against magic philters, “in specie ex sanguine menstruo fœmineo.” It
was considered good for all those ailments for which dove-dung was
prescribed, but was not quite so efficacious. It was excellent for colic,
for uterine pangs, yellow jaundice, calculus, suppression of urine, for
all pains in the bowels, for strangling of the womb and pains therein,
for poison, witchcraft, for seat-worms, etc. Externally, it was applied
for all sores in the eyes, ulcers, warts, cicatrices, piles, pains in the
feet and arms (pp. 816, 817).
Swallow-dung is mentioned as of internal and external application. It was
regarded of great efficacy in the treatment of mad-dog bites, quaternary
fevers, colic, inflammation of the kidneys, etc. It was applied as a
plaster in cases of headache, angina, inflammation of the tonsils, and
as a suppository in relaxation of the rectum. Its efficacy was conceded
in dyeing the hair, being invaluable when used frequently as an unguent.
Etmuller is quoted as expressing the opinion that they owe their action
to the presence of “Armoniacal” salts. The swallow’s nest, with all its
contents, was also sometimes ground up into a plaster, and swallow-dung
itself was occasionally substituted for “album Græcum” (pp. 817 _et
seq._).
Lion-dung exerted its potency in cases of difficult labor, and it was the
panacea against epilepsy and apoplexy. One of the Grand Dukes of Austria
was cured of epilepsy by its use. Preference was given to the excrement
of a female lion, except where she had just brought forth young. An
anti-epileptic remedy of great repute was composed of burnt crow’s-nest,
burnt tortoise, burnt human skulls, linden-tree bark, and lion-dung, made
into an infusion by long digestion in spirits of wine (pp. 819, 820).
Leopard’s dung dissolved calculi; was taken as a potion for the cure of
dysentery; applied as a plaster for the cure of burns; hernia was cured
by a bolus composed of leopard’s dung, human mummy, burnt worms, syrup,
and other ingredients. The ashes of the dung, skin, and hair of the
leopard, in combination, expelled calculi. This remedy should be drunk,
dissolved in wine; it was also a sure remedy for the most obstinate cases
of colic. It was applied externally in sciatica, also in constriction of
the vulva, and was employed to facilitate conception. In the last-named
instance pastilles (trochisci) were likewise made and the parts
fumigated. Or a pessary was inserted and kept in place for three days and
nights; “et quamvis antea sterilis fuerit, deinceps tamen concipiet.” To
prevent falling out of eye-lashes and eye-brows, an ointment was prepared
of which the dung of the leopard was an ingredient. Finally, it was in
esteem as an aphrodisiac, and to expel wind from the womb (p. 820).
Wolf-dung, drunk in wine, or taken as a powder, in doses of one scruple
or more, was used in the treatment of the colic. Paullini is quoted as
recommending its use in fevers. The dung of wolves, as of dogs, should,
if possible, be that which is white in color, dejected by animals which
have been feeding upon bones, and deposited upon rocks, thorns, bushes,
or the lower branches of trees, but not on the ground. It was employed
internally in pains in the limbs, and administered, also internally, in
form of powder, in attacks of vertigo. Desiccated, it was blown into eyes
afflicted with cataract. The cavities of carious teeth were filled with
wolf-dung, to ease the pains of tooth-ache. For nasal hemorrhage, the
smoke of burning wolf-dung was snuffed up into the nostrils; but another
prescription was to drink an infusion of wolf-dung in red wine. If sheep
detected the odor of wolf-dung about their paddocks, or folds, they would
behave as if bewitched, running from side to side, bleating and showing
as much terror as if their arch-enemy, the wolf, was himself at hand.
Knowing this fact, rascally mountebanks were wont to perpetrate tricks
upon the ignorant and unsuspecting rustics, by secreting some of this
dung in the stable with the ewes and lambs, frightening them out of their
wits, and then persuading their masters that their flocks were suffering
from some hidden ailment for the cure of which they would demand a big
fee in money or fat sheep.
Schurig recommends the use of mouse-dung, both internally and externally,
for various disorders, for constipation in children, for scald head,
and dandruff, in which cases it was applied as an ointment, for the
elimination of calculi in kidneys and bladder, for all swellings in the
fundament, piles, warts, tumors in ano, hemorrhages of the lungs, for the
suppression of the menses, and even to excite the growth of the beard.
When taken internally, it was administered in broth, milk, or panada;
externally, it was made into a plaster with butter and such ingredients.
