In the province of Moray, Scotland, “In hectic fevers and consumptive diseases they pare the nails of the fingers and toes of the patient, put these in a bag made of a rag from his clothes, ... then wave their hand with the rag thrice round his head, crying ‘Deas Soil,’ after which they bury the rag in some unknown place.” Pliny, in his Natural History, mentions it as practised by the magicians or Druids of his time.—(Brand, “Pop. Ant.,” vol. iii. p. 286, art. “Physical Charms.”)
SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED WITH THE HUMAN SALIVA.
The most recent work on this subject is the extended monograph of Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, now in press, and to the pages of which the author of this volume has contributed his own collection of data.
Reference may also be had, with advantage, to Brand’s Popular Antiquities, Reginald Scot’s “Discoverie of Witchcraft,” Black’s “Folk-Medicine,” Samuel Augustus Flemming’s “De Remediis ex Corpore Humano desumtis,” Lenormant’s “La Magie chez les Chaldéens,” and to the works of Pliny, Galen, “Saxon Leechdoms,” Levinus Lemnius, Beckherius, Etmuller, and many others.
John Graham Dalyell, “Superstitions of Scotland,” Edinburgh, 1834, has a chapter on the occult influences attributed to human saliva. When the Khonds of Orissa were about to sacrifice a human victim, they were wont to solicit the favor of having him spit in their faces; “sollicitent un crachat qu’ils s’étendront soigneusement.”—(“Les Primitifs,” Réclus, p. 368.)
In the ritual of the Hill Tribes of the Nilgherris, it is related:—
(Quoted in “Les Primitifs,” p. 244.)
Frommann, in his “Tractatus de Fascinatione,” Nuremburg, 1675, speaks of the anointing of eyes with saliva, to cure blindness; this he compares to the use made by our Saviour of the same (p. 196).
“The Kirghis tribes apply to their sorcerers, or Baksy, to chase away demons, and thus to cure the diseases they are supposed to produce. To this end they whip the invalid until the blood comes, and then spit in his face.”—(“Chaldean Magic,” François Lenormant, London, 1873, p. 212.)
Many interesting practices connected with the human saliva, are given in Lady Wilde’s “Ancient Legends and Superstitions of Ireland,” Boston, 1888. See also “The Golden Bough,” James G. Frazer, M.A., London, 1890, vol. i. pp. 385, 386.
CERUMEN OR EAR-WAX.
Pliny speaks of its use in medicine (lib. xxviii. cap. 7); Galen does also. Flemming recommended its internal use in colic and cramps; and externally as an application to wounds.—(“De Remediis,” etc., p. 22.)
Paullini was of the opinion that a good salve for sore eyes could be prepared from cerumen (pp. 42, 43).
“The excrement of the ears, like unto a yellow oyntment, is a great comfort in the pricking of the sinews.”—(Von Helmont, “Oritrika,” English translation, London, 1662, p. 247.)
Galen thought that ear-wax was efficacious in the cure of whit-nails; the other “sordes” were also employed, but he would not write about them, on account of the difficulty of obtaining them,—such as the perspiration flowing in the bath, or scraped from the body after severe exercise; and, finally, the fatty matter of wool was of medicinal value, and seemed to have the same properties as butter.—(Galen, “Opera Omnia,” lib. xii. p. 309, Kuhn’s edition, Leipzig, 1829.)
WOMAN’S MILK.
Woman’s milk mitigated redness of eyes and inflammation of the lachrymal glands; it should be used with vitriol. For “gutta serena” it was applied as an ointment; in cases of atrophy it was regarded by many as of commendable utility, especially if drawn from the woman’s breast; the same treatment was a specific in obstinate hiccough.
A butter prepared from woman’s milk was used in diseases of children, especially colic, and in ocular affections. (See Flemming, “De Remediis,” etc., p. 18.) Its remedial efficacy forms the basis of Pliny’s c. 21, lib. xxviii.; if possible, it should be that of a woman who had just borne male twins. “If a person is rubbed at the same time with the milk of both mother and daughter, he will be proof for all the rest of his life against all affections of the eyes.... Mixed with the urine of a youth who has not yet arrived at puberty, it removes ringing in the ears.”—(Idem.)
“Matricis vulneribus confert ... lac mulieris.”—(Avicenna, vol. i. p. 337, a 36.)
The Empress of China took the milk of sixty wet nurses to keep herself alive, according to Mr. Frank G. Carpenter.
Woman’s milk is still used in the rude trephining of the African Kabyles as a dressing.—(See “Prehistoric Trephining,” by Dr. Robert Fletcher, in vol. v. “Contributions to North American Ethnology,” Washington, D. C., 1882.)
HUMAN SWEAT.
Human perspiration was believed to be valuable not only as a means of prognosis in some diseases, but its appearance was dreaded in others. If the perspiration of a fever-stricken patient was mixed with dough, baked into bread, and given to a dog, the dog would catch the fever, and the man recover. It was efficacious in driving away scrofulous wens, and in rendering philters abortive. It was narrated that if a man, who under the influence of a philter, was forced to love a girl against his will, would put on a pair of new shoes, and wear them out by walking in them, and then drink wine out of the right shoe, where it could mingle with the perspiration already there, he would promptly be cured of his love, and hate take its place.
