THE CHYMIATRIC PRACTICE OF DR. JOHANN HARTMANN

...of Musk a pungent secretion from the musk deer,
and Ambergris a waxy substance from sperm whales, 6 grains each.
Wrap these in cotton, and finally keep everything in a well-closed glass vessel for use.

Among all these, a diaphoretic sweat-inducing medicine can be counted for very acute conditions, especially if it is administered mixed with appropriate waters for Apoplectics those suffering from strokes or loss of consciousness and a sweat is provoked.

ANTI-EPILEPTIC LAUDANUM

Anti-epileptic Laudanum.

Take 2 drachms approximately 7.8 grams of our Laudanum a sedative preparation made from sulfur of vitriol the combustible essence of iron or copper sulfate,
and half a drachm approximately 2 grams of Oil of Camphor.
Mix them, and you will have a most excellent Laudanum. Its use is permitted both during the paroxysm the sudden fit or seizure and for the cure outside of the fit, in a dose frequently repeated after universal remedies have been administered.

TRUE OIL OF CAMPHOR

True Oil of Camphor.

Take 1 part Camphor and 6 parts prepared and dried clay.
Grind them together and mix exactly until the Camphor is nowhere visible. From this mass, form small balls. Once these have been dried in the shade, distill them in a sand bath using a luted sealed with clay retort a long-necked glass vessel for distillation into a receiver vessel which contains some distilled rainwater. The Camphor will come over partly as an oil and partly sublimated passed from solid to vapor and back to solid, though it will dissolve itself. Then, distill it with water, add 3 parts Spirit of Wine ethanol or high-proof alcohol, and distill through an Alembic a distillation apparatus with a cooling cap over a gentle fire. In this way, the Spirit of Wine will carry over the very thin Oil of Camphor, which should be kept separately once the Spirit of Wine is removed using a separator or a Mary’s Bath a water bath or bain-marie.

IN ANOTHER WAY

Dissolve Camphor in Anti-epileptic Spirit made from vitriol sulfates and the urine of boys using gentle heat, and the Camphor will rise to the surface in the form of an oil. Collect this separately. With dry sealed earth medicinal clay stamped with an official seal and a little vinegar, form small balls. Distill these in a sand bath through a retort, and a very volatile spirit or oil of Camphor will come forth.

For those suffering from Apoplexy stroke, a decoction of sage, its extract, and the seeds of caraway and Eruca arugula or rocket are beneficial. Also: Take a sufficient quantity of Aqua Vitae water of life or brandy and 2 handfuls of juniper berries. Let them be crushed and macerated in the Aqua Vitae for three days, then strained. Then add sage, pennyroyal, watercress, and 1 drachm of saffron. Give this to the patient, and they will immediately recover their speech.

Balsam for Apoplexy.
Take Nutmeg oil obtained by expression,
16 grains of Grey Ambergris,
choice Musk,
Benzoin resin,
Storax Calamita a fragrant resin from the Styrax tree,
and choice Laudanum, half a drachm of each.
16 drops of distilled oil of cloves.
Lavender,
Rue,
Anthos rosemary flowers,
and Cinnamon, half a drachm of each.
6 drops of Amber oil.
Let them be pulverized very well with the Nutmeg oil in a silver or brass dish with a pestle. Join them as well as possible so they become one body. Then, mix in the distilled oils little by little and keep the Balsam in a well-closed vessel for use. It is beneficial for those with apoplexy, epilepsy, and vertigo, if the extremities of the hands, the temples, and the crown of the head are anointed with it. For the sake of prevention, this anointing should be performed at least twice or thrice every week.

Enema for Apoplexy, Epilepsy, Paralysis, and Lethargy morbid drowsiness.
Take Cyclamen sowbread root and
Colocynth bitter apple, 1 and a half drachms each.
1 drachm of Asarum wild ginger.
Prepared Black Hellebore and
Safflower seeds, 1 drachm each.
Half a drachm of Lesser Centaury.
Boil in a sufficient quantity of water to yield 1 pound of strained liquid. Add 2 ounces of honey of rosemary flowers and, if the patient is robust, 1 drachm of Rock Salt halite. Make an enema.

A physician about to treat a person with apoplexy should, before all else, consider whether any signs or hope of life remain in the patient. Once these are recognized, he should immediately prepare for the cure. He should order the patient to be moved here and there and his limbs to be rubbed. Having shaved the hair, he should immediately anoint the crown of the head and the nape of the neck with his balsam or its oil. Immediately, if the mouth is closed, he should open it and keep it open. He should anoint the palate with the said balsam or Mithridate a complex ancient panacea or Theriac an herbal jam used as an antidote. The nostrils and temples should be anointed with the apoplectic balsam.

