The erective plaster. Of satyrion, of the testicle of a stag, of the tail of a skink, of each, dr. ij; of the seed of rocket, of pellitory, of the seed of rosemary, of wax, of each, dr. iv; of turpentine, oz. j; three eggs of troglodytic sparrows, (“wrens?”) three swifts, of oil of bay, or of iris, q. s. The swifts are soaked alive in vinegar for forty days, the vessel being buried in dung.
The golden plaster for bloody wounds. Of frankincense, of fissile alum, of each, oz. ij; of Colophonian rosin, of common rosin, of each, lb. j; of oil, oz. iij; of arsenic, oz. ij. Triturate the arsenic in the vinegar.
The plaster for fractures, of Oribasius. Of Brutian pitch, lb. j, oz. iv; of litharge, lb. j, oz. iv; of frankincense, oz. viij; of turpentine, oz. v; of bull’s suet, lb. j, oz. iv; of galbanum, of opoponax, of each, oz. j; of wax, oz. iv; of old oil, lb. j; of vinegar, oz. v.
A plaster for fractures with a wound and without a wound. From Heraclitus. Of dried pitch, mina j; of litharge, mina j; of manna, mina ss; of calves’ suet, mina j; of Tuscan wax, oz. xxvj; of opoponax, dr. viij; of scraped verdigris, of Cyprian copper, of each, the fifth and tenth part of a mina; of turpentine, min. iss; of copper, oz. j; of oleum ricini (castor oil), or old oil, hem. j; of vinegar, hemin. ss.
The preparation of the medicine called the liquid œsypum. Of melilot, oz. iv; of cardamom, oz. ij; of unscoured wool, oz. vj: having macerated in sext. ij of wine for three days, boil until little is left; and having filtrated mix with the wine, oz. iij of oil, and boil until little of the wine remain, and then add of Colophonian rosin, oz. x; of turpentine, oz. x. Some add likewise of wax, oz. x, and of the herb hyssop, oz. j, and boil with the others. Others clean the wool in wine, and having dried the wine with the sordes, which they call pinon, at the time of using, add of it, oz. iij, and the other things as mentioned.
On the mixture of wax to oil. If you wish to prepare ointments like those called Acopa, add four parts of the oil to the wax; but if, as in fractures, you wish to make a soft cerate, make it double. When we wish to give the medicine the form of a plaster, then we mix equal parts of oil with wax, if the atmosphere be of a moderate temperature. But if the wax be old or dry, and the atmosphere cold, then there must be a little more of the oil than of the wax; when the wax is soft and the atmosphere warm, the wax should be a little less than the oil. This little should be the twelfth part on each side of the middle, for in this case you will mix xj or xiij oz. of oil to the pound of wax.
From the works of Antyllus, on the boiling of those medicines which are the ingredients of plasters.—Litharge. In the boiling of the medicines, the litharge will be boiled with the oil; but the litharge having been previously triturated, is to be triturated again with the oil, so as to become viscid, and then it is to be boiled at a gentle fire, stirring incessantly. At first, then, it swells and bubbles; but when nearly boiled sufficiently, it becomes of a more feculent colour. It has attained its measure of boiling when the swelling subsides, and it no longer stains. The molybdæna is to be boiled in a similar manner to litharge; but the measure of the boiling of it is not only when it ceases to stain, but when it changes from a fiery colour to a yellow and strongly florid. Burnt copper in boiling is not to be put in at the commencement, but when the plaster is half boiled: the measure of the boiling, unless a small quantity only is put in, is when its colour predominates and renders the plaster yellow; sori and diphryges are put in during the boiling. The measure of the boiling of the diphryges, like the squama, is to be when its colour predominates. With regard to the sori, there is no particular measure, except the common one, to make the plaster of such a consistence that it does not stain. The chalcitis is boiled like copper, and the measure of it is the degree to which it renders the plaster of a deeper yellow and more ruddy colour. The flower of copper is like copper, and is regulated by the common measure of boiling. Copperas (blue vitriol?) is added in the middle of the boiling, and when boiled it gives a stronger shade to the colour of the plaster; and if not prevented by other circumstances, it renders the plaster black; misy is added in the end, but there is no particular measure with regard to it; arsenic and sandarach are added at the end of the boiling; burnt lead is put in at the middle of the boiling; ceruse is put into white plasters at the end, for thus it preserves their colour and whitens them still more, but it is added to the black at the commencement, for by being more boiled it becomes blacker; verdigris is added to the green plasters after the boiling; and, in some cases, it is not put into the pot at all, but being triturated with vinegar, and remaining in the mortar, the other things are mixed with it: to those of an apple colour (pale red?) it is added when the preparation is half boiled; for when it undergoes moderate boiling, it puts on the apple colour; but in those which are to