The lesser writings of John Arderne / by D'Arcy Power.

  • D'Arcy Power
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The lesser writings of John Arderne / by D'Arcy Power. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    above and made the wommane lye therinne uppone the sorere syde and helyd here wele with clothys & so sche laye al nyghte tylle the hete wente thorowgh the body and the armys & the spyrites revyved ayene... & so the womane with the helpe of god was curyd.’ Verbena he employs as an anaphrodisiac by local application ; its value was clearly the result of suggestion. Plantago, the herb ivy, as a juice ‘ profiteth to almannere Arthretykys, i.e. gowtys’. Epidemic sore throat (2 diphtheria). Incidentally he alludes here to some great epidemic of the century—perhaps diphtheria—for he says, ‘and note this diligently that in the sqwynancy (quinsy) & in alle the swellynges of the throte & the nekke & in all the lettynges of swolowynge as whanne the pacient may not swalowe neyther mete ne drynke & the pacient therof is ofte tymys dysposyd to the deeth withinne schort tyme & I have seye manye deyed therof withinne v dayes thorough stranglynge. To the weche it is to know that ther is nothynge more profytablere therfore thane to use glysteryes of Malowys, mercurye (chenopodium ?), branne & oyle or buttre, hony & Sal gemme or comone salt. This operacione draweth the wykkyd humours to the innere partyes that causeth the syknesse & so it helpeth ‘the sqwynnancye.’ The Black Death is apt to dominate our idea of epidemic illness in the fourteenth century, but there is no doubt that the pest was followed by many serious illnesses, for it left the people in an enfeebled state of health. It is perhaps noteworthy that in this account of the quinsy as Arderne saw it no mention is made of any rash, so that perhaps scarlatina may be excluded, for he was an accurate observer. Treatment of cases. The virtues of scabious, fennel and solsequium or succory are extolled. A case is recited in which he cured a man upon a Christmas day whose leg was suddenly swollen out of measure from the knee to the ankle, ‘ and that was with rubore and huge brennynge so that he myght not stande.’ The ‘juice of solsequy medlyd’ together with a little vinegar applied locally, and confinement to bed proved so successful that ‘in certeyne or thane the kokk krew that same nyght folowynge the ache & the brennynge was staunchyd & the pacyent rested hyme wele and withinne i dayes withoute ony other medycyne he was parfytly curyd, whereof manye hadde moche wondir ’. There is also the interesting case of “a wommane faste by Doncastre that hadde a wombe (belly) so blowen that it passed the gretnesse of ony wommane that was with chylde. The weche infirmyte was unknowen & of good lechys sche was forsakene as for deede. The weche I curyd with clysteryes & with heme I voyded moche ventosyte.’ ‘The seed of pasnepes that bereth the yelow fflourys yf it ofte be etene or made in the manere of a lectuarye or of a suryp it is the beste remedye ayene the suffocacione i.e. stranglynge of the matrice secundum magistrum Johannem de Gadesdene.’ The reference to John of Gaddesden (1280 ?— 1361), author of the Rosa Anglica, is repeated in the treatise on the diseases of women. In this second instance, John of Gaddesden is said to recom-
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