Royal College of Physicians: The Lady Sedley, her Receipt book, 1686 (MS534)

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Strength breath out and afterward pour it off, put it in glasses and keep it for your vse. This water is ^of exceeding vertue in all swounding weakness of heart & decaying of the spirits, it is in great vertue in all Appoplexies, Palsey Epitopsia alsoe in all paines in the Ioynts comeing of Cold in allbruises outwardly bathed & dipped in it & laid to, the vertues are more then man can conceive, this Comforteth & Strengteneth all Animall vitalls & naturall spirits, & cleareth the externall senses strengthneth the Memory, restoreth the lost appetite, all weakness of the stomach being both taken inwardly & bathed outwardly, Take of it a quarter of a spoonfull and fast an houre after it, It taketh away the giddiness of the head, it helpeth lost hearing, bringeth a pleasant breath, And there can be noe better remedies to prevent it you may take it morninge & eveninge a quarter of a Spoonefull with Crumbs of bread & shuggar, it helpeth the lost speech, all cold dispositions of the Liver, & a beginninge dropsy, it helpeth all cold diseases of the Mother:

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The most Exelent Receipt of the Wound water

(5)

Take Southorne wood, Wormwood, Bugles, Mugworth, wood Bitteney, Sanacle, Plantin, Dandelyon, Ribworth White bottles, or Campions of the garden, Bramble Budds, Egrimony, wild Angelica, Cumfery Hawthorne budds, Mints Scabious, Strawberries leaves, all kind of honey Suckles, Annis, Violett leaves, Oak leaves Cyncefold, dasey rootes, Adders tongue, of each one handfull add to these a pottle of white wine, a gallon of runninge water, boyle them all together untill halfe be consumed, then straine the Liquor cleane from the hearbs, then put it to a quart of honey & boyle it againe, then put it into a glasse & stopp it very Close for the use, Lett the Patient drink 3 spoonefulls of it at a time, lukewarme every morninge fasting and soe last at night vntill he hath drunk a quart thereof, besides these if it be an old sore or vlcer apply to the sore or ulcer a playster of honey and waxe. This Cureth all wounds, womens breasts putrifyed bones causeing them to scalle Ache in the Stomache, to breake an impostume Stench the blood of veines broken in the body and causeth bulletts to fall out of the body wounded. Probatum Est.

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To make oyle of Swallowes (6)

Take 10 or 12 younge Swallowes ready to fly stamp them them in a stone Mortar with their gutts & ffeathers together with Lavender, Cotton, Balme, Spearmint, redsage, Cammomile wild Strawberries leaves & wild thyme of each a handfull, but lett these hearbs lye one day unwashed after they be gathered & then stamp them all together with the Swallows till noe ffeathers be left whole, put therto a good quantity of May butter or fresh butter & let all stand one whole night in the Mortar, the next day boyle all these very softly three quarters of an houre or a whole houre, then straine it through a cleane Linen Clothe into a Cleane vessell & keepe it for your vses.

To Make a Jelly of Heartshorne vii

Take a pint & a halfe of faire running water & halfe a pint of white wine, two ounces of hearthorne scraped let it boyle softly in a pipkin close covered til it come to a pint, then whilst it is hott straine it & put to it a little sliced ginger & Cinament Sticks the next day take the topp of it & leave the bottome of it that you may have the clearest & put it in a skillett & put to it shuggar a topp of sweet Marjerum, halfe a Spoonfull of red rose water, a little juice of a Lemon & of an Orange, & soe let it stew a little while upon the fire & put through a jelly bagg with a litte rosemary spriggs in the bottome of the bagg take it morning & evening & 2 or 3 times in the day in cold or else melt it, & soe drink it blood warme.

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For the dropsey, yellow Jaundice, Aches breakings out & Mangies of the body to puriefye the blood from corruption against the green sickness & all stoppings & very good for young maids VIII

Cf. Saturn P. 95.

