The People's Dispensary

Browse the list of body parts, conditions, symptoms and treatments, click on a letter or category to narrow your search, and click on a name to see the related case notes.

Tap a letter or category to narrow your search, browse the list of body parts, conditions, symptoms and treatments, and tap on a name to see the related case notes.

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Body Part		Condition

Symptom		Treatment

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Name:	Category:	Description:
Abdomen	Body Part	Belly. Derived from the word abdo, meaning to hide therefore the contents lay hidden in it. See also entry for stomach.
Abdominal viscera	Body Part	Abdominal organs including stomach, intestine, liver, pancreas, spleen, kidneys. See also entry for viscera.
Abortion	Condition	The loss of pregnancy, either intentionally or spontaneously. See also entry for miscarriage.
Abscess	Condition	A cavity or space in a body part containing pus, or a collection of matter.
Absinthe	Treatment	The dried leaves and flowering tops of a bitter plant.
Absorbent	Treatment	Medicines which have the ability to dry up internally and externally.
Aconite	Treatment	Aconitum, commonly known as Wolf's Bane and Monkshood is a plant which grows in rocky areas in Northern Europe. Though containing poisonous properties, the extract of this plant was used in medical treatments.
Acrimony	Treatment	Also known as Acrimonia. Any substance that causes bitter pungency to the organs of taste or smell, or to the skin, throat.
Acrostichum	Treatment	A fern genus in the Parkerioideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae.
Adjuvantia	Treatment	Supplementary methods of medical treatment.
Aerugine Aeris	Treatment	The corrosion of copper by fermented vegetable acid producing a bluish green substance. See also entry for copper.
Aesophagismus	Symptom	Difficulty swallowing; inability to swallow. See also entries for aglutition and dysphagia.
Aether	Treatment	A mixture of alcohol with an acid such as vitriolic. See also entry for vitriolic acid.
Aglutition	Symptom	Inability to swallow; difficulty swallowing. See also entries for aesophagismus and deglutition.
Ague	Condition	An acute or high fever or a disease characterised by such fever when it recurs periodically, latterly regarded as a symptom of malaria.
Air vesicle	Body Part	Bay-like extensions off the parabronchi of the lungs.
Alae nasi	Body Part	In Latin means the wings of the nose, either of the two wings (great and small) of the sphenoid bone.
Albuginea	Body Part	The inner coat of the testicle.
Alea Narium	Body Part	Nose and/or nostril(s). See also entry for nose.
Alimentary Canal	Body Part	Part of the digestive system. Also known as Primæ Viæ.
Alkali	Treatment	A saline substance extracted from calcined ashes of saltwort, glasswort and other plants.
Allium	Treatment	Common garlic. The roots of the plant were used in medicine to relieve asthma and coughs and applied as a pill or a syrup. See also entry for garlic.
Aloe	Treatment	A drug made from the concentrated or dried juice of plants of the genus Aloe, having a bitter taste and unpleasant odour. Used mainly as a purgative or laxative.
Alum	Treatment	An astringent mineral white/colourless salt.
Alvi flexus	Symptom	See entry for diarrhoea.
Amarum	Treatment	Bitters used as an astringent and tonic principally for stomach complaints.
Amaurosis	Condition	A disease of the optic nerve usually without external change in the eye that causes problems with vision, including total or partial loss of sight. See also entry for gutta serena.
Amblyopia	Symptom	The complete or relative debilitation of sight. The principal symptom of this condition is the loss of sight without any apparent opacity of the cornea or the interior of the eye.
Amenorrhea	Symptom	Absence or suppression of menstruation.
Amygdala	Body Part	Tonsils.
Anasarca	Symptom	Diffuse dropsy or water retention in the cellular tissue in a large surface of the body such as a limb.
Anastomosis	Symptom	To relax or open the mouths of the vessels to discharge their contained fluids.
Anchylosis	Condition	A stiff or rigid joint. Can also mean the coalescence of two bones which were originally distinct.
Anderson's Pills	Treatment	Mildly aperient pills containing aloes, colocynth and gamboge, used as a remedy for cleansing the system after over-indulgence.
Aneurysm	Condition	A tumour arising from the dilation or rupture of the coats of an artery. Can also mean unnatural dilation of an artery.
Angelica	Treatment	An aromatic umbelliferous plant found in northern and eastern Europe.
Angina Maligna	Condition	A putrid remittent fever which is accompanied with an ulcerated sore throat or with the inflammation of the mucous membrane. Commonly occurred in the autumn among children and weakened adults. Also known as angina gangrena and suffocativa.
Angina Pectoris	Condition	A syndrome characterised by intermittent attacks of pain in the chest. Also attacks of pain occurring in other parts of the body as a result of impaired blood flow.
Angina	Condition	Swelling or inflammation in the throat which causes difficulty in swallowing or breathing. Also known as cynanche, quinsy or tonsillitis.
Angostura	Treatment	Cusparia or Angostura bark is obtained from Galipea officinalis, a tree growing on the mountains of Venezuela.
Aniseed	Treatment	Sugar of Anise. Seeds of the umbelliferous plant Pimpinella Anisum, a native of the Levant. Cultivated in Britain for their aromatic and carminative properties.
Ankle	Body Part	Area where the leg and the foot connect.
Anodyne	Treatment	Medicinal treatment to reduce or relieve pain. Taken as a draught, a balsam and a liniment.
Anorexia	Condition	A condition characterised by a loss or want of appetite.
Antacid	Treatment	A substance or remedy that reduces or neutralises acidity, especially that of the contents of the stomach.
Anthelmintic	Treatment	Types of medicine used to expel or kill parasitic worms.
Antiepileptic	Treatment	Commonly used treatment for epilepsy.
Antimony	Treatment	Medicine derived from a semi-metal of a whitish or silver colour.
Antiphlogistic	Treatment	Medicine or remedy used to counteract, reduce or cure inflammation.
Antipsoric	Treatment	Remedy to prevent or cure itchiness.
Antiseptic	Treatment	Medicine designed to resist or prevent decay.
Antispasmodic	Treatment	A general term for a medicine used to prevent or relieve spasms.
Anus	Body Part	The opening at the end of the alimentary canal through which solid waste matter leaves the body.
Anxietas febrilis	Symptom	Latin for feverish anxiety. Anxiety arising from the uneasiness or pressure felt in the stomach or upper abdominal area.
Aorta	Body Part	The main artery proceeding from the left ventricle of the heart in which all other arteries except the pulmonary are the branches.
Aperture	Symptom	An open cancer or cases where tumours have become ulcerated.
Aphonia	Symptom	Loss of speech and paralysis of the tongue caused by damage or disease in larynx or mouth. See also entry for paraphonia.
Apoplexy	Symptom	Afflux of blood to the head.
Apyrexia	Symptom	An intermission in or absence of a fever.
Ardor Urinae	Symptom	An intense acute heat sensation during urination.
Armenian Bole	Treatment	A red earth clay originating from Armenia used as an astringent against diarrhoea.
Arnica Montana	Treatment	Also known as German Leopards Bane; a plant used as an antispasmodic.
Aromatic	Treatment	General term for various highly perfumed botanical substances.
Arsenic	Treatment	A poisonous and highly toxic mineral which was used medicinally in some cases for treatment of cancer.
Arsenici	Treatment	In the case notes identified as a medicine recently invented by Mr Milner, a chemist at Cambridge.
Artery	Body Part	A blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to tissues and organs in the body.
Arthralgia	Symptom	Pain or stiffness in a joint or joints.
Arthritis	Condition	Painful disease causing inflammation of the joints.
Arthropuosis	Symptom	A term variously used to describe inflammation of a joint or abscess in a joint.
Asafoetida	Treatment	Medicine used as an antispasmodic consisting of dried latex (gum oleoresin) exuded from the rhizome or tap root of several species of perennial plants in the species Ferula. Also known as Foetid Gum Camphor.
Ascarides	Condition	Intestinal worms; thread-worms.
Ascites	Symptom	A collection of serous fluid in the peritoneal cavity; dropsy of the abdomen, water accumulates in the cavity of the belly.
Asphyxia	Symptom	Stoppage of the pulse or where the pulse is no longer perceptible to the touch.
Asthma	Condition	Illness affecting respiration with intermittent periods of difficult breathing, wheezing and coughing.
Astringent	Treatment	Medicine suited to increase the cohesion of and produce some contraction in the simple solids and moving fibres of the human body.
Atony	Symptom	Loss of strength, want of tone, relaxed condition, languor.
Axilla	Body Part	Armpit.
Axunge	Treatment	Kidney fat of geese and pigs used to make ointments.
Balsam	Treatment	An aromatic oily or resinous medicinal preparation, sometimes to be externally applied, sometimes to be ingested, often in the form of a syrup, for healing wounds or soothing pain.
Bathing	Treatment	Curative or therapeutic swimming and washing.
Belladonna	Treatment	Atropa belladonna or Deadly Nightshade.
Biceps	Body Part	A large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm.
Bile Duct	Body Part	A series of thin tubes that go from the liver to the small intestine.
Bile	Symptom	Also known as Bilis, Fel, Chole and Gall. The fluid secreted from the blood in the liver and collected in the gall bladder. It is bitter and of a brownish yellow colour sometimes appearing into green.
Bistort	Treatment	The powdered roots of a plant native to Britain called Persicaria Bistorta, used as astringent. Also known as Snakeroot or Snakeweed.
Bitters	Treatment	A term to describe all bitter medicines, including Peruvian bark.
Bladder Stones, Kidney Stones	Condition	Gravel in the bladder or kidney.
Bladder	Body Part	The musculo-membranous bag which contains the urinary fluid secreted by the kidneys.
Blindness	Condition	Inability to see because of injury, disease or a congenital condition.
Blister	Treatment	Form of external, localised treatment designed to draw bad or poisonous 'humours' to the surface of the body.
Bloodletting	Treatment	Taking or drawing blood, most frequently from the arm.
Blue Vitriol	Treatment	Vitriolum Caerulum. Type of metal sulphate. Copper.
Bolus	Treatment	A medicine in a round shape for swallowing for example a large pill or a single dose of a drug.
Borborygmi	Symptom	Intestinal rumblings due to movement of fluid and gas in the guts.
Bowel	Body Part	The part of the alimentary canal below the stomach; the intestine.
Brain	Body Part	The main organ in the central nervous system, located within the skull.
Bread	Treatment	When used medicinally, most often to give form to pills.
Bregma	Body Part	The region of the skull where the frontal and the two parietal bones join; the sinciput; in infancy, before the sutures are closed, constituting the anterior fontanel. Formerly regarded as two regions, the right and left bregmata.
Bronchus	Body Part	Part of the respiratory system, an airway allowing for air to reach the lungs.
Burgundy pitch	Treatment	A treatment consisting of resin from the Norway spruce tree with a solid but soft consistency and reddish-brown in colour. Used in plasters and to relieve chest disorders such as a prolonged cough or rheumatic disorders. It was applied externally as melted pitch with gauze near the affected area.
Caeruleae	Treatment	Pill, active ingredient of which is cuprum ammoniala. See also entries for copper and cuprum ammoniala.
Calamine	Treatment	An ore of zinc.
Calcination	Symptom	The use of heat to produce a change in a body; or the separation of the more volatile part of any compound with heat.
Calculi	Condition	To be affected by stones for example kidney stones.
Caligo	Symptom	Problems with vision, including total or partial loss of sight. See also entry for amaurosis.
Calomel	Treatment	A preparation of mercury much used in medicine in the form of a white powder with a yellow tinge. Was often used in the treatment of worms. Also known as Mercury Dulcis, Sweet Mercury and Mercurius Choloride.
Calumba	Treatment	See entry for Columbo root.
Camomile	Treatment	Anthemis nobilis, an aromatic creeping herb with white flowers.
Camphor	Treatment	Camphor is a waxy extract of the wood of the Camphor Laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), a large evergreen tree native to Asia.
Cancer	Condition	A painful scirrhous tumour, often terminating in a fatal ulcer.
Canella Alba	Treatment	See entry for cinnamon.
Cantharides	Treatment	The medicinal name of the dried beetle Cantharis vesicatoria or Spanish Fly. Used as a diuretic, as a blistering agent and as stimulant to kidneys and other genitourinary organs.
Carcinoma	Condition	Cancerous ulcer. See also entry for cancer.
Cardamom	Treatment	A spice consisting of the seed-capsules of various species of Amomum and Elettaria (family Zingiberaceæ). Used as a stimulant and stomach tonic as well as a carminative and antispasmodic.
Cardiac	Symptom	Of or relating to the heart, also known as cordis.
Cardialgia	Symptom	Experience of heartburn, pain and a sensation of heat around the heart or stomach, often accompanied by indigestion.
Cardiogmus	Symptom	To have a gnawing pain at the mouth of the stomach. It is seen as synonymous with cardialgia.
Carditis	Condition	Inflammation of the heart. Also known as Inflammation Cordis.
Carduus Benedictus	Treatment	Known by the common names St. Benedict's thistle, blessed thistle, holy thistle and spotted thistle; a thistle-like plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region.
Carebaria	Condition	Heaviness of the head. See also entry for cephalalgia.
Carious	Condition	Decay of bones and teeth.
Carminative	Treatment	Medicines that work to expel wind from the body.
Carus	Symptom	A term applied to different forms of heavy sleep or insensibility.
Cassia	Treatment	A gentle laxative, emetic and cathartic from the pulp of the fruit cassia. Also known as cassia senna.
Castile Soap	Treatment	An ingredient for pills used to relieve costiveness, flatulence and other stomach problems; named for Castile, a region in Spain where the soap originated. Also known as Spanish Soap.
Castor	Treatment	Known as Russian castor it was a reddish-brown unctuous substance which had a strong smell and nauseous bitter taste, obtained from two sacs in the inguinal region of the beaver. Used medicinally as an antispasmodic.
Catalepsy	Condition	A disorder characterised by seizures at intervals generally lasting a few minutes though sometimes can continue for some hours or days.
Catamenia	Symptom	Menstrual discharge; monthly period.
Cataphora	Symptom	Meaning to render sleepy. It is the unusual propensity for sleep.
Cataplasm	Treatment	A poultice.
Cataracta	Condition	An opacity of the crystalline lens of the eye causing more or less impairment of sight, but never complete blindness.
Catarrh	Condition	Inflammation of mucous membrane in nose, throat and/or lungs.
Catarrhus Senilis	Condition	A disease causing chronic catarrh and bronchial inflammation particularly affecting the elderly.
Cathartic	Treatment	Medicine suited to increase the evacuation by stool; purgation.
Catheter	Treatment	A long tubular instrument used for passing along the urethra into the bladder in order to draw off urine or to find a stone.
Caustic Alkali	Treatment	Hydrates of potassium and sodium. Also called Caustic Potash, Caustic Soda and Caustic Ammonia. Ammonia as a gas or in solution.
Caustic Alkaline Lixivium	Treatment	Also known as Wood Ash, Ley or Lye. Liquid with alkaline salts leached from wood ashes or lye.
Cellular membrane	Treatment	Substance which is found everywhere under the skin surrounding the muscles, blood vessels etc.
Cephalalgy	Condition	Headache. The term is derived from the Greek word Cephal which means head. Cephalalgia can refer to a milder headache and Cephalalgia Hysterica is a pain which is fixed in the crown of the head. See also entry for Clavus Hysterica.
Cephalitis	Condition	Inflammation of the brain and an inflammatory condition of the central nervous system. See also entry for phrenitis.
Cerate	Treatment	A kind of stiff ointment composed of wax together with lard or oil and other ingredients.
Chalybeate	Treatment	Spa or mineral water, usually containing high concentration of iron salts.
Cheek	Body Part	Either side of the face below the eye.
Chin Cough	Condition	An epidemic, contagious, spasmodic disease. Also known as whooping cough, kink cough, hooping or convulsive cough and pertussis.
Chin	Body Part	The protruding part of the face below the mouth, formed by the apex of the lower jaw.
Chlorosis	Condition	A disorder thought to occur mainly in young women soon after puberty characterised by a greenish pallor of the skin, cessation or irregularity of menstruation, and weakness, often associated with loss of appetite. Also called the Green Sickness, White Fever and Virgin's Disease.
Cholera	Condition	In the 18th century it was a disease characterised by severe diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and leg spasms.
Chorea Scelotyrbe	Condition	See entry for chorea.
Chorea	Condition	A convulsive disorder usually found in children involving involuntary muscle spasms, particularly in the face and arms. Also known as Sydenham's Chorea, Saint Vitus Dance, Chorea Sancti Viti, Choreomania.
Chyle	Symptom	The white milky fluid formed by the action of the pancreatic juice and the bile on the chyme, and contained in the lymphatics of the intestines. The term was applied to the fluid in the intestine just before absorption.
Cicatrize	Treatment	To heal (a wound, sore, ulcer, etc.) by inducing a cicatrice or scar; to skin over.
Cicuta	Treatment	Hemlock. Highly poisonous plant administered as powder or extract of leaves, used as a narcotic and to relieve coughing.
Cilia	Body Part	The outer edges of the eyelids.
Cinchona	Treatment	A bark of various species of the Cinchona tree, found in the Caribbean from which quinine was later isolated. Commonly used as a febrifuge to relieve fevers. Also known as Peruvian Bark; Jesuits' Bark, Quinquina.
Cinnamon	Treatment	A fragrant and sweet tasting aromatic used as an astringent.
Citrine	Treatment	Made with lard and mercuric nitrate and used against skin parasites.
Clavicle	Body Part	The collarbone, which extends from the breastbone to the shoulder blade, forming part of the pectoral arch.
Clavus Hystericus	Symptom	Severe head pain. A shooting pain in the forehead that is sharply defined, and typically described as feeling like a nail being driven into the head often associated with hysteria.
Clyster	Treatment	Clyster, glyster. The introduction of a medicine, through injection into the rectum, designed to empty or cleanse the bowels.
Coagulum	Symptom	A mass of coagulated matter, a clot of blood.
Cobalt	Treatment	A metallic and earthly mineral which gives off a sapphire blue colour when melted. Was often used to obtain arsenic from.
Coccia	Treatment	See entry for Colocynth pill.
Coccyx	Body Part	Pelvis or pelvic bones located at the bottom of the spine; tailbone.
Cochineal	Treatment	A dyestuff made from the body of the insect Coccus cacti. Used in medicine as an antispasmodic.
Coeliac	Condition	Of or belonging to the belly, or the cavity of the abdomen. Term applied to an intestinal disease or diseases which affect the ability to digest and cause diarrhoea.
Colchicum	Treatment	English crocus. The medicine derived from this plant was often prescribed for gout and rheumatism.
Colica	Condition	Associated with both severe griping pains in the stomach and can also mean relating to the colon.
Colliquative	Symptom	Having the effect of dissolving or wasting. Can be applied to profuse discharges which cause the body to waste away, or to diseases characterised by such discharges; as colliquative diarrhoea, colliquative sweat, colliquative fever.
Collyrium	Treatment	A topical medicine applied for the treatment of eye disorders; an eye-salve or eyewash.
Colocynth Pill	Treatment	A pill containing aloes and colcynth (crocus, usually Colchicum autumnale) used as a purgative. Also known colocynthide cum aloe and coccia pills.
Colon	Body Part	The greater portion of the large intestine which extends from the caecum to the rectum.
Columbo Root	Treatment	Plant used to make a bitter, demulcent tonic with sedative, corroborant and antiseptic properties. Also known as Calumba and Coccolus Palmatus.
Columna Nasi	Body Part	The lowest and fleshy part of the nose which forms a part of the septum.
Comata	Condition	Nervous diseases which are defined by diminution or total loss of the powers of voluntary motion, attended with sleep, or a deprivation of the senses.
Concussion	Symptom	The sudden and violent motion to the brain which causes a sudden swelling of blood-vessels in the brain.
Condyle	Body Part	A rounded process at the end of a bone serving to form an articulation with another bone.
Condyloma	Condition	The medical term for genital warts.
Confection of Cynosbati	Treatment	A concoction composed of the fruit of rosehip plants such as Rosa Sylvestris, Hips or Dogrose, prescribed for consumption and effective against coughs. Also known as the confection of the dog rose or hip.
Confection	Treatment	The making or preparation of ingredients by mixing. Generally, it was a preparation made with sugar and other ingredients.
Constipation	Symptom	See entry for costiveness.
Consumption	Condition	An illness causing abnormal weight loss or wasting away. Often associated with the term tuberculosis.
Contusion	Condition	Bruising; bruises.
Convulsions	Symptom	Condition characterised by involuntary contraction of the muscles, convulsive fits, motions, affections, spasms.
Cophosis	Condition	Total or partial loss of hearing; dumbness or dullness of any of the senses.
Copper	Treatment	See entry for Caeruleae.
Cordial	Treatment	Aromatic and sweetened spirit, serving as a soothing beverage to administer medicine.
Coriander Seeds	Treatment	Bitter, aromatic.
Cornea	Body Part	The coating of the eye. The strong, thick and tendinous first coat of the eye.
Corona Veneris	Symptom	Term used for syphilitic blotches on the forehead which often extend around it like a crown.
Corrigent	Treatment	A corrective ingredient in a medicine.
Corrosive Sublimate	Treatment	A topical application to kill ringworm. It could also refer to corrosive sublimated mercury and mercuric chloride, used as a poison and disinfectant.
Cortex Aurantia	Treatment	Orange peel.
Cortex	Treatment	The bark of various trees which was used medicinally such as Peruvian bark.
Coryza	Symptom	The running at the nose which constitutes or accompanies a cold in the head.
Costiveness	Symptom	A person is said to be costive when the excretion from the intestines does not happen daily. Also known as constipation, constipatio, constipatus and obstipatio.
Couhage	Treatment	Also known as cowage or cowhage. It is the stinging hairs of the pod of a tropical plant, Mucuna pruriens, family Leguminosæ, which was used as an anthelmintic.
Crab eyes	Treatment	A hard calcareous mass found in the stomach of certain crustaceans (as the European crayfish).
Cramp	Symptom	A sudden painful rigidity of a muscle which causes excruciating pain.
Cranium	Body Part	The skull, also known as Calva and Calvaria, Cerebrigalea.
Cream of Tartar	Treatment	Purified and crystallized bitartrate of potassium used as a purgative, cathartic and diuretic.
Creta	Treatment	Chalk which could be applied in powdered form, pulveris. Used for heartburn and other disorders caused by the build-up of acidity in the alimentary and stomach canals.
Croup	Condition	An inflammatory disease of the larynx and trachea of children which caused a sharp ringing cough. Croup was the popular name in the south-east of Scotland and was introduced into medical use by Professor Francis Home of Edinburgh in 1765. See also entries for cough and cynanche.
Crude Antimony	Treatment	A medical treatment applied externally to relieve skin problems, derived from the metal antimony.
Crusta Lactea	Condition	An eruptive disease of infants at the breast. Also known as milk-scab and milk-blotch.
Cubitus	Body Part	The forearm.
Cucurbitina	Condition	A type of tape worm.
Cupping	Treatment	A glass specially designed to adhere to the skin through the creation of a temporary vacuum which draws the blood to the surface of the skin.
Cuprum Ammoniala	Treatment	Copper reduced to a saline state. Also known as cuprum ammoniatum, ammoniacum and ammoniacal copper.
Cutaneous	Condition	A disease of the skin, from cutis meaning skin.
Cuticle	Body Part	Known as the Scarf-skin which is the integument or universal covering of the body.
Cynanche	Condition	Any throat disease with inflammation, swelling and difficulty breathing and swallowing. Also known as tonsillitis, quinsy, quinsey, trachealis and croup.
Cystorrhoea	Symptom	A discharge of mucus from the bladder. Also known as vesical catarrh.
Dea Ulmi	Treatment	A liquid mixture extracted from the Elm Tree. See also the entry for Elm.
Deafness	Condition	Total loss of hearing.
Decoction	Treatment	Boiled in water (or other liquid) as means of extracting the soluble parts or principles of the medicinal substance.
Deglutition	Symptom	Swallowing. From 'deglutitio' meaning 'to swallow'. For example 'difficult deglutition' equates to difficulty swallowing.
Deliquium	Symptom	Fainting, swooning, deliquium animi. See also entry for syncope.
Delirium	Symptom	Talking or speaking irrationally.
Demulcent	Treatment	A medicine with a soothing effect, allaying irritation.
Deobstruent	Treatment	A medicine suited to remove obstructions by opening the natural passages or pores of the body. Also known as deoppilant(s).
Depression	Condition	Dullness of spirits, dispirited, dejection, oppression or any similar reference; includes despair, low spirited etc.
Depurate	Treatment	Derived from the Latin word 'depuratio' meaning to free from any purities. It is used to refer to making or preparing a substance as purely as possible.
Desmalgia	Symptom	Desmalgia, or often referred to as Desmodynia, refers to ligament pain.
Desquamation	Symptom	Process where the cuticle or epidermis of the skin falls or flakes off in the form of scales.
Devon Colic	Condition	A condition that affected the cider producing counties of England in the 16th and 17th centuries, later determined to have been actually caused by lead poisoning.
Diabetes Angelica	Condition	The Latin word 'Anglica' is used in this context to mean English because it was a condition which affected the English or British. It is a form of diabetes referred to by Dr Francois Sauvage where the urine smells sweet.
Diabetes chylosus	Condition	Derived from the Latin word 'Chylus'. It is a form of diabetes where the urine contains chyle a saccharine tasting fluid produced during digestion.
Diabetes Insipidus	Condition	A form of diabetes where the urine tastes normal and not sweet.
Diabetes Mellitis	Condition	A form of diabetes where the urine tastes of dissolved honey.
Diabetes	Condition	Diabetes is also referred to as diabetes urinosa or profuse urinae.
Diacodium	Treatment	One of many names for opium. A narcotic, addictive resin derived from the sappy seed-heads of the opium poppy.
Diaphoretic	Treatment	Sudorific; medicine used to promote perspiration.
Diaphragm	Body Part	The major muscle of respiration, located below the lungs.
Diarrhoea urinosa	Symptom	Latin for 'disease of the urine' and is the name used by the 2nd century Roman physician Claudius Gallenus for what is now called diabetes. Also referred to as Profuse urinosa.
Diarrhoea	Symptom	Looseness or laxity of bowels. Too frequent evacuation of fluid faeces, often accompanied with stomach pains.
Diascordium	Treatment	Refers to a treatment derived from the plant called Water Germander (Teurium Scordium). The pulverised bitter leaves of the plant were used to expel worms and a decoction of the plant used to treat gangrene.
Diathesis	Condition	A tendency in a family to suffer from a particular illness though not genetic. Used historically to refer to the disposition of the constitution of the body e.g. a rheumatic disposition.
Digitalis	Treatment	Foxglove. Powdered leaves of Digitalis purpurea used in the treatment of heart disease.
Diluent	Treatment	Something added to a substance to dilute it and make it weaker in strength.
Discutient	Treatment	A medicine that is capable of dissipating diseased matter.
Dislocation	Condition	Also referred to as luxation; when bones are displaced from their normal position at a joint such as a shoulder.
Distension	Symptom	Swollen or bloated or stretched stomach caused by some kind of internal pressure.
Diuretic	Treatment	A medicine which promotes the secretion and discharge of urine.
Dolich pruriens	Treatment	A variety of Stizolobium or Cowhage which was a velvet bean used in the West Indies to treat diseases caused by worms.
Dolores	Symptom	Derived from the Latin word 'dolor' meaning pain and used in medicine to refer to pain and inflammation caused by a disease.
Dover's powder	Treatment	Remedy against colds and fever by inducing sweating first promoted in 1732 by Dr Thomas Dover (bap. 1662, d. 1742), in his book The Ancient Physician's Legacy to his Country, whose main ingredients were Ipecacuanha and Opium.
Dr Kennedy's Decoction	Treatment	A liquor used to treat ulcers and swelling of the joints. Named after Dr Kennedy of London.
Draught	Treatment	A medicine in the form of a liquid which is drunk.
Dropsy	Symptom	Accumulation of fluid in the cavities or connective tissues. See also oedema.
Drowsiness	Symptom	Languid or listlessness.
Dulcified	Treatment	Derived from the Latin word 'dulcificare' meaning to sweeten.
Duodenum	Body Part	First section of the small intestine.
Dysecoea	Condition	Hard of hearing; hearing impaired or lost. Deafness.
Dysentery	Condition	Disease caused by inflammation of the large intestine, accompanied with pain and bloody mucus.
Dysmenorrhea	Symptom	Menstruation accompanied by lower back pain and cramps in the abdominal area.
Dyspepsia	Symptom	Indigestion. See also entries cardialgia and water brash.
Dysphagia	Symptom	Difficulty swallowing due to pain or obstruction. See also entries for aesophagismus and aglutition.
Dyspnoea	Symptom	Refers to difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.
Dysuria	Symptom	Burning or stinging sensation upon urination.
Ear	Body Part	The organ of the body that controls auditory input and processing or hearing as well as balance.
Eau de Luce	Treatment	A medicinal preparation of alcohol, ammonia, and oil of amber, used in India as an antidote to snake-bites, and in England sometimes as smelling salts.
Eccymosis	Symptom	Bruise caused by blood leaking from the vessels due to injury.
Eclampsia	Symptom	Convulsions associated with rapid motions of parts of the body especially the mouth, eyes and hands.
Ectasia	Symptom	The expansion or dilation of a hollow area such as a tube or duct or organ in the body.
Egg shells	Treatment	Powdered egg shells, usually chicken eggs, used as a treatment for conditions such as Fluor Albus and Profluvium.
Elaterium	Treatment	Fruit of Ecballium elaterium, used as a purgative.
Electric shocks	Treatment	In context of electricity. Electrical stimulation treatment use in medicine as an electrical current travelling through the body, with the purpose to stimulate muscles to treat paralysis, amenorrhea and unvoluntary spasms.
Electrical spark	Treatment	In context of electricity, a light produced by a sudden disrupted electrical discharge through the air.
Electricity	Treatment	Refers to the medical application of electricity, a type of energy resulting from charged particles either in a static state or as a current. In the 18th century electrical treatments consisted of sparks generated by glass instruments. The instruments were attached to patients on parts of their bodies such as the hands or head and the sparks were used to shock patients. Electrical treatments were used to treat a range of conditions including palsies or strokes, blindness, hysterical seizures and melancholia.
Electuary	Treatment	A medicinal conserve or paste, consisting of a powder or other ingredient mixed with honey, preserve, or syrup of some kind.
Elephantiasis	Condition	Various kinds of cutaneous disease, which are viewed as producing in the part affected a resemblance to an elephant's hide.
Elixir	Treatment	A strong extract or tincture (in proprietary remedies it carried connotations of being a 'sovereign remedy' or 'cure all').
Elm Bark	Treatment	Elm bark from the Elm Tree or 'Ulmus' in Latin used to treat skin wounds. Also used to treat digestive ailments, diarrhoea, female infertility and as a diuretic to aid increased urine flow.
Elminosos	Symptom	Dr Andrew Duncan refers to elminosis as a Greek word which relates to a condition caused by worms.
Emaciation	Symptom	Describes wasting of the body due to malnourishment and diseases or conditions such as tuberculosis.
Emetartroph	Symptom	Abbreviated term used by Dr Andrew Duncan to refer to a serious vomiting condition.
Emetic	Treatment	A medicine which causes vomiting.
Emmenagogue	Treatment	A medicine with the power to increase or renew menstruation.
Emollient	Treatment	A moisturising treatment applied directly to the skin to soothe and hydrate it.
Empyema	Symptom	Pus within the body, usually in the pleural cavity.
Ens Veneris	Treatment	Old name for a mixture of ammonia and copper.
Enteritis	Condition	Inflammation of the small intestine.
Ephidrosis	Symptom	Chronic or profuse sweating or perspiration.
Epigastric region	Body Part	Upper central region of the abdomen; relating to the part of the abdomen immediately over the stomach.
Epilepsia Cerebralis	Condition	One of three species of epilepsy classified by Dr William Cullen referring to cases of sudden onset epilepsy with no apparent or manifest cause. See also entry for epilepsy.
Epilepsia Sympathica	Condition	One of three species of epilepsy classified by Dr William Cullen referring to cases of sudden onset epilepsy with no apparent or manifest cause but preceded by a symptom termed aura. See also entry for epilepsy.
Epilepsy	Condition	Also known as falling sickness. Violent fits or convulsions causing unconsciousness, muscle spasms and foaming at the mouth.
Epispastic ointment	Treatment	An ointment for drawing out humours; blistering.
Epistaxis	Symptom	Bleeding or haemorrhaging specifically from the nose.
Epsom salts	Treatment	Crystals of materials such as Magnesia Vitriolata, Sal Catharticus Amara and Magnesium Sulphate used to purge the body.
