Title: p-medicine.msg
Subject: Period medicine, thoughts, techniques.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: medieval, medicine, period, diseases, herbs, surgery

p-medicine-msg – 4/22/13

Period medical practices. References.

NOTE: See also the files: birth-control-msg, bathing-msg, p-hygiene-msg, p-sex-msg, p-herbals-msg, Man-d-Mujeres-art, p-medicine-lnks, p-dental-care-art.

************************************************************************
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This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************

---
A SHORT HISTORY OF MEDICINE:

"Doctor, I have an ear ache."

 500 A.D. - "Here, eat this root."
1000 A.D. - "That root is heathen, say this prayer."
1850 A.D. - "That prayer is superstition, drink this potion."
1940 A.D. - "That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill."
1985 A.D. - "That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic."
2000 A.D. - "That antibiotic is artificial.  Here, eat this root!"
---

From: jack at dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (Jack Campin)
Date: 9 Apr 91 12:05:35 GMT
Organization: COMANDOS Project, Glesga Yoonie, Unthank
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books,rec.org.sca,sci.med

fireflyte at oak.circa.ufl.edu wrote:
> AERE6909 at Ryerson.CA (Chris Davis) writes:
>> If anyone knows were I can acquire a book that has examples of disease,
>> sicknesses and their cures from medieval times, it would be greatly
>> appreciated.

> A good idea would be to post a message to rec.org.sca [...] and ask the
> members there (of the Society for Creative Anachronism---a medieval
> recreationist group) for such a source...

A bit later than mediaeval, but probably useful for lots of SCA people:

   An Explanation of the Fashion and Use of Three and Fifty Instruments of
   Chirurgery: Gathered out of Ambrosius Pareus, the famous French
   Chirurgion, and done into English, for the behoofe of young Practitioners
   in Chirurgery, by H.C. [Helkiah Crooke]
    London  Printed for Michael Sparke, 1634

(facsimile reprint by West Port Books, 151 West Port, Edinburgh 3, phone
 +44 31 229 4431)

This is mostly devoted to military surgery, with lots of gruesome stuff
about skull wounds and gangrene; there are detailed engravings of each bit
of hardware described.  Here is Crooke's description of bullet wounds:

For the signes, there is one generall that the wound is orbicular or round:
the Colour of the part is also altered and becomes livid, blewish,
greenish, or betwixt both.  Adde hereto that the sense of the blow is
gravative, as if some huge weight had fallen upon the part, neither doth
the blood issue proportionably to the wound, for the parts being sore
brused, doe presently swell: in so much that you hardly insinuate a pledger
into it; for the lips of the wound being tumefied, hinder the issue of the
blood.  There is also in this kind of wound, a very great heate, caused
either by the swiftnesse of the motion, or by the vehement impulsion of the
ayre, or else because the the contused parts being driven one against
another, raise heate by attrition.  The reason why a Bullet makes so great
a contusion, is because it hath no corners to cut his entrance, but is
round, and therefore cannot enter without extreame force, and thence it is
that not the wound onely is blackish, but the neighbour parts also are
livid.  Hence also proceed those many ill symptomes of paine, fluxion of
humours, inflammation, aposthemation, convulsion, phrensie, palsie,
Gangrene, mortification, and at length death it selfe.  The contusion also
and the rending attrition and tearing of the the adjacent parts, makes the
sanies or matter of the wound which it belches out, to be of a noysome and
odious savour, and so much more plentifull because to a part so notably
offended many humours will flow out of the whole body, which at the part
affected cannot be governed by the weakened naturall heate thereof, and
therefore rot into corruption.  But if you add to this confluence of
humours, whereby naturall heate is suffocated, those other universall or
particular causes of putrefaction in the ayre, and in diseased bodyes, then
will the matter or _sanies_ be as neere a poyson as putrefaction can
attaine being exalted, and consequently the stench and other symptomes more
dangerous and mortall.

--  Jack Campin   Computing Science Department, Glasgow University, 17 Lilybank
Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland   041 339 8855 x6854 work  041 556 1878 home
JANET: jack at dcs.glasgow.ac.uk   BANG!net: via mcsun and ukc   FAX: 041 330 4913
INTERNET: via nsfnet-relay.ac.uk   BITNET: via UKACRL   UUCP: jack at glasgow.uucp

From: sbloch at euler.ucsd.EDU (Steve Bloch)
Date: 11 Apr 91 21:49:41 GMT
Organization: The Internet
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

 AERE6909 at Ryerson.CA (Chris Davis) writes:
> If anyone knows were I can acquire a book that has examples of disease,
> sicknesses and their cures from medieval times, it would be greatly
> appreciated.

Almost any medieval cookbook will have medical comments, as the
prevailing medical theory was that of the balance of the humours,
which can be most easily regulated by controlling the diet.  (No
bleeding or trephinig, please!)  Many of the recipes therein are quite
consistent with modern medical beliefs, e.g. a confection of oranges
for a cold, or one of violet flowers for a cough (these examples come
from a 13th-century Moorish cookbook).  One of the leading Arab
writers on the subject was abu-l-Qasi, whose name has been Latinized
into Abulcasis; his books should be available in any medical school
library (although they may be in Arabic or Latin!)
I've also found quotations from a 3rd-century Greek medical treatise
on the binding and splinting of wounds; I can look up the reference at
home if anybody's interested.

Stephen Bloch
Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
>sca>Caid>Calafia>St.Artemas
sbloch at math.ucsd.edu

From: DRS at UNCVX1.BITNET ("Dennis R. Sherman")
Date: 15 Nov 91 02:54:00 GMT
Organization: The Internet

Someone asked about psychiatric references for our period.  It just
happens that I'm working in a book that has some references that may be
of interest.  The source:

Cockayne, Rev. Thomas Oswald (tr.); _Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and
Starcraft of Early England, being a collection of documents for the most
part never before printed, illustrating the history of science in this
country before the Norman conquest._; London: Longman, Green, Longman,
Roberts, and Green, 1865.

I'm currently in volume 2 (of 3), which contains the "leechdoms", which
are prescriptions for solutions to medical problems.  The manuscript
(which is transcribed [Old English] on one page, with a facing page
modern English translation) is dated from the 10th Century, probably
about 960 CE.  Some excerpts about psychiatry (sort of :-) :

    For a fiend sick man, when a devil possesses the man or controls him
    from within with disease; a spew drink, lupin, bishopwort, henbane,
    cropleek; pound together, add ale for a liquid, let stand for a
    night, add fifty libcorns, and holy water.  A drink for a fiend sick
    man, to be drunk out of a church bell; githrife, cynoglossum, yarrow,
    lupin, betony, attorlothe, cassock, flower de luce, fennel, church
    lichen, lichen of Christs mark, lovage; work up the drink off clear
    ale, sing seven masses over the worts, add garlic and holy water,
    and drip the drink into every drink which he will subsequently
    drink, and let him sing the psalm, Beati immaculati, and Exurgat,
    and Salvum me fac, deus, and then let him drink the drink out of a
    church bell, and let the mass priest after the drink sing this over
    him, Domine, sancte pater omnipotens.  For a lunatic; costmary,
    goutweed, lupin, betony, attorlothe, cropleek, field gentian, hove,
    fennel; let masses be sung over, let it be wrought of foreign ale and
    of holy water; let him drink this drink for nine mornings, at every
    one fresh, and no other liquid that is thick and still, and let him
    give alms, and earnestly pray God for his mercies. For the
    phrenzied; bishopwort, lupin, bonewort, everfern, githrife,
    elecampane, when day and night divide, then sing thou in the church
    litanies, that is, the names of the hallows, and the Paternoster;
    with the song go thou, that thou mayest be near the worts, and go
    thrice about them, and when thou takest them go again to church with
    the same song, and sing twelve masses over hem, and over all the
    drinks which belong to the disease, in honour of the twelve
    apostles.

                                 lxvi.

    Against mental vacancy and against folly; put into ale bishopwort,
    lupins, betony, the southern fennel, nepte, water agrimony, cockle,
    marche, then let drink.  For idiotcy and folly, put into ale,
    cassia, and lupins, bishopwort, alexanders, githrife, fieldmore, and
    holy water; then let him drink.

     Robyyan Torr d'Elandris                Dennis R. Sherman
     Kapellenberg, Windmaster's Hill        Chapel Hill, NC
     Atlantia                               drs at uncvx1.bitnet
                                            drs at uncvx1.oit.unc.edu

From: DRS at UNCVX1.BITNET ("Dennis R. Sherman")
Date: 28 Nov 91 03:30:00 GMT
Organization: The Internet

Aleksander Yevsha recently mentioned _Bald's Leechbook_, a 10th
century manuscript, and gave some publication information.

It is also available as volume 2 of the three volume set,
_Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft, being a collection of
documents, for the most part never before printed, illustrating
the history of science in this country before the Norman conquest_;
collected and edited by the Rev. [Thomas] Oswald Cockayne.
London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green.  1865.
This is the copy currently in my hands - great stuff!  It was
also reprinted (in the USA) about 1961, if memory serves - check
online catalogs using an Author search for Cockayne, and it'll
show up.  (My favorite online catalog:  melvyl.ucop.edu - 6.5
million entries and still growing :-)

     Robyyan Torr d'Elandris                Dennis R. Sherman
     Kapellenberg, Windmaster's Hill        Chapel Hill, NC
     Atlantia                               drs at uncvx1.bitnet
                                            drs at uncvx1.oit.unc.edu

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: jliedl at nickel.laurentian.ca
Subject: Re: Gender and the arts & sciences
Organization: Laurentian University
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1993 19:13:50 GMT

In article <21kdm5INNskm at hal.com>, hoffman at hal.COM (John Hoffman) writes:

John the Elusive quotes me:
>> After all, medical 
>> texts of the day held that the newly conceived fetus was entirely a 
>> product of _male_ genetic material (to use a modern phrase).  All the 
>> woman provided was the incubating environment to bring the fetus to 
>> term in the best way possible.
> 
> Can someone confirm that some or most medical texts of the day
> contained such beliefs?  
> 
> It seems to fly in the face of evidence that would be obvious 
> to any breeder of domestic creatures.  For that matter, even
> casual observation of several generations of human families
> would probably lead to the conclusion that at least some traits
> came from each side.  
> 
> Or I am too easily biased by modern thinking?

Before I begin here, let's make it clear, I was talking about Renaissance 
culture, not other periods (esp. where matrilineal descent was followed).

They were following the texts of Galen, Aristotle and the Hippocratic 
Corpus, which held, among other things, that :

1) Man is the standard, woman is a debased copy

2) Male sperm is the standard; woman's menstrual flow is a debased form 
of sperm, lacking the all important constituent:  "the principle of Soul"
(cf. Aristotle's _The Generation of Animals_

3) Man provided the "form" and "soul" of the offspring; woman, only the 
"matter".

Most all of this is drawn from Aristotle, whose pervasive influence on 
later medieval and early Renaissance science was enormous.

And lets not forget the stories about barnacle geese!

Ancarett Nankivellis
Janice Liedl
Laurentian University, Canada
JLIEDL at NICKEL.LAURENTIAN.CA

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: tbarnes at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (thomas wrentmore barnes)
Subject: A Book Review: The Medieval Health Handbook
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 1994 15:51:34 GMT

	Greetings from Lothar,

	As promised here is my review of the book I was raving about a
couple of days ago.

	You real medievalists can laugh like donkeys at my poor attempt
at a scholarly style if you wish...

	THE MEDIEVAL HEALTH HANDBOOK: Tacuinium Sanitas by Luisa
Cogliati Arano translated by Adele Westbrook and Oscar Ratti. George
Brazillier Press; New York. 1976. ISBN 0-8076-1277-4. US$20.00 
	10" x 6", 48 color plates, 243 black and white plates, 46 page
introduction, concordance, and bibliography. 
	Much of medieval medicine, like modern medicine focused on
preventive measures that would ward off illness. In some respects
medieval preventive medicine was more elaborate than modern preventive 
medicine since the medicine of the High Middle Ages and Renaissance was
based on predicting and balancing astrological influences and the four
bodily humors of Galenic medicine. This lead medieval physicians, like
19th c. medical reformers, to prescribe not just medicines, but proper
diet, living conditions, and activities for their patients. By the 14th
and 15th c. working on the works of the Arab physician Dioscorodies,
medieval health writers had created a genre of "health manuals" that 
expanded on medieval herbals. The "Tacuinium Sanitas" is a fine example
of this genre, and the George Brazillier edition is an excellent and 
easily accessible source for this manuscript. 
	The book begins with a 46 page history of the genre of medieval
health manuals and a discussion of the history and origins of the six
texts from which the book is collated. The illustrations and
translations of the text which make up most of the book are taken from
the Tacuinums of Leige, Paris, Vienna, and Rouen, and the Theatrum of
the Casanatense Library, Rome. All of these works were executed by work
shops in Northern Italy and Berry from the last quarter of the 14th
century to the first quarter of the 15th century with illustrations of
contemporary scenes wedded to an earlier text. 
	Each color plate gives a full page illustration from a page of
one of the six texts (mostly the Rouen and Leige texts) with a
translation of the text that accompanied the illustration in the
original manuscript at the bottom of the page. Each entry describes 
the virtues and dangers of the item in the picture, when it is optimum 
from a medicinal point of view, the nature of the humors of the item,
and the way to neutralize the dangers of the item. Plates are arranged
in alphabetical order by the latin name for each item. 
	As an example, and also as documentation for the Medieval Sex 
thread, here is the text of pl. IX Coitus.