It was at times mixed with the dung of sparrows (p. 823 _et seq._).
Sheep-dung figures in medicinal preparations, to be used either
internally or externally. Internally, as a decoction, in yellow jaundice,
obstructions and constipation of the bowels, and in small pox. Also as a
specific in the cure of gonorrhœa, when given in form of pills. For pains
in the intestines, for swellings, burns, and ingrowing toe-nails, it was
applied as a plaster (p. 826 _et seq._).
Peacock-dung, the great specific in all cases of epilepsy and vertigo,
was administered in doses of one dram, and in France was held in high
repute for such purposes. It should be used from the new to the full
moon, and be taken in white wine (p. 828).
This paragraph about the medicinal value of the droppings of the peacock
deserves more than a cursory glance; in it we have a strong suggestion
of the former association of this bird with moon worship. The peacock,
we know, was the bird that drew the car of Juno, and that goddess was as
much a lunar deity as Diana.
Pig-dung or swine-dung appears as one of the remedies, of both internal
and external application, for nasal hemorrhage, and uterine flux. For
nasal hemorrhages, it was dried and reduced to powder, and drawn up
into the nostrils as a sort of snuff. Applied, externally, warm, to the
vulva, it was regarded as an aid in hemorrhage of the uterus; it was also
given internally for the same purpose. It was not used exclusively for
such hemorrhages, but had a great repute as a styptic in general, and
was applied to wounds of all descriptions. It was therefore used both
externally and internally for the suppression of excessive menstrual
flow, and taken internally to restrain spitting of blood. It was of
general use in the treatment of felons, and was also regarded as an
invaluable febrifuge.
For nasal hemorrhage, it was occasionally bound round the temples. Oddly
enough, it was believed to be a remedy for fetor of breath. “Alii miscent
stercus porcinum exsiccatum, cum pulvere rosarum pro corrigendo fœtore”
(p. 830 _et seq._).
As an external application for tumors of all kinds, cow-dung had a host
of advocates, who likewise extended its use to the cure of scrofulous
sores. For scrofulous wens, there was a cataplasm made of a composition
of various dungs,—those of the cow, goat, and doves, among others. This
was also to be taken internally, in white wine.
A plaster of cow-dung was used in gout of the feet. The dung of grass-fed
cows was considered excellent for tumors, etc.; but its efficacy was
increased when mixed with cow-urine or the urine of the patient himself;
this was also in request for the treatment of œdema. For the stings of
bees and wasps, a plaster of cow-dung was frequently used: “Contra apum
et vesparum ictus, stercus vaccinum cum aceto utiliter adhibetur” (p.
837). The dung of a black cow, burned and given in scruple doses to a
newly born child, preserved it from epilepsy and consumption; it was also
employed to mitigate the pains of dentition. The dung of bulls and cows,
collected in the month of May, distilled with water, made a panacea for
kidney diseases; it also expelled calculi and induced a flow of urine.
“Hæc aqua vocatur aqua omnium florum,” was employed both internally
and externally in gangrene, inflammations, rheumatism, spasms, dropsy,
suppression of urine, etc., and was used externally to remove freckles
and as a general cosmetic.—(“Chylologia,” p. 835 _et seq._)
In the “Complete English Physician,” London, 1730, there are recipes
which include the dung of geese, dogs, doves, horses, peacocks, hogs, and
cows.
In the “Complete English Dispensatory” of John Quincy, London, 1730,
p. 307, under the head “Distillation of Urine,” it is alleged that the
salts obtained from the urine “of a sound young man, newly made,” was
beneficial in rheumatism and arthritis. “Urina hominis,—urine of a man.
Some have got a notion of this being good for the scurvy, and drink their
own water for that end, but I cannot see with what reason. Some commend
it boiled into the consistence of honey, for rheumatic pain, rubbing it
onto the part affected; in which case it may do good, because it cannot
but be very penetrating.... Urina vaccæ,—cow piss. Some drink this as
a purge. It will operate violently, but it is practised only among the
ordinary people, and has nothing in its virtues to prefer it to more
convenient and cleanly medicines, any more than the former” (pp. 248,
249).
Father Du Halde says of camel’s dung: “When it is dried and reduced
to a powder, it will stop bleeding of the nose by being blown into
it.”—(Chinese recipes given in Du Halde’s “History of China,” London,
1736, vol. iv. p. 34.)
