CHAPTER XIII

HERB TEA AND THE DOCTOR

At a meeting of the Massachusetts Bay Company held in London on March 5, 1628-29, it was proposed that the Company "Intertayne a surgeon for the plantation" and one Abraham Pratt was sent over soon after. He lived in Roxbury, Charlestown and Cambridge. While returning to England with his wife in the fall of 1644, their ship was wrecked on the coast of Spain and both were drowned. At the same meeting the Company selected a barber-surgeon, Robert Morley, to go to New England and practice his calling on "aney of the Company that are planters or there servants." In those days a barber-surgeon employed himself in pulling teeth, bleeding and cupping.

Earlier than this, however, Doctor Samuel Fuller had come over in the _Mayflower_ and was of the greatest service to the sickly foundation at Plymouth. When John Endecott's wife lay dying at Naumkeak (Salem), in 1629, Doctor Fuller was hastily sent for, and the next year he was called to Matapan (Dorchester) where he "let some twenty of these people blood: [and] had conference with them till I was weary."[67] A month later he was at Charlestown writing "I here but lose time and long to be at home, I can do them no good, for I want drugs, and things fitting to work with." Three years later he was dead of an infectious fever.

[67] _Bradford's Letter Book_ (1 Mass. Hist. Colls., Vol. III).

A large portion of the physicians in the early days of the Colony were Puritan ministers who had studied medicine in England in anticipation of removal to New England, as a hasty preparation for such necessities as might arise. Each practised in his own flock and Cotton Mather in his _Magnalia_ (Book III, Chap. 26), speaks of this union of the two professions as an "Angelical Conjunction." When Rev. Michael Wigglesworth died in 1705, his weeping parishioners in the town of Malden, erected a stone to mark his grave and on it may still be read the words

"Here lies intered in silent grave below Maulden's physician for soul and body two."

In colonial times there was little regulation of medical practice, although an ineffective law was passed in 1649. Any one might come into a town and announce himself as a physician and if able to cure patients of their maladies, his success was assured. Several unfortunate failures, however, would seriously effect his standing. As a natural result quacks appeared and disappeared in all the larger towns.

In the seventeenth century, and later, there were two classes of medical practitioners of which one prescribed vegetable substances only, together with a free use of the lancet, and followed the teachings of Galen, the Greek physician. The other school followed the doctrines of Paracelsus and prescribed for the most part mineral preparations, and oftentimes were styled "chemists." Of course there was bitter rivalry between the two schools, each maintaining so far as possible, a superstitious mystery concerning their profession. There were few regular graduates from any recognized medical school. Until after the Revolution most practitioners gained their scanty store of medical knowledge by studying with some family physician and in the homely school of experience. Dr. William Douglas, a young Scotchman, began to practice in Boston in 1716. In 1721 he wrote "we abound with Practitioners, though no other graduate than myself. We have fourteen Apothecary shops in Boston. All our Practitioners dispense their own medicines.... In general the physical practise in our colonies is so perniciously bad that excepting in surgery and in some very acute cases, it is better to let nature under a proper regimen take her course than to trust to the honesty and sagacity of the practitioner. Our American practitioners are so rash and officious that the saying in Ecclesiasticus may with much propriety be applied to them, 'He that sinneth before his Maker let him fall into the hands of the physician.'"[68]

[68] 4 Mass. Hist. Colls., II, 164.

Governor John Winthrop was versed in medicine and his son, John, Jr., and his grandson Wait Winthrop, both were proficient in the profession. With Winthrop came Richard Palgrave and William Gager, both physicians, and two years later arrived Giles Firman, Jr., whose father was "a godly man, an apothecary of Sudbury in England." Giles, Jr., studied at the University of Cambridge and later settled at Ipswich, Mass., where he practiced medicine, but found it "a meene helpe" and later studied theology and eventually was ordained rector of Shalford, co. Essex, England.

Toward the end of the century there were two physicians practicing in Boston, Dr. Thomas Oakes and Dr. Benjamin Bullivant, of whom Dunton, the London bookseller gossiped in his "Letters Written from New England."[69]

[69] _Prince Society Publications_, IV, Boston, 1867.

Of Oakes he wrote that--

"His wise and safe Prescriptions have expell'd more Diseases and rescu'd Languishing Patients from the Jaws of Death, than Mountebanks and Quack-Salvers have sent to those dark Regions."

Concerning Dr. Bullivant he commented that--

"His Skill in Pharmacy was such, as rendered him the most compleat Pharmacopean, not only in all Boston, but in all New England ... to the Poor he always prescribes cheap, but wholesome Medicines, not curing them of a Consumption in their Bodies, and sending it into their Purses; nor yet directing them to the East Indies to look for Drugs, when they may have far better out of their Gardens."

Doctor John Clarke, said to have been a younger son of a good family in the north of England, with a collegiate education, and late of London, was granted a four-hundred acre farm in the town of Newbury, in January, 1638, and September 28th, following, the town also granted that

"Mr. Clarke in respect of his calling should be freed and exempted from all public rates either for the country or the towne so long as he shall remayne with us and exercise his calling among us."

He exercised his calling in Newbury until 1647, when he removed to Ipswich and two or three years later settled in Boston where he died in 1664. Soon after removing to Boston he invented a stove "for the saving of firewood & warming of howses," which the Great and General Court confirmed for a term of three years. Nothing further is known of this invention and the fireplace persisted until recent times.

When Doctor Clark removed from Newbury he was followed by Dr. William Snelling who seems to have been a merry fellow in times of drinking healths. On an occasion during the winter of 1651 he drank to his friends in the following toast,--

"I'll pledge my friends, And for my foes, A plague for their heels And a pox for their toes,"

which e'er long led to sorrowful acknowledgment of his weakness before the Quarterly Court at Salem, and a fine of ten shillings for cursing. This doubtless helped sustain the dignity of the Court and strengthened virtue among the good men of the town of Newbury at times when ribald mirth prevailed.

