Magic and healing / [C.J.S. Thompson].

  • Charles Thompson
Date:
[1947]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Magic and healing / [C.J.S. Thompson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The prevalence of certain diseases and ailments in early times is evidenced in the many cures that have come down to us from past cen¬ turies. Epilepsy, for instance, which was originally ascribed to demoniac possession, was generally treated by charms and incantations, and from the time of the Apostles who cast out the devils religious rites played a prominent part. In the fourteenth century, great faith was placed in the following charm: Gasper with his myrrh beganne The presents to unfold Then Melchior brought frankincense And Balthasar brought in gold, Now he that of these holie Kings The names about shall beare The Fallyng yll by Grace of Christ Shall never need to feare. Every man and woman bearing this writing about them with good devotion saying every day three paternosters, three aves and one creed, are assured of being free from attack. Among other remedies for epilepsy we find shavings of rhinoceros horn and human blood. Charas says: “In the month of May take a consider¬ able quantity of healthy young men’s blood, let blood in that season who are not red-haired. Distil it twice and spread on plates and dry in the sun or oven.” Other strange cures for the same disease were “Water of Swallows made by distilling 40 live swallows, castoreum one ounce, in 3 lb.. of white wine; one to three ounces being given to the patient every morning for 40 days; also “Compound Water of Magpies” which was prepared by taking six young magpies, half a pound of white dung of a peacock, 5 ounces of mistletoe of the oak and 5 ounces of fresh cowslip flowers, distilled with 5 lb. each of white and Spanish wine. Four ounces of this was to be taken morning and evening, in the last days before the full and new moons. Another remedy which had a universal reputation for epilepsy and hysteria was “Salt of Coral” prepared by dissolving coral in vinegar and distilling it. A “Salt of Pearls” was prepared in the same manner, using lemon juice instead of vinegar. Another method was to bruise the pearls and pour the lemon juice over them. “When dissolved add some May dew and decant the solution.” This is described by a sixteenth-century writer as “a most noble cordial for convulsion and falling sickness for it purifies and keeps the body sound, comforts the brain, memory and heart”. Another remedy prepared from birds was the volatile ^alt of Ravens which was made by taking “a whole raven, dried, gently chopped into bits, head, bill, feathers, claws, bones and entrails, then placing them in an earthen retort in a reverbatory furnace and distilling with a gentle