Errhine	Treatment	Term used for medicines which are used to increase mucal discharge from the nose.
Eructations	Symptom	Expelling wind from the stomach through the mouth. Also known as belching or burping.
Escharotic	Treatment	A substance that kills unwanted or diseased tissue, usually skin or superficial growths like warts, leaving them to slough off.
Essential oil	Treatment	Oils obtained from various aromatic or pungent vegetative plants and herbs through a distillation process.
Evacuant	Treatment	Purgative, cathartic, emetic and/or diaphoretic medicines used to promote evacuation.
Exanthem	Symptom	A term used to refer to rashes or eruptions on the body for example due to measles or rubella.
Excipients	Treatment	A substance which is mixed with a medicinal drug to make it possible to ingest it.
Excoriate	Symptom	Damage or destruction of skin tissue.
Excrement	Symptom	Waste material excreted through the bowels. See also entry for faeces.
Excrescense	Symptom	An unusual external growth on the body such as a wart or a tumour.
Exostosis	Symptom	A bony tumour found upon a bone or cartilage.
Expectorant	Treatment	Medicine used to promote the excretion or rejection of mucus or pus from the lungs. Also known as pectoral(s).
Expodice	Symptom	Term used by Dr Francois Boissier de Sauvages according to Dr Andrew Duncan referring to conditions or types of haemorrhage.
Extirpation	Treatment	The complete removal of part of the body such as tissue or organ by surgical means. Extirpation is derived from the Latin word 'extirpo' which means to uproot or eradicate.
Extract	Treatment	A treatment obtained by the evaporation of a vegetable solution or a native vegetable juice.
Extravasation	Symptom	From 'extra' and 'vasa', meaning out of the vessels. This is applied to any of the fluids in the body which are out of their proper vessels.
Exudation	Symptom	Derived from the Latin word 'exsudare' referring to sweating out but also used to refer to other types of discharge from the body.
Eye	Body Part	The organ of the body that controls sight.
Eyrisypelas	Condition	A local febrile disease accompanied by diffused inflammation of the skin, producing a deep red colour; often called St. Anthony's fire, or ‘the rose’.
Facies Turgidula	Symptom	Facies turgidula is a phrase derived from the Latin word 'Facies' meaning face and turgidula is derived from the Latin word 'turgides' meaning swollen. The phrase 'Facies turgidula' therefore refers to a swollen, distended or congested face.
Faeces	Symptom	Material consisting of waste matter and liquid that is expelled by the body through the anus.
Fainting	Symptom	Fainting refers to loss of consciousness resulting from a drop in blood pressure in the body. See also entry for syncope.
Fallopian Tubes	Body Part	Two trumpet or funnel shaped tubes that carry the ova or egg cells down from the ovary to the uterus.
False ribs	Body Part	Refers to three sets of ribs which are indirectly linked to the sternum by the attachment of cartilage to the next rib above.
Fatigue	Symptom	Tiredness resulting from mental or physical causes.
Fatuity	Symptom	Weakness or imbecility of mind; stupidity.
Fauces	Body Part	The arched shape opening at the back of the throat leading from the mouth to the pharynx. See also throat.
Febrile	Symptom	Feverish; suffering from or affected by fever.
Fern powder	Treatment	Powdered roots of male fern (filix mas), used to expel worms from the intestines. See also entry for filix.
Fern root	Treatment	Roots of male fern (filix mas). See also entries for fern powder and filix.
Ferri	Treatment	See entries for Rubigo ferri and for steel.
Ferrum Ammoniala	Treatment	A combination of Ferrum or Iron filings and Sal Ammoniala or Ammoniac- hard white salt- sometimes used to treat epilepsy or hysteria. See also entry for sal ammoniac.
Fetororosis	Symptom	Bad or smelly breath also called halitosis.
Fever	Symptom	A body temperature higher than normally expected sometimes associated with headaches, shivering, stomach upset and possibly delirium. See also entry for pyrexia.
Filicis maris	Treatment	Roots of a male fern plant used as an anthelmintic and a purgative to expel tape worms.
Fixed Air	Treatment	A term for carbonic acid gas referring to air extracted from lime, magnesium and alkalies.
Flatus	Symptom	Wind or gas in the bowels or stomach.
Flavio	Treatment	Probably a derivative of the Latin words 'flavor', 'flavoris' or 'flavus' meaning yellowness or gold. Mercury flavio or flavus is a form of yellow mercury which was used to treat worms.
Flesh brush	Treatment	A flesh brush refers to a hard brush used to exfoliate and promote circulation.
Flooding	Symptom	See entry for menorrhagia.
Flower	Treatment	In medicinal use 'flower' or 'flowers', derived from the Latin word 'flora' and the plural 'flores', refer to a mineral substance reduced to a powdery consistency through the process of sublimation or crystallisation.
Flowers of Sulphur	Treatment	A powdered or sublimed form of sulphur also referred to as brimstone. See entry for sulphur.
Fluor Albus	Symptom	Also known as 'the whites'. A form of vaginal discharge.
Fluxus Cruentus	Symptom	Fluxus', a Latin word, means to flow and 'Cruentus', also a Latin word, means bloody or blood stained. Can be used to refer to haemorrhage.
Flying pain	Symptom	Often associated with gout and rheumatism - a pain which tended to move around the body as if in flight.
Foaming	Symptom	Ptyalism, drooling, slavering, foaming at the mouth, excessive salivation.
Foetida	Treatment	See entry for asafoetida.
Fomes	Treatment	Fomes' or the plural form 'fomites' means tinder in Latin and can refer to fuel. It is a term used in medicine to refer to substances imbued with a contagion.
Fontanelle	Body Part	The soft spot or space between the bones of the skull of a baby where the bones have not yet fully formed and hardened.
Foot	Body Part	The bottom part of the leg used for standing.
Forbeses Lozenges	Treatment	Lozenges or sweets used as a cough suppressant.
Formication	Symptom	The feeling of having insects crawling on or under the skin.
Formido mortis	Symptom	Formido' is the Latin word for fear and 'mortis' is a derivative of 'mors' the Latin word for death so the phrase 'Formido mortis' refers to a fear of death.
Fracture	Condition	A broken bone.
Frictio	Treatment	Rubbing; friction of the body upon its whole surface, promoting perspiration and quickening the circulation. Friction was believed to contribute to the conveyance of medicines into the body and to their action and usefulness there when introduced.
Fuliginis	Treatment	Tincture comprised of wood soot, asafoetida and spirits, used as an antispasmodic for hysteria and rheumatism. Also known as tincture of soot or soot drops.
Fungous	Symptom	Refers to a morbid growth or granulations on an ulcer or tumour. These growths are often referred to as 'proud flesh'. Fungous is sometimes used to refer to the growths when they are large, flabby and unhealthy.
Furfuraceous	Symptom	A derivation of the Latin word 'furfur' meaning bran and refers to a skin condition where the skin is branny or scaly.
Galactorrhea	Symptom	A milky discharge from the nipple unrelated to the normal milk production of breastfeeding.
Galbanum	Treatment	Gum resin from Ferula family. Used as a carminative.
Gall bladder	Body Part	Small pouch sitting below the liver.
Gallarum pulveris	Treatment	Powdered 'galls'; an excrescence produced on trees, especially the oak, by the action of insects, most commonly wasps.
Gamboge	Treatment	A gum resin obtained from various trees of the genus Garcinia. Acts as a purgative.
gargle	Treatment	Use of a gargle (i.e. rinsing the throat with a fluid supposedly having soothing or antiseptic properties).
Garlic	Treatment	Topical application of garlic was believed to help with a variety of disorders including earache.
Gastrodynia	Symptom	Stomach pain similar to heartburn; frequent complaint of dyspeptics.
Genitals	Body Part	A person's external organs of reproduction.
Gentian	Treatment	Bitter tonic extracted from the roots of the Gentian plant.
Gin	Treatment	Infusion of Juniper united with spirit by distillation and diluted with water. Taken as a diuretic.
Ginger	Treatment	A flowering plant (Zingiber officinale) whose roots were taken medicinally. In the case notes primarily taken as a stimulant and aromatic.
Glauber's Salts	Treatment	First artificially made by alchemist/chemist Johann Rudolph Glauber in 1656.
Glaucoma	Condition	When the nerve that connects the eye to the brain (optic nerve) is damaged. Can lead to loss of vision.
Globus Hystericus	Symptom	Air rising in the oesophagus that is prevented from reaching the mouth by spasm. It most commonly attends hysteria and gives the sensation of a lump in the throat.
Glottis	Body Part	The opening between the vocal folds in the larynx that is generally thought of as the primary valve between the lungs and the mouth.
Gluteus maximus	Body Part	A thick fleshy muscle with a quadrangular shape.
Godbold's Vegetable Balsam	Treatment	An English patent medicine concocted by Nathaniel Godbold in 1785, and produced by Godbold and later his sons. Nathaniel Godbold (1730-1799) was originally a baker in Suffolk. Godbold’s Vegetable Balsam was a popular patent medicine that was used mostly to treat respiratory illnesses. It was produced into the 19th century - carried on by Godbold’s sons. Godbold published ‘A treatise on the nature and cure of consumptions. To which are added, certificates and accounts of many extraordinary cures performed by Godbold's vegetable balsam’ in 1785.
Gonorrhea	Condition	A sexually transmitted disease which causes off-white discharge from the genitals.
Goulard’s Extract of Saturn	Treatment	Subacetate of lead, first devised by Thomas Goulard.
Gout	Condition	An illness that results in spasms; painful inflammation in the joints, particularly the big toes; and the presence of chalky sediment in the urine.
Gripes	Symptom	Spasmodic constricting pains in the bowels and stomach.
Grume	Symptom	Thick, congealed blood.
Guiaicum	Treatment	Resinous gum from trees of the species Lignum Vitae. Used to treat rheumatism and arthritis.
Gum Ammoniacum	Treatment	A gum-resin of an umbelliferous plant (Dorema ammoniacum), of peculiar smell, and bitterish taste, found wild from North Africa to India. Named lac ammoniacum when it partially dissolves in water to produces a milky fluid.
Gum Arabic	Treatment	Hardened sap of two species of the acacia tree; Senegalia (Acacia) senegal and Vachellia (Acacia) seyal.
Gum Kino	Treatment	Gum extracted from coccoloba uvifera, a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family polygonaceae, native to the coastal fringes of tropical America and the Caribbean. Also known as Jamaica extract.
Gum Pill	Treatment	General term for pills largely composed of one or more medicinal gum.
Gum	Body Part	Part of the soft tissue lining of the mouth.
Gummosae	Treatment	Composite medicine, typically containing gum ammoniacum, asafoetida, galbanum and myrrh, sometimes alongside other ingredients.
Gutta opaca	Condition	Cataract. An opacity of the eye which prevents the rays of light passing to the retina, and so preventing vision.
Gutta serena	Condition	General contemporary term for blindness with unknown aetiology.
Haematemesis	Symptom	Vomiting or throwing up blood.
Haematites	Treatment	See entry for stomaccace.
Haematoma	Symptom	Abnormal collection of blood outside the blood vessels.
Haematuria	Symptom	Presence of blood in the urine.
Haemoptysis	Symptom	Expectoration, discharge or spitting up of blood or bloody mucus, usually from the lungs.
Haemorrhage	Symptom	Blood loss, both internally and from the outside of the body.
Hæmorrhoids	Symptom	Dilated blood vessels similar to varicose veins located around the rectum or anal canal.
Hallucinationes	Condition	An order of disease classification developed by Francois Boissier de Sauvages which included visual and auditory anomalies.
Hamstring	Body Part	Posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee.
Hand	Body Part	The end part of a person's arm beyond the wrist.
Hartshorn	Treatment	Ammonia obtained by destructive distillation of horns and hooves of animals. Also known as volatile alkali.
Headache	Symptom	A continuous pain in the head.
Hearing	Symptom	See entry for deafness.
Heart	Body Part	A hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system.
Heartburn	Symptom	A burning feeling in the chest. See entry for cardialgia.
Hectic Fever	Condition	A recurrent fever associated with phthisis and suppuration that typically caused hot, dry skin and flushed cheeks.
Hellebore	Treatment	See entry for black hellebore.
Hemicrania	Symptom	Headache on one side of the head.
Hemiplegia	Condition	Paralysis more on one side of the body than the other.
Hemlock dropwort	Treatment	See entry for Oenanthe crocata.
Henbane	Treatment	Common name for Hyoscyamus Niger, an extremely poisonous narcotic and sedative. Also known as hyoscyamine.
Hepar Sulphuris	Treatment	Compound of sulphur with calcium, now known as calcium sulphide.
Hepatica	Treatment	Hepatica was named because, like the liver, the leaves of this plant have three lobes. Due to its apparent similarity with the liver, hepatica was used to treat liver and stomach diseases.
Hernia	Condition	A tumour formed by the displacement and resulting protrusion of a part of an organ through an aperture, natural or accidental, in the walls of its containing cavity.
Herpes	Condition	Disease of the skin (or sometimes of a mucous membrane) characterised by the appearance of patches of distinct vesicles. Applied widely to a number of cutaneous affections.
Hiccup	Symptom	An involuntary spasm of the respiratory organs, consisting in a quick inspiratory movement of the diaphragm checked suddenly by closure of the glottis, and accompanied by a characteristic sound.
Hieranosos	Symptom	A convulsion or involuntary contraction of the muscles.
Hip	Body Part	A projection of the pelvis and upper thigh bone on each side of the body.
Hippocratic facies	Symptom	The change produced in the face recognisable as a medical sign known as facies and prognostic of death.
Hog's Lard	Treatment	Fat of a pig/hog often used in making ointments.
Honey	Treatment	In the case notes rubbed on gums to treat bleeding there and used to disguise unpalatable ingredients in recipes.
Horse radish	Treatment	Cruciferous plant (Cochlearia Armoracia), with white flowers and broad rough leaves. A native of middle Europe and western Asia, commonly cultivated for its hot flavoured root.
Horse warts	Treatment	A medicine which contains the warts of horses and was thought to be effective against cancer and hysteria.
Humerus	Body Part	The bone of the upper arm or forelimb, forming joints at the shoulder and the elbow.
Hydatides	Symptom	Cysts formed by clear watery fluid.
Hydragogue	Treatment	Any purgative that causes evacuation of water from the bowels.
Hydrocephalus	Condition	Condition of having water on or in the brain, leading to the skull expanding and failure of memory and mental faculties.
Hydropic	Symptom	Containing excessive water or fluid. See entry for dropsy.
Hydrops pericardii	Symptom	Increased fluid within the pericardial sac.
Hydrothorax	Symptom	Water on or in the thorax; water in the chest. The condition of having fluid in the pleural cavity.
Hyoscyamine	Treatment	Extracted from the seeds of Hyoscyamus niger and solanaceae, used as a narcotic and sedative. Extremely poisonous.
Hypercatharsis	Symptom	Excessive and frequent defecation.
Hypochondria	Condition	An illness characterised by low spirits, depression and complaints of real or imagined physical symptoms, particularly dyspepsia.
Hypochondriac Region	Body Part	The part of the abdomen in the upper zone on both sides of the epigastric region and beneath the cartilages of the lower ribs.
Hypogastric Region	Body Part	The lowest part of the abdomen.
Hysop water	Treatment	A small bushy aromatic herb of the genus Hyssopus. Hysop water was primarily used as a diluent when creating medicines.
Hysteria	Condition	A nervous disorder, most common among women although also on occasion to be found in men.
Ichor	Symptom	A thin, acrid fluid which distils from wounds.
Icterus	Condition	See entry for jaundice.
Idiotism	Condition	Contemporary, now clearly offensive term for any condition resulting in learning difficulties.
Ileus	Symptom	Painful intestinal obstruction, usually in the ileum, often fatal.
Ilium	Body Part	The largest bone of the hip.
Impertigo	Condition	A contagious skin infection.
Inanity	Condition	An absence or emptiness. As used in the case notes usually in the context of lack or emptiness of blood, sometimes menstrual blood.
Incrustation	Symptom	The forming of a scab over a part of the body as a result of a cutaneous disease.
Indigestion	Symptom	Discomfort caused by difficulty in digesting food.
Influenza	Condition	An acute, highly infectious viral disease of humans, which typically occurs in seasonal (winter) outbreaks or as major epidemics or pandemics, is characterised by the sudden onset of fever and chills, headache, muscle pain, weakness, and cough, and can result in death.
Infusion	Treatment	A dilute liquid extract obtained from a substance by soaking it with, or steeping it in, water.
Ingesta	Treatment	Any medicine taken with food or drink and which work on curing stomach aliments such as cramps.
Insania	Condition	Madness; Delirium
Inspissiated juice	Treatment	The preparation of expressed juice of medicinal plants such as Hemlock or from the extract of Lemons, Blackcurrants and Elderberries
Insulation	Treatment	In context of electricity, the use of insulating materials (such as glass or silk) alongside conducting materials (for example brass or iron) when electrifying patients.
Integumentary system	Body Part	The outmost layer of the body consisting of the cuticle, the rete mucosum, cutis and membrama cellularis.
Intercostal	Body Part	Muscles that present within the rib cage.
Intestines	Body Part	Winding muscular tube, between the stomach and the anus. Part of the digestive system.
Intumescentia	Symptom	An enlargement in the vertebral column.
Ipecacuanha	Treatment	Root of the Central and South American flowering plant carapichea ipecacuanha, commonly used as an emetic.
Iris florentina	Treatment	Aromatic species of iris, anciently known as Orris root.
Iron	Treatment	Absorbent, astringent and emetic.
Ischiadicus	Condition	Form of rheumatism specifically relating to the hips.
Ischias	Body Part	The sciatic nerve which runs from the lumbar and sacral plexus to the tibial and common fibular nerve.
Ischuria	Symptom	Difficulty passing urine, inability to pass urine.
Issue	Treatment	A surgically created small cut which is kept open through the insertion of an obstructive object such as a dried pea in order to encourage suppuration.
Itch	Condition	A cutaneous eruption identified by some historians as having been scabies but most likely being a blanket term for a range of cutaneous complaints.
Ivy	Treatment	In the case notes taken ground in an infusion as a treatment for a pectoral complaint.
Jalap	Treatment	A powdered root of exogonium purga, used as a purgative and cathartic. Used to expel watery humours and used to treat dropsies and gonorrhoea.
Jamaica pepper	Treatment	Pimento, pimenta, allspice. From the tropical tree Pimenta dioica. Added to a medicine to modify its action or counteract a disagreeable effect. In the case notes most commonly mixed with opium.
James's Powder	Treatment	Fever remedy patented about 1746 by Dr Robert James and popularly used.
Japonica	Treatment	An astringent used to treat looseness, diarrhoea and vomiting. An imported soluble gum derived from the wood of the tree Senegalia catechu. Originally called Terra Japonica, then later Succus Japonica.
Jaundice	Condition	Yellowing of skin or eyes; sallow skin or complexion.
Julap	Treatment	Sweet vehicle for various active ingredients to make palatable, usually using sugar syrup.
Julep salts	Treatment	A sweet drink with sugar; a medicated sweet drink prescribed as a demulcent.
Juniper	Treatment	A native shrub; the berries of which when distilled into a liquor, can be used as a remedy for intestinal ailments and urinary diseases in the elderly; a small infusion of the juice of the berry combined with a small quantity of gin is a medicine for dropsy.
Juniperus Sabina	Treatment	Juniperus sabina 'tamariscifolia' (Tamarisk-leaved savin). Used as a analgesic, antipyretic and diuretic.
Kidneys	Body Part	Organs that are found on either side of the spine, just below the rib cage in the back.
Kink	Symptom	Fit of coughing.
Knee	Body Part	The joint between the thigh and the lower leg.
Lacrimal glands	Body Part	The glands in the eyes responsible for secreting tears.
Lambdoid	Body Part	In the skull, the suture that runs between the ossa occipitis and the parietalia.
Landanum	Treatment	Preparation of opium with alcohol.
Larynx	Body Part	The voice box, connected to the top of the windpipe.
Lassitude	Symptom	Fatigue, lethargy, sleeps/sleeping much, tired (if unusually so), weariness, heaviness.
Laxative	Treatment	Medicines which promote evacuation by stool.
Lead	Treatment	A metal which is absorbent, antacid, astringent, anodyne, narcotic or virulent.
Leeches	Treatment	External application of aquatic blood-sucking worms belonging to the order Hirudinea (normally of the genus Hirudo or Sanguisuga), which are applied to specific parts of the body to draw-off blood.
Leg	Body Part	The limbs on which a person walks and stands.
Lemon Juice	Treatment	Used to treat nausea, vomiting and fevers, as well as heart palpitations.
Lenitive	Treatment	A laxative.
Leprosy	Condition	A skin disease or form of psoriasis in which the skin resembles the scales of a fish.
Leucoma	Symptom	Whitening of the cornea, caused by an inflammation of the eye, an abscess in the cornea, small pox, measles, wounds or burns.
Leucophlegmatic	Symptom	A dropsical habit of body, with a white bloated skin.
Leucorrhoea	Symptom	A mucous or mucopurulent discharge from the lining membrane of the female genital organs.
Lienteria	Symptom	A form of diarrhoea, in which the food passes through the bowels partially or wholly undigested.
Lignum Campechense	Treatment	A wood used medicinally as an astringent and corroborant, seen as an effective treatment for diarrhoea and the late stages of dysentery. Also known as Campeachy Wood, Brasilis Lignum and Jamaica Wood.
Lime water	Treatment	A solution of lime in water. Also known as aqua calcis.
Liniment	Treatment	Embrocation for external application by smearing or rubbing, usually made with oil.
Linseed	Treatment	Flax, Linei, Lintseed. Seeds of the plant Linum usitatissimum.
Lint Seed	Treatment	Used to mitigate symptoms of gonorrhoea, such as burning sensation when passing urine.
Liquor amnii	Body Part	Amniotic fluid.
Liquorice	Treatment	The rhizome (also called liquorice-root) of the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra.
Lisbon Diet Drink	Treatment	A medicine used in Portugal for the cure of scurvy and venereal disease.
Lithias renalis	Condition	Kidney stones.
Lithontriptic	Treatment	Medicines used to break up stones in the bladder.
Lithotomy	Treatment	Surgical removal of stones from the bladder, kidney or urinary tract.
Liver	Body Part	Digestive organ.
Lochial	Symptom	Vaginal discharge after giving birth.
Looseness	Symptom	Looseness of bodily fluids, especially connected with the bowels, for example, caused by worms in the alimentary canal.
Lotion	Treatment	A thick, smooth liquid preparation designed to be applied to the skin for medicinal purposes.
Lues	Condition	A plague or spreading disease, particularly syphilis.
Lumbago	Condition	Rheumatic affection and pain in the lumbar area of the body, e.g. lower back and groin.
Lumbricus	Condition	Intestinal worms.
Luna Fixata Luddemanni	Treatment	Zinc oxide. Dr Hieronymus David Gaubius discovered a 'quack' Dutch shoemaker selling a mysteriously effective drug, luna fixata. Discovering that it was nothing more than zinc oxide, Gaubius proposed it as Luna Fixata Luddemanni in his text ‘Adversaria’. Commonly used to treat epilepsy and other convulsive and spasmodic diseases.
Lungs	Body Part	Organs in the chest that supplies the body with oxygen, and removes carbon dioxide from the body.
Lymph	Body Part	System of thin tubes and lymph nodes that run throughout the body.
Macula	Symptom	A spot or blemish. A cutaneous efflorescence that changes the colour of a cuticle.
Madder	Treatment	A genus of herbaceous perennial plants, consisting of nine species. The roots of the Common or Wild Madder is a detergent or aperient used to treat visceral obstructions, especially of the uterus, coagulations of the blood caused by falls or bruises, dropsy and rickets.
Magnesia	Treatment	Various compounds of Magnesia, often magnesia alba - calcined magnesia.
Mammae	Body Part	The breast; the mammary glands.
Mania	Condition	An alternative name for insanity; an agitated psychotic state.
Marisca	Condition	An excrescence about the anus; haemorrhoids.
Mastodynia	Symptom	Pain in the nipple caused by inflammation.
Maxilla	Body Part	The cheek or jaw.
Measles	Condition	An infectious disease marked by rash of red circular spots.
Meatus auditorius	Body Part	External passage to the ear.
Melampodium	Treatment	A genus of flowering plants which includes the black hellebore. Used primarily as an anthelmintic medicine.
Melancholia	Condition	Sadness or depression.
Menorrhagia	Condition	Prolonged and copious discharge of menstrual blood.
Mentha	Treatment	A genus of perennial herbs. Is a stomachic. Used to cure impaired appetite, flatulence, colics, nausea and vomiting.
Mephitic water	Treatment	A noxious vapour or fume produced when water is mixed with sulphur.
Mercury	Treatment	Also known as argentium vivum, quicksilver, including corrosive sublimate, hydragyrom; hyrdrargyrum; mercuric precipitate, red precipitate, white precipitate; 'common blue pill'. Widely employed (liquid) metal.
Mesembryanthemum	Treatment	A genus of flowering plants.
Mesentery	Body Part	Fold in peritoneum attaching stomach and lower organs to posterior abdominal wall.
Metatarsus	Body Part	The five long bones of the foot between the tarsal bones of the phalanges of the toes.
Mezereon	Treatment	The toxic bush daphne mezereum. Mezereon bark is the dried bark of the plant, used chiefly in ointments to treat chronic ulcers.
Milk	Treatment	ADD DESCRIPTION
Mimosoideae	Treatment	A family of trees, herbs and shrubs that mostly grow in tropical and subtropical climates.
Mineral water	Treatment	See entry for chalybeate.
Miscarriage	Condition	Abortion, stillbirth.
Mistura Oleosa	Treatment	A demulcent, often used to relieve coughing.
Monogynia	Treatment	The Linnaean order of plants which only have a pistil, the female reproductive organ.
Muriated Barytes	Treatment	A tonic used to treat scrofula and cutaneous diseases and to increase stool, urine and perspiration.
Muscae volitanes	Symptom	Moving black specks or threads seen before the eyes caused by opaque fragments floating in the vitreous humour or a defect in the lens.
Musk	Treatment	A reddish brown substance with a strong, persistent odour secreted by a gland of the male musk deer.
Mustard	Treatment	The seed of the common mustard plant. Mixed with water and used as an emetic. Complaints treated with this item included asthma, chronic rheumatism and palsy.
Mutitas	Symptom	Muteness or the inability to articulate words.
Myrrh	Treatment	Resin extracted from commiphora abyssinica. Myrrh was used as an astringent and expectorant, most often prescribed to rid the lungs of mucus or pus.
Narcotic	Treatment	Medicines which can be administered orally, injected or inhaled to create a drowsy effect. Usually opium or an opiate.
Neck	Body Part	The part of the body that connects the head with the torso.
Nephritis	Symptom	Inflammation or swelling of the kidney.
Nervous fluid	Body Part	A fluid supposed to circulate through nerves and function as the essential agent in transmitting nerve impulses.
Neuroses	Condition	A term coined by the Edinburgh physician William Cullen. It referred to disorders of the sense and motion caused by affections of the nervous system. It covered various nervous disorders and symptoms that could not be explained physiologically.
Neutral salts	Treatment	Neutral salts are those that are neither acid nor basic salts.
Nicotiana	Treatment	The prepared leaves of nicotiana tabacum. Known as vinum nicotiana when steeped in white wine.
Nidus	Body Part	A place or point, usually in the intestines, where an organism such as an intestinal worm can develop or breed.
Nitre	Treatment	Nitrous, nitric. Potassium nitrate.
Nitric acid	Treatment	A highly corrosive mineral acid. In the case notes is used to reduce mercury to saline form.
Nitrous acid	Treatment	A neutral salt, formed by the coalition of the common vegetable fixed alkaline salt. In the case notes is used to reduce mercury to saline form.
Nitrous powder	Treatment	Powdered nitre. Uses included to increase quantity of urine. See entry for nitre.
Noma	Condition	A phagedenic ulcer also a species of herpes.
Nose	Body Part	The prominent structure between the eyes that serves as the entrance to the respiratory tract and contains the olfactory organ.
Nutmeg	Treatment	Spicy seed of trees in the genus Myristica.
Nyctalopia	Condition	Night blindness. The periodic affection of vision, sometimes in midday, sometimes in morning, evening or at night, based on the action of a certain degree of light.
Obstipatio	Symptom	No ejection of faeces or less frequent than usual. See also entry for costiveness.
Obstipitas spasmodica	Condition	Term used by Francois Boissier de Sauvages. Classified as partial tonic spasms, together with strabismus, tics, contractures, ankylosis, cramps and priapism.
Occiput	Body Part	The back of the head.
Odontalgia	Condition	Severe chronic pain in one or more teeth.
Oedemata	Symptom	A fluid-filled tumour or swelling; excessive fluid in tissues.
Oenanthe crocata	Treatment	Hemlock water-dropwort, a flowering plant. Extremely poisonous and so rarely used in medicine. When was used, was primarily to combat skin eruptions.
Oesophagus	Body Part	Food pipe, gullet.
Ointment	Treatment	See entries for unguent, epispastic ointment and issue ointment.
Oleaginous	Treatment	Medicines with the properties of oil for example oleaginous demulcents used to relieve sore throats.
Oleum ricini	Treatment	A pale yellow oil obtained from the seeds of castor beans (ricinus communis) used as a purgative and lubricant. Also known as castor oil.
Oleum succini	Treatment	Oil of amber.
Oleum	Treatment	Latin, meaning oil.
Olive oil	Treatment	Derived by pressing from the fruit of the cultivated evergreen tree, Olea europaea.
Omentum	Body Part	Fold in peritoneum connecting the stomach with other abdominal organs.
Ophthalmia cancrosa	Symptom	Cancerous inflammation of the eye.
Ophthalmia membranarum	Symptom	Inflammation of the membranes of the eye.
Ophthalmia palpebrarum	Symptom	Blisters and ulceration in the corners of the eyes and the Meibomian follicles.
Ophthalmia scrofulosa	Symptom	Inflammation and infection of the eyes caused by scrofula.
Ophthalmia tarsi	Symptom	Inflammation of the edges of the eyelids.
Ophthalmia	Symptom	Inflammation in the eye, e.g. conjunctivitis.
Opium	Treatment	A narcotic, addictive resin derived from the seed-heads of the opium poppy (papaver somniferum).
Optic nerve	Body Part	Each of the second pair of cranial nerves, transmitting impulses to the brain from the retina at the back of the eye.
Orange peel	Treatment	Also known as cortex aurantii. Peel of oranges.
Orrice	Treatment	A general term for various types of Irises. See entry for Florentina Iris.
Os femoris	Body Part	The long bone of the thigh, articulating with the hip bone proximally and the tibia and patella distally.
Os frontis	Body Part	Also known as the frontal bone, it is a bone in the front of the human skull.
Os pubis	Body Part	The most forward-facing (ventral and anterior) of the three main regions making up the coxal bone.
Os sacrum	Body Part	A large, triangular bone at the base of the spine.
Os Sepiae	Treatment	Cuttlefish bone. Used for a range of medicinal purposes, including to treat stomach aches, prevent bleeding and, externally, to cure sores, ulcers and eczema.
Os tincae	Body Part	An archaic term for the opening of the uterus into the vagina.
Os uteris	Body Part	The opening in the cervix at each end of the endocervical canal.
Osculis lateralibus	Condition	A term used by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus as an alternative name for Taenia lata. See entry for Taenia.
Osculis marginalibus	Condition	An alternative name for Taenia Solium. See entry for Taenia.
Osmunda	Treatment	A genus of primarily temperate-zone ferns of family Osmundaceae.
Ossification	Condition	Abnormal formation of bone or bone-like tissue.
Otalgia	Symptom	Ear pain.
Oxymel	Treatment	A mixture of honey and vinegar. Used for a wide range of complaints, including gout, insomnia, coughs, congestion and joint pain. It was both ingested and rubbed on the skin.
Oyster shell	Treatment	In the case notes applied to the eyes as a treatment for cataracts.
Palpebrae	Body Part	Eyelids.
Palpitatio cordis	Symptom	Palpitation of the heart.
Palpitations	Symptom	Tachycardia, quick heartbeat, fluttering heartbeat.
Palsy	Condition	See entry for paralysis.
Pancreas	Body Part	An organ of the digestive system, located in the abdomen behind the stomach.
Paracusis	Condition	A condition causing difficulty in hearing.
Paralysis	Condition	This includes palsy, hemiplegia and immobility, as well as states of partial paralysis with specific body-part mentioned.
Paraphonia rauca	Symptom	A weak or damaged voice. The Edinburgh physician William Cullen divided the category into six sub-categories based on their cause. Paraphonia rauca was defined as cases where from dryness or tumour the fauces or the voice became hoarse and rough.
Paraphonia	Symptom	Change in the voice or difficulty speaking due to disease or damage to the mouth or larynx. Had various suggested causes, including catarrh, a fright or lues venerea. See also entry for aphonia.
Paraplegia	Condition	The inability to voluntarily move the lower parts of the body.
Paraplexia	Condition	Alternative term for paraplegia. See entry for paraplegia.
Paregoric elixir	Treatment	Medicine composed of camphorated tincture of opium (tincture of opium containing camphor, benzoic acid, anise oil). Used as an analgesic and antispasmodic.
Parotid	Body Part	The parotid gland (salivary gland).
Paroxysm	Symptom	A sudden attack, outburst or accession. Includes exacerbation (usually of a fever).
Pectoral	Symptom	Complaints of the chest, including coughing and difficulty breathing.
Pectoralgia	Symptom	Pain in the chest.
Pencil	Treatment	A form of applying electrical current, see entry for electricity.