Dr. John Perkins who practised in Boston during the first half of the eighteenth century, is said to have gone to London for two year's study but his medical notebooks show that in his Boston practise he prescribed for scrofula, syrup made of sow bugs drowned in white wine. Castile soap boiled in strong beer he used as a remedy for a "heavy load at the Stomac." For numb palsy he prescribed "a bath of absinthe in _urina hominis_, used hot," and his cure for a nervous weakness of the eyes was "shaving the head." He noted that "Widow Alcock [died] of a hot bread supper. Jus. Billings did so of eating Brown Bread for breakfast, a Thing he never used before," and Reverend McGee's wife died by eating a supper of roast chickens at 13 days after childbirth and drinking strong beer flip on it. "Wonderful that in learned and elevated situations among ye great, should be such ignorance."

"Samuel Bent, Goldsmith, tender constitution and lax nerves, upon a change of a linnen for a woolen cap to sleep in was affected with a running of Bloody Water from ye nose, which staunched when he wore linnen.

"Nathaniel Parkman's Daughter, scrophulously affected, had a blow on the Head, on which the scrophula immediately left her and Chorea St. Viti succeeded and followed her every Spring till she turned consumptive and died."[70]

[70] Sprague, "Some Aspects of Medicine in Boston" (_Old-Time New England_, Vol. XIII, p. 14.)

Doctor Perkins was quite modern in some of his theories. He entered in his notebook--

"Exercise is good [for pains in the stomach] in young girls and others that use a sedentary life. So Sarah Bergers was cured by learning country dances.

"Wheat, ye Shoemaker, was cured [of hemorrhoids] by taking to ye portering with a wheelbarrow."

Doctor Ball of Northboro had a medicine called, "Receipt for the Scratches. One Quart fishworms, washed clean; one pound hog's lard stewed together, filtered through a strainer and add one-half pint oil of turpentine; one-half pint good brandy. Simmer it well and it is fit for use."[71]

[71] _Ibid._

Obstetrics at that period was also a jolly pastime, as the doctor and his volunteer assistants were regaled by a special brew known as "groaning beer" and by freshly baked "groaning cakes."

In Salem lived Zerobabel Endecott, son of Governor John Endecott, who practiced the healing art and who left behind him a remarkable collection of medical recipes from which we include selections illustrating the practice of the physician in colonial days. His brother John, afterwards Governor of Connecticut, also seems to have had some medical training as appears from a bill preserved in the Massachusetts Archives, where under date of 1668, he charged five shillings for "a Vomit and atendans" on one John Clark, "weak and sike by reason of a scurvy and a dropsy." Doctor Zerobabel died in 1684 and bequeathed to his son John, who also was a physician and who died in England, "al my Instruments and books both of phisicke and chirurgery." The inventory of the estate shows "a case of lances, 2 Rasors, a box of Instruments, 10 bookes in folio, 16 in quarto, a saw with six Instruments for a chirurgion and a chest of bookes & writings."

Other Salem physicians were George Emery who settled in the town in 1636 and sat on the gallows with a rope around his neck, in 1668, for an unnatural crime; Rev. John Fiske, a graduate of Cambridge, who had studied divinity and also physic, and came to Salem in 1637; and Daniel Weld, who was chief surgeon during the Narraganset campaign in King Philip's War; Col. Batholomew Gedney, who left at his death drugs and instruments inventoried at £60; Dr. John Barton, who died of yellow fever; Dr. John Swinnerton, made famous by Hawthorne's romance, and others followed.

William Salmon, in his "Compendium of Physick," published in London in 1671, estimates the necessary qualifications of the seventeenth-century physician as follows: "He that would be an accomplished physician, ought to be furnished with three things, 1. honesty and a good conscience; 2. a substantial, real, and well-grounded understanding through the whole Art of Medicine; 3. with all such Instruments and Necessaries which are ordinarily made use of in the performance of any medical operation," and these instruments are listed as follows:

"The Parascuological Instruments, wherewith medicines are prepared, whether Galenical or Chymical, are chiefly these: A brass Kettle; an Alembick; a Circulatory; a Sieve; a Gourd; a Balneum Mariae; Tongs; a Cauldron; a File; a Hippocras Bag; an Iron Mortar; a Pestle; a Pitcher; a Marble; a glass Mortar and Pestle; a Seperator; a Funnel; a Seirce; a Press; a Tile; a pair of Sheers; Vials; Boxes; Crucibles; Gally-pots; Corks; Spoons; Strainers; Retorts; Receivers; Bags; Spatulas; Weights and Scales; together with a Pair of Goldsmiths Bellows; and convenient Furnaces fitted for any operation.

"The Chyrurgical Instruments with which the Artist ought to be furnished, are chiefly these: A Plaister Box; an Uvula Spoon; a Levatory; a Director; a pair of Forceps; a Spatula Lingua; an Incision Knife; a pair of Scizzors; a Flame; a small Razour; a stitching Quill; three square Needles; with a Case of good Launcets; and a Salvatory; letting all be kept very sharp, clean and bright."

* * * * *

The following medical recipes are copied from a manuscript left by Dr. Zerobabel Endecott of Salem and formerly in the possession of the late Dr. Frederick Lewis Gay of Brookline.

_For y^e Bloudy Flux_

Stone horses Liuers[72] dried in an ouen being heat for houshould bread, made into powder & giuen a spoonfull at a time in milk.

[72] "Fox Lungs for the mending of human lungs hardly able to respire, and Bone of a Stag's Heart" are mentioned in the English Dispensatory (Quincy), London, 1742.

_For a Spraine_

Take stronge bere este & honye, of equall quantyty & boyle them to the Consistanty of honye & so apply it hott to ye place greeued.

_For Extreme Thirst & Vomiting in a Malignant Feauer_

Take salt of wormwood [scruple]i and a spoonfull of the Juce of Lemonds mix them in a spoon & giue it the patient

_For Stone in the Kidnes and Blader Or To Prouent It_

Take wild Carret seeds & boyle in Ale & drinke Dose [dram]ii euery Night.

_An Other_

Take 3 Drops of oyle of Fenill once a day.

