THE PRACTICE OF CHEMISTRY

BY DR. JOHANN HARTMANN

Take 2 ounces about 56 grams of Fenugreek washed in cold water,
1 ounce of linseed,
2 ounces each of mallow and marshmallow.
Let them be ground, enclosed in thin linen cloths, and sewn shut to be used as a warm compress or poultice.

For eye-washes original: "Collyria" to be put into the eyes, the following are wonderfully beneficial:
honey-water of Eyebright, small cakes of Celandine, fennel, valerian, and the juices of Dittany herbs purified by themselves. These may be applied either alone or mixed together, with the addition of a little rose water, breast milk, a decoction of fenugreek with white eye-wash a standard pharmaceutical preparation usually containing lead or zinc, saffron, and prepared tutty zinc oxide.

If an erosion or wound should follow, and this amazing eye medicine is present, it restores eyes injured even to the point of despair most virtuously, and knits their wounds together within the space of 24 hours. Collect the juice of the flowers and leaves of Celandine, and digest a good quantity of it in a Mary’s Bath a water bath or double boiler so that it purifies itself spontaneously, until all impurities have been cast to the bottom. Then, in the month of June, while the Sun and Moon are in Cancer, take twenty river crabs original: "cancros fluviatiles". Having removed the tips or claws and the shells of the tails, let them be pounded in a mortar so the juice can be expressed. Mix this with the purified Celandine juice and distill it in a water bath; keep it for use. At the same time of collection, take another whole living crab, with no part missing, place it in a pot and dry it in an oven until it can be ground. Reduce the dried crab into a very fine and subtle powder by passing it through an excellent sieve. Drop a small quantity of this powder from the hollow of a cut quill into the wound of the eye, and leave it for 24 hours. Afterward, apply only the aforementioned distilled water without the pulp frequently, which helps by washing away all purulence—though little or none will appear—and the desired end will surely follow.

REDNESS OF THE EYES.

For burning and redness of the eyes with pain:
2 ounces of fresh butter washed nine times in rose water,
1 ounce of prepared tutty,
Half an ounce of camphor.
Mix and store in a glass vessel; a little is to be put into the eye.

For inflammation and redness of the eyes, as well as red pustules on the face: dissolve sugar of lead lead acetate in Eyebright and rose waters in equal parts, adding a little prepared tutty.

For cloudiness, redness, tears, and almost all defects of the eyes, use Crollius’s Ophthalmic Water and the following:
1 ounce of unadulterated white wine,
1 ounce of rose water,
2 scruples about 2.6 grams each of white sugar candy and purified vitriol likely white vitriol, zinc sulfate.
Mix these. Afterward, rub one finger's length of ginger upon a whetstone with this water until the ginger is consumed into the water. Strain through filter paper into a glass. Finally, dissolve 1 scruple of ground camphor in 2 spoonfuls of Spirit of Wine alcohol. Mix this with the previous liquid and, keeping it well-preserved, use it for any eye defects, frequently applying one or two drops.

HYPOSPHAGMA a burst blood vessel in the eye

The tops of hyssop boiled in plain water and applied lukewarm to the eyes in a small cloth bundle remove hyposphagma. Also, the crushed root of Solomon’s Seal, applied in the form of a poultice to the eye and neighboring parts. Commonly, people cleverly put blood squeezed from the feathers of young pigeons into the eye.

To remove redness, it is useful to apply a hard-boiled egg cut in half warmly to the eye overnight.

(This is a remedy for almost all eye diseases:

BLUE OPHTHALMIC WATER.

Take 4 pounds of quicklime calcium oxide that is well-burnt, in whole pieces, and has not suffered injury from air or water. Place it in a large tin vessel and pour rain or river water over it to a height of half a foot. Let it dissolve without heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spatula until the water is well-impregnated with the salt of lime. Filter this and keep it for use. Repeat this a third time with fresh water and keep each filtration separate. Now take 1 part of the first water, 2 parts of the second, and 3 parts of the third. Mix them together and in 1 pound of this water dissolve one drachm about 3.9 grams of sal ammoniac ammonium chloride. Pour this solution into a copper or gold vessel and keep it there for ten or fifteen hours, or until it is colored like an Oriental Sapphire. Afterward, filter it exactly and keep it for use in a glass vial.

