Being stuck inside the house on lock-down is certainly very challenging, but it has meant that I have had ample time to enjoy my rather petite pear tree explode into blossom. Eating Fruit Eating fruit in the early modern period was complicated in terms of health. David Gentilcore’s excellent book
Midwives and Gossips
Tuesday 5 May 2020 is International Day of the Midwife, which falls during the World Health Organisation’s Year of the Nurse and Midwife making it a double celebration. Midwifery and childbirth is something we’ve discussed a few times on this blog, but did you know Sara has just published her
Historic Hostility and the Search for a Smallpox Vaccine.
A guest post by Jo Willett As the Coronavirus crisis continues, seemingly daily we get news of the scramble to find a vaccine and ineffective antibody tests. Today we have a guest blog by Jo Willet pointing out the parallels between the search for a vaccine for this new virus
Snail salves, waters, & syrups
In an old blog post about treating urinary conditions we included a remedy made of snail shells. Mary Fleetwood’s sunburn recipe also contained snail. Snails perhaps because they were easily accessible animal products, were a regular ingredient in early modern medicines. Snail Water Snail water was a remedy for a
Soothing Sunburn
Mary Fleetwood has a recipe for easing sunburn in her manuscript recipe book. ‘A Water for Sun Burning’ Take a still full of snails, put to it 1 quart of Creame, 1 pint of white wine vinegar, 1/2 pound of bitter almonds, 6 limons, 1 handfull of white lilly roots,