Manuscripts on materia medica, 17th-18th century. 1976-77/m/21, Countway Library of Medicine.

A mixed batch of 12 scraps of various hands mostly about first half of 17'th C., chiefly prescriptions; one of the recipes (blank section) is on the back of a prayer

there is a healing drink to be made in May or June from some twenty-eight ingredients, a linctus, a balsam, "A great restorative for anye consumuption" and a panacea which I have pencilled "A" and partly ttanscribe. The constituents are mastick incense, laudanum, castorium, dates (?) stones clean scraped and basped daysis rootes, angelica root, calaminte (?), they are to b steeped in turpentine and honey 24 hours and distilled in an oven or sand furnis "and soe cleane it over 2 times and scurculate it in the same furnas"

"The Virtue of this balm being taken every morning vj roped in a spoonefull of wine it precer(v)eth on the poyson alsoe it preserves a man from corrupt and poyson ayre and especially to be used in time of the plage or pestilences and for on(e) that is bruised in any part let them straygth way anoynt the place and it shall assuage the welling of it and take away the blacke, and it is good for the stich in the side, being annoyed, and vjdrops put into a fistilla every daye doth heal it, heall all windi sores ould ulceres, and for the palsy let the party vj dropes morning and evening in four spoonfulls of win. Probatum este."

from a surrop take old pitch pine roots dugout of the earth that is fat split pine boil them in stirring water scim of the pitch and take the water from your surrop take pette morreff sasepherilla bull brake roots madenhair brook liver wont elder roots stir freely Elm Barke wild sullendine put gin or westindarum in to it to preserve the surrop drink of the surrop five times a day

For a cold surrop take brook lime and water creses of eaqel quantity pound them in a morter and ring out the juice scald and scim it and sweeten it with new honey take a table of spoonful at a time 3 times a day

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Sweet Jesu + Jesu + Jesu + Esto mihi Jesu + O Lord Jesu expect who Arte the trewe salvation of all men O Lord thou arte hee who of thy infinity goodness and wisdome hathe created every good thinges wherby O Lord we knowe throw thy great marcye that with out thee ther can be noe good thinges in the worlde wherfor good Lord Jesu I humbuly adore they sacred magisti we umbly aknowledge that all good and health procedeth from thee only wellspring of grace and salvation neyther doe I reput or thinke any thing good besides thy goodnes or great besides thy greatnes nor durable with out thy love neyther vertues with out thy vertue neyther trew with out thy trouthe nor gloryous with out thy glory nor Joust with out thy Justes I know all so O Lord that thow hast made man w go und sound but that by his owne wickednes ath condemened him selfe and hath ther by subiecked him selfe in to infirmity but yet o lord most mercifully hast thou reformed the lame man by redyming him with thy oune precise blood therfor o lord thou which hast done so great thinges to us and hast given amendment wher by to restore health on to manes body give sweet Jesu thy benediction unto this medicenes and breath upon it with thy holy spirit that the same medcent may receave all the vertoues which in the reacion thou didest destribet unto it so that it may vertiously worke and suficionly prejerut and heale and stope thos foul malignent humores and by thy grace heall them thou hast prepared this medicences and ordeyned it unto so that the bodyes wher in to it shall entor may [cut off] thy sacred grace and insperacion [remainder cut off]