Penny Royal	Treatment	Derived from the flowering plant Mentha pulegium. It was used for a range of medicinal purposes, but particularly to produce vaginal bleeding and to bring about abortion.
Pentandra	Treatment	A term used by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his classification of plants. It is used for a wide range of species, and denotes that the plant has five stamens, or five parts.
Peppermint	Treatment	Had a range of medicinal uses, including as a remedy for nausea, vomiting, morning sickness, respiratory infections and menstrual disorders.
Periosteum	Body Part	Membrane covering bones.
Peripneumonia	Symptom	Historical term for inflammation of the lung. See entry for pneumonia.
Pertussis	Condition	Also known as whooping cough, hooping cough or chin cough.
Peruvian bark	Treatment	See entry for cinchona.
Petechiae sine febre	Symptom	Consists of minute effusions of dark blood under the skin.
Petechiae	Symptom	Small red or purple spots on the skin caused by broken capillaries, a symptom of typhus.
Phagedaena	Symptom	An equivocal term: sometimes it is taken in a latitudinous sense for every ulcer which eats away the sound parts which are contiguous, and is called depascens ulcus or sometimes more limitedly; for a deep tumid ulcer which destroys flesh underneath as well as the neighbouring parts. Sometimes it is described as only destroying the skin and at others it signifies a particular species of ulcer called herpes phagedaena.
Pharynx	Body Part	A section of the throat; the space lined with muscles between the oesophagus and the mouth.
Phlegmon	Symptom	An inflammation of soft tissue that spreads under the skin or inside the body.
Phlogistic	Condition	Term applied to mean both diseases which induce inflammation and fever and a medicinal treatment which acts as an anti-inflammatory.
Phrenitis	Condition	Inflammation of the brain, attended with acute fever and delirium.
Phthisis	Condition	A consumption caused by an absorption of pus from the lungs. A condition both chronic and inflammatory.
Physconia	Symptom	Distention of the abdomen, usually caused by a scirrhous tumour or enlargement of an organ.
Picea	Treatment	Medicine derived from a type of spruce tree. Various types of spruce trees were used for medicinal purposes, including Norway spruce (picea abies) and White spruce (picea glauca).
Piles	Condition	See entry for haemorrhoids.
Pilulae	Treatment	A small ball, globule; pellet. A pill.
Pitch plaster	Treatment	Dressing containing pitch, a dark, sticky residue from tar or turpentine.
Pix	Treatment	Alternative term for pitch, a substance made from tar or turpentine residue.
Placebo	Treatment	A medicine prescribed that is expected to have little or no therapeutic effect, often to encourage the patient to continue visiting the dispensary in order that their condition can be regularly observed. As the term is used in the case notes there appears to be no implication that there will be a psychological effect on the patient.
Placenta	Body Part	An organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy. This structure provides oxygen and nutrients to a growing baby.
Plague	Condition	An infectious disease. In the case notes appears to specifically relate to bubonic plague.
Platenus	Condition	An alternative name for Taenia Solium. See entry for Taenia.
Plethora	Symptom	Connected to humoural theory. A plethoric habit, or plethoric disposition, indicated that an individual was excessively full of blood and therefore prone to haemorrhaging. This state was believed to most commonly occur during the Spring.
Pleurisy	Condition	A condition marked by pain in the chest or the side, especially when stabbing in nature and exacerbated by inspiration or coughing.
Pleuritic	Symptom	A pain which is sharp and stabbing, commonly in a part of the chest.
Pleuritis	Condition	Alternative term for pleurisy. See entry for pleurisy.
Plexus	Body Part	A bundle of intersecting nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatic vessels in the human body.
Plicae	Body Part	Circular folds of mucous membrane within the intestines.
Plumbi acetas	Treatment	Acetate of lead or sugar of lead. Taken as a sedative and an astringent, often used to treat haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea and in cases of phthisis to reduce expectoration. Also used externally on skin complaints.
Plumbi	Treatment	Sugar of lead. An alternative name for Saccharum Saturn. See entry for Saccharum Saturn.
Pneumonia	Condition	An inflammation in the lungs, specifically in the thorax and of the membrane that lines it.
Polydipsia	Symptom	The feeling of extreme thirstiness, often linked to urinary complaints.
Polyp	Symptom	Abnormal tissue growth.
Polypodium Fillix Mas	Treatment	A term used by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his classification of plants. Also known as Dryopteris filix-mas or the male fern. A common fern of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, native to much of Europe, Asia, and North America. Used as an anthelmintic, i.e. treatment for parasitic worms.
Polypous	Symptom	A growth resembling or in the form of a polyp.
Potassa Arsenicata	Treatment	Acid of arsenic combined with vegetable alkaline. Used as a treatment for epilepsy.
Potio Cretacea	Treatment	A preparation of carbonate of lime, bound in a gum.
Pottage	Treatment	In the case notes is described as a medicinal item applied to the skin.
Poultice	Treatment	A damp paste, usually heated, applied to irritation with bandage or cloth in order to reduce swelling, soothe pain and promote healing.
Pox	Condition	A term used in the case notes to refer to cases of lues venerea. See entry for lues venerea.
Praecordia	Body Part	Part of the body in front of the heart; sometimes used to describe the diaphragm.
Precipitate of zinc	Treatment	A method of precipitating a zinc containing solid from an acidic solution containing dissolved zinc and magnesium.
Pregnancy	Condition	The time during which one or more offspring develops (gestates) inside a woman's womb.
Primæ Viæ	Body Part	See entry for alimentary canal.
Profluvia	Symptom	A copious discharge of fluid, especially a bodily fluid.
Prunes	Treatment	A dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (Prunus domestica). In this context is referred to as an ingredient of the medicine Lenitive electuary. See entry for Lenitive electuary.
Prunus Padus	Treatment	Known as bird cherry, hackberry, hagberry, or Mayday tree, this is a flowering plant in the rose family. Used as a substitute for Peruvian bark.
Psellismus	Symptom	Indistinct pronunciation; stammering; a speech disorder.
Psoas	Body Part	Muscle positioned between the loin and upper leg, connecting the lumbar vertebrae to the femur; a hip flexor.
Psora	Condition	See entries for scabies and itch.
Pubis	Body Part	One of the three main bones that make up the pelvis.
Pudenda	Body Part	Vulva; external female genitals.
Pulmonary	Symptom	An affection of the lungs, including catarrh and phthisis.
Pulveris	Treatment	Pulverised medicine, i.e. medicine formed into a powder.
Puncture	Treatment	In the case notes used in the context of bloodletting. See entry for bloodletting.
Purgative	Treatment	Internal medication aimed at cleansing the body of impurities, usually the bowels.
Purpura	Symptom	Discoloured spots on the skin that appear in rash-like clusters, similar to petechiae. Both result from blood vessels breaking and leaking. Purpura are larger than petechiae. They can develop when numerous petechiae join together.
Purulent	Symptom	Relating to pus for example consisting of or containing pus; suppurating.
Pus	Symptom	A thick, yellow in colour matter which can appear on healing wounds or inside abscesses.
Putrid fever	Condition	Any fever deemed to be caused by putrefaction or accompanied by a putrid odour.
Pylorus	Body Part	The opening between the distal end of the stomach and the intestine (duodenum), surrounded by a sphincter muscle. The posterior region or opening of the stomach.
Pyrexia	Symptom	An intermission in or absence of a fever.
Pyrosis	Symptom	See entry for dyspepsia.
Quartan	Condition	A fever that recurs every three or four days, see also entries for tertian and quotidian.
Quicklime	Treatment	Alkali of lime or calcium oxide. If ingested can prove dangerous, even fatal.
Quotidian	Condition	A fever that recurs every day, see also entries for tertian and quartan.
Rachitis	Condition	Related to suffering from rickets. Derivation from Greek Rhakhitis.
Radix Indica	Treatment	See entry for Colombo root.
Raucedo	Symptom	Hoarseness; weakness or roughness of the voice.
Rectum	Body Part	The last of the large intestines called the rectum or the strait gut is everywhere covered by the longitudinal muscular fibres and has strong circular ones for expelling faeces.
Refrigerant	Treatment	A medicine that reduces the temperature of, chills or freezes the body or a body part, for example as anaesthesia.
Renalis	Body Part	Belonging to the kidneys or reins.
Resin smoke	Treatment	In the case notes inhaled as a treatment for phthisis.
Resin	Treatment	A viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin.
Restringent	Symptom	Halts or prevents the flow of bodily fluids, especially blood and urine.
Retina	Body Part	The innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye.
Rheo fluo	Condition	Piles. See also entry for haemorrhoids.
Rheumatism	Condition	A disease which affects the spaces between the joints and muscles in different parts of the body causing arthritic-like joint swelling and pain.
Rhododendron	Treatment	Extracts of Siberian plant rhododendron (rhododendron chrysanthemum), distributed as a weak tincture or infusion of the leaves in water or wine, prescribed to help with rheumatic illnesses and gout. Could cause vomiting and diarrhoea.
Rhubarb	Treatment	Stalks and root of plant of the genus Rheum, often used as a laxative/purgative.
Rosarum	Treatment	An infusion containing rose extracts, taken as an astringent.
Rubefacient	Treatment	A substance for topical application that produces redness of the skin, e.g. by causing dilation of the capillaries and an increase in blood circulation.
Rubia	Treatment	Plant in the Rubiaceae or coffee family, used as an anti-inflammatory, mild sedative, purgative, and to help with menstrual and urinary disorders.
Rubigo Ferri	Treatment	Rust of iron. Used to treat ammenorrhea, vertigo, deliquium animi, vomiting and hysteria.
Rubus	Treatment	A bramble. Ingested as an infusion. Medicinal usage as treatment againts diarrhoea and menstruation relief.
Rugous	Symptom	Wrinkled, corrugated, rough or ridged skin.
Saccharum Album	Treatment	Sugarcane. A species of perennial grass (genus Saccharum) used for sugar production. Medicinal treatment for haemorrhage, urinary problems, inflammation and jaundice.
Saccharum Saturnine	Treatment	Ointment with lead. Also known as sugar of lead, saccharum saturni or unguentum saturninum. Used as an astringent.
Sacred elixir	Treatment	Elixir of aloes and rhubarb, commonly called Sacred Elixir, a traditional 'cure all' based on various recipes.
Saggital	Body Part	Relating to or denoting the suture on top of the skull which runs between the parietal bones in a front to back direction.
Sal Ammoniac	Treatment	Hard white salt. Ingested on its own, mixed or applied externally, Sal Ammoniac used to stimulate excretion, treat boils, prevent alkalosis and as urinary acidifier.
Saliva glands	Body Part	Glands that produce saliva. Also known as the parotid gland.
Salivation	Symptom	Secretion of saliva (as symptom of mercury treatment).
Salix Alba	Treatment	Commonly known as white willow, is a plant used in folk medicine for the treatment of chronic and acute inflammation, infection, pain, and fever.
Salt of Crocus Martis	Treatment	A naturally occurring red iron oxide containing impurities (i.e. clay minerals) or an ultra-high iron clay. Also known as Crocus of Iron. See also entry for steel.
Salt Polychrest	Treatment	A double salt of potassium sulphate and potassium nitrate; potassium sulphate; a double salt of sodium and potassium tartrate.
Salt soda	Treatment	A fixed mineral alkali obtained from calcined marine plants.
Sand	Symptom	Usually as sediment found in urine. Also known as gravel, sand, concretions.
Sanguified system	Body Part	System of conveying blood; circulatory system.
Sanguis Draconis	Treatment	Also known as Dragon's Blood. Resin from the fruit of Daemonorops propinquus. Medical usage as astringent agent to treat internal bleeding.
Sanies	Symptom	A thin discharge from a wound or ulcer, containing serum, pus, and blood.
Sarsaparilla	Treatment	Made from the plant belonging to any of the species of the order Smilaceæ, indigenous to tropical America from Mexico to Peru. Medicinal usage to treat psora, inflammation and other cutaneous affections.
Sassafras	Treatment	Species of deciduous trees, in the Lauraceae family. Medicinal purpose as infusion or oil extracted from the root, bark or wood; to treat inflammation and improve circulation.
Saturninum solution	Treatment	Acetated lead or mineral solution. In some cases, it is mixed to be applied as an ointment to address cutaneous affections.
Scabies	Symptom	A skin disease with scabby or scaly eruptions. Also known as psora or the itch.
Scales	Symptom	See entry for cutaneous.
Scalp	Body Part	The skin covering the head, excluding the face.
Scammonium	Treatment	Resinous gum derived from the tuberus roots of Convolvulus Scammonia, used as a strong purgative.
Scarification	Treatment	Surgical scarification of the skin to promote suppuration.
Scarlatina anginosa	Condition	A disease which causes inflammation in the throat area or quinsy, mainly affected young people and women.
Scarlatina	Condition	Scarlet fever. Illness involving a distinctive pink-red rash.
Sciatic nerve	Symptom	Nerve in the sciatica area that runs from the lower back to the feet.
Sciatica	Condition	A rheumatic affection of the hip joint.
Scirrhous	Symptom	Hard tumour or growth.
Scorbutus	Symptom	See entry for scurvy.
Scordium	Treatment	Teucrium Scordium, herbaceous perennials, deciduous or evergreen shrubs. Used as an anthelmintic, antifungal, antiseptic and diaphoretic.
Scrobiculus cordis	Symptom	Anatomical term for pit of the stomach; heart-pit.
Scrofula	Condition	Tumours of the conglobate glands, particularly of the neck attended with a swelling of the upper lip and column of the nose, a florid countenance, smooth skin and tumid abdomen. Also known as King's Evil.
Scrotum	Body Part	See entry for testicles.
Scurf	Symptom	Flakes on the surface of the skin that form as fresh skin develops below, occurring especially as dandruff.
Scurvy	Condition	A disease characterised by tenderness of the gums, foul breath, subcutaneous eruptions and limb pain.
Scybala	Symptom	Hard faecal matter discharged in round lumps.
Sea water	Treatment	Applied to skin, drunk, bathed in.
Sebaceous glands	Body Part	Small gland in the skin which secretes a lubricating oily matter (sebum) into the hair follicles to lubricate the skin and hair.
Sedative	Treatment	Soothing, relieving medicine.
Semen santonica	Treatment	Dried, expanded flowerhead of various types of artemisia, often imported from Turkestan. An infusion of semen santonica is injected into the rectum to expel worms. Also known as wormseed; sea wormwood; artemisia cina; levant, santonica.
Senna	Treatment	Senna glycoside, also known as sennoside or senna, is a medication used to treat constipation and empty the large intestine before surgery. Senna, the sennas, is a large genus of flowering plants in the legume family.
Sensorium commune	Body Part	A part of the body where the nerves of the senses of hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling and feeling end. Thought to be held in the brain.
Septum mediastinum	Body Part	The membraneous septum, formed by the duplicature of the pleura, that divides the cavity of the chest into two parts. It is divided into an anterior and posterior portion.
Septum narium	Body Part	Partition separating two chamberss. In this case it refers to the nasal septum that separates the left and right nasal cavities.
Septum nasi	Body Part	The partition between the nostrils.
Septum	Body Part	The membranes between the ventricles of the heart or brain.
Serosa	Body Part	The tissue of a serous membrane.
Serpentine	Treatment	Medicinal usage of snakeroot for treating infectious fevers and rabies.
Serum Aluminosum	Treatment	Alum whey. Produced by curdling milk by means of powdered Alum. Medicinal use as an astringent, specially in cases with renal haemorrhages.
Seton	Treatment	Surgically created small cut, usually kept open (i.e. prevented from healing) with a thread or piece of tape and employed to encourage discharge or suppuration, being a supposedly efficacious flow of lymph or pus.
Shingles	Condition	An acute painful inflammation of nerve endings, with a skin eruption often forming a girdle around the body.
Shoulder	Body Part	The upper joint of each of a person's arms.
Simaruba	Treatment	Bark or root from Simaruba Amara used as an astringent.
Simple Elixir	Treatment	The simple base which is used for making elixirs, the same as diluted alcohol is used for making tinctures. Also known as aromatic elixir, cordial elixir or adjuvans.
Sinapism	Treatment	The mixture of mustard and vinegar, applied as stimulant, to treat fevers and other diseases.
Sinapsis Semen	Treatment	The dried ripe seed of Sinapis alba or Brassica juncea. Used to treat paralytic and pulmonary complaints.
Singultus	Symptom	The hiccup. Relating to or affected with hiccough. A spasmodic affection of the diaphragm, generally arising from irritation produced by acidity in the stomach, error of diet, etc.
Sitten down cold	Condition	According to the case notes this is a colloquial term for chronic catarrh.
Skull	Body Part	Skeletal framework of the head.
Smallpox	Condition	Now identified as the acute infectious, eruptive, viral disease, once epidemic, but eradicated from the natural environment in the late 1970s. Smallpox sufferers had high fevers, backache, headaches and a rash made of pustules which scarred.
Soap	Treatment	Medicinal usage as a digestive vomit reaction. Usually used in small quantities as an inactive ingredient to give form to pills.
Soda depurata	Treatment	Soda which has evacuated impurities and dregs. Pure, not contaminated Soda.
Soda Tartarizata	Treatment	Tartarised soda, formerly known as sal rupellensis, sal polychrestum Seignetti and natron tartarizatum. A triple salt, used as a cathartic, diuretic and deobstruent.
Solanaceae	Treatment	Family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds and ornamentals.
Soluble tartar	Treatment	A mild purgative and diuretic.
Solution Saturnina	Treatment	Water solution in which an acetated component (lead) has been dissolved for treatment.
Soporific	Treatment	A drug or other substance that induces drowsiness or sleep.
Sordes	Symptom	The crusts that collect on the teeth and lips in debilitating diseases with protracted low fever.
Spasmi	Symptom	Spasmodic contractions, twitching, involuntary movement.
Spasmodic	Symptom	Can indicate both a symptom and a type of disease (a 'spasmodic affection' such as epilepsy or hysteria).
Spasmodica	Symptom	Classified in 1768 by Boissier de Sauvages as a partial tonic spasms, together with strabismus, tics, contractures, ankylosis, cramps and priapism caused by an organic factor.
Spermaceti	Treatment	A fatty substance, which in a purified state has the form of a soft white scaly mass, found in the head (and to some extent in other parts) of the sperm-whale Physeter macrocephalus) and some other whales and dolphins. Spermaceti is used as a base for certain cold-creams and ointments.
Spirit of lavender	Treatment	A mixture of oil of lavender flowers and alcohol, used a stimulant and also as a flavouring agent.
Spirit of wine	Treatment	Strong distilled liquid from wine.
Spleen	Body Part	A fist-sized organ found in the upper left side of the abdomen, next to the stomach and behind the left ribs.
Sponge	Treatment	Multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them. Medical usage as 'Burnt Sponge' for their high concentration of Iodine, which helps regulate overacting glands.
Sputum	Symptom	Spit; the action of spitting or the fluid that leaves the mouth when coughing.
Squamulae	Symptom	Scales on the skin.
Squill	Treatment	Bulb or root of the sea-onion (and related species). Also known as scillitica and scillae. Used as a laxative and an expectorant.
Stanni	Treatment	Powdered Tin. Filings of the common malleable metal.
Starch	Treatment	In the case notes referenced as an ingredient combined with Gum Tragacanth and used as a treatment for haemoptysis and other forms of haemorrhaging.
Steel	Treatment	Preparations of steel, usually prepared by dissolving iron filings in water. See also entry for Salt of Crocus Martis.
Sternum	Body Part	The broad, flat bone to the front of the thorax.
Sternutate	Treatment	A medicine or powder that will cause sneezing; snuff, tobacco, sneezing powder. To sneeze often.
Stimulant	Treatment	Medicines which are capable of stimulating the body and system; able to excite an organ to increase activity.
Stomaccace	Symptom	Foul, or unpleasant smell, of the mouth with a bloody discharge from the gums.
Stomach elixir	Treatment	Digestive elixir.
Stomach	Body Part	Organ located in the abdomen responsible for digesting food.
Stomachicus	Treatment	That which excites, strengthens or settles the action of the stomach.
Stone	Symptom	Most common use is in reference to 'calculus' (renal calculi). A renal concretion of material accumulated in the renal system.
Stool	Symptom	See entry for faeces.
Stramonium Dulcamara	Treatment	Datura stramonium, thorn apple. Narcotic drug used as an anti-spasmodic.
Strangury	Symptom	Also known as vesical tenesmus. Slow, painful discharge of small volumes of urine expelled only by straining despite a feeling of urgency.
Stricture	Symptom	Abnormal narrowing of a canal or duct in the body.
Styptic	Treatment	Substance capable of causing bleeding to stop when applied to a wound.
Subcutaneous nerves	Body Part	Nerves situated under the skin.
Submaxillary glands	Body Part	Salivary glands below or to the side of the lower jawbone.
Succus gastricus	Symptom	Gastric acid as digestive fluid within the stomach lining.
sudorific	Treatment	A type of medicine designed to make the person sweat as a method of treatment.
Sugar	Treatment	Sweet crystalline substance obtained especially from sugar cane and sugar beet. Various medicinal usages, including as a binding agent, sweetener, grinding material etc.
Suggillation	Symptom	A bruise or inflammation of a part of the body caused by suction. It is also associated with ecchymosis where blood collects under the skin when an object hits the body.
Sulfuric	Treatment	Containing sulphur or sulphuric acid. A strong acid made by oxidising solutions of sulphur dioxide.
Sulphur	Treatment	Brimstone, used as a purgative and for conditions including relief of scabs and broken skin, for example Psora or scabies.
Suppuration	Symptom	Creation or discharge of pus - internal suppuration could cause intense pains and fever.
Surditas	Condition	Hearing loss or deafness.
Suture	Treatment	Stitch or row of stiches holding together the edges of a wound or surgical incision.
Swing	Treatment	Therapy devised by the Edinburgh trained, London physician James Carmichael Smyth (1742-1821), as explained in his An account of the effects of swinging, employed as a remedy in the pulmonary consumption and hectic fever (London:1787).
Syncope	Symptom	Temporary loss of consciousness caused by low blood pressure. Another term for fainting.
Synovia	Body Part	A lubricating fluid secreted by certain membranes, as those of the joints.
Syphilis	Condition	A disease transmitted primarily through sexual intercourse, although it can also be passed to an unborn baby during pregnancy and through breastfeeding.
Syrigmus	Symptom	Perception of sound usually associated with disease in the middle ear, the inner ear, or the central auditory pathways.
Syrup	Treatment	A concentrated sugar solution.
Tabes Mesenterica	Symptom	Wasting condition of the mesenteric lymph nodes in the abdomen. See also phthisis.
Tabes	Symptom	A wasting condition with extreme debility and hectic fever.
Taenia Worm	Symptom	Also known as Taeniasis. A parasitic infection caused by the tapeworm species in the Taenia genus.
Tamarind	Treatment	Pulp of the fruit of the tree Tamarindus indica used as a laxative, purgative and refrigerant.
Tarsus	Body Part	A broad, flat surface. Used to refer to the flat of the eyelid, and the base of the heel.
Tasteless Ague Drops	Treatment	A proprietary medicine which was advertised as an alternative to quinine for use the treatment of ague. Contained arsenic.
Teeth	Body Part	One of the hard bony appendages that are borne on the jaws.
Teething	Symptom	The process of growing or cutting milk teeth.
Tenesmus	Condition	Bowel or rectal disorder creating constant sensation of needing to open bowels. It is accompanied by pain, and a mucous substance, sometimes bloody, is also discharged.
Teretes	Condition	A collective term for worms of all species. Also referred to as vermes.
Tertian	Condition	Of a fever or ague: Characterised by the occurrence of a paroxysm every third day.
Testicles	Body Part	Male reproductive gland.
Tetanus	Condition	Infection caused by bacteria that triggers severe muscle contractions. Often results in death by asphyxiation if left untreated. In the 18th century, the term might be used to describe various conditions producing this kind of symptom pattern.
Thebaic Tincture	Treatment	Preparation of opium with alcohol. More commonly known as laudanum.
Thigh	Body Part	The part of the human leg between the hip and the knee.
Thorax	Body Part	Part of the body between the neck and the abdomen, comprising the cavity enclosed by the ribs, breastbone, dorsal vertebrae, and containing the chief organs of circulation and respiration; the chest.
Throat	Body Part	Front part of the neck containing pharynx and larynx. Fauces specifically refers to cavity at back of mouth from which the pharynx and larynx open.
Thumb	Body Part	The short, thick first digit of the human hand.
Tin	Treatment	Powdered Tin, Stanni (Stannic). Filings of the common malleable metal.
Tincture	Treatment	Highly concentrated herbal extracts distilled in alcohol. Contains less ingredients and are less potent than elixirs.
Tinea Capitis	Condition	The scald-head. A genus of disease characterised by small ulcers at the root of the hairs of the head, which produce a white crust.
Tinea Lactea	Condition	The scald-head affecting young children. Specifically refers to infection that affects the face as well as the scalp.
Tinnitus Aurium	Symptom	Ringing in the ears.
Tobacco	Treatment	See entry for nicotiana.
Tonic	Treatment	General term for a medical substance prescribed to produce a feeling of vigour and well-being.
Tonsils	Body Part	Glands seated on each side to the back of the throat. See also entry for amygdala.
Tormentil	Treatment	Medicine from the native herb, Potentilla tormentilla. Roots used as astringent.
Torpor	Symptom	A numbness or deficient sensation.
Trachea	Body Part	Commonly known as the windpipe. Tube that conveys air to and from the lungs.
Tragacanth	Treatment	A gum derived from the dried sap of several species of shrub of the genus Astragalus.
Trepanation	Treatment	Surgical procedure in which a circular piece of bone is drilled and excised from the human skull.
Trismus	Condition	Popularly known as lock jaw. Spasm of the chewing muscles, causing the jaws to remain rigidly closed. See also entry for tetanus.
Triture	Treatment	To crush, pound, grind, etc.
Trochisci Bechici Nigri	Treatment	A medicated lozenge (troche) of liquorice, sugar, tragacanth gum, mucilage of quince and rose water. Prescribed to alleviate coughing, colds, hoarseness or loss of voice.
Tubercle	Symptom	Abnormal lesions and nodules on the body or in an organ.
Tuberculosis	Condition	See entry for phthisis.
Tumour	Symptom	Various types of abnormal growth.
Tunica adnata	Symptom	The enclosing membrane or layer of tissue of the eyeball.
Tunica Albuginea	Symptom	Fibrous connective tissue, but may variously refer to those in the testicles, penis, ovaries etc.
Tunica Conjunctiva	Symptom	Membrane of pale pink colour that lines the back of the eyelids, connecting them to the eyeball.
Turgescence	Symptom	The act of swelling, or the state of being swollen.
Turpentine	Treatment	Also known as Terebinth. Fluid obtained by distillation of sap from trees, mainly pine. Applied to the skin to treat joint, muscle, nerve and tooth pain.
Tussicula	Symptom	A slight cough, less powerful than a tussis.
Tussilago	Treatment	The common native flowering plant Coltsfoot, used for relieving and curing coughs.
Tussis Hysterica	Symptom	A persistent cough that serves as a symptom of hysteria. Psychosomatic.
Tussis	Symptom	The technical name for a cough. Can be a symptom of a variety of ailments.
Tympanites	Symptom	Distention of the abdomen by gas or air in the intestine, peritoneal cavity or uterus.
Typhoid	Condition	An acute infectious fever spread by food that has come in contact with faecal matter. Characterised by high temperature, red spots on chest, severe pain in bowels, and sometimes death. Known at the time as enteric fever, and was often improperly treated with purgatives, causing many deaths. It was not differentiated from typhus fever until the late 1860s.
Typhus	Condition	An acute infectious fever spread by fleas, lice, ticks and mites, characterised by great prostration and petechial eruptions; chiefly occurring in crowded tenements. It was not differentiated from typhoid fever until the late 19th century.
Ulcer	Symptom	An open sore on an external or internal surface of the body.
Ulceration	Symptom	The action, process or state of forming ulcers or of becoming ulcerated.
Ulcus mali moris	Symptom	A malignant ulcer.
Umbilicus	Body Part	Umbilical region, navel.
Unction	Treatment	Treatment with a medicinal oil or ointment.
Unguent	Treatment	Similar to an ointment or salve. Typically used to describe a substance that is oilier and less viscous than an ointment.
Urinary system	Body Part	Consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder and the urethra.
Urinary tract	Body Part	Urinary passage.
Uterus	Body Part	Also known as the womb.
Uva Ursi	Treatment	Bearberry, a native plant related to the bilberry found in the Scottish Highlands. A trailing plant used to make an astringent tonic.
Vagina	Body Part	Female genitals.
Valerian	Treatment	A species of plant belonging to the Valeriana genus. Prescribed as stimulants or antispasmodics.
Vapour of marshes	Condition	Exhalations or effluvia from marshes at certain times of the year were believed to be noxious and cause fevers. Also known as marsh miasma.
Varicose	Symptom	Unnaturally swollen or dilated.
Variola	Condition	An alternative name for smallpox. See entry for smallpox.
Vascular System	Body Part	All blood vessels in the body, including veins, arteries, capillaries, lymphatic glands, etc. Also known as the sanguiferous system.
Vegetable Acid	Treatment	Acid derived from various forms of vegetable matter.
Venereal	Condition	Infection resulting from sexual intercourse. Also refers to symptoms relating to the disease.
Ventricle	Body Part	Cavities in the heart which circulate blood through the body.
Ventris Murmura	Symptom	Abdominal murmuring; term for when stomach is making noise.
Verdigris	Treatment	The common name for a green pigment obtained by applying dilute acetic acid to think plates of copper. Used in medicine for a variety of ailments, such as eye and throat irritation, as well as being used as an antiseptic. See also entry for aerugine aeris.
Vermes	Condition	A collective term for worms of all species. See also entry for teretes.
Vermiculation	Symptom	Sensation as if worms or small animals are moving under the surface of the skin.
Vertebrae	Body Part	Segments or joints of the backbone, spinal cord.
Vertigo	Symptom	Condition in which patient loses equilibrium and consciousness; dizziness; giddiness.
Vesania	Symptom	Loss of reason, insanity, insane, loss of senses.
Vesicalis	Symptom	Inflammation of the bladder that causes pain and frequent need to urinate.
vesicle	Body Part	A thin-walled sac filled with a fluid, usually clear and small.
Vibices	Symptom	Lines that appear on skin that denote subcutaneous bleeding.
Vinum Nicotiana	Treatment	Tobacco leaves that have been dissolved in white wine, then administered.
Vinum	Treatment	A solution of a medicinal substance in wine.
Virginian Snakeroot	Treatment	Also known as serpentine root and Rhizome. The derivative of a North American plant Serpentiana Virginiana. Used to treat skin, circulatory and kidney disorders, though in large doses can be damaging to the kidneys.
Viscera	Body Part	Internal organs in the abdomen e.g. intestines, liver or uterus.
Vision	Symptom	See entry for blindness.
Vitriol Aether	Treatment	A mixture of alcohol and vitriolic acid.
Vitriolic Acid	Treatment	Sulphuric acid with various ingredients added.
Volatile Aromatic Spirit	Treatment	Volatile oily spirit; A compound of sal ammoniac, rosemary and lemon.
Volatile Liniment	Treatment	Liniment containing volatile oils, such as rosemary and olive oil, meant to be rubbed on skin to relieve pain. Called volatile due to the quick evaporation of the oils.
Vomica	Symptom	An ulcerous cavity or abscess, usually in the lungs. Also known as purulent; ulcerous.
Vomiting	Symptom	Sickness, retching, throwing up.
Ward's Essence	Treatment	Camphor medication sold as a headache cure by 'Mr Ward of Whitehall', and as first described in John Page, 'Receipts for preparing and compounding the principal medicines made use of by the late Mr Ward' (London: 1763), p. 26.
Water brash	Condition	Occurs when a person produces an excessive amount of saliva that mixes with stomach acids that have risen to the throat.
White Vitriol	Treatment	Type of metal sulphate; zinc. Also known as vitriolum album.
Windy gravel	Condition	Colloquial term for a complaint combining flatulency and indigestion.
Womb	Body Part	See also entry for uterus.
Worm seed	Treatment	Alternative name for semen santonica. See entry for semen santonica.
Worms	Condition	Internal parasitic worms. Also known as taenia, ascarides.
Wrist	Body Part	The part or joint connecting the hand with the forearm.
Yellow fever	Condition	An infectious disease most prevalent in tropical-like climates but also significant outbreaks too place in the northern United States of America in the late 1700s.
Zinc Oxide	Treatment	Mineral metal with anti-inflammatory properties. Also called Calcined Zinc, though became known as Oxide during this time period due to the work of chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, who proposed oxygen as a fuel source for combustion.
Zingiber	Treatment	See entry for ginger.