	IX. Coitus (Coytus)
	Nature: It is the union of two for the purpose of introducing
the sperm. Optimum: That which lasts until the sperm has been completely
emitted. Usefulness: It preserves the species. Dangers: It is harmful to
those with cold and dry breathing. Neutralization of the Dangers: With
sperm-producing foods. (Paris, f. 100v)

	The accompanying color illustration depicts a late 14th c.-
early 15th c. couple in bed having sex in the missionary position. 

	Other plates give similar information about various herbs,
spices, foods, textiles, seasons, winds, emotions, and activities. The 
black and white plates are reproduced 6 to a page, but have the same
text format. In many cases, the text of a given illustration has been
taken from several of the other manuscripts to accompany an illustration
from a second manuscript. This means, that in some cases, there are 
three or four slightly different versions of the same block of text, 
each of which has more or less information, or different information.
This variation is very nice to have, since some texts include
information not given in others.  
	The text is fascinating, since it gives hints as to how foods
were to be prepared, what foods they were to be served with, and when
during the meal they were to be served. It also gives us a sense of what
medicinal values and dangers were associated with each food. Beyond that
the text serves as a list of medieval herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables,
condiments, and meats. Other activities, such as fencing and hunting,
are also described, giving an amateur medievalist a sense of what
medieval genry did for fun and what they thought of a given activity. 
	If, like most Anachronists, you find pictures to me more useful
than words, the book is even more valuable. The illustrations are done
in a late-Gothic, early-Naturalistic style. The figures are fairly
realistically drawn, but most of the interiors and plants are drawn out
of scale or out of perspective. While the artistic quality of any given
illustration is not high, illuminators will be impressed by the sheer
number of illuminations. There are literally hundreds of costumes,
tools, cooking utensils, pieces of furniture and other artifacts shown.
Costumers, illuminators, wood-workers, gardeners, vintners, and cooks
can spend many delightful hours looking through this book documenting
various materials, tools, and techniques.
	In case you couldn't tell, I highly recommend this book. Run,
don't walk to your nearest bookstore to get it. I can't think of any
person in the SCA who would not be at least marginally interested in
this book, especially since the text was taken from earlier sources, and
was reprinted in different forms in later sources. If you have a 14th or
15th century persona, you will WANT this book. Given the increible
number of color and black and white plates, and the usefullness of the
text, this book represents a tremendous value for the money. This isn't
just another coffee-table book, it is a credible work of scholarship
that nicely integrates art with a translation of a historical source.

	Lothar 

From: Phyllis_Gilmore at rand.org (Phyllis Gilmore)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: RE: Period Sex (or lack thereof)
Date: Mon, 7 Feb 94 12:37:35 GMT
Organization: RAND

v081lu33 at ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Ken Mondschein) wrote:
>        I'm pretty sure they did it. I've read the Decameron.
>
>        Does anyone know of period non-intercourse sexual things that our
>forebears invented (in other words, when was making out invented?)
>
>        ALSO, remember that the folks put a huge premium on chastity and
>virginity (in the Rennaissance, this was more for women). This side of their
>philosophy, as great a virtue as chivalry, is so oft neglected in the SCA. We
>should at least give AoA's for chastity (the Order of the Iron Unerwear) ;)
>
>                --Tristan Calir de Lune

My library still has all the order of an old bird's nest, so I can't cite
an exact reference or provide a direct quote.  However, I am in possesion 
of a book that quotes A Learned Scholar's opinions on how to determine 
whether or not a woman is a virgin.  If I recall correctly, one method had 
to do with the color of her urine.  

I wonder if even Our Lady could pass some of these tests?!  And how
many of quite another stripe might seem as pure as the new-fallen snow!
What fools men be at times.

Philippa

From: DDF2 at cornell.edu (David Friedman)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: brain shots
Date: 5 Mar 1994 01:09:36 GMT
Organization: Cornell Law School

jeffs at math.bu.EDU (Jeff Suzuki) writes:
> Here's an odd question: today, if you want to kill someone, you try
> for a head shot.  We know, _now_, that this works because your brain
> is a rather important organ.
> 
> However, before about the 16th century (with rare exceptions), people
> thought that the brain was 1) a lump of fat (true enough), 2) used
> mainly to cool the blood (Aristotle).  

Take a look at the execution passage in Jomviking saga. One of the
Jomvikings says that they have had a running argument as to whether a man's
consciousness is really in his head or his body, and proposes an experiment
(which involves his being killed--but he is about to be killed anyway) to
settle the matter. As I remember, the experiment comes out the right way.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
DDF2 at Cornell.Edu

From: djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Migraines ...
Date: 5 Mar 1994 17:18:23 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

A FAR, FAR BETTER THING <kgreen at pomona.claremont.edu> wrote:
>Can anyone out there prove to me that migraines are Out Of Period?

Alas, milady, migraines are thoroughly in period.  The term comes
from the Greek _hemikrainia_, meaning "half the head," from the
one-sided pain that is as far as I know the most characteristic
symptom.  

When you get better, read Oliver Sacks's _Migraine_, which has
some references.  Good book too.  Sacks has been treating
migraines for decades.  About all you can really say to sum up is
that migraine is idiopathic, meaning everybody's case is
different.

Abbess Hildegarde of Bingen, who is considered a saint in Germany
though I don't know if Rome ever got around to canonizing her,
had migraines for years, classic migraine with all kinds of
visual aberrations.  She interpreted them as religious visions
and went on to write books of theology, lots of gorgeous music,
not to mentioning being Abbess of her monastery, founding new
Abbeys here and there, and meddling in secular affairs for a
day's march in every direction.  So it can all be done ... in
between migraines.

BTW, Sachs says somewhere in his book that the best (i.e., most
often known to work) treatment for migraine he has seen is to wash
down some aspirin with a cup of hot tea, and go lie down for a
while where it's dark and quiet.

Feel better soon!

Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin		Dorothy J. Heydt
Mists/Mists/West				UC Berkeley
Argent, a cross forme'e sable		djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu

From: carole_newson-smith at mac.NET.COM (Carole Newson-Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re:  Migraines
Date: 9 Mar 1994 18:12:46 -0500

Greetings unto Karen Larsdatter fra Skyggedal
from Cordelia Toser

I commend to you the herb known as feverfew,  a member 
of the chrysanthemum family.  Unfortunately my books are
at home, but your friendly garden store should be quite
familiar with this one.

Feverfew was used for headaches by Europeans, at least,
in period.  It was particularly noted as a use for migraines,
from my reading.  I do not recall if migraines were so called
that far back.

I have severe tension headaches from time to time and 
for years have taken modern pharmaceuticals that are designed 
to  be used for migraines.

At any rate, the books say you should make a tisane from
the leaves.   A tisane, for those who are unfamilar with the
word, involves steeping leaves or other materials in hot
water and drinking the beverage thus created.

I never bother.  I just pick a leaf, chew it up, and immediately
drink a glass of  something to take the moderately unpleasant
taste out of my mouth.

Hope this helps.

Cordelia Toser
Internet: carole_newson-smith at net.com

From: meg at tinhat.stonemarche.org (meg)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Migraines ... again.
Keywords: migraine
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 94 00:51:17 EST
Organization: Stonemarche Network Co-op

ashbat at netcom.com (Brian Rewerts) writes:

> Try using Flaxseed oil, you can get it in any health food store, it 
> contians an essential FA that you really need and isnt found in many 
> sources. And migraines have been connected to a deffiency of it, also eat 
> cold water fishes (tuna etc.) 

Megan here. Sorry you are suffering. 
A period remedy for headaches in the Tacuinum Sanitatis sez:
"Various texts advise that almonds should be ground in a mortar, combined 
with verbena water and then applied to the temples with a bandage:this 
will relieve headaches and induce sleep."

I had miserable migraines during adolescence. Nothing helped except a 
dark and quiet room to sleep it off.  However, a friend of mine 
recommends four ibuprofin extra strength tablets (800 mgs total) combined 
with 2 extra strength tylenols, taken together, then sleep. He says it 
works for him.  My experience with these meds is that they do stop pain, 
but they are only masking the symptom of the problem, not curing it. Your 
headache will come back in a few hours.

Have you tried theraputic massage or chiropracters?  My mother-in-law 
swears by it. I have no personal experience with it, tho.

Hope you feel better!
Megan
== 
In 1994: Linda Anfuso
In the Current Middle Ages: Megan ni Laine de Belle Rive  
In the SCA, Inc: sustaining member # 33644

                                YYY     YYY
meg at tinhat.stonemarche.org      |  YYYYY  |
                                |____n____| 

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: King's Evil
From: schuldy at zariski.harvard.edu (Mark Schuldenfrei)
Date: 31 Mar 94 11:19:25 EST

jeffs at math.bu.EDU (Jeff Suzuki) writes:
  What exactly _is_ the King's Evil?  I know its medical name is
  scrofula, but that doesn't help me a bit.

king's evil ( king's  e vil, ; 1 n.
        scrofula:  so  called  because  it  was  supposed
         to  be  curable  by  the  touch  of  the  reigning  sovereign.
Etymology:
         ME  kynges  evel

scrofula (scrof u la; skrof y <x2> <en> l <x2>) n. Pathol.
        C4: Pathol.
1 n.
        a constitutional disorder of a tuberculous nature, characterized
        chiefly by swelling and degeneration of the lymphatic glands,
        esp. of the neck, and by inflammation of the joints.
Etymology:
        <x4> ML, sing. of LL scr <y5> fulae(L scr <y5> f(^B a)
        sow <u6> - ulae - ULE); r. OE scrofel <x4> LL

		Tibor
-- 
Mark Schuldenfrei (schuldy at math.harvard.edu)

From: corrie at solutions.solon.com (Corrie Bergeron)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: sprained ankles in period
Date: 19 Apr 1995 06:58:02 GMT

You may find an old woodcut showing a brace for a broken arm.  The 
reference is lost in the dus of time, but I saw it once.  (I had broken 
my arm in fighting and figured I might as well disguise the cast at the 
next event.  The disguise won a proze in the trompe-o'liel contest!)

Take several stout sticks and a length of cloth.  Use the cloth, winding 
under and around the sticks, to bind them to the afflicted joint.  Tuck 
in the loose end.  If you wind it right, it will not shift much.
Remember, this was over a real plaster cast.  I thoroghly recommend moder 
medicine, or at least first aid.

Corrie Bergeron
corrie at solon.com

From: djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: period-looking Get Well cards--???
Date: 21 Mar 1997 17:33:32 GMT
Organization: University of California at Berkeley

MISS PATRICIA M HEFNER <HPGV80D at prodigy.COM> wrote:
>Does anybody have any ideas as to how to make a period-looking get well
>card? 

Well, I have to point out that get-well cards aren't period.
Christmas cards came in in the nineteenth century and all the
other varieties of greeting cards in the twentieth.  Both the
period thing to do, and the thing approved by Miss Manners, would
be to chuck the whole concept of a greeting card and write a
get-well *letter*.

But if you really want a suitable period picture for the front
of your letter, look in picture books of the Middle Ages, of
which there are lots, and see if you can find a picture of
patients in a hospital.  E.g., on p. 38 of Andrew Langley's
_Medieval Life_ (Eyewitness Books) there's a picture of some
Benedictine nuns and a whole slew of little-girl novices taking
care of patients, some of them two to a bed.  Look around.

Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin                          Dorothy J. Heydt
Mists/Mists/West                                Albany, California
PRO DEO ET REGE                                     djheydt at uclink

From: harper at tribeca.ios.com.REMOVE.THIS.TO.REPLY (Robin Carroll-Mann)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: edible gold leaf, was Re: Rosewater
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 1997 04:28:04 GMT
Organization: IDT 

david.razler at worldnet.att.net (David M. Razler) wrote:
>All 100% 24 ct. real gold leaf prepared properly in the traditional manner
>*should* be edible, as it is simply a lump of gold bashed thin between sheets
>of waxed paper with a wooden mallet.

>The *should* is there only because of the risk of 1) a modern process being
>used in which petroleum byproducts could theoretically be used to grease the
>wheels of an automated press and 2) an unscrupulous dealer/maker might
>adulterate said leaf with lead, though this should show up in the appearance.

>What you are doing when you add gold leaf to a clear cordial or onto some food
>is adding a tiny amount of 100% pure gold, which, for lack of aqua regia
>within the human digestive system passes through and ends up as minute traces
>of gold in one's feces. Oh, a few atoms here or there might get stuck
>somewhere in the system, but given the weight of the leaf and the frequency
>with which most of us eat it, I wouldn't worry about heavy metal toxicity in
>*this* case.

>               david/Aleksandr

>David M. Razler
>david.razler at worldnet.att.net

The _Libro de Cozina_ (16th c. Spanish cookbook) contains a recipe for
invalids, a soup or posset, I believe, which supposedly gets its
curative properties from having a heated gold coin placed in it.
Repeating the procedure is supposed to intensify the effect.  The
cookbook claims that this recipe will restore someone who is nearly
dead.  I don't know how much gold would actually be absorbed into the
drink (the coin itself is to be removed before serving).

