Abhomeron Abynzohar & Colliget Auerroys (Medical Compendium)

[... the body] of the whole body, God willing. ¶ And it is to be known that if one applies asafoetida to the anus, it heals [fissures] by dissolving the [obstructions]. ¶ And it is also related that applying crushed? pyrethrum? upon [fissures] dissolves them. ¶ And it is known that the fat of an erach, that is, of a duck, whether [wild] or domestic, is beneficial for pains. ¶ And it is proved that the suspension of excrement applied over the place of pain is effective in removing colic. ¶ And they also say that the rennet of a hare in cases of urinary retention dissolves it. ¶ And the King’s rutis [physician] says: provided that this retention of urine does not proceed from [fissures] or stones blocking the way. If, indeed, it does not proceed from any of these, it will certainly provide relief, God willing. ¶ Rasis, therefore, having recorded his matters for preserving health and removing disease through their properties—just as experiments have been testified to me—I will now begin to speak on the causes and cures of diseases in a short treatise and with brief recipes and well-known medicines.

The Twelfth [Chapter].

The first treatise, which is on the diseases of the head, and it contains six chapters.

Chapter One. Which is on the scabies of the head, which is called saphrum.

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Scabies, which is among the diseases of the head, is this disease that is called scabies or saphrum; and it seems to happen especially to the young. It is found to occur rarely in adults, and the cause of this disease is, for the most part, an abundance of flatus. ¶ And the cure for this is, when it is slight and flowing, to govern it with a drying regimen: namely, by giving the patient roasted turtledoves—small ones from the woods—[roasted] on a spit or in an earthen pot with vinegar and brine; and give him well-fermented bread with oil, a little salt, and vinegar. ¶ And it suffices in the cure of this to smear the patient’s head with vinegar and to sprinkle upon it a powder of burnt pottery. ¶ And if the sick person can endure it, you shall give him to drink, every third day, one myrobalan [fruit], ground and sifted, with water in the morning on an empty stomach. ¶ And if the scabies is hard, you will give him, according to what can correspond to his years or his age, some parapigra [purgative], in a dose as will be seen to be suitable, once every ten days, and never with honey. Afterward, you shall wash it, namely the scabies, with warm sweet water; then you shall sprinkle upon it this powder: R. of burnt soot, one part; and of verdigris, a quarter part; and incorporate them with vinegar and dry in the sun. Finally, grind finely and sift, and sprinkle upon it. And if the sick person is of a moist and soft complexion, you shall wash him with honey-water. Finally, apply this dressing: R. of rose oil and washed wax, as much as is sufficient; and let the wax be dissolved in the oil. Afterward, mix with it a quarter part of that powder of soot or [from a] furnace or chimney, and dress the head with it in the evening. In the morning, however, you shall wash it with honey-water. And again, you shall apply [this]...

Chapter II. Which is on the tinea [ringworm] of the head, as aforementioned.

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A tinea sometimes happens to the head, and it is a more serious condition than the aforementioned, and its cure is more prolonged. It is appropriate, therefore, for this patient to abstain from all things that have a tendency to generate flatus. And feed him with the best fermented bread and with turtledoves and small birds prepared with vinegar and brine, or roasted; and give him bread to eat with vinegar, oil, and salt. And wash his head with vinegar and honey heated; and put at night upon his head some of the powder of burnt frankincense mixed with tenfold its weight of despumated honey. And if the patient is a child, you will give him to drink of yera [hiera picra] once every ten days, in a dose corresponding to his stature and age. And if he is a youth, you will give him the same yera, three aurei [drachms] with one aureus of agaric powder, mixed with the water in which has been infused the pulp of colocynth until it changes the taste and color. And he should abstain from food until he purges from it. And you must do this repeatedly until the body is well cleansed. Finally, after its washing, you shall sprinkle upon the head this powder: R. of soot from a furnace or chimney, and equine hoof, of burnt frankincense, and of alcanne [henna], in equal parts. Let a powder be made; for this powder generates living flesh and creates skin.