- Abdomen
  
  Body Part
  
  Belly. Derived from the word abdo, meaning to hide therefore the contents lay hidden in it. See also entry for stomach.
- Abdominal viscera
  
  Body Part
  
  Abdominal organs including stomach, intestine, liver, pancreas, spleen, kidneys. See also entry for viscera.
- Abortion
  
  Condition
  
  The loss of pregnancy, either intentionally or spontaneously. See also entry for miscarriage.
- Abscess
  
  Condition
  
  A cavity or space in a body part containing pus, or a collection of matter.
- Absinthe
  
  Treatment
  
  The dried leaves and flowering tops of a bitter plant.
- Absorbent
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicines which have the ability to dry up internally and externally.
- Aconite
  
  Treatment
  
  Aconitum, commonly known as Wolf's Bane and Monkshood is a plant which grows in rocky areas in Northern Europe. Though containing poisonous properties, the extract of this plant was used in medical treatments.
- Acrimony
  
  Treatment
  
  Also known as Acrimonia. Any substance that causes bitter pungency to the organs of taste or smell, or to the skin, throat.
- Acrostichum
  
  Treatment
  
  A fern genus in the Parkerioideae subfamily of the Pteridaceae.
- Adjuvantia
  
  Treatment
  
  Supplementary methods of medical treatment.
- Aerugine Aeris
  
  Treatment
  
  The corrosion of copper by fermented vegetable acid producing a bluish green substance. See also entry for copper.
- Aesophagismus
  
  Symptom
  
  Difficulty swallowing; inability to swallow. See also entries for aglutition and dysphagia.
- Aether
  
  Treatment
  
  A mixture of alcohol with an acid such as vitriolic. See also entry for vitriolic acid.
- Aglutition
  
  Symptom
  
  Inability to swallow; difficulty swallowing. See also entries for aesophagismus and deglutition.
- Ague
  
  Condition
  
  An acute or high fever or a disease characterised by such fever when it recurs periodically, latterly regarded as a symptom of malaria.
- Air vesicle
  
  Body Part
  
  Bay-like extensions off the parabronchi of the lungs.
- Alae nasi
  
  Body Part
  
  In Latin means the wings of the nose, either of the two wings (great and small) of the sphenoid bone.
- Albuginea
  
  Body Part
  
  The inner coat of the testicle.
- Alea Narium
  
  Body Part
  
  Nose and/or nostril(s). See also entry for nose.
- Alimentary Canal
  
  Body Part
  
  Part of the digestive system. Also known as Primæ Viæ.
- Alkali
  
  Treatment
  
  A saline substance extracted from calcined ashes of saltwort, glasswort and other plants.
- Allium
  
  Treatment
  
  Common garlic. The roots of the plant were used in medicine to relieve asthma and coughs and applied as a pill or a syrup. See also entry for garlic.
- Aloe
  
  Treatment
  
  A drug made from the concentrated or dried juice of plants of the genus Aloe, having a bitter taste and unpleasant odour. Used mainly as a purgative or laxative.
- Alum
  
  Treatment
  
  An astringent mineral white/colourless salt.
- Alvi flexus
  
  Symptom
  
  See entry for diarrhoea.
- Amarum
  
  Treatment
  
  Bitters used as an astringent and tonic principally for stomach complaints.
- Amaurosis
  
  Condition
  
  A disease of the optic nerve usually without external change in the eye that causes problems with vision, including total or partial loss of sight. See also entry for gutta serena.
- Amblyopia
  
  Symptom
  
  The complete or relative debilitation of sight. The principal symptom of this condition is the loss of sight without any apparent opacity of the cornea or the interior of the eye.
- Amenorrhea
  
  Symptom
  
  Absence or suppression of menstruation.
- Amygdala
  
  Body Part
  
  Tonsils.
- Anasarca
  
  Symptom
  
  Diffuse dropsy or water retention in the cellular tissue in a large surface of the body such as a limb.
- Anastomosis
  
  Symptom
  
  To relax or open the mouths of the vessels to discharge their contained fluids.
- Anchylosis
  
  Condition
  
  A stiff or rigid joint. Can also mean the coalescence of two bones which were originally distinct.
- Anderson's Pills
  
  Treatment
  
  Mildly aperient pills containing aloes, colocynth and gamboge, used as a remedy for cleansing the system after over-indulgence.
- Aneurysm
  
  Condition
  
  A tumour arising from the dilation or rupture of the coats of an artery. Can also mean unnatural dilation of an artery.
- Angelica
  
  Treatment
  
  An aromatic umbelliferous plant found in northern and eastern Europe.
- Angina Maligna
  
