Humours… Sassafras and Natural Philosophy 21 Aug 2020August 21, 2020 Between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries, doctors and apothecaries conceptualized the medical use of sassafras within the framework of natural philosophy. Medicine in the early-modern era had more in…
Bioprospecting… What is Guaiacum and how was it connected to Syphilis? 1 May 2018September 29, 2018 In a previous post, I discussed how syphilis got its name from a poem written in 1530. The shepherd Syphilis was struck down with the venereal disease for overturning the altars dedicated…
Documents… How Syphilis got its Name 9 Mar 2018September 29, 2018 Compared to today, syphilis was a different disease in early-modern Europe. It was more ferocious, fast acting, and destructive. Symptoms included painful and often deadly rashes and ulcers on the…
Documents… “The Man who did not Believe in Unicorns” 14 Nov 2017September 29, 2018 In previous posts I discussed the belief in the existence of unicorns and the medicinal virtues of their horns, however, there were some people in the early-modern period who did…
Documents… Monardes and Gerard on Sassafras 18 Jul 2017August 21, 2020 In a previous post, I described how Nicolas Monardes’ description of sassafras laid the foundation for future authors to understand the physical and medicinal properties of the sassafras and its…
Documents… How were the English Introduced to Sassafras? 11 Jul 2017October 2, 2018 The introduction of sassafras to the English imagination took a circuitous route. Printed knowledge of the tree probably first appeared in English through the publishing of Joyfull Newes out of…
Indians… Indian uses of Sassafrass 17 Nov 2016September 29, 2018 Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) is a small deciduous tree native to eastern North America with green apetalous flowers and dimorphous leaves. It grows to roughly 20 feet tall and its wood…
Gonnorrhea… A Sixteenth-Century Cure For Gonorrhea 17 Jul 2016August 22, 2020 Anon, A rich store-house or treasury for the diseased Wherein, are many approued medicines for diuers and sundry diseases, which haue been long hidden, and not come to light before…
