Cordials, Unguents, and Plasters: Stocking the Early Modern Medicine Cabinet

An excellent Sudorifick made of the young buds of Hartshorn

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

Take of the young buds of hartshorn, while they are full of blood and moist; bruise them into a paste, then mix as much canary wine as will make a very thin paste, distill them in ashes till they be very dry.

This is an excellent sudorific in all burning fevers and epidemical diseases; if a spoonful be taken by itself, or in any appropriated liquor.

(Note: hartshorn is an archaic term for the horn of a male red deer. A dry distillation, such as the one described in the recipe, produces ammonium carbonate. A sudorific is a substance that causes sweating.)

A water of Doves dung is made thus

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

Take of dried dove’s dung as much as you please, to every pound add a pint of Rhenish wine, in which let it steep all night in a gentle balneo, then distill it in a glass gourd in ashes: cohobate this liquor three times, if there be any volatile salt mix it with the water.

(Note: cohobate means to distill again)

This water is very excellent against all obstructions of the kidneys, bladder, it helps with jaundice if two or three spoonfuls of it are drunk once every morning and evening.

A Water made of Horse dung

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

Take as much as you please of the dung of a horse that is fed in the stable, then let it stand two days out of the sun, and out of the wet. To every pound of this pour a pint of white wine, let them stand in a warm baleno a fortnight; then distill them in a glass gourd in sand, cohobate this three or four times; if there be any volatile salt, mix with the water.

This water is very excellent against the bastard pleurisy, stitches, wind, obstruction of the reins, bladder, very good in a dropsy, jaundice, scurvy, etc. If three or four spoonfuls are taken every morning mixed in with the water of juniper berries, it can cause sweat.

(Note: volatile salt refers to a solution of ammonium carbonate, the active ingredient in smelling salts.)

A Water smelling like Amber, made by Paracelsus out of Cow dung

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

Take of cow dung and distill it in the balneo, and the water thereof will have the smell of ambergris.

This water is very excellent in all inward inflammations.

Oil of Bone and Horns, is made thus

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

Take of what bones you please, reduce them to a gross powder and put them into a retort, putting a strong fire by degrees thereunto; and there will come forth an oil and volatile salt, both which you may mix together and digest them into an essence, the oil being first rectified with spirit of wine.

A Water for Wounds and Ulcers

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

Take 8 pounds of calx vive (note: an archaic term for quicklime) dissolved in fountain water, 4 ounces of plantain water, and 2 pounds of rose water. Heat all of these together, afterward let them stand and clear, pour for all of the clear liquid into an alembic and add to it:

2 pounds of honey
1 ounce alum
3 ounces borax
3 ounces mastic
4 ounces olibanum (note: frankincense)
3 ounces dried oak bark

Powder what is to be powdered, and distill it according to art.

A Water to make the Teeth white

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

Gather:

1 pound of the first distilled water of honey, which is white
½ pound alum
1 ounce sal nitre (note: archaic term for saltpeter)
1 ounce white salt
1 pound water of lentisk leaves (note: the leaves of the mastic bush)
2 ounces mastic
2 ounces white vinegar
2 ounces white wine

Mix and distill them according to art, and reserve the water.

A water Against the Colic

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

Gather:

4 pounds of muscadell or malmsey (note: varieties of white wine that were usually sweet)
1 dram nutmeg
1 dram galls (note: a growth on the outer tissues of plants)
2 drams cinnamon
2 drams cloves
2 drams grains

Powder the ingredients grossly and infuse them in the wine 24 hours, then with a soft fire draw off the water according to art.

A Water for a cold Stomach

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

Gather:

2 ounces dried citron peel
2 ounces dried orange peel
1 handful rosemary
1 handful mint
1 and a half drams each of: cinnamon, cloves, cubebs (note: a type of pepper grown mostly in Java and Sumatra), cardamom, nutmeg, ginger
1 handful sage
1 handful pennyroyal
1 handful thyme
4 drams each of: caraway seeds, aniseed, fennel seeds

Bruise what should be bruised and infuse them in 4 pints of canary wine for 24 hours, then distill them in a balneo according to art.

Of Limon, or Orange Water

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

The Greater Quantity

Gather:

A sufficient amount of strong proof spirits
30 ounces of dried lemon or orange peel
16 ounces of the best aniseed

Bruise the peels and seeds, distill them into the strong spirits according to the art, and sweeten with 5 pounds of sugar.

