suavolentiam redactum, qua Zibettam mentitur; vid. Agricola,” vol. ii. p.
266.
Of the value of this “zibethum” Etmuller quotes from an older authority:
“Rosencranzerus in Astron. inferior (p. 232), dicit quod zibethum humanum
... si illinatur parti genitali mulieris fœmina attrahat fœtum et
precaveatur abortus” (vol. ii. p. 272).
Human ordure, containing as it does “an anodyne sulphur, ... destructive
of acids,” was supposed to be beneficial in burns, inflammations, and
as a plaster for the dispersal of plague buboes.... “In insulis Botiis
dictis, gens quoddam serpentis repiriri, cujus morsum mors sequatur, nisi
stercus proprium demorsi mox assumatur. Tandem aqua stercoris humani
cosmetica, ab aliis ophthalmatica censetur sic ut et ejusdem oleum
contra cancrum mammarum specifice commendatur” (vol. ii. p. 171).
“In stercoribus animalium magna latet vis medica, ratione scilicet salis
volatilis; in specie stercus porcinum omnes hæmorrhagias ad miraculum
sistit, sive in forma pulveris ad ʒ i., sive in forma electuarii
adhibens; annus est quo rustica quædam post abortum insigne patiebatur
mensium profluvium cui cum meo suasu maritus inscie propinasset stercus
suillum, fluxus cessavit et mulier pristinæ reddita sanitati. Stercus
equinum summum est remedium in passione hysterica, et doloribus colicis,
si succus expressus cum cerevisia vel vino propinetur; sic quoque
conducit in variolis et morbilis infantum, propinatus cum cerevisia
calida, qui optime per sudorem expellit ut taceam de effectu quem præstat
in pleuritide laudando.
“Ut ita licet volatilia in uno puncto convenire videantur, diversis
tamen, ratione diversæ et specificæ cujuslibet craseus medeantur morbos.”
(vol. ii. sect. 3, “Pyrotechnia Rationalis,”—“de Animalibus,” Etmuller,
“Opera Omnia,” xx.)
“Animalium omnium participant de natura salis ammoniaci constant quippe
(are certainly known) ex acido et alcali oleoso volatili indeque, auræ
beneficio alterantur in nitro, præsertim avium excrementa quicquid igitur
præstant, operantur ex vi salis ammoniacali” (vol. ii. p. 171).
The use of animal dungs was noted, but not unqualifiedly commended
by Etmuller, in the following cases: dog-dung, mixed with honey,
for inflammation of the throat; wolf-dung, in form of powder, as an
anti-colic.
Dog-dung (album Græcum officinalis) was regarded as useful in dysentery,
epilepsy, colic; was applied externally in angina, malignant ulcers,
hard tumors, warty growths, etc. Especial value was attached to such
dung gathered in the month of July, from a bone-fed dog, because it was
whiter, purer, and less fetid. Dog-urine was employed as a lotion for
warty growths, ulcers on the head, etc. (vol. ii. p. 253).
“Dicitur in officinis semper album Græcum, nunquam stercus.” The dog
“debite nutriatur cum ossibus solis, cum nullo vel pauco potu” (vol. ii.
p. 254).
Goat-dung was used in hard tumors of the spleen and other parts of
the body; in buboes, ear-abscesses, inveterate ulcers, dropsy, scabby
head, lichen, etc. (p. 254). In all these its use was external, but
for other troubles of the spleen, yellow jaundice, retention of the
menses, and similar ailments, it was given internally. Goat-urine was
given internally in removal of calculi, urinary troubles, and (after
distillation) for dropsy. The egestæ of the wild goat were used for
almost identically the same disorders (vol. ii. p. 254).
The juice of horse-dung was used by the English in colic, pleurisy, and
hysteria.—(Etmuller, vol. ii. p. 254.)
Pig-dung, dried, snuffed up into the nostrils, cured nasal hemorrhages.
Compare this with the use made of the dried excrement of the Grand Lama
as a sternutatory and general curative.