Take the rootes of Monkes Rubarbe otherwise called patience & redd Madder of each halfe a pound, 4 ounces, of Anniseeds and Lickoris of each 2 ounces, Scabions & Egrimony of each one handfull, slice the rootes of Rubard, bruise the Anniseeds and Lickoris brake the hearbs with your hand & put them into a Stone pott called a stand with 3 gallons of strong Ale to Steepe the space of three dayes then drink this as your ordinary liquor for the Space of 3 weekes at the least, the longer you take it the better provided you haue one Stand under another.

To cure any Fistulo thonge of 20 yeares old IX

Take of rock Allomme & white Copperoes of each a like quantity burn them in an earthen pot over a Soft fire, when it is hard then breake it in an Iron mortar & sift it 4 or 5 times through a Lawne, put as much of this powder as will lye on a shillinge with this water twice a day, & lay an old holland cloath wett in the Same water upon the wound & lay this poultesse as as folloeth upon the cloathes that it may touch the sore Take Sention, ground Ivy, Smallage dasey rootes & leaves Mallowes of each a handfull Chop them very small & boyle them in a quart of running water with a quarter of a pound of Mutton Suett, when the herbs are tender thicken it with wheat brann, lay a fresh poultess every morninge. &c.

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A Powder X

Take of Corrall Amber and Jett of each one ounce, then take 3 ounces of Pearle & Six ounces of hartshorne burn't with which, take the smoothest whites of the eggs & the little black claw of the king Crabb of each halfe an ounce, the Crabs if possible must be taken when the Signe is in Cancer, take a quarter ^of an ounce of the stones which you shall find in the heads of the Crawfish & take halfe an ounce of ye bones which are in a Staggs heart which must be burnt, halfe an ounce of Indian Snake wood, & as much of the rootes of Goats Rhine which must be gathered in winter & well dryed take all these ingredients & beat them into very fine powder & grind them with redrose water upon a painters Stone & let let it dry, then powder it very fine, & Searce it through a very fine Lawne & that which will not come through beat & grind againe because you may not lose any of the Substance, they must be beat & searced severally & when you haue made them into fine powder, then weigh them againe, & take of the Corrall Amber & Jett of equall quantities & of the Pearle & heartshorn what they ^will yeild when they are equally searced then take 2 ounces of rasped heartshorne, & put it into a pipkin with 3 pints of runinge water & boyle it till it come to a stiff Jelly & when you think it enough take a Spoonefull & let it Coole & if it be Stiff Straine off the rest, then take 4 penny worth of Saffron dry it into powder and straine it into the Jelly whilst it is hott & soe let it coole then put all the powders into an Allablaster Mortar & your Jelly by little & little untill it come to a past, and if you

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please you, make it up into balls or into the fashion of an egge, or into long rowles, you must put in the Sneake wood, Goates Rhine rootes & an ounce of bearstone, halfe an ounce of Amber grease & 20 graines of Musk, your Musk & Amber grease must be powdered & put into the Jelly.

A Pill for the stone in the kidneyes Collick XI

Take Holland powder 2 drames Pulvis Sanctus one dramm & a halfe Pulvis ad Calucum 4 scruples, powder Mint, powder of Licoris, of each one dramme, Balsome India one scruple venice Turpentine washed very well as much as will bringe all into a Masse to pills.

Take morninge & eveninge 3 at a time when the ffitt is about 10 times or more in a moneth, and when the fitt is on you take 4 or 5 pills & presently drink as much Ale you can possible, if you vomitt drink as more Ale as you can & either walk or ride 2 or3 hours after it and this will bring away the stone and remove the Collick

Take some of these pills every moneth, it will prevent the disease from comeinge againe

