by Richard Sugg
53 Thomas Middleton: the Collected Works and Companion, ed. Gary Taylor and John Lavagnino (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 1.2, 16–19. Many thanks to Danielle Yardy for reminding me of this scene.
54 Works (1616), 951.
55 On dating see Gary Taylor, ‘Thomas Middleton’, new DNB.
56 Thomas Potts, The Wonderful Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancaster (1613), L1v–L2r. I am very grateful to Danielle Yardy for bringing this tale to my attention.
57 For a broadly similar (though not fatal) type of witch-magic in Montenegro, see: Leo Kanner, ‘The Folklore and Cultural History of Epilepsy’, Medical Life 37.4 (1930): 167–214, 173.
58 This word (pronouced ‘obeah’) has various meanings, the chief of which is given by the OED as, ‘in the Onitsha and western Igbo area of Nigeria: a king, a chief’.
59 Medical Tracts (1800), 197.
60 Horns of Honour: and Other Studies in the By-Ways of Archaeology (London: John Murray, 1900), 187.
61 A Hangman’s Diary: Being the Journal of Master Franz Schmidt, Public Executioner of Nuremberg, 1573–1617, 176–77.
62 An Abstract of … Those Barbarous, Cruel Massacres and Murthers of the Protestants and English in … Ireland (1652), 12. Cf. Benjamin Keach, Distressed Sion Relieved (1689), 110, 137. For a vivid illustrated account of what was believed to have been done to some victims, see James Cranford, The Tears of Ireland (1642).
63 The author himself seems to believe this is possible, but that the effect is achieved by the Devil, not by the candle itself.
64 Athenian Gazette or Casuistical Mercury (London), 19 December 1691.
65 Horns of Honour, 187–89.
66 The Times, 18 April 1836, 7.
67 The Pall Mall Gazette, 24 November 1888; The Star (Saint Peter Port), 11 October 1888.
68 Similarly, the Kursk murder was itself frequently dubbed ‘a Whitechapel murder’ by the newspapers of the day.
69 The Star, 11 October 1888.
70 ‘Modern Witches of Pennsylvania’, Journal of American Folklore 40.157 (1927): 304–9, 304–5.
71 Horns of Honour, 190–91.
72 Horns of Honour, 180–84. Although Elworthy credits the pre-1568 painting to Jan Breugel, he must mean Pieter Breugel the elder (d.1569), as Jan Breugel the elder was born only in 1568.
73 Horns of Honour, 186–87.
74 Far from the Madding Crowd (London: Macmillan, 1912), 174.
75 In 2008 Rosemary Pope, then a pro-vice-chancellor of Bournemouth University, died at aged 49 after a long history of anorexia. By the time she fatally collapsed, her heart had shrunk to the size of a child’s.
76 Klinike, or the Diet of the Diseased (1633), 347.
77 Applebee’s Original Weekly Journal (London), 24 September 1720.
78 Common Sense or The Englishman’s Journal (London), 23 December 1738. Although the place name given beside the incident’s date (6 December) is illegible, this would seem to be Lawford’s Gate in Bristol.
79 Animism, Magic, and the Divine King (London: Kegan Paul, 1930), 98–101, citing sources from 1886, 1907, and 1908.
80 ‘Folk-Medicine of the Pennsylvania Germans’, 349–50.
81 Bodies: Sex, Violence, Disease, and Death in Contemporary Legend (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2009), 269.
82 For this and further details, see Devendra P. Varma, in Horrid Mysteries (London: Folio Society), xii.
83 Horrid Mysteries, 61.
84 Horrid Mysteries, 64–68.
85 Cited in Dracula, ed. J.P. Riquelme (Boston: St Martin’s, 2002), 396–97.
86 The Poetical Works of Rupert Brooke, ed. Geoffrey Keynes (London: Faber & Faber, 1952), 81. Brooke sent the first two stanzas to Jacques Raverat in a letter of 8 November 1910; the full poem was published in The New Age on 16 November 1911 (see: Nigel Jones, Rupert Brooke: Life, Death and Myth (London: Richard Cohen, 1999), 144).
87 Without wishing to labour the point, it is worth adding that recent oblivion as to the past existence of corpse medicine is further illustrated by the words of Brooke’s biographer, Jones, when he mistakenly declares that ‘the poem’s central image … is grotesquely original’ (Rupert Brooke, 145). This is of course true insofar as Brooke shifts from medicine to aphrodisiac, but Jones seems to have no idea of the medical history of ‘mummia’.
88 Jones, Rupert Brooke, 145.
89 It is possible, of course, that Brooke was aware of the medical nature of mummy. But if so he does seem to risk exposing himself to some ridicule by verses which give no hint of such awareness.