“The dung (of sheep) is a prevalent medicine against the jaundice,
dropsy, cholick, pleurisy, spleen, stone, gravel, scurvy, etc., taken
either in powder, tincture, or decoction. The dung, made into a cataplasm
with camphire, sal armoniack, and a little wine, opens, digests,
attenuates and eases pain. It is excellent in abscesses about the ears
and other emunctories, swellings in women’s breasts, pain of the spleen,
and gout.”—(Pomet, “History of Drugs,” English translation, London, 1738,
p. 256.)
The rare and erudite pamphlet of Samuel Augustus Flemming, “De Remediis
ex Corpore Humano desumtis,” Erfurt, 1738, although containing not more
than thirty-two pages, is filled with a mass of curious information upon
subjects generally disregarded. Flemming remarks that those who could
use urine, calculi, and things of that kind in medical practice, should
not shrink from the employment of ordure as well. “And it is truly
wonderful,” he says, “that a substance, the very aspect and odor of which
are sufficient to induce an inevitable nausea, should be regarded not
merely as a matter of curiosity and study, but held in the highest repute
as a unique and most precious treasure for the preservation of health.”
Yet Paracelsus, and others of his school, knowing the natural repugnance
to the acceptance of such medicines, prepared it under the name of
“Zibethum Occidentalis,” and administered it in doses of from one to two
drams, given in honey or wine, to ward off attacks of fever; by others,
it was employed as a plaster in cases of throat-inflammation, being then
called “Aureum.” Others again were of the opinion, from an examination
of its chemical nature, that it was fairly entitled to a place in the
Materia Medica. An oil and water were distilled from it, and used in
ocular sores, corrosive ulcers, and all sorts of fistulas; for affections
of the scalp, for the ulcers of erysipelas, for ring-worm and tetter, and
especially the pains of gout. Finally, it was believed by many to be of
exceptional efficacy in the cure of the plague, being taken internally.
“Qui urina, calculi et aliis delectantur, non a stercore ipso
abhorrebunt,” etc. The full citation in Latin need not be repeated, as it
is expressed in much the same manner as the views of Schurig, Paullini,
Etmuller, Beckherius, and others on the same subject. He cites Zacutus
Lusitanus Poterus and Johannes Anglicanus, neither of whose writings are
to be found in America.
Speaking of human urine, Flemming says that physicians boasted not only
of their ability to diagnose disease from urine, but to use the fluid
itself in the treatment of disease. It was employed in two ways: either
in the raw state, as emitted from the person in due course of nature, or
in chemical preparations extracted from it. It was often administered
with beneficial results in dropsy as an enema. In difficult labor, a
draught of the husband’s urine taken warm brought easy and safe delivery.
A drink of the patient’s own urine was highly commended in hysteria. As
an external application for the eradication of dandruff, scab, and other
scalp troubles, it was held in high esteem among the common people.
A salt and a spirit were prepared from urine by distillation, and
highly spoken of in the treatment of frenzy, mania, and kindred mental
infirmities of a grave type.
Flemming quotes from Beckherius, whose writings have already been
presented, and from Quercetanus, in “Pharmac. dogmat.,” p. 119.
(“De Remediis ex Corpore Humano desumtis,” Samuel Augustus Flemming,
Erfurt, p. 24 _et seq._)
In the “Physiological Memoirs of Surgeon-General Hammond, U. S. Army,”
New York, 1863, a chapter is devoted to uræmic intoxication, or the
exhilaration produced by the entrance into the blood of urine, either
injected or abnormally absorbed. This part of the subject should be
carefully scrutinized by medical experts, whose determinations may
make known whether or not the drunken frenzy of the Zuñi dancers could
be attributed to the unnatural beverage exclusively or to that in
combination with other intoxicants.
Dunglison says: “Human urine was at one time considered aperient; and
was given in jaundice in the dose of one or two ounces. Cow’s urine,
urina vaccæ, all-flower water, was once used, warm from the cow, as a
purge.”—(“Dunglison’s Medical Dictionary,” Philadelphia, Pa., 1860,
article “Urine.”)
In the “Lancet,” October, 1880, p. 56, Mr. G. F. Masterman draws
attention to the chemical analysis of beef tea, and shows that it is
analogous to urine, excepting that it contains less urea and uric acid.
“Many writers have endeavored to impress the public and the profession
with the true value of beef tea, viz., that it is not a nutrient but a
stimulant, and that it mainly contains excrementitious materials.”—(“Beef
Tea, Liebig’s Extract, Extractum Carnis, and Urine,” Richard Neale, M.
