[1] So the document is endorsed. Massachusetts Historical Society. The list may be taken as showing a typical outfit of medical and surgical supplies for a privateer. The symbols used in the manuscript for pounds, ounces, and pints are here replaced in print by the usual abbreviations, lbs., oz., pts.
[2] Spirits of mint, of cinnamon, of sweet fennel-seeds, of treacle, aqua vitae, spirits of ammoniacal volatile oil, of sal ammoniac, dulcified spirits of nitre and of sal ammoniac, rectified spirits of wine.
[3] Elixir of propriety, of vitriol, stomach essence, tincture of castor, bezoartic tincture, tincture of euphorbia. For the wonderful properties of the bezoar-stone (really a concretion found in the intestines of the wild goat, or, sometimes, a coprolite) and its derivatives, see Eggleston, Transit of Civilization, pp. 64-66, 90-91.
[4] Balsam of Copaiba, Peruvian balsam, terebinthated balsam of sulphur, syrup of poppy (= diacodium), syrup of saffron, lemon juice.
[5] Oil of St. John's wort, linseed oil, oil of amber, of juniper, of turpentine, olive oil, oil of anise, sweet almond oil, rose honey, ordinary honey, tamarinds.
[6] Theriaca Andromachi, Venice treacle, a remedy which had long been highly esteemed, and which comprised 61 ingredients, according to the Pharmacopeia Collegii Regii Medicorum Londinensis (London, 1747), s.v. See also Eggleston, Transit, p. 63.
[7] Conserve of red roses, arnica liniment, ointment of marshmallow root, of poplar-buds, basilicon ointment, ointment of white camphor, salt of wormwood, salts of the blessed thistle, sal-prunella.
[8] Spirits of vitriol, elixir vitae, confection of opium, diascordium, powdered dragon's blood, gum tragacanth, the mineral bezoar.
[9] Plaster of diachylon and gum (c. G. = cum gummi), of saffron and vinegar, defensive plaster, plaster of Paracelsus, blistering plaster, diapalma plaster, compound laudanum plaster, melilot plaster. The term "emplastrum Paracelsi", so the librarian of the Surgeon-General's Office informs me, is not given as such in the older medical dictionaries, and was probably not a current term; but in vol. II. of Robert James's Dictionary of Medicine (London, 1745), extended reference is made to a plaster compounded of ammoniac, galbanum, opopanax, turpentine, litharge, and many other ingredients, described as "extolled to the skies by Paracelsus", and this may be the one which Tweedy here lists.
[10] Verjuice, chamomile flowers, wormwood, gentian root, liquorice root, burdock root, rhubarb root, lignum vitae.