Examination of Officinal Medicines

( 22 )

which juice is found in the pills made from the five kinds of Myrobalan plums by Nicolaus Alexandrinus original: "Myrobalanorum generibus Nicolai Alexandrini"; Nicolaus was a 13th-century pharmacist whose "Antidotarium" was a standard medical text: In the Electuary of Senna original: "Electuario Diafenn" by the same Nicolaus, this same Lapis Lazuli is tempered with Armenian bole (more correctly than with "stone" according to the Greek codex): Armenian earth, hazelnuts, sugar, cinnamon, Indian spikenard, basil seed, Indian leaf, saffron, rosemary flowers, clarified honey, and aromatics of every kind. And so, perhaps it would achieve nothing in a smaller dose unless a stimulus from colocynth bitter apple, a harsh purgative, scammony, or hellebore were added. But to include the same in the Confection of Alkermes a red medicinal liqueur as a "strengthener" is ridiculous, certainly absurd: see Caspar Hofmann’s Additions to the Pharmacopoeia, Chapter 76. What the Tincture of Lapis Lazuli and its relative blue moon original: "luna caerulea"; likely a copper-based chemical preparation are worth is understood by anyone who has even a slight insight into the nature of copper. Among the virulent substances from the vegetable kingdom can be counted the root and seeds of spurge, the seed of the Castor oil plant—especially the black variety, commonly called granatilli—the nux vomica, and the Cashew nut original: "Anacardium", which, beyond all its merit, is recommended in imitation of Lapis Lazuli as a restorative analeptic a restorative or stimulating medicine. In afflictions of the Head and Heart, the Confection of Cashew and Cashew honey are especially common; but let us hear John Jonston in Book 2 On Trees, page 157:

The thick juice of Cashew nuts causes ulcers, inflammation, and scorches the blood; and all of India uses it as a caustic.

And I (these are the words of Forestus, Book IX, observation 23, in the scholia) have always been of that opinion and have resolved to stick to it: never to experiment with infamous substances when an abundance of better ones is available. Since it is a sign of rashness and notable folly to make a trial of a doubtful medicine when no necessity compels it.

Furthermore, the more ignoble substances 6. are mostly either entirely useless or even out of use. A year passes before anyone seeks from the Apothecary the roots of Garlic and Leek, Agrimony, Bittersweet, Columbine, wild Horseradish, Mugwort, Asparagus, Lesser Celandine, Squirting Cucumber, Sowbread, Grass, Henbane, Cinquefoil, Greater and Lesser Plantain, Toothwort, Vervain, Meadowsweet, or the wood of Aspalathus, Boxwood, Cypress, Quince, or the bark of Barberry,