Croll arose and said that the terrible plague which had been 

 introduced into Bohemia by the Turks was a difficult disease 

 to combat; he had found, however, that thef Tincture of 

 mummy" was of signal service, and he would communicate 

 to the Academy its preparation under pledge of secrecy: 

 " Select the fresh cadaver of a red-haired, spotless malefactor, 

 twenty-four years of age, killed by hanging, or by being im- 



APOTHECARY SHOP OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 



paled or broken on the wheel, upon which corpse the sun and 

 moon had shone but once; cut it in slices, sprinkle it with 

 myrrh and aloes, then macerate the pieces in spirit of wine 

 for several days. In desperate cases the efficiency of this 

 tincture can be strengthened by mixing it with salt of pearls, 

 salt of coral, olive and musk, the mixture being digested in 

 a water-bath one month, stirring it every day.'^ 



Kaspar von Rudz remarked that his wealthy father-in-law, 

 with whom he lived, was very low with periodical fits of ague 

 and he had tried many remedies in vain; he had hung three 

 spiders about his patient's neck, he had given him a bag to 



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