Hyena-dung was used in medicine, but the diseases are not mentioned.
Sparrow-dung and mouse-dung, if made into pills, and taken to the number
of nine, would bring on the menses of women.
Cow-dung was recommended as a fomentation in gout.
The use of cow-dung, internally, was highly commended for expelling
calculi and for the cure of retention of urine, on account of the
“volatile nitrous salts which ascended in the alembic, and which had a
good effect upon the kidneys.”
The common people drank the juice expressed from this dung in all cases
of colic and pleurisy, for which they found it a beneficial medicine.
“Ulterius valde convenit ad pellendum calculum et ciendam urinam propter
sal. vol. nitrosum qui ascendit per alembicam unde ad nephritidem et
ciendam urinam valde commendatur a poterio.... Plebii in colico dolore
succum ex stercore propinant, quod verum est, non solum in colico sed
etiam in pleuritide præsentaneum remedium” (vol. ii. pp. 249, 250).
The juice of young geese, gathered in the month of March, was used in
jaundice and cachexy.... Hen-dung was sometimes employed as a substitute
for goose-dung. Peacock-dung was employed in all cases of vertigo....
Swallow-dung was used in cases of angina and inflammation of the tonsils
(vol. ii. p. 171).
Hawk-dung was used for sore eyes. Duck-dung “fimus morsui venenatorum
animalium imponitur” (vol. ii. p. 286).
Goat-dung, drunk in cases of hemorrhage.... Goat-urine considered a
specific for the expulsion of calculi of the bladder. Asses’ urine drunk
for diseases of the kidneys, atrophy, paralysis, consumption, etc.
Asses’ dung taken internally in form of powder or potion, and applied
also externally in all cases of hemorrhage, excessive uterine flow, and
troubles of that nature (vol. ii. p. 247). It was thought by some to be
best when gathered in the month of May; others thought that dog-dung
should be substituted. Cow-urine was a beneficial application to sore
eyes.
Cow-dung was used in all cases of burns, inflammations, rheumatism, etc.,
“apum ac vesparum morsibus.” (We have already seen that it has been used
for bee stings in the State of New Jersey.) “Suffitu reprimit uterum
prolapsum.” Finally, it was used as a plaster in dropsy.—(Etmuller, vol.
ii. p. 248.)
Dove-dung was applied generally in cataplasms and rubefacient plasters
for the cure of rheumatism, headache, vertigo, colic pains, apoplexy;
also in boils, scorbutic swellings, etc., and drunk as a cure for
dropsy.—(Etmuller, vol. ii. p. 287.)
Quail-dung, “fimum in vino potum, dysenteriam sanare tradit Kynarides”
(vol. ii. p. 288).
Fresh calf-dung was rubbed on the skin for the cure of erysipelas.
Fox-dung was applied externally for the cure of all cutaneous disorders
(vol. ii. pp. 283-285).
Kid-dung (Capreolus or Chevreuil) was drunk as a cure for yellow jaundice
(vol. ii. p. 257).
Cat-dung was applied as a poultice to scab in the head and to gout in the
feet (vol. ii. p. 259).
Horse-dung, fresh or burnt to ashes, was applied externally as a
styptic, used as a fumigation to aid in the expulsion of the fœtus and
after-birth; also drunk as a potion for colic pains, strangulation of
the uterus, expulsion of the fœtus and after-birth, and for pleurisy.
“Stercus equinum est medicina magni et multi usus.... Interne succus ex
stercore recenti expressus.” For the certain cure of pleurisy, it should
be the dung of a young stallion, especially if oat-fed. “In Angina certe
stercus equinum non cedit stercori hirundinum ... et canis” (vol. ii. p.
263).
Lion-dung, taken internally, was an anti-epileptic.
Hare-dung was administered internally in calculus and dysentery, and
externally for burns.
Hare-urine was applied in ear troubles.
Wolf-dung was found efficacious, taken internally, in colic.