The Lesser Quantity

Gather:

1 gallon of strong proof spirits
3 ounces of dried lemon or orange peels
1 ounce and 5 drams of the best aniseed

Bruise the peels and the seeds, distill into the spirits according to the art, and sweeten it with 8 ounces of sugar.

Lemon water strengthens and revives the feeble spirits, aromatizes the stomach, and is a cordial. It also opens obstructions, relieves abdominal bloating, and is a healing balm to all of the inward parts, and is a great restorative to man’s nature.

Sage Water

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

The Greater Quantity

Gather:

A sufficient amount of strong proof spirits
3 pounds of dried Great Sage
2 pounds of dried Red Sage
1 pound each of lavender flowers and sage flowers
8 ounces each of dried lavender cotton and dried southernwood
10 ounces of nutmeg

Bruise or beat them as is most proper and distill them into the spirits according to the art, then sweeten it with a sufficient amount of white sugar.

The Lesser Quantity

Take:

1 gallon of strong proof spirits
4 and three quarter ounces plus half a dram of dried Great Sage
3 ounces and a dram and a half of dried Red Sage
1 ½ ounces and 1 dram each of lavender flowers and sage flowers
6 ½ drams each of dried lavender cotton and dried southernwood
A sufficient amount of nutmeg

Bruise or beat as is most proper, distill them into proof spirit according to art, and sweeten it with 16 ounces of white sugar.

Sage water is good for such as are of a cold and phlegmatic constitution, and for such as are heavy and dull of spirit.

Ros Solis Proper

John French. The art of distillation, or, A treatise of the choicest spagirically preparations performed by way of distillation.

(Note: ros solis refers to drosera, commonly called sundew, a kind of carnivorous plant.)

The Greater Quantity

Gather:

10 gallons of strong proof spirits
4 pounds of ros solis harvested in the proper season and picked clean
3 pounds of juniper berries
4 ounces each of sassafras (both root and bark) and caraway seeds
1 pound of marigold flowers
1 pound and a half of aniseed

Bruise the ingredients that need to be bruised, and distill them into the spirit according to the art; take 7 pounds of this mixture and add to it 1 pound of the water discussed in chapter 23 (pretious water, used against the plague and fevers), 1 pound of sweetened, bruised liquorice, then sweeten it with white sugar. If you add none of the aforesaid water, then instead take 1 dram of musk, 3 drams of ambergris, and color it with the tincture of July flower or roses, however much is sufficient.

The Lesser Quantity

Gather:

A sufficient amount of strong proof spirit
6 ounces and 3 and a quarter drams of ros solis harvested in the correct season and picked clean
4 ounces 6 and a half drams of juniper berries
3 and a quarter drams each of sassafras roots with the bark and caraway seeds
1 ½ ounces and 1 dram of marigold flowers
2 ounces and 3 ½ drams of aniseed

Bruise what needs to bruised, and distill it in the strong spirits according to the art. Take 10 ounces and 1 and a half drams of this mixture and add 1 ounce 5 drams of the water described in Chapter 23 that has been sweetened. Add 1 ounce and 5 drams of bruised liquorice sweetened with a sufficient amount of white sugar. If you add none of the aforesaid water, then instead take six grains of musk, 8 grains of ambergris, and color it with a sufficient amount of July flower or roses.

Ros solis proper opens obstructions and relieves decaying nature, comforts the stomach, quickens the appetite, and is good against the falling sickness.

(Note: “falling sickness” is an archaic term for epilepsy.)

To make the Hair grow Thick

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Take:

2 ounces rosemary
2 ounces maidenhair
2 ounces southernwood
2 ounces myrtle berries
2 ounces hazel bark

Burn them (the herbs) to ashes on a clean hearth or in an oven. Put the ashes in white wine to make a strong lye, and the hair daily at its roots; you should keep the hair cut short. This mixture kills the worm which is at the root, and it is more effective than bear’s grease, or any other sort of pomade, which feeds rather than destroys that enemy to the hair.

A Salve for a Burn or Scald, which will effectively take out the Fire

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Take:

1 pint of salad oil
½ pound of white lead
¼ pound of virgin’s wax

Boil it all together softly until it has a dark brown color, then roll it into rolls.