It is necessary to frequently apply a heated or even glowing iron plate or tablet to the head this extreme heat was intended to shock the patient back to consciousness.

If possible, 1 spoonful of apoplectic water should be administered immediately by mouth. If the physician perceives an excessive abundance of blood, he should open a vein in the arm, though only after a sharp enema has first been administered.

Likewise, he should blow some powder into the nostrils through a tube or straw, made of Pellitory Pyrethrum or Hellebore.

To the navel, he should apply either Arthanita cyclamen ointment or Hellebore in the form of a cataplasm a poultice. For the sake of revulsion drawing blood or humors away from the head, cupping glasses can also be applied to the back and loins.

A sharp enema should be injected into the nostrils, to which half a drachm of Crocuss Metallorum saffron of metals, an antimonial preparation can be added, or 1 drachm may be boiled in Aqua Vitae and injected with a suitable decoction.

From there, one should turn to emetics, specifically Blessed Water an infusion of crocus metallorum. It should be noted that this must always be given in double quantity, according to how much the vital powers are dulled. Meanwhile, the administration of apoplectic water should be continued, as well as the other mentioned medicines.

Vesicatories blister-inducing plasters on the arms and feet, and also on the forehead, are beneficial. Sometimes an actual cautery a hot iron can be applied to the first vertebra, not without benefit.

Once the patient is revived, the cure is carried out according to the practitioners.

Note: Enemas are suitable not only before bloodletting, but also after it. First use those made from emollients and warm stimulants appropriate for the head, then soon after use strongly irritating ones. Since these are not retained long, they must be repeated, and more frequently the more the disease presses. See Plater, volume 1, page 47.

Therefore, a lighter one should be administered at the beginning.
Take Mallow,
Sage,
and Pennyroyal, 1 handful of each.
2 drachms of fresh Iris root,
Bran,
Chamomile flowers,
and Rosemary flowers, 1 pinch of each.
1 drachm of caraway seeds.
Make a decoction, in which dissolve
1 ounce of honey;
2 drachms of Electuarium Benedictum Laxativum The Blessed Laxative Electuary.
Oil of Laurel and
Oil of Rue, 1 drachm each,
1 drachm of Salt.
Make an enema.

A stronger one, which can be given after the first, or immediately at the beginning if the evil is urgent.
Take fresh Iris root,
Solomon's Seal,
and Cyclamen, 1 drachm each.
Rue,
Thyme,
Sage,
Laurel,
Pennyroyal,
Oregano,
Calamint,
and Hyssop, 1 handful of each.

Arabian Lavender flowers,
and Rosemary flowers, 1 pinch each.
Citron seeds,
and Cumin, 2 drachms each.
Safflower,
Laurel berries,
and Juniper berries, half a drachm each.
2 drachms of Agaric a medicinal larch fungus tied in a cloth.
Make a decoction, in which dissolve
2 drachms of Hiera Colocynthidos a holy bitter purgative made from bitter apple;
2 ounces of honey of rosemary,
Juice of Mercurialis herb mercury,
1 drachm of Beet,
half a drachm of Ox gall,
1 drachm of Rue oil,
half a drachm of Castor oil,
1 drachm of fossil salt rock salt.
Make an enema.

A most powerful enema for Apoplexy.
Take Iris root,
Pellitory, 1 drachm each.
Half a drachm of Cuckoopint.
1 drachm of Hellebore.
Rue,
Sage,
Thyme,
Lesser Centaury flowers,
and Watercress, 1 handful of each.
Half a drachm of Caraway seeds.
Nettle and
Rue, 1 drachm each.
Half a drachm of Colocynth tied in pieces.
A pinch of Rosemary flowers.
Make a decoction, in which dissolve
half a drachm of Hiera Colocynthidos,
1 ounce of honey,
2 drachms of Rue oil,
Castor,
and Euphorbium a caustic resin from the spurge plant, 1 drachm each.
1 drachm of salt.
Make an enema.

PARALYSIS

In treating Paralysis, those things enumerated for Apoplexy can also hold a place. Here, therefore, Mercurius Vitae Mercury of Life, an antimony preparation, enemas, and other purgatives regarding the nervous system are useful.

In restoring speech, apoplectic water is most satisfactory, especially if impregnated with the warm blood of a turtle this was a folk-remedy believed to transfer vitality. Thus, oil of anise applied drop by drop to the tongue of the paralytic restores and brings back speech. Such is also the water of Lily of the Valley made with wine. Likewise, essence of castor extracted with Spirit of Wine, salt of pearls, and coral or amber help wonderfully.