90 Eileen S. Barr and Roger K. Brown, ‘Human Skull for Love Potion’, Western Folklore 17.1 (1958): 61–62.
91 ‘Strange Medicines’, 758.
92 Many thanks to Martyn Bennett for this detail.
93 See: www.solarnavigator.net/earthrace.htm.
94 The Examiner (London), 21 August 1858.
95 Death, Dissection and the Destitute (London: Phoenix, 2001), 97.
96 Healing Threads, 116–17.
97 Healing Threads, 117.
98 See Tannahill, Flesh and Blood, 87
99 Mary Roach, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (London: Penguin, 2003), 49–50.
100 David Samper, ‘Cannibalizing Kids’, Journal of Folklore Research 39.1 (2002): 1–32, 1–2.
101 Paul Lewis, ‘Kosovo PM is Head of Human Organ and Arms Ring, Council of Europe Reports’, Guardian, 14 December 2010; ‘The Doctor at the Heart of Kosovo’s Organ Scandal’, Guardian, 17 December 2010. All further quotations are from second article.
102 See Murder after Death, 166.
103 For the harsh realities of the vampire diet, see especially the 2008 film Let the Right One In (dir. Thomas Alfredson).
104 Frank Lestringant, Cannibals: The Discovery and Representation of the Cannibal from Columbus to Jules Verne, trans. Rosemary Morris (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997), 80.
105 A General Martyrology (1660), 420, 421–22, 423–24, 425.
106 Whilst Samper has convincingly shown that the often strikingly detailed stories of Latin American children killed for organ theft have never been proved (‘Cannibalizing Kids’, 6–12), we should note that Sonmez has also been linked to illicit transplant operations in Ecuador (Lewis, ‘Doctor at the Heart of Kosovo’s Organ Scandal’).
Index
28 Days Later (film) 140
Abbot, George, Brief Description of the Whole World 75
Abd Allatif 12
Accomplish’d Lady’s Delight in Preserving, Physic, Beautifying and Cookery, The (1675) 167
Ackerknecht, Erwin H. 256, 257, 260
Adair, James Makittrick 251–52
Adams, Thomas 28–29, 175
Africanus, Constantinus 11
afterbirth 53, 138, 169
Agrippa, Henricus Cornelius 20, 83, 204
AIDS 127
Aikin, John 253; Biographical Memoirs of Medicine in Great Britain from the revival of literature to the time of Harvey 254
alchemy 39, 43, 51–52, 188–89, 231; blood 12–14, 190–92; Catholic saints vs Protestant science 196–202; as chemistry 190; of the corpse 188–89, 192–96; logic of 195
Alexander the Great 70
Alexander of Tralles 9
Alexander VI, Pope 17, 120
Allestree, Richard 142
Alston, Charles 251
Altun, Yilman 287, 290, 291
Alviano, Bartholomew 27
Amherst, Sir Geoffrey 141
amulets 137
anatomists 90–92, 187–88
Andersen, Hans Christian 81
Angela of Foligno 199
Angier, Edward 249
animals and birds 5, 31–32, 43, 47–48, 82, 111, 136–38, 139, 146, 152, 160, 162, 166, 189, 215, 231, 253, 266, 270
animate corpse 177–78
Antheus 10
Anthony, Francis 25
Antis people 132–33, 194
Antoninus Pius, Emperor 278
Antwerp, siege of (1576) 100
<
br /> Apollonius 10
Aponte, Juan Rivera 282
apoplexy and convulsions 13, 58–59, 62, 85, 166
Aquinas, St Thomas 180
Arens, William 113
Aretaeus of Cappadocia 11
Aretino, Pietro 143
Argenson, Marquis de 156
Ariès, Philippe 98
Armstrong, John 267
Arnold of Villanova 13, 14, 19, 165, 180, 190, 227
Art and Mystery of the Apothecary, The 259
Artemon 10
arthritis 11, 51
Arundel, Earl of 100
Arwacas people 119
Ashmole, Elias 137
asthma 61, 110, 165
Aubrey, John 277
Augustus, Emperor 70
Aurelianus, Caelius 11
Bacon, Francis 32, 70, 101, 104, 126–27, 157, 169, 176, 182, 186, 190
Bacon, Phanuel, The Trial of the Time Killers 240
Bacon, Roger 61; The Cure of Old Age and Preservation of Youth 13
Baker, George 24, 25
Baldwin, William, Beware the Cat 106
Banister, John 23–24, 91, 137, 143, 233; Antidotary Chyrurgical 23; The History of Man 23
