"Some of the cures are just amazing. In the 1700s they were doing things like crushing up earthworms, powdering them and feeding them to people; the powdered earthworms were generally served with white wine it seems! Another remedy involved the use of human faeces to cure eye complaints. Fantastic stuff!”
To tie in with the exhibition the NLI will be hosting a number of evening talks. The first, on Wednesday 7th March will be given by Dr Catherine Cox, Centre for the History of Medicine, UCD, and will look at medical dispensaries and doctors in nineteenth century Ireland. Later in the month Dr Clara Cullen, also from UCD, will be giving a talk on 'Science for everyman (and women): the Royal College of Science for Ireland and its students, 1867-1926'.
Both talks start at 7pm and all are welcome
The Particles of the Past exhibition is in Number 2/3 Kildare Street and will run until the end of the year.