_For ye Dropsie Often Prou^d & Espetially Vpon One Man, Other Meanes Vsed By Men of Skill Fayled This Was Affectuall_

Tak good store of Elder roots wash them & make them very Cleane then splitt & steepe them in strong ale wort & Lett them stand together while ye Ale is working then when it is 2 days old drinke of it morning Noone & at night till health be obtained Lett there be as many of ye Roots as Can well be steeped in the Ale The flowers are of the same vse & more powerfull

_An Other_

Take Rie flower make past with water Role it thin and with ye greene Leaues of Sage & a Littl Rosemary fill it as pye bake it very dry beat altogether & take halfe a spoonefull at a time in a wine Cupfull of your beere

_For a Sore Throte[73] or Kings Euell_

[73] _Quinsey._ First bleed, and purge with _Dincassia_, after vomit with _Vinum Antimonii_; rub the tongue with the juyce of Crabfish and Housleek, taking a little inwardly; ... ashes of burnt Crabs, of Swallows, and Tincture of Corals, are excellent in the bastard Quinsey; the ashes of an owl (feathers and all) blown into the throat, opens and breaks the Imposthume wonderfully.--_Compendium of Physick_ (_Salmon_), London, 1671.

Take Guaiacom sliced [oz]iij ye Bark of Guaiacom [oz]i infuse in 6 quarts of fair water on hott ashes 24 hours then boyle it ouer a gentill fire till a third part be wasted then add of Epithimum Pollepodium ana [oz]ii fumitory borrage & buglose Roots flowers of Rosmary Prim Rose Cow slips Violets & sweet fenill seeds of Each [oz]fs boyle it till a quart be wasted then add Sena [oz]iij boyl it a Litle & straine it & Clarifie it with whits of Eggs sweeten it with Sugar

Giue 2 or 3 spoonfulls euery morning to a child more to a groune Person; enough to give 2 or 3 Lous stooles in a daye for 8 days together this aLone haue Cured the Kings Euill

_For Paine in ye Eare_[74]

[74] _Deafness and Slow Hearing._ The juyce of Radishes, fat of a mole, eele, or Serpent, juyce of an Onyon soaked in Sperrit of Wine and roasted, essences of a mans or Bullocks gall, are all very excellent. In difficulty of hearing, distilled Boyes Urine is good; but better is the Oyl of Carawayes.--_Compendium of Physick_ (_Salmon_), London, 1671.

Take a mithredate & put it in into the eare with a Litle wooll & Keep it warme

_For a Cough_[75]

[75] _Cup Moss._ This with some other Mosses of like kind, have been mightily in vogue amongst the good Women for their Children's Coughs; but they have not obtained in official nor extemporaneous Prescriptions. They are said to be infallible in that which is commonly called the _Chin-Cough_.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

Take eggs boyle them till they bee hard hold them in your hand one at a time as hott as you Can suffer it & with ye heat & strength of your hand press out the oyle, take a quantity of this oyle & a Little powder of Alloes & fine Sugar make it into a surrup take a Litle of this surrup as often as need Require this is Comended by G: as if non Could Equall it

_A Balsam or Liquer That Will Heal Sores as For New in Man or Beast_

Tak very strong wort 3 gallons being all ye first of a boushell of good malt then tak of Comfry roots & Elder roots of each 2 handfuls the Leaues of Crud tobacko a handful Lett the Roots be brused & boyled till halfe be wasted Put it into a Vessel & Keep for Vse Put into it 3 li of hony before you take it of the fire, if it be a deepe sore tent it, if an open sore wett a Duble Clout & Lay on the sore Dress it always warme

_For ye Sciatica or Paine in ye Back or Side_[76]

[76] Burning "Spunck," an excrescence growing out of black birch, in two or three places on the thigh of a patient, helps sciatica.--_New England's Rarities_ (_Josselyn_), London, 1672.

Tak Fetherfew & steepe it in beer & drink first at morning & Last at night

_A Powder for ye Dissines of ye Head Falling Sicknes[77] & Hart Qualms That Haue Bin Oft Vsed_

[77] _Falling-Sickness._ In Children. Ashes of the dung of black Cow [dram]i. given to a new born Infant, doth not only preserve from the Epilepsia, but also cure it. In those of ripe Age. The livers of 40 water-Frogs brought into a powder, and given at five times (in Spirit of Rosemary or Lavender) morning and evening, will cure, the sick not eating nor drinking two hours before nor after it.--_Compendium of Physick_ (_Salmon_), London, 1671.

_Peacock's Dung_ is reckoned a specific in _Epilepsias_, and its use is commended in _Vertigo_.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

Whit amber [dram]ii Diarrhodian [dram]ii Seeds of Peony [scruple]ii miselto [dram]i the fillings of a Deadmans skull [scruple]i[78] mak all into a very fine Powder & tak of it as much as will Ly on a shilling 2 or 3 nights together befor the new & befor the full moon take it in Saxony or bettony water

[78] _Salt of Mans Skull._ The skull of a dead man, calcine it, and extract the Salts as that of Tartar. It is a real cure for the Falling-Sickness, Vertigo, Lethargy, Numbness, and all capital diseases, in which it is a wonderful prevalent.--_Compendium of Physick_ (_Salmon_), London, 1671.

