Pliny the Elder’s ‘The Natural History’ is an early encyclopedia, [c.AD 77–79]
which became a model for later scholarly works as a result of the breadth of its
subject matter. His work follows Galenic theories and shows that the use of
corpses in early medicine was widespread, as was the use of ground bones in
medical preparations, and he reported on the drinking of blood of Gladiators
who died in combat (apparently a cure for epilepsy).
Paracelsus [Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von
Hohenheim, 1493-1541] was a German-Swiss intellectual who tried to break
out of Galenic theories and used experiments to test his theories. His
significant contribution was his focus on chemicals as curatives, albeit within
the ‘humoral’ theory. [He is credited with coining the terms ‘gas’,
‘chemistry’, and ‘alcohol’ and as founder
of the discipline of toxicology]. He was also interested the occult, astral
forces, neoplatonism and interconnected forces.
During the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, mummies were thought to have curative
powers as mummified bodies
were brought back from Egypt and Arabia. Paracelsus was amongst those who
experimented with embalming bodies to use in medicines. However, one of the problems
for physicians was how to obtain a corpse for research purposes. The bodies of
executed prisoners were available to English physicians and their use less
likely to cause a moral dilemma in society. From medieval to early-modern
times, the sweat of a recently executed body was thought to be particularly
potent, with curative powers. Similar beliefs existed (particularly in Scandinavia
and Germany) in respect of the blood of a criminal corpse, though the practice
of hanging in England made this less relevant here. Similarly, European beliefs
included the hidden properties of the skull, as did skull moss and the teeth of
an executed prisoner.
One tradition that survived the longest concerned the
power of the human hand. The ‘Hand
of Glory’ is a severed hand from an executed criminal that was dried and then
pickled in salt and other chemicals to preserve it. The hand was then enclosed
around a candle or the fingers turned into macabre wicks. It was believed that when it was lit, it
could open doors and locks and put people into a deep sleep or paralyse them. In the south-east of England it was believed that
the hand of a recently executed person was a cure for a goitre: a person
suffering from that complaint could be led to the scaffold and the hand of the
recently deceased placed upon the goitre. Ordinary people continued to believe
in such cures, even though by the eighteenth century it had been ridiculed by
the medical profession.
The
gallows and the hangman were imbued with all sorts of magical and healing
powers, so that people desired the hang man’s rope or splinters of wood from
the gallows. The hangman was also imbued with magical powers so that the
execution continued to be a public spectacle Davies referred to Thomas Hardy’s ghost story, ‘The
Withered Arm’, [the central character Gertrude has mysterious marks on her arm
which cause it to wither. She is told that that the only cure is to touch the
neck of a newly hanged man which will ‘turn’ the blood and cure her withered
arm. Gertrude visits the local hangman who agrees to help her and the story
ends with Gertrude touching the neck of a recently hanged man].
William Harvey's
research, through the dissection of animals, enabled him to understand the
circulation of blood. [He revealed his findings at the College of Physicians in
1616, and in 1628 published Exercitatio
Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus 'An Anatomical Study of
the Motion of the Heart and of the Blood in Animals']. Incremental changes in scientific and medical theory occurred during the
eighteenth century, so that it moved on from the humoral theories.
I can’t remember if it was Ian Mortimer or Owen Davies whose contribution included a remedy for TB which involved the boiling of blind puppies, having first removed several internal organs (probably for some equally dire curative), and having the patient soak in the liquor produced. To ward off any chills from bathing the patient should first wrap the skin of a kid (as in goat) around the patient’s chest. Makes perfect sense!
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