Examination of Officinal Medicines

of ambrosia, or of barley, both simple and compound. If the properties of Cabbage original: Brassica are so extraordinary that, according to the testimony of Pliny Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist whose 'Natural History' was a standard reference for centuries., the Roman People were preserved for six hundred years without physicians by this medicine, why do we not leave it among our medicinal foods? Certainly, it is doubtful whether the apothecary's Linctus original: Lohoch f. eclegma; a thick, syrupy medicine intended to be licked or dissolved in the mouth. made from stalks is equally healthful. Both the linctus and the butter prepared from freshwater crayfish properly cooked are superior. He who has once tasted the fragrant, excellently colored, and savory jelly which the cook today is accustomed to prepare even from choice isinglass original: ichthyocolla; a collagen glue obtained from the air bladders of fish, used here as a culinary gelatin., will never be pleased by Jelly of Hartshorn or Ivory original: Gelatina CC. vel Eboris; 'CC' refers to Cornu Cervi (deer horn), a common source of gelatin in old pharmacies., much less that of a human skull. May butter Butter produced in May when cows graze on fresh spring grass; it was highly prized for its medicinal and nutritional quality. is not denied to the tables of the poor in the springtime, and is pleasing to everyone as long as it is fresh; but afterwards, it loses all its grace even if it is kept in a tin or silver box. Truly, fats do not age well, and therefore it is better to seek from the kitchen rather than the apothecary shop the marrow of Calf, Bull, or Deer; the fat of Lamb, Hare, Boar, Pig, Goose, domestic and wild Duck, Hen, Capon, and Eel, if anyone wishes to test their powers.

§ 4.

3. Let us see, therefore, which things are of lesser virtue, and among those to be mentioned are the "worn out" ones—namely, those deprived of their odor, taste, and power. By this, however, I do not simply reject those that are odorless and tasteless by nature, but those which lose their strength and thus become stale while they are dried and stored. For example, the Root of Horse-radish original: Armoracia vel raphani rusticani as it is dug from the earth and as long as it is succulent, has a sharp taste, is antiscorbutic a remedy for scurvy, and highly diuretic promotes the production of urine. The root and herb of Buttercup original: Ranunculus even raises blisters; the herb Wood-sorrel original: Acetosella with its relatives has a not unpleasant acid taste, just as Scurvy-grass, Nasturtium, etc. original: Cochlearia, Nasturtium, already numbered among the potherbs, commend themselves by their taste as long as they are green. When dry, they are of no value. Would it not, therefore, be better for them to be dismissed from the shops of the Physicians? For in this way, the Physician will be able to proceed more successfully in the cure of diseases, if besides the apothecary medicines...