It is to be feared that this has obtained a place in medicine, more from a whimsical Philosophy, than any other account.... _A dead Man's Hand._ This is supposed, from some superstitious Conceits amongst Common People, to be of great Efficacy in dispersing _scrophulous Tumours_. The part, forsooth, is to be rubbed with the dead Hand for some time. And Report furnishes us with many Instances of Cures done hereby; some of which may not improbably be true, both as the Imagination in the Patient contributes much to such Efficacies, and because the Sensation which stroaking in that manner gives, is somewhat surprizing, and occasions a shuddering Chilness upon the Part touched; which may in many cases put the Fibres in such Contractions, as to loosen, shake off, and dislodge the obstructed matter; in which consists the Cure.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

_Mummy._ This is the Flesh of Carcases which have been embalm'd. But altho it yet retains a place in medicinal catalogues, it is quite out of vse in Prescription.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

_For Rumatick Paines & To Coole Ye Liuer_

Tak the Conserue of the frut of Sweet brier as much as a good nutmage morning & Evening

_For Vometing & Looseness in Men Women & Children_

Take an Egg break a Little hole in one end of it & put owt ye white then put in about 1/2 spoonfull of baye salt then fill vp the egg with strong Rom or spirits of wine & sett it in hott ashes & Lett it boyle till ye egg be dry then take it & eat it fasting & fast an hour after it or drink a Litle distilled waters of mint & fenill which waters mixed together & drank will help in most ordinary Cases

_For a Person That is Distrated If It Be A Woman_[79]

[79] _Goose-Dung._ The Excrements of most Birds are accounted hot, nitrous, and penetrating; for this reason they pass for inciders and Detergents, and are particularly reckon'd good in Distempers of the Head; but they are now almost quite laid aside in Practice. _Elk's Hoof_ is also esteemed of mighty Efficacy in Distempers of the Head. Naturalists tell us that the Creature itself first gave to Mankind a Hint of its Medicinal Virtues; for they say, whenever it ails anything in the Head, it lies in such a Posture as to keep one of the tips of a Hoof in its Ear; which after some time effects a Cure. But this I leave to be credited by those of more faith than myself.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

_An Hysteric Emulsion._ Take Assafoetida 2 drams, dissolve cold in a mortar with a pound and half of Black-Cherry-water, and strain for Vse. This is tolerable, for its stinking Scent, but to few; yet where it can be got down, it is very prevalent in checking the inordinate Orgasm of the Spirits, and preventing those Convulsions and Frenzies of Mind which arise therefrom; it may be drank in the quantity of 2 ounces, according to the Urgency of the Symptoms.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

Tak milk of a Nurce that giues suck to a male Child & also take a hee Catt & Cut of one of his Ears or a peece of it & Lett it blede into the milk & then Lett the sick woman Drink it doe this three Times

_For a Bruse In Any Part Of The Body_

Take of honey a Spoonfull & yest or barme or the emptings of strong beer twice as much warm them & mix them together & apply it to the place greeued admireable effects haue bin wroght by this means it hath seldom fayled in Casses very Difficult in any part of ye boddy though ye bones haue semed to be brused though it hath ben in head & in broken bones it easeth paine & vnites the bones sodainly

_For Ye [J]andis_[80]

[80] _Hog-Lice Wine. Take Hog-Lice_ (i.e. Wood lice or Sow bugs), half a pound, put them alive into two pound of White Port Wine, and after some Days Infusion strain and press out very hard, then put in Saffron, 2 drams, Salt of Steel, a dram, and Salt of Amber, 2 scruples, and ater 3 or 4 Days strain and filter for Use. This is an admirable Medecine against the Jaundice, Dropsy, or any cachectic Habit.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

Take ye Juce of Planten and Camomell 3 or 4 spoonfuls in warme Posset ale morning & Euening it helps in few days

Mir Turmarik & safron made into fine powder & drank twice or 3 times a day in Possett ale is Excelent good Dose [scruple]i or Lett the sik Person drink their own Vrin twice a day or ye Volatile fat of Vrin [ ] morning & Euening in Posset ale

_To Eas Paines in Feauers_[81]

[81] _Plaister of Spinders._ Venice Turpentine [dram]iii, melt it; then adde live Spiders No. XXX mix them with a Pestle till the Turpentine be of an Ash colour, and the Spiders appear not; then heat it, and adde of small Spiders No. XL. Stir them again, adding powder of Asphaltum, and white Sal Armoniack, [dram]iii. grinde them till the matter be cold and very black; keep it 14 dayes, then soften it at the fire, and with your hands dipt in oyl, make it up. Make Plaisters thereof, and cover them with leaf-silver or gold, and lay them to the pulses of both wrists an hour before the fit of a Feaver or Ague comes, leave them on nine days, then at the same hour cast them into running water; by this means the Pliaster cures all Feavers or Agues.--_Compendium of Physick_ (_Salmon_), London, 1671.

_Herring in Pickle_ is often prescribed in a Cataplasm to the Feet in Feavers; because it is reckoned to draw the Humours downward and thereby relieve the Head.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

Tak Cardamoms or Graines of Paradice [dram]i Nutmegs [dram]ss Safron [scruple]ij Sugar [dram]ii mak it to fine Pouder & giue at any time as much as will Ly on a shilling at a time my pill is better if the boddy be Loos

_For Ye Colik or Flux in Ye Belly_[82]

[82] _Flux of the Belly. Burnt Harts' Horn_ is reckoned a Sweetner and is much used in Decoction against Diarrhoeas; and Fluxes of the Belly. _Shavings of Hartshorn_ is much more in esteem amongst _Family Doctresses_, than in the shops; but what most gives it a Title to this Place, is that _Jelly_ which it is easily boiled into in common water, and is accounted very nourishing and strengthening. _Shavings of Ivory_ is much of the same nature as the former, and boils in the same manner into a _Jelly_.

_Goat's Blood._ This is in a few Compositions under the same Intention as the former; but it is not at all known in common Prescription; and is deservedly almost forgot.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

1 the powder of Wolues guts 2 the powder of Bores Stones 3 oyle of Wormwood a drop or 2 into the Nauell 4 3 drops of oyle of Fenill & 2 drops of oyle of mints in Conserue of Roses or Conserue of single mallows, if ye Paine be extream Vse it a gaine, & if need Require aply somthing hott to the belly

_For Sharpe & Dificult Trauel in Women with Child By J C_

Take a Lock of Vergins haire on any Part of ye head, of half the Age of ye Woman in trauill Cut it very smale to fine Pouder then take 12 Ants Eggs dried in an ouen after ye bread is drawne or other wise make them dry & make them to pouder with the haire, giue this with a quarter of a pint of Red Cows milk or for want of it giue it in strong ale wort[83]

[83] Beaver's cods are much used for wind in the stomach and belly, particularly of pregnant women.--_New England's Rarities_ (_Josselyn_), London, 1672.