have a double appearance, and double colour, we must boil the verdigris immediately after the commencement; when the boiling is persevered in, it first puts on the apple colour, then the double appearance, and at last its colour becomes yellow; alum is added for the most part after the boiling, but there is no measure of its boiling; vermilion is added at the end; calamine and pompholyx are added at the commencement; salts and natron are added at the middle of the boiling; sulphur at the end, the boiling of it blackens the plasters. All earths and stones are added at the end for the most part: pumice-stone, too, at the end. Burnt shells are added at the end. Oil, if added at the commencement to rosin and liquid pitch, prevents the plaster from acquiring consistence. The oil, therefore, is to be added after it has acquired consistence. Other fatty substances which do not contain salt, are to be added at the middle of the boiling. Of ointments, the Irinum bears boiling, the Cyprinum and Rosaceum less; the others, none at all. The ingredients are, therefore, to be added at the end of the boiling. Wax is not boiled alone by itself, for it burns, neither with liquid rosin nor liquid pitch, for it remains disunited. But it is added to pure oil or oily matters boiled with the metals, or to rosin and pitch, previously boiled and thickened with other things which are to be added. Dried rosin is added with wax. The liquid, before all other things, is boiled by itself, unless a very small quantity is used. Pitch is added before all other things. The measure of the boiling of the liquid is its acquiring consistence; but of the dry especially, if boiled with vinegar, when it ceases to bubble and swell. The pitch of ships, when triturated and separated by a sieve from its recrements, is sprinkled upon a plaster when boiled; but if soft, it is dissolved with the oil. The former method is the more correct, because in the second the weight is not preserved. Bitumen (asphaltos) is boiled by being added at the commencement. But it is not to be levigated, because it contains asperities like grains of figs. It is, therefore, to be broken into large pieces and boiled in vinegar, not stirring it lest it bubble. I, says Timocrates, have succeeded by boiling it in oil. Bee-glue (propolis) is to be softened and boiled. For, by the boiling, it is not entirely incorporated. But if the plaster receives, as an ingredient, common wax, the bee-glue, like the galbanum, is to be pounded with the wax and added. Ammoniac is added about the middle of the boiling. But if it can be levigated, it should be sprinkled in the state of a powder, but if not, it may be triturated with some liquid; but if it be a plaster for fresh wounds, it is to be triturated with vinegar or wine; but if for fistulæ or strumæ, by all means with vinegar. If it be a soft plaster (such as those for the fundament), it is to be triturated with water; then, being levigated, it is to be added to the other things when cooled that they may not boil. Opoponax is added much later than ammoniac: it requires but very little boiling; but it must be frequently triturated with wine or vinegar. Galbanum does not bear boiling. But when the plaster has attained such a consistence that it does not stain, it is to be taken off the fire, and it is to be softened and added. Sagapenum is pounded in a mortar, and when it becomes tender it is softened with the plaster after being removed from the fire. Aloe is sprinkled after the boiling. Poppy-juice is macerated for one day in a little water, and is then levigated in a mortar, and in this state the plaster is poured upon it. Thapsia is sprinkled last, or triturated with some fluid. Bdellium being levigated, is sprinkled after the plaster is taken from the fire; but if it is of a fatty nature, and cannot be levigated, it is to be pounded like sagapen, and made into the form of a plaster, and softened with the plaster after the boiling. Frankincense and manna are sprinkled at the end of the boiling, becoming glutinous, with a little honey, vinegar, water, or wine, if the plaster admit a liquid. Myrrh is added when the boiling is over. None of the seeds, roots, and herbs can endure boiling; but when levigated, and while they remain in the mortar, the other things are poured upon them in a state of solution.
Commentary. The following are the general directions given by Celsus for the formation of plasters: “Emplastrum hoc modo fit: arida medicamenta per se teruntur; deinde mixtis his instillatur aut acetum, aut si quis alius non pinguis humor accessurus est, et ea rursus ex eo teruntur; ea vero quæ liquari possunt, ad ignem simul liquantur, et si quid olei misceri debet, tum infunditur: interdum etiam aridum ali quod ex oleo prius coquitur.” He describes the composition of 28 plasters. (v, 19.)
The composition of plasters is treated of by Galen at so great length that it is quite out of the question to attempt even an abstract of his account of them. His accuracy of detail and attention to minutiæ are almost inconceivable. See the first four books of his work (De Med. sec. genera.) Our author, as usual, is much indebted to him.