Musk was frequently given, mixed with zibethum, as a carminative; also as
a nervine and a cardiac.
Mouse-dung found its advocates as a remedy, given internally, in the
constipation of children, calculi, used in enemata.
The internal administration of rat-dung removed catamenial obstructions.
Mouse-dung was styled “album nigrum;” dog-dung, “album Græcum.”
Sheep-dung was administered internally in yellow jaundice; “maximi usus
in aurigine, sumptum cum petroselino” (rock-parsley),—while, externally,
it was applied to hard tumors, swellings, boils, burns, etc.
The urine of red or black sheep was given internally in dropsy. “Urina
(nigræ vel rubræ ovis) sumpta, aquam inter cutem abigit.” The dose was
from five to six ounces.
Hog-dung, externally, in cutaneous disorders, bites of venomous animals,
nasal hemorrhage,—for the cure of this last even the odor was sufficient;
“sufficit etiam odor.”
Michaelus Etmuller, “Opera Omnia,” “Schroderi dilucidati Zoölogia,”
Lyons, 1690, vol. ii. pp. 263-279, inclusive.
Quail-dung was administered for epilepsy when the bird had been fed on
hellebore.—(Etmuller, “Opera Omnia,” “Schrod. Diluc. Zoöl.” vol. ii. p.
288.)
Cuckoo-dung, taken in drink, cured the bites of mad dogs.—(Idem.)
White hen-dung was preferred for medicinal purposes. It was employed
for the same ailments as dove-dung, but was not believed to be so
efficacious. It was especially valuable in colic and uterine pains, in
yellow jaundice, calculus, abscesses in the side, suppression of urine,
etc. (vol. ii. p. 289).
There was another cure for the bites of mad dogs,—the dung of the swallow
taken internally. It was also considered to be a cure for colic pains and
kidney troubles, and was made into a suppository in cases of irritation
of the rectum (vol. ii. p. 290).
Kite-dung was sometimes applied externally in pains of the joints (vol.
ii. p. 291).
As a purgative, starling dung is enumerated in this strange list of
filthy medicaments (vol. ii. p. 292).
The egestæ of wild oxen was used for the same therapeutical purposes as
the excrement of the domesticated bovines (vol. ii. p. 252).
Peacock-dung. “Stercus proprietate vertiginem et epilepsiam sanat (in
dies multos exhibitum).” It should be administered in wine, and the
treatment was to be persisted in from the new until the full moon, or
longer. “Continuando a novilunio usque ad plenilunium, aut amplius.... In
epilepsiam est specificum magno usu expertum.” It was likewise considered
of great value in the cure of vertigo, but the dung of the cock should be
given to men; that of the hen, to women. Etmuller, however, did not think
this distinction to be necessary (vol. ii. pp. 292, 293).
The dung of geese, old or young, was employed in the treatment of yellow
jaundice, for which it was believed to be a specific. The dose was one
scruple. The geese should have been fed on “herba chelidonii.” Next to
the yellow jaundice, it was of special value in scurvy, taken either in
the form of a powder or a decoction. For the cure of dropsy it was the
main ingredient in several of the remedies prescribed. It was also the
principal component in the manufacture of “aqua ophthalmica Imperatoris
Maximiliani,” to prepare which, the dung of young geese was gathered in
the months of April and May (vol. ii. p. 287).
Stork-dung, stercus ciconiæ. Believed to be potential in epilepsy and
diseases of the same type. “Stercus, si ex aqua hauritur, comitialibus
aliisque morbis capitis prodesse credunt.”—(Etmuller, vol. ii. p. 287.)
The laxative properties of mouse-dung were extolled by Dr. Jacob
Augustine Hunerwolf, in “Ephemeridum Physico-Medicarum,” Leipzig, 1694,
vol. i. p. 189.
Rosinus Lentilius relates that there was a certain old hypochondriac,
of fifty or more, who, in order to ease himself of an obstinate
constipation, for more than a month drank copious draughts of his own
urine, fresh and hot, but with the worst results, “Per mensem circiter
urinam suam statim a mictu calentem ipsa matuta hauriret.”—(In “Ephem.