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at tribeca.ios.com

From: afn03234 at freenet2.afn.org (Ronald L. Charlotte)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Edible Gold Leaf
Date: 31 Mar 1997 12:29:40 GMT

On 25 Mar 1997, TRISTAN CLAIR DE LUNE/KEN MONDSCHEIN wrote:
>     Goldschlager!
>
>             --Tristan

I can, in fact, document the concoction to the 1550s.  In the 1558 
english edition of _The Secretes of Reverende Maister Alexis of 
Piemount_ (1975 reproduction edition ISBN 90-221-0707-8), I find on page 
9: "To dissolue and reduce gold into a potable licoure, whiche conferuth 
the youth and health of an manne, as well taken by it self, as mingled 
with the forsaied licoure, spoken of inthe second Chapter of this 
presente booke, and will heale every disease that is thought curable, in 
the space of seuen daies at the furthest."

The recipe is rather long and involved, and I'm not going to go through 
the hassle of transcribing it until I'm ready to try it myself 
(something to do with gold-leaf trimmings other than send them to the 
metal reclaimer).  The resulting drink described sounds very similar to 
Goldschlager, though.
--
     al Thaalibi ---- An Crosaire, Trimaris
     Ron Charlotte -- Gainesville, FL
     afn03234 at afn.org

From: "Sue Wensel" <swensel at brandegee.lm.com>
Date: 17 Apr 1997 14:33:26 -0500
Subject: Re: SC - Re: SC- hot & cold

> There are several books out that talk about the humors and what food is
> used for what ailment.  It along with the doctorine of signatures were
> pretty standard in how medicine was issued.  (Along with astrology)  There
> are still several in print one is "The Medieval Medical Book" and was put
> out by George Brazillier Publishers.  I see it in second hand book stores
> sometimes.  The other book's title escapes me but if anyone is interested I
> can post the info tomorrow when I get to work.  Chinese medicine uses
> terminology very similar to the medieval concept.

Markham also gives a discussion on what plants to plan when, what to harvest
when, what ones to eat for various physical and emotional imbalances, etc.  He
has a section on "Of Physickal Surgery" and cooking.  The former deals much
more with herbal remedies than true injury.

Derdriu

Date: 15 AUG 97 08:56:06 AST
From: RMcGrath at dca.gov.au
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Arabic Pharmacology

The book to which I was referring is:
_Early Arabic Pharmacology: An Introduction based on Ancient and Medieval 
Sources_ by Martin Levey.
Leiden, (Netherlands) EJ Brill, 1973
Printed in Belgium
ISBN 90 04 03796 9

Table of Contents:
Pre-Islamic Pharmacology
Theoretical Considerations in Arabic Pharmacology
Botanonymy
Literary Models in Pharmacology
The Medical Formulary
Lists of Simples
Drugs in Medical Texts and Specialty Medical Works
Poisons and Antidotes in Special Works
Synonymic Texts and Other Types
Influence of Muslim Work

I've just been reading how to fix an enlarged head!  (No, from the recipe 
it does not refer to swollen egos, but rather rhinitis and sinusitis :-)

Rakhel Petrovna

Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 15:52:34 +1100
From: The Cheshire Cat <cheshire at southcom.com.au>
Subject: SC - Sugars for medicinal use

>Such a concoction could have concievably been used for medicines by an
>apothocary though. Does anyone have any evidence that flavored sugar syrups
>were used in this manner?
>
>Ras

I have some evidence that apothocaries sold several forms of sugar
medicines, particularly little twisted sugar sticks called 'pendia' and
rose and violet scented sugars which were regarded as cures for coughs and
colds.

 This evidence comes to me in the form of a neat book I found in the
Library called
        A Leechbook or Collection of Medieval Recipes of the Fifteenth
Century.  Transcribed and edited by Waran R Dawson FRCE, FRSL, FSA Scotland
(Whatever they all mean), Macmillan and Co. Ltd  1934.  Sorry, I don't have
the ISBN on hand at the moment.

          I have not yet found any evidence of sugar syrups, however I
would certainly not rule the possibility out.
- -Sianan

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 21:37:30 EST
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Diabetes

jlmatterer at labyrinth.net writes:
<< My roommate tells me that certain South American tribes knew of diabetes
 and also how to treat it. They determined the illness by tastimg the
 sick one's urine. If sweet, then diabetes was present. Knowing how much
 Medieval physicains relied on examining their patient's urine, I can't
 help but wonder if perhaps the same kind of evaluation may have been
 done? >>

Yep.  Hussein al-Halabi (I think I have the name right) did a wondeful class
at the Rusted Woodlands East Kingdom University just a week or so ago about
medieval medicine and surgery, and there definitely knew about diabetes, at
least the sweet urine and constant thirst part.  I don't know if they had any
treatments for it, other than maybe noting that limiting sweet foods might
help.

Brangwayna Morgan

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 20:21:18 -0500
From: Brenna <sunnie at exis.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Diabetes

"James L. Matterer" wrote:
> I've just recently been diagnosed with diabetes, and am curious about
> this disease in the Middle Ages, and how it was treated then. Does
> anyone know if diabetes was known in the Middle ages, in one form or
> another? What did physicians recommend? And had they made the connection
> between food and the illness?

All I know is that diabetes is supposedly Greek for "sweet urine" and that
Hyppocrates wrote about the condition.  What all he knew and what they did to
treat it is not in my knowledge.  At least that is a start.  Are there any
original writings of Hyppocrates in reference libraries?

Brenna

Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 08:07:28 -0500
From: "D. Clay-Disparti" <Clay at talstar.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Diabetes

It has been so many years I do not remember the source, but... the Greeks knew
about and treated Diabetes.  They advised against sweet and rich foods, knowing
these could worsten the condition.  They knew a simple diet and exercise would be a proper treatment.  I recall some off-handed remark being quoted...if the person with the disease refused to quit eating sweet and rich foods, death would be the result.  There was nothing more to be said, if the patient did not want the help, then wash your hands of them.  I seem to recall this information and more was in a book dealing with women in the healing profession, although my memory is hazy at times.

Isabella/Dee

Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 11:06:34 -0500
From: "Gaylin Walli" <gwalli at infoengine.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Sugars for medicinal use

Sianan stated a few episodes ago:
>I have not yet found any evidence of sugar syrups, however I
>would certainly not rule the possibility out.

Allison pointed out two good  books on the history of  Arab and
later Medieval medicine.  But you can go back further, starting with
honey, and work your way forward to syrups, as an alternative if
you get stuck while looking for information.

Try the major eqyptian papyri like the Ebers and the Smith, both
dated I think around 1500 or earlier B.C.  IIRC, both of these documents
detail the packing of wounds and burns with honey and coagulated milk,
wrapped with muslin. You can work your way forward from there
through various cultures and get to sugar syrups through the back
door. :)

To be honest, there are a bunch of scientific articles produced starting
in the 70s and going on into the 90s that should get you started on the
historical sugar and honey medicinal uses. There's a lot of crud you'll
have to wade through, but the historical summaries at the beginnings
might help you out.

Jasmine
gwalli at infoengine.com or jasmine at infoengine.com

Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 11:05:51 -0500
From: Sandra Kisner <sjk3 at admin.is.cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft

>>Could your provide a citation? It doesn't _sound_ like an Anglo-Saxon
>>Text, but I'd have to see it first. I take it what you saw was in modern
>>English? Was it a facsimile? A translation?
>
>Unfortunately, no.  As said, I was in Cape Town then (South Africa).  I am 
>now in Israel.  From memory, it was a transcription (i.e.  typed, but using 
>original words and spelling) but I wouldn't bet on it.  I looked through a 
>lot of books at that stage (I was too broke to buy books, and the library 
>didn't have many cookery texts, so I read through all the surrounding 
>literature in the hope of finding something faintly useful).  Maybe one of 
>the Adamestorians would be fool enough to go and look?  It's in the English 
>Lit section of the UCT library, 3 books bound in pale blue cloth...

     I checked the Cornell University catalog, and found the following.  I
haven't been there to see if it is indeed the same book, but I suspect it is.

 Leechdoms, wortcunning, and starcraft of early England. Being
   a collection of documents, for the most part never before
   printed, illustrating the history of science in this country
   before the Norman conquest. Collected and edited by Thomas
   Oswald Cockayne, with a new introd. by Charles Singer.
 Cockayne, Thomas Oswald, 1807-1873. ed. and tr.
 London, Holland Press, 1961.
Olin Library           R128 .C66 1961
LIBRARY HAS:    v.1-3

Sandra Kisner
sjk3 at cornell.edu

Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2000 11:11:56 SAST-2
From: "Jessica Tiffin" <jessica at beattie.uct.ac.za>
Subject: Subject: Re: SC - no Anglo-Saxon recipes?

Lady Diana said:
>     I know that such a book exists, and have seen articles and references 
> about it, but that's the extent of my knowledge. What you probably remember 
> is my inquiring about a source for a modern English translation of it.

"Leechdom, Starcraft and Wortcunning" is, as Cairistiona said, in the 
library of the University of Cape Town. After three days of wrestling 
with the library's brand, spanking new online catalogue, which is 
still in its... um, implementation phase (it's been down for three 
days), I have finally found the books and persuaded someone to issue 
them to me...

Lady Diana, the three-volume edition I have includes a translation; 
the books are "collected and edited by the Rev. Thomas Oswald 
Cockayne, with a new introduction by Charles Singer"; this edition is 
from The Holland Press, London, 1961.  It's one of those ones which 
is nicely done with the Old English on one page and the translation 
on the facing page.  It contains the following works (I've quoted 
from the explanatory notes in the introduction):

VOL I:
Herbarium of Apuleius
Herbarium continued from Dioskorides, etc ("a selection of 
prescriptions gathered from a Latin version of Dioscorides 'De 
Materia medica'")
Medicina de Quadrupedibus (described in the introduction as "a 
disgusting little work on the badger, 'De taxone'", and "an equally 
nauseating book on medicines derived from animals")
Leechdoms from Fly Leaves of Manuscripts Charms (in part) - this is 
not related to the Apuleius manuscripts, which the above works seem 
to be.

VOL II: Leechbooks
"Three texts which are compilations by English leeches mainly from 
Latin sources."

VOL III: 
Lacnunga - "some extremely early pre-Christian elements and a long 
poem of the seventh century in 'Hisperic' Latin"
Incipit liber qui dicitur peri didaxeon - "of schools of 
medicine", translated in the 12th century from a Salernitan text of 
about 1100. 
Prognostics: "a miscellaneous collection on calendarial matters and 
of forecasts from dates and dreams."

Most of the matter of the three volumes seems to be specific salves, 
ointments, brewets, draughts, etc, for a variety of aliments, often 
disgusting... :> (flying venom, sudden pustules, the wrist drop, head 
wark, etc...).  In terms of actual recipes for food, as opposed to 
medicines, there seems to be little or nothing here; Cairistiona will 
have a better sense that I do, I've only skimmed bits and she's read 
through.  So far I've found one recipe for oxymel (infuse it with 
betony for a man tired by a long journey) and an injunction to eat 
radishes for depression.  ("For heaviness of the mind, give to eat 
radish with salt and vinegar; soon the mood will be more gay."  
Recipe 73 from Lacnunga, MS Harl. 585).

I can post the oxymel recipe if anyone's interested; excited 
herbalists, please contact me privately... :>

Jehanne

Lady Jehanne de Huguenin  *  Seneschal, Shire of Adamastor, Cape Town
(Jessica Tiffin, University of Cape Town)

Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 00:28:04 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Fw: Opotherapy

phlip at morganco.net writes:
<< Does anyone have any idea what this might refer to. >>

The word "opotherapy" comes from the Greek word for juice and the Greek word 
for treatment and was coined by Landouzy, who supposed the juice of organs, 
or products contained in the juices, to have a therapeutic effect. Opotherapy 
consists of using desiccated healthy animal tissues or their juices, or the 
active principles extracted from them; they may be administered by the 
gastrointestinal route or by injection. The idea of treating diseases with 
extracts of animal organs is a very old one, and is based upon both tradition 
and empirical observation.

(From the Web.....

Ras

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 13:18:36 -0400
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - organ meats and anthelmintics??

> I think it would have to have been a very desperate person to have 
> eaten tripe, given the lack of internal parasite control.  Roundworms, 
> tapeworm and several other species are VERY obvious in a slaughtered
animal  when the intestines are opened or cleaned.  I can't see anyone
willingly  using the host organs as a food source...eeewwwww! 8^)
> 
> Was there a period formula for de-worming stock??  I know tobacco 
> can be used for roundworms, but what was used before it became
available?   
> 
> Prydwen

	Yes, there are several herbs that were (and still are) used for removing
worms and parasites from children, adults, and livestock.  Garlic is
mentioned in Egyptian herbals (for numerous uses) for worms, Culpepper
recommends garlic for killing worms in children (amongst other things). 
Sage is also said to kill intestinal worms, and there are numerous other
vermifuges (agents that destroy or expel intestinal worms, aka vermicide;
& antithelmintic).  New world plants, or at least modern preparations
that are used to great success with this include black walnut (old
world?), pumpkin seed, and pau d'arco. 
	Christianna
	who is planning on a parasite cleanse soon - ooh, boy! 

