VULGAR SPECIFICS 95 



of an egg add salt, then make a salve and apply. A prescription which 

 was given to Pope Clement VII. to relieve his carcinoma (I believe) 

 read as follows : 



Take of 



Cinnamon 10 ounces 



Ginger 5 ounces 



Zedoary 4 ounces 



Nutmeg 3 ounces 



Elder root 2 ounces 



Calamus 1 ounce 



Dissolve in a decoction of lemon juice mixed with wine. 



Take a half pint before meals in the time when the moon is in Cancer, Leo 



or Virgo. 

 Brassieres, speaking about the errors of medicine^ relates the fol- 

 lowing procedure for the treatment of cancer : 



Chacun connait ce vieux prejuge que I'on ne rencontre plus que cJiez de 

 pauvres femmes du siicle dernier. Atteintes de cancer, elle nourisseni avec soin, 

 pour ne pas en etre devore^s ce pretendu animal, en appUquant tons les matins 

 sur leur plates une tranche fraiche de veau.*^ 



For the treatment of urinary lithiasis, very many curious means 

 were in use in the middle ages. Goat's urine was recommended by all 

 the Arabian physicians to be taken internally. The Talmud mentions 

 quite a remarkable cure for the kidney or bladder stone. Baas speaks 

 of this method in a very bitter way, but it is no more vulgar than many 

 similar customs in different countries. Baas's "History of Medicine" 

 is rather unfair and partial in its treatment of Hebrew contributions to 

 medical knowledge. The method to which I am referring was cited in 

 another paper by me on the history of the lithotomy operation.*® 



A bone from the head of a carp is said to be good for apoplexy or the 

 falling sickness.*' 



All flower water was given to patients suffering with asthma. This 

 "all-flower water" was called urina vaccce. Patients complaining of 

 chorea were usually taken to one of the holy shrines where remarkable 

 cures were said to be performed. Lourdes in France still boasts of the 

 survival of this ancient custom. Emile Zola in his masterly novel, bear- 

 ing the name of this city, vividly describes how the sick and suffering 

 from all parts of France come to this town and expect complete restora- 

 tion to normal health. 



The next is Vitus sodde in Oyle, before whose ymage faire, 

 Both men and women bringing hennes for offering do repair; 

 The cause whereof I do not know, I think for some disease 

 Which he is thought to drive away from such as him do please.** 



For shingles, herpes zoster, there was practised the following cure: 



**A. F. E. Brassieres, "Sur les Erreurs en Medicine," 1860. 



** Kahn, "History of the Lithotomy Operation," Medical Eecord, 1912. 



*' J. Sehroedems, "Zoology," 1659. 



*'Googe, "Popish Kingdom," 1570, p. 54. 