A Drink for the Gout

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Take:

8 ounces of sarsaparilla
3 ounces sassafras
3 ounces china (note: china root, or smilax china, a climbing plant species)
3 ounces hartshorn shavings
3 ounces of angelica root
1 pound of raisins
3 ounces of sweet flag roots
½ pound of candied eringo root (note: the preserved root of the sea-holly, a type of flowering plant)

Put these in six gallons of small ale when you tun it up. As soon as the mixture is two weeks old, drink it constantly.

(Note: a tun is the container where grain is mixed with water to create the mash.)

For the Headache

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Dry rosemary before the fire until it will crumble into a very fine powder and add a pugil of saffron. Add an egg yolk to make a stiff poultice, and lay it as hot as you can endure it to the temples.

A Draught of the Salts in a Fever

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Take:

2 ounces of black cherry-water
1 ounce compound peony water (note: compound peony water meant the peony root was distilled with a number of other ingredients, such as lavender flowers, sage, valerian, etc.)
1 scruple of salt of hart’s horn
½ dram of salt of wormwood
3 grains of salt of amber
15 drops spirit of Sulphur

Take this draught every six hours until you have taken eight or ten draughts. This has done very great cures without the bark, where the fever is occasioned by a great cold, it sweetens and cools the blood, and revives the spirits and head to admiration.

A very pleasant Posset in a Fever

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Put 2 ounces of preserved barberries into one quart of milk, let it boil and strain it, drink it when you are thirsty.

A Milk Water, for a Whooping Cough

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Take 1 handful each of ground ivy, rosemary, and hyssop and distill them in a quart of new milk. Let it drop on a quarter of a pound of sugar candy: take a spoonful night and morning, and as often as you please.

An Excellent Remedy for a Sore Throat, which taken in Time will prevent a Quinsey (An Inflammation of the Throat)

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Take 5 spoonfuls of elderberry syrup, mix it with 1 spoonful of honey, and as much powdered salt prunel as will lie on a shilling. Take a teaspoonful of this as often as you can.

(Note: salt prunel refers to prunella salt, potassium nitrate that was formed into little balls.)

An Excellent Poppy Water for an Asthma

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Fill a large glass full of fresh poppies and add:

1 quart of hyssop water
1 pint of damask rose water
1 pint of pennyroyal water
2 quarts of compound bryony water
8 ounces of stoned raisins
4 ounces of sliced figs
2 ounces of sugar candy
2 ounces of maidenhair syrup
2 ounces of ground ivy syrup
2 ounces of sliced liquorice
3 ounces each of bruised caraway seeds and aniseed

Let the mixture stand in the sun for six weeks and then strain it, and when the breath is very bad drink four spoonfuls. In extreme circumstances, mix ½ ounce of oxymel of squills with every dose.

(Note: oxymel refers to a mixture of honey and vinegar that was often used to sweeten the taste of herbal medicines. In this instance, the squill, a large bulbous plant, was used as the herbal element.)

A Pleasant Medicine for a Cough

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Put 2 large lemons over a gentle fire, to coddle as you an apple, and when they are soft, take them out before they burn (which they will be very apt to do, if your fire is fierce). Then cut them and remove the juice and soft pulp, careful to remove the seeds, strings, and rind. Add to the pulp:

4 ounces finely beaten sugar candy
4 ounces oil of sweet almonds
2 ounces poppy syrup

Mix this well together, and take a spoonful whenever your cough is troublesome.

An easy Medicine for a dry Husking Cough

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

As the last thing you do before going to your rest, drink nearly a pint of spring water made as hot as you can bear it.

This recipe is recommended by someone whose integrity can be depended on, and though it is seemingly very simple, it has done very wonderful cures.

An admirable Medicine for the Piles (Hemorrhoids)

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Take a handful of mullein leaves and boil it in a pint of milk. Sweeten this with 1 ounce of syrup of violets, and drink it every night as you go to bed for five or six weeks, and it will certainly take away the cause.

An Oil for any Bruise or Wound

Mary Kettilby. A collection of above three hundred receipts in cookery, physick, and surgery: for the use of all good wives, tender mothers, and careful nurses.

