heart"
forming, so as to produce these salutary effects, an ingredient in many
compound medicines of that date. The Jacinth too (in olden times called
the " Hyacinth "), when ground to powder, was given to stimulate the
heart, and as an antidote to poisons. A certain wonderful confection
thereof, which was believed to be a sovereign remedy for many bodily
ills, was made in France. It was composed of Jacinth, Coral, Sapphire,
Topaz, Pearls, and Emerald, together with Gold, and Silver leaf, and
several herbs of power. " This preparation," says Pomet (1712), " is
much used in Florence and Languedoc, where you meet with but few
persons not having a pot thereof."
The
Topaz, reduced to powder, was mixed with rosewater, and taken to
prevent bleeding : whilst for staying bleeding at the nose the stone
itself was applied within, or to the side of that organ. The Amethyst
was the stone of temperance and sobriety, being said to restrain the
wearer from strong drinks, and from indulging in too much sleep. It was
further believed to quicken the wits, and to drive vapours from the
head.
Pearls
were administered in cases of consumption, and were commended, when
powdered, in ten-grain doses, for giving strength to the heart. They
were further esteemed for fortifying the nerves, curing weak eyes,
preserving the body sound from the decay of old age, and even resisting
the plague, when taken in doses of six grains, in water sweetened with
manna. Amber was given to cure coughs; while Red Coral was " an
excellent purifier of the blood, correcting derangements of the liver."
Jasper was adopted by the early physicians as an astringent, being curative of epilepsy, and the stone.