_A Wonderfull Balsam For Fistulos & Vlsers_

Take Borax [dram]ij put it into a strong stone botle of 2 quarts; stop it Close with a good Corke & then Couer it with sealing wax very Close & sett it into the bottom of a well or Cold Spring the Space of three yeeres then take it out [when it will] al be turned to a balsam whare with you may dress Sores

_To Stench Bleeding[84] in a Wound_

[84] _Bleeding at Nose._ If the flux be violent, open a vein on the same side, and cause the sick to smell to a dried Toad, or Spiders tyed up in a ragg; ... the fumes of Horns and Hair is very good, and the powder of Toads to be blowed up the Nose; ... in extremity, put teats made of Swines-dung up the nostrils.--_Compendium of Physick_ (_Salmon_), London, 1671.

_Cow's Dung._ This seems to be of a hot penetrating Nature; and is experienc'd to do good in Erysipelous Swellings. This Cataplasm is also highly commended by some in the _Gout_. _Pigeon's Dung_ is sometimes ordered in Cataplasms, to be applied to the soles of the Feet in malignant Fevers and Deliriums. _Hog's Dung._ Is also used by the Country People to stop Bleeding at the Nose; by being externally applied cold to the Nostrils.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

Take a peec of Salt Beef & Rost it in the hott Ashes then make it Cleane & put it into the wound & the blood will stop imediatly

_For To Make a Man Vomit Presently That Is Sick at His Stomack_

Take white Copperes [dram]i in powder in a Litle Beere or Water & it will Cause one to vomit presently

_For Ye Plurisie_[85]

[85] _Pleurisy. Stone-Horse Dung_, seems to owe its present Credit in medicine to the modern Practice. It is certainly of great Efficacy in _Pleurisies_, _Inflammations_, and _Obstructions_ of the _Breast_. In all these Intentions it is now very much prescribed.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

Take the Leaues of wild mallows & boyl them in Oyle & being taken out bray them in a morter & put them into a peece of Lining Cloth & applie it to the greue and presently it will Cause the paine to Cease Don Alexis

_For the Plurisies_

Take an Apple that is of a Sweete sente & taste in it a hole taking out the Core so that the hole goeth not thorow & put into the hole 3 or 4 graines of Frankincense of the male Kind Otherwise Called olibanum then Couer againe the saide hole with the Little Pece of Apple that you tooke of first & rost it apon the Embers so that it burne not but that it may waxe tender then take it from the fire and breake it into fower parts with all the frankencense in it & so giue the patient it to eate it will by & by make the Impostume to break & heale him

_For the Shingles_

Take howse leeke Catts blod[86] and Creame mixed together & oynt the place warme or take the moss that groweth in a well & Catts blod mixed & so aply it warme to the plase whare the shingles be

[86] _Goat's Blood_ is mentioned in the English Dispensatory of 1742 as "deservedly almost forgot."

_For the Goute_[87]

[87] _Quintessence of Vipers._ Fat Snakes, Adders or Vipers in June, cast away their heads, bowels and gall, cut them into bits, and dry them in a warm Balneo; then put them into a bolt head with Alcohol of Wine, so much as may overtop them eight fingers breadth; seal the glass Hermetically, and digest for twenty days in Balneo, then decant, etc., etc.

This quintessence is of wonderfull virtue for purifying the blood, flesh and skin, and taking away all diseases therein; it cures the falling-sickness, strengthens the brain, sight and hearing, preserveth from gray hairs, and renovates the whole body, making it become youthful and pleasant; it hindereth miscarriage, provokes sweat, is good against the Plague, and all malign Feavers; it cureth the Gout, Consumption, and French Pox, and ought to be esteemed of the Sons of Men as a Jewel. Dose [dram]i. morning and night.--_Compendium of Physick_ (_Salmon_), London, 1671.

Take any number of Vipers, open and cleanse them from all Worms and Excrements, and the Females from their Eggs: Take out their Hearts and Livers; dry them in the shade separately from their Bodies, etc., etc.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

Take Ligmamuita [oz]xvi Sarssaparilla [oz]viii fennel Seeds [oz]vi Boyle them in 2 Gallonds of water in a Pott Close Stopped till halfe be Consumed then put it vp in a glasse Botle well Stopped & Every morning take Sumthing Less than a gill & so in the Euening

Then take those Jngredients & Boyle it ouer againe in 2 or 3 Gallonds of water more & So Keepe it for your Continiall Drinking at any time During the time of your Jllnes Proued Very Affectial apon a man at Dunkerck

_Oyl of Roses_[88]

[88] _Paracelsus His Perfume._ Cow-dung, and distill it in Balneo, and the water thereof will have the smell of Ambergrease. It is a most excellent Perfume, abates the Heat of Feavers, and cures all inward inflammations. Dose [dram]i.--_Compendium of Physick_ (_Salmon_), London, 1671.

Take Roses and Jnfuse them in good olliue oyle in a glasse in the heat of the sun for sartaine Days while the oyl smeles like Roses; oyl of Hipericon is made after the same manner

_For a Fractur of the Scull_

After the Scull is Layed open + and the Bones taken out By a Leuetur or Cut By a trapan then fitt a pece of Parchment of the same Bignes that the fractur is and oynt it with mell Rosarie or huny of Roses and also the Edges of ye Bone & so put it in gently on apon the Dura mater that Ciuers the Braines and apon that a good Plegen of tow & a good bolster on that & so Continue that dressing while it is all most well & the bone hes Cast of & then finish the Cure with Arseaus his Linement; your parchment must haue a third fastened in the middle

_For Cutts or Sores_

Take the Scine of Salt Beefe & so Laye it to the Cutt or sore

_For To Heale or Dry Vp a Sore_

Take Sallet oyle and Read Lead and boyle it well together and dipe peces of Lining Cloath in it Keep them for use

_For The Ague_

Take the Drye shell of a Turtell beat smale & boyled in water while 2 thirds of the water be consumed & drinke of it 2 or 3 times when the Ague Cometh

_Probatum Easte January the 10 1681_

The Greene Oyntment that m^s Feeld did Vse to make[89]

[89] _Sympathetick Oyntment._ Boars grease, brains of a Boar, powder of washed Earth worms, red Sanders, Mummy, Bloodstone, a. [oz]i, moss of a dead mans Skul not buried [dram]i, make an Oyntment, S.A.

