Aug 19– "Journeys in Diverse Places" by Ambroise Paré translated by Robert Willis

 Opium!

Aug 19– Journeys in Diverse Places by Ambroise Paré translated by Robert Willis

Summary:

Commentary: Before I get to the reading, let's just look at this excerpt from Ambroise's Wikipedia page:

In 1567, Ambroise Paré described an experiment to test the properties of bezoar stones. At the time, the stones were commonly believed to be able to cure the effects of any poison, but Paré believed this to be impossible. It happened that a cook at Paré's court was caught stealing fine silver cutlery, and was condemned to be hanged. The cook agreed to be poisoned instead, on the condition that he would be given a bezoar straight after the poison and go free in case he survived. The stone did not cure him, and he died in agony seven hours after being poisoned. Thus Paré had proved that bezoars could not cure all poisons.

I like how it implies that he just watched the dude die for seven hours and then went, "I told you so!"

Rouen. M. de Bassompierre, colonel of twelve hundred horse,

That's a lot of horse. Also, I like imagining him getting introduced this way. "Now entering, M. de Bassompierre, COLONEL OF TWELVE HUNDRED HORSE!" (insert trumpets and or electric guitar solo).

He has about a page of things sick people should eat, but the most important is obviously the opium:

At night he can take barley-water, with juice of sorrel and of waterlilies, of each two ounces, with four or five grains of opium, and the four cold seeds crushed, of each half an ounce; which is a good nourishing remedy and will make him sleep.

 I do like his sixteenth century white noise machine:

And we must make artificial rain, pouring water from some high place into a cauldron, that he may hear the sound of it; by which means sleep shall be provoked on him.

This was fun/interesting one. Not super deep, but enjoyable.