25. The use of mercury as a medicine was widespread
Near the end of the fifteenth century, the disease of syphilis was widespread in Europe, and printed materials describing its ravages indicate that it was one of the most dreaded diseases of the time. It was known as the Great Pox, though the English often referred to it as the French Disease, or the French Pox. With no antibiotics to treat it, physicians relied on mercury. Some physicians recognized the fact that mercury was toxic, unsuitable for oral consumption, and prescribed it in the form of an ointment, including Paracelsus in the late fifteenth century. Ointments containing mercury were prescribed for a wide variety of skin diseases as well, steadily poisoning the patient.
Mercury was believed to alleviate an imbalance of the four humors, particularly effective against bile, and thus its use was indicated to the learned physicians of the time. Besides being prescribed for syphilis, it was used to treat skin disorders, melancholia, constipation, parasites both internal and external, and even influenza. It continued to be used in the preparation known as calomel for centuries. As with all diseases, the presence of syphilis indicated an imbalance of the humors to a trained physician, a judgment of a wrathful but just God to moralists, and a painful and costly episode to the patient. The cure was often worse than the disease.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
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