All wounds are cured by this Oyntment, (provided the nerves and arteries be not hurt) thus: Anoint the weapon that made the wound daily once, if there be need, and the wounds be great; otherwise it will be sufficient to annoint it every other day. Where note. 1. that the weapon be kept in clean linnen, and in a temperate heat, lest the Patient be hurt; for if the dust fall, or it be cold, the sick will be much tormented. 2. that if it be a stab, the weapon be anointed towards the point descending. 3. if you want the weapon, take blood from the wound upon a stick, and use as if it were the weapon; thus the Tooth ach is cured by pricking the Gums, and anointing the instrument.--_Compendium of Physick_ (_Salmon_), London, 1671.

_Earth Worms._ These are often used in Compositions for cooling and Cleansing the Viscera. They are good in _Inflammations_ and _Tubercles_ of the Lungs and in Affections of the _Reins_ and Urinary Passages. _Syrup of Snails._ Take Garden-snails early in the morning, while the dew is upon them, a pound; take off their shells, slit them, and with half a pound of fine Sugar put into a Bag hang them in a Cellar, and the Syrup will melt, and drop through, which Keep for Use. This is not kept in the shop, but is worth making for young Children inclining to Hectics and Consumptions. A Syrup of Earth-worms may be made in the same manner for the like Intentions. _Frog's Spawn._ This another Cooler, but it is an insipid Phlegm, and good for nothing more than common Rainwater; and will not Keep long without mothering and stinking.--_English Dispensatory_ (_Quincy_), London, 1742.

Jt Cureth all Spraines and Aches Cramps and Scaldings and Cutts healeth all wounds it doth suple molyfy Ripen & Disolues all Kind of tumors hot and Cold and it will heale olde Rotten Sores and bites of Venemos Beasts itch and mangenes and stench bloud it Easeth Swelling and paines of the head and throate Eyes and Eares Gout and Seattica and all outward Greefes

Take baye Leaues, Wormwood, Sage, Rue, Cammemoyle, mellelote, groundsell, Violets, Plantaine, oake buds or Leaues [ ] Suckbery Pursline, Lettuc, Red colworts, Saint Johns wort, mallows, mullin, Jsop, Sorrell and Comfrye, yarrow, and Dead Nettles, and Mint, mugwort, Rose leaues, gather them all in the heat of the Daye, pick them Cleene but wash them not, Beat them well then take Sheepe Suett three Pound Picke it Cleene and Shrid it Smale Pound them all well together, then take 2 quarts of Sallet oyle then work them all together with your hand till it be a Like then put it in an Earthen Pott and Couer it Close and Lett it Stand 14 Dayes in a Coule Place then Sett it ouer a Softe fire and Lett it Boyle 14 howers Stiring it well then put into it 4 ounces of oyle of Spicke then Straine it through a Corse Cloath & put it into [ ] Pott and Couer it Cloase and Keepe it for your vse

_For Ye Toothe Ache_[90]

[90] _Tooth Ache._ Picking the gums with the bill of an osprey is good for the tooth-ache. Scarifying the gums with a thorn from a dog-fish's back is also a cure.--_New Englands Rarities_ (_Josselyn_), London, 1672.

Take a Litle Pece of opium as big as a great pinnes head & put it into the hollow place of the Akeing Tooth & it will giue preasant Ease, often tryed by me apon many People & neuer fayled

Zerobabel Endecott

* * * * *

Who would know the virtues of the herbs and simples that grew in the gardens of the Massachusetts Bay? Many herbals have been compiled and printed, none more enticing than Nicholas Culpepper's "English Herbals," more truly entitled "The English Physician Enlarged," and first published in 1653. It had an enormous sale. Since that year twenty-one different editions have served their day, the last having been printed at Exeter, N.H., as late as 1824.

Culpepper, the son of a clergyman, was born in London in 1616 and died when only thirty-eight years old. In that short time, however, he gained fame as a writer on astrology and medicine. At first apprenticed to an apothecary, he later set up for himself as a physician and acquired a high reputation among his patients.

In his catalogue of the simples he premises a few words to the reader, viz.: "Let a due time be observed (cases of necessity excepted) in gathering all Simples: for which take these few Rules. All Roots are of most virtue when the Sap is down in them, viz. towards the latter end of the summer, or beginning of the spring, for happily in Winter many of them cannot be found: you may hang up many of them a drying, by drawing a string through them, and so keep them a whole year.

"Herbs are to be gathered when they are fullest of juyce, before they run up to seeds; and if you gather them in a hot sunshine-day, they will not be so subject to putrifie: the best way to dry them, is in the Sun, according to Dr. _Reason_, though not according to Dr. _Tradition_: Such Herbs as remain green all the year, or are very full of juyce, it were a folly to dry at all, but gather them only for present use, as Houseleek, Scurvy-grass, etc.

"Let flowers be gathered when they are in their prime, in a sunshine-day, and dryed in the sun. Let seeds be perfectly ripe before they be gathered.

"Let them be kept in a dry place: for any moysture though it be but a moist ayr, corrupts them, which if perceived in time, the beames of the Sun will refresh them again."

* * * * *

_Ageratum_ dryes the brain, helps the green sickness, and profit such as have a cold or weak Liver: outwardly applyed, it takes away the hardnesse of the matrix, and fills hollow ulcers with flesh.

_Anemone._ The juyce snuffed up the nose purgeth the head, it clenseth filthy ulcers, encreaseth milk in Nurses, and outwardly by oyntments helps Leprosies.

_Asphodel or Daffodil._ I know no physicall use of the roots, probably there is: for I do not believe God created anything of no use.

_Balm_, outwardly mixed with salt and applied to the neck, helps the Kings Evil, biting of mad dogs and such as cannot hold their necks as they should do; inwardly it is an excellent remedy for a cold, cheers the heart, takes away sorrow, and produces mirth.