This corresponds closely to the urine case already noted; and it is proper to repeat Flemming’s own words on the matter: “Narrant quod, si quis philtro fascinatus era fuerit, ad amandam præter voluntatem virginem, ut is noves induat calces, miliareque unum obambulando conficiat, quo sudor animadvertatur postque vinum e calceo dextri pedis sudore madido, hauriat, sic ab illicito amore liberari amoremque in odium converti dicunt.”—(“De Remediis,” p. 19.)
See Etmuller, who used it in scrofula, lib. ii. p. 265; Pliny, lib. 28; Galen and Avicenna (sweat of gladiators), vol. i. p. 398, a 17, and elsewhere.
SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED WITH THE CATAMENIAL FLUID.
For the opinions entertained by the ancients regarding its occult powers, read Pliny (Bohn’s edition), lib. xxviii. cap. 23, and again lib. viii. cap. 13. “On the approach of a woman in this state, must will become sour, seeds which are touched by her become sterile, grafts wither away, garden-plants are parched up, and the fruit will fall from the tree beneath which she sits; ... a swarm of bees if looked upon by her will die immediately, brass and iron will immediately become rusty.... Dogs tasting the catamenial fluid will go mad.... In addition to this, the bitumen which is found at certain periods of the year floating on the Lake of Judea, known as Asphaltites,—a substance which is peculiarly tenacious, and adheres to everything it touches,—can only be divided into separate pieces by a thread which has been dipped into this virulent matter.” (Lib. vii. cap. 13, and again lib. xxviii. cap. 23.) In a footnote it is stated that both Josephus (“Bell. Jud.,” lib. iv. cap. 9) and Tacitus (lib. v. cap. 6) give an account of this supposed action of this fluid on the bitumen of Lake Asphaltites. “Hail-storms, they say, whirl-winds, and lightning even, will be scared away by a woman uncovering her body merely, even though menstruating at the time.” (Lib. xxviii. cap. 23.) Menstruating women, in Cappadocia, perambulated the fields of grain to preserve them from worms and caterpillars. (Idem.) “Young vines, too, it is said, are injured irremediably by the touch of a woman in this state; and both rue and ivy plants, possessed of highly medicinal virtues, will die instantly upon being touched by her.... The edge of a razor will become blunted on coming in contact with her.”—(Idem.)
“All plants will turn pale upon the approach of a woman who has the menstrual discharge upon her.” (Pliny, lib. xix. cap. 57.) The same opinion prevailed in France down to our own times. (Idem, footnote.)
“Expiations were made with the menstrual discharge, ... not only by midwives, but even by harlots as well” (lib. xxviii. cap. 20).
Frommann cites Aristotle and Pliny in reference to the maleficent effects of the menses and of the uncanniness of a menstruating woman. Aristotle said her glance took the polish out of a mirror, and the next person looking into it would be bewitched. Frommann quotes a man who said he saw a tree in Goa which had withered because a catamenial napkin had been hung in it.—(“Tractatus de Fascinatione,” Nuremburg, 1675, pp. 17, 18.)
“Stains upon a garment made with the catamenial fluid can only be removed by the agency of the urine of the same female.”—(Pliny, lib. xxviii. cap. 24.)
“An Australian black fellow who discovered that his wife had lain on his blanket at her menstrual period, killed her, and died of terror himself within a fortnight. Hence Australian women at these times are forbidden under pain of death to touch anything that men use.” (“The Golden Bough,” Frazer, vol. i. p. 170. He supplies other examples from the Eskimo and the Indians of North America. “Tinneh,” etc., p. 170.) In the following example we are not certain that the young women selected were undergoing purgation, but there is some reason for believing that such was the case, especially in view of the general dissemination of the ideas connected with the catamenia. “In a district of Transylvania, when the ground is parched with drought, some girls strip themselves naked, and, led by an older woman, who is also naked, they steal a harrow and carry it across the field to a brook, where they set it afloat. Next they sit on the harrow, and keep a tiny flame burning on each corner of it for an hour; then they leave the harrow and go home. A similar rain-charm is resorted to in India; naked women drag a plough across the field by night.”—(“The Golden Bough,” Frazer, vol. i. p. 17.)
For all bites of centipedes the people of Angola, Portuguese and negroes, apply the catamenial fluid. This remedy is implicitly believed in by all concerned.—(Rev. Mr. Chatelain, missionary to Angola, Africa.)
For the Inuit, see “Les Primitifs,” Réclus, Paris, 1885.
The dread felt by the American Indians on this subject is too well known to need much attention in these pages; it corresponds in every respect to the particulars recited by Pliny. Squaws, at the time of menstrual purgation, are obliged to seclude themselves; in most tribes they are compelled to occupy isolated lodges; and in all are forbidden to prepare food for any one but themselves.
It is believed that were a menstruating woman to step astride of a rifle or a bow or a lance, the weapon would have no further utility. Medicine-men are in the habit of making a saving clause, whenever they proceed to make “medicine;” this is to the effect that the “medicine” will be all right provided no woman in this peculiar condition be allowed to approach the tent or lodge of the officiating charlatan.