Date: Fri, 2 Jun 2000 14:48:52 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at tulgey.browser.net>
To: SCA Arts list <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Cc: herbalist at Ansteorra.ORG, SCA-Herbalist at onelist.com
Subject: Medical images from rare texts

The Clendening libraries' Rare Text online exhibit includes images from
pre-1600 texts and their use policy says:

"The Clendening Library encourages educational use of the images at no
charge. If you wish to use images for publication or commercial purposes,
higher quality (300 dpi tiff) images are available for a nominal fee"

http://clendening.kumc.edu/dc/rti/

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net

Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 11:39:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at tulgey.browser.net>
To: SCA Forum for Research in Medieval and Renaissance Re-enactment <SCA-UNIVERSITAS at LIST.UVM.EDU>,
        SCA-Herbalist at onelist.com, herbalist at Ansteorra.ORG,
Subject: Arabic medical manuscripts catalog

This may be of interest to some people. Though it doesn't have images of
or translations of all the texts, it does have good background material:

from the Scout Report:
> 3.  Islamic Medical Manuscripts at the National Library of Medicine
>http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/arabichome.html
>
>This recently announced site highlights the National Library of
>Medicine's (NLM) collection of Islamic medical manuscripts, "one of
>the three greatest in the world," with over 330 texts, including some
>with no other known copy in existence. The illustrated, online
>catalog includes essays on the featured texts accompanied by
>thumbnail images, physical descriptions, provenance, and additional
>resources. Also on-site are an introduction to Medieval Islam and
>bibliographies. Throughout the site, selected terms are linked to
>their definitions in the glossary. The texts will be posted in three
>installments. The first, now online, deals with medical
>encyclopedias. Subsequent additions will cover pharmaceuticals,
>plague tracts, veterinary medicine, and general hygiene; with as many
>as 300 illustrations in the final catalog. While especially useful
>for students and researchers in the history of medicine and science,
>the site will also appeal to general users interested in these topics
>as well as the history of Islamic and European culture. [MD]

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net

Subject: medieval medical manuscripts - local (DC area) exhibit
Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 14:16:18 -0400
From: Maureen Sampson <msampson at nih.gov>
To: roxbury-mill at egroups.com, atlantia at atlantia.sca.org

There is an exhibit at the National Library of Medicine (Bethesda, MD) of
approximately 25 manuscripts.  The exhibit will be open until July 14.

From NLM's website....

To celebrate the return of a long-missing medieval manuscript, the National
Library of Medicine has mounted a small exhibit of treasured medieval
manuscripts that date from the 11th through 15th centuries and printed
books that date from the 15th through 17th centuries. The exhibit may be
viewed between May 22 and July 14, 2000.

"It's always a cause for celebration, when a lost book returns home," said
Dr. Elizabeth Fee, the Chief of the History of Medicine Division at the
Library. "In this case, we are grateful to Richard Aspin of the Wellcome
Library for identifying the missing manuscript and to the Rootenberg family
for returning it to the Library," said Fee. The Louise Darling Biomedical
Library at the University of California, Los Angeles, assisted by storing
the manuscript while negotiations for its return were completed.

The Latin manuscript, "Treatises on Medicine," written in England in the
12th century on vellum (calf skin), mysteriously disappeared from the
Library some 50 years ago. Containing some 40 texts by different authors,
the manuscript, sometimes known as "Recepta Varia" or "Manuscript 8,"
typifies medieval attempts to compile all medical knowledge.

The authors emphasize the practical and have little interest in
speculation. The texts range from guides for diagnosis by pulse and urine,
to recipes, lists of medical substances, and discourses on blood-letting
and surgery. According to Dr. Luke Demaitre, a noted scholar with the
University of Virginia who has studied the manuscript, the work contains a
few magical cures and there are a few references to astrology and
divination, but the predominant tone is rational. The texts are bound
together with some hymns and the story of an errant monk whom the Virgin
Mary saved from eternal damnation.

"This is a very important manuscript because it represents the transition
between the monastic infirmary and the university faculty of medicine; and
it marks an intermediate stage between the healing art and bookish
science," said Demaitre.

The NLM exhibit also features approximately 25 other books and manuscripts,
including a splendidly illuminated manuscript from 13th- century Oxford, an
Arabic text from 1094 (the oldest item in the NLM collection), and several
copies of Hippocrates' Aphorisms, one of medicine's cornerstones. Much of
Hippocrates' medical advice can be recognized as today's common sense. He
focused on prevention, lifestyle, and dietary medicine--not magic bullets.
"Hippocrates' medical advice has such a familiar ring in our own time,"
commented Demaitre. "For example, he noted the importance of age, gender,
season, and diet on health. He recommended moderation in diet, and that
changes should be made gradually."

Other treasures in the exhibit include works by physicians who practiced in
Salerno, Italy, between the 10th and 12th centuries and who were famous for
their excellent medical knowledge and care; texts that made up the
curriculum in the first faculties of medicine; and books that demonstrate
the flourishing of medical literature in medieval England.

The exhibit is located in the History of Medicine Division's (HMD) reading
room. The HMD is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, (Closed
on Weekends and all Federal Holidays).

The National Library of Medicine, a part of the National Institutes of
Health, is the world's largest library of the health sciences. It is
located at 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland, close to the Medical
Center stop on Metro's Red Line.

-regards, Failenn MacFergus of Sligo (Maureen Sampson)

Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 11:38:07 -0700
From: Lynn Meyer <lmeyer at netbox.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: [Shire X] medieval Islamic medical manuscripts

A friend sent this recently -- perhaps some here will be interested,
either in the medical info and/or the Islamic calligraphy...

Halima

>There's a new site at the National library of medicine with images of
>medieval Islamic medical-related texts and commentary and so on.  I think
>some of you will find it interesting.  The link is:
>
><http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/arabichome.html>
>
>Here's the blurb from their opening page (text copyright NIH etc etc)>"Welcome to Islamic Medical Manuscripts at the National Library of Medicine.
> Here you can learn about Islamic medicine and science during the Middle
>Ages and
> the important role it played in the history of Europe. This site, with its
>biographies, colorful images, and extensive historical accounts of medieval
>medicine and science is designed for students and everyone interested in
>the history of Islamic and European culture.
>
>" For students, the site includes an extensive glossary of medical,
>scientific, and
> book-production terminology linked to the text.  For advanced scholars,
>the site provides a catalogue raisonne (including images) from the 300 or
>so Persian and Arabic manuscripts in the National Library ofMedicine. Most
>of these manuscripts deal with medieval medicine and science and were
>written for learned physicians and scientists. Some of the manuscripts are
>richly illuminated and illustrated.
> This site is being constructed in segments. Not all of it is available yet
>but watch for  new text and images as time goes on. "
>
>-Christabel

Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 15:27:34 +0100
From: Christina Nevin <cnevin at caci.co.uk>
Subject: SC - New book - Galen on Food and Diet - humoral theory

Saluti all,

Noticed on Amazon that this is coming out soon:

Galen on Food and Diet
GRANT, Mark
Hardcover - 224 pages (14 September, 2000)
Routledge, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Books Ltd;
ISBN: 0415232325
Synopsis
The modern world is fascinated by diet and the effect it can have on health,
with advice abounding on what we should or should not eat. This
preoccupation was also very much a feature of the ancient world, at least
among those who could afford the time and money to listen to the advice of a
doctor. At the apogee of ancient medical advances stood Galen (c.129-210
AD), once the personal physician to the emperor Marcus Aurelius. A prolific
writer, amongst his surviving works is what he believed to be the definitive
guide to a healthy diet, based on the theory of the four humours. In these
treatises Galen sets out this theory, which was to be profoundly influential
on medicine for many centuries, and describes in fascinating detail the
effects on health of a vast range of foods, from lettuce, lard and fish, to
peaches, pickles and hyacinths. This book makes all these texts available in
English, and provides many captivating insights into the ancient
understanding of food and health. The clear translations are supported an
introduction, helpful notes, and an extensive bibliography.

This is the guy who did the extremely good translation/introduction to
Anthimus' "On the observance of food".

Al Servizio Vostro, e del Sogno
Lucrezia
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lady Lucrezia-Isabella di Freccia   |  mka Tina Nevin
Thamesreach Shire, The Isles, Drachenwald | London, UK

Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2000 10:37:10 -0400
From: "Siegfried Heydrich" <baronsig at peganet.com>
Subject: SC - Archaic medical terminology listing

    Since the list seems to have several medical practitioners, I thought
you'd find this of interest. I found it while doing some genealogical
research, trying to track down what a cause of death was. This list covers
period terminology, and I found it to be very interesting!
    http://www.gpiag-asthma.org/drpsmith/amt1.htm

    Sieggy

Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 11:06:48 -0500
From: "Gaylin J. Walli" <gwalli at ptc.com>
Subject: SC - Re: Honey Butter as a medication

Illia wrote about honey and honey butter, saying:

>I believe that it has anti-bacterial/preserving properties in it. I 
>think that I have heard somewhere that it is used on wounds to help 
>healing, and that it really does work to help prevent infection.

It works rather well. Honey in general has some amazing properties to 
it that were rather thoroughly exploited in the time periods we study 
and even before. Several good books exist that cover the subject as 
well. One is "Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels" by the 
authors Root-Bernstein. Another really good book is "The Healing 
Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World" by Guido Majno.

I reviewed the later at Amazon and have read both extensively. The 
Root-Bernsteins are good scholars in my mind, though their Honey book 
is geared far more toward the casual reader. For scholars and 
researchers looking for speicif references, you'll have to look 
elsewhere. They didn't write the book to be used as a source text, 
more they wrote it for the popular market (and it works surprisingly 
well for that). A comfy read, I would say. Majno's work is more for 
the scholar.

>I am surprised that milk was considered medicinal, especially for 
>respitory problems, since it creates congestion, rather than 
>relieves it.

Not so surprising to me. I can't say that I've gotten into their 
mindset, but think of it this way...you treat each symptom often as 
if it's a disease in and of its own right. A cough you treat, a runny 
nose you treat, watery eyes you treat, and a fever you treat. But in 
many of the the time periods and cultures we study, you don't 
necessarily treat a cold, per se. You treat these things each 
separately.

Milk may have been considered to have some certain soothing 
qualities. Congestion may have been considered a good thing because 
it meant good things for treatment were centered in one area. Perhaps 
heat was being driven in, bad humours were being brought into one 
spot and then released some other way. I don't know that we can 
rightly say without more of the information from the text, but as 
Phlip pointed out with her quote of the translation of Anthimus's 
letter, the person writing the book at least knew to tell people 
there were times when you *didn't* use milk (those being the times 
when pus was present from a punctured lung).

iasmin de cordoba, iasmin at home.com
AIM: IasminDeCordoba

Date: Tue, 02 May 2000 08:35:48 -0400
From: grizly at mindspring.com
Subject: Re: Re: SC - Bloodletting

And in the medieval medicinal context, it was THE most important of the humors as it carried the vitality in it; one must remove the weak or unfinished blood in order for more to be 'cooked' by the liver (IIRC).  You bleed out the bad blood, and its attendant bad humors, and let the body replace it with strong, pure stuff.  Bloodletting, in what I have been seeing, was used only after the other things did not balance the humors.  there were some conditions, I don't remember which ones, that demanded immediate 'draining', but one could often start by changing activity, diet and climate.

As for day of the week, I'll keep reading and see what comes.  I'll specifically look in the Tacuinum for days of the week.

pacem et bonum,
]niccolo

Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 11:06:48 -0500
From: "Gaylin J. Walli" <gwalli at ptc.com>
Subject: SC - Re: Honey Butter as a medication

Illia wrote about honey and honey butter, saying:

>I believe that it has anti-bacterial/preserving properties in it. I 
>think that I have heard somewhere that it is used on wounds to help 
>healing, and that it really does work to help prevent infection.

It works rather well. Honey in general has some amazing properties to 
it that were rather thoroughly exploited in the time periods we study 
and even before. Several good books exist that cover the subject as 
well. One is "Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels" by the 
authors Root-Bernstein. Another really good book is "The Healing 
Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World" by Guido Majno.

I reviewed the later at Amazon and have read both extensively. The 
Root-Bernsteins are good scholars in my mind, though their Honey book 
is geared far more toward the casual reader. For scholars and 
researchers looking for speicif references, you'll have to look 
elsewhere. They didn't write the book to be used as a source text, 
more they wrote it for the popular market (and it works surprisingly 
well for that). A comfy read, I would say. Majno's work is more for 
the scholar.

>I am surprised that milk was considered medicinal, especially for 
>respitory problems, since it creates congestion, rather than 
>relieves it.

Not so surprising to me. I can't say that I've gotten into their 
mindset, but think of it this way...you treat each symptom often as 
if it's a disease in and of its own right. A cough you treat, a runny 
nose you treat, watery eyes you treat, and a fever you treat. But in 
many of the the time periods and cultures we study, you don't 
necessarily treat a cold, per se. You treat these things each 
separately.

Milk may have been considered to have some certain soothing 
qualities. Congestion may have been considered a good thing because 
it meant good things for treatment were centered in one area. Perhaps 
heat was being driven in, bad humours were being brought into one 
spot and then released some other way. I don't know that we can 
rightly say without more of the information from the text, but as 
Phlip pointed out with her quote of the translation of Anthimus's 
letter, the person writing the book at least knew to tell people 
there were times when you *didn't* use milk (those being the times 
when pus was present from a punctured lung).

iasmin de cordoba, iasmin at home.com
AIM: IasminDeCordoba

Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 08:46:02 -0500 (EST)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Culinary uses for horns

Well, judging from an illustration reproduced in Blunt's _The Illustrated
herbal_ (sorry, Istvan has my copy in order to illumine our charter so I
can't tell you where the original illustration is from), horn-shaped
thingies were used for the purposes of administering enemas in period.
 -- 
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net

Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 17:10:24 -0500
From: "Richard Kappler" <rkappler at home.com>
Subject: SC - period lime use

Being of a nautical bent (okay, okay, so usually I'm just bent...) my first
thought was to check for uses in combatting scurvy.  A quick survey of my
references provided the following (granted, its late/post period):

"... [W]e have in our owne country here many excellent remedies generally
knowne, as namely, Scurvy-grasse, Horse-Reddish roots, Nasturtia Aquatica,
Wormwood, Sorrell, and many other good meanes... to the cure of those which
live at home...they also helpe some Sea-men returned from farre who by the
only natural disposition of the fresh aire and amendment of diet, nature
herselfe in effect doth the Cure without other helps." At sea, he states
that experience shows that "the Lemmons, Limes, Tamarinds, Oranges, and
other choice of good helps in the Indies... do farre exceed any that can be
carried tither from England."

