(the first century after Christ) it was still supposed to form one of
the ingredients of philters or love-potions. The superstitious ideas
attached to the mandrake were indeed so current throughout Europe during
the middle ages, that one of the accusations brought against the Knights
Templars was that of adoring, in Palestine, an idol to which was given
the name of Mandragora.[82] Even, comparatively, not very long ago,
there might be seen in many of the continental towns quacks and
mountebanks exhibiting little rudely-carved figures, which they declared
to be genuine mandrakes, assuring their gaping auditors, at the same
time, that they were produced from the urine of a gibbeted thief, and
seriously warning those who might have to pull any out of the ground to
stop their ears first, for otherwise the piercing shrieks of these
plants would infallibly strike them with deafness. Wier thus describes
the manufacture of these interesting little gentlemen: "Impostors carve
upon these plants while yet green the male and female forms, inserting
millet or barley seeds in such parts as they desire the likeness of
human hair to grow on; then, digging a hole in the ground, they place
the said plants therein, covering them with sand till such time as the
little seeds have stricken root, which, it is said, would be perfectly
effected within twenty days at furthest. After this, disinterring the
plants, these impostors, with a sharp cutting knife, so dexterously
carve, pare, and slip the little filaments of the seeds as to make them
resemble the hair which grows upon the various parts of the human
body."[83]
"I have seen," says the Abbé Rosier, "mandrakes tolerably well
representing the male and female parts of generation, a resemblance
which they owe, almost entirely, to manual dexterity. For the intended
object, a mandrake is chosen having a strong root, which, at the end of
a few inches, bifurcates into two branches. As the root is soft, it
easily takes the desired form, which it preserves on becoming dry."[84]
The author then describes the process of producing the resemblance of
human hair, and which is similar to that given above.
In the year 1429, a Cordelier by name Brother Richard, fulminated from
the pulpit a vigorous sermon against the amulette then much in vogue,
and called "Mandragora." He convinced his auditors, both male and
female, of its impiety and inutility, and caused hundreds of those
pretended charms which, upon that occasion, were voluntarily delivered
up to him, to be publicly burnt. It is no doubt, to these mandragoras
that an old chronicler alludes in the following strophe:
J'ai puis vu soudre en France
Par grant dérision,
La racine et la branche
De toute abusion.
Chef de l'orgueil du monde
Et de lubricité;
Femme où tel mal habonde
Rend povre utilité.[85]
In the 15th century the mandrake enjoyed in Italy so great a reputation
as an erotic stimulant, that the celebrated Macchiavelli wrote a much
admired comedy upon it, called "_La Mandragora_." The subject of this
piece, according to Voltaire, who asserts "qu'il vaut, peut être mieux
que toutes les pièces d'Aristophane, est un jeune homme adroit qui veut
coucher avec la femme de son voisin. Il engage, avec de l'argent, un
moine, un _Fa tutto_ ou un _Fa molto_, à séduire sa maitresse et à faire
tomber son mari dans un piège ridicule. On se moque tout le long de la
pièce, de la religion que toute l'Europe professe, dont Rome est le
centre et dont le siège papal est le trone."[86]
Callimaco, one of the dramatis-personæ of this comedy, thus eulogizes
the plant in question, "Voi avete a intendere che non è cosa più certa a
ingravidare, _d'una pozione fatta di Mandragola_. Questa è una cosi
sperimentata da me due para di volte, e se non era questa, la Reina di
Francia sarebbe sterile, ed infinite altre principesse in quello
Stato."[87]
"You must know that nothing is so sure to make women conceive, as a
draught composed of Mandragola. That is a fact which I have verified
upon four occasions, and had it not been for the virtues of this plant,
the queen of France, as well as many noble ladies of that kingdom, would
have proved barren."
By the Venetian law the administering of love-potions was accounted
highly criminal. Thus the law "_Dei maleficii et herbarie_." Cap. XVI.
of the code, entitled "Della Commissione del maleficio" says, "Statuimo
etiamdio che se alcun homo o femina harra fatto maleficii, iguali so
dimandono volgarmente _amatorie_, o veramente alcuni altri maleficii,
che alcun homo o femina se havesson in odio, sia frusta et bollade, et
che hara consigliato, patisca simile pena."[88]
The notion of the efficacy of love powders was also so prevalent in the
15th century in our own country that in the Parliament summoned by King
Richard III., on his usurping the throne, it was publicly urged as a
charge against Lady Grey, that she had bewitched King Edward IV. by
strange potions and amorous charms.