Physico-Medicarum,” Leipzig, 1694, vol. ii. p. 169.)
On the page just cited and those immediately following, can be found some
ten or twelve pages of fine print, quarto, elucidative of the uses of the
human excreta, medicinally, and as a matter of morbid appetite.
To the Ephemeridum, Dr. Lentilius also contributed a careful résumé of
all that was at that time known of the medicinal or other form of the
internal employment of the human excreta; he premised his remarks by
saying that while some persons sent to foreign countries and ransacked
their woods and forests for medicines, there were others who sought
their remedies nearer home, and did not disdain the employment of
the vilest excrements. “I am not speaking now,” he remarks, “of the
excrements of animals, but of human ordure and human urine. We know,”
he continues, “that horse-dung is used for the cure of colic, pig-dung
for checking internal hemorrhages, dog-dung or album Græcum for angina,
goose-dung for yellow jaundice, peacock-dung for vertigo, and goat-dung,
in Courland beer, for malignant fevers.” The Mexicans used human ordure
as an antidote against serpent bites in two-scruple doses, drunk in
some convenient liquor: “De homerda contra venenatos Mexicano—serpentis
ictus—ad ʒ ii. in convenienti liquore hausta” (p. 170). The same mixture
was drunk by the Japanese, as a remedy against the wounds made by
poisoned weapons: “De eadem mixtura sed e stercore proprio confusa contra
telorum venena Japonensibus pota.” Observe that in this last case the
ordure had to be that of the wounded man himself.
Etmuller recommends its use in expelling from the system the virus of
“napelli” whatever that may have been. To cure the plague, the patient
was to consume a quantity equal in size to a filbert. To frustrate the
effects of incantation and witchcraft, it had to be drunk in oil. Used
in the same manner, it was supposed to be of use in expelling worms:
“De eadem mixtura, sed a stercore proprio,” etc., as already quoted.
“De stercore humano, seu recente seu arido, adsunto ad expugnandum
napelli virus, etiam a nostratibus commendato, de quo vid. Etmuller,
etc.... In peste fuganda mane ad avellanas quantitatem devorando, ...
ad morbos e fascino ex aceto propinato ... ad expellendos vermes eodem
modo usurpato.” He alludes also to “Oletum” and the medicines made with
it, as an ingredient; but says he will leave “Zibethum” and “Occidental
Sulphur” to Paracelsus and the members of his school. He quotes Galen
as recommending the drinking of the urine of a stout, healthy boy, as
a preventive of the plague. “Urina pueri sani bibita ... preservans a
peste,” quoting Galen, lib. x. “De Simp. Med. Fac.” A draught of her
husband’s urine was of great assistance to a woman in uterine troubles:
“Sic, in δυσοχία urinæ maritalis haustum concelebrant alii.” The urine
of a chaste boy was much commended by many writers for internal use in
dropsy, splenic inflammation, etc. “Sic urinam impolluti pueri quotidie
potum, esse medicamentum laudabile et præsentaneum, ad lienis morbos
et hydropem.” It would be useless to quote further in the words of the
original. Lentilius goes on to say that a potion of one’s own urine
was extolled in the treatment of the bites of snakes, wounds by deadly
weapons, incipient dropsy and consumption.
To drink one’s own urine for the space of three days was a sure cure for
the yellow jaundice, also in preserving from the plague. But Von Helmont
was of the opinion that in this last case its virtues were derived from
the fact that it was a stimulant and served to keep up the spirits. By
Etmuller, its use was strongly recommended in the treatment of the yellow
jaundice, etc. (citing Etmuller). It was likewise highly extolled by
Avicenna.
We are next treated to a feast of big words, in which we learn that
on account of its “nitrosity” and “volatility,” it was regarded as a
“detersive,” and “penetrative,” while, on account of the alkali it
contained, it was a neutralizer of the “fermenting acids,” and therefore
applicable in cardialgia, anorexia, gout, toothache, colic, yellow
jaundice, and intermittent fevers, either the urine “of the patient
himself or that of a wine-drinking boy.”