12 A Receipt for the cure of an Ague XII

Take Elder Stickes of one yeares Shoot newly out from the Tree Scrape of the vpper bark first which is naught & then scrape of the green Inward barke & of that take a good handfull & bruise in a Stone Mortar or wooden bowle then put it into a pint of Stronge Ale and let it infuse all night before the fire, the pott be covered, Soe that it may be warme and noe more and a little before the partye expects the ffit straine the Ale from the barke, the last beinge squeesed is the Strongest and best, & put into it better then halfe a Spoonefull of pepper grossly beaten, and soe Soone as they find any grudgeing of the fitt drink it and stirr up and downe, and in twice takeng it will Cure It hath been very often proved

To make Pills for the head & Stomach XIII

Take an ounce of Alloes, a quarter of an ounce of Ruberbe, halfe a quarter of an ounce of Aramaticum Rosatum, beate these into fine powder & make these into pills mingled with the Compound of Syrrup of wormwood, and take three of them half an houre before Supper, and soe Continue every third night till the whole Masse be taken

probatum

After the pills haue wrought drinke some possett drinke about two hours after.

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A Drink Good for the Palsey XIV

Take of the shaveings of the Stalks of old Rosemary halfe a pound waight Orange peeles, wheat brann of each one handfull, red Sage dryed by the fire a day or two V handfulls, put these with 2 or 3 Gadds of new Steele into a boltinge bagge & hang it in a vessell of 4 or 5 gallons of Ale or beere of a middle Strengthe & drinke noe other drinke for a whole yeare

Pils for the head XV

Take of Alloes a dram the rootes of wild gourds of all sorts, of Mirabilans, Diagredium, Masticke, Bayberries, Roses of each halfe a dramme of Saffron a Scruple stamp them well together with the Juice of Coleworths & take Seaven pills of the Same Morninge and Eveninge.

A Medicine for the Stone XVI

Take the Seeds of Saxafridge rootes dryed to powder three times in a weeke, every day as much of the powder as will Lye uppon a Six pence in white wine, the next weeke drink it twice in the weeke, the third weeke once, doe this every Quarter of the yeare

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A receipt to make black salve XVII

Take one quart of Lindseed oyle halfe a pound of Bee wax, halfe a pound of verry good white Lead otherwise called Ceres; ffirst put the oyle into a Skillet and lett the oyle be moderate hott, then add to it the wax lett them seeth together untill the wax be quite melted then put in the Ceres, as soone as you have put in the Ceres stirr them alltogether & lett them boyle near about two houres & lett it be Stirred all that time, it must be boyled till it be black & stiffe and smell well, and that it will rowle betweene your fingers

It must be a very moderate heat of wood Coales.

A receipt for ^the Tooth Ache XVIII

Take a pint of whitewine vinegar, take the quantity of 3 beere glasses of the purest venice glass, put all your venice glasse into the fire where you must burn it untill such time as it be ready to dissolve to noethinge, then take it out of the fire & put it into the white vinegar, where if it be well burned it will melt & dissolve to nothing haveing prepared your Liquor in this manner, you must when you are troubled with the tooth Ache take some thereof & warme it in a dish or porringer then take a mouthfull now & then, keep it in your mouth as long as as you can without swallowing, for to swallow much o'nt would be as bad as ^a poyson

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To make A healing Salve XIX

Take halfe a pound of Sheepe Suett, halfe a pound of the best Rossin, halfe a pound of Beeswax, and 3 penny worth of Venice Turpentine, first melt the hard & then put in the Turpentine, & lett it but just boyle up, and soe rowle it up.

To make oyle of Charity XX

Take Rosmary, red sage, wormewood, Lavender, the lesser velerian, Cammomill of each one handfull put these into a quart of the best Sallett oyle, sett it in the Sunn Seaven dayes, then sett it on the fire and lett it but boyle, then straine it from the hearbs, & putt in fresh herbs, & soe doe 3 times & poure of the cleare from the thick & keep it for your use.

This is good for all bruises to be taken inward or outward if inward give 2 spoonefulls of the cleare in a little balme posset drink, & annoynt it outward with the thicke, this will help the Toothache & all Cold Rhumes if you but dipp a cloath & lay it on; A little of this oyle with Senious oyle will cleanse a wound.