John Woodall (1556-1643), military surgeon to Lord Willoughby's regiment
(1591), first surgeon-general to the East India Company (1612), surgeon to
St. Bartholomew's Hospital (1616-1643).  Excerpted from _The Surgeon's Mate_
, 1617.

regards, Puck

From: satyrsong at aol.comLEAD (SATYRSONG)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Date: 27 Mar 2001 02:48:50 GMT
Subject: Medieval Islamic Medicine

For those interested...
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/arabichome.html

SS

From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Avicenna
Date: Sun, 18 May 2003 12:13:29 -0500

> Is there a good source for Avicenna's work on cordials and his food
> "philosophy" in general available on line anywhere?
>
> Esther

Not to my knowledge.  His major work was the "Canon of Medicine," which is
fairly esoteric for most audiences.  His medical philosophy of food follows
Galen and his work on cordials is not as beverages, but as medicines. You
might check to see if the Avicenna Studies Group has anything posted.

The Canon is in print at $89, but you might want to check out The
Traditional Healer and The Traditional Healer's Handbook, both by Hakin
G.M.Chisti or Avicenna, His Life and Works by Soheil Muhsin Afnan.  I
haven't read these, so I don't know if they touch on the subjects you 
are researching.

Bear

From: "Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur" <goldbergr1 at cox.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Two pleasant announcements
Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 21:56:43 -0400

> Question:Who were the top medieval physicians or were most of them
> philosophers of medicine?

Depends on when, where and your definitions. In most of Western Europe in
period, Galen was THE definitive physician. In 12th century Egypt and
Moorish Spain, the famed Jewish philosopher Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides,
aka the Rambam) was court physician for both the Caliph in Egypt (Mameluke?)
and the Moorish ruler of Spain.

> What about dieticians? 20th century invention :)?

Yes.

Avraham
*******************************************************
Reb Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur
      (mka Randy Goldberg MD)

From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Two pleasant announcements
Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 06:33:09 -0500

It might be fair to say Galen was the definitive physician for all of the
lands in contact with the Mediterranean.  His work forms the base for most
of the medical texts from Persia westward from the 2nd to the 17th
Centuries.

Bear

>> Question:Who were the top medieval physicians or were most of them
>> philosophers of medicine?
>
> Depends on when, where and your definitions. In most of Western Europe in
> period, Galen was THE definitive physician. In 12th century Egypt and
> Moorish Spain, the famed Jewish philosopher Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides,
> aka the Rambam) was court physician for both the Caliph in Egypt (Mameluke?)
> and the Moorish ruler of Spain.
>
> Avraham

Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 09:58:17 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Two pleasant announcements

It seems far too early in the morning for this subject,
but let's see.
OED gives under dietary that
1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improvement from the edition of.
1746. page  71
Albeit there lived no dietary Physicians before the Flood.
Mouffet or Muffet composed the work in the 1590's prior to his
death in 1605.

Quotations before 1600 that refer to the meaning:
  course of diet prescribed or marked out; a book or treatise prescribing
such a course.
C. 1430 A Diatorie in Babees Bk. (1868) 54 To be rulid bi =FEis 
diatorie do=
  =FEi
diligence, For it techi=FE good diete & good gouernaunce;
1542 Boorde (title), A Compendyous Regyment or a Dyetary of Helth.
Boorde (1870 reprint says--) page 231 Here foloweth the dyetary or the
regyment of helth.
1570 Levins Manip. 104/1 A Dietarie, dietarium.

Diet of course might not always be what was eaten but might also
refer to a "Course of life: way of living or thinking." It also
meant food as a collective whole, especially in relation to their 
quality
and effects
or the allowance of food in given circumstances. (rations)
A. 1225 Ancr. R. 112 Vnderstonde=F0, hwuc was his diete
=FEet dei, i=F0en ilke blodletunge! So baluhful & so bitter!

A secondary meeaning of diet comes from the idea that it
was "a day's work or wage or journey"
C. 1440 Gesta Rom. xix. 67 (Harl. MS.)
Also how many daies iourneys... This terme or this dyet, is not ellis 
but
the terme of thi lyfe.

(which reminds of the television soap opera The Days of Our Lives)
It's also a court setting or session.
1587 Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1599) 82
Called..before the justice or his deputes at iustice aires, or 
particular
diettes.

OED gives die'titian. Also dietician. prop. dietician,
1846 Worcester, Dietitian, one skilled in diet; a dietist. Qu. Rev.

The actual older term might be dietist.
dietist dietist di.etist.  meaning
One who professes or practises dietetics or some theory of diet.
1607 Walkington Opt. Glass 16 Reasonable appetite, the Cynosura of the 
wise=
r
dietist.

1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 227 Not lately devised by 
our
Country Pudding-wrights, or curious Sauce-makers, as..foolish Dietists 
have
imagined.
Again this would have been composed by Mouffet prior to 1605.

I would suggest you might want to get hold of Ken Albala's
Eating Right in the Renaissance if you want a good interesting
account of what they ate and what they were being told to eat
in the various texts of the times. It's a good read.

Johnnae llyn Lewis   Johnna Holloway

>>> What about dieticians? 20th century invention :)?
>>> Yes. Avraham

------------
Huh. Buttes' "Dyets Dry Dinner", isn't that 16th or 17th century?
Andrew Boorde, whose "Dyetery of Helth" (1542?) concerns, as its name
suggests, achieving good health through diet rather than addressing
prescriptions or surgery. Adamantius
------------------------------
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
> Avraham, you're making my head hurt...
>
> Modern dieticians fufill the role that medieval court physicians did in
> period... that's why there's so many medical commentaries and diet books
> in period. But yes, the term 'dietician' is modern.
>
> -- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika   jenne at fiedlerfamily.net

Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2003 07:54:51 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Period Diabetes was [Sca-cooks] snarky remarks about eating
	habits
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

One of my references specifies that the Greek diabetes (with carats over the
e's) from the verb "diabeinein" meaning roughly "to walk straddling a
siphon," fairly obviously a reference to the increased urination.

Apparently, diabetes appears in an English medical text as "diabete" around
1425.

I haven't checked the OED yet, so take the above with a grain of salt.

Bear

Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2003 15:29:34 -0700
From: James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net>
Subject: Re: Period Diabetes was [Sca-cooks] snarky remarks about
	eating habits
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

At 07:54 -0600 2003-11-26, Terry Decker wrote:
> One of my references specifies that the Greek diabetes (with carats over the
> e's) from the verb "diabeinein" meaning roughly "to walk straddling a
> siphon," fairly obviously a reference to the increased urination.
> 
> Apparently, diabetes appears in an English medical text as "diabete" around
> 1425.
> 
> I haven't checked the OED yet, so take the above with a grain of salt.

According to the OED the Greek word for diabetes ("diabetes" with
carats) means "a passer through; a siphon".  The earliest OED citation 
in my edition is 1541.  There's no reference that I can find to the 
verb in the OED.

In my Greek lexicon (Liddell and Scott) the same word ("diabetes") 
is given the meaning "a pair of compasses", with no explicit reference 
to siphon.  This word is closely related to the verb "diabainw" which 
is given the meaning "to make a stride, stand with the legs apart, 
and so to stand firm, of warriors", with no explicit reference to 
passing through (though there is a second meaning "to step across, 
step over, carry across" which is close).

The connection between the OED and the Greek original is presumably 
that a siphon has a similar inverted 'U' shape to a pair of compasses.

My French etymological dictionary (Rey et al) gives "who
crosses" as the meaning of the Greek ("diabetes"), and says 
that it also means a pair of compasses, a plumb line, or a 
siphon "before later designating diabetes (the disease)".  
Their earliest reference (presumably for one of the non-
disease meanings) is 1520.

The connection between the Greek meaning and the disease is 
perhaps through the legs-apart stance of a man urinating.

Thorvald

Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 11:01:37 -0500
From: Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur <goldbergr1 at cox.net>
Subject: RE: snarky remarks about eating habits Re: [Sca-cooks] Sweet
	potatoes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> Hm... anyone know what they diagnosed diabetes as in the 17th and 18th
> centuries? If an increase in sugar intake WERE the controlling factor in
> diabetes, one would expect an upsurge in diabetes deaths with the
> massively increased use of sugar in that time period.

Diabetes mellitus has been known since the Middle Ages, when it was 
diagnosed by the sweetness of the urine (hence "mellitus" - from "mella" 
honey), and as opposed to diabetes insipidus, where the urine is not sweet. 
Diabetes itself comes from a Greek word "diabainein" meaning "to straddle", 
and eventually coming to mean "a siphon or drain". The connection, of 
course, is that both DM and DI lead to production of profuse amounts of 
urine. Diabetes first appears in an English medical textbook, as "diabete" 
in 1425.

Avraham

Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 12:04:25 -0500
From: Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur <goldbergr1 at cox.net>
Subject: RE: snarky remarks about eating habits Re: [Sca-cooks] Sweet
	potatoes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 15:20:18 -0500, lourenen at hotmail.com wrote:
> Deaths in that time frame were never attributed to "diabetes".  It
> is only within the last
> 20 or so years that diabetes has been put as the cause of death.
> In the  17th and 18th
> century is wasn't diagnosed  much because those afflicted tended to
> die very young and
> sometimes the symptoms were not recognized as caused by diabetes,
> such as gout, heart attack or circulatory problems, etc.

It was frequently diagnosed; it just couldn't be TREATED. Furthermore, the 
relationship to heart disease has been known for centuries. It was the 
pathophysiology that connected the two that was missing. Type I diabetics do 
tend to die young, but most type II diabetics don't even develop overt 
disease until the 5th decade of life (although that's becoming younger and 
younger in modern America).

****************
Avraham haRofeh of Sudentur
     (mka Randy Goldberg MD)

Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2004 08:23:21 -0800
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at efn.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Beets and backfiles was Beets
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

At 08:05 AM 2/2/2004, you wrote:
>While Johnnae quotes the OED for the word "beet",
>here is the OED entry for the word "beetroot":
>
>The root of the beet ... 1579 Langham 'Gard.
>Health' "Strake a little salt on a beete roote,
>and plant it into the fundament."
>
>I am not sure what that means, but I present it
>anyway. :-)

***grossout meter warning***

It's a remedy for hemorrhoids. Potatoes used to be used the same way. 
Carved into a little 'plug', they not only push the nasty buggers back in 
for awhile (in hopes the swelling will go down a bit) but they were felt to 
have an astringent property, which also helps get the swelling down.

Don't remember where I got that bit of arcane wisdom, but there is it.

'Lainie

From: "Erin-Joi Collins McNeal" <erinjoi at hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Leech vendor
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 16:28:26 -0500
Organization: Emory University

If the Laurel in question is still looking tell them to contact Carolina
Biological Supply. This is the company that supplies anything slimy to high
schools and colleges. http://www.carolina.com/ a quick search brings up the
booklet which includes catalog numbers
http://www.carolina.com/manuals/manuals3/Leeches%20in%20Modern%20Medicine.pdf
The Laurel will even have a choice between the medicinal variety or the
common pond leech.

Tabitha, Master Chirurgeon, Meridies
Erin-Joi, All around science nerd and Public Health Researcher

"Chris Zakes" <moondrgn at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> On 06 Mar 2004 08:24:45 GMT, pdruss at aol.com (P D RUSS) wrote:
> >"What is the weirdest Art-Sci project you have seen?"
>
> Funny you should ask.... Apparently one of the Laurels in Ansteorra is
> looking for a supply of leeches. (The blood-sucking worm variety, not
> the medieval doctor or modern politician variety. <G>)
>
> An edited version of the various responses to the Laurels' list was
> posted to the Ansteorran kingdom list a couple of days ago.
>
> -Tivar Moondragon
> Ansteorra

Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 22:48:48 -0500
From: <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Water Purity was: Mustards
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Da wrote:
  Oh well so much for supper break thanks needed to loose weight anyway. Just
the lovely thing for my graphic imagination.
  Da

> I would add that there are other indications that water purity was
> considered, at least on a medical level.  There are illustrations* that show
> doctors examining a patient's urine in a vessel called an orinel.  It's a
> clear glass, rounded bottle with a lipped mouth.  Color and clarity were
> checked as well as smell and taste for diagnosis purposes.  It  wouldn't be
> much of a stretch to think that they would also check such standards in
> drinking water sources, at least in some enlightened areas and times.  Not
> that you would find microbes that way, but you can see a lot if you're
> looking for it.
> Christianna
> *citations coming, sources not currently available ;)

Well, since I've already spoiled your dinner (gee, you'd never make it
through a dinner around us, it seems like meal times bring around the most
inappropriate discussions),  here are some citations (illustrations) showing
the article in question.
Christianna
(with many thanks to Mistress Ximena Yannez de Talavera)

Ok, they look remarkably like this
http://www.couronneco.com/g5491_vase.htm

Here's a picture
http://history.smsu.edu/jchuchiak/HSt%20101--Lecture%2017-- 
Medieval_medicine_and_medical_pr.htm

http://history.smsu.edu/jchuchiak/HST%20101--Lectyre%2022-- 
Medieval_medicine_and_the_plague.htm

There's a picture on this site
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/medieval/articella.html

Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 22:24:32 -0500
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Leechdoms (was Mudthaw menu)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Ruth Tannahill wrote:
> It's going to be an Anglo-Saxon feast. Not a lot of primary sources to draw
> on, which is a bit of a bummer. I'd hoped to be able to access the Leechdoms
> in the Old English Corpus, but I didn't get around to writing to Oxford in
> time.