Take 1 handful each of:

The tender tops of the bay tree
Red sage
Lavender
Wormwood
Plantain
Rue
Tormentil
Scabious (note: a member of the honeysuckle family)
Comfrey
Broom
Rape (note: an herb in the mustard family that resembles a turnip)
Osman-royal (note: Osmunda regalis, a type of English fern)
Southernwood
Chamomile
Charity (note: possibly refers to charistolochia, another name for mugwort)
St. John’s Wort
Solomon’s seal
Amber
Rosemary
Adder’s Spear
Golden Rod
Herb-Robert (note: Roberts geranium, a species of cranesbill)
Ground Pine
Sanicle
Bugle (note: Larkspur)

Shred all of them very small and infuse them in 1 quart of olive oil and 3 pints of neat oil, put this in a glass vessel and stopper it, and let it stand in the heat of the sun for ten or twelve days and stir it each night when you bring it in. Then boil it over a gentle fire until the oil is green, strain the herbs out of it, and add another ½ handful of the shredded herbs along with 1 ounce of oil of turpentine, 1 ounce of natural balsam, and 1 ounce of oil of worms. Return it to the sun as before, boil and strain it, then keep it in a stoppered vessel. It must be made in May.

Oleum Cydoniorum

Peter Lowe. A discourse of the whole art of chyrurgerie.

Take quince whose bark and seeds have been bruised, and 1 pound of dried quince. Mingle them in a glass vessel with 1 ½ pounds of oleum omphacinum and set them in the sun for twenty days, then boil the mixture for an hour in a double vessel. Do this two more times, then strain it and keep it for your use. It has the virtue to bind and is very cooling, good for the stomach, liver, and entrails: it eases vomiting.

(Note: oleum omphacinum is oil pressed from unripe olives.)

Oleum Masticinum

Peter Lowe. A discourse of the whole art of chyrurgerie.

Take:

4 four ounces of mastic
4 ounces of good wine
2 pounds of either unripe olive oil or rose oil

Boil them in a double vessel to the consumption of the wine. It has the virtue to corroborate the brain, sinews, liver, and stomach. It is good for vomiting and dysentery.

Oleum Camemellinum

Peter Lowe. A discourse of the whole art of chyrurgerie.

Take 1 pound of fresh chamomile flowers and bruise them. Macerate and infuse them in sweet oil in a glass in the sun for twenty days, then strain it and keep it for your use. It is good for assuaging pain, and it strengthens the sinews and membranes.

Oleum Liliorum

Peter Lowe. A discourse of the whole art of chyrurgerie.

Take one pound of lily blossoms. Macerate them in sweet oil, set them in the sun the space of twenty days, then strain it and keep it for your use. It has the virtue to assuage the pain of the stomach, breath, belly, kidneys, and bladder.

Oleum Anetinum

Peter Lowe. A discourse of the whole art of chyrurgerie.

This oil is made of leaves of anetide or dill, macerated and bruised in a sufficient quantity of sweet oil, and set in the sun five or six days, or boiled in a double vessel. Strain it and keep it for your use. It has the virtue to heat, digest, and assuage the pain of the head and sinews, and procures sleep.

Ungentum album

Peter Lowe. A discourse of the whole art of chyrurgerie.

4 ounces of ceruse (note: white lead)
2 drams of litharge (note: lead monoxide)

Lay these in rosewater, then put them in a mortar, and little by little pour in as much rose oil as they can drink up, continually stirring and tempering them until they appear in the form of an unguent, adding a little white vinegar with some camphor. It is cooling, assuages pain and inflammation, and is good for heat, scabs, itch, and all outbreaks.

A Lye to Color the Hair Gold

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take 1 loth rhubarb, a half handful of celandine, cook it in a strong lye, and dip your comb into it.

A lye and a salve, to make the hair grow

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take:

1 handful each of southernwood and maidenhair
3 finger’s worth each of rosemary and lavender blossoms
2 loths each of greater burdock and sulphurweed root (note: sulphurweed is a plant in the carrot family)
1 loth each of nettles and fenugreek
3 quentgen of labdanum (note: a kind of sticky brown resin)

Pour lye on it, cook it, squeeze it, and use it to wash your head. When the moon is waxing, smear your head afterword with this salve:

Take:

1 handful each of southernwood and maidenhair
2 loths each of honey and labdanum
1 quentgen of bilberries
3 quentgen each of flax and fenugreek seeds
6 loths each of sweet almond oil and good white wine

Let it set for 24 hours, then cook it until it forms a salve, and squeeze it.

