Similar preparations are described by the Arabians among the confections and antidotes. See Avicenna, Serapion, and Haly Abbas.
SECT. XXIII.—THE PREPARATION OF MASUCHA, WHICH SOME CALL MASUAPHIUM.
Of melilots, oz. x; of the wood of balsamum, of rose-wood, of savin, of myrrh, of amomum, of the schœnanth, of bay-leaves, of the fat of myrrh (stacte), of storax, of calamus aromaticus, of sampsuchum, of each, oz. ij; of iris, oz. v; of Indian leaf, of saffron, of each, oz. j; of opobalsam, oz. ss; of gum, lb. j; of dried roses, oz. vj; of wine, q. s.
Commentary. See Aëtius (xiii, 118); Myrepsus (§ xxi, 14); Actuarius (Meth. Med. v. 8.) The following is Myrepsus’s formula for the suffimentum called Masucha: Of yellow aloes, of bay-leaves, of costus, of amomum, of cardamom, of cassia, of carpobalsam, of ladanum, of each, lb. iss; of myrrh, of iris, of melilot, of Indian leaf, of roses, of the leaves of olive, of Celtic nard, of each, lb. ss oz. iij; of saffron, oz. iij; of galbanum, oz. ss; of gum, lb. iss; of fragrant wine, q. s.
SECT. XXIV.—ON PESSARIES, FROM THE WORKS OF ANTYLLUS.
Pessaries are applied to the womb. There are three different kinds of them; for some are emollient, some astringent, and some are anastomative, i. e. they open the mouths of vessels. We use the emollient in inflammations of the womb, in ulceration and coldness of it, in ascension upwards, eversion and inflation thereof. They are prepared from Tuscan wax, the oil of privet and of lilies, the fat of geese and of fowls, unsalted butter, burnt rosin, stag’s marrow, fenugreek, and the like. The anastomative, or those which open the mouths of vessels, are used when we wish to recall the menstrual purgation that has been stopped, or to correct the state of the womb when it is shut up or contracted. These are prepared from honey, mugwort, dittany, the juice of cabbage, liquorice, the juice of horehound, rue, scammony, or the like. The astringent are used in cases the reverse of those for which the anastomative are applied; for they restrain the female discharge, contract the womb when it is open, and impel it upwards when prolapsed. The materials of the astringent have been already pointed out in the chapter on Collyria and Trochisks. The pessary is to be made of the thickness of bath sordes, and a little thicker; and then some wool, like a narrow tent, is to be doubled and dipped in the medicine, and applied to the mouth of the womb, having a long thread attached to it to draw down the pessary readily when it is thought proper.—The Saffron Pessary, for inflammations, eversions, hardness, and inflation of the womb: Of white wax, of calf’s marrow, of each, dr. xvj; of stag’s marrow, dr. xj; of the grease of geese, dr. viij; of the grease of fowls, dr. viij; of mastich, dr. iv; of the medicine œsypum, dr. iij; of honey, dr. ij; of saffron, dr. viij; of rose oil, q. s. Triturate the saffron with the milk of a woman.—The Golden Pessary, an excellent emollient: Of saffron, dr. j; of unwashed wool (œsypum), dr. j; of stag’s marrow, dr. ij; of turpentine, of wax, of the grease of geese, of each, dr. iij; the yelks of sixteen eggs roasted; of oil, of iris, of roses, q. s.—The Libanian Pessary, being emmenagogue, and agreeing excellently with affections of the womb: Of nard ointment, oz. vj; of Tuscan wax, oz. v; of the ointment of lilies, oz. iv; of fresh hog’s lard, oz. iij; of the grease of geese and of domestic fowls, of stag’s marrow, and of the ointment of amaracus, of each, oz. ij; of bull’s tallow, of turpentine, of œsypum, of each, oz. j. It is dissolved in a double vessel, as are all the other pessaries.—The Pessary Enneapharmacus: Of the ointment of roses, of that of ricinus, of turpentine, of wax, of honey, of the grease of geese and of oxen, of stag’s marrow, and of butter, equal parts.—The Titian emollient Pessary: Of wax, oz. vj; of Colophonian rosin, oz. ivss; of bull’s tallow, oz. iv; of ammoniac perfume, oz. iv. Triturate the ammoniac with water.—The Egyptian Pessary: Of honey, of turpentine, of butter, of oil of roses or of lilies, of saffron, of each, p. j; and when there is no inflammation and the parts are foul, of verdigris, p. ss.—The Pessary called Genitura, for conception: Of butter, oz. vj; of the medicine œsypum, of stag’s marrow, of the grease of geese and of domestic fowls, of turpentine, of aloes, of each, oz. iij; of Tuscan wax, oz. vj; of oil of roses, lb. ij; of myrrh, of cassia, of each, oz. ij; of spikenard, oz. j; of honey, q. s.
Commentary. The pessaries of the ancients bore no resemblance to the instruments of box-wood and other solid materials now used to prevent prolapsus of the uterus. Those of the ancients were medicated ointments or liniments, which were generally applied to the natural parts upon wool, most commonly for the purpose of correcting the menstrual discharge. A modern authority describes them in the following terms: “Pessaries are made like a finger, of medicines for the womb, taken into a long linen bag, well-waxed, or incorporated with honey, ladanum, galbanum, wax and juices. They are in shape like a suppository, but longer and thicker.” Schröder (Chym. Dispensat. p. 134). They were also frequently resorted to for the wicked purpose of producing abortion. Hippocrates, in his Oath, obligates the medical apprentice not to give such a pessary to a woman. Pessaries of this description consisted of strong stimulants, such as cantharides, elaterium, colocynth, &c. The emmenagogue pessaries were formed of such-like ingredients, weakened by mixture with others of less activity.
Celsus gives a very distinct account of pessaries. He says of them: “Sed alia quoque utilia sunt; ut ea, quæ fœminis subjiciuntur; πεσσους Græci vocant. Eorum hæc proprietas est: medicamenta composita molli lana excipiuntur, eaque lana naturalibus conditur.” (v, 21.) He gives formulæ for seven pessaries. One, for expelling the dead fœtus, consists of pomegranate rind pounded with water. (v, 21.)