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C. U. C. P. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



thing for Theriac. Also, nearby, is seen 

 pictured in M. Planchon's article on 

 Theriac for the '■'^ Journal de pharmacie et 

 de chimte" the great earthen jar for 

 these precious electuaries which were 

 prepared for over a hundred years at 

 Paris vtth the most imposing careful- 

 ness ax i ceremony. At the top of the 

 jar Qn< sees the three locks of which 

 three different dignitaries of the city 

 kept fhe keys. A little farther on, and 

 belcvv, in the show-case are displayed 

 phoi >graphs of handsome porcelain vases 

 of the 1 6th century, marked respectively 

 Mithridatium and Theriaca, which have 

 been found in apothecary shops of Bor- 

 deaux, France. Both are decorated with 

 viper handles, though Theriac alone of 

 the two contained vipers' flesh as one of 

 the sixty-two to a hundred and twenty 

 ingredients composing the old prescrip- 

 tions. 



By the kindness of the Public Library, 

 from whose books we have obtained all 

 our photographs, we are able to show 

 reproductions of pages in the "Coverdale 

 Bible," 1535, and the "Bishop's Bible/' 

 1568, where the word that is translated 

 balm in the "Authorized Version" ap- 

 pears as triad e (treacle) in these. 



At the end of the theriac, or treacle, 

 exhibit is the photograph of the minia- 

 ture given above. It is taken from a 

 beautifully illuminated MS. of Galen's 

 works preserved in the Dresden Library, 

 and represents a triacleur, or treacle ped- 

 dler, recommending his wares by holding 

 in his right hand an adder from which 

 he takes no harm because of his use of 

 the treacle that he is selling from the jar 

 in his left hand. 



Dr. Corner says that a magistrate's 

 license of the i6th centurv has been 



found, giving a friar and a triacleur per- 

 mission to travel in company. This, he 

 continues, was "a convenient arrange- 

 ment which permitted a layman to buy 

 pardon for his sins and balm for his dis- 

 eases from the same firm." 



The remaining spaces of the three 

 shelves are occupied by old dispensato- 

 ries, beginning with that of the Arabian 

 physician ]\Iesue of the loth to nth cen- 

 turies, and ascending in regular order 

 through those of Valerius Cordus, Moyse 

 Charas and Renodaeus, to James's New 

 Universal Dispensatory, editions of 1752 

 and 1764. These make a very good 

 showing, indeed, opened to one or the 

 other of these complicated recipes. In 

 fact, all is here to give a complete survey 

 of the reign of Mithridatium and Theriac 

 for eighteen hundred years, except the 

 French Codex of 1884 i^ which they re- 

 ceived their last official recognition. 



If any one of the readers of this note 

 happens to know of the latter book, 

 within begging, borrowing, or buying 

 distance, a communication with this 

 library on the subject will be regarded 

 as a friendly deed. 



For the rest, a sentence on the bulletin 

 board, translated from Renodaeus, phy- 

 sician and writer on pharmacy of the 

 17th century, presents the consensus of 

 opinion in these dispensatories as to the 

 virtues of the two remedies : 



"Not inaptly,"' Renodaeus says, "do 

 some call Mithridatium the father of 

 medicine, and Theriaca, the mother, 

 since, for a truth, they surpass all other 

 medicines in value and efficacy, and in- 

 clude the virtues of all ; for hardly is 

 there a disease, to which one or the 

 other, when rightly prepared, does not 

 bring relief." 



