2020 Essays

An Excellent Salve for Burns

Liu, Xiaomeng

“Against burns, excellent” (fol. 103r) gives detailed instructions on the making and application of a salve for burns. Like some other medical recipes in the manuscript it calls for relatively few ingredients but specifies a complex making process to transform the material into a different state. The recipe is unusual among the other medical recipes in Ms. Fr. 640, however, because it possesses explicit spiritual dimensions, including pure ingredients, holy water, and the recitation of prayers. In addition, the recipe provides information about its source and trustworthiness. The reconstruction of the recipe revealed the transformation of the mixture of linseed oil and hardening wax, two hydrophobic substances, into a fluffy white ointment through constant stirring with water, and, at the same time, the purifying “ritual” brought about a visible whitening and “inspiriting” of the materials with each recited prayer and washing with holy water.