barber-surgeons 91
Barbette, Paul 144, 146, 147, 167
Barker-Benfield, G.J. 264
Barrough, George 24
Bartas, Guillaume du 74–75
Barthes, Roland 154
Barton, William 131
Basse, William, Help to Memory and Discourse 208
Baxter, Richard 56, 101, 125, 147–48, 169; The Saints’ Everlasting Rest 147
Beale, John 180–81
Beatrice II, of Este 198, 200
Beckford, William, Vathek 240
Beckher, Daniel 185, 187
Beith, Mary 164–65, 167, 168, 268, 286
Bell, John 91
Belzunce, Monsieur de 128
Bennett, Alan, The History Boys 285
Berlu, Jean Jacob, Treasury of Drugs Unlocked 237–38
Best, Efrain Morote 106
Bethune, Peter 284
Bierley, Ellen and Jennet 273–74
Binns, Joseph 144
Birch, Thomas 231
birds see animals and birds
Bittner, Craig Allen 284
‘black doctors’ 285–86
Black Legend 108
Black, William 254, 257; An Historical Sketch of Medicine and Surgery from Their Origin to the Present Time; and of the Principal Authors, Discoveries, Improvements 249
Black, William George 268
Blair, Tony 149
Bloch, Harry 257
Bloch, Dr Josef 276
Blome, Richard 28
blood 6, 7, 173, 175, 187, 196, 203, 230, 257, 258, 265, 270; alchemy 12–14, 190–92; animal 31–32, 82, 111, 137, 152, 215; children’s 286; consumed by animals 47–48; distillations of 16, 66, 110, 204, 235; dragon’s 144; drinking 56–57, 78–79, 128, 129, 180, 253, 257, 278–83; executions as source of 78–87; gladiatorial 9–10; jam recipe 20; lamp of life 46–47, 61; as love potion 278–83; magical properties of 88–89; nature and powers of 61–63; papal acceptance of 18–19, 55; powdered 15, 39; recipes 41, 43–44, 53, 62, 137–38, 269; washing in 133, 168
bloodletting 17, 28, 43, 60, 111
Boaistuau, Pierre 10, 21; Theatre du Monde 21
bodysnatching 92–98, 285
Bolnest, Edward 98, 139, 179; Aurora Chymica 51–52; Medicina Instaurata 51, 52
Bondeson, Jan 150–51
bones 7–8, 11, 13, 15, 40, 51, 53, 57, 98, 116, 119, 199, 203
Book of Life, The 19
Border, Daniel 43–44, 111
Boswell, James 87
Boudet, Mr 74
Boulton, Samuel, Medicina Magica Tamen Physica 50
Bourg, Monsieur du Petit 130
Bowlker, Charles 231
Boyle, Danny 140
Boyle, Robert 5, 40, 44, 45, 48, 55, 59–64, 79, 82, 92, 98, 101, 103, 110, 111, 145, 152, 164, 165, 191, 224–26, 229, 234, 289; Memoirs for the Natural History of Humane Blood 61, 215; Occasional Reflections upon Several Subjects 226; Sceptical Chemist 60; Some Considerations Touching the Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy 62
Bradley, Richard 230
Braems, Sir Arnold 168
brains 10, 40, 46, 57, 126, 130, 137, 148, 195, 196, 203, 236, 257, 258
Brandes, Bernd Jürgen 116, 283
Brasavola, Antonius Musa 20, 24
Braybrooke, Robert, Bishop of London 69
breast milk 8, 11, 19, 35, 45, 54–55, 117
Bredwell, Stephen 167
British Witchcraft Act (1736) 270
Brockliss, Lawrence 258
Brooke, Rupert, ‘Mummia’ 281–82
Brown, John 164
Browne, Edward 77–78, 79, 215, 253
Browne, John 57, 146
Browne, Moses 251
Browne, Richard 13
Browne, Sir Thomas 79, 96; Hydriotaphia 214–15, 217
Broxholme (or Bloxam), Noel 229
bruises 14, 21–22, 25, 35, 59, 175, 229, 252
Brunswick, Hieronymus 205
Brunton, Deborah 229
Buklijas, Tatjana 95, 96
Bullein, William 26, 167; Bullein’s Bulwark of Defence Against all Sickness 23
Bulstrode, Whitelocke 179
Burbury, John 157
Burgravius, John Ernest 46
Burke, Edmund 7
Burke, Peter 254
Burke, Ulick 102
Burke, William 236, 285, 288
Burton, Henry 200
Burton, Robert, Anatomy of Melancholy 50
Byfield, Nicholas 145
Caius, John 19, 140
Calatians (or Calantians) 118
Caledonian Medical Society 285
Camporesi, Piero 3, 16, 19, 128, 149, 198–99, 265
cancers and tumours 15, 21, 23, 46, 55, 57, 146, 151, 199, 203, 232
Canessa, Andrew 105, 108