Hartmann mentions this in his treatise On Chemistry. This water has no equal for all affections of the eyes, regardless of the cause. For the salt of quicklime, mixed with the volatile salt of urine contained in sal ammoniac, extracts a subtle vitriol from the copper and brass, which is found inseparably in the water. It possesses cooling, cleansing, and drying virtues. I will say further that I find such things joined together can extinguish and drive away all the malignancy of sharp, corrosive, and biting salts which are mixed in the serum of the blood, and which are the true efficient cause not only of pain, inflammation, and ulcers of the eyes, but also of all itching, eruptions, and ulcers that arise on the external parts of the human body. Therefore, this water is useful not only against eye conditions, but also against itch, scabies, and ulcers.

The following is prepared in a similar manner:
Take 2 ounces each of rose water, cornflower water, celandine water, and eyebright water, each sharpened with its own salt.
Pour this over quicklime that has not been damaged by air. When the water is impregnated with the salt, filter it and add:
4 pounds of the phlegm of urine collected from the distillation of the mercury of the microcosm a chymical term for substances derived from the human body; and 2.5 ounces of the salt extracted from its dregs, or sal ammoniac.
Let it stand in a copper or brass vessel until perfectly colored; afterward, expose it to the sun for several months, filter, and keep for use. This water, which is amazing for eye diseases, can be softened with simple distilled waters for use at the physician's discretion.

I have discussed eye diseases at length in my Chymiatric Practice, which you may consult.)

AFFECTIONS OF THE EARS.

INFLAMMATION AND ULCER.

Internal inflammation original: "Phlegmone" of the ears is cured with common repellents; however, an ulcer is cured with maturing agents.

EAR DISCHARGE.

In perpetual ear discharge and foul accumulation, the distilled urine of boys is praised, with a few drops—even up to ten—put into the ear. The urine is left in for some time (every morning on an empty stomach), and afterward, the head is tilted to let it out again.
In this case, purgings of the head are necessary, either with common medicines, pills, or even with the vegetable panchymagogue a medicine reputed to purge all humors. Also with the Specific Purgative of Paracelsus. Additionally, a decoction of Guaiac is given as a drink.
In children, who are most subject to this disease because of their moisture, one should not rush to a cure, but leave the evil to their growing age. I had an example of this in Knidius’s daughter.

EARWORMS.

For both summoning and extracting worms from the ears, as well as worms in the nose and brain, an ointment made of capon fat and hazelnut oil mixed with a little precipitated mercury or sweet mercury calomel is excellent (use only 2 grains so an eschar a dry scab caused by burning does not form). It should be placed in the opening of the ear with cotton.

EAR PAIN.

For ear pain, green tobacco leaves, or even dried ones that have been re-moistened, are wonderfully beneficial.

RINGING IN THE EARS.

For ringing original: "tinnitus", the steam of Wormwood and Vervain in milk is superior. Take 1 ounce of raw Wormwood and a handful of Vervain; boil them in cow's milk. Afterward, using a funnel that conveniently closes the mouth of the pot, let the steam of the still-boiling decoction be sent into the ear. Once the ear is wiped and cleaned, let cotton be worn that has been joined with musk for some time (musk is indeed a friend to the head). This is especially good for men, but for women it is less safe due to its effect on the womb.

NOISES, CLATTERING, AND WHISTLING.

For ringing, noise, clattering, and whistling, a small loaf of freshly baked bread taken straight from the oven is very effective. Remove the lower crust and pour in good Spirit of Wine. If it is applied to the ear (with a thick wooden ring placed between to avoid burning the part), the steam can be received inside.
NB. The treatment should be continued until the evil yields.
Sneezing powders may also be used after general remedies have been administered.

HARDNESS OF HEARING AND FLUCTUATION.

In hardness of hearing as well as fluctuation a sensation of moving fluid, if the condition does not yield to the previous remedy, 2 or 3 drops of oil of bitter almonds should be put into the ear and later let out. One must abstain from juniper oil.
After general remedies, establish fomentations warm medicinal compresses, especially from those that strengthen the head, such as a decoction of wormwood and vervain in milk, or even with warm bread with and without Spirit of Wine (if the affection is mild) applied externally as before. Finally, if it does not resolve, a tent a small plug or wick carved skillfully from radish root and soaked for several days in Spirit of Wine should be placed in the ear while the patient is in a bath and sweating. If it still does not resolve, the same tent should finally be soaked in distilled oil of fennel and used in the same manner in the baths. Oil of caraway should be frequently dropped into the ear and smeared behind it.

DEAFNESS.