  Condition
  
  A putrid remittent fever which is accompanied with an ulcerated sore throat or with the inflammation of the mucous membrane. Commonly occurred in the autumn among children and weakened adults. Also known as angina gangrena and suffocativa.
- Angina Pectoris
  
  Condition
  
  A syndrome characterised by intermittent attacks of pain in the chest. Also attacks of pain occurring in other parts of the body as a result of impaired blood flow.
- Angina
  
  Condition
  
  Swelling or inflammation in the throat which causes difficulty in swallowing or breathing. Also known as cynanche, quinsy or tonsillitis.
- Angostura
  
  Treatment
  
  Cusparia or Angostura bark is obtained from Galipea officinalis, a tree growing on the mountains of Venezuela.
- Aniseed
  
  Treatment
  
  Sugar of Anise. Seeds of the umbelliferous plant Pimpinella Anisum, a native of the Levant. Cultivated in Britain for their aromatic and carminative properties.
- Ankle
  
  Body Part
  
  Area where the leg and the foot connect.
- Anodyne
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicinal treatment to reduce or relieve pain. Taken as a draught, a balsam and a liniment.
- Anorexia
  
  Condition
  
  A condition characterised by a loss or want of appetite.
- Antacid
  
  Treatment
  
  A substance or remedy that reduces or neutralises acidity, especially that of the contents of the stomach.
- Anthelmintic
  
  Treatment
  
  Types of medicine used to expel or kill parasitic worms.
- Antiepileptic
  
  Treatment
  
  Commonly used treatment for epilepsy.
- Antimony
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine derived from a semi-metal of a whitish or silver colour.
- Antiphlogistic
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine or remedy used to counteract, reduce or cure inflammation.
- Antipsoric
  
  Treatment
  
  Remedy to prevent or cure itchiness.
- Antiseptic
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine designed to resist or prevent decay.
- Antispasmodic
  
  Treatment
  
  A general term for a medicine used to prevent or relieve spasms.
- Anus
  
  Body Part
  
  The opening at the end of the alimentary canal through which solid waste matter leaves the body.
- Anxietas febrilis
  
  Symptom
  
  Latin for feverish anxiety. Anxiety arising from the uneasiness or pressure felt in the stomach or upper abdominal area.
- Aorta
  
  Body Part
  
  The main artery proceeding from the left ventricle of the heart in which all other arteries except the pulmonary are the branches.
- Aperture
  
  Symptom
  
  An open cancer or cases where tumours have become ulcerated.
- Aphonia
  
  Symptom
  
  Loss of speech and paralysis of the tongue caused by damage or disease in larynx or mouth. See also entry for paraphonia.
- Apoplexy
  
  Symptom
  
  Afflux of blood to the head.
- Apyrexia
  
  Symptom
  
  An intermission in or absence of a fever.
- Ardor Urinae
  
  Symptom
  
  An intense acute heat sensation during urination.
- Armenian Bole
  
  Treatment
  
  A red earth clay originating from Armenia used as an astringent against diarrhoea.
- Arnica Montana
  
  Treatment
  
  Also known as German Leopards Bane; a plant used as an antispasmodic.
- Aromatic
  
  Treatment
  
  General term for various highly perfumed botanical substances.
- Arsenic
  
  Treatment
  
  A poisonous and highly toxic mineral which was used medicinally in some cases for treatment of cancer.
- Arsenici
  
  Treatment
  
  In the case notes identified as a medicine recently invented by Mr Milner, a chemist at Cambridge.
- Artery
  
  Body Part
  
  A blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to tissues and organs in the body.
- Arthralgia
  
  Symptom
  
  Pain or stiffness in a joint or joints.
- Arthritis
  
  Condition
  
  Painful disease causing inflammation of the joints.
- Arthropuosis
  
  Symptom
  
  A term variously used to describe inflammation of a joint or abscess in a joint.
- Asafoetida
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine used as an antispasmodic consisting of dried latex (gum oleoresin) exuded from the rhizome or tap root of several species of perennial plants in the species Ferula. Also known as Foetid Gum Camphor.
- Ascarides
  
  Condition
  
  Intestinal worms; thread-worms.
- Ascites
  
  Symptom
  
  A collection of serous fluid in the peritoneal cavity; dropsy of the abdomen, water accumulates in the cavity of the belly.
- Asphyxia
  
  Symptom
  
  Stoppage of the pulse or where the pulse is no longer perceptible to the touch.
- Asthma
  
  Condition
  
  Illness affecting respiration with intermittent periods of difficult breathing, wheezing and coughing.
- Astringent
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine suited to increase the cohesion of and produce some contraction in the simple solids and moving fibres of the human body.
- Atony
  
  Symptom
  
  Loss of strength, want of tone, relaxed condition, languor.
- Axilla
  
  Body Part
  
  Armpit.
- Axunge
  
  Treatment
  
  Kidney fat of geese and pigs used to make ointments.
- Balsam
  
  Treatment
  
  An aromatic oily or resinous medicinal preparation, sometimes to be externally applied, sometimes to be ingested, often in the form of a syrup, for healing wounds or soothing pain.
- Bathing
  
  Treatment
  
  Curative or therapeutic swimming and washing.
- Belladonna
  
  Treatment
  
  Atropa belladonna or Deadly Nightshade.
- Biceps
  
  Body Part
  
  A large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm.
- Bile Duct
  
  Body Part
  
  A series of thin tubes that go from the liver to the small intestine.
- Bile
  
  Symptom
  
  Also known as Bilis, Fel, Chole and Gall. The fluid secreted from the blood in the liver and collected in the gall bladder. It is bitter and of a brownish yellow colour sometimes appearing into green.
- Bistort
  
  Treatment
  
  The powdered roots of a plant native to Britain called Persicaria Bistorta, used as astringent. Also known as Snakeroot or Snakeweed.
- Bitters
  
  Treatment
  
  A term to describe all bitter medicines, including Peruvian bark.
- Bladder Stones, Kidney Stones
  
  Condition
  
  Gravel in the bladder or kidney.
- Bladder
  
  Body Part
  
  The musculo-membranous bag which contains the urinary fluid secreted by the kidneys.
- Blindness
  
  Condition
  
  Inability to see because of injury, disease or a congenital condition.
- Blister
  
  Treatment
  
  Form of external, localised treatment designed to draw bad or poisonous 'humours' to the surface of the body.
- Bloodletting
  
  Treatment
  
  Taking or drawing blood, most frequently from the arm.
- Blue Vitriol
  
  Treatment
  
  Vitriolum Caerulum. Type of metal sulphate. Copper.
- Bolus
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine in a round shape for swallowing for example a large pill or a single dose of a drug.
- Borborygmi
  
  Symptom
  
  Intestinal rumblings due to movement of fluid and gas in the guts.
- Bowel
  
  Body Part
  
  The part of the alimentary canal below the stomach; the intestine.
- Brain
  
  Body Part
  
  The main organ in the central nervous system, located within the skull.
- Bread
  
  Treatment
  
  When used medicinally, most often to give form to pills.
- Bregma
  
  Body Part
  
  The region of the skull where the frontal and the two parietal bones join; the sinciput; in infancy, before the sutures are closed, constituting the anterior fontanel. Formerly regarded as two regions, the right and left bregmata.
- Bronchus
  
  Body Part
  
  Part of the respiratory system, an airway allowing for air to reach the lungs.
- Burgundy pitch
  
  Treatment
  
  A treatment consisting of resin from the Norway spruce tree with a solid but soft consistency and reddish-brown in colour. Used in plasters and to relieve chest disorders such as a prolonged cough or rheumatic disorders. It was applied externally as melted pitch with gauze near the affected area.
- Caeruleae
  
  Treatment
  
  Pill, active ingredient of which is cuprum ammoniala. See also entries for copper and cuprum ammoniala.
- Calamine
  
  Treatment
  
  An ore of zinc.
- Calcination
  
  Symptom
  
  The use of heat to produce a change in a body; or the separation of the more volatile part of any compound with heat.
- Calculi
  
  Condition
  
  To be affected by stones for example kidney stones.
- Caligo
  
  Symptom
  
  Problems with vision, including total or partial loss of sight. See also entry for amaurosis.
- Calomel
  
  Treatment
  
  A preparation of mercury much used in medicine in the form of a white powder with a yellow tinge. Was often used in the treatment of worms. Also known as Mercury Dulcis, Sweet Mercury and Mercurius Choloride.
- Calumba
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for Columbo root.
- Camomile
  
  Treatment
  
  Anthemis nobilis, an aromatic creeping herb with white flowers.
- Camphor
  
  Treatment
  
  Camphor is a waxy extract of the wood of the Camphor Laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), a large evergreen tree native to Asia.
- Cancer
  
  Condition
  
  A painful scirrhous tumour, often terminating in a fatal ulcer.
- Canella Alba
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for cinnamon.
- Cantharides
  
  Treatment
  
  The medicinal name of the dried beetle Cantharis vesicatoria or Spanish Fly. Used as a diuretic, as a blistering agent and as stimulant to kidneys and other genitourinary organs.
- Carcinoma
  
  Condition
  
  Cancerous ulcer. See also entry for cancer.
- Cardamom
  
  Treatment
  
  A spice consisting of the seed-capsules of various species of Amomum and Elettaria (family Zingiberaceæ). Used as a stimulant and stomach tonic as well as a carminative and antispasmodic.
- Cardiac
  
  Symptom
  
  Of or relating to the heart, also known as cordis.
- Cardialgia
  
  Symptom
  
  Experience of heartburn, pain and a sensation of heat around the heart or stomach, often accompanied by indigestion.
- Cardiogmus
  
  Symptom
  
  To have a gnawing pain at the mouth of the stomach. It is seen as synonymous with cardialgia.
- Carditis
  
  Condition
  
  Inflammation of the heart. Also known as Inflammation Cordis.
- Carduus Benedictus
  
  Treatment
  
  Known by the common names St. Benedict's thistle, blessed thistle, holy thistle and spotted thistle; a thistle-like plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Mediterranean region.
- Carebaria
  
  Condition
  
  Heaviness of the head. See also entry for cephalalgia.
- Carious
  
  Condition
  
  Decay of bones and teeth.
- Carminative
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicines that work to expel wind from the body.
- Carus
  
  Symptom
  
  A term applied to different forms of heavy sleep or insensibility.
- Cassia
  
  Treatment
  
  A gentle laxative, emetic and cathartic from the pulp of the fruit cassia. Also known as cassia senna.
- Castile Soap
  
  Treatment
  
  An ingredient for pills used to relieve costiveness, flatulence and other stomach problems; named for Castile, a region in Spain where the soap originated. Also known as Spanish Soap.
- Castor
  
  Treatment
  
  Known as Russian castor it was a reddish-brown unctuous substance which had a strong smell and nauseous bitter taste, obtained from two sacs in the inguinal region of the beaver. Used medicinally as an antispasmodic.
- Catalepsy
  
  Condition
  
  A disorder characterised by seizures at intervals generally lasting a few minutes though sometimes can continue for some hours or days.
- Catamenia
  
  Symptom
  
  Menstrual discharge; monthly period.
- Cataphora
  
  Symptom
  
  Meaning to render sleepy. It is the unusual propensity for sleep.
- Cataplasm
  
  Treatment
  
  A poultice.
- Cataracta
  
  Condition
  
  An opacity of the crystalline lens of the eye causing more or less impairment of sight, but never complete blindness.
- Catarrh
  
  Condition
  
  Inflammation of mucous membrane in nose, throat and/or lungs.
- Catarrhus Senilis
  
  Condition
  
  A disease causing chronic catarrh and bronchial inflammation particularly affecting the elderly.
- Cathartic
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine suited to increase the evacuation by stool; purgation.
- Catheter
  
  Treatment
  
  A long tubular instrument used for passing along the urethra into the bladder in order to draw off urine or to find a stone.
- Caustic Alkali
  
  Treatment
  
  Hydrates of potassium and sodium. Also called Caustic Potash, Caustic Soda and Caustic Ammonia. Ammonia as a gas or in solution.
- Caustic Alkaline Lixivium
  
  Treatment
  
  Also known as Wood Ash, Ley or Lye. Liquid with alkaline salts leached from wood ashes or lye.
- Cellular membrane
  
  Treatment
  
  Substance which is found everywhere under the skin surrounding the muscles, blood vessels etc.
- Cephalalgy
  
  Condition
  
  Headache. The term is derived from the Greek word Cephal which means head. Cephalalgia can refer to a milder headache and Cephalalgia Hysterica is a pain which is fixed in the crown of the head. See also entry for Clavus Hysterica.
- Cephalitis
  
  Condition
  
  Inflammation of the brain and an inflammatory condition of the central nervous system. See also entry for phrenitis.
- Cerate
  
  Treatment
  
  A kind of stiff ointment composed of wax together with lard or oil and other ingredients.
- Chalybeate
  
  Treatment
  
  Spa or mineral water, usually containing high concentration of iron salts.
- Cheek
  
  Body Part
  
  Either side of the face below the eye.
- Chin Cough
  
  Condition
  
  An epidemic, contagious, spasmodic disease. Also known as whooping cough, kink cough, hooping or convulsive cough and pertussis.
- Chin
  
  Body Part
  
  The protruding part of the face below the mouth, formed by the apex of the lower jaw.
- Chlorosis
  
  Condition
  
  A disorder thought to occur mainly in young women soon after puberty characterised by a greenish pallor of the skin, cessation or irregularity of menstruation, and weakness, often associated with loss of appetite. Also called the Green Sickness, White Fever and Virgin's Disease.
- Cholera
  
  Condition
  
  In the 18th century it was a disease characterised by severe diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and leg spasms.
- Chorea Scelotyrbe
  
  Condition
  
  See entry for chorea.
- Chorea
  
  Condition
  
  A convulsive disorder usually found in children involving involuntary muscle spasms, particularly in the face and arms. Also known as Sydenham's Chorea, Saint Vitus Dance, Chorea Sancti Viti, Choreomania.
- Chyle
  
  Symptom
  
  The white milky fluid formed by the action of the pancreatic juice and the bile on the chyme, and contained in the lymphatics of the intestines. The term was applied to the fluid in the intestine just before absorption.
- Cicatrize
  
  Treatment
  
  To heal (a wound, sore, ulcer, etc.) by inducing a cicatrice or scar; to skin over.
- Cicuta
  
  Treatment
  
  Hemlock. Highly poisonous plant administered as powder or extract of leaves, used as a narcotic and to relieve coughing.
- Cilia
  
  Body Part
  
  The outer edges of the eyelids.
- Cinchona
  
  Treatment
  
  A bark of various species of the Cinchona tree, found in the Caribbean from which quinine was later isolated. Commonly used as a febrifuge to relieve fevers. Also known as Peruvian Bark; Jesuits' Bark, Quinquina.
- Cinnamon
  
  Treatment
  
  A fragrant and sweet tasting aromatic used as an astringent.
- Citrine
  
  Treatment
  
  Made with lard and mercuric nitrate and used against skin parasites.
- Clavicle
  
  Body Part
  
  The collarbone, which extends from the breastbone to the shoulder blade, forming part of the pectoral arch.
- Clavus Hystericus
  
  Symptom
  
  Severe head pain. A shooting pain in the forehead that is sharply defined, and typically described as feeling like a nail being driven into the head often associated with hysteria.
- Clyster
  
  Treatment
  
  Clyster, glyster. The introduction of a medicine, through injection into the rectum, designed to empty or cleanse the bowels.
- Coagulum
  
  Symptom
  
  A mass of coagulated matter, a clot of blood.
- Cobalt
  
  Treatment
  
  A metallic and earthly mineral which gives off a sapphire blue colour when melted. Was often used to obtain arsenic from.
- Coccia
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for Colocynth pill.
- Coccyx
  
  Body Part
  
  Pelvis or pelvic bones located at the bottom of the spine; tailbone.
- Cochineal
  
  Treatment
  
  A dyestuff made from the body of the insect Coccus cacti. Used in medicine as an antispasmodic.
- Coeliac
  
  Condition
  
  Of or belonging to the belly, or the cavity of the abdomen. Term applied to an intestinal disease or diseases which affect the ability to digest and cause diarrhoea.
- Colchicum
  
  Treatment
  
  English crocus. The medicine derived from this plant was often prescribed for gout and rheumatism.
- Colica
  
  Condition
  
  Associated with both severe griping pains in the stomach and can also mean relating to the colon.
- Colliquative
  
  Symptom
  
  Having the effect of dissolving or wasting. Can be applied to profuse discharges which cause the body to waste away, or to diseases characterised by such discharges; as colliquative diarrhoea, colliquative sweat, colliquative fever.
- Collyrium
  
  Treatment
  
  A topical medicine applied for the treatment of eye disorders; an eye-salve or eyewash.
- Colocynth Pill
  
  Treatment
  
  A pill containing aloes and colcynth (crocus, usually Colchicum autumnale) used as a purgative. Also known colocynthide cum aloe and coccia pills.
- Colon
  
  Body Part
  
  The greater portion of the large intestine which extends from the caecum to the rectum.
- Columbo Root
  
  Treatment
  
  Plant used to make a bitter, demulcent tonic with sedative, corroborant and antiseptic properties. Also known as Calumba and Coccolus Palmatus.
- Columna Nasi
  
  Body Part
  
  The lowest and fleshy part of the nose which forms a part of the septum.
- Comata
  
  Condition
  
  Nervous diseases which are defined by diminution or total loss of the powers of voluntary motion, attended with sleep, or a deprivation of the senses.
- Concussion
  
  Symptom
  
  The sudden and violent motion to the brain which causes a sudden swelling of blood-vessels in the brain.
- Condyle
  
  Body Part
  
  A rounded process at the end of a bone serving to form an articulation with another bone.
- Condyloma
  
  Condition
  
  The medical term for genital warts.
- Confection of Cynosbati
  
  Treatment
  
  A concoction composed of the fruit of rosehip plants such as Rosa Sylvestris, Hips or Dogrose, prescribed for consumption and effective against coughs. Also known as the confection of the dog rose or hip.
- Confection
  
  Treatment
  
  The making or preparation of ingredients by mixing. Generally, it was a preparation made with sugar and other ingredients.
- Constipation
  
  Symptom
  
  See entry for costiveness.
- Consumption
  
  Condition
  
  An illness causing abnormal weight loss or wasting away. Often associated with the term tuberculosis.
- Contusion
  
  Condition
  
  Bruising; bruises.
- Convulsions
  
  Symptom
  
  Condition characterised by involuntary contraction of the muscles, convulsive fits, motions, affections, spasms.
- Cophosis
  
  Condition
  
  Total or partial loss of hearing; dumbness or dullness of any of the senses.
- Copper
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for Caeruleae.
- Cordial
  
  Treatment
  
  Aromatic and sweetened spirit, serving as a soothing beverage to administer medicine.
- Coriander Seeds
  
  Treatment
  
  Bitter, aromatic.
- Cornea
  
  Body Part
  
  The coating of the eye. The strong, thick and tendinous first coat of the eye.
- Corona Veneris
  
  Symptom
  
  Term used for syphilitic blotches on the forehead which often extend around it like a crown.
- Corrigent
  
  Treatment
  
  A corrective ingredient in a medicine.
- Corrosive Sublimate
  
  Treatment
  
  A topical application to kill ringworm. It could also refer to corrosive sublimated mercury and mercuric chloride, used as a poison and disinfectant.
- Cortex Aurantia
  
  Treatment
  
  Orange peel.
- Cortex
  
  Treatment
  
  The bark of various trees which was used medicinally such as Peruvian bark.
- Coryza
  
  Symptom
  
  The running at the nose which constitutes or accompanies a cold in the head.
- Costiveness
  
  Symptom
  
  A person is said to be costive when the excretion from the intestines does not happen daily. Also known as constipation, constipatio, constipatus and obstipatio.
- Couhage
  
  Treatment
  
  Also known as cowage or cowhage. It is the stinging hairs of the pod of a tropical plant, Mucuna pruriens, family Leguminosæ, which was used as an anthelmintic.
- Crab eyes
  
  Treatment
  
  A hard calcareous mass found in the stomach of certain crustaceans (as the European crayfish).
- Cramp
  
  Symptom
  
  A sudden painful rigidity of a muscle which causes excruciating pain.
- Cranium
  
  Body Part
  
  The skull, also known as Calva and Calvaria, Cerebrigalea.
- Cream of Tartar
  
  Treatment
  
  Purified and crystallized bitartrate of potassium used as a purgative, cathartic and diuretic.
- Creta
  
  Treatment
  
  Chalk which could be applied in powdered form, pulveris. Used for heartburn and other disorders caused by the build-up of acidity in the alimentary and stomach canals.
- Croup
  
  Condition
  
  An inflammatory disease of the larynx and trachea of children which caused a sharp ringing cough. Croup was the popular name in the south-east of Scotland and was introduced into medical use by Professor Francis Home of Edinburgh in 1765. See also entries for cough and cynanche.
- Crude Antimony
  
  Treatment
  
  A medical treatment applied externally to relieve skin problems, derived from the metal antimony.
- Crusta Lactea
  
  Condition
  
  An eruptive disease of infants at the breast. Also known as milk-scab and milk-blotch.
- Cubitus
  
  Body Part
  
  The forearm.
- Cucurbitina
  
  Condition
  
  A type of tape worm.
- Cupping
  
  Treatment
  
  A glass specially designed to adhere to the skin through the creation of a temporary vacuum which draws the blood to the surface of the skin.
- Cuprum Ammoniala
  
  Treatment
  
  Copper reduced to a saline state. Also known as cuprum ammoniatum, ammoniacum and ammoniacal copper.
- Cutaneous
  
  Condition
  
  A disease of the skin, from cutis meaning skin.
- Cuticle
  
  Body Part
  
  Known as the Scarf-skin which is the integument or universal covering of the body.
- Cynanche
  
  Condition
  
  Any throat disease with inflammation, swelling and difficulty breathing and swallowing. Also known as tonsillitis, quinsy, quinsey, trachealis and croup.
- Cystorrhoea
  
  Symptom
  
  A discharge of mucus from the bladder. Also known as vesical catarrh.
- Dea Ulmi
  
  Treatment
  
  A liquid mixture extracted from the Elm Tree. See also the entry for Elm.
- Deafness
  
  Condition
  
  Total loss of hearing.
- Decoction
  
  Treatment
  
  Boiled in water (or other liquid) as means of extracting the soluble parts or principles of the medicinal substance.
- Deglutition
  
  Symptom
  
  Swallowing. From 'deglutitio' meaning 'to swallow'. For example 'difficult deglutition' equates to difficulty swallowing.
- Deliquium
  
  Symptom
  
  Fainting, swooning, deliquium animi. See also entry for syncope.
- Delirium
  
  Symptom
  
  Talking or speaking irrationally.
- Demulcent
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine with a soothing effect, allaying irritation.
- Deobstruent
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine suited to remove obstructions by opening the natural passages or pores of the body. Also known as deoppilant(s).
- Depression
  
  Condition
  
  Dullness of spirits, dispirited, dejection, oppression or any similar reference; includes despair, low spirited etc.
- Depurate
  
  Treatment
  
  Derived from the Latin word 'depuratio' meaning to free from any purities. It is used to refer to making or preparing a substance as purely as possible.
- Desmalgia
  
  Symptom
  
  Desmalgia, or often referred to as Desmodynia, refers to ligament pain.
- Desquamation
  
  Symptom
  
  Process where the cuticle or epidermis of the skin falls or flakes off in the form of scales.
- Devon Colic
  
  Condition
  
  A condition that affected the cider producing counties of England in the 16th and 17th centuries, later determined to have been actually caused by lead poisoning.
- Diabetes Angelica
  
  Condition
  
  The Latin word 'Anglica' is used in this context to mean English because it was a condition which affected the English or British. It is a form of diabetes referred to by Dr Francois Sauvage where the urine smells sweet.
- Diabetes chylosus
  
  Condition
  
  Derived from the Latin word 'Chylus'. It is a form of diabetes where the urine contains chyle a saccharine tasting fluid produced during digestion.
- Diabetes Insipidus
  
  Condition
  
  A form of diabetes where the urine tastes normal and not sweet.
- Diabetes Mellitis
  
  Condition
  
  A form of diabetes where the urine tastes of dissolved honey.
- Diabetes
  
  Condition
  
  Diabetes is also referred to as diabetes urinosa or profuse urinae.
- Diacodium
  
  Treatment
  
  One of many names for opium. A narcotic, addictive resin derived from the sappy seed-heads of the opium poppy.
- Diaphoretic
  
  Treatment
  
  Sudorific; medicine used to promote perspiration.
- Diaphragm
  
  Body Part
  
  The major muscle of respiration, located below the lungs.
- Diarrhoea urinosa
  
  Symptom
  
  Latin for 'disease of the urine' and is the name used by the 2nd century Roman physician Claudius Gallenus for what is now called diabetes. Also referred to as Profuse urinosa.
- Diarrhoea
  
  Symptom
  
  Looseness or laxity of bowels. Too frequent evacuation of fluid faeces, often accompanied with stomach pains.
- Diascordium
  
  Treatment
  
  Refers to a treatment derived from the plant called Water Germander (Teurium Scordium). The pulverised bitter leaves of the plant were used to expel worms and a decoction of the plant used to treat gangrene.
- Diathesis
  
  Condition
  
  A tendency in a family to suffer from a particular illness though not genetic. Used historically to refer to the disposition of the constitution of the body e.g. a rheumatic disposition.
- Digitalis
  
  Treatment
  
  Foxglove. Powdered leaves of Digitalis purpurea used in the treatment of heart disease.
- Diluent
  
  Treatment
  
  Something added to a substance to dilute it and make it weaker in strength.
- Discutient
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine that is capable of dissipating diseased matter.
- Dislocation
  
  Condition
  
  Also referred to as luxation; when bones are displaced from their normal position at a joint such as a shoulder.
- Distension
  
