Looking for Medical Miracles in Medieval Manuscripts

[mgc1961]

"This medication is delicious," says Johannes Mayer, 56, looking ecstatic. "And it actually helps against digestive disorders and colds."

Its composition is as surprising as its effect: Caraway soaked in vinegar, dates pickled in red wine, dried ginger and green pepper. All of this is crushed with a mortar and pestle and combined with baking soda and honey to make a sticky paste.

The name of the remedy is also odd: Diaspolis. "We have no idea what this is supposed to mean," says Mayer, a medical historian. "The scribe apparently made a mess of things."


There's more to the story at http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,685432,00.html.

[Hestia]

1. The link isn't working - shows an error page

[Warpy]

3. The article, though, is fascinating

once you click on "English" and go halfway down the page to find it. Another excerpt: "Obscure passages can also be found in "Macer floridus," another standard work of monastic medicine. "When a pregnant woman takes in the scent of the wilting flower through her nose, this shall abort the fruit of the womb," a monk wrote in punchy Latin hexameter. He was referring to the flower of the wild arum plant. The same effect could be achieved, he added, "if the crushed root is inserted into the uterus from below with a small wool suppository."

"Monks giving abortion tips? The medical historian doesn't find this outlandish at all. "The Catholic Church only formulated its rigid position on abortion in the 19th century," Mayer explains. It was not as clear in the past, he adds. Besides, members of religious orders with medical responsibilities must have known how to remove dead fetuses from the womb. "As we know, surgery was still quite difficult at the time."

Fascinating article, all around, and a great find. http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,685432,00.html

[mgc1961]

6. Indeed.

A portion of Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World addressed social attitudes toward abortion in the 19th century.

[PADemD]

4. Correct link

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,685432,00.html

[MineralMan]

2. Baking soda, eh?

Hmm...

[mgc1961]

5. I'm sorry about the broken link.

I didn't get a chance to test it before I went out for my morning run.

[Tutankhamun]

7. I've read that the ancient Romans (pre middle ages) knew how

to abort a foetus with phytochemicals (plants).