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    IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 118

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    . Mam ^ The Roll Which The Muse Of Histo...

    panacea for every ailment , the counter agent of poisons , in one word , the great remedy of the agein the shape of an oil distilled from

    , amber . ' To the reader of history it must have occurred to observethat

    , when some great wonder , like the Reformation , has been wrought in any age , he will often find the veriest trifle start up "by its side , and

    lay an almost , equal hold upon the minds of men . The lapse of time brings all things to their true proportionthe colossus stands ,

    the mushroom is forgotten in the dust : but pore , with us over these yellow letters , these faithful witnesses of what men thought and felt

    in the sixteenth century , and you shall see how throughout the courts of GermanyDr . Meckabaeh and his wonderful discoveries

    , excited very nearly as much eager interest as Dr . Martin Luther and his new doctrines . Of course "we do not speak of the bulk of

    the people , on whose head not one drop of that precious oil would ever fall ; our remark , applies only within the narrow limits of the

    world which could write letters and afford to pay physicians . In one important point Meckabach had a decided advantage over the

    reformer ; for him opinion was undivided , not one adverse voice lifted itself against the marvellous virtues of amber water , amber oil ,

    and " manus christi , " another preparation from the same substance . Catholic and Lutheran alike are anxious to possess these sovereign

    remedies , ladies willingly sacrifice their much valued ornaments to the doctor ' s crucibleand receive—or believe they receive , which

    , answers the same purpose—them back , melted into a few drops of the wonder-working oil . Amber is fortunately found in Prussiaand

    , Duke Albert loses no time in despatching large quantities to Megabachus _, who duly returns him amber oil , water , and manus christi .

    Therewith the doctor writes a pompous letter , in which he proves himself well _worthy a place in Moliere ' s famous " Consultation . "

    " Ars long a" he says , or he would certainly have made more of the oil , but he is , as all the world knows , overwhelmed with affairs ,

    and must presently ri _$ . e off to Munich to meet Duke Ludwig . He gives a catalogue of the potent virtues of his drugs which would put

    to shame the invention dis 2 ) layed by the modern advertiser of patent medicines . u The very smell of the oil" he says , " perform

    , wonders ; and only a few drops taken in wine or distilled cordials have power to drive away all manner of pain whatsoever . I send

    likewise a small box of manus christi , prepared from the oil afore-» said , and which has never been invented or imagined before ; it is

    soverei gn against apoplexy , madness , and in . short every disease of the brain . A small piece dissolved in the mouth sufficeth to cure

    an epilepsy or—a headache . " Many ladies of this period practised more useful , if less pretend

    ing , arts than alchemy and astrology . They prepared _^ great variety of simple medicines from different herbs and rootsand somethe

    Princess Anna of Saxony for example , acquired a , wide reputation ,

    through their skill . Indeed , Dr . Elizabeth Blackwell may argue

    In The Sixteenth Century. 118

    IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY . 118

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1860, page 113, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041860/page/41/