The herb from which Absinthe is made .As a medicine it is excellent,strongly anthelmintic ( worm killer) and choleretic (bile stimulant) amongst other virtues. Thujone though (a volatile oil from the plant ) is a nasty hallucogen and is addictive-hence the problems suffered in 19th Century France.If the thujone is removed though the virtues of the medicine remain. I understand that ,like quassia , the wood was used for bowls and drinking vessels thereby flavouring and influencing whatever was co
The digging work at Vindolanda is an ongoing process.It must be remembered that the fort area has building remains from the Flavian period onwards, with continuous evidence of construction and rebuilding through a very active Severan usage onto the time of Constantine and beyond. So Flavius Cerealis' burning of the Vindolanda tablets is a very early episode in pre-Hadrianic years (97-105 AD). Five wooden forts and two stone ones occupied the site (in various positions ) until a wholesale rebuild
How odd that another brief stroll should , this time without a hangover , should present me with what is now a commonplace weed in Britain that has a very exotic origin. Oxford Ragwort (Senecio squalidus) is a threat to any small grazing animal and non-too kind to humans . Immature animals can die from consuming the plant and humans can have a nasty reaction to contact on account of the toxins it contains.The toxic priciple is alkaloid and tends to poison by causing the liver to fix too much
I have written previously about Hemlock Conium maculatum (and its main poisonous principle the virulent alkaloid coniine, which essentially makes its victim "forget" to breathe), coldness of the flesh moving from the feet toward the chest with a gentle numbness being its significant property. It is said no pain attends this death.
I was taking a gentle stroll to relieve a modest hangover when I happened upon two items , lying by the wayside, that a maleficium would have ceased upon with g
One theme that runs through my blog is the appearence of things in the modern world that were well known in antiquity , but are almost forgotten today. Black Bryony (Tammus communis) is in glorious fruiting condition ,prompted by the warm weather as Britain enjoys a very belated indian summer. This is the plant known to Pliny (The Elder, as usual), as Uva Tamina.
If you had been a wealthy person suffering from gout, chilblains or ulcerated legs in Pliny's day, the macerated sap of this pl
My trip to Aqua Sullis and outlying settlements of interest (to the forum) was terminated abruptly by snowdrifts forcing me to take shelter at the nearest available Hotel and wait for the roads to clear -regrettably I was unable to make any headway to even local sites or museums . I returned early today as more snow is now falling. I have posted a shot of my Hotel garden-looking suspiciously like Lantern Waste in Narnia.
Exhausting but worthwhile. The various reports are being posted in the Forum, the images are going into the Gallery. A tremendously eclectic meeting with specialisms ranging from unusual dietary and sexual behaviour in Rome via detailed knowledge of construction techniques, medicinal practice , gladiatorial fashions, military engineering etc. This was one of those rare events where everything actually went right, and I just hope we can follow this up with additional UK meetings and a Forum me
What better time of year to add another toxicological entry?
Nicotine: alkaloid insecticidal chemical, can be toxic if ingested through the skin or inhaled.
Ordeal bean (Physostigma venemosum) a member of the pea family, a west African native.One quarter bean can be fatal to an adult.
Oxygen: poisinous to anerobic bacteria Which is why exposing a gangrenous wound to the air (ie: oxygen)
helps the cleansing of that wound. Essential to metabolism -many poisons work by impeding its p
Another festive toxicological glossary:
Datura : Thorn apple/jimsonweed, the fruit and leaves (which Arabs smoke) have a high concentration of alkaloids (atropine and scopolamine) , in small doses a specific for asthma, otherwise deleriant and hallucogenic.
Digitalis: foxglove , full of semi toxic cardaic glycosides. You may have a relative who takes digoxin for his heart? Slows a damaged heart to allow steady systole/diastole movement, too much and it stops..
Dioxins: organic compou
Several members of the Forum have a well developed (and probably deeply unhealthy) interest in a number of plant toxins used in the ancient world, (sometimes for medicine, other times for the removal of offensive relatives/political opponents).Here I offer a small guide to some common toxic principles (having previously blogged on the main toxic categories.
Aconite: two plants actually have this name (daisy and buttercup families respectivley), the name is used to refer to the alkaloid der
Im determined to get to Hadrian's Wall in the next few days -I dont know if the weather will allow me to present any reasonable photos,if it remains gloomy I may have to confine myself to interior artefacts at the Roman Army Museum and the Castle Museum at Carlisle.
Britain has a general water shortage , this does not seem to affecting Brittania Inferior.So I will be absent for a while. I will be on the Wall again at the start of February so lets hope for a few hours sunshine.
Madame Perti
Hello to everyone after my unfortunate absence , here is a short blog to get me back into the swing of things.