_Basil_ gives speedy deliverance to women in travail.

_Bedstraw._ Stancheth blood: boyled in oyl is good to annoynt a weary traveller: inwardly it provokes lust.

_Borrage_, cheers the heart and drooping spirits, helps swooning and heart qualms.

_Briony_, both white and black, they purg the flegm and watry humors, but they trouble the stomack much, they are very good for dropsies: the white is most in use, and is admirable good for the fits of the mother; both of them externally used, take away Freckles, Sun-burning, and Morphew from the face, and clense filthy ulcers: It is a churlish purge, and being let alone, can do no harm.

_Buglosse._ Continual eating of it makes the body invincible against the poyson of Serpents, Toads, Spiders, etc. The rich may make the Flowers into a conserve, and the herb into a syrup: the poor may keep it dry: both may keep it as a Jewell.

_Burdoc or Clot-bur_, helps such as spit blood and matter, bruised and mixed with salt and applyed to the place, helps the biting of mad dogs. It expels wind, easeth paines of the teeth, strengthens the back ... being taken inwardly.

_Celondine._ The root is manifestly hot and dry, clensing and scouring, proper for such as have the yellow Jaundice, it opens the obstructions of the liver, being boiled in White Wine, and if chewed in the mouth it helps the tooth-ach.

_Chamomel_ is as gallant a medicine against the stone in the bladder as grows upon the earth. It expels wind, belchings, used in bathes it helps pains in the sides, gripings and gnawings in the belly.

_Chick-weed_ is cold and moist without any binding, aswages swelling and comforts the sinews much, and therfore is good for such as are shrunk up, it helps mangy hands and legs, outwardly applyed in a pultis.

_Cinkfoyl or Five-fingered grass._ The root boyled in vinegar is good against the Shingles, and appeaseth the rage of any fretting sores.

_Colts-foot._ Admirable for coughs. It is often used taken in a Tobacco-pipe, being cut and mixed with a little oyl of annis seeds.

_Columbines_ help sore throats and are of a drying, binding quality.

_Comfry_ is excellent for all wounds both internal and externall, for spitting of blood, Ruptures or Burstness, pains in the Back and helpeth Hemorrhoyds. The way to use them is to boyle them in water and drink the decoction.

_Cottonweed._ Boyled in Ly, it keeps the head from Nits and Lice; being laid among Cloaths, it Keeps them safe from Moths; taken in a Tobacco-pipe it helps Coughs of the Lungues, and vehement headaches.

_Dill._ It breeds milk in Nurses, staies vomiting, easeth hiccoughs, aswageth swellings, provoks urin, helps such as are troubled with the fits of the mother, and digests raw humors.

_Dittany_, brings away dead children, hastens womens travail, the very smell of it drives away venemous beasts; it's an admirable remedy against wounds made with poysoned weapons; it draws out splinters, broken bones, etc.

_Fennel._ Encreaseth milk in Nurses, provokes urine, easeth pains in the Reins, breaks wind, provokes the Terms.

_Fleabane._ Helps the bitings of venemous beasts. It being burnt, the smoke of it kills all Gnats and Fleas in the chamber. It is dangerous for women with child.

_Flower-de-luce_ or _water flag_, binds, strengthens, stops fluxes of the belly, a drachm being taken in red wine every morning.

_Fumitory_ helps such as are itchy and scabbed, helps Rickets, madness, and quartain agues.

_Gentian_, some call Bald-money, is a notable counter-poyson, it opens obstructions, helps the bitings of venemous beasts, and mad dogs, helps digestion, and cleanseth the body of raw humors.

_Golden Rod_ clenseth the Reins, brings away the Gravel; an admirable herb for wounded people to take inwardly, stops Blood, etc.

_Groundsel_ helps the Cholick, and pains and gripings in the belly. I hold it to be a wholsom and harmless purge. Outwardly it easeth womens breasts that are swollen & inflamed, (or as themselves say) have gotten an ague in their breasts.

_Hellebore._ The root of white Hellebore, or sneezwort, being grated & snuffed up the nose, causeth sneezing, Kills Rats and Mice, being mixed with their meat. Doctor Bright commends it for such as are mad through melancholly. If you use it for sneezing, let your head and neck be wrapped hot for fear of catching cold.

_Henbane._ Stupifies the senses and therefore not to be taken inwardly; outwardly applyed to the temple it provokes sleep.

_Hops._ The young sprouts clense the Blood and cleer the skin, helps scabs and itch. They are usually boyled and taken as they eat Sparagus or they may be made into a conserve.

_Horehound_ clenseth the breast and lungs, helps old coughs, easeth hard labour in child-bearing, brings away the after-birth.

_Hysop._ Helps Coughs, shortness of Breath, Wheezing, Kills worms in the body, helps sore throats and noise in the ears.

_Knotgrasse_ helps spitting of blood, stops all fluxes of blood, gonorrhaea or running of Reins, and is an excellent remedy for hogs that will not eat their meat.

_Lavender._ The temples and forehead bathed with the juyce of it, as also the smell of the herb helps swoonings.

_Lavender cotton_ resists poyson, kills worms.

_Lettice._ Cools the inflamation of the stomack commonly called heart-burning, provokes sleep, resists drunkenesse and takes away the ill effects of it, cools the blood, and breeds milk. It is far wholsommer eaten boyled than raw.

_Liverwort_ is excellent for inflamations of the Liver and yellow jaundice.

_Lovage_ cleers the sight, takes away redness and Freckles from the Face.

_Lungwort_ helps infirmities of the lungs, coughs and shortness of breath.

_Mallows._ They are profitable in the stingings of Bees, Wasps, etc. Inwardly they resist poyson and provoke to stool....

_Man Drakes._ Fit for no vulgar use, but only to be used in cooling oyntments.

_Marigolds._ The leaves loosen the belly and the juyce held in the mouth helps the toothach.