There is a 3-volume book, "Leechdoms, wortcunning, and starcraft of
early England: being a collection of documents... illustrating the
history of science in this country before the Norman conquest",
collected and edited by the Rev. Oswald Cockayn, 1864.  All three
volumes are online (and downloadable in PDF format) at the Biblioteque
National de France.
http://gallica.bnf.fr/
Click on "recherche", and type "leechdoms" in the "Mots de titre" 
window.

It seems to have quite a few excerpts from original sources, including
some which seem to be written in Old English.  Don't know if it will
help, but...
-- 
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 23:07:25 -0500
From: "Martin G. Diehl" <mdiehl at nac.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] NIH History of Medicine [Western, Islamic, East
	Asian]
To: sca-cooks <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>, SCA-East <sca-east at indra.com>

Here is an example of "Your tax dollars at work" ... <g>

The "National Institutes of Health" website includes

"National Library of Medicine";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/

There, you can find ...
"History of Medicine";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/

Quoting from this site ...
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Under the topic, "Books and Journals";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/books/index.html

"Incunabula (books printed before 1501)"

     NLM holds approximately 500 incunabula titles.
     The word incunabula comes from the Latin word cuna
     (cradle) and refers to books printed during the
     infancy of printing, which dates from the invention
     of moveable type (c. 1455) until 1500.

"East Asian Collection (15th-20th century)"

     The East Asian collection holds approximately 3,000
     books, manuscripts, prints, photographs, and pieces
     of ephemera from Japan, China, and Korea dating from
     the 15th-20th century.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Under the topic, "Archives and Manuscripts";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/archives/index.html

     NLM historical collections house a large collection of
     archives and manuscripts related the history of
     medicine. Most of the archival and manuscript material
     dates from the 17th century; however, the Library owns
     about 200 pre-1601 Western and Islamic manuscripts.
     The oldest item in the Library is an Arabic manuscript
     on gastrointestinal diseases from al-Razi's "The
     Comprehensive Book on Medicine (Kitab al-Hawi fi al-tibb)"
     dated 1094.

"al-Razi";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/bioR.html#razi

"The Comprehensive Book on Medicine (Kitab al-Hawi fi al-tibb)";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/E2_E4.html#E4

     Islamic Manuscripts (11th-19th century)

         Includes about 300 Persian, Arabic, and Turkish
         manuscripts, dating from 1094.

         Search Islamic manuscripts in "LocatorPlus. ";
http://130.14.16.152/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

         "Islamic Medical Manuscripts at the National Library
         of Medicine";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/arabichome.html and also
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/

A sample page from the "Islamic Medical Manuscripts";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/natural_hist4.html

         "Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/islamic_medical/islamic_00.html

     Western Manuscripts (13th-17th century)

         Search Western manuscripts in "LocatorPlus" (catalogue 
incomplete)
http://130.14.16.152/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

         "Early Western Manuscripts in the NLM: A Short-Title List";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/western/western.html

         "Medieval Manuscripts in the National Library of Medicine";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/medieval/medievalhome.html
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
They also have some exhibits ...

"Dream Anatomy";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/dreamanatomy/index.html

"Here Today, Here Tomorrow:
Varieties of Medical Ephemera";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/ephemera/ephemera.html

"Greek Medicine";
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/index.html

"Historical Anatomies on the Web"
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/historicalanatomies/home.html
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

But they don't say if they are a lending library ...

I am,
Lord Vincenzo Martino mazza,
In service to the Dream

Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 21:38:10 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Online Library Exhibition-- Of foods in general
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

"OF FOODS IN GENERAL": AN EXHIBITION OF BOOKS FROM THE FOYLE SPECIAL
COLLECTIONS LIBRARY

from Kings College London can be found online at
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/iss/library/speccoll/exhibitions/fig/ 
topfood.html

It includes information on An hospitall for the diseased [manuscript,
ca. 1609?].[KCSMD Historical Collection R128.6 HOS]

Johnnae

Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 20:36:25 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lemons in Middle English
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> Scurvy was also mentioned:
> The English East India Company is mentioned as gathering oranges
> and lemons from Madagascar in 1601 which they turned into juice
> specifically for use against scurvy.
>
> Thorvald

This is coincident with the date and location for James Lancaster (of the
East India Company) dosing his crew with citrus juice.  My information says
that was done just for his crew.  This raises the question of whether the
cure was generalized for the whole of the East India Company or whether your
source generalized and isolated incident.

Bear

Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2005 20:31:04 -0700
From: James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lemons in Middle English
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

At 20:36 -0600 2005-02-07, Terry Decker wrote:
>  This is coincident with the date and location for James Lancaster
> (of the East India Company) dosing his crew with citrus juice.  My
> information says that was done just for his crew.  This raises the
> question of whether the cure was generalized for the whole of the
> East India Company or whether your source generalized and isolated
> incident.
>
>  Bear

Same voyage.  Captain Lancaster, though in overall command of the
four ships, used the juices for his own crew only, which suggests
that it was not Company policy at the time of his voyage.  It is
suggested that he was experimenting (in the event, at the expense
of the crews of the other three ships).

Thorvald

Date: Mon,  7 Feb 2005 22:27:44 -0500
From: "Jeff Gedney" <gedney1 at iconn.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lemons as antiscorbutics
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

John Smith in his 1626 book on ships and sailing, A Sea Grammar, has the 
following line in his instructions regarding the proper victualling of 
a ship for a voyage to sea:

"A Commander at Sea should doe well to thinke the contrary, and provide 
for himselfe and company in like manner; also seriously to consider 
what will bee his charge to furnish himselfe at Sea with bedding, 
linnen, armes, and apparrell, how to keepe his table aboord, and hi 
expences on shore, and provide his petty Tally, which is a competent 
proportion according to your number of these particulars following.
  Fine wheat flower close and well packed, Rice, Currands, Sugar, 
Prunes, Cynamon, Ginger, Pepper, Cloves, greene inger, Oyle, Butter, 
Holland cheese, or old Cheese, Wine vineger, Canarie sacke, Aqua vitæ, 
the best Wines, the best waters, the juyce of Limons for the scurvy, 
white Bisket, Oatmeale, gammons of Bacon, dried Neats tongues, Beefe 
packed up in vineger,Legs of Mutton minced and stewed, and close 
packed up, with tried sewet or butter in earthen pots. "

In 1610 the Governor of Jamestown Lord la Ware took scurvy while 
travelling to Jamestown, and he was forced for his health to repair to 
"the western isles" by which I think he means the Bahamas:
"In these extremities I resolved to consult with my friends, who 
finding nature spent in me, and my body almost consumed, my paines 
likewise daily increasing, gave me advice to preferre a hopefull 
recoverie, bfore an assured ruine, which must necessarily have ensued, 
had I lived but twentie daies longer in Virginia, wanting at that 
instant both food and Physicke, fit to remedie such extraordinary 
diseases; wherefore I shipped my selfe with Doctor Bohun and aptaine 
Argall, for Mevis in the West Indies, but being crossed with Southerly 
winds, I was forced to shape my course for the Westerne Iles, where I 
found helpe for my health, and my sicknesse asswaged, by the meanes of 
fresh dyet, especially Oranges nd Limons, and undoubted remedie for 
that disease: then I intended to have returned backe againe to 
Virginia, but I was advised not to hazard my selfe, before I had 
perfectly recovered my strength: so I came for England; in which 
accident, I doubt notbut men of judgement w!
  ill imagine, there would more prejudice have happened by my death 
there, than I hope can doe by my returne."

So as far as lemons, and oranges, go, here appears to have been a 
plantations in the American tropics long established, by this time and 
at least a rudmentary awareness of the efficacy of citrus as an 
antiscorbutic.

Capt Elias
-Renaissance Geek of the Cyber Seas

Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 14:42:07 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lemons in Middle English
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

According to Mark Anderson, it was an accidental controlled experiment.
http://www.riparia.org/scurvy_hx.htm

I did a little further checking and found that this was the first voyage of
the East India company fleet.  Lancaster's logs from the voyage have
disappeared.  Further information of the voyage can be found in Samuel
Purchas' Hakluytus post-hummus, or Purchas his Pilgrims, 1625 and Sir
Clements Markham's
  The Voyages of Sir James Lancaster, Hakluyt Society, 1877.  The earlier
voyage of James Lancaster appears in Hakluyt's Voyages, but is not included
in the abridged edition I have.

Anderson's article is interesting because it covers some of the
considerations of scurvy and the citrus treatment prior to Lind.

Bear

Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 15:00:36 -0700
From: James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lemons in Middle English
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

At 11:22 -0800 2005-02-08, Carole Smith wrote:
>  So would you say from your reading that Capt. Lancaster knew that
> he had a scurvy cure with citrus or that he was trying to figure it
> out?

I think he had a good idea, and probably learned it from someone else.
Who?  The Dutch?  That's my guess.

Even if he personally had some confidence in it, the idea was clearly
new and not widely accepted in English sailing circles.

After all, it was nearly 200 years before the British Navy officially
accepted citrus juices as a cure (and preventative) for scurvy.

Perhaps his subordinate captains refused his suggestion that they try
the juice?

Thorvald

Date: Tue,  8 Feb 2005 17:23:24 -0500
From: "Jeff Gedney" <gedney1 at iconn.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Scurvy in period (slightly OT
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>,	Cooks within the
	SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

for what it's worth, the complete etext of Richard Hakluyt' "The  
PRINCIPAL NAVIGATIONS VOYAGES TRAFFIQUES & DISCOVERIES of the ENGLISH  
NATION Made by Sea or Overland to the Remote & Farthest Distant  
Quarters of the Earth at any time within the compasse of these 1600  
Yeares" is available at the perseus Etet server at Tufts university.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/
(in the "Renaissance collection")
There are three works there by a Lancaster, and non make more than a  
passing mention of any fruits except in the manner of cataloging the  
produce of a certai region.
The first edition of the book came out before the 1601 voyage, in 1596  
so that voyage is not there.
John Davis was his Navigator as I recall, so a better book to consult  
would be: The Voyages and Works of John Davis, ed. by A. H. Markham  
(180, repr. 1970). that a good book, I read it a while ago, and I dont  
remember all that much about fruit in it, but its worth checking out...  
I need to use interlibrary loan more...

In the works of the noted Barber surgeon, William Clowes, he makes  
mention of Scurvy grass and other fruits as well as a number of other  
less wholesome ingredients in his cure for scurvy, one of those  
ingredients was a diluted solution of the "water used in purifying  
gold" (sodium cyanide a prominent ingredient in tat) as a component of  
a wash to be applied to the suppurating gums of the scorbutic patient.
the fact that Scurvy Grass was even called that in a commonplace usage  
indicated that it's effectiveness as a treatment was widely known  
before Clowes wrote his book.

It should also be noted that nearly all cases of scurvy in period was  
also coincident with severe anemia and edema in the lower extremities,  
indicating that scurvy was usually complicated by beri-beri, and  
probably several other vitamin deficiency "diseases". Clowes cure  
calles for a large number of ingredients, with several different  
classes of vegetables fruits and, fresh meat, and lots of almond paste.
Clowes thought that the rotted food and stinking waters which sailors  
were forced to endure was the cause of scurvey... in a way he was  
pretty close to the mark, but he mixed in so much of the regular vapor,  
and humoral theory that the real cause was hidden in a laundry list of  
causative factors.
In any case he was convinced that the surest cure was Fresh food,  
rest, and regular exercise, though the "fresh food" was wrapped up in  
a very complicated prescription.

Lemon juice's effect on scurvy was noted, but the cause of its efficacy  
was often taken to be it's acidic and astringent quality, and many  
people, such as Sir John Hawkins, the noted Elizabethan Admiral and  
explorer, were convinced that a solution of "Oil of Vitriol",  
(essentially sulphuric acid), mixed with water and sugar, had the same  
effect.  (Lets no forget that these are people who had not the  
foggiest notion of what a vitamin is or how nutrition worked.)

You can find a facimile of several of Clowes books here:
http://www.st-mike.org/medicine/clowes.html

Capt Elias
-Renaissance Geek of the CyberSeas

Date: Wed,  9 Feb 2005 15:23:02 -0500
From: "Jeff Gedney" <gedney1 at iconn.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Citrus, Scurvy and The Royal Navy
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Venturing companies (and government "Navies" in time of war) had to pay  
restitution and/or pensions to widows and orphans of crewmen lost in  
legitimate action or accident, according to the various laws such as  
the Law of Oleron.

They did not have to pay for criminals killed for offense, deserters,  
muntineers, and victims of crew to crew violent crime aboard ship.

They DID have to pay for the hospitalization or upkeep of men who were  
disabled and had to be placed in the care of whatever hospital facilities  
are nearest.

How much these laws were complied with on a regular basis is unknown,  
but it is pretty clear that care and maintenance of sick men ashore and  
afloat was a significant expense.