Chapter III. Which is on alopecia.

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This is another disease which comes from a subtler flatus, and not as gross as is the flatus from which the tinea is born. From which occurs the loss of the skin of the head and the falling of the hair; and therefore it is called alopecia, because this condition often happens to foxes. And it suffices in this cure to purge the matter with the laxative medicine aforementioned in the chapter on tinea, [and] to anoint the place with old nut oil, or with oil of cherua [castor oil], and to feed him as we said concerning tinea.

Chapter IIII. Which is on thiria.

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Another, furthermore, because if flatus should abound in the body in a smaller quantity than in the aforementioned disease, and it should be of a subtler substance, there occurs the same disease which is called thiria. And it is called thiria because the loss of the skin occurs in a tortuous path. And the cause of this tortuosity is the paucity of flatus in quantity with extreme subtlety. For if it were in extreme subtlety, the loss of hair would happen in a straight path, as water does when it falls upon the earth. But because it retains some grossness and is not equal, it happens to it as happens to water when some mud is mixed into it, because when it falls onto the earth, it makes a tortuous path and not a straight one; therefore, it is called by the ancients by the name of the snake, namely, tyria. And the cure of this is an easier cure than alopecia, for by rectifying him in foods and drinks, as we have said in the aforementioned [chapters], and by anointing the place with oil of cherua or nut oil, or with old olive oil boiled in a copper vessel until it arrives at blackness, it suffices in the cure of this.

Chapter V. Which is on the baldness of the occiput.

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Baldness happens to the head; for if it should occur in youth, it suffices in its cure to smear the head with the oil of sweet almonds, for that has the power to remove the sharpness of the humors. And if it should happen in old age, its cure is impossible.

Chapter VI. Which is on the splitting of the hairs.

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Splitting happens to hairs, and they divide into two parts; and the cause of this is a multitude of dryness. And to this disease, linseed oil, oil of sweet almonds, and sweet olive oil are beneficial. However, in the application of any of these oils, you should add some laudanum dissolved by boiling with them; for when hairs split, their extremities are whitened—which is the beginning of it, as it is in grayness, in which the roots are whitened. Let their food be well-fermented bread with chicken broth and with almonds or sugar; and wether meat boiled with a little salt and oil.

Chapter VII. Which is on sabaphati.

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Sabaphat is a disease of redness which happens in the flesh of the color of the lungs with its pustules; and this disease happens on the skin of the head just as on the face, and it is not born except from bile mixed with some grossness, for if it were very subtle, it would not adhere to that place. And its cure is, first, to evacuate the body with a general evacuation, just as [by] phlebotomy, if the strength is sufficient, and specifically from the cephalic vein. Afterward, cleanse the body with medicines that properly expel bile; and you must not only give the infusion or the strength of them, but you ought to give the substances themselves to drink. And the medicines that are known to purge bile are well known; and that which is most praised among them is scammony with the milk of spurge and the milk of figs, according to the weight. For this medicine will purge this humor most excellently, God granting, and because this humor is choleric, therefore we do not place any unction of fat, but medicines are to be placed that have the property to consume and remove the quality of the disease. And those which are most commended among these are fresh roses; and if they are not found, you shall take a fourth part of them dried, and as much of orange flowers, and let them persist; and mix with an equal quantity of barley flour, if you do not fear the barley for its viscosity. R. of roses, 3 drachms; and of orange flowers, 0.5 drachms; and of chamomile flowers, a quarter part of one drachm; and let them be decocted in water and vinegar of the same quantity for so long until it changes its color, adding to this decoction 1 drachm of the juice of citrons; and if you do not find them, put in their place some juice of cornels, or of plantain, or of memitha [greater celandine]. And moisten also in the same liquor and put it upon the place; and when it dries, repeat it. And rectify their food by commanding them that they do not eat cold things, but feed them with lettuces with vinegar, because they thicken the humors by [coagulating] them, and because they are acidic—but vinegar harms this if they are taken alone—and they ought to abstain entirely from purslane, and from every kind of milk, and from every...