To specifically elicit sweats, once all things that were necessary at the beginning have been performed, a powder or magistery a precipitate made from cinnabar of antimony and the magistery of pearls and coral is of singular virtue for paralysis. I have discussed this above under sudorifics and epilepsy. The dose is from 8 to 12 or 16 grains. Sweats are better, or rather best, elicited in a Laconicum a dry sweating room or sauna or through the mentioned diaphoretics.

Among external remedies, the essence of green tobacco leaves made with Malvatic wine Malmsey is most laudable (made by simple infusion without distillation). This is especially true if, after the promised sweats, the paralytic limbs are rubbed for a long time with this essence. In this way, the limp limbs are easily restored and return to health.

(The following liniment is praised:
Take 1 ounce of Ointment of Mars a strengthening ointment containing iron,
Oil of Bricks an oil made by distilling bricks soaked in olive oil,
Petroleum,
and Venetian Soap, 1 drachm each.
2 drachms of Laurel oil,
1 drachm of Plume Alum a fibrous form of alum.
Mix and make a liniment.)

The method of curing paralysis mostly begins with bloodletting, preceded by a sharp enema, provided that the age and habit of the body are suitable. From there we proceed to the concoction ripening and evacuation of the matter. Distilled waters of cowslip, sage, or lemon balm, or their extracts, should always be mixed in. Purgatives can be infused into these or extracted from them with the addition of 2 or 3 drops of Oil of Tartar by Deliquescence potassium carbonate liquid. Immediately let the spine be anointed with oil of chamomile. If you wish to complete the cure more quickly and correctly, proceed in the following manner: Take 3 grains of extract of Scammony and 2 grains of the flowers or glass of antimony. Mix these very finely pulverized with 2 or 3 drachms of preserve of bugloss. Let the patient take this in the morning with care. If he is provoked to vomit, give broth to promote it. In this way, the patient will be purged both through the upper and lower channels. Let the patient use a head-purifying and opening apozem a medicinal decoction or syrup for the next two days with some drops of spirit of tartar, or in its absence, 1 drachm of vitriolated tartar potassium sulfate. Then let him be purged again with the said medicine. If the patient happens to loathe it because of the vomiting, take an infusion of agaric with the root of black hellebore and jalap with cowslip and lemon balm water, or a dose of Panchymagogum a universal purgative for all humors. Again for 2 days let him use the said apozem or some appropriate magisterial syrup. Let the same medicines be repeated until the 10th day. Meanwhile, let the spine be anointed with oil of chamomile mixed with a little petroleum. From there, let him enter a stove-room and receive the vapor of the following decoction poured over glowing stones, and let him sweat as much as possible.

Take Sage flowers,
Elder,
Laurel,
Rosemary,
Chamomile,
Lemon balm,
and Arabian Lavender.
Boil in wine vinegar. Let the patient remain in the stove-room for one hour, or as much as his strength permits. Before he leaves, let him take half a drachm of Mithridate with 3 or 5 drops of spirit of tartar, or let him take Mithridate alone. After he has come out, let all the sweat be dried with warm cloths and let him rest in bed for half an hour. Let the spine be anointed with Galbanetum of Paracelsus a distilled preparation of galbanum resin, which is made in the following way: Take half a pound of Galbanum, put it in a sufficiently large glass vessel, and pour 1 pound of spirit of turpentine over it. Let them digest in a warm place for 8 days, then distill to dryness through an alembic from a vessel that is not too tall. If you desire it to be more fragrant and excellent, rectify it with nutmeg and cinnamon. All paralytic limbs should be anointed with this same balsam. Once the anointing is done, apply the root of Great Comfrey boiled in common water to a pulp, like a cataplasm. The application of the cataplasm and the anointing should be repeated in the evening, after first rubbing the affected parts with a rough cloth and sprinkling spirit of tartar after the rubbing. Or let the limbs be rubbed with a cloth dipped in spirit of tartar, then anointed, and the cataplasm applied. Meanwhile, for daily use, let the patient have extract of rosemary, sage flowers, and Arabian lavender with honey of Mithridate or powder of castor, anacardine confection with a little solution of pearls and Potable Gold gold dissolved in acid, believed to be a supreme tonic. Let the bath be continued for 14 days every morning, or at minimum every other day. Meanwhile, let him use a thin diet and drink a decoction of Guaiacum pockwood and Hydromel honey-water in place of drink.

If a patient is presented to the Physician who has only one limb paralyzed, let him restore it in the following manner.
Take the tops of Oregano,
Oak leaves,
and Juniper berries, 3 handfuls of each.