It is also clear that these expenses were often only partially paid and  
often only after a great deal of intercession and legal challenge.
Naturally the worst sufferers were men who were not in the care of a  
"good" captain who believed that he was feudally responsible for those  
in his charge. Many captains and some admirals were beggared and some  
totally ruined in the days after the Armada, as the practice was that  
the crewmen had to be paid as soon as they set foot on land, and the  
promised payment to the ships owners and captains for their service was  
very slow in coming from the Admiralty. Consequently the men were  
forced to remain on board for several months, *in harbor*, eating  
rotten food and drinking foul water and sour beer. There was an  
epidemic through the fleet, and many captains were forced to set men  
ashore and make up their care and pay out of their personal funds.

Good book on the subject:
"Medicine and the Navy 1200-1900" by JJ Keevil (2 vols)

also
Enterprise of England the Spanish Armada
by Roger Whiting

The enterprise of England; an account of her emergence as an oceanic power.
by Woodrooffe, Thomas

Capt Elias
-Renaissance Geek of the Cyber Seas

Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2006 12:19:49 -0800
From: Susan Fox <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] A Concordance?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

I took a class recently on the Tarantella dance, the background of that
is absolutely fascinating actually.  Depression, it was supposed by
Medieval peasants in Southern Italy, was caused by the bite of the
Tarantula, and dancing [and incidentally bringing up endorphins] is the
spiritual cure.  <www.alessandrabelloni.com>

Selene Colfox

From: FV/Rafaella <rafaella13 at yahoo.com>
Date: August 31, 2006 2:44:00 PM CDT
To: DM List <dm_list at shadowgard.com>, Dragonsheart <dragonsheart at yahoogroups.com>, NewcomersPortland <newcomersportland at yahoogroups.com>
Cc: SCA-Librarians at lists.gallowglass.org
Subject: [Sca-librarians] Index of Medieval Medical Images

from LII.org. --Rafaella

----------------
Index of Medieval Medical Images

"The Index of Medieval Medical Images project began in
1988 and aimed to describe and index the content of
all medieval manuscript images (up to the year 1500)
with medical components held in North American
collections." Contains images and descriptions of each
text. Search, or browse by subject, date, country of
origin, and other factors. Includes a list of
contributing collections. From the Louise M. Darling
Biomedical Library, University of California, Los
Angeles.
URL: http://digital.library.ucla.edu/immi/ 

Date: Sun, 5 Aug 2007 23:41:30 +0000 (GMT)
From: emilio szabo <emilio_szabo at yahoo.it>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Bald's Leechbook
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

<< P.P.S.:  Ye olde headache.  Or whatever.  Perhaps I could use a  
spell from Bald's Leechbook...any idea where I can get a copy, other  
than the Bodleian Library?  That's the only copy I found, and I only  
had a day to look at it....there were, like, five cures for elf- 
shot....it seems to have been reprinted at the request of Winston  
Churchill, but do they really printone-offs, or would there be  
others,  somewhere? >>

There is an edition plus translation in volume II of
Oswald Cockayne's 'Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of
Early England' (London 1865).
Online at (lousy quality, but still legible):
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k502387

For a facsimile:
Bald's Leechbook. British Museum Royal manuscript 12 D. xvii.
Ed. by C.E. Wright with an appendix by Randolph Quirk.
Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger 1955.

An article (which I have not seen yet):
Cameron, in: Anglo-Saxon England, vol. 12, Cambridge 1983.

Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:38:08 -0400
From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Bald's Leechbook
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Oh. Try Pollington, Stephen. Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plantlore
and Healing for transcripts & translations of Bald's Leechbook (3rd
vol. only), the Lacnunga Manuscript, and 'The Old English Herbarium'
Manuscript 5.

Oxbow Books/David Brown Booksellers consistently sells it for $40 or so.

> There is an edition plus translation in volume II of
> Oswald Cockayne's 'Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of
> Early England' (London 1865).
> Online at (lousy quality, but still legible):
> http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k502387
>
> For a facsimile:
> Bald's Leechbook. British Museum Royal manuscript 12 D. xvii.
> Ed. by C.E. Wright with an appendix by Randolph Quirk.
> Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger 1955.
>
> An article (which I have not seen yet):
> Cameron, in: Anglo-Saxon England, vol. 12, Cambridge 1983.

Date: Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:35:57 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] NOT from the NY Times food section, but...
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

There's this recipe that calls for male chickens being fed on
turtle meat.
Chicken for Those Suffering from Consumption. Raise seperately a dozen 
male chickens, whose only feed will consist of the finest meat of 
freshwater tortoise (turtle) : this feed should always be fresh. Each 
day cook a chicken in a small amount of water, until it falls apart. 
Afterwards, squeeze the meat, such that you remove all the liquid: 
strain the broth and return it to the pot with a spoonful of muscovado 
sugar. Let it boil for a little while, strain again, and the broth will 
be ready.
This is an excerpt from *A Treatise of Portuguese Cuisine from the 15th 
Century*
(Portugal, 15th c. - Fernanda Gomes, trans.)
The original source can be found at Lochac Cooks' Guild Website 
<http://www.sca.org.au/cooks/Pages/articles/articles.html>

Note that it's for consumptives.

Johnnae

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote: on 8/5
<<< There may be some very specific recipes for something like a 
soft-shelled terrapin to simply be chopped up while alive, but this 
would probably be for some sort of medicinal soup, and not common 
practice.

Adamantius >>>

From: Susan Harmon <sca.brighit at gmail.com>
Date: March 31, 2009 12:43:02 AM CDT
To: "trimaris-temp at yahoogroups.com" <trimaris-temp at yahoogroups.com>,  Bentonshire <Bentonshire at yahoogroups.com>, Brinesidemoor <brinesidemoor at yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [tri-temp] Fwd: Historical Medical Texts

I just received this from another list I am on-
I thought others might be interested in this also-
This is a wonderful resource and I couldn't keep it to myself-
Unfortunately the entire text is not available but the illuminations are
wonderful-

Brighit of the MacGregor

<<< For those of us interested in the historical aspects of the Medical Arts,
The University of Virginia has samples of texts from physicians
from the 5th century BCE to the 19th century on display - online
http://historical.hsl.virginia.edu/treasures/index.html
There's some beautiful examples posted.

Padraig o Connell >>>

Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:47:38 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Vinegar OT
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

There have been a number of news reports of late that mention
a new study where Japanese scientists at the Central Research Institute 
in Tokyo, published a report in the July 8 issue of American Chemical 
Society's /Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry/. In a nutshell, 
they found supporting evidence that acetic acid can help deter the 
accumulation of body fat (in mice), even when the mice were fed a 
high-fat diet.
http://health.msn.com/blogs/daily-dose-post.aspx?post=1188353

I came across this recipe today that promises "To make a fat person 
become leane".
It dates from 1569 in the English version and begins "Take foure ounces 
of warme Vineger..."

To make a fat person become leane.
Take foure ounces of warme Vineger, and put therein a quantitie of the pouder of Pepper, and giue it vnto the partie to drinke many mornings fasting, and he will become leane, or else giue him to drinke euerie morning of the Wine of sower Pomegranates, two scruples with Oximell, or water.

Alessio. A verye excellent and profitable booke conteining sixe hundred foure score and odde experienced medicines - the fourth and finall booke of his secretes 1569

Johnnae

Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:22:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: emilio szabo <emilio_szabo at yahoo.it>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org,
	foodmanuscriptproject at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Metlinger, young children, 1473ff

http://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/index.html?c=autoren_index&l=de&ab=Metlinger%2C+Bartholom%E4us

Here are PDFs  of 5 editions of Metlingers 'Regiment der jungen kinder' (health advice in respect of young children).

IIRC, there is also advice on food and nutrition.

E.

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:39:38 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Women and Herbal Texts

Medical Authority and Englishwomen's Herbal Texts, 1550?1650 is a new  
book Ashgate is publishing.
The author is Rebecca Laroche.
http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&pageSubject=0&calcTitle=1&title_id=9311&edition_id=11741

The first chapter is available at the Ashgate site. It's slightly  
discounted if you buy it directly from Ashgate.

Johnnae

Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:15:45 +1000
From: Braddon Giles <braddongiles at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] Avicenna's medicinal
To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"
	<lochac at lochac.sca.org>

2010/1/28 Ian Whitchurch <ian.whitchurch at gmail.com>:
<<< Y'know, in a couple of hundred years, people will have the same
reaction to what we use for chemotherapy. "Poisons. They deliberately
used what they knew were poisons. In poisonous doses".

Anton >>>

It was Paracelcus (1493-1541) who said "All things are poison and
nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be
poisonous."

Giles.

Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2010 22:18:36 +1100
From: Ian Whitchurch <ian.whitchurch at gmail.com>
Subject: [Lochac] Chemistry help needed
To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"
	<lochac at lochac.sca.org>

OK, so I'm playing with my new favorite book, al-Biruni's on Stones,  
and I have this receipt for a medical preparation, which I am sure  
would cure your indigestion.

Here are the ingredients

HAB MISKEEN NAWAZ
Recipe
Pure mercury (para musaffa)
Purified sulphur (gandhak anda sar musaffa)
Yellow arsenic sulphide (hartal tabaqi rnudabbir)
Sodium borate (sohaga)
Croton tiglium (hub-ul-salatin, jamalgota rnudabbir)
Aconitum ferox (mitha tilia rnudabbir)
Dried Emblica officinalis (amla khushk)
Terminalia belerica peel (poast bahera)
Terminalia chebula peel (poast halila :ard)
Piper longum (pipal)
Zingiber officinale (zanjabil, sonth)
Piper nigrum (filfil-i-siyah, siyah mirch)
Eclipta alba, juice (ab bhangra)

What I want know is ... is there anything in this that isn't lethal ?

Anton de Stoc
At politikopolis

Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 01:21:43 +1300
From: "Lila Richards" <lilar at ihug.co.nz>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] Chemistry help needed
To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"
	<lochac at lochac.sca.org>

> What I want know is ... is there anything in this that isn't lethal ?

Well, to quote Wikipedia: "Long pepper (Piper longum), sometimes called 
Javanese, Indian or Indonesian Long Pepper, is a flowering vine in the 
family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used 
as a spice and seasoning. Long pepper is a close relative of Piper nigrum 
giving black, green and white pepper, and has a similar, though generally 
hotter, taste."

So that's two of the ingredients that aren't lethal. And zingiber officinale 
is ginger, so that's three.

And (Wikipedia again): "Eclipta alba (L.) Hassk. (syn. Eclipta prostrata 
L.), commonly known as False Daisy , yerba de tago, and bhringraj, is a 
plant belonging to the family Asteraceae. Root well developed, cylindrical, 
greyish. Floral heads 6-8 mm in diameter, solitary, white, achene compressed 
and narrowly winged. It grows commonly in moist places as a weed all over 
the world. It is widely distributed throughout India, China, Thailand, and 
Brazil. In ayurvedic medicine, the leaf extract is considered a powerful 
liver tonic, rejuvenative, and especially good for the hair. A black dye 
obtained from Eclipta alba is used for dyeing hair and tattooing. Eclipta 
alba also has traditional external uses, like athlete's foot, eczema and 
dermatitis, on the scalp to address hair loss and the leaves have been used 
in the treatment of scorpion stings. It is used as anti-venom against 
snakebite in China and Brazil (Mors, 1991). It is reported to improve hair 
growth and colour (Kritikar and Basu 1975 and Chopra et al. 1955)"

So it would seem that's not (necessarily) toxic.

Emblica officinalis is the Indian gooseberry, with edible fruit.

Croton tiglium is a SE Asian shrub whose oil used to be used as a purgative, 
but is now considered unsafe because of its extreme action.

Aconitum ferox is a plant related to monkshood, and is definitely poisonous.

Terminalia belerica and Terminalia chebula are trees that seem to be related 
to myrtle, and produce edible fruits, some kinds of which are claimed to 
have anti-fungal, anti-cancer and other medicinal properties.

So it seems quite a few of the ingredients are non-toxic, at least in small 
quantities. All in all, it seems the creator of the receipt aimed to cover 
as many bases as possible, though apart from ginger, I'm by no means sure 
that most of them would actually be beneficial to the digestive system.

(That was fun!)

Sinech.

Date: Sun, 07 Mar 2010 09:52:33 +1300
From: Antonia di Benedetto Calvo <dama.antonia at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] Chemistry help needed
To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"
	<lochac at lochac.sca.org>

> What I want know is ... is there anything in this that isn't lethal ?

Pure mercury-- the pure element has fairly low potential for toxicity, 
but mercury salts can be extremely poisinous.  You don't indicate 
preparation method, but I assume it's being cooked with other 
ingredients to form some kind of compound, which may well be quite 
dangerous.
Sulphur-- Not toxic, and still an ingredient in medicinal preparations.
Yellow arsenic sulphide-- a.k.a. orpiment-- highly toxic.
Sodium borate-- a.k.a. borax.  Used as a food additive in some 
countries.  Habitual exposure over many years may lead to liver cancer.
Croton tiglium-- herb used in Chinese medice, probably harmless.
Aconitim ferox-- a species of Wolf's bane.  According to Wikipedia, this 
is known as the most poisinous plant in the world. *Very toxic*.
Emblica officinalis-- Indian gooseberry.  Harmless and edible. Can be 
eaten raw or cooked in several ways.
Terminalia belerica peel-- probably harmless, being studied for 
potential anti-cancer properties.
Terminalia chebula peel-- probably harmless, used as a remedy for coughs.
Piper longum-- long pepper, a culinary spice.
Zingiber officinale-- common ginger-- harmless, and for indigestion, may 
do some good.
Piper nigrum-- black pepper-- safe enough to sprinkle on food
Eclipta alba-- antihepatotoxic.  Probably a good idea to include this, 
considering some of the other ingredients :-)
-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 21:12:46 +0000 (GMT)
From: Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Charlemagne and the doctors

--- Laura C. Minnick <lcm at jeffnet.org> schrieb am So, 7.3.2010:
Terry Decker wrote:
<<< Here's a little quote from Einhard.
Bear

"His health was good until four years before he died,
when he suffered from constant fevers.  Toward the very
end he also became lame in one foot.  Even then he
trusted his own judgment rather than the advice of his
physicians, whom he almost loathed, since they urged him to
stop eating roast meat, which he liked, and to start eating
boiled meat."

