The Anatomy of Melancholy

Some prefer potions to pills for purging this humour because, as Heurnius and Crato observe, “this fluid is drawn out with difficulty by a dry remedy”: dry remedies do not draw this fluid out so easily. As Montanus advises in consultation 25, “all drying medicines must be rejected, such as aloes, Hiera and pills of every kind,” because the disease is dry in itself.

I could insert many recipes for prescribed potions, boluses and the like, together with their doses. But these are familiar to every good physician; and I am reluctant to incur Foreest’s censure in On Urines, book 3, chapter 6, “against those who divulge and publish medicines in their native language.” I also fear giving some uninformed reader an opportunity to experiment on himself without a good physician’s consent.

Medicines not swallowed but merely held in the mouth include gargles, commonly used after a purge when the bowels are open and loose. There are also apophlegmatisms, or masticatories, held and chewed in the mouth: gentle ones such as hyssop, oregano, pennyroyal, thyme and mustard; and strong ones such as pellitory, pepper, ginger and so on.

Those taken into the nostrils, called errhines, are liquid or dry: pimpernel juice, onions and so on; castoreum, pepper, white hellebore and the like. To these you may add scented preparations, perfumes and fumigations.

Those administered through the lower parts are enemas, strong or weak; suppositories of Castile soap or honey boiled to a firm consistency; or stronger ones made of scammony, hellebore and so on. All these are used and prescribed for this disease in various circumstances, as will be explained in the proper place.