Boyle, the eminent philosopher, is quoted as saying that, in his opinion,
the virtues of human urine, as a medicine, internally and externally,
would require a volume by themselves. Boyle is also credited with having
published a tract on this subject, in Leipzig, 1692, over the signature
“B.”
Lentilius devotes a number of pages of close, logical reasoning to
demonstrate the fallacy of supposing that human excreta can be of any
possible utility in therapeutics. According to his opinion, Nature
voided them from the body because the body had no further use for them;
therefore, their re-absorption could scarcely be other than deleterious;
this was all the more true in disease, because the patient being in
a morbid state, that which he ejected could by no process of correct
reasoning be regarded as healthy. This argument, although of great
interest and value, is very long and pertains rather to the history of
medicine proper than to this essay.
Lentilius concludes by saying that no more cruel threat could be made
than that of Sennacherib against the Jews that he would make them eat
their own excrement and drink the water which bathed his feet: “Quam
futurum esse, ut quisquis sua stercora voraturus, et aquam pedum suorum
bibiturus sit.” Esa. 36, ver. 12. “Væ miseris ægrotis, quo rumores ad
urinæ potum rediit.”—(In “Ephem. Phys. Medic.” Leipzig, 1694, vol. ii.
pp. 169 to 176, inclusive; the pages are quarto, the number of words to
the page about 375.)
Lentilius has either stolen bodily from Paullini, or anticipated him; he
has all of Paullini’s facts, but seems, in addition, to have been much of
a philosopher, which Paullini was not.
Christian Franz Paullini’s “Filth Pharmacy,” Frankfort, 1696, is better
known than any other of the works cited, being in German, of small size,
and confining itself almost exclusively to a recapitulation of diseases,
with the appropriate excrementitious curative opposite each.
Six different editions are contained in the Library of the U. S. Army
Medical Museum, in Washington; of these, that of Frankfort, 1696 (268
pages, duodecimo), was selected, and the work of translation entrusted
to Messrs. Smith and Pratz; being perfectly familiar with English and
German, their interpretation, made slowly and carefully, may be relied on
as minutely correct.
Paullini has done nothing beyond collecting his ample list of cases in
which the human and animal excreta were employed in the treatment of
diseases; he has in no instance ventured upon an explanation of the
reason for such use, such as Etmuller supplied.
He treats of the employment of human ordure and urine, and animal
excreta, in the following diseases: headache, insomnia, vertigo,
dementia, melancholia, mania, gout, convulsions, palsy, epilepsy, sore
eyes, cataract, ophthalmia, ear troubles, bleeding of the nose, nasal
polypi, carious teeth, dropsy of the head, wens, asthmatic troubles,
coughs, spitting of blood, consumption, pleurisy, fainting spells,
diseases of the mammary glands, tumors, colic, abnormal appetite, worms,
hernia, sciatica, ulceration of the bowels, constipation, diarrhœa,
dysentery, obstructions of the liver, dropsy, jaundice, kidney troubles,
gravel, stone, retention of urine, excessive flow of urine, impaired
virility, swelling of the testicles, uterine displacements, menstrual
troubles, sterility, accidents to pregnant women, miscarriages, difficult
labor, pains after childbirth, gout of feet, rheumatism, fevers of all
kinds, poisons, plague, syphilitic and venereal diseases, abscesses,
sprains, contusions, bruises, wounds, ring-worm, felons, itch, freckles,
as a cosmetic, for rash, tetter, loss of hair, lice, gangrene, colds,
warts, fissure of the rectum, fistulas, corns, bunions, love-potions, and
to baffle witchcraft.
For headache, pigeon-dung was used internally, and the dung of a red cow
and of the peacock, externally.
Insomnia, donkey-dung, internally; gout and pigeon dung, externally.
