Harvey, William, 1578-1657; Physicians -- England -- Biography
_Diascordium_ of a thin substance.
_Gascoin's powder_ without bezoar. [This was the compound powder
of crabs' claws much used in measles, smallpox, and all spotted
fevers. It contained in addition to bezoar and crabs' eyes, red
coral, white amber, hart's horn philosophically prepared, and jelly
of English vipers' skins.]
_London Laudanum_ hard, without smell or colour.
_Pil. ex duobus_ without the oil of cloves. [This was reckoned one
of the best and most general pills in the Dispensatory, being
strong but yet safe. It was especially useful against scurvy,
dropsy, and gout. It consisted of colocynth, scammony, and cloves.]
MR. S----'S SHOP.
_Diascordium_ of a thin body without the gums.
_Mithridate_ no colour of saffron. [This was the remedy _par
excellence_ until the middle of the eighteenth century. It was said
to owe its name to Mithridates, King of Pontus and Bithynia, who
invented it. Like Diascordium it was an electuary, though it was
more complex, for it contained over fifty ingredients. Mithridate
was reputed to cure the bites and stings of any poisonous animal.
It expelled poison and cured nearly every disease. It was not only
a cure, but a preservative against the plague and all pestilential
and infectious fevers.]
_London Laudanum_ neither smell nor colour.
_Liquid Laudanum_ no smell, thin, no colour of saffron.
_Gascoin's powder_ without bezoar.
A part of Harvey's time was employed in duties of this nature, but on
the 3rd of December, 1627, he was appointed to the still more important
office of "Elect." The "Elects" were eight in number. They were chosen
from the most cunning and expert men of the faculty in London. It was
their duty once in a year to select one of their number to fill the
office of President, whilst as a Board with a quorum of three they
formed the examiners of those who desired to exercise or practise
physic throughout England, whose fitness they certified by letters
testimonial. These examinations were conducted at the house of the
President, where, on the 9th of December, 1629, Harvey examined and
approved that Dr. James Primrose who soon became the most malignant
opponent of his teaching. Primrose was a pupil of Riolanus, Professor
of Anatomy in Paris, and was well described as the quibbling advocate
of exploded teaching.
Harvey seems to have comported himself well even in the high position
of an elect, for in 1628 he was made Treasurer of the College, an
office to which he was re-elected in 1629, so that he must have shown
some of the business capacity which was so marked a feature in the
other members of his family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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