A powder, to make the hair grow

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take:

3 loths each of wild galangal root (note: this probably refers to ginger), calamus, and red roses
2 loths of benzoin (note: a kind of balsamic resin)
1½ loths of aloe wood
1 loth of each of red coral and amber
½ pound each of bean flour and iris
5 grams each of musk (note: the glandular secretion of the musk deer) and civet (note: the glandular secretion of the civet cat)

A Smoke for the loss of hair due to the French Disease (Syphilis)

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take:

3 quentgen each of aloe, olibanum, benzoin, and camphor
1 quentgen of gallia moschata (note: a compound ingredient consisting of musk, amber, and aloe wood)
½ loth of aloe wood
1 quentgen each of cinnabar and of orpiment-marcasite (note: orpiment is an orange yellow arsenic sulfide mineral. Marcasite is an iron sulfide that resembles pyrite; during the early modern period the term was applied to any mineral that had metallic components.)

Strew the mixture over a fire and breathe it in to your whole body.

A Plaster to make the Hair Grow

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take:

2 loths of honey
2½ quentgen labdanum
1 loth each of mole ashes and bee ashes
½ loth of spermaceti (note: a waxy substance found in the head cavities of the sperm whale)
As much wax as is necessary

A sugar against worms

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Mix:

1 scruple of quicksilver
6 grams of benzoin (note: a balsamic resin) dissolved in several drops of rose water
½ quentgen of rose sugar

Give it to a child.

Little tablets against worms

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take:

½ loth of wormwood
1 quentgen of mercurius dulcis (note: calomel, a form of mercury chloride)
½ quentgen of jalap (note: a purgative medicine made from the roots of a Mexican plant)
1 quentgen of scammony
2 scruples of coriander

Make little tablets out of this mixture using sugar dissolved in rose water.

An essence against worms

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Frequently take 20 to 30 drops of myrrh essence.

A water against worms

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Occasionally melt lead and let it fall into water, then drink from it.

Powders against worms

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

A powder against worms

Grind myrrh into a powder, and frequently take some of it.

A powder to take while eating to help against worms

Mix peas gently cooked on an iron with butter, and serve this to children on buttered bread.

A powder against worms

Take:

2 loths of wormwood seeds
½ quentgen of fennel leaves
1 scruple each of prepared coriander and grilled stag horn

Take either 1 or ½ quentgen of this at once.

Another powder against worms

Diligently use the powder made from sorrel seeds.

A juice against worms

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Mash ferns into a powder, mix it with honey and wine, and drink it.

A powder against worms

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take ½ loth of white turmeric seeds, ½ quentgen of aloe, and put it in milk sweetened with sugar.

Yet another means against worms

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Frequently eat yellow lupin.

Drinks for a raspy voice

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

A drink for a raspy voice

Take 6 loths of hyssop water and as much sugar as is necessary, mix an egg yolk with it, and drink it.

Another drink for a raspy voice

Warm some brandy, mix in sugar or honey, and drink it.

Another drink for a raspy voice

Take:

2 loths each of barley and small raisins
1½ loths liquorice
1 hand full each of mulberry, maidenhair, hyssop, and cabbage seeds
1 loth of pine seeds

Mix this with the drink described below, cook it, and drink of it in the morning and evening.

Electuaries for a raspy voice

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

An electuary for a raspy voice

Take:

4 loths of cabbage juice
2 loths of either sugar penides (note: sugar that has been heated and then pulled until it becomes white and opaque, when it is molded into tablets) or irio syrup (note: this herb probably refers to sisymbrium irio, or London rocket, an herb with small, yellow flowers)
Enough oxymel of squill as is necessary (note: squill is a member of the lily family; oxymel is a mixture of honey and vinegar used to make medicinal herbs more appealing)

Another electuary for a raspy voice

Use the electuary described in Chapter 43, No. 2 (An electuary meant to treat tuberculosis and shortness of breath made with honey, liquorice, elfdock root, sulfur, and rose water).

A drink for a raspy voice

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Seethe pennyroyal in running water, and each evening drink a goodly amount with a bit of sugar.

A Sugar for a raspy voice

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take a spoonful of sugar and dampen it with brandy, and eat it for four nights in a row before sleeping.

