In the days before the dipstick, doctors had to rely solely on their senses to make a diagnosis, judging the colour, smell and even the taste of their patients’ urine.

Swilling people’s pee provided a golden opportunity in a time before physicians had the knowledge, technology or freedom to properly examine and diagnose patients.

The archaic urinalysis, known as uroscopy, enjoyed a rather lengthy heyday, from ancient times through to the Victorian era, proving particularly popular in the Middle Ages.

Physicians developed a bladder-shaped glass flask with a rounded bottom, called a matula, to get up close and personal with the bodily fluid.