Among the Navajoes of Arizona it is customary for the women to wear a strip of sheep-skin, called a “chogan;” when the necessity for its use has disappeared, the woman goes outside of the village and conceals it in the forks of one of the cedar or juniper trees so numerous in the mountains. The author once found one of these; but the people with him were impressed with the idea that no good would come from being near it. At another time he knew of a young boy who had been hit by a “chogan” which had been dislodged by a wind-storm. He was almost frantic with terror, and devoted three or four days to singing and to washing in a “sweat-bath.”
The Ostiaks of Siberia would seem to have the same ideas on this subject as the Apaches and Navajoes have.—(See Pallas, “Voyages,” vol. iv. p. 95.)
Danielus Beckherius informs his readers that menstrual blood was used in medicine (pp. 23 et seq.); philters were prepared from it (idem, p. 341). “Zenith juvencarum sc. sanguines menstruum” were given for epilepsy,—that is, the first menses of a girl (idem, p. 42). The lint of the napkin itself was thus given also (idem),—“litura pannorum menstruorum datur patienti sanari morbum comitialium.” The first napkin used by a healthy virgin was preserved for use in cases of plague, malignant carbuncles, etc., dampened with water and laid on the part affected; also used in erysipelas (idem, p. 43, “Med. Microcosmus”). Dried catamenia were given internally for calculi, epilepsy, etc., and externally for podagra; they were also used in treatment of the plague, for carbuncles, aposthumes, being placed thereon with a rag wet with rosewater or oil, into which menstrual fluid had been poured; it was good as a cosmetic to drive away pimples (p. 265).
To restrain an immoderate flow of the menses a napkin was saturated with menstrual blood, and then kept for a certain time in an aperture made in the bark of a cherry-tree. “Ad immodicum menstruorum fluxum cohibendum sunt qui pannum menstruum sanguine imbutum certo tempore cerasi radice in cortice apertæ indunt, incisuramque iterum operiunt.”—(Etmuller, “Op. Omnia;” Schrod. “Dil. Zoöl.,” vol. ii. p. 265.)
Paullini prescribes the “dried catamenia of women” for the cure of kidney diseases (pp. 142, 143), also for ring-worm, felons, menstrual troubles. Frommann gives the same cure for immoderate menses, by placing the napkin in a cherry-tree.—(See “Tract. de Fascinatione,” p. 1006.)
“Excoriationi conferunt ... sanguis menstruus.”—(Avicenna, vol. i. p. 388.)
According to Flemming, menstrual blood was believed to be so powerful that the mere touch of a menstruating woman would render vines and all kinds of fruit-trees sterile (herein he seems to be following Pliny). It was believed to be valuable medicinally in relieving obstructions to the menstrual flow of other women; even the soiled smock of a woman who had menstruated happily was efficacious in assisting another woman whose menses for any cause were retarded. A small portion of the menses, dried and taken internally, mitigated the ailment known as dysmenorrhœa. Flemming states that, while in his time this remedy had been gradually superseded, its use was still kept up among the poor and ignorant, in erysipelas, face-blotches, and as an ingredient in an ointment for podagra or gout.—(“De Remediis,” pp. 16, 17.)
The Laplanders “say that they can stop a vessel in the middle of its course, and that the only remedy against the power of this charm is the sprinkling of female purgations, the odor of which is insupportable to evil spirits.”—(“Regnard’s Journey to Lapland,” in Pinkerton, vol. i. p. 180.)
“To cure a young woman of consumption she was given monthly discharges to drink.”—(“Dutchess County, New York,” 1832, Mr. Joseph Y. Bergen, Jr., Cambridge, Mass.)
Isaiah compareth our justice “panno menstruatæ.”—(Harington, “Ajax,” p. 24.)
“Crines fœminæ menstruosæ, the haires of a menstruous woman are turned into serpents within short space.”—(Scot, “Discoverie,” p. 221.)
“Men have a special objection to see the blood of women at certain times; they say that if they were to see it they would not be able to fight against their enemies and would be killed.” (Mrs. James Smith, “The Roandik Tribes,” p. 5.) Hence, although bleeding is a common Australian cure among men, women are not allowed to be bled. (Angas, vol. i. p. 3.) “This aversion is perhaps the explanation of that seclusion of women at puberty, childbirth, etc., which has assumed different forms in many parts of the world.”—(“Totemism,” Frazer, p. 54, footnote.)
Old women were suspected of using the first menstrual flow of a young girl in love-philters.—(Samuel Augustus Flemming, “De Remediis.”)
“For colic take the scrapings of the nails of a catamenial virgin, mix with water, and take.”—(Sagen-Märchen, Volksaberglauben aus Schwaben, Freiburg, 1861, p. 487.)
There were many curious ideas prevalent in olden times as to the manner in which the basilisk or cockatrice could be engendered. “Si l’on place dans une gourde de verre du sang menstruel, et si l’on fait putréfier celui-ci dans le ventre d’un cheval, il en naît un basilic.”—(“Mélusine,” Paris, January-February, 1890, p. 19.)
Although the Israelites had many notions in common with the American Indians on the subject of the catamenial fluid, and the seclusion of women undergoing purgation, there does not seem to have been any effort made to preserve or to hide the cloths used on such occasions. Thus the Prophet Isaiah (lxiv. 6) says of the idols of the Gentiles that they must be cast aside as the napkins soiled with the menses. “Hoc est disperges ea (de idolis loquitur) sicut immunditionem menstruatæ.”—(Contributed by Doctor Robert Fletcher.)