"And here also we considered how that the said pretended
marriage betwixt the abovenamed King Edward and Elizabeth
Grey, was made of great presumption, without the knowing and
assent of the Lords of this land, and also by sorcery and
witchcraft committed by the said Elizabeth and her mother
Jaquet Duchesse of Bedford, as the common opinion of the
people and the public voice and fame is thorow all this
land." (From the "Address of Parliament to the high and
mightie Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester.")[89]
Modern writers, as might be expected, have taken a very wide range in
their inquiries as to what kind of plant the Dudaïm really was, some
regarding it as lilies, roses, violets, snowdrops, and jasmine; others,
as melons, plantain fruits, whirtleberries, dwarf brambles, the berries
of the physalis or winter cherry, grapes of some peculiar kinds, or even
underground fungi, as truffles, &c. Many have supposed the word to mean
the ingredients, whatever they might have been, of a charm or love
potion, and hence have recurred to the mandrake, celebrated, as already
said, throughout antiquity, for its supposed virtues, and whose history
has been tricked out with all the traditionary nonsense that might be
imagined to confirm that report of such qualities.
Liebentantz,[90] in 1660; the younger Rudbeck,[91] in 1733, and
Celsius,[92] in 1745, have displayed much erudition and research in
their inquiries; but the first of these writers arrived at the
conclusion that nothing certain could be come to on the subject; while
the second proposed raspberries as the Dudaïm; and the third maintained
that they were the fruit of the Zizyphus, the Spina Christi of the
disciples of Linnæus.
Maundrell, who travelled in the East in the 17th century, informs us
that, having asked the chief priest of Aleppo what sort of a plant or
fruit the Dudaïm, or (as we translate it) the _mandrakes_, were which
Leah gave to Rachel for the purchase of her husband's embraces, the
holy man replied "that they were plants of a large leaf bearing a
certain sort of fruit, in shape resembling an apple, growing ripe in
harvest, but of an ill savour, and not wholesome. But the virtue of them
was to _help conception_, being laid under the genial bed. That the
women were wont to apply it at this day, out of an opinion of its
prolific virtue."[93]
Some writers have supposed the Dudaïm to be neither more nor less than
the truffle. Virey asserts it to be a species of Orchis; and, indeed,
considering the remarkable conformation of the root of this plant,[94]
the slightly spermatic odour of its farinaceous substance, as well as
that of the flowers of another one belonging to the same family, an
odour so similar to the emanations of an animal proverbial for its
salaciousness, and to which its bearded spikes or ears give additional
resemblance, the almost unbounded confidence which the ancients reposed
in its aphrodisiacal virtues cannot appear surprising.
One of the most extraordinary aphrodisiacs upon record is that reported
to have been employed by the Amazons. The "Amazons," says
Eustathius,[95] "broke either a leg or an arm of the captives they took
in battle, and this they did, not only to prevent their attempts at
escape, or their plotting, but also, and this more especially, to render
them more vigorous in the venereal conflict; for, as they themselves
burnt away the right breast of their female children in order that the
right arm might become stronger from receiving additional nutriment, so
they imagined that, similarly, the genital member would be strengthened
by the deprivation of one of the extremities, whether a leg or an arm."
Hence, when reproached by the Scythians with the limping gait of her
slaves, Queen Antianara replied, "[Greek: arista chôlos oiphei]," "the
lame best perform the act of love."
Among the ancient Romans, it was impossible that philters, or
love-potions, should not be introduced amid the general depravity so
common in every class; and hence we meet with frequent allusions to them
in their writers. Thus, the emperor Julian, surnamed the Apostate,
writing to his friend Callixines, observes "At enim inquies, Penelopes
etiam amor et fides erga virum tempore cognita est. Et quis, tandem,
inquam, in muliere amorem conjugis sui religioni ac pietati anteponet
_quam continuò mandragoræ bibesse judicitur_?"[96]
"But you, Callixines, observe that Penelope's love to her
husband was always thus manifested. To this I answer, who
but he _that has habitually drunk Mandragora_ can prefer in
a woman conjugal affection to piety?"
