2020 Essays

Smoke as Medicine

DeVinney, Joslyn

Of over forty medicinal entries in BnF Ms. Fr. 640, “Medicine of the Orientals against all maladies” is the only recipe that advises taking in the smoke of a dried herb as a treatment. This recipe, on fol. 77r, is also the only reference to “oriental medicine” in the manuscript and the sole example of the use of a pipe to make smoke. In other parts of the manuscript, however, the author-practitioner includes numerous references to good and bad smoke, breath, and vapors in the context of bodily health and craft techniques. This essay discusses this recipe's relationship to others in Ms. Fr. 640, offering insights into the author-practitioner’s conceptions of medicinal materials and practices, and the overlap between medical and non-medical processes in the manuscript. To further situate “Medicine of the orientals against all maladies,” this essay explores its possible genealogy within global medicinal practices. These interconnections demonstrate the importance of historicizing artisanal and medical practice and their related knowledge systems.