References to use of the catamenial fluid in witchcraft will be found in Beckherius, quoting Josephus:
“Blessing the Corn-Fields.”)
Menstruating women were excluded from the Jewish synagogues and from the communion table of the early Christian Church: “Menstruatæ mulieres superstitiose exclusæ ab ecclesia.”—(Baronius, “Annales,” Lucca, 1758, tome 3, 266, xi.)
AFTER-BIRTH AND LOCHIÆ.
Both of these were used medicinally; the lochiæ were useful in restraining uterine hemorrhages; after-birth, dried and powdered, deprived love-philters of their power; it was used as an anti-epileptic, to relieve retention of the menses, etc. (See Flemming, “De Remediis,” p. 17.) Secundines were used in the treatment of epilepsy.—(See Etmuller, vol ii. p. 265).
HUMAN SEMEN.
Etmuller knew nothing of the remedial value of human semen beyond the fact that Paracelsus had recommended its use in some cases (vol. ii. p. 272).
Pliny mentions the use of human semen as a medicine (lib. xxviii. c. 10).
The savage Australians have “a last and most disgusting remedy ... deemed infallible in the most extreme cases.... ‘Mulierem ob juventutem firmitatemque corporis lectam sex vel plures viri in locum haud procul a castris remotum deducant. Ibique omnes deinceps in illa libidinem explent. Tum mulier ad pedes surgere jubetur quo facilius id quod maribus excepit effluere possit. Quod in vase collectum ægrotanti ebibendum præbent.’ The aborigines have unbounded faith in this truly horrible dose, and enumerate many, many instances where it has effected marvellous cures. We, however, have known of its having been administered in several cases without the remotest revivifying result. It may be that this fluid is—in fact some savants positively assert that it is so—the very essence of life, as well as containing the germs thereof, and that administering a draught thereof to a patient slowly but surely dying from exhaustion, consequent upon a long fit of illness (the illness itself having died out or been cured) might have the wonderful effect detailed so positively by the natives; but this is a question for physicians to decide.”—(“The Abor. of Victoria and Riverina,” Melbourne, 1889, p. 55, P. Beveridge, received through the kindness of the Royal Soc., Sydney, N. S. Wales, F. B. Kyngdon, Secretary.)
“Impetigine conferunt ... sperma.”—(Avicenna, vol. i. p. 330, a 10.)
For gout Avicenna prescribed “Sanguis menstruus,” “Sperma hominis” (vol. i. p. 330, a 12; idem, a 13); “Sanguis menstruus calidus” (vol. i. p. 388, b 9); also “Stercus caprarum” (vol. i. p. 390, a 13). Consult also what has been said of this secretion under “Love-philters.”
HUMAN BLOOD.
The medicinal employment of human blood is described by Pliny (lib. xxviii. cap. 105).
Beckherius says that human blood was employed in the treatment of epilepsy. Faustina, the wife of the philosophical emperor, Marcus Antoninus, anxious to have a child, drank the warm blood of a dying gladiator, and then shared her husband’s bed, and at once became pregnant, and brought forth the cruel Commodus. Human blood was also used in effecting “sympathetic cures.”—(“Medic. Microcos.” pp. 122, 128.)
But it was essential that the human blood so employed should be pure and undefiled; lovers who wished to increase the affection of their mistresses, were recommended to try an infusion of their own blood into the loved one’s veins. The blood of man and also that of some animals, notably the dog, sheep, etc., were employed in mania, delirium, cancer, etc. The method of transfusion was preferred. Epileptics would sometimes drink a draught of the warm blood caught gushing from the neck of a decapitated criminal; the blood of a man, just decapitated, drunk warm, cured epilepsy and restrained uterine hemorrhage.—(Etmuller, vol. ii. p. 272.)
Grimm alludes to the fact that the blood of innocent maids and boys was used as a remedy for leprosy; that of malefactors, in epilepsy.—(“Teut. Mythol.” vol. iii. p. 1173.)
See the discussion of this matter under the caption of “Human Skulls.” Consult the work “Blood-Covenant,” by Dr. H. C. Trumbull.
In regard to the conduct of the empress Faustina, see “History of the Inquisition,” Henry C. Lea, N. Y. 1889, vol. iii. p. 391.
HUMAN SKIN, FLESH, AND TALLOW.
Girdles of human skin were regarded as efficacious in helping women in labor; Etmuller, in his “Comment. Ludovic.” disapproves of their use, but, in another part of his works, describes how and for what purposes they were to be employed.
“Corium humanum et ex inde paratum cingulum magni est usu in suffocatione uterina arcenda, uti etiam in pellendo fœto mortuo, item in partu difficile” (vol. ii. p. 272).
References to such girdles or belts, called “cingulæ” or “chirothecæ” are to be found in the writings of Samuel Augustus Flemming and others.
Human flesh, of corpses, was administered under the name of “Mummy.” (See Beckherius, “Med. Microcos.” p. 263 et seq.) He enumerates no less than fifty prescriptions for all sorts of ailments. The “mummy” should be from a malefactor, hanged on a gibbet, never buried, and the age should have been between 25 and 40, of good constitution, without organic or other diseases, and gathered in clear weather.