The over excitement caused in the nervous system by such potions
frequently proved fatal. Such, according to Eusebius, was the fate of
the poet Lucretius, who, having been driven to madness by an amatory
potion, and having, during the intervals of his insanity, composed
several books, which were afterwards corrected by Cicero, died by his
own hand, in the 44th year of his age.[97] It should, however, be
remembered that this account has been questioned by the poet's
translator and annotator, the late Mr. Mason Good, in these words:
"By whom the potion was administered is conjectured only
from a passage in St. Jerome,[98] who says that a certain
Lucilia killed her husband or her lover by giving him a
philtre, which was intended to secure his love, but the
effect of which was to make him insane. This Lucilia is
supposed to have been the wife or the mistress of Lucretius,
but by whom the supposition was first made, I am not able to
discover."[99] Suetonius relates the same thing of Caius
Caligula, who although, when he arrived at manhood, endured
fatigue tolerably well, was still occasionally liable to
faintness, owing to which he remained incapable of any
effort. He was not insensible to this disorder of his mind,
and sometimes had thoughts of retiring.[100] "Creditum," he
continues, "potionatus a Cæsonia uxore, amatorio quodam
medicamento, sed quod furorem verterit."[101]
"It is thought that his wife Cæsonia administered to him a
love-potion, which threw him into a phrensy." It is in
allusion to this that Juvenal writes
"Tamen hoc tolerabile, si non
Et furere incipias, ut avunculus ille Neronis
Cui totam tremuli frontem Cæsonia pulli
Infudit."[102]
"Some nimbler juice would make him foam and rave,
Like that Cæsonia to her Caius gave,
Who, plucking from the forehead of the foal
The mother's love, infused it in the bowl:
The boiling blood ran hissing through his veins,
Till the mad vapour mounted to his brains."
These concoctions were publicly sold at Rome, their ingredients
consisting of herbs of various kinds, in the culling and testing of
which the shepherds were often employed. The remora, or sucking-fish,
certain bones of the frog, the astroit, or star-fish, and the hippomanes
were also used. Horace informs us that dried human marrow and liver were
also had recourse to:
"Exsucta uti medulla et aridum jecur
Amoris esset poculum."[103]
That his parch'd marrow might compose,
Together with his liver dried, an amorous dose.
Del Rio[104] and Wallick[105] assert that to the above were likewise
added nail-parings, sundry metals, reptiles, and the intestines of
particular birds and fishes, and even _semen virile_ and _sanguis
menstruus_.[106] During the concoction of these filthy, disgusting, and
abominable compounds, the Infernal Deities were earnestly invoked.
Of all the above ingredients the most famous was the hippomanes, which,
according to Wier, was a piece of flesh upon the forehead of a young
colt, of a black or brown colour, in size and shape like a fig, which
the mare is said to bite off as soon as she has foaled, the mare
forsaking her offspring when prevented from so doing; hence the
hippomanes, which was in reality nothing more than a caul or part of the
omentum attached to the head of the foal, as it is also sometimes to
that of infants, was thought to be particularly effective in
conciliating love, especially when calcined or reduced to powder, and
swallowed in some of the blood of the person beloved. This superstition
is, however, in some degree excusable, if it be considered that, even in
the present day, many persons in our own country firmly believe the
human caul to have the power of saving its possessor from drowning; and
that in the good old times, it was regarded as a visible indication that
Providence had designed the infant so furnished for the service of
religion, such children, whether male or female, being destined, in
consequence, for the cloister.
Virgil thus mentions it as one of the ingredients of the philter that
Dido caused to be made for her previously to her committing suicide:
"Falcibus et messæ ad Lunam quæruntur alienis
Pubentes herbæ, nigri cum lacte veneni.
Quæritur _et nascentis equi in fronte revulsus_
Et matri præruptus amor."[107]
"Herbs are brought, by moonlight mow'd
With brazen scythes, big, swol'n with milky juice
Of curious poison, _and the fleshy knot
Torn from the forehead of a new foal'd colt_
To rob the mother's love."