An oil for a cough

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take 5 to six drops of anise oil mixed in warm beer.

Triätschnitten, to help with a cough

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take:

1 loth each of scraped liquorice, elfdock root, and fennel
½ loth each of betony and jack-in-the-pulpit
1 loth of cinnamon
6 loths of white sugar

Spread ½ spoonful of this mixture morning and evening on a piece of toasted bread that has been moistened with wine.

A way of making herbal tea to soothe a cough

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take:

A half handful each of gypsyweed, scabiosa, and sage
5 fingers’ worth of sloe blooms
1 loth each of coltsfoot root and liquorice
½ loth each of elfdock root and jujubes
½ quentgen of sandalwood
½ loth each of fennel and anise
3 quentgen of prepared coriander

A Mixture for Children who have a cough

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take:

4 loths of sweet almond oil
1 scruple of iris
1 scruple of spermaceti (note: Spermaceti is a waxy substance found in the head cavities of sperm whales)
3 quentgen of white sugar

A solution for a cough

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Hollow a turnip out from the top and fill it with brown sugar, fill the hole with a piece of the turnip and set it in warm ashes until it becomes soft. Eat it alone, or with some butter.

A Water to soothe a cough

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take three spoonfuls morning and evening of the water described in Chapter 3 No. 7 (originally for everyday fever):

Take 1 quentgen each of wormwood juice and theriac, and 2 loths of strong white wine. Take 3 spoonfuls morning and evening.

Tablets to soothe a cough

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take 1 pound of sugar and pour it into sage water, then let it cook until it forms threads. Add 20 drops of anise oil and 1 loth of powdered iris, then mold the tablets.

Against the coughing caused by water

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take ½ quentgen of the best olibanum and grind it to a powder, mix it with sugar, and take it at bedtime several evenings after each other; it is also good taken early in a cooked apple.

A powder for children who have a cough

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take a scruple each of powdered liquorice and iris, ½ scruple each of powdered sulfur and crab’s eyes, and a bit of barley sugar. Mix it, and take morning and evening enough amount to cover the tip of a knife.

Remedies for a Headache

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

A remedy for a headache

Eat nine bitter almonds.

Another remedy for a headache

Drink the contents of a fresh raw egg.

Another remedy for a headache

Before you go to bed, drink a good draft of fresh water.

Another remedy for a headache

In the early morning, eat 2 or 3 pieces of candied ginger.

Pills for a headache

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take 4 loths each of aloe, red myrrh, and mithridate and 1 loth of oriental saffron. Make pills from it, and take 1 scruple of them every other day.

(Note: mithridate was a remedy allegedly created by King Mithridates that contained up to 65 ingredients including myrrh, ginger, cinnamon, and saffron.)

A mixture for a headache

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take ½ loth each of sweet spirit of nitre and essence of saffron, mix it together, and take up to 30 drops several times during the course of the day.

A powder for a headache

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take 1 quentgen each of ivory and wild boar tusks, ½ quentgen of cinnabar, and 2 grams of laudanum opium. Grind it to a powder and take often during the day 1 knife tip’s worth in blessed thistle water or borage water.

A drink against the ache from the cold

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Boil marjoram in white wine and drink it.

A remedy for the headache

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Gather:

4 loths fir resin
2 loths each of beeswax, olibanum, deer tallow (note: olibanum is frankincense)
8 loths white wine

Let this mixture cook for a while, then add 2 loths of turpentine mixed with rose water, and finally ½ loth of mastic. Then mix it well.

A remedy for the headache

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Take ½ loth of a plaster made from frogspawn and quicksilver, and 1 quentgen each of plaster of betony and alabaster salve. Lay this mixture on the skin after the hair has been shorn off.

(Note: alabaster salve was a salve whose primary ingredients were often chamomile, rose, betony, and rue.)

A Salve for the headache

Eleonora Maria Rosalia. Freywillig aufgesprungener Granat-Apffel des Christlichen Samariters (The freely blooming pomegranate of Christian Samaritans).

Cook ivy leaves in vinegar and add a bit of rose oil, mix it together, and smear yourself with it.

Redcurrant Electuary

Walther Hermann Ryff. Warhafftige, künstliche und gerechte underweisung und anzeygung, alle Latwergen, Confect, Conserven... (Truthful, artful, and accurate instruction and demonstration all manner of electuaries, confectionary, and conserves...).