Human flesh occurs in recipes in “The Chyrurgeon’s Closet,” London, 1632, pp. 6, 53.
Andrew Lang refers to the use of “mummy powder” by the physicians of the Court of Charles II.—(“Myth,” etc. vol. i. p. 96.)
Human tallow was employed in medicine, rendered from the skin and other parts. It was regarded as efficacious in eradicating small-pox pustules, while an “oleum Philosophorum” was distilled from it and held in high repute for tumors, catarrhal troubles, affections of the ear, etc.—(Flemming, “De Remediis,” p. 9.)
Human flesh “mumia,” was recommended in the preparation of the best “Paracelsus salve.... Recommended for cure of bruises and against congealed blood.... Most excellent and most approved medicines.”
HUMAN SKULL.—BRAIN.—MOSS GROWING ON HUMAN SKULL.—MOSS GROWING ON STATUE.—LICE.
Democritus thought, in his Memoirs, quoted by Pliny, that “the skull of a malefactor is most efficacious.... While, for the treatment of others, that of one who has been a friend or guest is required.” (Pliny, lib. xxviii. c. 2.) ... “Skull of a man who has been slain,” and “whose body remains unburnt.... Skull of a man who has been hanged.”—(Idem.)
“Xenocrates, who, says Galen, flourished two generations or sixty years before him, writes with an air of confidence on the good effects to be obtained by eating of the human brain, flesh, or liver; by swallowing in drink the burnt or unburnt bones of the head, shin, or fingers of a man, or the blood.”—(“Saxon Leechdoms,” lib. i. p. 18.)
“Against a boring worm ... burn to ashes a man’s head-bone or skull; put it on with a pipe.”—(Idem, vol. ii. p. 127, article “Leech Book.”)
Paracelsus gives the recipe for distilling “The Oyle of the Skull of a Man.... Take the skull of a man that was never buried, and beate it into powder.” (“The Secrets of Physicke,” Theophrastus Paracelsus, Eng. transl. London, 1633, p. 97.) “The dose is three grains against the falling sickness.”—(Idem.)
Schurig notes that the human skull is a remedy for the falling sickness.—(See “Chylologia.”)
The skull of a man was used for diseases of men; that of a woman, for diseases of women.—(See “Rare Secrets in Physicke,” collected by the Comtesse of Kent, London, 1654, p. 3.)
Beckherius prescribed it in cephalic affections, epilepsy, paralysis, apoplexy, vertigo, etc., taken in powder, or raw, simply or in combination.—(“Medicus Microcosmus,” p. 199 et seq.)
But the skull was, preferentially, “Cranii humani nunquam sepulti” (p. 217); or, “Cranii humani violenter mortui” (p. 266). Moss from such a skull was also used medicinally (idem, p. 237). If possible, it should be that of a man who had been executed on a scaffold, “patibula.”
“Powder of a man’s bones, burnt, chiefly of the skull that is found in the earth, given, cureth the epilepsy. The bones of a man cureth a man, the bones of a woman, cureth a woman.” But the patient had to abstain from wine for nine days.—(“The Poor Man’s Physician,” John Moncrief, Edin. 1716, p. 70.)
“Os hominis adustum,” a cure for epilepsy (Avicenna, vol. i. p. 330 a 18); “Mumia” (idem, vol. i. p. 357, a 55); “Ossa hominis in potu data” (idem, vol. i. p. 371, a 6).
Epilepsie. “Take pilles made of the skull of one that is hanged.”—(Reg. Scot. “Discoverie,” p. 175.)
The skulls of ancestors were used as drinking cups by the Tibetans, according to Rubruquis, in Purchas (vol. i. p. 23).
“Among primitive people the head is peculiarly sacred.”—(“The Golden Bough,” Frazer, vol. i. p. 187.)
Dr. Bernard Schaff gives the following formula for the cure of fevers: “Take a human skull from among those not enclosed in tombs, and calcine it in a crucible or in the open fire; administer in doses of from one scruple to half a dram an hour or two before the paroxysm of the fever.” He adds that among the common people the belief prevailed that the skull should be obtained at the early dawn of day, about the time of the winter solstice, and with the ceremonies (sacris) peculiar to that season, that it should be picked up in silence; but for his part he does not believe in such things.
“Recipitur cranium humanum ex ipsis quoque sepulchrorum claustris depromptum (vulgus addit tempore matutino ante Solis ortum sub sacris angeronæ, hoc est, ore tacito, aufferatur, quod tamen, cum aliquam sapere videatur superstitionem, imitari nolui) et vel igne aperto, vel in crucibulo, calcinatur, usquedem colorem acquirat cineritium pulverisatum hocce cranium adhibetur a ℈ i. ad ʒ; i. vel ii. horas ante paroxysmi principio.”—(“Ephem. Phys. Medic.,” Leipzig, 1694, vol. ii. p. 93.)
The skull of a malefactor who had died on the scaffold or wheel, and which had been exposed in the open air long enough to make it perfectly dry and white, was considered a specific in epilepsy, being much superior for that purpose to the skulls obtained from graveyards.
Soldiers thought that if they drank from a human skull before going into battle they would secure immunity from the weapons of the enemy. This belief undoubtedly came into Europe with the Scythians.