The following curious account of the wonderful effects of the
hippomanes, and which fully justifies the etymology of that
word, is given by Pausanias:
"Among these (offerings) you may behold those of Phormis
Menalius.... His gifts in Olympia are two horses and two
charioteers, one of which horses the Ælians assert to have
been made by a magician, of brass, into which metal he had
previously infused the _hippomanes_, and which, in
consequence, possessed the power of exciting in horses a mad
desire for coition. The horse so made by the magician was,
both in size and shape inferior to many horses which are
dedicated within Altis, and was rendered still more deformed
by having no tail. Horses desire connection with this image
not only in spring, but every day throughout the year, for,
breaking their bridles or running away from their drivers,
they rush into Altis and attack the horse in a manner much
more furious than if it was the most beautiful mare, and one
they were acquainted with. Their hoofs, indeed, slip from
the side of the image, but nevertheless they never cease
neighing vehemently and leaping furiously on the figure till
they are driven off by the whip or by some other violent
means, for till such methods are applied, it is impossible
to disengage them from the brass."[108]
Many formula for love-potions may be found in the work of
Albertus Magnus, who, among other things, particularly recommends
"the brains of a partridge calcined into powder and swallowed
in red wine," a remedy which is also much insisted upon
by Platina, who, in praising the flesh of the partridge, says,
"Perdicis caro bene ac facile concoquitur, multum in se nutrimenti
habet, cerebri vim auget, _genituram facilitat ac demortuam
Venerem excitat_."[109]
"The flesh of the partridge, which is of good and easy
digestion, is highly nutritious; it strengthens the brain,
facilitates conception, and arouses the half-extinct desire
for venereal pleasures." Mery[110] confidently prescribes,
for the same purpose, the _partes genitales_ of a cock
prepared and administered in like manner.
The following compositions enjoyed a vast reputation during the 17th
century:
FORTUNA VENERIS.--"Take of pismires or ants (the biggest,
having a sourish smell, are the best) two handfuls, spirits
of wine one gallon; digeste them in a glasse vessel, close
shut, for the space of a month, in which time they will be
dissolved into a liquor; then distil them in balneo till all
be dry. Then put the same quantity of ants as before; do
this three times, then aromatize the spirit with cinnamon.
Note, that upon the spirit will float an oil which must be
separated. This spirit (continues the inventor) is of
excellent use to stir up the animal spirits insomuch that
John Casimire, Palsgrave of the Rhine, and Seyfrie of
Collen, general against the Turks, did always drink thereof
when they went to fight, to increase magnanimity and
courage, which it did even to admiration."
"This spirit doth also _wonderfully irritate them that are
slothful to venery_."[111]
AQUA MAGNANIMITATIS.--Take of ants or pismires a handful of
their eggs two hundred, of millepedes (wood-lice) two
hundred, of bees two hundred and fifty; digeste them
together, the space of a month, then pour off the clear
spirit, and keep it safe. This water or spirit is of the
same value as the former.[112]
But, quitting these "fond conceits," as honest old Burton[113] calls
them, and investigating the subject upon acknowledged and recognised
principles, it will be found that, as the ancient philosophers and
naturalists regarded the semen as the purest and most perfect part of
our blood, the flower of our blood and a portion of the brain, so the
sole object of all aphrodisiacal preparations should be to promote its
copious secretion.
Before, however, proceeding to indicate the means most conducive
thereto, it may prove interesting to the reader to be informed what were
the opinions of some of the most celebrated philosophers of antiquity,
upon the semen. "Let us first," says Montaigne,[114] "know whether, at
least, all they (physicians) agree about the matter whereof men produce
one another.... Archesilaus, the physician, whose favourite and disciple
Socrates was, said that men and beasts were formed of a lacteous slime,
expressed by the heat of the earth. Pythagoras says that our seed is the
foam or cream of our better blood. Plato, that it is the distillation of
the marrow of the back-bones; and raises his argument from this: that
that part is first sensible of being weary of the work. Alcmeon, that it
is a part of the substance of the brain, and that it is so, says he, is
proved by its causing weakness of the eyes in those who are
over-immoderately addicted to that exercise. Democritus, that it is a
substance extracted from soul and body. Aristotle, an excrement drawn
from the aliment of the last blood which is diffused over all our
members; others, that it is a blood concocted and digested by the heat
of the genitals."
But, to return from this digression. Under whatever point of view the
_semen verile_ be considered, whether as containing, according to some
physicians, all the parts of the fœtus, under the name of organic
molecules, or as being, in the opinion of others, merely destined to
fecundate the female egg, it will be equally true that the semen is a
fluid impregnated with a vivifying principle regarded as the most
important (_validissimum_) of our humours, by Hippocrates, who, in
support of this his opinion, adduces the fact of our becoming
debilitated, however small the quantity we may lose of it in the
venereal act.[115]
Zeno, the father of the Stoic philosophy, called the loss of semen the
loss of part of the animating principle; and that sage's practice was
conformable with his principles, for he is recorded to have embraced his
wife but once in his life, and that out of mere courtesy.
Epicuras and Democritus were nearly of the same opinion as Zeno; and the
Athletæ, that their strength might be unimpaired, never married. The
Rabbis, in their anxiety to preserve their nation, are said to have
ordered, with a view of preventing a loss of vigour, that a peasant
should indulge but once a week, and a merchant but once a month, a
sailor but twice a year, and a studious man but once in two years; and
for the same reason, Moses forbade indulgence before battle.
"Les êtres," says a writer in the Dictionnaire des Sciences
Médicales,[116] "qui font le plus abus de leurs facultés
intellectuelles et sensitives extérieures, sont les moins
capables d'un coït fréquent, tandis que les idiots, les
crétins, l'exercent bien davantage. De même, l'âne, le
cochon se livrent plus stupidement à l'acte de propagation
et repandent beaucoup plus de sperme que des espèces
intelligentes; enfin les animaux à petit cerveau, tels que
les poissons, montrent une extrême fécondité."
If now, it be asked what will best promote the secretion of the seminal
fluid, or, in other words, which is the best aphrodisiac, it may be
confidently answered, the use of a substantial nourishment, such as
medical men designate as an analeptic diet. Food of this description,
without fatiguing the gastric organs, furnishes an abundant chyle, from
which is elaborated a rich blood, and in which the secretory organs find
materials of an excellent quality, and in an almost constant proportion
with the regular consumption of their products. All food of easy and
quick digestion is an analeptic, whence it follows that the same
substance which is an analeptic to one person, may prove indigestible
and innutritious for another. The numerous treatises upon digestion
render it unnecessary to specify here the different aliments most proper
for convalescents, suffice it to say, generally, that those meats in
which azezome is found are the most nutritious. This animal principle is
that extractive matter of animal fibre which produces the red appearance
of uncooked meat; it is also that which forms what is called the _brown_
of roasted meats, gives the flavour to broths and soups, the peculiar
smell to boiled meat, and constitutes the much admired _gout_ of game
and venison. It is not found in the flesh of young animals, which is
said, with reason, to be, on that very account, less nutritious. It is
only when they have attained the adult age that it appears in them; it
is abundant in beef, mutton, kid, hare, pigeon, partridge, pheasant,
woodcock, quail, duck, goose, and generally, in all animals having dark
coloured flesh. Mushrooms and oysters also contain some, but in a very
small proportion.
Food in which this principle exists appears to impress upon the membrane
of the stomach an increase of activity; the digestion is easy, and from
a small mass of alimentary substance an abundant chyle is obtained. The
chyliferous vessels derive a very great proportion of reparative
materials; there is found but little excrementitious residue, the blood
is enriched and its course accelerated, while the impulsive force of the
heart and arteries is strong and more lively. Under the influence of
this regimen a greater quantity of heat is developed and, in a given
time, there is a greater absorption of oxygen than during a vegetable
one; the respiration is performed more freely, the organs increase in
size, but it is then a genuine embonpoint; nutrition is, in reality,
more active, it is not a deceptive turgidity; the energy of the
secretions and exhalations is redoubled, cutaneous perspiration becomes
more abundant, and the glandular apparatus fulfil their functions with
greater facility. A man who adopts this food becomes consequently very
well fitted to make the sacrifices exacted by the calls of love, to
which he is then more frequently solicited.
The mollusca in general, and testaceous animals in particular, have
been considered as endowed with aphrodisiac properties. Juvenal
attributes this quality to oysters which, together with mussles, have in
this respect become vulgarly proverbial.
"Quis enim Venus ebria curat?
Inguinis et capitis quæ sint discrimina nescit
Grandia quæ mediis jam noctibus ostrea mordet."[117]
"For what cares the drunken dame?
(Take head or tail), to her 'tis much the same
Who at deep midnight on fat oysters sups."
Wallich informs us that the ladies of his time had recourse, on such
occasions, to the brains of the mustela piscis. The Sepia octopus was
also in great repute, and Plautus, in his play of Cisina, introduces an
old man who has just been purchasing some at the market.