The Chemical Writings of Brother Basilius Valentinus: The Treatises of Heinrich Eschenreuter

he will find himself a little better and have a strong appetite for eating, but you must give him nothing to eat except roasted beef, without salt—only a quarter pound at every meal. You may repeat the administration of the medicine twice more, and you will see that when he has broken out strongly The "breaking out" refers to a skin rash or pustules, which the author views as the "poison" of the disease leaving the body., do not scrape the rash off, as the blind, ignorant physicians do. Rather, when you see that he has broken out enough, give him half a dose of these pills another three to four times; thus you will see that the rash will become dry from the sweating and fall off by itself. (One can also administer this finely-ground stone, or powder, alone in warm wine; it is all the same.) If everything has not yet fallen away, you may smear a little egg-white upon it, and you will see that it will all fall off. The spots will pass away and the patient will recover and be freed from all torment.

The Third Medicament, against all kinds of Head Diseases, by whatever names they may be called, such as stroke, the falling sickness, apoplexy, and convulsions. In the 18th century, "falling sickness" referred to epilepsy, "apoplexy" (Tropff) to sudden paralysis or stroke, and "convulsions" (Frischlein) to fits, often those seen in children.

Take of the best Antimony (represented by a circle containing a cross) and Saturn or Lead (represented by a cross with a hook) in equal parts, put this into a well-sealed vessel, and let it stand together with Vitriol (represented by a circle with a diagonal line through it, topped with a cross); thus these two pieces will unite and look like a sapphire-colored resin or pitch; then take it