Some Quotes, and Some Criticism, of a Medieval Medicine Review

Excerpts from the book in the review:

Mount cites several of these strange remedies in the book, like this one to cure whooping cough:

Take a caterpillar, wrap it in a small bag of muslin, and hang the bag around the neck of the affected child. The caterpillar will die and the child will be cured. Or pour a bowl of milk and get a ferret to lap from the bowl. After the child drinks the rest of the milk, she will recover.

Here is a remedy for menstrual cramps:

A remedy for women who suffered from dysmenorrhoea (painful periods) required taking a cat, cutting off its head, removing its innards and laying the still warm body of the feline on the painful belly (from the Fifteenth-century Leechbook, recipe 238, p. 89).

And to cure gout:

Boil a red-haired dog alive in oil until it falls apart. Then add worms, hog’s marrow and herbs. Apply the mixture to the a effected parts. Or take a frog when neither sun nor moon is shining. Cut off its hind legs and wrap them in deer skin. Apply the right to the right and the left to the left foot of the gouty person and without doubt he will be healed.

These are, of course, the types of things that can be expected from some of the reaches of medieval medicine. The author of the review has a somewhat crass, "what were they thinking?" sort of attitude toward these bits and bobs, but oh well.