Dangerous Gallery

Fly agaric mushrooms

Fly agaric mushrooms (Amanita muscaria), artwork. This mushroom is powerfully hallucinogenic, containing the drugs ibotenic acid and muscimol. The effects are unpredictable, and a few deaths have resulted. It takes its name from the medieval practice of breaking the caps into a saucer of milk in order to stupefy flies. It is commonly found amongst birch trees in temperate regions in autumn

© LIZZIE HARPER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

TIGER SHARK - mouth open

AU-8-BC
TIGER SHARK - mouth open
Galeocerdo cuviere
Distribution: Tropical and temperate waters, worldwide
Auscape
Please note that prints are for personal display purposes only and may not be reproduced in any way

© Ardea - All Rights Reserved

Aggression, Aggressive, Atlantic Ocean, Dangerous, Face, Fish, Fishes, In Water, Indian Ocean, Marine, Mouth, Nose, Pacific Ocean, Scary, Shark, Single, Threatening, Under Water, Wild Life, World Wide

Simpson researching anaesthetics, 1840s

Sir James Young Simpson (1811-1870), Scottish doctor. This historical artwork shows Simpson's butler walking in on Simpson, who is suffering from the effects of a recent experiment. Simpson was passionate about alleviating pain, and always experimented with new anaesthetic agents, often on himself. He was the first person to use ether during childbirth on 19th January 1847 and in November 1847 he discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform. Opponents claimed that a painful labour was a biological and religious necessity, but the clamour died down in 1853 after Queen Victoria used chloroform during childbirth

© SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY