Sentry Page Protection
Infection, to Preserve from
During Epidemics, strong scents have long been used to avert 'foul air'. Vinegar, or Vinegar and Rose water were often sprinkled around sick rooms and hospitals, and steaming bowls of vinegar have been used up until recently. Having a sponge dipped in Vinegar which usually has aromatic herbs steeped in it carried around the neck and smelled to avert infection. Vinegar with a little Camphor was commonly used.
Numerous herbs and compounds were used to avert infection. Some large and costly formulas were marketed during times of infection, many being bogus and purely to cash in on the vulnerable. But a number of medicines and tactics including using vinegar haven proven efficacy to a certain degree.
Western Tradition
Simples
1. Swallow a clove of Garlic, drinking a little wine after
2. Juniper berries can be chewed to avoid infection during epidemics; 3. Betony: ‘Preserves the lives and bodies of men from the danger of Epidemical diseases’. (Gerard) 4. Of Gentian: ‘a more sure remedy cannot be found to prevent the Pestilence’. (Culpeper) 5. Any of the following can be chewed: Pyrethrum, Angelica, Gentian, Zedoary, Blessed Thistle 6. Juniper, Pimpernel, Betony, Pennyroyal, Sorrel, beat together, boil in Honey and mix a little vinegar to form a conserve. (The Secrets of Alexis, 1615) 7. Juniper and Armenian Earth (equal weight). Form pills. (The Secrets of Alexis, 1615) Tincture of Juniper Berries
Tincture of Rue Tincture of Sulphur Elixir of Camphor Wormwood Wine Four Thieves Vinegar Powder of Crabs Claw (Countess of Kents Powder) Preservative Powder The Saxonian Powder Emperor’s Powder Against the Plague Maximillians Powder Against the Plague Troches Resisting Poison Pestilential Pills Pills of Ruffus (Common Pills) Pills for Pestilence Compound Electuary of Eggs (Electuarium de Ovo) (Maximilian) Electuary of Juniper Berries Electuary of Scordium (Diascordium) Common Theriac London Theriac Theriac of Andromachus (Venice Theriac) Mithridate |
TCM Classification
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