Encore ung coup de mon corsaige,
Car je vous dis bien que encor scay—je”
“La grant pratique et aussi l’art,
Par onguement et par herbaige,
Combien que soye miste et gaillart,
Que huy on dira que ma jambe art
Du cruel mal de Sainct Anthoyne,” etc.
In this lengthy poem, too long to transcribe from the French, the lame mendicant gives a list of herbs, through means of which various diseases may be simulated, especially those maladies of the skin that are repulsive to the majority of mankind; thus he describes the itch produced by certain varieties of the clematis and the appearance of leprosy induced by the use of an ointment of which veronica formed the basis. He also describes how to produce the disease of Saint Fiacre, an affection characterized by warts and ulcers around the anus. It is useless to add there is nothing new under the sun. Let us now turn our attention to another play, i.e.;
LUNACY AND LOVE.
This is a play with six characters, written in 1556, by Louise Labe, sometimes called the Belle Cordiere.