“Milites putant, si quis ex cranio humano hauriat potum fore ut sit immunis ab insultis armorum.”—(Etmuller, vol. ii. p. 268, 269.)
Etmuller also shows that these skulls were ground up and administered to epileptic patients, many modes of preparation and administration being given.
Flemming wrote that human skull was considered a potent remedy in all ailments for which practitioners would administer human brain,—that is, in nerve troubles and in epilepsy. Preferably, the skull should be taken from a corpse which had died a violent death,—“Quæ e cadavere violenta morte extincto est desumta.” It was an ingredient in many preparations bearing the high-sounding titles of “majesterium epilepticum,” “specificum cephalicum,” etc. As a powder, ground raw or calcined, it was sometimes administered as a febrifuge and in paralysis.—(“De Remediis,” p. 10.)
Mr. W. W. Rockhill states that the Lamas of Thibet use skulls in their religious ceremonies, but reject those which smell like human urine. “Blood of a dead man’s skull” used to check hemorrhage.—(Pettigrew, “Med. Superst.,” p. 113.)
“There is a divination-bowl,—an uncanny object, made of the inverted cranium of a Buddhist priest.”—(“Tidbits from Tibet,” in the “Evening Star,” Washington, D. C., Nov. 3, 1888, describing the W. W. Rockhill collection in the National Museum.)
Before the coming of the whites the savages of Australia employed human skulls as drinking-vessels,—“human skulls with the sutures stopped up with a resinous gum.”—(“Native Tribes of S. Australia,” Adelaide, 1879, received through the kindness of the Royal Society, Sydney, New South Wales, F. B. Kyngdon, Secretary.)
“The powder of a man’s bones, and particularly that made from a skull found in the earth, was esteemed in Scotland as a cure for epilepsy. As usual, the form runs that the bones of a man will cure a man, and the bones of a woman will cure a woman. Grose notes the merits of the moss found growing upon a human skull, if dried and powdered and taken as snuff, in cases of headache.” (Black, “Folk-Medicine,” p. 96.) He also informs us that the same beliefs and the same remedy obtained in England and Ireland.
“Among the articles which may be regarded more as household furniture ... are the dried human skulls, which are found wrapped in banana-leaves in the habitation of nearly every well-regulated Dyak family. They are hung up on the wall, or depend from the roof. The lower jaw is always wanting, as the Dyak finds it more convenient to decapitate his victim below the occiput, leaving the lower jaw attached to his body.”—(“Head-Hunters of Borneo,” Carl Bock, London, 1881, p. 199.)
The careful manner in which the Mandans preserved the skulls of their dead, as narrated by Catlin, is recalled to mind.
MOSS GROWING ON HUMAN SKULLS.
The medicinal use of the moss growing on the skulls of those who had died violent deaths is mentioned by Von Helmont.—(“Oritrika,” p. 768.)
Etmuller speaks of the usnea, or moss, growing on the skull of a malefactor, which was given in cases of epilepsy (vol. ii. p. 273).
Flemming regarded such moss, if taken from the skull of a malefactor, who had been hanged or broken on the wheel, as of great efficacy in epilepsy, in brain troubles, and as a styptic for hemorrhages (p. 11).
“Such a moss, if dried, powdered, and taken as snuff, will cure the headache.”—(Brand, “Popular Antiquities,” vol. iii. p. 277, article “Physical Charms,” quoting Grose. The same reference is given by Pettigrew, “Medical Superstitions,” p. 86.)
HUMAN BRAIN.
The human brain, dissolved or distilled in spirits of wine, was employed in nerve troubles and as an anti-epileptic.—(Flemming, “De Remediis ex Corpore Humano desumtis,” p. 10.)
LICE.
One might infer that habits of personal cleanliness did not prevail in England two centuries ago, judging from the terms of the following prescription, which seemingly takes as a matter of course that the patient could at any time obtain the insects needed:—
“For the cure of sore eyes ... take two or three lice out of one’s head; put them under the lid.”—(“Rare Secrets in Physicke,” collected by the Comtesse of Kent, London, 1654, p. 75.)
The author of this work knows, from disagreeable personal experience and observation, that the Indians of North America very generally were addicted to the disgusting practice of cleaning each other’s heads and putting all captured prey in their mouths. Such an office was considered a very delicate attention to be paid by a woman to her husband or lover, or from male friend to male friend, while on a campaign. No instance was noted of the use in a medical sense of these troublesome parasites.
MOSS GROWING ON THE HEAD OF A STATUE.
“It is asserted that a plant growing on the head of a statue gathered in the lappet of any one of the garments, and then attached with a red string to the neck, is an instantaneous cure for the headache.” (Pliny, lib. xxiv. c. 106.) This would seem to be germane to the idea of moss growing on the human skull.
WOOL.
“The ancient Romans attributed to wool a degree of religious importance even; and it was in this spirit that they enjoined that the bride should touch the door-posts of her husband’s house with wool.”—(Pliny, lib. xxix. cap. 10.)
In Cumberland, England, a reputed cure for earache is the application of a bit of wool from a black sheep, moistened in cow’s urine. Possibly it is a modified form of this latter notion that is found at Mount Desert, where it is said that the wool must be wet in new milk; while in Vermont, to be efficacious, it is thought that the wool must be gathered from the left side of the neck of a perfectly black sheep. In other localities, negro’s wool is a reputed cure for the same pain.