Human urine was also used for the same purpose (pp. 28, 29).
Vertigo. Pigeon, peacock, and squirrel dung, all used internally.
Dementia. Donkey-dung, externally.
Melancholia. Calf or ox dung, internally; owl-dung, externally.
Mania. Human ordure, internally; boy’s urine, internally, and also owl’s
and chicken’s dung, internally.
Gout. Boy’s urine, externally, and owl’s, jenny’s, horse’s, cow’s,
deer’s, and sow’s dung, externally.
Convulsions. Peacock and horse dung, externally.
Palsy. Let the patient wash with his own urine or that of a young boy
(pp. 28, 29); administer peacock’s or horse’s dung internally.
For the cure of the dread disease, epilepsy, human ordure and the urine
of boys were administered internally, and there were likewise internal
applications of the dung of horses, peacocks, mice, dogs, black cows,
lions, storks, and wild hogs; no external applications are noted for this
disease (pp. 28, 29, 42, 43).
Another remedy for epilepsy was to take the excrements of a fine, healthy
youth, dry them, and extract the oil by means of heat; rectify this oil
and take inwardly (pp. 42, 43).
For inflamed and running eyes make a collyrium of the warm urine of young
boys, mingled with other ingredients. Make an external application of
boys’ urine, or of the dung of swallows, pigeons, cows, goats, prairie
hens, horses, lizards, doves. There was no internal administration of any
of the above suggested.
For ophthalmic troubles, the same treatment as the above.
Cataract. Make an external application of human ordure, of boy’s urine,
or of the dung of wolves, green lizards, or geese.
Earache or ringing in the ear, or abscesses. Apply the urine of young
boys mixed with honey, or apply fresh human urine.
Other ear troubles. External application of boy’s urine or of the
patient’s own urine; external application of the dung of the white goat,
or pigeon’s, cat’s, deer’s, rabbit’s, jenny’s, wild hog’s or wolf’s dung.
Bleeding at the nose. External application of dog’s urine, of horse
urine, or of the dung of calf, donkey, hog, cow, horse, camel, or rabbit.
Nasal polypi. Dung of dog or donkey, externally.
Toothache or carious teeth. One’s own ordure, or the dung of wolf, dog,
raven, mouse, or horse, in all cases externally (pp. 52, 53).
Toothache. Apply a poultice of human excrement, mixed with
camomile-flowers, to the cheek.
Dropsy of the head. Take boy’s urine internally.
Croup and throat troubles generally. Boy’s urine, both internally and
externally; a gargle and a potion of one’s own urine; and both internal
and external applications of the white dung of dogs, gathered in July; or
the dung of geese, pigeons, eagles, goats, owls, hens, or wolves.
Asthmatic troubles. Salts of urine or pigeon’s dung, externally.
Coughs. The dung of dogs, internally, or the dung of geese; the dung of
ravens, deer, or sparrows, externally.
Spitting of blood. The excreta of wild sows, doves, sheep, cows, horses,
mice, dogs, or peacocks, internally.
Consumption. The patient’s ordure, internally; his own or a boy’s urine,
or mice-dung, internally (pp. 74, 75).
Another remedy for consumption was to let the patient drink a mixture of
his own urine beaten up with fresh egg; repeat for several successive
mornings; also, let him eat his own excrement (pp. 74, 76).
For pleurisy, we read that there was an external application of the
patient’s own urine, or that the dung of donkeys, horses, stallions,
mares, hens, pigeons, and dogs was given internally.
Fainting-spells. Human ordure, externally; one’s own urine, internally;
cow-urine or the dung of horses, sheep, or birds, externally.
Diseases of the mammary glands. The dung of cows or mice, internally, and
also an external application of that of oxen, goats, hogs, dogs, cows, or
pigeons.
Cancer of the breast. The patient’s own ordure internally, with external
applications of the dung of geese, cows, goats, or rabbits.
Wens. External applications of the dung of cows, rats, mice, goats,
sheep, geese, pigeons, or jennies.