D., in the “Practitioner,” London, November, 1881, p. 343 _et seq._)
“In South America urine is a common vehicle for medicine, and the urine
of little boys is spoken highly of as a stimulant in malignant small-pox.
Among the Chinese and Malays of Batavia urine is very freely used. One
of the worst cases of epistaxis ceased after a pint of fresh urine was
drunk, although it had for thirty-six hours or more resisted every form
of European medicine. This was by no means an unusual result of the use
of urine, as I was informed by many of the natives.... As a stimulant and
general pick-up, I have frequently seen a glass of child’s or a young
girl’s urine tossed off with great gusto and apparent benefit. The use of
urate of ammonia and guano was noticed by Bauer in 1852, who found their
external use of value in phthisis, lepra, morphoæ, and other obstinate
skin diseases. Dr. Hasting’s report of the value of the excreta of
reptiles in 1862, in the treatment of phthisis, will also be fresh in the
recollection of the older members of the profession.”—(Idem.)
Some of the tribes of Central Africa use human urine as an invigorant
during the fever season, much as Europeans employ quinine.—(Rev. Mr.
Chatelain, missionary in Angola, Africa.)
“The people of Angola apply fresh urine to all cuts and
bruises.”—(“Muhongo,” African boy from Angola, West Africa, in personal
interview with Captain Bourke, translated by Rev. Mr. Chatelain,
missionary.)
ORDURE AND URINE IN FOLK-MEDICINE.
Excrementitious remedies are still to be met with in the folk-medicine
of various countries; indeed, the problem would be to determine in what
country of the world at the present day the more ignorant classes do not
still use them. The extracts to be now given will show that folk-medicine
still retains a hold upon medicaments the use of which is generally
believed to have passed away with the centuries.
“I never had an opportunity of seeing the following deed, but it was
many times asserted to me by serious persons: In our province, Brittany,
when somebody in the peasantry has a cheek swollen by the effects of
toothache, a very good remedy is to apply upon the swollen cheek, as a
poultice, freshly expelled cow-dung, and even human dung, just expelled
and still smoking, which is considered as much more efficient.”—(Personal
letter from Captain Henri Jouan, French Navy, Cherbourg, France, July 29,
1888.)
“Dans nos pays, on ne connaît pas, contre les piqûres, de guêpes et
autres insectes, venimeux, et contre les brûlures caustiques, de l’Urtica
Ureus, de meilleur remède que l’application de l’urine.”—(Personal letter
from Dr. Bernard, Cannes, France, August, 1888.)
In describing the medicine of the Samoans, Turner says: “On some
occasions mud and even the most unmentionable filth was mixed up and
taken as an emetic draught.”—(London, 1884, p. 139, “Samoa.”)
“Maw-wallop. A filthy composition, sufficient to provoke
vomiting.”—(Grose, “Dict. of Buckish Slang,” London, 1811.)
“In Fayette County an emetic for croup is made by mixing urine and
goose-grease, and administering internally, and also rubbing some of the
mixture over the throat and breast.”—(“Folk-Lore of the Pennsylvania
Germans,” Hoffman, in “Journal of American Folk-Lore,” Cambridge, Mass.,
January-March, 1889, p. 28.)
For incised wounds use human urine as a lotion; for lacerated wounds
apply human excrement.—(Sagen-Märchen, Volksaberglauben, aus Schwaben,
Freiburg, 1861, p. 487.)
“Horse-dung and beer” are mentioned as the remedy used in England
and France for the cure of “exceeding faintness.”—(See Black,
“Folk-Medicine,” London, 1883, pp. 152, 153, quoting Floyer and De La
Pryne.)
Among the many quaint recipes preserved in the Materia Medica of English
physicians down almost to our own day we find that pigeon’s dung was used
“to make a cataplasm against scrophulous and other like hard tumors; ...
for an ointment against baldness; ... for a cataplasm to ripen a plague
sore; ... to make a powder against the stone.”—(John Mathews Eaton,
“Treatise on Breeding Pigeons,” London, pp. 39, 40, quoting Dr. Salmon.)
Wolf-dung recommended in the treatment of colic.—(Black, “Folk-Medicine,”
p. 54.)
“A decoction of sheep’s dung and water was used in recent times in
Scotland for whooping-cough and in cases of jaundice.”—(Idem, p. 167.)
On the same page Black shows that the same remedy was extensively
employed in Ireland in the treatment of the measles.