For deafness and ringing, the following are effective: radish juice, eel fat, mole fat, oil of bitter almonds, snake fat, and juice squeezed from an onion soaked in Spirit of Wine and cooked under ashes. Also:
Take one large red onion, hollowed out in the middle. Fill the cavity with oil of rue, adding 1 ounce each of cypress powder, laurel berries, anise, and cumin, and half an ounce of powdered castor a secretion from beavers. Let them all boil over glowing coals, then squeeze them out and keep the liquid in a vial. From this, drop several drops into the ears morning and evening, closing them with musk-scented cotton.

In deafness that is not innate, after general remedies, the Essence of human gall extracted with Spirit of Wine works miraculously (it lasts a long time) when applied with radish tents while sweating. However, by its innate property, partridge gall is superior in this case if mixed with white oil of amber and dropped into the ears (dosage: 3 to 4 drops at most). This must be repeated several times.

PAROTIS swelling of the parotid gland

In Parotis, the foul oil of Guaiac or oil of tartar helps. If an ulceration is present, let the place be softened; once this is done, sprinkle it with mint powder (after the ulcer has broken) and wash the discharge from the ulcer with mint water, applying a suitable plaster such as Dia-sulphur a sulfur-based plaster.

AFFECTIONS OF THE NOSE.

OZÆNA a chronic, foul-smelling nasal ulcer

In Ozæna and other foul-smelling ulcers, after general remedies, cleansing agents are first necessary, and afterward, consolidating healing agents.
The cleansing agents are abstergent waters, such as alum water distilled simply through an alembic from sand without spirits in an earthen vessel, or plantain water in which some sweet mercury calomel has been dissolved, and the like.

Hartmann’s Green Water.

Next, the Green Water made from Orpiment arsenic trisulfide is excellent. Platerus Felix Plater, a famous physician has this from others in his treatment of pain:
Take 1 ounce of verdigris copper acetate and half an ounce of orpiment. Let them be ground very finely and boil them in 3 ounces of white wine until half is consumed. When it has cooled, add 2 ounces each of rose water and nightshade water.

Hartmann’s Green Water.
Another Green Water used by me is superior; it works miraculously not only in Ozæna but in all foul ulcers of the nose, palate, uvula, gums, and tongue. It is as follows:
Take 2 ounces of honey of roses,
1 ounce each of native sulfur, crude alum, verdigris, white of Greece original: "albi graeci," historically processed dog dung used in pharmacy, and Savin tops,
1 ounce of elder,
And half a handful each of St. John’s Wort, rosemary, rue, plantain, sage, and pennyroyal.
Boil these in 2 pounds of wine and water until the liquid is reduced by one finger’s width. (In thrush original: "aphthis" of children, it should be tempered with tobacco and nightshade waters; otherwise, it is too sharp.)
Note: the verdigris should not be boiled with the rest but added at the end and left until it has cooled; afterward, strain it and keep it for use. A spoonful of this is heated over a candle, and then the ulcerated place is touched with a brush dipped in the same water.
In foul ulcers of the palate, throat, and uvula, this water should be applied with tow coarse flax fibers. It cleanses wonderfully and also consolidates, especially ulcers of the palate and throat arising from the Venereal Pox syphilis.
It is also wonderful for scurvy of the mouth. (It should sometimes be applied with cotton or tow so that the patient does not swallow it at night because of the verdigris.) For a gargle, a decoction of Speedwell and honey in plain water, or a decoction of Savory in wine, is very effective.
Consolidating agents include that latter Green Water, which is very effective for healing, especially in Ozæna.

1. Most excellent is what is found in Rondeletius Guillaume Rondelet under the title of Ozæna:
Take 1 ounce each of pure Laudanum, hypocistis, mastic, and myrrh,
And 2 ounces each of red storax, calamint, frankincense bark, sandarac, and red orpiment.
(Rondeletius has 3 ounces, but I disapprove.) Let all be incorporated with turpentine and make troches, with which the room should be fumigated morning and evening. It is also best to prepare candles from these with red wax (because of the cinnabar in red wax) and to receive the smoke that is collected from the candles in a narrow space.

2. There is also a decoction of 1.5 ounces each of myrrh and olibanum in 2 pounds each of wine and vinegar, applied warm several times with linen cloths.

ERYSIPELAS OF THE NOSE.

Erysipelas a skin infection of the nose is extinguished in the common manner like other cases of erysipelas.
A specific remedy is a virgin’s menses dissolved in distilled rose vinegar and applied warm with red cloths, especially if sweating is induced.