cannibalism 1–3, 113–14, 189, 194, 199, 211; aggressive 120–24; auto-cannibalism 8; consensual 4, 119–20; definitions 7; divine 29–32; religious 129–30; ritual 114, 117, 121–22, 130, 131–32, 132; sexual 116, 278–83; social 283–91;
cannibals 2, 113, 206, 235–37; definitions 7; derivation of name 124–25
Cardon, Daniel 130
Carlotto, Roger 282
Carmilla (1871–72) 281
Carpi, Berengario da 16, 22, 71, 189
Cartwright, William, bishop of Chester 64
Casas, Bartolomé de las 107
Cassian, Master Amé 27
castration 137
cat-woman tale 82
Catherine of Genoa 199
Catherine of Siena 159, 199
Cavendish, Margaret, Duchess of Newcastle 82
Cecil, Robert 35
Cecil, William 25
Cellini, Benvenuto 160
Celsus 9, 10, 257
Chamberlen, Dr Peter 158
Chambers’ Cyclopaedia 253
Charas, Moise 110, 111, 165, 177, 191, 195–96, 254, 258
Charles I 1, 35, 77, 86, 101, 142, 149
Charles II 1, 6, 35, 45, 77, 104, 140, 155; death of 261–63; use of corpse medicine 2–3, 15, 40, 57, 64–65, 169–70, 185, 229, 266
Charles IX 99, 130, 206
Charleton, Walter 40, 231
Chateaubriand, François-René de 128
Chelsea Royal Hospital 229
chemistry 39, 40, 43, 44, 52, 62, 184, 190, 194, 196, 198
Chiffinch, William 64–65
children 15, 18, 39, 45, 48, 59, 96, 103, 107, 117, 131–33, 144–46, 149, 153, 165, 192, 205–6, 230, 232, 234, 239, 266, 271, 273–74, 282, 286
Chinese cannibalism 117–18, 123
Chirihuana people 126, 134
chocolate 58, 64
Choice Manual, or Rare Secrets in Physic and Chirurgery, A 53
Chomel, Noel 230–31
Christian IV 22
Christians 5–6, 18, 196–202
Churchyard, Thomas 103
Cibber, Colley 242
Civil War (English) 14–16, 38, 53, 101, 104, 138, 149
Clarke, Samuel 130, 133
classical era 9–11
Cleary, Michael 271
Clerke, Dr 170
Clive, General Robert 231
Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelm Digby Kt. Opened, The (1669) 55
Clowes, William 24, 25, 143, 233
Cogan, Thomas 140
Colborne, Robert 252
Collenucius, Pandolphus 12
Collyns, Dan 105
Columbo, Realdo 23
Columbus, Christopher 113, 120
Commodus, Emperor 278
Company of Mercy (Italy) 85
Conklin, Beth A. 4, 114, 116, 117, 119
Considine, John 55
consumption 46, 55, 56, 61, 110, 231
convulsions see apoplexy and convulsions
Copertino, Joseph 199, 202
Cordo, Simon 12
Cork Examiner, The (1895) 271
Corley, T.A.B. 232, 247–48
Cornarus, Jerome 27
corpse medicine; 18th century literature/ drama 238–45; acceptance of 163, 164–65, 173; ambivalence towards 207–15; beliefs concerning 24, 25–26; Catholic saints vs Protestant science 196–202; concluding remarks 283–91; demand for 104; early opposition to 204–15; ending of 272; Ethiopian recipe 192–93, 201; as horrid medicine 245–55; illicit practitioners of 25; ingredients 163–71; modern examples 286–91; opposition towards 6–7, 204–7; persistence in 18th century 228–38; pervasiveness of 4, 138; power of 92; questions concerning 3, 7; sources of 68, 77–112; superstition 252–55; terminology and caveat 8; and violent or premature death 35, 77–89, 91, 129, 181, 182, 184–88, 192–93, 205, 229, 234, 235, 253, 266–67; whitewash in medical history 255–63; zenith of 40
Cortez, Hernando 106, 108
Cosby, Arnold 89
cosmetics 28–29, 108, 168, 235–36, 283–84
Cotesworth, William 155
Cottington, Robert 72, 73
Cottu, Dr 161
Cotugno, Domenico 233–34; Treatise on the Nervous Sciatica 109
Courtall, Lady 219
Cowley, Hannah, The Belle’s Stratagem 240
Cowper, William 248
Cox, Nicholas 28
Crell, Lorenz 233
Croll, Oswald 42–43, 51, 56, 181, 192
Cromwell, Oliver 35, 104, 142
Crosby, John R. 276
Crowne, William 100
Cruso, John 254; A Treasure of Easy Medicines 229
Cuff, Henry 181–82
Cullen, William 250
Culpeper, Nicholas 38–39, 52, 247; Directory for Midwives 38–39; English Physician 39