Remedial Medicine

Chapter Summary

This chapter examines the various types of therapeutic treatments and medicines that were recommended for sick animals in early modern England. The health of working animals lay almost entirely in the hands of their owners or caretakers. The two main ways of dealing with a humoural imbalance was by replenishing a deficit and by disburdening the body of 'corrupt and superfluous' matter. The considerations that had to be taken into account was the nature of the illness and of the patient, followed by the time of the year, the weather and the region where the patient lived. One of the main principles, called the 'Doctrine of Signatures', was based on the idea that all plants offered either visual or other clues as to their medicinal qualities. The chapter also talks about 'chyrugical' or surgical treatments, which carried risks and were best attempted when other methods had failed.

Keywords: chyrugical; Doctrine of Signatures; England; remedial medicine; therapeutic