  Symptom
  
  Swollen or bloated or stretched stomach caused by some kind of internal pressure.
- Diuretic
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine which promotes the secretion and discharge of urine.
- Dolich pruriens
  
  Treatment
  
  A variety of Stizolobium or Cowhage which was a velvet bean used in the West Indies to treat diseases caused by worms.
- Dolores
  
  Symptom
  
  Derived from the Latin word 'dolor' meaning pain and used in medicine to refer to pain and inflammation caused by a disease.
- Dover's powder
  
  Treatment
  
  Remedy against colds and fever by inducing sweating first promoted in 1732 by Dr Thomas Dover (bap. 1662, d. 1742), in his book The Ancient Physician's Legacy to his Country, whose main ingredients were Ipecacuanha and Opium.
- Dr Kennedy's Decoction
  
  Treatment
  
  A liquor used to treat ulcers and swelling of the joints. Named after Dr Kennedy of London.
- Draught
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine in the form of a liquid which is drunk.
- Dropsy
  
  Symptom
  
  Accumulation of fluid in the cavities or connective tissues. See also oedema.
- Drowsiness
  
  Symptom
  
  Languid or listlessness.
- Dulcified
  
  Treatment
  
  Derived from the Latin word 'dulcificare' meaning to sweeten.
- Duodenum
  
  Body Part
  
  First section of the small intestine.
- Dysecoea
  
  Condition
  
  Hard of hearing; hearing impaired or lost. Deafness.
- Dysentery
  
  Condition
  
  Disease caused by inflammation of the large intestine, accompanied with pain and bloody mucus.
- Dysmenorrhea
  
  Symptom
  
  Menstruation accompanied by lower back pain and cramps in the abdominal area.
- Dyspepsia
  
  Symptom
  
  Indigestion. See also entries cardialgia and water brash.
- Dysphagia
  
  Symptom
  
  Difficulty swallowing due to pain or obstruction. See also entries for aesophagismus and aglutition.
- Dyspnoea
  
  Symptom
  
  Refers to difficulty breathing or shortness of breath.
- Dysuria
  
  Symptom
  
  Burning or stinging sensation upon urination.
- Ear
  
  Body Part
  
  The organ of the body that controls auditory input and processing or hearing as well as balance.
- Eau de Luce
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicinal preparation of alcohol, ammonia, and oil of amber, used in India as an antidote to snake-bites, and in England sometimes as smelling salts.
- Eccymosis
  
  Symptom
  
  Bruise caused by blood leaking from the vessels due to injury.
- Eclampsia
  
  Symptom
  
  Convulsions associated with rapid motions of parts of the body especially the mouth, eyes and hands.
- Ectasia
  
  Symptom
  
  The expansion or dilation of a hollow area such as a tube or duct or organ in the body.
- Egg shells
  
  Treatment
  
  Powdered egg shells, usually chicken eggs, used as a treatment for conditions such as Fluor Albus and Profluvium.
- Elaterium
  
  Treatment
  
  Fruit of Ecballium elaterium, used as a purgative.
- Electric shocks
  
  Treatment
  
  In context of electricity. Electrical stimulation treatment use in medicine as an electrical current travelling through the body, with the purpose to stimulate muscles to treat paralysis, amenorrhea and unvoluntary spasms.
- Electrical spark
  
  Treatment
  
  In context of electricity, a light produced by a sudden disrupted electrical discharge through the air.
- Electricity
  
  Treatment
  
  Refers to the medical application of electricity, a type of energy resulting from charged particles either in a static state or as a current. In the 18th century electrical treatments consisted of sparks generated by glass instruments. The instruments were attached to patients on parts of their bodies such as the hands or head and the sparks were used to shock patients. Electrical treatments were used to treat a range of conditions including palsies or strokes, blindness, hysterical seizures and melancholia.
- Electuary
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicinal conserve or paste, consisting of a powder or other ingredient mixed with honey, preserve, or syrup of some kind.
- Elephantiasis
  
  Condition
  
  Various kinds of cutaneous disease, which are viewed as producing in the part affected a resemblance to an elephant's hide.
- Elixir
  
  Treatment
  
  A strong extract or tincture (in proprietary remedies it carried connotations of being a 'sovereign remedy' or 'cure all').
- Elm Bark
  
  Treatment
  
  Elm bark from the Elm Tree or 'Ulmus' in Latin used to treat skin wounds. Also used to treat digestive ailments, diarrhoea, female infertility and as a diuretic to aid increased urine flow.
- Elminosos
  
  Symptom
  
  Dr Andrew Duncan refers to elminosis as a Greek word which relates to a condition caused by worms.
- Emaciation
  
  Symptom
  
  Describes wasting of the body due to malnourishment and diseases or conditions such as tuberculosis.
- Emetartroph
  
  Symptom
  
  Abbreviated term used by Dr Andrew Duncan to refer to a serious vomiting condition.
- Emetic
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine which causes vomiting.
- Emmenagogue
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine with the power to increase or renew menstruation.
- Emollient
  
  Treatment
  
  A moisturising treatment applied directly to the skin to soothe and hydrate it.
- Empyema
  
  Symptom
  
  Pus within the body, usually in the pleural cavity.
- Ens Veneris
  
  Treatment
  
  Old name for a mixture of ammonia and copper.
- Enteritis
  
  Condition
  
  Inflammation of the small intestine.
- Ephidrosis
  
  Symptom
  
  Chronic or profuse sweating or perspiration.
- Epigastric region
  
  Body Part
  
  Upper central region of the abdomen; relating to the part of the abdomen immediately over the stomach.
- Epilepsia Cerebralis
  
  Condition
  
  One of three species of epilepsy classified by Dr William Cullen referring to cases of sudden onset epilepsy with no apparent or manifest cause. See also entry for epilepsy.
- Epilepsia Sympathica
  
  Condition
  
  One of three species of epilepsy classified by Dr William Cullen referring to cases of sudden onset epilepsy with no apparent or manifest cause but preceded by a symptom termed aura. See also entry for epilepsy.
- Epilepsy
  
  Condition
  
  Also known as falling sickness. Violent fits or convulsions causing unconsciousness, muscle spasms and foaming at the mouth.
- Epispastic ointment
  
  Treatment
  
  An ointment for drawing out humours; blistering.
- Epistaxis
  
  Symptom
  
  Bleeding or haemorrhaging specifically from the nose.
- Epsom salts
  
  Treatment
  
  Crystals of materials such as Magnesia Vitriolata, Sal Catharticus Amara and Magnesium Sulphate used to purge the body.
- Errhine
  
  Treatment
  
  Term used for medicines which are used to increase mucal discharge from the nose.
- Eructations
  
  Symptom
  
  Expelling wind from the stomach through the mouth. Also known as belching or burping.
- Escharotic
  
  Treatment
  
  A substance that kills unwanted or diseased tissue, usually skin or superficial growths like warts, leaving them to slough off.
- Essential oil
  
  Treatment
  
  Oils obtained from various aromatic or pungent vegetative plants and herbs through a distillation process.
- Evacuant
  
  Treatment
  
  Purgative, cathartic, emetic and/or diaphoretic medicines used to promote evacuation.
- Exanthem
  
  Symptom
  
  A term used to refer to rashes or eruptions on the body for example due to measles or rubella.
- Excipients
  
  Treatment
  
  A substance which is mixed with a medicinal drug to make it possible to ingest it.
- Excoriate
  
  Symptom
  
  Damage or destruction of skin tissue.
- Excrement
  
  Symptom
  
  Waste material excreted through the bowels. See also entry for faeces.
- Excrescense
  
  Symptom
  
  An unusual external growth on the body such as a wart or a tumour.
- Exostosis
  
  Symptom
  
  A bony tumour found upon a bone or cartilage.
- Expectorant
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine used to promote the excretion or rejection of mucus or pus from the lungs. Also known as pectoral(s).
- Expodice
  
  Symptom
  
  Term used by Dr Francois Boissier de Sauvages according to Dr Andrew Duncan referring to conditions or types of haemorrhage.
- Extirpation
  
  Treatment
  
  The complete removal of part of the body such as tissue or organ by surgical means. Extirpation is derived from the Latin word 'extirpo' which means to uproot or eradicate.
- Extract
  
  Treatment
  
  A treatment obtained by the evaporation of a vegetable solution or a native vegetable juice.
- Extravasation
  
  Symptom
  
  From 'extra' and 'vasa', meaning out of the vessels. This is applied to any of the fluids in the body which are out of their proper vessels.
- Exudation
  
  Symptom
  
  Derived from the Latin word 'exsudare' referring to sweating out but also used to refer to other types of discharge from the body.
- Eye
  
  Body Part
  
  The organ of the body that controls sight.
- Eyrisypelas
  
  Condition
  
  A local febrile disease accompanied by diffused inflammation of the skin, producing a deep red colour; often called St. Anthony's fire, or ‘the rose’.
- Facies Turgidula
  
  Symptom
  
  Facies turgidula is a phrase derived from the Latin word 'Facies' meaning face and turgidula is derived from the Latin word 'turgides' meaning swollen. The phrase 'Facies turgidula' therefore refers to a swollen, distended or congested face.
- Faeces
  
  Symptom
  
  Material consisting of waste matter and liquid that is expelled by the body through the anus.
- Fainting
  
  Symptom
  
  Fainting refers to loss of consciousness resulting from a drop in blood pressure in the body. See also entry for syncope.
- Fallopian Tubes
  
  Body Part
  
  Two trumpet or funnel shaped tubes that carry the ova or egg cells down from the ovary to the uterus.
- False ribs
  
  Body Part
  
  Refers to three sets of ribs which are indirectly linked to the sternum by the attachment of cartilage to the next rib above.
- Fatigue
  
  Symptom
  
  Tiredness resulting from mental or physical causes.
- Fatuity
  
  Symptom
  
  Weakness or imbecility of mind; stupidity.
- Fauces
  
  Body Part
  
  The arched shape opening at the back of the throat leading from the mouth to the pharynx. See also throat.
- Febrile
  
  Symptom
  
  Feverish; suffering from or affected by fever.
- Fern powder
  
  Treatment
  
  Powdered roots of male fern (filix mas), used to expel worms from the intestines. See also entry for filix.
- Fern root
  
  Treatment
  
  Roots of male fern (filix mas). See also entries for fern powder and filix.
- Ferri
  
  Treatment
  
  See entries for Rubigo ferri and for steel.
- Ferrum Ammoniala
  
  Treatment
  
  A combination of Ferrum or Iron filings and Sal Ammoniala or Ammoniac- hard white salt- sometimes used to treat epilepsy or hysteria. See also entry for sal ammoniac.
- Fetororosis
  
  Symptom
  
  Bad or smelly breath also called halitosis.
- Fever
  
  Symptom
  
  A body temperature higher than normally expected sometimes associated with headaches, shivering, stomach upset and possibly delirium. See also entry for pyrexia.
- Filicis maris
  
  Treatment
  
  Roots of a male fern plant used as an anthelmintic and a purgative to expel tape worms.
- Fixed Air
  
  Treatment
  
  A term for carbonic acid gas referring to air extracted from lime, magnesium and alkalies.
- Flatus
  
  Symptom
  
  Wind or gas in the bowels or stomach.
- Flavio
  
  Treatment
  
  Probably a derivative of the Latin words 'flavor', 'flavoris' or 'flavus' meaning yellowness or gold. Mercury flavio or flavus is a form of yellow mercury which was used to treat worms.
- Flesh brush
  
  Treatment
  
  A flesh brush refers to a hard brush used to exfoliate and promote circulation.
- Flooding
  
  Symptom
  
  See entry for menorrhagia.
- Flower
  
  Treatment
  
  In medicinal use 'flower' or 'flowers', derived from the Latin word 'flora' and the plural 'flores', refer to a mineral substance reduced to a powdery consistency through the process of sublimation or crystallisation.
- Flowers of Sulphur
  
  Treatment
  
  A powdered or sublimed form of sulphur also referred to as brimstone. See entry for sulphur.
- Fluor Albus
  
  Symptom
  
  Also known as 'the whites'. A form of vaginal discharge.
- Fluxus Cruentus
  
  Symptom
  
  Fluxus', a Latin word, means to flow and 'Cruentus', also a Latin word, means bloody or blood stained. Can be used to refer to haemorrhage.
- Flying pain
  
  Symptom
  
  Often associated with gout and rheumatism - a pain which tended to move around the body as if in flight.
- Foaming
  
  Symptom
  
  Ptyalism, drooling, slavering, foaming at the mouth, excessive salivation.
- Foetida
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for asafoetida.
- Fomes
  
  Treatment
  
  Fomes' or the plural form 'fomites' means tinder in Latin and can refer to fuel. It is a term used in medicine to refer to substances imbued with a contagion.
- Fontanelle
  
  Body Part
  
  The soft spot or space between the bones of the skull of a baby where the bones have not yet fully formed and hardened.
- Foot
  
  Body Part
  
  The bottom part of the leg used for standing.
- Forbeses Lozenges
  
  Treatment
  
  Lozenges or sweets used as a cough suppressant.
- Formication
  
  Symptom
  
  The feeling of having insects crawling on or under the skin.
- Formido mortis
  
  Symptom
  
  Formido' is the Latin word for fear and 'mortis' is a derivative of 'mors' the Latin word for death so the phrase 'Formido mortis' refers to a fear of death.
- Fracture
  
  Condition
  
  A broken bone.
- Frictio
  
  Treatment
  
  Rubbing; friction of the body upon its whole surface, promoting perspiration and quickening the circulation. Friction was believed to contribute to the conveyance of medicines into the body and to their action and usefulness there when introduced.
- Fuliginis
  
  Treatment
  
  Tincture comprised of wood soot, asafoetida and spirits, used as an antispasmodic for hysteria and rheumatism. Also known as tincture of soot or soot drops.
- Fungous
  
  Symptom
  
  Refers to a morbid growth or granulations on an ulcer or tumour. These growths are often referred to as 'proud flesh'. Fungous is sometimes used to refer to the growths when they are large, flabby and unhealthy.
- Furfuraceous
  
  Symptom
  
  A derivation of the Latin word 'furfur' meaning bran and refers to a skin condition where the skin is branny or scaly.
- Galactorrhea
  
  Symptom
  
  A milky discharge from the nipple unrelated to the normal milk production of breastfeeding.
- Galbanum
  
  Treatment
  
  Gum resin from Ferula family. Used as a carminative.
- Gall bladder
  
  Body Part
  
  Small pouch sitting below the liver.
- Gallarum pulveris
  
  Treatment
  
  Powdered 'galls'; an excrescence produced on trees, especially the oak, by the action of insects, most commonly wasps.
- Gamboge
  
  Treatment
  
  A gum resin obtained from various trees of the genus Garcinia. Acts as a purgative.
- gargle
  
  Treatment
  
  Use of a gargle (i.e. rinsing the throat with a fluid supposedly having soothing or antiseptic properties).
- Garlic
  
  Treatment
  
  Topical application of garlic was believed to help with a variety of disorders including earache.
- Gastrodynia
  
  Symptom
  
  Stomach pain similar to heartburn; frequent complaint of dyspeptics.
- Genitals
  
  Body Part
  
  A person's external organs of reproduction.
- Gentian
  
  Treatment
  
  Bitter tonic extracted from the roots of the Gentian plant.
- Gin
  
  Treatment
  
  Infusion of Juniper united with spirit by distillation and diluted with water. Taken as a diuretic.
- Ginger
  
  Treatment
  
  A flowering plant (Zingiber officinale) whose roots were taken medicinally. In the case notes primarily taken as a stimulant and aromatic.
- Glauber's Salts
  
  Treatment
  
  First artificially made by alchemist/chemist Johann Rudolph Glauber in 1656.
- Glaucoma
  
  Condition
  
  When the nerve that connects the eye to the brain (optic nerve) is damaged. Can lead to loss of vision.
- Globus Hystericus
  
  Symptom
  
  Air rising in the oesophagus that is prevented from reaching the mouth by spasm. It most commonly attends hysteria and gives the sensation of a lump in the throat.
- Glottis
  
  Body Part
  
  The opening between the vocal folds in the larynx that is generally thought of as the primary valve between the lungs and the mouth.
- Gluteus maximus
  
  Body Part
  
  A thick fleshy muscle with a quadrangular shape.
- Godbold's Vegetable Balsam
  
  Treatment
  
  An English patent medicine concocted by Nathaniel Godbold in 1785, and produced by Godbold and later his sons.
  Nathaniel Godbold (1730-1799) was originally a baker in Suffolk. Godbold’s Vegetable Balsam was a popular patent medicine that was used mostly to treat respiratory illnesses. It was produced into the 19th century - carried on by Godbold’s sons. Godbold published ‘A treatise on the nature and cure of consumptions. To which are added, certificates and accounts of many extraordinary cures performed by Godbold's vegetable balsam’ in 1785.
- Gonorrhea
  
  Condition
  
  A sexually transmitted disease which causes off-white discharge from the genitals.
- Goulard’s Extract of Saturn
  
  Treatment
  
  Subacetate of lead, first devised by Thomas Goulard.
- Gout
  
  Condition
  
  An illness that results in spasms; painful inflammation in the joints, particularly the big toes; and the presence of chalky sediment in the urine.
- Gripes
  
  Symptom
  
  Spasmodic constricting pains in the bowels and stomach.
- Grume
  
  Symptom
  
  Thick, congealed blood.
- Guiaicum
  
  Treatment
  
  Resinous gum from trees of the species Lignum Vitae. Used to treat rheumatism and arthritis.
- Gum Ammoniacum
  
  Treatment
  
  A gum-resin of an umbelliferous plant (Dorema ammoniacum), of peculiar smell, and bitterish taste, found wild from North Africa to India. Named lac ammoniacum when it partially dissolves in water to produces a milky fluid.
- Gum Arabic
  
  Treatment
  
  Hardened sap of two species of the acacia tree; Senegalia (Acacia) senegal and Vachellia (Acacia) seyal.
- Gum Kino
  
  Treatment
  
  Gum extracted from coccoloba uvifera, a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family polygonaceae, native to the coastal fringes of tropical America and the Caribbean. Also known as Jamaica extract.
- Gum Pill
  
  Treatment
  
  General term for pills largely composed of one or more medicinal gum.
- Gum
  
  Body Part
  
  Part of the soft tissue lining of the mouth.
- Gummosae
  
  Treatment
  
  Composite medicine, typically containing gum ammoniacum, asafoetida, galbanum and myrrh, sometimes alongside other ingredients.
- Gutta opaca
  
  Condition
  
  Cataract. An opacity of the eye which prevents the rays of light passing to the retina, and so preventing vision.
- Gutta serena
  
  Condition
  
  General contemporary term for blindness with unknown aetiology.
- Haematemesis
  
  Symptom
  
  Vomiting or throwing up blood.
- Haematites
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for stomaccace.
- Haematoma
  
  Symptom
  
  Abnormal collection of blood outside the blood vessels.
- Haematuria
  
  Symptom
  
  Presence of blood in the urine.
- Haemoptysis
  
  Symptom
  
  Expectoration, discharge or spitting up of blood or bloody mucus, usually from the lungs.
- Haemorrhage
  
  Symptom
  
  Blood loss, both internally and from the outside of the body.
- Hæmorrhoids
  
  Symptom
  
  Dilated blood vessels similar to varicose veins located around the rectum or anal canal.
- Hallucinationes
  
  Condition
  
  An order of disease classification developed by Francois Boissier de Sauvages which included visual and auditory anomalies.
- Hamstring
  
  Body Part
  
  Posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee.
- Hand
  
  Body Part
  
  The end part of a person's arm beyond the wrist.
- Hartshorn
  
  Treatment
  
  Ammonia obtained by destructive distillation of horns and hooves of animals. Also known as volatile alkali.
- Headache
  
  Symptom
  
  A continuous pain in the head.
- Hearing
  
  Symptom
  
  See entry for deafness.
- Heart
  
  Body Part
  
  A hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through the circulatory system.
- Heartburn
  
  Symptom
  
  A burning feeling in the chest. See entry for cardialgia.
- Hectic Fever
  
  Condition
  
  A recurrent fever associated with phthisis and suppuration that typically caused hot, dry skin and flushed cheeks.
- Hellebore
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for black hellebore.
- Hemicrania
  
  Symptom
  
  Headache on one side of the head.
- Hemiplegia
  
  Condition
  
  Paralysis more on one side of the body than the other.
- Hemlock dropwort
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for Oenanthe crocata.
- Henbane
  
  Treatment
  
  Common name for Hyoscyamus Niger, an extremely poisonous narcotic and sedative. Also known as hyoscyamine.
- Hepar Sulphuris
  
  Treatment
  
  Compound of sulphur with calcium, now known as calcium sulphide.
- Hepatica
  
  Treatment
  
  Hepatica was named because, like the liver, the leaves of this plant have three lobes. Due to its apparent similarity with the liver, hepatica was used to treat liver and stomach diseases.
- Hernia
  
  Condition
  
  A tumour formed by the displacement and resulting protrusion of a part of an organ through an aperture, natural or accidental, in the walls of its containing cavity.
- Herpes
  
  Condition
  
  Disease of the skin (or sometimes of a mucous membrane) characterised by the appearance of patches of distinct vesicles. Applied widely to a number of cutaneous affections.
- Hiccup
  
  Symptom
  
  An involuntary spasm of the respiratory organs, consisting in a quick inspiratory movement of the diaphragm checked suddenly by closure of the glottis, and accompanied by a characteristic sound.
- Hieranosos
  
  Symptom
  
  A convulsion or involuntary contraction of the muscles.
- Hip
  
  Body Part
  
  A projection of the pelvis and upper thigh bone on each side of the body.
- Hippocratic facies
  
  Symptom
  
  The change produced in the face recognisable as a medical sign known as facies and prognostic of death.
- Hog's Lard
  
  Treatment
  
  Fat of a pig/hog often used in making ointments.
- Honey
  
  Treatment
  
  In the case notes rubbed on gums to treat bleeding there and used to disguise unpalatable ingredients in recipes.
- Horse radish
  
  Treatment
  
  Cruciferous plant (Cochlearia Armoracia), with white flowers and broad rough leaves. A native of middle Europe and western Asia, commonly cultivated for its hot flavoured root.
- Horse warts
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine which contains the warts of horses and was thought to be effective against cancer and hysteria.
- Humerus
  
  Body Part
  
  The bone of the upper arm or forelimb, forming joints at the shoulder and the elbow.
- Hydatides
  
  Symptom
  
  Cysts formed by clear watery fluid.
- Hydragogue
  
  Treatment
  
  Any purgative that causes evacuation of water from the bowels.
- Hydrocephalus
  
  Condition
  
  Condition of having water on or in the brain, leading to the skull expanding and failure of memory and mental faculties.
- Hydropic
  
  Symptom
  
  Containing excessive water or fluid. See entry for dropsy.
- Hydrops pericardii
  
  Symptom
  
  Increased fluid within the pericardial sac.
- Hydrothorax
  
  Symptom
  
  Water on or in the thorax; water in the chest. The condition of having fluid in the pleural cavity.
- Hyoscyamine
  
  Treatment
  
  Extracted from the seeds of Hyoscyamus niger and solanaceae, used as a narcotic and sedative. Extremely poisonous.
- Hypercatharsis
  
  Symptom
  
  Excessive and frequent defecation.
- Hypochondria
  
  Condition
  
  An illness characterised by low spirits, depression and complaints of real or imagined physical symptoms, particularly dyspepsia.
- Hypochondriac Region
  
  Body Part
  
  The part of the abdomen in the upper zone on both sides of the epigastric region and beneath the cartilages of the lower ribs.
- Hypogastric Region
  
  Body Part
  
  The lowest part of the abdomen.
- Hysop water
  
  Treatment
  
  A small bushy aromatic herb of the genus Hyssopus. Hysop water was primarily used as a diluent when creating medicines.
- Hysteria
  
  Condition
  
  A nervous disorder, most common among women although also on occasion to be found in men.
- Ichor
  
  Symptom
  
  A thin, acrid fluid which distils from wounds.
- Icterus
  
  Condition
  
  See entry for jaundice.
- Idiotism
  
  Condition
  
  Contemporary, now clearly offensive term for any condition resulting in learning difficulties.
- Ileus
  
  Symptom
  
  Painful intestinal obstruction, usually in the ileum, often fatal.
- Ilium
  
  Body Part
  
  The largest bone of the hip.
- Impertigo
  
  Condition
  
  A contagious skin infection.
- Inanity
  
  Condition
  
  An absence or emptiness. As used in the case notes usually in the context of lack or emptiness of blood, sometimes menstrual blood.
- Incrustation
  
  Symptom
  
  The forming of a scab over a part of the body as a result of a cutaneous disease.
- Indigestion
  
  Symptom
  
  Discomfort caused by difficulty in digesting food.
- Influenza
  
  Condition
  
  An acute, highly infectious viral disease of humans, which typically occurs in seasonal (winter) outbreaks or as major epidemics or pandemics, is characterised by the sudden onset of fever and chills, headache, muscle pain, weakness, and cough, and can result in death.
- Infusion
  
  Treatment
  
  A dilute liquid extract obtained from a substance by soaking it with, or steeping it in, water.
- Ingesta
  
  Treatment
  
  Any medicine taken with food or drink and which work on curing stomach aliments such as cramps.
- Insania
  
  Condition
  
  Madness; Delirium
- Inspissiated juice
  
  Treatment
  
  The preparation of expressed juice of medicinal plants such as Hemlock or from the extract of Lemons, Blackcurrants and Elderberries
- Insulation
  
  Treatment
  
  In context of electricity, the use of insulating materials (such as glass or silk) alongside conducting materials (for example brass or iron) when electrifying patients.
- Integumentary system
  
  Body Part
  
  The outmost layer of the body consisting of the cuticle, the rete mucosum, cutis and membrama cellularis.
- Intercostal
  
  Body Part
  
  Muscles that present within the rib cage.
- Intestines
  
  Body Part
  
  Winding muscular tube, between the stomach and the anus. Part of the digestive system.
- Intumescentia
  
