SEXTUS PLACITUS.
This author is supposed to have lived in the beginning of the fourth century after Christ.
The edition of his work, “De Medicamentis ex Animalibus,” was printed in Lyons, in 1537. The pages are not numbered, and the citations are consequently by chapter.
Goat-urine was given as a drink to dropsical patients (“De Capro”). This urine was also drunk by women to relieve suppression of the menses.
For inflammation of the joints, goat-dung was dried and applied as a fine powder; for colic, a fomentation of hot goat-dung was applied to the abdomen; for serpent bites it was applied as a plaster, and also drunk in some convenient liquor. For tumors goat-dung was to be applied externally.
For ear troubles goat-urine was applied as a lotion. “Ad aures nimus bene audientium, Apri lotium in nitro repositum tepefactum, auribus instillatur audire facit” (“De Apro”).
For burns, whether by water or fire, burnt cow-dung was to be sprinkled on. “Ad combusturam sive ab aqua, sive ab igne factam, Taurinus fimus combustus et aspersus sanat” (“De Tauro”).
“Ad profluvium mulierum, Taurus ibicuncque pastus fuerit folia ulmi arboris de fimo ipsius facias siccari et terre in pollinem tenuissimum, mitte ipsum in carbones in quodam testo, et deponas in vaso et sedeat mulier quæ patitur encatesma diligenter co-operta (well covered up), et sanabitur ut mireris” (“De Tauro”).
Testo means the “lid of a pot;” encatesma means a “sitting-bath;” and the sense seems to be that the woman was to take the dung of a bull which had been eating the leaves of an elm-tree, dry, reduce to fine powder, throw on hot coals on the lid of a pot, and let the woman sit on this, well covered up, and have a steam-bath.
For all kinds of tumors, as well as for every kind of head-ache, the dung of elephants was applied externally. (“De Elephantis.”) He makes no mention of the use of asses’ dung, but strongly recommends the use of the excrement of the horse. “Ad sanguinem e naribus profluentem, equi stercus siccum et aspersum, sanguinem fluentem retinet, maxime naribus suffumigatum.” He also recommends the use of horse-dung externally in the treatment of ear-ache, and for retention of the menses internally. “Ad aurium dolorem, stercus equi siccum et rosaceo succo liquefactum et collatum, auribus instillatur aurium dolorem perfecte tollit.... Ad ventrem non fluentem, nimiumque tumescentem, Equi stercus aqua liquefactum, et percolatum, postea bibitum, mox faciet egressum.”—(“De Equo.”)
Cat-dung was used in the eradication of dandruff and of scald in the head; for excessive after-birth hemorrhages in the form of fumigation or bath. For the relief of a person who had swallowed a bone or thorn, his fauces were rubbed with cat-dung. For the relief of the quartan ague, hang cat-dung and cow horn or hoof to the patient’s arm; after the seventh attack the fever will leave him for good.—(Idem. See under “Witchcraft,” extract from Etmuller, p. 267.)
Vulture-dung, mixed with the white dung of dog, cured dropsy and palsy, especially if from a vulture which had lived on human flesh; to be taken internally.—(“De Vulture.”)
The urine of a virgin boy or girl was an invaluable application for affections of the eyes; also for stings of bees, wasps, and other insects. As a cure for elephantiasis, the urine of boys was to be drunk freely. “Ad elephantiam puerorum, pueri lotium si puer biberit liberaliter.”
The crust from human urine was useful in burns and in bites of mad dogs. (Idem. See notes on the Parisian “Mangeurs du blanc.”) For cancers man’s ordure was burnt and sprinkled over the sore places; for tertian fevers, it had to be that of the patient himself; and to be held in the left hand while burning, then placed in a rag, and tied to his left arm before the hour of the recurrence of the fever. “Ad tertianas, ipsius ægri stercus sinistra manu sublatum comburunt et in sinistro brachio ante horam accessionis suspendunt.”—(“De Puello et Puella Virgine.”)
Hawk-dung, boiled in oil, made an excellent application for sore eyes. (“De Accipitro.”) Crow-dung was given to children to cure coughs, and was placed in carious teeth to cure tooth-ache.—(“De Corvi.”)
Dove-dung was applied externally to tumors.—(“De Columba.”)