The seven books of Paulus Ægineta, volume 2 (of 3) : $b translated from the Greek: with a commentary embracing a complete view of the knowledge possessed by the Greeks, Romans, and Arabians on all subjects connected with medicine and surgeryPaulus, Aegineta
History
The seven books of Paulus Ægineta, volume 2 (of 3) : $b translated from the Greek: with a commentary embracing a complete view of the knowledge possessed by the Greeks, Romans, and Arabians on all subjects connected with medicine and surgery
Paulus, Aegineta
Medicine; Medicine, Arab; Medicine, Greek and Roman
These are compound medicines. _A plaster for chironia._ Of ceruse, oz.
viij; of fissile alum, oz. ij; of the flakes of copper, dr. ij; of sal
ammoniac, of frankincense, of scraped verdigris, of pomegranate rind,
of each, oz. ij; of quicklime, oz. j; of wax, lb. j; of myrtle-oil, lb.
j. ss; triturate the dry things with wine. At first it removes callus;
and it is laid by and kept, and at last when used, being softened with
myrtle-oil, it cicatrizes.—_Another_: Of litharge, lb. j; of oil, lb.
ij; of black chamæleon, of the roots of birthwort, of immature galls, of
each, oz. j; of galbanum, of ammoniac perfume, of frankincense, of each,
oz. ij; prepare, stirring with the roots of green reeds.
_From Archigenes, for chironia, and malignant ulcers in the legs and
breast, for struma, and parotis._ Of the fat of an ox lb. iij; of
turpentine, oz. v; of manna, oz. vij: of the earth called sarda which
painters use, oz. v: having put the soluble and dry articles together
and melted, use.—_Another_, of Archigenes: Of wax, oz. iv; of oil of
unripe olives, of manna of frankincense, of diphryges, of the flakes
of copper, of each, dr. iv; having triturated the powder with vinegar,
and made of the thickness of honey, mix with the cerate, and use upon
a pledget.—_Another_, for the malignant ulcers of women, and of other
persons having a soft skin: Of Tuscan wax, dr. viij; of bulls’ fat,
of turpentine, of burnt lead, and of pepper, of each, dr. j; use on a
pledget with rose-oil or myrtle-oil.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Celsus describes the chironian ulcer as being large, and
having hard, callous, and swelled edges, with a copious discharge of thin
sanies. It is attended with no inflammation, the pain is moderate, it
does not spread, and therefore it is not dangerous, although not readily
cured. Sometimes, he says, it becomes covered with a thin cicatrix, and
then again the ulcer breaks out. It occurs mostly in the feet and legs.
From this description it is evident that by the chironian ulcer Celsus
meant merely an ill-conditioned ulcer, and that he distinguished between
it and the _cacoethes_, or malignant ulcer, which last he held to be
nearly allied to the carcinoma. However, most of the Greek authors apply
the term malignant to the chironian ulcer. For the cure of it Celsus
recommends an application consisting of squama æris, lead burnt and
washed, calamine, wax, and a small quantity of roses.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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