It seems almost incredible, whatever their origin, that remedies of so offensive a character as many of those above given can still retain a place even in the rudest traditional pharmacopœia; but there seems to be in the uneducated human mind a sort of reverence for or faith in that which is in itself disagreeable or repulsive. This idea apparently rules instead of rational judgment in the selection of many popular remedies in the shape of oils of the most loathsome description, such as “skunk-oil,” “angle-worm oil” (made by slowly rendering earth-worms in the sun), “snake-oil” of various kinds, etc.—(“Animal and Plant Lore,” Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen, in “Popular Science Monthly,” New York, September, 1888, p. 658.)
In the application of human blood and human skulls just presented, one feature must be patent to the most superficial student; in the treatment of epilepsy, the blood or the skull was, preferentially, to be that of a dying gladiator or a criminal. There was evidently a reason for this, beyond mere expediency.
Gladiatorial games were instituted as sacred games, in which the victims to be offered in sacrifice were determined by the destiny of the combat. Long after man’s better reason and better nature had revolted against the loathsome rites of human sacrifice, religion and custom still held him in their clutches. He would not offer up his own progeny, as of yore, but he still continued to immolate captives taken in war, as so many gladiators had been, or offenders against the laws.
The victim generally shared with the sacrificing priest the honor of representing the deity in whose name his life was to be taken. Consequently he became holy; everything belonging to him became “medicine,” and in no disease could it be administered more efficaciously than in epilepsy,—the essentially “sacred disease” (morbus sacer) sent direct from the gods.
Moreover, criminals executed for violations of the laws of conquering nations, or for infractions of the discipline, or contempt of the doctrines of a triumphant religion, might, by the conquered rustics, who still cherished a half-concealed veneration for the old rulers and supplanted rites, be looked upon as martyrs, whose bones, blood, and crania would relieve disease and drive away misfortune.
The idea of sanctity, too, attached to “innocent maids and boys,” whose undefiled blood might rectify the polluted fluid that coursed languidly through the veins of the leper.
The belief that the gods are to be gratified and propitiated by the spectacle of human suffering, especially when self-inflicted, has been current from the first ages of the world, and will most probably last, in one form or another, as long as the world shall last. It has cropped out in every shape, from the rigorous abstinence of the ascetic to the brutal flagellation of the fanatical devotee, and from that to the emasculation of the Galli, the Khlysthi, and the Hottentot, and the self-immolation of the servant of Juggernath. Maurice enumerates five different kinds of meritorious suicide yet recognized in Hindostan, and we have no reason for refusing to believe that our own ancestors were saturated with the same false notions, which, retaining their hold upon the minds of an illiterate peasantry, would surround with the mystery of holiness any act of self-destruction attributable to mania or other impulse supposed to be from on high.
BONES AND TEETH.—MARROW.
“If a circle is traced round an ulcer with a human bone, it will be effectually prevented from spreading.”—(Pliny, lib. xxviii. c. 11.)
Etmuller believed that by the use of an unbroken human bone it was possible to induce as copious a purgation as might be desired. “Beneficio ossis humani integri potest fieri purgatio artificialis tanta quantum volumus,” etc.—(Etmuller, vol. ii. p. 273.)
“‘Holy oyle of dead men’s bones,’ good for the ‘falling sickness.’”—(“The Newe Jewell of Health,” George Baker, Chirurgeon, London, 1576, black letter, p. 170.)
Beckherius prescribed human bones in medicine.—(See “Med. Microcos.,” p. 252 et seq.)
Etmuller, not content with prescribing the bones ground into powder, also directed the administration of human marrow (vol. ii. p. 268).
HUMAN TEETH.
“A tooth taken from a body before burial,” worn as an amulet, cured toothache.—(Pliny, lib. xxviii. c. 12.)
“The first tooth that a child has shed,” worn as an amulet, protects from pain in the uterus.—(Idem, lib. xxviii. c. 7.)
Pounded dead men’s teeth were used in fumigating the genitalia of persons “ligated” by witchcraft.—(See Frommann, “Tract. de Fascin.,” p. 965.)
Etmuller taught that the teeth were similar to the bones, and used in the alleviation of the same infirmities. Those drawn from the jaws of a man who had died a violent death were highly commended for all sickness brought on by witchcraft, as well as for loss of virility. “Ossibus similes sunt dentes, qui ipsi ex homine imprimis violenta morte interempto commendatur ad morbos per veneficium, si nimium et illis fiat suffitus; item in impotentia” (vol. ii. p. 273).
“Si dentes pueri, imprimis cum cadunt, suspendantur antequam ad terram deveniant et ponantur in lamina argenti et suspendantur supra mulieres eas prohibent impregnari et parere” (idem, p. 263).
Teeth are worn as amulets by pregnant women or ground into powder, and taken in a potion; in both forms, believed to be useful in averting the plague. Powdered teeth, drunk in wine, cured epilepsy, and restored impaired virility.—(Flemming, “De Remediis,” p. 13.)
“Knock a tooth that is pulled out into the bark of a young tree.”—(Grimm, “Teutonic Mythology,” vol. iii. p. 1173.)
