peletur of spayne
England
15th Century
Source: Hannah Bower, Middle English Medical Recipes and Literary Play, 1375–1500 (Oxford University Press, 2022).
Recipe Details
Ingredients
rauenes turde (raven's dung), ius of peletur of spayne (sap of pellitory of Spain)
Preparation Steps
To treat a tooth cavity: 'Tak a rauenes turde and put hit in þe holewe toght bot furst colore hit with <peletur> þe ius of peletur of spayne þat þe seke knowe noht what hit be' (p. 185).
Original Recipe Text
To treat a tooth cavity: 'Tak a rauenes turde and put hit in þe holewe toght bot furst colore hit with <peletur> þe ius of peletur of spayne þat þe seke knowe noht what hit be' (p. 185).
Evidence
"Tak a rauenes turde and put hit in þe holewe toght bot furst colore hit with <peletur> þe ius of peletur of spayne þat þe seke knowe noht what hit be"
Remarks
The plant sap of pellitory of Spain is used as a colorant/dye to disguise animal excrement (raven's dung) from the patient. This concealment strategy was employed to mitigate patient loathing (nausea) or refusal of the remedy (p. 185). Pellitory of Spain has separate traditional medicinal associations in Ayurvedic medicine (p. 185).
Scientific Analysis
Analytical Techniques
Textual analysis
Certainty Level
Inferred
Instrumentally Verified
Not Verified
Metadata
Material Type
pigment
RegionEngland
Approx. Year1450
Source Information
AuthorHannah Bower, Middle English Medical Recipes and Literary Play, 1375–1500
CollectionTCC, MS O.2.13, f. 113v
Language
N/A
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