The Science Museum has a permanent display on the 5th floor relating to the practice of traditional medicines. One section deals with aspects of traditional African medicine. You can read a general review of the display by following the link below.

Objects on show come from groups across Africa - including the Ashante in Ghana, the Yoruba people of Nigeria as well as Congolese and Tanzanian artefacts. Some objects centre on divination. They include a carved wooden adjella ifa (Ifa ritual bowl) divination bowl used as an oracle. It is in the form of a kneeling woman with child on her back, along with a large bowl in form of a hen, detachable lid. Palm nuts used by Yoruba diviners are stored in this bowl. It's dated 1880-1920. There's also a medicine man's bag with objects for divination, containing 30 animal vertebrae, 2 pebbles, 1 hoof, two pieces of carved bone, one nut shell, dated 1880-1930. There are also divination plaques - including one made from hide, with 2 bells, by Baganda tribe, Uganda, 1880–1920.

Some objects relate to the dress of the healer, including a healer's circlet decorated with amulets, and red and blue beads with cowrie shells, front has fringe of pendant beads - possibly from East Africa, 1850-1930.

There's also a variety of medicines - some are jars of seeds and leaves from Africa with medicinal properties such as Buchu leaf and stophanthus seed. Later artefacts include a pot of Aroma Dough, containing a blend of fynbos essential oils from plants used in African medicine for their healing properties. It was made in Cape Town, South Africa, 2004-2005.

Others relate to personal protection and 'nkisi' force. One piece is a nail-studded wooden container for nkisi force, carved into the shape of a man with one arm raised, chin thrust forward, body covered with nails. He has a mirror container as the front of his body and is wearing dark blue headband, collar and loin cloth. This image was made by Bakongo people, probably Mayombe tribe, Congo, 1880-1920. There are also three handwritten paper talisman (personal charm) with cabbalistic designs, found by Sir Robert Baden-Powell during English Expedition amongst the Ashanti people in Ghana in 1895.

The forty or so objects on display reveal a diversity of approaches and traditions over time, along with a description of traditional African approaches to illness and its cure.

Read an exhibition review of Non-Western Medicine galleries at the Science Museum

Explore the Living Medical Traditions site

The Science Museum has a permanent display on the 5th floor relating to the practice of traditional medicines. One section deals with aspects of traditional Chinese medicine. You can read a general review of the display by following the link below.

Objects in the display are from Japan as well as China. They range in date from the 17th century to present day.

Some objects relate to the art of acupuncture. The earliest is a wooden model of a man showing acupuncture points, from around 1600 - you can compare it with a similar figure on display made in 1975. A wooden netsuke shows a man applying moxa, signed Miwa with Kakihan, Japanese, late 18th century. There's a model ear showing acupuncture points, probably from China or Japan, c.1970-1985. There are also very recent collections of acupunture needles and moxa.

Some objects relate to surgery, such as a set of Chinese knives for operating for varicose veins and haemorroids, China, 1800–1920.

Others touch on spiritual responses to ill health. There's a pottery statue, depicting Shen Nung, god of medicine (Divine Farmer), China, 1800–1920. There's also a large wooden shield, painted with a demons face, which would have been hung outside a house to keep away evil spirits. It's from China, dated around 1801-1900.

Other exhibits show objects that have become familiar in Western health interventions. Sachets of Green tea are on display, purchased in 2005. There's also a TENS machine - these are used for pain relief. This one is intended for direct application of current via acupuncture needles. It was manufactured in Japan, 1980-1990, from the surgery of a British practitioner c.1996.

Around 40 objects are on display with a discussion of how traditional Chinese medicine approaches diagnosis. There's also a model of a pharmacy in Canton, complete with fittings, Chinese, probably made in 1881.

Read an exhibition review of Non-Western Medicine galleries at the Science Museum

Explore the Living Medical Traditions site

The Science Museum has a permanent display on the 5th floor relating to the practice of traditional medicines. One section deals with aspects of Ayurevedic Medicine. You can read more about Ayurevedic diagnosis on the Science Museum's Ingenious site - the link is below.

The display shows a range of Ayurvedic medicines including Amalaki, Yashti-madhu tablets (Licorice), Neem tablets (Melia azadirachta) and Ashvagandha. There are also shampoos and toothpastes incorporating the herbs. There are samples of twigs from the nim or margosa tree that were used as toothbrushes in India, 1880-1920.

There are a series of objects for more direct bodily interventions: a steel lancet from India, a vomit bowl (2005) manufactured in England, but used in Asia, an ivory carved enema syringe from 16th century Sri Lanka. There's a stainless steel nasal dropper, used for inserting medicinal oils into the nose during nasya, and Ayurvedic therapy, supplied by ayurvedaonline.com from the US - indicating the worldwide spread of the ayurevedic approach.

There are a number of Hindu meditation plaques (called 'yantras') from 19th century India - indicating the cultural roots of Ayurveda, although its now practiced by people of all religions and none.

Read More About Ayurveda On The Science Museum's Ingenious Site

Read an exhibition review of Non-Western Medicine galleries at the Science Museum

The Space gallery and the science museum is full of iconic objects, one of the most striking being the 1:1 model of Sputnik; the first ever artificial satellite launched in 1957 by the Soviet Union it heralded the beginning of the Space Age. There are also some displays showing the difference between American and Soviet Space technology using scale models of Spacecraft.

Unlike rockets, satellites do not need to be streamlined in shape, due to the lack of air and therefore air resistance in space. Their materials of construction differ from rockets, as they do not need to carry heavy fuel tanks. Instead they use solar energy to operate equipment on board, hence the solar panels that you can see on these exhibits.

The Science Museum has a permanent display on the 5th floor relating to the practice of traditional medicines. One section deals with aspects of Islamic Medicine. You can read a general review of the display by following the link below.

Individual objects on show range from the 7th to the 19th century. They include earthenware drug jars and glass bottles. There are lancets, scissors and knives from 18th century Persia, a bronze mortar from the Middle East (1500 - 1800), and divination bowls from 19th century Palestine and Egypt. There's a pottery spitoon from 11th or 12th century Syria. A number of these objects are decorated, and intended to be attractive as well as useful. There's also a reconstruction of a blood letting device, described by Al-Jazari in his "Book of Knowledge and Ingenious Mechanical Devices" AD 1204 - 06.

Hence the collection gives an overview of how medicine developed in the Islamic world over 1000 years and dozens of countries.

Review of the Non-Western Medicine Galleries At The Science Museum

http://www.ingenious.org.uk/Read/Health/Livingmedicaltraditions