186 IVORY AND THE ELEPHANT
strange error that the elephant's legs were jointless, so that they could not be bent.*
The
old English treatise on "four-footed beasts" by Edward Topsell enlarges
upon the curative value of the flesh and blood of the elephant,
gleaning his information from various older authorities. As we can
scarcely venture any confirmation of Topsell's assertions, it seems
best to give the passage in his own words as follows :*
"The
medicinal virtues in this Beast are by Authors observed to be these:
The bloud of an elephant and the ashes of a Weasil cure the great
Leprosie: and the same bloud is profitable against all Rheumatick
fluxes, and the Sciatica. The flesh dryed and cold, or heavy
fat and cold, is abominable; for if it be sod and steeped in Vinegar
with Fennel-seed, and given to a Woman with child, it maketh her
presently suffer abortion. But if a man taste thereof saltai and
steeped with the seed aforesaid, it cureth an old cough. The fat is a
good Antidote either by Ointment or Perfume: it cureth also the pain in
the head.
"The
Ivory or tooth is cold and dry in the first degree, and the whole
substance thereof corroborateth the heart and helpeth conception. After
a man is delivered from the lethargy, Pestilence, or sudden
forgetfulness, let him be purged and take the powder of Ivory and Hiera Russi, drunk
out of sweet water. This powder with Hony-Attick [Attic honey] taketh
away the spots on the face. The powder of Ivory burnt and drunk with
Goats-bloud doth wonderfully cure all the pains, and expell the little
stones in the veins and bladder. Combs made of Ivory are most
wholesome, the touching of the trunk cureth Headach."
*From
a MS. of the "De Proprietatibus Rerum," by Bartholomäus Anglicus,
dating from the end of the thirteenth or the beginning of the
fourteenth century; lib. XVIII, fol. ccxxiv recto and verso fol. ccxxv
recto. This valuable MS. was originally in the Carthusian monastery of
the Trinity, near Dijon, France.
*Edward Topsell, "History of Pour-footed Beasts," London, 1658, p. 165.
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