Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-12
CUR1os IN MEDICINE
LARGE PRICE PAID FOR PATENT
PILL RECIPE.
Recent Date at Which the Human
Skull Was Still Supposed to Have
Curative Value.
From the London Standard.

A month or two ago considerable interest
was reused by the public auction of the re-
cpe OF a well-known pill. The secret was
sold for $4,000, a somewhat large sum for
a mere recipe, though, as was pointed out
at the time not an unparalleled price. The re-
cpes for the celebrated Worcestershire sauce
and for the Brandenham method of curing
hams, for instance, originally realized
larger amounts. One fact was, however,
brought home to the public, that the En-
glish are medicine-taking people. The
remedies for diseases were until quite re-
Gently often of a crude kind, but it is be-
ieved that common-sense notions respect
ing cleanliness, exercise and diet have
caused many specifics to disappear before
the more excellent way of prevention.
One is astounded to read that as late as
176S the London College of Physicians rec
ogniZed curative properties in human skulls,
especially if the owners had died from vio-
lence. DR.. Toope OF Oxford, who collected
skulls from Wiltshire barrowS, gleefully
records, Il dug ups many bushels, with
which 1 made a noble medicine" In 1740
DR.. Sydenham, the English Hippocrates, In
his "Praxis Medical recommends such
Earthworms, snakes, toads, vipers' flesh,
skins of hens gizzards. hogs lice, dried
human flesh, the heart of a mole and crabs
eyes. Crabs eyes, which We're sold at os:
I'D. pound, are spoken of in Pschey's Art
of Physick' Q69O as good to correct hui
mours and for the collie and hysteric fits
and such like diseases arising from the
acid" Carbonate of lime, obtained as con-
cretions from the inside of the crayfish,
mixed with arum7 root. formed the seven
teenth century "Gaseoigne's powder"
An Old-Time Cure for Quinsy.
In 1925 standard work, "Collectanea
Medica'' gives this recipe for quinsy: Pow.
der Of burnt owls, 2dEms.; burnt swallows.
1drm.; dried and powdered blood of white
puppy dogs, 2drms." When reads Of
these sovereign remedies" there rises I'M
hidden the vision of the three witches in
Macbeth" compromising their horrid tngre-
dients In a caldron. Or one thinks of the
character In Ainsworth's Tower of Lon
don," who was for ever using a strange
medley Of drugs in the form Of potions,
poultices and electuaries; and, remember
ing that the plot represents the time of the
great plague, one feels certain that there
is little carcature People had not learned
the truth Of the opinion, afterward express
ed by Pope, nor did they indeed learn it
until long after Pope's day
Better to hunt in fields for health unbought,
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught;
The wise for health on exercise depend,
God never meant His work for man to mend"
The virtues of skulls have been referred
to; but there seems to have been a par
TALLY for CHASTITY relics in general Bones,
horns, nails and teeth OF the dead were the
treasures Of old sorcerers," says Sir Thomas
Browne-we may add, Of old physicians,
too. The Rev. G. S. Tyack, in Lore and
Legend Of the English Church." gives sew
eral samples Of the use of such materials
In charms and medicine. A womans front
tooth, taken from graveyard, was reputed
to protect man from toothache; similarly,
a mans front tooth was a preventive for a
woman. This superstition, like the next to
be mentioned, was common In Shropshire.
A necklace of elder twigs from a church.
ward taliSman against whnODinR
cough. A ring made Of three nails taken
from collins in three different churchyards
was Invaluable for rheumatism. Such be-
liefs fingered a long time. In the life of Sir
Walter Scott we read how an admirer pro-
posed to cure him Of Inflammation of the
bowels Sir Walter was to sleep on pillow
of twelve smooth stones, painfully collect
ed by the admrer from twelve brooks. We
laugh at the remedy, and still more at the
novelst's artful answer but there was a
time when such silly superstitions were
credited by the learned.
A Medieval Remedy.
In medieval days a prescription publish
ed under the direction of the master Of the
rolls advises as a cure for fever that the
patient should be placed between two
halves Of a hare and a pigeon recently
killed. We are also informed that in the
reign of Louis XIV the greatest surgeon
of the day had a sheep skinned alive in the
| ante-chamber of a royal lady for the pur-
pose OF applying to her body the warm and
bleeding skin. Brickell. in his Natural
| History Of North Carolina" says that the
head of certain lizard. "outwardly ap-
Piled" was used to reduce swellings and
| ulcers. Toads, baked and powdered. were
! remedies for 'tympany and many disor-
ders. loads form an Important element in
Chinese pharmacy az the present day. The
hawksbill turtle was employed for govt,
epilepsy and sore eyes-.a sufficiently va
ried Mst Of evils. Lovelrs Edible British
Mollusks'' mentionsgft small grite of sand
found in the horns Of snails'' as a cure for
toothache when inserted in hollow teeth
Dried centipedes reduced to powder were
given to people suffering from spasms.
Frank auckland quotes a passage from an
old work. the Century q Inventions" 1855.
key peas kind OF amphibian woodlice
| or, more probably, the common species Of
| that name Nine Of these creatures were
| to be taken and Stamped" with little
| Juice of woodbine or betony-the choice is
| mysterious-until Tie mixture was well
stained. Then .1et the party that hath the
web in his eye drinkoa On morning some