  Symptom
  
  An enlargement in the vertebral column.
- Ipecacuanha
  
  Treatment
  
  Root of the Central and South American flowering plant carapichea ipecacuanha, commonly used as an emetic.
- Iris florentina
  
  Treatment
  
  Aromatic species of iris, anciently known as Orris root.
- Iron
  
  Treatment
  
  Absorbent, astringent and emetic.
- Ischiadicus
  
  Condition
  
  Form of rheumatism specifically relating to the hips.
- Ischias
  
  Body Part
  
  The sciatic nerve which runs from the lumbar and sacral plexus to the tibial and common fibular nerve.
- Ischuria
  
  Symptom
  
  Difficulty passing urine, inability to pass urine.
- Issue
  
  Treatment
  
  A surgically created small cut which is kept open through the insertion of an obstructive object such as a dried pea in order to encourage suppuration.
- Itch
  
  Condition
  
  A cutaneous eruption identified by some historians as having been scabies but most likely being a blanket term for a range of cutaneous complaints.
- Ivy
  
  Treatment
  
  In the case notes taken ground in an infusion as a treatment for a pectoral complaint.
- Jalap
  
  Treatment
  
  A powdered root of exogonium purga, used as a purgative and cathartic. Used to expel watery humours and used to treat dropsies and gonorrhoea.
- Jamaica pepper
  
  Treatment
  
  Pimento, pimenta, allspice. From the tropical tree Pimenta dioica. Added to a medicine to modify its action or counteract a disagreeable effect. In the case notes most commonly mixed with opium.
- James's Powder
  
  Treatment
  
  Fever remedy patented about 1746 by Dr Robert James and popularly used.
- Japonica
  
  Treatment
  
  An astringent used to treat looseness, diarrhoea and vomiting. An imported soluble gum derived from the wood of the tree Senegalia catechu. Originally called Terra Japonica, then later Succus Japonica.
- Jaundice
  
  Condition
  
  Yellowing of skin or eyes; sallow skin or complexion.
- Julap
  
  Treatment
  
  Sweet vehicle for various active ingredients to make palatable, usually using sugar syrup.
- Julep salts
  
  Treatment
  
  A sweet drink with sugar; a medicated sweet drink prescribed as a demulcent.
- Juniper
  
  Treatment
  
  A native shrub; the berries of which when distilled into a liquor, can be used as a remedy for intestinal ailments and urinary diseases in the elderly; a small infusion of the juice of the berry combined with a small quantity of gin is a medicine for dropsy.
- Juniperus Sabina
  
  Treatment
  
  Juniperus sabina 'tamariscifolia' (Tamarisk-leaved savin). Used as a analgesic, antipyretic and diuretic.
- Kidneys
  
  Body Part
  
  Organs that are found on either side of the spine, just below the rib cage in the back.
- Kink
  
  Symptom
  
  Fit of coughing.
- Knee
  
  Body Part
  
  The joint between the thigh and the lower leg.
- Lacrimal glands
  
  Body Part
  
  The glands in the eyes responsible for secreting tears.
- Lambdoid
  
  Body Part
  
  In the skull, the suture that runs between the ossa occipitis and the parietalia.
- Landanum
  
  Treatment
  
  Preparation of opium with alcohol.
- Larynx
  
  Body Part
  
  The voice box, connected to the top of the windpipe.
- Lassitude
  
  Symptom
  
  Fatigue, lethargy, sleeps/sleeping much, tired (if unusually so), weariness, heaviness.
- Laxative
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicines which promote evacuation by stool.
- Lead
  
  Treatment
  
  A metal which is absorbent, antacid, astringent, anodyne, narcotic or virulent.
- Leeches
  
  Treatment
  
  External application of aquatic blood-sucking worms belonging to the order Hirudinea (normally of the genus Hirudo or Sanguisuga), which are applied to specific parts of the body to draw-off blood.
- Leg
  
  Body Part
  
  The limbs on which a person walks and stands.
- Lemon Juice
  
  Treatment
  
  Used to treat nausea, vomiting and fevers, as well as heart palpitations.
- Lenitive
  
  Treatment
  
  A laxative.
- Leprosy
  
  Condition
  
  A skin disease or form of psoriasis in which the skin resembles the scales of a fish.
- Leucoma
  
  Symptom
  
  Whitening of the cornea, caused by an inflammation of the eye, an abscess in the cornea, small pox, measles, wounds or burns.
- Leucophlegmatic
  
  Symptom
  
  A dropsical habit of body, with a white bloated skin.
- Leucorrhoea
  
  Symptom
  
  A mucous or mucopurulent discharge from the lining membrane of the female genital organs.
- Lienteria
  
  Symptom
  
  A form of diarrhoea, in which the food passes through the bowels partially or wholly undigested.
- Lignum Campechense
  
  Treatment
  
  A wood used medicinally as an astringent and corroborant, seen as an effective treatment for diarrhoea and the late stages of dysentery. Also known as Campeachy Wood, Brasilis Lignum and Jamaica Wood.
- Lime water
  
  Treatment
  
  A solution of lime in water. Also known as aqua calcis.
- Liniment
  
  Treatment
  
  Embrocation for external application by smearing or rubbing, usually made with oil.
- Linseed
  
  Treatment
  
  Flax, Linei, Lintseed. Seeds of the plant Linum usitatissimum.
- Lint Seed
  
  Treatment
  
  Used to mitigate symptoms of gonorrhoea, such as burning sensation when passing urine.
- Liquor amnii
  
  Body Part
  
  Amniotic fluid.
- Liquorice
  
  Treatment
  
  The rhizome (also called liquorice-root) of the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra.
- Lisbon Diet Drink
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine used in Portugal for the cure of scurvy and venereal disease.
- Lithias renalis
  
  Condition
  
  Kidney stones.
- Lithontriptic
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicines used to break up stones in the bladder.
- Lithotomy
  
  Treatment
  
  Surgical removal of stones from the bladder, kidney or urinary tract.
- Liver
  
  Body Part
  
  Digestive organ.
- Lochial
  
  Symptom
  
  Vaginal discharge after giving birth.
- Looseness
  
  Symptom
  
  Looseness of bodily fluids, especially connected with the bowels, for example, caused by worms in the alimentary canal.
- Lotion
  
  Treatment
  
  A thick, smooth liquid preparation designed to be applied to the skin for medicinal purposes.
- Lues
  
  Condition
  
  A plague or spreading disease, particularly syphilis.
- Lumbago
  
  Condition
  
  Rheumatic affection and pain in the lumbar area of the body, e.g. lower back and groin.
- Lumbricus
  
  Condition
  
  Intestinal worms.
- Luna Fixata Luddemanni
  
  Treatment
  
  Zinc oxide. Dr Hieronymus David Gaubius discovered a 'quack' Dutch shoemaker selling a mysteriously effective drug, luna fixata. Discovering that it was nothing more than zinc oxide, Gaubius proposed it as Luna Fixata Luddemanni in his text ‘Adversaria’. Commonly used to treat epilepsy and other convulsive and spasmodic diseases.
- Lungs
  
  Body Part
  
  Organs in the chest that supplies the body with oxygen, and removes carbon dioxide from the body.
- Lymph
  
  Body Part
  
  System of thin tubes and lymph nodes that run throughout the body.
- Macula
  
  Symptom
  
  A spot or blemish. A cutaneous efflorescence that changes the colour of a cuticle.
- Madder
  
  Treatment
  
  A genus of herbaceous perennial plants, consisting of nine species. The roots of the Common or Wild Madder is a detergent or aperient used to treat visceral obstructions, especially of the uterus, coagulations of the blood caused by falls or bruises, dropsy and rickets.
- Magnesia
  
  Treatment
  
  Various compounds of Magnesia, often magnesia alba - calcined magnesia.
- Mammae
  
  Body Part
  
  The breast; the mammary glands.
- Mania
  
  Condition
  
  An alternative name for insanity; an agitated psychotic state.
- Marisca
  
  Condition
  
  An excrescence about the anus; haemorrhoids.
- Mastodynia
  
  Symptom
  
  Pain in the nipple caused by inflammation.
- Maxilla
  
  Body Part
  
  The cheek or jaw.
- Measles
  
  Condition
  
  An infectious disease marked by rash of red circular spots.
- Meatus auditorius
  
  Body Part
  
  External passage to the ear.
- Melampodium
  
  Treatment
  
  A genus of flowering plants which includes the black hellebore. Used primarily as an anthelmintic medicine.
- Melancholia
  
  Condition
  
  Sadness or depression.
- Menorrhagia
  
  Condition
  
  Prolonged and copious discharge of menstrual blood.
- Mentha
  
  Treatment
  
  A genus of perennial herbs. Is a stomachic. Used to cure impaired appetite, flatulence, colics, nausea and vomiting.
- Mephitic water
  
  Treatment
  
  A noxious vapour or fume produced when water is mixed with sulphur.
- Mercury
  
  Treatment
  
  Also known as argentium vivum, quicksilver, including corrosive sublimate, hydragyrom; hyrdrargyrum; mercuric precipitate, red precipitate, white precipitate; 'common blue pill'. Widely employed (liquid) metal.
- Mesembryanthemum
  
  Treatment
  
  A genus of flowering plants.
- Mesentery
  
  Body Part
  
  Fold in peritoneum attaching stomach and lower organs to posterior abdominal wall.
- Metatarsus
  
  Body Part
  
  The five long bones of the foot between the tarsal bones of the phalanges of the toes.
- Mezereon
  
  Treatment
  
  The toxic bush daphne mezereum. Mezereon bark is the dried bark of the plant, used chiefly in ointments to treat chronic ulcers.
- Milk
  
  Treatment
  
  ADD DESCRIPTION
- Mimosoideae
  
  Treatment
  
  A family of trees, herbs and shrubs that mostly grow in tropical and subtropical climates.
- Mineral water
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for chalybeate.
- Miscarriage
  
  Condition
  
  Abortion, stillbirth.
- Mistura Oleosa
  
  Treatment
  
  A demulcent, often used to relieve coughing.
- Monogynia
  
  Treatment
  
  The Linnaean order of plants which only have a pistil, the female reproductive organ.
- Muriated Barytes
  
  Treatment
  
  A tonic used to treat scrofula and cutaneous diseases and to increase stool, urine and perspiration.
- Muscae volitanes
  
  Symptom
  
  Moving black specks or threads seen before the eyes caused by opaque fragments floating in the vitreous humour or a defect in the lens.
- Musk
  
  Treatment
  
  A reddish brown substance with a strong, persistent odour secreted by a gland of the male musk deer.
- Mustard
  
  Treatment
  
  The seed of the common mustard plant. Mixed with water and used as an emetic. Complaints treated with this item included asthma, chronic rheumatism and palsy.
- Mutitas
  
  Symptom
  
  Muteness or the inability to articulate words.
- Myrrh
  
  Treatment
  
  Resin extracted from commiphora abyssinica. Myrrh was used as an astringent and expectorant, most often prescribed to rid the lungs of mucus or pus.
- Narcotic
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicines which can be administered orally, injected or inhaled to create a drowsy effect. Usually opium or an opiate.
- Neck
  
  Body Part
  
  The part of the body that connects the head with the torso.
- Nephritis
  
  Symptom
  
  Inflammation or swelling of the kidney.
- Nervous fluid
  
  Body Part
  
  A fluid supposed to circulate through nerves and function as the essential agent in transmitting nerve impulses.
- Neuroses
  
  Condition
  
  A term coined by the Edinburgh physician William Cullen. It referred to disorders of the sense and motion caused by affections of the nervous system. It covered various nervous disorders and symptoms that could not be explained physiologically.
- Neutral salts
  
  Treatment
  
  Neutral salts are those that are neither acid nor basic salts.
- Nicotiana
  
  Treatment
  
  The prepared leaves of nicotiana tabacum. Known as vinum nicotiana when steeped in white wine.
- Nidus
  
  Body Part
  
  A place or point, usually in the intestines, where an organism such as an intestinal worm can develop or breed.
- Nitre
  
  Treatment
  
  Nitrous, nitric. Potassium nitrate.
- Nitric acid
  
  Treatment
  
  A highly corrosive mineral acid. In the case notes is used to reduce mercury to saline form.
- Nitrous acid
  
  Treatment
  
  A neutral salt, formed by the coalition of the common vegetable fixed alkaline salt. In the case notes is used to reduce mercury to saline form.
- Nitrous powder
  
  Treatment
  
  Powdered nitre. Uses included to increase quantity of urine. See entry for nitre.
- Noma
  
  Condition
  
  A phagedenic ulcer also a species of herpes.
- Nose
  
  Body Part
  
  The prominent structure between the eyes that serves as the entrance to the respiratory tract and contains the olfactory organ.
- Nutmeg
  
  Treatment
  
  Spicy seed of trees in the genus Myristica.
- Nyctalopia
  
  Condition
  
  Night blindness. The periodic affection of vision, sometimes in midday, sometimes in morning, evening or at night, based on the action of a certain degree of light.
- Obstipatio
  
  Symptom
  
  No ejection of faeces or less frequent than usual. See also entry for costiveness.
- Obstipitas spasmodica
  
  Condition
  
  Term used by Francois Boissier de Sauvages. Classified as partial tonic spasms, together with strabismus, tics, contractures, ankylosis, cramps and priapism.
- Occiput
  
  Body Part
  
  The back of the head.
- Odontalgia
  
  Condition
  
  Severe chronic pain in one or more teeth.
- Oedemata
  
  Symptom
  
  A fluid-filled tumour or swelling; excessive fluid in tissues.
- Oenanthe crocata
  
  Treatment
  
  Hemlock water-dropwort, a flowering plant. Extremely poisonous and so rarely used in medicine. When was used, was primarily to combat skin eruptions.
- Oesophagus
  
  Body Part
  
  Food pipe, gullet.
- Ointment
  
  Treatment
  
  See entries for unguent, epispastic ointment and issue ointment.
- Oleaginous
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicines with the properties of oil for example oleaginous demulcents used to relieve sore throats.
- Oleum ricini
  
  Treatment
  
  A pale yellow oil obtained from the seeds of castor beans (ricinus communis) used as a purgative and lubricant. Also known as castor oil.
- Oleum succini
  
  Treatment
  
  Oil of amber.
- Oleum
  
  Treatment
  
  Latin, meaning oil.
- Olive oil
  
  Treatment
  
  Derived by pressing from the fruit of the cultivated evergreen tree, Olea europaea.
- Omentum
  
  Body Part
  
  Fold in peritoneum connecting the stomach with other abdominal organs.
- Ophthalmia cancrosa
  
  Symptom
  
  Cancerous inflammation of the eye.
- Ophthalmia membranarum
  
  Symptom
  
  Inflammation of the membranes of the eye.
- Ophthalmia palpebrarum
  
  Symptom
  
  Blisters and ulceration in the corners of the eyes and the Meibomian follicles.
- Ophthalmia scrofulosa
  
  Symptom
  
  Inflammation and infection of the eyes caused by scrofula.
- Ophthalmia tarsi
  
  Symptom
  
  Inflammation of the edges of the eyelids.
- Ophthalmia
  
  Symptom
  
  Inflammation in the eye, e.g. conjunctivitis.
- Opium
  
  Treatment
  
  A narcotic, addictive resin derived from the seed-heads of the opium poppy (papaver somniferum).
- Optic nerve
  
  Body Part
  
  Each of the second pair of cranial nerves, transmitting impulses to the brain from the retina at the back of the eye.
- Orange peel
  
  Treatment
  
  Also known as cortex aurantii. Peel of oranges.
- Orrice
  
  Treatment
  
  A general term for various types of Irises. See entry for Florentina Iris.
- Os femoris
  
  Body Part
  
  The long bone of the thigh, articulating with the hip bone proximally and the tibia and patella distally.
- Os frontis
  
  Body Part
  
  Also known as the frontal bone, it is a bone in the front of the human skull.
- Os pubis
  
  Body Part
  
  The most forward-facing (ventral and anterior) of the three main regions making up the coxal bone.
- Os sacrum
  
  Body Part
  
  A large, triangular bone at the base of the spine.
- Os Sepiae
  
  Treatment
  
  Cuttlefish bone. Used for a range of medicinal purposes, including to treat stomach aches, prevent bleeding and, externally, to cure sores, ulcers and eczema.
- Os tincae
  
  Body Part
  
  An archaic term for the opening of the uterus into the vagina.
- Os uteris
  
  Body Part
  
  The opening in the cervix at each end of the endocervical canal.
- Osculis lateralibus
  
  Condition
  
  A term used by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus as an alternative name for Taenia lata. See entry for Taenia.
- Osculis marginalibus
  
  Condition
  
  An alternative name for Taenia Solium. See entry for Taenia.
- Osmunda
  
  Treatment
  
  A genus of primarily temperate-zone ferns of family Osmundaceae.
- Ossification
  
  Condition
  
  Abnormal formation of bone or bone-like tissue.
- Otalgia
  
  Symptom
  
  Ear pain.
- Oxymel
  
  Treatment
  
  A mixture of honey and vinegar. Used for a wide range of complaints, including gout, insomnia, coughs, congestion and joint pain. It was both ingested and rubbed on the skin.
- Oyster shell
  
  Treatment
  
  In the case notes applied to the eyes as a treatment for cataracts.
- Palpebrae
  
  Body Part
  
  Eyelids.
- Palpitatio cordis
  
  Symptom
  
  Palpitation of the heart.
- Palpitations
  
  Symptom
  
  Tachycardia, quick heartbeat, fluttering heartbeat.
- Palsy
  
  Condition
  
  See entry for paralysis.
- Pancreas
  
  Body Part
  
  An organ of the digestive system, located in the abdomen behind the stomach.
- Paracusis
  
  Condition
  
  A condition causing difficulty in hearing.
- Paralysis
  
  Condition
  
  This includes palsy, hemiplegia and immobility, as well as states of partial paralysis with specific body-part mentioned.
- Paraphonia rauca
  
  Symptom
  
  A weak or damaged voice. The Edinburgh physician William Cullen divided the category into six sub-categories based on their cause. Paraphonia rauca was defined as cases where from dryness or tumour the fauces or the voice became hoarse and rough.
- Paraphonia
  
  Symptom
  
  Change in the voice or difficulty speaking due to disease or damage to the mouth or larynx. Had various suggested causes, including catarrh, a fright or lues venerea. See also entry for aphonia.
- Paraplegia
  
  Condition
  
  The inability to voluntarily move the lower parts of the body.
- Paraplexia
  
  Condition
  
  Alternative term for paraplegia. See entry for paraplegia.
- Paregoric elixir
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine composed of camphorated tincture of opium (tincture of opium containing camphor, benzoic acid, anise oil). Used as an analgesic and antispasmodic.
- Parotid
  
  Body Part
  
  The parotid gland (salivary gland).
- Paroxysm
  
  Symptom
  
  A sudden attack, outburst or accession. Includes exacerbation (usually of a fever).
- Pectoral
  
  Symptom
  
  Complaints of the chest, including coughing and difficulty breathing.
- Pectoralgia
  
  Symptom
  
  Pain in the chest.
- Pencil
  
  Treatment
  
  A form of applying electrical current, see entry for electricity.
- Penny Royal
  
  Treatment
  
  Derived from the flowering plant Mentha pulegium. It was used for a range of medicinal purposes, but particularly to produce vaginal bleeding and to bring about abortion.
- Pentandra
  
  Treatment
  
  A term used by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his classification of plants. It is used for a wide range of species, and denotes that the plant has five stamens, or five parts.
- Peppermint
  
  Treatment
  
  Had a range of medicinal uses, including as a remedy for nausea, vomiting, morning sickness, respiratory infections and menstrual disorders.
- Periosteum
  
  Body Part
  
  Membrane covering bones.
- Peripneumonia
  
  Symptom
  
  Historical term for inflammation of the lung. See entry for pneumonia.
- Pertussis
  
  Condition
  
  Also known as whooping cough, hooping cough or chin cough.
- Peruvian bark
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for cinchona.
- Petechiae sine febre
  
  Symptom
  
  Consists of minute effusions of dark blood under the skin.
- Petechiae
  
  Symptom
  
  Small red or purple spots on the skin caused by broken capillaries, a symptom of typhus.
- Phagedaena
  
  Symptom
  
  An equivocal term: sometimes it is taken in a latitudinous sense for every ulcer which eats away the sound parts which are contiguous, and is called depascens ulcus or sometimes more limitedly; for a deep tumid ulcer which destroys flesh underneath as well as the neighbouring parts. Sometimes it is described as only destroying the skin and at others it signifies a particular species of ulcer called herpes phagedaena.
- Pharynx
  
  Body Part
  
  A section of the throat; the space lined with muscles between the oesophagus and the mouth.
- Phlegmon
  
  Symptom
  
  An inflammation of soft tissue that spreads under the skin or inside the body.
- Phlogistic
  
  Condition
  
  Term applied to mean both diseases which induce inflammation and fever and a medicinal treatment which acts as an anti-inflammatory.
- Phrenitis
  
  Condition
  
  Inflammation of the brain, attended with acute fever and delirium.
- Phthisis
  
  Condition
  
  A consumption caused by an absorption of pus from the lungs. A condition both chronic and inflammatory.
- Physconia
  
  Symptom
  
  Distention of the abdomen, usually caused by a scirrhous tumour or enlargement of an organ.
- Picea
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine derived from a type of spruce tree. Various types of spruce trees were used for medicinal purposes, including Norway spruce (picea abies) and White spruce (picea glauca).
- Piles
  
  Condition
  
  See entry for haemorrhoids.
- Pilulae
  
  Treatment
  
  A small ball, globule; pellet. A pill.
- Pitch plaster
  
  Treatment
  
  Dressing containing pitch, a dark, sticky residue from tar or turpentine.
- Pix
  
  Treatment
  
  Alternative term for pitch, a substance made from tar or turpentine residue.
- Placebo
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine prescribed that is expected to have little or no therapeutic effect, often to encourage the patient to continue visiting the dispensary in order that their condition can be regularly observed. As the term is used in the case notes there appears to be no implication that there will be a psychological effect on the patient.
- Placenta
  
  Body Part
  
  An organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy. This structure provides oxygen and nutrients to a growing baby.
- Plague
  
  Condition
  
  An infectious disease. In the case notes appears to specifically relate to bubonic plague.
- Platenus
  
  Condition
  
  An alternative name for Taenia Solium. See entry for Taenia.
- Plethora
  
  Symptom
  
  Connected to humoural theory. A plethoric habit, or plethoric disposition, indicated that an individual was excessively full of blood and therefore prone to haemorrhaging. This state was believed to most commonly occur during the Spring.
- Pleurisy
  
  Condition
  
  A condition marked by pain in the chest or the side, especially when stabbing in nature and exacerbated by inspiration or coughing.
- Pleuritic
  
  Symptom
  
  A pain which is sharp and stabbing, commonly in a part of the chest.
- Pleuritis
  
  Condition
  
  Alternative term for pleurisy. See entry for pleurisy.
- Plexus
  
  Body Part
  
  A bundle of intersecting nerves, blood vessels, or lymphatic vessels in the human body.
- Plicae
  
  Body Part
  
  Circular folds of mucous membrane within the intestines.
- Plumbi acetas
  
  Treatment
  
  Acetate of lead or sugar of lead. Taken as a sedative and an astringent, often used to treat haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea and in cases of phthisis to reduce expectoration. Also used externally on skin complaints.
- Plumbi
  
  Treatment
  
  Sugar of lead. An alternative name for Saccharum Saturn. See entry for Saccharum Saturn.
- Pneumonia
  
  Condition
  
  An inflammation in the lungs, specifically in the thorax and of the membrane that lines it.
- Polydipsia
  
  Symptom
  
  The feeling of extreme thirstiness, often linked to urinary complaints.
- Polyp
  
  Symptom
  
  Abnormal tissue growth.
- Polypodium Fillix Mas
  
  Treatment
  
  A term used by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in his classification of plants. Also known as Dryopteris filix-mas or the male fern. A common fern of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, native to much of Europe, Asia, and North America. Used as an anthelmintic, i.e. treatment for parasitic worms.
- Polypous
  
  Symptom
  
  A growth resembling or in the form of a polyp.
- Potassa Arsenicata
  
  Treatment
  
  Acid of arsenic combined with vegetable alkaline. Used as a treatment for epilepsy.
- Potio Cretacea
  
  Treatment
  
  A preparation of carbonate of lime, bound in a gum.
- Pottage
  
  Treatment
  
  In the case notes is described as a medicinal item applied to the skin.
- Poultice
  
  Treatment
  
  A damp paste, usually heated, applied to irritation with bandage or cloth in order to reduce swelling, soothe pain and promote healing.
- Pox
  
  Condition
  
  A term used in the case notes to refer to cases of lues venerea. See entry for lues venerea.
- Praecordia
  
  Body Part
  
  Part of the body in front of the heart; sometimes used to describe the diaphragm.
- Precipitate of zinc
  
  Treatment
  
  A method of precipitating a zinc containing solid from an acidic solution containing dissolved zinc and magnesium.
- Pregnancy
  
  Condition
  
  The time during which one or more offspring develops (gestates) inside a woman's womb.
- Primæ Viæ
  
  Body Part
  
  See entry for alimentary canal.
- Profluvia
  
  Symptom
  
  A copious discharge of fluid, especially a bodily fluid.
- Prunes
  
  Treatment
  
  A dried plum, most commonly from the European plum (Prunus domestica). In this context is referred to as an ingredient of the medicine Lenitive electuary. See entry for Lenitive electuary.
- Prunus Padus
  
  Treatment
  
  Known as bird cherry, hackberry, hagberry, or Mayday tree, this is a flowering plant in the rose family. Used as a substitute for Peruvian bark.
- Psellismus
  
  Symptom
  
  Indistinct pronunciation; stammering; a speech disorder.
- Psoas
  
  Body Part
  
  Muscle positioned between the loin and upper leg, connecting the lumbar vertebrae to the femur; a hip flexor.
- Psora
  