A long European jorney took me via Koln, Frankfurt, Zurich and Innsbruck to Verona and the Venetian Carnival. Verona has the second largest surviving amphitheatre outside of Rome, and what a joy it is to behold in mellow sunlight. One might imagine that Theatre is worn and fragile with antiquity, however under a patina of weathering the massive structure retains its basic integrity and
Carl Jung wrote a piece on "acausal coincidence" ie: unrelated events prompting in the observer a feeling that greater forces are at play than his or her powers of logical deduction will enable him to properly interpret. That certainly happened today , Peter Heather invoked York Minster Crypt as a place redolent with historical atmosphere (and Vindolanda, Birdoswald and Tullie) -just as I was searching for photos of the Minster in relation to the Roman Fortress and the original ground levels in
I finally managed to get some reasonable internal photos of the Conduit Court in Skipton Castle.The Court was the well spring for the Castle. Originally built in 1090 the Castle was massivley strengthened in 1310.In the War of the Roses this was a Lancastrian House (Red Rose).The Tudor wing (1536) is attached to the NE, and bore the brunt of unsympathetic internal Victorian "improvement".In the Civil War this was the last Castle to hold out for the King in the north.Somehow the place has survive
Greetings all!
I would like to use the blog feature to co-ordinate additional information on herbal medicines with the plant illustrations in my album. I am awaiting the "Pompeiian Herbal" to read and review, I hope I can make a small contribution towards the modern understanding of the use of plant medicines by the Greeks and Romans.
I am aware that Yarrow "The soldier's herb" has not made an appearence yet , but im biding my time till I can take a worthy photo.(note: this herb followe
As I move about the countryside , I find that my mind occupies two different temporal co-ordinates; the present and sometime circa 50 BCE to 125CE . These function as two fixed points between which strange things seem to happen as regards the flow and movement of medical thought, Great modern "discoveries" turn out to be not quite as modern nor undiscovered as first appears. The form and consistency of pre-prepared medicaments has certainly improved apace, but the mis-use and overuse of these s
Ye seconnde partte_Part 2
So firstly we see the near universal practice of fermentation as food, medicine and divine conduit now we are down to practical matters and the
part ye thirdde
Gruit, now here is a thing ,I find that the natural range of the three main semi-psychotropic ingredients of Gruit seems to overlap quite remarkably with the territory of the Brigantes-especially the coastal areas .Sweet Gale (Myrica gale) also called bog myrtle ,is the most elusive nowadays ,yet here I am quite close to its restircted range
Yarrow (see my gallery and herbal notes in the blog-the soldiers herb par excellence ) is adittive number two,and wild rosemary is th
the time approaches for my "cross cultural" review of this work .I think the review will be better handled if its specialised parts are dismembered between UNRV at blog level-for the sections on "analysis of ancient cultures from a modern perspective" and "fermented medicines/cultural ceremonial of celtic /european societies" in relation to Roman medicines, and foodstuffs. The review of the "hardcore" historical analysis for non-european societies and detailed recipe critique ,including the his
My seeds have arrived today from the Nursery in Broadstairs . If all goes well-not too much rain in the spring-I should hope to replicate some of the features of a Romano-British Physic garden , and have some definitive photographs for the Roman Herbal Gallery by summer.
We have Betony, the Celtic favourite for those given to "visions and dreams" (anti psychotic/nervine).
Yarrow-the Roman Soldiers'Herb for the "wounds made by iron weapons".
Woad-the Pictish and Brythonic choice for combat ad
Some of you will have noticed that "Another Roman Recipe to Delight All" thread had a recent burst of life, when I decided to try out a "Roman Army Bread" recipe ( which I found on a bag of spelt flour I bought).
Im well aware that I should be baking flat loaves in a field oven , or in the ash of a windblown campfire, however I prefer to use the modern medium of a breadmaking machine in case my experiments go awry and I set fire to a sizeable area of countryside.
I strongly recommend tryin
Salvete Omnes!
I am pleased to be able to return to the forum at last. I hope to have new photos from the Luguvallum area next week and from Alavanna (Watercrook) .The Tullie House museum and Carlisle Castle diggings are on my itinerary.
edit: The Alavanna to which I refer is not Alavanna Carvetorium (Maryport) it is possibly related to the "lost port" of the Morecambe Estuary , namely that port used by II Adiutrix to combine with IX on its march north to deal with the Brigantine uprisin
"those who have swallowed quicksilver find a remedy in lard. Poisons-especially henbane, mistletoe,hemlock, sea-hare , and others-are neutralised by drinking ass's milk. "
"Bear-grease mixed with laudunum and maidenhair, prevents baldness and cures mange and thin eyebrows if compounded with lamp -black from lamp wicks.Mixed with wine bear grease is a cure for dandruff" (complex fatty acid/lettuce/maidenhair/carbon -q a mix)
Pliny might be a bit shaky in this area so dont shoot any bear
