A collection of 4,000 artefacts, ranging from 16th-century earthenware pharmacy containers to First World War prosthetic limbs, are to appear on a new website that is being developed on the history of medicine.
The Science Museum says the Sickness and Health site will be a vital aid to GCSE and A-level pupils. It will display 2,500 images from next year, with more added to the site each year until its completion in 2011. Many of the objects are currently in storage and will be available to view for the first time.
Sir Henry Wellcome, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur, collected them in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the site is being funded by the Wellcome Trust, set up after his death in 1936.