An electuary made with redcurrant berries: the juice of these berries should be pressed out and boiled over an even flame until it acquires the consistency of an electuary. Then add a bit of sugar to it, to make the taste a bit milder. This electuary is a potent quencher of thirst, moistens and refreshes a dry tongue; and a delicious remedy to be used in all heat and burning fevers and sicknesses, and it can be used on wounds.

Barberry Electuary

Walther Hermann Ryff. Warhafftige, künstliche und gerechte underweisung und anzeygung, alle Latwergen, Confect, Conserven... (Truthful, artful, and accurate instruction and demonstration all manner of electuaries, confectionary, and conserves...).

Barberry berries are common in our land, although they are not found everywhere, and they are similar in properties to the redcurrant berries, although they are stronger and more sour. The juice of these berries also makes a good electuary, in form and consistency like the redcurrant electuary described above. Whether it is made with sugar or without, it is almost the same in strength as the other electuary. It provides powerful relief for thirst, quiets stomach ache or the flux, moistens dry tongues and brings coolness to hot fevers, mitigates and cools the heat and sharpness of the blood caused by cholerick moistness. It also helps with the monthly flux of women and with the bloody flux called dysentery, and can be used for all the illnesses that the redcurrant electuary is used for. These two electuaries, one or the other, are seldom recommended to the sick by doctors.

Sugar or Conserve of Roses

Walther Hermann Ryff. Warhafftige, künstliche und gerechte underweisung und anzeygung, alle Latwergen, Confect, Conserven... (Truthful, artful, and accurate instruction and demonstration all manner of electuaries, confectionary, and conserves...).

The best roses that we should use for the medicinal art are those with a deep red-violet color. You should harvest the blossoms on days when the sky is bright and clear, in the morning when the sun has dried the dew, and use a sharp scissors so that you capture all of its parts. Then chop them fine on a clean cutting board with a prepared knife. Then mix one pound of the cut roses with two pounds of fine sugar, put it in a glass container, and hang it in the sun. This rose sugar is very useful to everyone. It is very useful in the case of weak and heavy stomach caused by bile, for it stills and modifies its sharpness. It also calms flux in the bowels and red stool (dysentery), strengthens a weak heart, brain, and all internal parts. And for those who suffer from hot fevers, give them fresh rosewater and it will quench the heat, and temper and moisten the tongue in all manner of warm diseases.

Violet Syrup or Julep

Walther Hermann Ryff. Warhafftige, künstliche und gerechte underweisung und anzeygung, alle Latwergen, Confect, Conserven... (Truthful, artful, and accurate instruction and demonstration all manner of electuaries, confectionary, and conserves...).

Take violets in their peak bloom, so that they still have their perfume, put them in either a tin or stone vessel, and pour hot water over them. Let it stand for six to eight hours, then take the blossoms out and discard them. Make the water warm again, and pour it over fresh violets, then repeat this process with more violets until the water is deep blue and has taken on the taste and qualities of the violets. This violet water should be boiled over a coal fire with either sugar or clear honey until it becomes thick enough, which you can test using a clean pestle as is described in the making of rose syrup (boil until it takes on the consistency of honey, or place a drop or two on a knife – if it remains still, the consistency is good, but if it flows off or is still almost watery, it has not boiled long enough).

[…]This is useful and good for all ailments that are hot in nature, especially with young children who are afflicted with the falling sickness and hot fevers, for it quenches the heat that comes on quickly with fevers, keeps the stomach open and softens the hardness brought on by illness, strengthens the heart and soothes pains in the side. In short, it is useful and good against all ailments that are hot in nature, which is also true of the preserved blossoms, either as violet sugar or violet conserves. Those who do not have sugar can boil the violets in water, and use in all manner of diseases of the hot nature as is described. When a little of the syrup is mixed with fresh well water it is good for thirst, and a good mixture against sickness.

Chamomile Water

Walther Hermann Ryff. Warhafftige, künstliche und gerechte underweisung und anzeygung, alle Latwergen, Confect, Conserven... (Truthful, artful, and accurate instruction and demonstration all manner of electuaries, confectionary, and conserves...).

