THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



77 



own treacle. Spies had been sent to 

 Venice to worm out the exact identity of 

 the ingredients and the process of their 

 manipulation, and finally a suitable prod- 

 uct was made at home. 



The making of treacle was an occasion 

 not to be taken lightly. Witness the re- 

 corded speech in the ''Chronicles of Phar- 

 macy" of one Laurence Catelan, Master 

 Apothecary of Montpellier and Apothe- 

 cary to the Prince of Conde, which was 

 delivered when he prepared a batch of 

 Theriaca at Montpellier on September 28, 

 1668. 



To the assembled multitude Master 

 Catelan enumerated the regulations which 

 compelled him to prepare this great 

 remedy in public in the presence of the 

 "illustrious professors of the famous Uni- 

 versity of Medicine." All this pomp and 

 circumstance was, of course, a pure drug- 

 inspection procedure, invented to discour- 

 age the vending of spurious products. 

 Master Catelan proceeded to relate the 

 wonderful history of Mithridates, who 

 had rendered himself immune to all poi- 

 sons, and of the formula he had left to 

 posterity. 



TH£ FABLE) OF THE: POISON-PROOF KING 



This Mithridates, concerning whom 

 Master Catelan spoke, known in history 

 as Mithridates the Great, King of Pon- 

 tus, was born 134 B. C, and, next to 

 Hannibal, was the most dangerous foe 

 against which the Roman Republic had 

 to war. After wars lasting 26 years, 

 Pompey's armies finally conquered him. 



Mithridates was reputed to have been 

 immune from poison because of a com- 

 pound which he had prepared and which 

 he took each day; so that when, being 

 defeated, he attempted suicide, no poison 

 of the many he tried would cause his 

 death. Consequently he had to call in 

 one of his soldiers, who killed him with a 

 spear. Such was the fable. 



Stories of Mithridates' medical lore 

 had long been told the conquering Ro- 

 mans, whetting their curiosity. They 

 searched eagerly amongst his papers at 

 Nicopolis and found, it is true, some 

 medicinal formulas, but none of any 

 great value. It is quite likely, though 

 Master Catelan firmly believed in its au- 



thenticity, that this legend originated in 

 Rome much later and was disseminated 

 "next to pure reading matter" by the 

 nostrum venders, who made Mithrida- 

 tium Antidote and sold quantities of it. 

 But Master Catelan related the Mithri- 

 datium fable with almost devotional zeal, 

 and told, as well, the later history of the 

 compound, dwelling particularly on the 

 many improvements made in it and lead- 

 ing up to its present pinnacle of perfec- 

 tion. The speaker then rested, while some 

 soft music was played. 



SAVING ALEXANDER PROM THF VFNOM- 

 SATURATFD SFAVF GIRL, 



Resuming, Master Catelan told many 

 marvelous tales of princes who had es- 

 caped poisoning by immunization. One 

 incident, on which he dwelt with special 

 emphasis, concerned Alexander the Great. 

 An Indian prince who hated Alexander 

 sent to him as a gift a beautiful slave 

 girl whose system had been so saturated 

 with aconite that she fairly reeked of 

 poison. It was thought that Alexander, 

 struck with her beauty, might kiss her 

 and be poisoned by her surcharged ve- 

 nom. But Aristotle saw her first, recog- 

 nized by her flaming eyes that the girl 

 was a poison-carrier, and by sending her 

 away saved his patron's life. 



After this the lecturer naturally took 

 another rest and there was some more 

 music. 



The virtues of the half-hundred in- 

 gredients were then dwelt upon, which 

 took up the remainder of the day. The 

 actual mixing of the drugs took place on 

 the following day, but the final ceremony 

 was not concluded for nearly two months. 

 Such was the elaborate program for the 

 manufacture of this compound. 



The manufacture of English theriaca 

 was as much due to the prevalence in the 

 market of adulterated products as to the 

 high price of the imported article. Many 

 protests of the guilds are recorded against 

 the false treacle which was being sold in 

 England. 



From the point of view of medicinal 

 value, however, the false product was 

 probably quite as effectual as the true, 

 both being almost worthless. That the 

 medical profession was slow to realize 



