I shall not now enter into the endless discussions upon the different species of salts, which some boast of for embalming, whilst others consider them injurious to the preservation of bodies. I abstain also, from speaking of lime, to which, however, wonders have been attributed: thus it was lime which preserved the body of Afra: and in the year 1523, under the pontificat of Adrian VI., the body of Saint Thomas, the Apostle, was likewise found towards the Gulf of Coromandel, endued, and covered with a cement made of lime and urine; the bones were very white, and along side of him the spear of his lance, a part of the cane which had served him during his journey, and an earthen vase which had been sprinkled with his blood. Notwithstanding these remarkable examples, if they are true, the authors who relate them give no importance to the processes to which we owe them, they even complain of the sordid views of those, who, in order to augment the mass of matters, do not hesitate to mix thereto plaster, ashes, &c. We give the description of some of these mixtures composed of the substances which we have enumerated.
1.—Balsamic Wine.
| ℞. | Good red wine, 8 pints. | |
| Cloves, roses, citron bark, colocynth, a.a.* | 2 ℥. | |
| Styrax, benzoin, a.a. | 1 ℥. | |
| * a.a. of each. |
Reduce these drugs to a coarse powder, macerate for a few hours in wine, and boil slightly.
Usages.—Lotion for the interior parts of the body; and to disinfect the chamber during the operation.
2.—Compound Brandy.
| ℞. | Absynth leaves, great centaury, rhue, sage, marjory, mugwort, thyme, a.a. | 4 handsfull. |
| Colocynth, | 2 ℥. | |
| Styrax, calamite, benzoin, a.a. | 3 ℥. | |
| Pepper, ginger, a.a. | 2 ʒ. |
Macerate in a sea-bath for twenty-four hours, in fifteen pints of best brandy, with as much distilled vinegar.
3.—Vinegar for washing the head, the breast, the belly, and for injections.
| ℞. | White and black pepper, ginger, a.a. | 1/2 ℔. |
| Colocynth, | 3 ℥. | |
| Absynth, centaury, hypericum, a.a. | 4 ℥. |