Chamomile flowers distilled in good aged wine opens the liver and kidneys, cleanses the gall and bring on the courses of women. It quiets pain in the reproductive organs, the bowels, the kidneys and the bladder, heals aching in the lungs, and eases gasping and difficulty breathing. It drives out the stone and grit in the kidneys; and warms the stomach and quiets the flux in the stomach, so that the undigested food passes through as it was taken in, and quiets many internal pains.

The distilled water of chamomile is also good for childbirth, for it helps bring about cleansing. It is also beneficial for those suffering from the falling sickness, who should often drink of this water.

Marigold Water

Walther Hermann Ryff. Warhafftige, künstliche und gerechte underweisung und anzeygung, alle Latwergen, Confect, Conserven... (Truthful, artful, and accurate instruction and demonstration all manner of electuaries, confectionary, and conserves...).

Water distilled from golden marigolds is a valuable water against redness and heat in the eyes, if the eyes are washed with it evening and morning, or if you lay a linen cloth over them that has been moistened with the water.

Matricaria Water

Walther Hermann Ryff. Warhafftige, künstliche und gerechte underweisung und anzeygung, alle Latwergen, Confect, Conserven... (Truthful, artful, and accurate instruction and demonstration all manner of electuaries, confectionary, and conserves...).

The water of this herb is very useful in regards to the cold temperament of women, especially in regards to the extent of foul fevers they are inclined to, for it can purge and cleanse them, for it forces out the phlegmatic slime and bile in the stomach. A cloth dipped in this water and laid on the afflicted part soothes mild fevers, helps break up tumors, and quiets the stomach ache.

Tansy Water

Walther Hermann Ryff. Warhafftige, künstliche und gerechte underweisung und anzeygung, alle Latwergen, Confect, Conserven... (Truthful, artful, and accurate instruction and demonstration all manner of electuaries, confectionary, and conserves...).

Tansy and matricaria are closely related and their water is almost of equal strength and has similar effects. When it is macerated and marinated or distilled, it purges the body of worms, quiets pains in the belly, and drives away sweating.

Other strengths and virtues of this water are similar to those found in chamomile and matricaria water.

For the Stomach Ache

Walther Hermann Ryff. Kurtzes Handbüchlin und Experiment viler Arzneyen (A short handbook and the remedies of many doctors).

Each recipe below is a treatment for a stomach ache.

Macerate garlic and mix it with coriander. Taken with wine, this drink softens the belly.
Drinking agrimony juice banishes the stomachache.
When it is often used, parsley banishes the stomachache.
Dill that has been boiled and drunk banishes the stomachache.
When used often, anise is good for the stomachache.
Celandine boiled in water and drunk helps soften the stomach.
Rosemary roots laid in wine for a day and a night with the herb called parietaria boiled and drunk helps soften the stomach.
The juice of hieracium pilosella (note: mouse-ear hawkweed, a kind of daisy) mixed with honey water is good for the stomachache.
Basil leaves boiled in water and placed over the stomach can take away the stomachache.
Used often, chervil can take away pain in the stomach.
Powdered coral drunk with rainwater takes away the stomachache.
Dwarf elder boiled and consumed can soften a hard stomach.

For the Quotidian (Everyday) Fever

Walther Hermann Ryff. Kurtzes Handbüchlin und Experiment viler Arzneyen (A short handbook and the remedies of many doctors).

Each recipe below is a treatment for the everyday fever.

Asafoetida (that is, devil’s dung) that has been boiled in wine and strained, then mixed with honey and sugar, is good against the everyday fever.
For fever take the juice of fumitory and mix it with one loth of white mushrooms, then give it to the sick. This will work without a doubt, as it has helped some people become immune to the cold.
Paper spurge, along with other plants in the spurge family (commonly known as wolf’s milk) is good when boiled in wine and mixed with sugar.
A drink made from paper spurge and small spurge roots that are mixed with small raisins, then boiled in water that has a little vinegar mixed in and made sweet with sugar, is good for the fever.
Tansy boiled in wine is good against the everyday fever.

For the Tertiary Fever

Walther Hermann Ryff. Kurtzes Handbüchlin und Experiment viler Arzneyen (A short handbook and the remedies of many doctors).

These are treatments for the tertiary fever.

The syrup of endives quenches the tertiary fever.
Whoever has the tertiary fever should drink of the root and herb of tormentil, for it helps.

Medicinal Recipes

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