At the beginning of the 19th century, though there had been some advances in medical knowledge, scientists still did not understand what caused disease. Joseph Lister was able to make a much more ...

S OME 120 years on, few remember the outrage provoked by the awarding of the Nobel peace prize to Theodore Roosevelt, the ...

The native people called it quinquina, “the bark of barks.” It wasn’t until the 19th century, however, that European chemists were able to isolate the active chemical, which they dubbed quinine.

A bloody 19th-century health craze almost drove these creatures extinct. European medicinal leeches were famous for their popular purpose: treatment for everything from cancer to mental illness.

LONDON — Syphilis is back: The sexually transmitted disease long associated with 19th-century bohemian life is making an alarming resurgence in Europe.