Human teeth, bones, and other parts of dead bodies are still used by the negroes in our Southern States in their “voudoo” ceremonies, and as charms, in the old-time belief that their possession secures a man invisibility. See an article on this subject in the “Evening Star,” of Washington, D. C., January 1, 1889.
“In North Hants, a tooth taken from the mouth of a corpse is often enveloped in a little bag and worn around the neck to secure the wearer against headache.... In the northeast of Scotland, the sufferer was required to pull with his own teeth a tooth from the skull.”—(“Folk-Medicine,” Black, p. 98.)
The use of human teeth and fingers as “charms,” “amulets,” and “medicine,” will be treated of in another work, at greater length. At present it will be sufficient to call attention to the great potency associated in the minds of the American aborigines with such relics. The author obtained, in one of General Crook’s campaigns, in a battle with the Northern Cheyennes, in northern Wyoming, in the winter of 1876, a necklace of human fingers, the prized adornment and “medicine” of the chief medicine-man. This curious link between the savagery of America and the superstitions of Europe is now in the National Museum, Washington, D. C.
Flemming prescribed the ground bones of criminals (raw or burnt), as an internal medicine for gout, dysentery, etc.; but he did not limit himself to human bones, as he expressly states that, as a substitute, the bones of horses, asses, or other beasts could be employed. (“De Remediis,” p. 12.)
TARTAR IMPURITIES FROM THE TEETH.
Paullini goes so far as to recommend the use of the tartar impurities from the teeth, and the dirt from soiled stockings, as a remedy for nose-bleed. (Paullini, p. 52.)
In this he most probably follows an ancient line of practice, of which other authors have neglected to give a detailed account. Galen and others have shown that the scrapings from the body, and all other “sordes” were used medicinally, and there was no reason why dental tartar should not be added to the materia medica.
RENAL AND BILIARY CALCULI.—HUMAN BILE.
Calculi were used in the treatment of calculary troubles and in childbirth.—(Pliny, lib. xxvii. cap. 9. See also Galen.)
Prescribed for stone in the bladder or kidneys by Beckherius.—(“Med. Microcosmus,” pp. 167-170.)
Flemming advocates the same use of them.—(“De Remediis,” p. 23.)
“A man’s stone, drunk fasting, is most powerful of any to break the stone and expel it with the urine.”—(“The Poor Man’s Physician,” Moncrief, p. 131.)
Flemming also used biliary calculi in the cure of yellow jaundice.—(“De Remediis,” p. 14.)
Human bile was used internally in epilepsy, and externally in deafness and ulcerations of the ear.—(Idem.)
BEZOAR STONES.—LYNCURIUS.
From the most ancient times there were used in the medical practice of Europe certain stones, known as belemnites, thunder-stones, lyncurius, etc., believed to be efficacious in treatment of stone in the bladder. This lyncurius was regarded as the coagulated urine of the lynx, and under that phase of the case properly comes within the scope of this volume.—(See “Pomet on Drugs,” English translation, London, 1738, p. 408.)
The “bezoar” stone, so frequently alluded to by old writers, was simply excrementitious matter hardened in an animal’s stomach.
COSMETICS.
Pigeon’s dung was applied externally for all spots and blemishes on the face. (Pliny, lib. xxx. cap. 9.) Mouse-dung, externally, for lichens. (Idem.) “Brand Marks” (stigmata) were removed by using pigeon’s dung diluted in vinegar. (Idem, lib. xxx. cap 10.) Crocodile-dung, or “crocodilea,” removed blemishes from the face. (Idem, lib. xxxviii. caps. 29, 50.) It also removed freckles.
“An application of bull-dung, they say, will impart a rosy tint to the cheeks, and not even crocodilea is better for the purpose.”—(Idem, lib. xxviii. cap. 50.)
Galen alludes to the extensive use as a cosmetic, by the Greek and Roman ladies, of the dung of the crocodile; in the same manner, the dung of starlings that had been fed on rice alone was employed.—(Galen, “Opera Omnia,” Kuhn’s edition, lib. xxx. p. 308.)
Dioscorides prescribed crocodile-dung as a beautifier of the faces of women.—(“Mat. Med.,” vol. i. p. 222 et seq.)
Bull-dung was used by women as a cosmetic to remove all facial blemishes.—(Sextus Placitus, “De Med. ex Animal.,” article “De Tauro.”)
The urine of a boy took away freckles from a face washed with it. “Ad profluvium mulieris, si locum sæpe lotio viri laverit.” For birthmarks on children take the crust which gathers on urine standing in chamber-pots, break up and bake; place the child in the bath, and rub the marks well. “Ad maculas infantium, matellæ quæ crustem ex lotio duxerint, fractæ et coctæ, in balneo infantem, si ex eo unxeris omnia supra-scripta emendat.”—(Idem, “De Puello et Puella Virgine.”)
Beckherius approved of the use of the meconium of infants to erase birthmarks.—(“Med. Microcos.,” p. 113.)
Etmuller states that from cow-dung, as well as from human ordure, by repeated digestion and distillation and sublimation, was prepared “Zibethum Occidentale,” so named by Paracelsus. From this was distilled the “water of all flowers,” so termed because the cattle had eaten so many flowers in their pasturage. This was passing good as a cosmetic to remove pimples and all kinds of blotches.
Human ordure itself was made use of for the same purpose (vol. ii. p. 171).