_Marshmallowes_ are meanly hot, of a digestion softening nature, ease pains, help bloody fluxes, the stone and gravell; being bruised and well boiled in milk, and the milk drunk is a gallant remedy for the gripings of the belly, and the bloddy flux.

_Mint._ Provokes hunger, is wholesome for the stomack, stays vomiting, helps sore heads in children. Hinders conception and is naught for wounded people, they say by reason of an antipathy between it and Iron.

_Mugwort_, an herb appropriate to the foeminine sex; it brings down the terms, brings away birth and afterbirth, easeth pains in the matrix.

_Mullin._ Stops fluxes and cures hoarsenesse and such as are broken winded; the leaves worn in the shooes provokes the Terms, (especially in such Virgins as never had them) but they must be worn next their feet.

_Nettles._ The juyce stops bleeding; they provoke lust exceedingly; help that troublesome cough that women call Chin-cough. Boyl them in white wine.

_Onions_, are extreamly hurtfull for cholerick people, they breed but little nourishment, and that little is naught; they are bad meat, yet good physick for flegmatick people, they are opening and provoke urine, and the terms, if cold be the cause obstructing; bruised and outwardly applyed they cure the bitings of mad dogs; roasted and applied they help Boils, and Aposthumes; raw they take the fire out of burnings; but ordinarily eaten, they cause headach, spoil the sight, dul the senses and fill the body full of wind.

_Orpine_ for Quinsie in the throat, for which disease it is inferior to none.

_Penyroyal._ Strengthens women's backs, provokes the Terms, staies vomiting, strengthens the brain (yea the very smell of it), breaks wind, and helps the Vertigo.

_Pimpernal_, male and foemale. They are of such drawing quality that they draw thorns and splinters out of the flesh, amend the sight, and clense Ulcers.

_Plantain._ A little bit of the root being eaten, instantly staies pains in the head, even to admirations.

_Purslain._ Cools hot stomacks, admirable for one that hath his teeth on edge by eating sowr apples, helps inward inflamations.

_Reubarb._ It gently purgeth Choller from the stomack & liver, opens stoppings, withstands the Dropsie, and Hypocondriack Melancholly. If your body be any strong you may take two drams of it at a time being sliced thin and steeped all night in white Wine, in the morning strain it out and drink the white Wine.

_Rosemary._ Helps stuffings in the head, helps the memory, expels wind.

_Rue, or Herb of Grace._ Consumes the seed and is an enemy to generation, helps difficulty of breathing. It strengthens the heart exceedingly. There is no better herb than this in Pestilential times.

_Sage._ It staies abortion, it causeth fruitfullness, it is singular good for the brain, helps stitches and pains in the sides.

_St. Johns Wort._ It is as gallant a wound-herb as any is, either given inwardly or outwardly applied to the wound. It helps the Falling sickness. Palsie, Cramps and Aches in the joynts.

_Savory._ Winter savory and summer savory both expell wind gallantly, and that (they say) is the reason why they are boyled with Pease and Beans and other such windy things; 'tis a good fashion and pitty it should be left.

_Senna._ It cheers the sences, opens obstructions, takes away dulness of the sight, preserves youth, helps deafness (if purging will help it), resists resolution of the Nerves, scabs, itch and falling sickness. The windiness of it is corrected with a little Ginger.

_Solomon's Seal._ Stamped and boyled in Wine it speedily helps (being drunk, I mean, for it will not do the deed by looking upon it) all broken bones, it is of an incredible virtue that way; it quickly takes away the black and blew marks of blows, being bruised and applyed to the place.

_Sorrel_ cutteth tough humors, cools the brain, liver and stomack, and provokes apetite.

_Southern-wood or Boy's love_, is hot and dry in the third degree, resists poyson, kills worms, provokes lust; outwardly in plaisters it dissolves cold swellings, makes hair grow; take not above half a drachm at a time in powder.

_Spinage._ I never read any physicall virtues of it.

_Spleenwort_ is excellent good for melancholy people, helps the stranguary and breaks the Stone in the bladder. Boyl it and drink the decoction; but because a little boyling will carry away the strength of it in vapours, let it boyl but very little, and let it stand close stopped till it be cold before you strain it out; this is the generall rule for all Simples of this nature.

_Spurge._ Better let alone that taken inwardly; hair anoynted with the juyce of it will fall off: it kills fish, being mixed with anything they will eat, outwardly it takes away Freckles and sunburning.

_Sweet-Majorum_ is an excellent remedy for cold diseases in the brain, being only smelled to; it helps such as are given to much sighing, and easeth pains in the belly....

_Tansie._ The very smell of it staies abortion or miscarriages in women. The root eaten, is a singular remedy for the Gout; the rich may bestow the cost to preserve it.

_Toad-flax_ clenses the Reins and Bladder, outwardly it takes away yellowness and deformity of the skin.

_Toads-stools._ Whether these be roots or not it matters not much; for my part I know little need of them, either in food or Physick.

_Tyme._ Helps coughs and shortness of breath, brings away dead children and the after birth, helps Sciatica, repels wind in any part of the Body, resisteth fearfullness and melancholy.

_Valerian_, white and red, comforts the heart and stirs up lust.

_Vervain._ A great clenser. Made into an oyntment it is a soveraign remedy for old headache. It clears the skin and causeth a lovely color.

_Wake-Robins_ or _Cuckow-pints_. I know no great good they doe inwardly taken, unlesse to play the rogue withall, or make sport; outwardly applyed they take off Scurf, Morphew, or Freckles from the face, cleer the skin, and cease the pain of the Gout.

_Water-Lilies._ The roots stop lust. I never dived so deep to find any other virtue.

_Wood Bettony_ helps the falling sickness, and all headaches comming of cold, procures apetite, helps sour belchings, helps cramps and convulsions, helps the Gout, Kills worms, helps bruises, and cleanseth women after their labor.

_Wormwood_ helps weakness of the stomack, clenses choller, kills worms, helps surfets, cleers the sight, clenses the Blood, and secures cloaths from moths.

_Yarrow._ An healing herb for wounds. Some say the juice snuffed up the nose, causeth it to bleed, whence it was called Nose-bleed.

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