Einhard, The Life of Charlemagne, chapter 22. >>>

Yes- that's the quote that got me started on the whole
thing of wondering why his doctors insisted on boiled meats.
(As it turns out, no one tells the emperor what to do!) Have
a brand-new copy of Anthimus that I'm starting in on. Might
get some illumination there. :-)
-------------

According to Hans-Dieter Stoff?ler in his commenterd edition of Walahfrid Strabo's Hortulusa, the most widespread medical text of the Carolingian era was Quintus Serenus' 'liber medicinalis'. Serenus' main source was Pliny, of all people. I've also found Anthimus and a collection of 'Ariostotelian' adages that clearly do refer to humoral theory, though they don't really lay it out. 

I haven't been able to traclk down a copy yet, but according to Stoffler, Serenus original text is in Aemilius Baehrens' collection Poetae Latini minores (Vol III, pp. 103 ff, Leipzig 1879)

Giano

Date: Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:56:02 +1100
From: Del <del at babel.com.au>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] Chemistry help needed
To: The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list <lochac at lochac.sca.org>

<<< Sodium borate used to be used as a food additive, so is clearly not lethal in small doses. It is not used any more as I think there were long term health issues. >>>

Sodium Borate is commonly known as borax.  It's the primary ingredient in compounds such as "ant rid" which is a very effective insecticide but harmless to other creatures that might lick it up.  Its well known use in the merchant marine is to combine it with icing sugar and sprinkle it around in the bilges.  Any resident cockroaches hiding down there feast on the stuff and it turns their insides into rocks.  This renders them both dead and uncomfortable to step on but easy to clean up.

It has also been used in laundries as an emulsifier (it can help emulsify or dissolve wax from clothing) and in the cosmetics industry also as an emulsifier, to help the waxes and oils in various moisturisers and ointments stay in emulsion.  Most of the "oil of (some place)" type facial moisturisers would probably contain borax.
-- 
Del

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 23:59:47 +0000 (GMT)
From: emilio szabo <emilio_szabo at yahoo.it>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Quintus Serenus, Liber medicinlis

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZCMPAAAAQAAJ&dq=inauthor%3Aserenus&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=1&hl=de&pg=PA185#v=onepage&q=&f=true

Here is one of the old editions with the text together with an assembly of the commentaries that were available at that time.

E.

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 22:36:40 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] inaccurate books

Suey said:
<<< In reference to "Charlemagne and the doctors," there were no
'doctors' in medieval history. The correct word is physician in this
case. Barbers, who bleed patients, were another matter. >>>

<clipped>
Oh! okay. So is "doctor" a medieval term? If so, what did it refer to?
Stefan
===========

Doctor, in English, shows up in the 14th Century and it is used in reference 
to a learned individual, usually an instructor, in a branch of knowledge, 
such as theology, law or medicine.  The word derives from the Latin "doktre" 
to teach.  The usage is consistent with the rise of Universities.

Physician shows up in the 13th Century in reference to a practitioner of the 
healing arts and the 15th Century as related to licensed practitioners. 
This derives from the earlier term, "physick" meaning natural science.  A 
physician was a student of natural science which included medical science. 
Usage became more constrained over time.

A surgeon is a medical practitioner who uses physical means to treat 
patients.  Barber surgeons are practitioners who practiced surgery without 
qualification or license.

Over time, physician became related to the concept of learned qualification, 
while surgeon became related to experiential medicine (can you say, general 
practice).  With the advent of modern requirements for education and 
licensing of practitioners, the differences became moot.

Incidentally, Galen was an anatomist (learning about the body by dissecting 
monkeys and thus a surgeon) and a physician learned in Hippocratic theory. 
Part of his endeavor was to combine both theory and practice.

Bear 

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 16:37:26 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Charlemagne and the doctors

A Latin transcription of Liber medicinalis is available here:
http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/serenus.html

The sources for Liber medicinalis are primarily Pliny and Discorides and I 
would expect that any introduction of Hippocrates's humoral theory came 
through Discorides (although Pliny was familiar with it).  Galen and Serenus 
were contemporaries in Rome with different focii, so I would not expect 
either to much influence the other.

Walafrid was a friend of Einhard and wrote the prologue for the Life of 
Charlemagne after Einhard's death.  He also edited the format to introduce 
titles and chapters.

Bear

----- Original Message ----- 

<<< According to Hans-Dieter Stoff?ler in his commenterd edition of Walahfrid 
Strabo's Hortulusa, the most widespread medical text of the Carolingian era 
was Quintus Serenus' 'liber medicinalis'. Serenus' main source was Pliny, of 
all people. I've also found Anthimus and a collection of 'Ariostotelian' 
adages that clearly do refer to humoral theory, though they don't really lay 
it out.

I haven't been able to track down a copy yet, but according to Stoffler, 
Serenus original text is in Aemilius Baehrens' collection Poetae Latini 
minores (Vol III, pp. 103 ff, Leipzig 1879)

Giano >>>

http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/serenus.html

E.

Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:48:33 +1100
From: Raymond Wickham <insidious565 at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Lochac] scientific and medical texts online in latin and old
	english
To: lochac <lochac at sca.org.au>, art and sciences sca <as at sca.org>

http://cctr1.umkc.edu/cgi-bin/search

Date: Sat, 13 Mar 2010 23:48:23 +1100
From: Raymond Wickham <insidious565 at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Lochac] MS. Ashmole 1462 Miscellaneous medical and herbal
	texts, in Latin England, late 12th century
To: lochac <lochac at sca.org.au>

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/medieval/mss/ashmole/1462.htm

Nice access	

From: Rosamistica Tomacelli de Greene <rosamistica at EVERGREENES.ORG>
Date: March 28, 2010 6:50:42 PM CDT
To: CALONTIR at listserv.unl.edu
Subject: Re: [CALONTIR] so....

Quoting Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at AUSTIN.RR.COM>:
<<< Hmmmm. Does anyone have any references to period hang-over cures?

Although I've got some modern comments in the Florilegium, I don't
think I have any period references.

Maybe they didn't get drunk... :-)

Stefan >>>

Amethyst was believed to be the sovereign prevention for drunkenness.  Putting it on your drinking cup, on a ring, or bracelet with the hand with which you drink, or even dropping it into the liquor that you are drinking is recommended.  Worn afterward will also cure drunkenness, sorry no mention of a hangover.  It will also calm excessive passion.  In addition, it helps soldiers be victorious.  Any of our noble fighters want to look for amethysts?  (Curious Lore of Precious Stones by Kunz)

Hildegarde von Bingen in Physica says that henbane is a cure for hangover, you mix it with water and put it on your temples, forehead and throat.  However since henbane is a highly toxic poison, this is not a recommendation that I can second.  The effect that henbane has in the body is similar to belladonna, and when rubbed on the skin causes a sensation of flying, hallucinations etc.  I guess that would fix the hangover.

There was a period of time that it was used in certain beers in parts of Germany as it added to the feeling of being drunk.  It was also used by witches as part of their rituals along with belladona as a body rub to help with the high of their revels.

More recent folk remedies recommend raw honey as a cure for alcoholism.

However, since the hangover feeling is a caused by dehydration and a clogged liver, I would recommend a lot of water, and liver tonic herbs (like dandelion) as long as your bowels are moving correctly and you can flush the toxicity out.
-- 
Rosamistica Tomacelli de Greene
Nec timeo, nec sperno.

Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:43:13 -0500
From: "Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps" <dephelps@embarqmail.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Thoughts on food as medicine

As your focus is Italian you might wish to check the Islamic connection 
via Sicily around the time of it's conquest by the Normans as well as 
Venice's commerce with the Ottoman empire.  That recent issue of Saudi 
Aramco World has a short article on medicine in our period and discusses 
what was translated out of Arabic.

Daniel 

Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:34:47 -0500
From: "Garth G. Groff" <ggg9y@virginia.edu>
To: Atlantia@atlantia.sca.org, isenfir@virginia.edu
Subject: [MR] Medieval Medicine book review

Noble friends,

Just cataloged for the UVA library: BODIES OF KNOWLEDGE: CULTURAL 
INTERPRETATIONS OF ILLNESS AND MEDICINE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE, edited by 
Sally Crawford and Christina Lee (ISBN 9781407307145; our call # FINE 
ARTS R141 .B63 2010). This is a very specialized branch of knowledge, 
yet with disease and mental illness so rampant in medieval Europe, it is 
a subject well worth studying. The editors of this volume have selected 
six essays, some of them rather surprising: Rage Possession: A Cognative 
Science Approach to Early English Demon Possession; Outlawry and Moral 
Pervision in Old Norse Society; Hermaphroditism in the Western Middle 
Ages:Physicians, Lawyers and the Intersexed Person; The Nadir of Western 
Medicine? Texts, Contexts and Practice in Anglo-Saxon England; 'This 
Should Not Be Shown to a Gentile': Medico-Magical Texts in Medieval 
Franco-German Jewish Rabbinic Manuscripts; Asclepius, Biographical 
Dictionaries, and the Transmission of Science in the Medieval Muslim 
World. The texts are clearly written, and while rather scholarly, are 
not beyond comprehension to those lay persons interested in any of the 
topics. Sadly, there are no illustrations, though each essay has a large 
bibliography. For anyone interested in medieval medicine, or in any of 
the specific cultures named, this book would make good background reading.

Lord Mungo Napier, Shire of Isenfir's Unofficial Librarian
(mka Garth Groff, UVA libraries cataloger)

Date: Sat, 23 Apr 2011 08:32:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: Daniel And elizabeth phelps  <dephelps@embarqmail.com>
To: old4old@yahoogroups.com, apprentice  <apprentice@yahoogroups.com>,
	Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Of Possible Interest

Site for late period scientific texts, mostly medical 
http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/ttp/books.htm 

Daniel 

Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 16:02:57 -0500
From: Alexandria Doyle <garbaholic@gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] An ingredient listing

I've been researching the witches potions ingredients from MacBeth.
One site here<http://www.mamalisa.com/blog/the-three-witches-spell-in-macbeth-double-double-toil-and-trouble/>
claims that witches mummy was "a medicinal substance".  At least one
other site suggests that they are referring to actual mummified human
remains.  I wanted to see if anyone here knows if this is correct, or
if this is a reference to a plant substance?

alex

Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 16:55:51 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker@att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] An ingredient listing

Mummy powder has a long history of being an ingredient in medicine.  The 
practice may have started with Arab physicians in Alexandria and been 
transmitted to European physicians during the early Crusades.  Use of 
powdered mummy continued until some time in the 18th Century.  In the 19th 
Century, mummies became curios.

The heyday of powdered mummy came between the 14th and 17th Centuries, when 
powder of sun dessicated corpses may have been as common as the real thing. 
Just another ingredient in the Shakespearean medicine cabinet.

IIRC, Jame Joseph Walsh provides more info in Medieval Medicine.

Bear

Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 18:03:04 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae@mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] An ingredient listing

This paragraph is discussed in Food in Shakespeare: early modern  
dietaries and the plays
 by Joan Fitzpatrick. Just pulled my copy off the shelf.
Chapter 2 "Celtic Acquaintance and Alterity" examines Henry V and  
MacBeth.
The mummy ingredient, she writes, "refers to the remains of a embalmed  
corpse."
"As Melvin Ealres pointed out "Mummy Mumia was included in the London  
Pharmacopoeia of 1618."
The ingredient would restore withered limbs, help with ulcers, cure  
consumption, and help with blood problems. Apparently there were  
recipes for creating one's own (artificial)  mummy made from the newly  
dead.
The ingredient list also calls for "Liver of blaspheming Jew" and  
"Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips."

Johnnae

To: gleannabhann@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Fw: [Ansteorra] OT -- New Show On History Channel
Posted by: "Dorcas Lumpkin" bobndorcas@gmail.com engelise39648
Date: Thu Jun 30, 2011 1:17 pm ((PDT))

On Wed, Jun 29, 2011 at 2:20 PM, Vernette Turner <avelinefrazer@yahoo.com>wrote:
<<< That would be so cool!!! Jousting is my absolute favorite sport!

Lady Aveline Frazer >>>

If you are considering Jousting, perhaps you should read this first.
http://www.haciendapub.com/jneuro1.html
There is a good reason people stopped jousting.

Caereg

From: Worf <worf428@yahoo.com>
Subject: [Ansteorra] Reasearch pages
Date: October 22, 2012 10:18:38 AM CDT
To: "Inc. Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA" <ansteorra@lists.ansteorra.org>

For any researching  Medicine ad Herbs in Medieval times i would recomend the following Site: WWW.mostly-Medieval.com
I find it has lots of Information.
 
VADM Galiwyn CICT
A Lover Not A Fighter!!
Member of the Inn of the Weeping Unicorn.

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	p-medicine-msg	Page  of