“In the south of Hampshire a plaster of warm cow-dung is applied to open
wounds.”—(Idem, p. 161.)
“Water of cow-dung,” collected in May and June, used as a purge by people
in England.—(Southey, “Commonplace Book,” p. 554.)
On the same page he says that “man’s excrement which had been some days
discharged, thinned with so much ale,” was given to horses with the blind
staggers,—“a common experiment.”—(Idem.)
A poultice of pigeon’s dung and pounded rose-leaves was in use for a
stitch in the side.—(Southey, “The Doctor,” London, 1848, p. 59.)
Swine’s dung as a remedy for dysentery in Ireland, alluded to in terms of
high approval by Borlase, quoted by Southey in “Commonplace Book,” p. 149.
Hon. E. W. P. Smith, secretary of the United States Legation in the
Republic of Colombia, South America, states that among the San Blas
Indians of that country, and the lower classes generally, the patient’s
own urine is applied warm for sore eyes.
Mrs. Fanny D. Bergen, of Cambridge, Mass., has for some years devoted
time and intelligent study to the acquisition of data bearing upon the
superstitions connected with the human saliva. While making this valuable
and curious collection she has also been fortunate enough to encounter
much relating to kindred superstitions, and has very generously placed
at the disposal of the author of this volume all that related to the
employment of human and animal egestæ.
Urine a cure for chapped hands, on Deer Isle.
Urinate into your shoe to keep it from squeaking, on Deer Isle.
Sheep-dung tea, a cure for measles, is extensively used on Deer Isle.
Boys urinate on their legs to prevent cramp. This practice was common in
eastern Maine twenty to thirty years ago.
Water standing in the depressions of cow-dung was formerly recommended as
a certain cure for pulmonary consumption, in New York.
Oil tried from the penis of the hog and applied to the loins of a child
suffering from weakness of kidneys or bladder cured such diseases, in
northern parts of the United States and in parts of Nova Scotia.
One’s own urine was administered for gravel in Staffordshire, England,
within the past ten years.
A woman in England was given her own urine to drink, after a severe
illness, to prevent “fits,” in the present generation. A poultice of
fresh, warm cow-dung cured a man of rheumatism in New York. Measles were
cured by giving the patient a decoction of lamb’s excrements (locally
called “nanny-beads”), in Brunswick, N. Y., about 1825. A newly born
child was given a spoonful of woman’s urine as a laxative, in 1814,
in St. Albans, Vt. The white, limy part of hen-manure was used for
canker-sores in mouth, in Abingdon, Ill. Cow-manure was used for swelled
breasts in County Cork, Ireland. Sheep-manure tea was used for measles in
County Cork, Ireland, and by the negroes of Chestertown, Md. Sheep-dung
tea for measles all over New England, Ohio, and Cape Breton. Cow-dung,
as fresh as possible, plastered on inflamed breasts, commonly known as
“bealed” breasts, within the last twenty-five years, on Cape Breton.
Similar excrementitious remedies are in use among the Pennsylvania
Germans. Cow-dung poultices are applied in the treatment of diphtheria,
or as lenitives in cases of sore or gathered breasts. “Tea made of
sheep-cherries (Gen. et spec.?) is given for measles.”—(“Folk-Medicine of
the Pennsylvania Germans,” in “Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc.,” 1889.)
For reasons not ascertained, the use of these revolting medicaments has
nearly always been veiled under the language of euphemism. Sheep-dung
is rarely called by its own name, but always, as has been shown in the
preceding remarks, “sheep-nanny tea,” etc. In the same manner, the use
of human excreta was veiled under the high-sounding designations of
“zibethum,” “oriental sulphur,” etc.
This use of sheep-dung in the treatment of measles must be very ancient
and wide-spread. Surgeon Washington Matthews notes its existence among
the Navajoes, who learned it from the Spaniards.
“Slight wounds are cured” by the application of dirt to the part
affected.—(“Nat. trib. of S. Australia,” p. 284, received through the
kindness of the Roy. Soc. Sydney, N. S. Wales, T. B. Kyngdon, Secretary.)
Mr. Chrisfield, of the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., states
that urine was a remedy for earache among people on eastern shore of
Maryland and Virginia; while for the cure of jaundice, in New England,
“the spider, and even a more disagreeable remedy, is administered in a
spoonful of molasses.”—(“Folk-Medicine,” Black, London, 1883, p. 61,
quoting Napier, “Folk-Lore,” p. 95, and “Folk-Lore Record,” vol. i. p.
45.)