  Condition
  
  See entries for scabies and itch.
- Pubis
  
  Body Part
  
  One of the three main bones that make up the pelvis.
- Pudenda
  
  Body Part
  
  Vulva; external female genitals.
- Pulmonary
  
  Symptom
  
  An affection of the lungs, including catarrh and phthisis.
- Pulveris
  
  Treatment
  
  Pulverised medicine, i.e. medicine formed into a powder.
- Puncture
  
  Treatment
  
  In the case notes used in the context of bloodletting. See entry for bloodletting.
- Purgative
  
  Treatment
  
  Internal medication aimed at cleansing the body of impurities, usually the bowels.
- Purpura
  
  Symptom
  
  Discoloured spots on the skin that appear in rash-like clusters, similar to petechiae. Both result from blood vessels breaking and leaking. Purpura are larger than petechiae. They can develop when numerous petechiae join together.
- Purulent
  
  Symptom
  
  Relating to pus for example consisting of or containing pus; suppurating.
- Pus
  
  Symptom
  
  A thick, yellow in colour matter which can appear on healing wounds or inside abscesses.
- Putrid fever
  
  Condition
  
  Any fever deemed to be caused by putrefaction or accompanied by a putrid odour.
- Pylorus
  
  Body Part
  
  The opening between the distal end of the stomach and the intestine (duodenum), surrounded by a sphincter muscle. The posterior region or opening of the stomach.
- Pyrexia
  
  Symptom
  
  An intermission in or absence of a fever.
- Pyrosis
  
  Symptom
  
  See entry for dyspepsia.
- Quartan
  
  Condition
  
  A fever that recurs every three or four days, see also entries for tertian and quotidian.
- Quicklime
  
  Treatment
  
  Alkali of lime or calcium oxide. If ingested can prove dangerous, even fatal.
- Quotidian
  
  Condition
  
  A fever that recurs every day, see also entries for tertian and quartan.
- Rachitis
  
  Condition
  
  Related to suffering from rickets. Derivation from Greek Rhakhitis.
- Radix Indica
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for Colombo root.
- Raucedo
  
  Symptom
  
  Hoarseness; weakness or roughness of the voice.
- Rectum
  
  Body Part
  
  The last of the large intestines called the rectum or the strait gut is everywhere covered by the longitudinal muscular fibres and has strong circular ones for expelling faeces.
- Refrigerant
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine that reduces the temperature of, chills or freezes the body or a body part, for example as anaesthesia.
- Renalis
  
  Body Part
  
  Belonging to the kidneys or reins.
- Resin smoke
  
  Treatment
  
  In the case notes inhaled as a treatment for phthisis.
- Resin
  
  Treatment
  
  A viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin.
- Restringent
  
  Symptom
  
  Halts or prevents the flow of bodily fluids, especially blood and urine.
- Retina
  
  Body Part
  
  The innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye.
- Rheo fluo
  
  Condition
  
  Piles. See also entry for haemorrhoids.
- Rheumatism
  
  Condition
  
  A disease which affects the spaces between the joints and muscles in different parts of the body causing arthritic-like joint swelling and pain.
- Rhododendron
  
  Treatment
  
  Extracts of Siberian plant rhododendron (rhododendron chrysanthemum), distributed as a weak tincture or infusion of the leaves in water or wine, prescribed to help with rheumatic illnesses and gout. Could cause vomiting and diarrhoea.
- Rhubarb
  
  Treatment
  
  Stalks and root of plant of the genus Rheum, often used as a laxative/purgative.
- Rosarum
  
  Treatment
  
  An infusion containing rose extracts, taken as an astringent.
- Rubefacient
  
  Treatment
  
  A substance for topical application that produces redness of the skin, e.g. by causing dilation of the capillaries and an increase in blood circulation.
- Rubia
  
  Treatment
  
  Plant in the Rubiaceae or coffee family, used as an anti-inflammatory, mild sedative, purgative, and to help with menstrual and urinary disorders.
- Rubigo Ferri
  
  Treatment
  
  Rust of iron. Used to treat ammenorrhea, vertigo, deliquium animi, vomiting and hysteria.
- Rubus
  
  Treatment
  
  A bramble. Ingested as an infusion. Medicinal usage as treatment againts diarrhoea and menstruation relief.
- Rugous
  
  Symptom
  
  Wrinkled, corrugated, rough or ridged skin.
- Saccharum Album
  
  Treatment
  
  Sugarcane. A species of perennial grass (genus Saccharum) used for sugar production. Medicinal treatment for haemorrhage, urinary problems, inflammation and jaundice.
- Saccharum Saturnine
  
  Treatment
  
  Ointment with lead. Also known as sugar of lead, saccharum saturni or unguentum saturninum. Used as an astringent.
- Sacred elixir
  
  Treatment
  
  Elixir of aloes and rhubarb, commonly called Sacred Elixir, a traditional 'cure all' based on various recipes.
- Saggital
  
  Body Part
  
  Relating to or denoting the suture on top of the skull which runs between the parietal bones in a front to back direction.
- Sal Ammoniac
  
  Treatment
  
  Hard white salt. Ingested on its own, mixed or applied externally, Sal Ammoniac used to stimulate excretion, treat boils, prevent alkalosis and as urinary acidifier.
- Saliva glands
  
  Body Part
  
  Glands that produce saliva. Also known as the parotid gland.
- Salivation
  
  Symptom
  
  Secretion of saliva (as symptom of mercury treatment).
- Salix Alba
  
  Treatment
  
  Commonly known as white willow, is a plant used in folk medicine for the treatment of chronic and acute inflammation, infection, pain, and fever.
- Salt of Crocus Martis
  
  Treatment
  
  A naturally occurring red iron oxide containing impurities (i.e. clay minerals) or an ultra-high iron clay. Also known as Crocus of Iron. See also entry for steel.
- Salt Polychrest
  
  Treatment
  
  A double salt of potassium sulphate and potassium nitrate; potassium sulphate; a double salt of sodium and potassium tartrate.
- Salt soda
  
  Treatment
  
  A fixed mineral alkali obtained from calcined marine plants.
- Sand
  
  Symptom
  
  Usually as sediment found in urine. Also known as gravel, sand, concretions.
- Sanguified system
  
  Body Part
  
  System of conveying blood; circulatory system.
- Sanguis Draconis
  
  Treatment
  
  Also known as Dragon's Blood. Resin from the fruit of Daemonorops propinquus. Medical usage as astringent agent to treat internal bleeding.
- Sanies
  
  Symptom
  
  A thin discharge from a wound or ulcer, containing serum, pus, and blood.
- Sarsaparilla
  
  Treatment
  
  Made from the plant belonging to any of the species of the order Smilaceæ, indigenous to tropical America from Mexico to Peru. Medicinal usage to treat psora, inflammation and other cutaneous affections.
- Sassafras
  
  Treatment
  
  Species of deciduous trees, in the Lauraceae family. Medicinal purpose as infusion or oil extracted from the root, bark or wood; to treat inflammation and improve circulation.
- Saturninum solution
  
  Treatment
  
  Acetated lead or mineral solution. In some cases, it is mixed to be applied as an ointment to address cutaneous affections.
- Scabies
  
  Symptom
  
  A skin disease with scabby or scaly eruptions. Also known as psora or the itch.
- Scales
  
  Symptom
  
  See entry for cutaneous.
- Scalp
  
  Body Part
  
  The skin covering the head, excluding the face.
- Scammonium
  
  Treatment
  
  Resinous gum derived from the tuberus roots of Convolvulus Scammonia, used as a strong purgative.
- Scarification
  
  Treatment
  
  Surgical scarification of the skin to promote suppuration.
- Scarlatina anginosa
  
  Condition
  
  A disease which causes inflammation in the throat area or quinsy, mainly affected young people and women.
- Scarlatina
  
  Condition
  
  Scarlet fever. Illness involving a distinctive pink-red rash.
- Sciatic nerve
  
  Symptom
  
  Nerve in the sciatica area that runs from the lower back to the feet.
- Sciatica
  
  Condition
  
  A rheumatic affection of the hip joint.
- Scirrhous
  
  Symptom
  
  Hard tumour or growth.
- Scorbutus
  
  Symptom
  
  See entry for scurvy.
- Scordium
  
  Treatment
  
  Teucrium Scordium, herbaceous perennials, deciduous or evergreen shrubs. Used as an anthelmintic, antifungal, antiseptic and diaphoretic.
- Scrobiculus cordis
  
  Symptom
  
  Anatomical term for pit of the stomach; heart-pit.
- Scrofula
  
  Condition
  
  Tumours of the conglobate glands, particularly of the neck attended with a swelling of the upper lip and column of the nose, a florid countenance, smooth skin and tumid abdomen. Also known as King's Evil.
- Scrotum
  
  Body Part
  
  See entry for testicles.
- Scurf
  
  Symptom
  
  Flakes on the surface of the skin that form as fresh skin develops below, occurring especially as dandruff.
- Scurvy
  
  Condition
  
  A disease characterised by tenderness of the gums, foul breath, subcutaneous eruptions and limb pain.
- Scybala
  
  Symptom
  
  Hard faecal matter discharged in round lumps.
- Sea water
  
  Treatment
  
  Applied to skin, drunk, bathed in.
- Sebaceous glands
  
  Body Part
  
  Small gland in the skin which secretes a lubricating oily matter (sebum) into the hair follicles to lubricate the skin and hair.
- Sedative
  
  Treatment
  
  Soothing, relieving medicine.
- Semen santonica
  
  Treatment
  
  Dried, expanded flowerhead of various types of artemisia, often imported from Turkestan. An infusion of semen santonica is injected into the rectum to expel worms. Also known as wormseed; sea wormwood; artemisia cina; levant, santonica.
- Senna
  
  Treatment
  
  Senna glycoside, also known as sennoside or senna, is a medication used to treat constipation and empty the large intestine before surgery. Senna, the sennas, is a large genus of flowering plants in the legume family.
- Sensorium commune
  
  Body Part
  
  A part of the body where the nerves of the senses of hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling and feeling end. Thought to be held in the brain.
- Septum mediastinum
  
  Body Part
  
  The membraneous septum, formed by the duplicature of the pleura, that divides the cavity of the chest into two parts. It is divided into an anterior and posterior portion.
- Septum narium
  
  Body Part
  
  Partition separating two chamberss. In this case it refers to the nasal septum that separates the left and right nasal cavities.
- Septum nasi
  
  Body Part
  
  The partition between the nostrils.
- Septum
  
  Body Part
  
  The membranes between the ventricles of the heart or brain.
- Serosa
  
  Body Part
  
  The tissue of a serous membrane.
- Serpentine
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicinal usage of snakeroot for treating infectious fevers and rabies.
- Serum Aluminosum
  
  Treatment
  
  Alum whey. Produced by curdling milk by means of powdered Alum. Medicinal use as an astringent, specially in cases with renal haemorrhages.
- Seton
  
  Treatment
  
  Surgically created small cut, usually kept open (i.e. prevented from healing) with a thread or piece of tape and employed to encourage discharge or suppuration, being a supposedly efficacious flow of lymph or pus.
- Shingles
  
  Condition
  
  An acute painful inflammation of nerve endings, with a skin eruption often forming a girdle around the body.
- Shoulder
  
  Body Part
  
  The upper joint of each of a person's arms.
- Simaruba
  
  Treatment
  
  Bark or root from Simaruba Amara used as an astringent.
- Simple Elixir
  
  Treatment
  
  The simple base which is used for making elixirs, the same as diluted alcohol is used for making tinctures. Also known as aromatic elixir, cordial elixir or adjuvans.
- Sinapism
  
  Treatment
  
  The mixture of mustard and vinegar, applied as stimulant, to treat fevers and other diseases.
- Sinapsis Semen
  
  Treatment
  
  The dried ripe seed of Sinapis alba or Brassica juncea. Used to treat paralytic and pulmonary complaints.
- Singultus
  
  Symptom
  
  The hiccup. Relating to or affected with hiccough. A spasmodic affection of the diaphragm, generally arising from irritation produced by acidity in the stomach, error of diet, etc.
- Sitten down cold
  
  Condition
  
  According to the case notes this is a colloquial term for chronic catarrh.
- Skull
  
  Body Part
  
  Skeletal framework of the head.
- Smallpox
  
  Condition
  
  Now identified as the acute infectious, eruptive, viral disease, once epidemic, but eradicated from the natural environment in the late 1970s. Smallpox sufferers had high fevers, backache, headaches and a rash made of pustules which scarred.
- Soap
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicinal usage as a digestive vomit reaction. Usually used in small quantities as an inactive ingredient to give form to pills.
- Soda depurata
  
  Treatment
  
  Soda which has evacuated impurities and dregs. Pure, not contaminated Soda.
- Soda Tartarizata
  
  Treatment
  
  Tartarised soda, formerly known as sal rupellensis, sal polychrestum Seignetti and natron tartarizatum. A triple salt, used as a cathartic, diuretic and deobstruent.
- Solanaceae
  
  Treatment
  
  Family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds and ornamentals.
- Soluble tartar
  
  Treatment
  
  A mild purgative and diuretic.
- Solution Saturnina
  
  Treatment
  
  Water solution in which an acetated component (lead) has been dissolved for treatment.
- Soporific
  
  Treatment
  
  A drug or other substance that induces drowsiness or sleep.
- Sordes
  
  Symptom
  
  The crusts that collect on the teeth and lips in debilitating diseases with protracted low fever.
- Spasmi
  
  Symptom
  
  Spasmodic contractions, twitching, involuntary movement.
- Spasmodic
  
  Symptom
  
  Can indicate both a symptom and a type of disease (a 'spasmodic affection' such as epilepsy or hysteria).
- Spasmodica
  
  Symptom
  
  Classified in 1768 by Boissier de Sauvages as a partial tonic spasms, together with strabismus, tics, contractures, ankylosis, cramps and priapism caused by an organic factor.
- Spermaceti
  
  Treatment
  
  A fatty substance, which in a purified state has the form of a soft white scaly mass, found in the head (and to some extent in other parts) of the sperm-whale Physeter macrocephalus) and some other whales and dolphins. Spermaceti is used as a base for certain cold-creams and ointments.
- Spirit of lavender
  
  Treatment
  
  A mixture of oil of lavender flowers and alcohol, used a stimulant and also as a flavouring agent.
- Spirit of wine
  
  Treatment
  
  Strong distilled liquid from wine.
- Spleen
  
  Body Part
  
  A fist-sized organ found in the upper left side of the abdomen, next to the stomach and behind the left ribs.
- Sponge
  
  Treatment
  
  Multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through them. Medical usage as 'Burnt Sponge' for their high concentration of Iodine, which helps regulate overacting glands.
- Sputum
  
  Symptom
  
  Spit; the action of spitting or the fluid that leaves the mouth when coughing.
- Squamulae
  
  Symptom
  
  Scales on the skin.
- Squill
  
  Treatment
  
  Bulb or root of the sea-onion (and related species). Also known as scillitica and scillae. Used as a laxative and an expectorant.
- Stanni
  
  Treatment
  
  Powdered Tin. Filings of the common malleable metal.
- Starch
  
  Treatment
  
  In the case notes referenced as an ingredient combined with Gum Tragacanth and used as a treatment for haemoptysis and other forms of haemorrhaging.
- Steel
  
  Treatment
  
  Preparations of steel, usually prepared by dissolving iron filings in water. See also entry for Salt of Crocus Martis.
- Sternum
  
  Body Part
  
  The broad, flat bone to the front of the thorax.
- Sternutate
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicine or powder that will cause sneezing; snuff, tobacco, sneezing powder. To sneeze often.
- Stimulant
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicines which are capable of stimulating the body and system; able to excite an organ to increase activity.
- Stomaccace
  
  Symptom
  
  Foul, or unpleasant smell, of the mouth with a bloody discharge from the gums.
- Stomach elixir
  
  Treatment
  
  Digestive elixir.
- Stomach
  
  Body Part
  
  Organ located in the abdomen responsible for digesting food.
- Stomachicus
  
  Treatment
  
  That which excites, strengthens or settles the action of the stomach.
- Stone
  
  Symptom
  
  Most common use is in reference to 'calculus' (renal calculi). A renal concretion of material accumulated in the renal system.
- Stool
  
  Symptom
  
  See entry for faeces.
- Stramonium Dulcamara
  
  Treatment
  
  Datura stramonium, thorn apple. Narcotic drug used as an anti-spasmodic.
- Strangury
  
  Symptom
  
  Also known as vesical tenesmus. Slow, painful discharge of small volumes of urine expelled only by straining despite a feeling of urgency.
- Stricture
  
  Symptom
  
  Abnormal narrowing of a canal or duct in the body.
- Styptic
  
  Treatment
  
  Substance capable of causing bleeding to stop when applied to a wound.
- Subcutaneous nerves
  
  Body Part
  
  Nerves situated under the skin.
- Submaxillary glands
  
  Body Part
  
  Salivary glands below or to the side of the lower jawbone.
- Succus gastricus
  
  Symptom
  
  Gastric acid as digestive fluid within the stomach lining.
- sudorific
  
  Treatment
  
  A type of medicine designed to make the person sweat as a method of treatment.
- Sugar
  
  Treatment
  
  Sweet crystalline substance obtained especially from sugar cane and sugar beet. Various medicinal usages, including as a binding agent, sweetener, grinding material etc.
- Suggillation
  
  Symptom
  
  A bruise or inflammation of a part of the body caused by suction. It is also associated with ecchymosis where blood collects under the skin when an object hits the body.
- Sulfuric
  
  Treatment
  
  Containing sulphur or sulphuric acid. A strong acid made by oxidising solutions of sulphur dioxide.
- Sulphur
  
  Treatment
  
  Brimstone, used as a purgative and for conditions including relief of scabs and broken skin, for example Psora or scabies.
- Suppuration
  
  Symptom
  
  Creation or discharge of pus - internal suppuration could cause intense pains and fever.
- Surditas
  
  Condition
  
  Hearing loss or deafness.
- Suture
  
  Treatment
  
  Stitch or row of stiches holding together the edges of a wound or surgical incision.
- Swing
  
  Treatment
  
  Therapy devised by the Edinburgh trained, London physician James Carmichael Smyth (1742-1821), as explained in his An account of the effects of swinging, employed as a remedy in the pulmonary consumption and hectic fever (London:1787).
- Syncope
  
  Symptom
  
  Temporary loss of consciousness caused by low blood pressure. Another term for fainting.
- Synovia
  
  Body Part
  
  A lubricating fluid secreted by certain membranes, as those of the joints.
- Syphilis
  
  Condition
  
  A disease transmitted primarily through sexual intercourse, although it can also be passed to an unborn baby during pregnancy and through breastfeeding.
- Syrigmus
  
  Symptom
  
  Perception of sound usually associated with disease in the middle ear, the inner ear, or the central auditory pathways.
- Syrup
  
  Treatment
  
  A concentrated sugar solution.
- Tabes Mesenterica
  
  Symptom
  
  Wasting condition of the mesenteric lymph nodes in the abdomen. See also phthisis.
- Tabes
  
  Symptom
  
  A wasting condition with extreme debility and hectic fever.
- Taenia Worm
  
  Symptom
  
  Also known as Taeniasis. A parasitic infection caused by the tapeworm species in the Taenia genus.
- Tamarind
  
  Treatment
  
  Pulp of the fruit of the tree Tamarindus indica used as a laxative, purgative and refrigerant.
- Tarsus
  
  Body Part
  
  A broad, flat surface. Used to refer to the flat of the eyelid, and the base of the heel.
- Tasteless Ague Drops
  
  Treatment
  
  A proprietary medicine which was advertised as an alternative to quinine for use the treatment of ague. Contained arsenic.
- Teeth
  
  Body Part
  
  One of the hard bony appendages that are borne on the jaws.
- Teething
  
  Symptom
  
  The process of growing or cutting milk teeth.
- Tenesmus
  
  Condition
  
  Bowel or rectal disorder creating constant sensation of needing to open bowels. It is accompanied by pain, and a mucous substance, sometimes bloody, is also discharged.
- Teretes
  
  Condition
  
  A collective term for worms of all species. Also referred to as vermes.
- Tertian
  
  Condition
  
  Of a fever or ague: Characterised by the occurrence of a paroxysm every third day.
- Testicles
  
  Body Part
  
  Male reproductive gland.
- Tetanus
  
  Condition
  
  Infection caused by bacteria that triggers severe muscle contractions. Often results in death by asphyxiation if left untreated. In the 18th century, the term might be used to describe various conditions producing this kind of symptom pattern.
- Thebaic Tincture
  
  Treatment
  
  Preparation of opium with alcohol. More commonly known as laudanum.
- Thigh
  
  Body Part
  
  The part of the human leg between the hip and the knee.
- Thorax
  
  Body Part
  
  Part of the body between the neck and the abdomen, comprising the cavity enclosed by the ribs, breastbone, dorsal vertebrae, and containing the chief organs of circulation and respiration; the chest.
- Throat
  
  Body Part
  
  Front part of the neck containing pharynx and larynx. Fauces specifically refers to cavity at back of mouth from which the pharynx and larynx open.
- Thumb
  
  Body Part
  
  The short, thick first digit of the human hand.
- Tin
  
  Treatment
  
  Powdered Tin, Stanni (Stannic). Filings of the common malleable metal.
- Tincture
  
  Treatment
  
  Highly concentrated herbal extracts distilled in alcohol. Contains less ingredients and are less potent than elixirs.
- Tinea Capitis
  
  Condition
  
  The scald-head. A genus of disease characterised by small ulcers at the root of the hairs of the head, which produce a white crust.
- Tinea Lactea
  
  Condition
  
  The scald-head affecting young children. Specifically refers to infection that affects the face as well as the scalp.
- Tinnitus Aurium
  
  Symptom
  
  Ringing in the ears.
- Tobacco
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for nicotiana.
- Tonic
  
  Treatment
  
  General term for a medical substance prescribed to produce a feeling of vigour and well-being.
- Tonsils
  
  Body Part
  
  Glands seated on each side to the back of the throat. See also entry for amygdala.
- Tormentil
  
  Treatment
  
  Medicine from the native herb, Potentilla tormentilla. Roots used as astringent.
- Torpor
  
  Symptom
  
  A numbness or deficient sensation.
- Trachea
  
  Body Part
  
  Commonly known as the windpipe. Tube that conveys air to and from the lungs.
- Tragacanth
  
  Treatment
  
  A gum derived from the dried sap of several species of shrub of the genus Astragalus.
- Trepanation
  
  Treatment
  
  Surgical procedure in which a circular piece of bone is drilled and excised from the human skull.
- Trismus
  
  Condition
  
  Popularly known as lock jaw. Spasm of the chewing muscles, causing the jaws to remain rigidly closed. See also entry for tetanus.
- Triture
  
  Treatment
  
  To crush, pound, grind, etc.
- Trochisci Bechici Nigri
  
  Treatment
  
  A medicated lozenge (troche) of liquorice, sugar, tragacanth gum, mucilage of quince and rose water. Prescribed to alleviate coughing, colds, hoarseness or loss of voice.
- Tubercle
  
  Symptom
  
  Abnormal lesions and nodules on the body or in an organ.
- Tuberculosis
  
  Condition
  
  See entry for phthisis.
- Tumour
  
  Symptom
  
  Various types of abnormal growth.
- Tunica adnata
  
  Symptom
  
  The enclosing membrane or layer of tissue of the eyeball.
- Tunica Albuginea
  
  Symptom
  
  Fibrous connective tissue, but may variously refer to those in the testicles, penis, ovaries etc.
- Tunica Conjunctiva
  
  Symptom
  
  Membrane of pale pink colour that lines the back of the eyelids, connecting them to the eyeball.
- Turgescence
  
  Symptom
  
  The act of swelling, or the state of being swollen.
- Turpentine
  
  Treatment
  
  Also known as Terebinth. Fluid obtained by distillation of sap from trees, mainly pine. Applied to the skin to treat joint, muscle, nerve and tooth pain.
- Tussicula
  
  Symptom
  
  A slight cough, less powerful than a tussis.
- Tussilago
  
  Treatment
  
  The common native flowering plant Coltsfoot, used for relieving and curing coughs.
- Tussis Hysterica
  
  Symptom
  
  A persistent cough that serves as a symptom of hysteria. Psychosomatic.
- Tussis
  
  Symptom
  
  The technical name for a cough. Can be a symptom of a variety of ailments.
- Tympanites
  
  Symptom
  
  Distention of the abdomen by gas or air in the intestine, peritoneal cavity or uterus.
- Typhoid
  
  Condition
  
  An acute infectious fever spread by food that has come in contact with faecal matter. Characterised by high temperature, red spots on chest, severe pain in bowels, and sometimes death. Known at the time as enteric fever, and was often improperly treated with purgatives, causing many deaths. It was not differentiated from typhus fever until the late 1860s.
- Typhus
  
  Condition
  
  An acute infectious fever spread by fleas, lice, ticks and mites, characterised by great prostration and petechial eruptions; chiefly occurring in crowded tenements. It was not differentiated from typhoid fever until the late 19th century.
- Ulcer
  
  Symptom
  
  An open sore on an external or internal surface of the body.
- Ulceration
  
  Symptom
  
  The action, process or state of forming ulcers or of becoming ulcerated.
- Ulcus mali moris
  
  Symptom
  
  A malignant ulcer.
- Umbilicus
  
  Body Part
  
  Umbilical region, navel.
- Unction
  
  Treatment
  
  Treatment with a medicinal oil or ointment.
- Unguent
  
  Treatment
  
  Similar to an ointment or salve. Typically used to describe a substance that is oilier and less viscous than an ointment.
- Urinary system
  
  Body Part
  
  Consists of the kidneys, ureters, bladder and the urethra.
- Urinary tract
  
  Body Part
  
  Urinary passage.
- Uterus
  
  Body Part
  
  Also known as the womb.
- Uva Ursi
  
  Treatment
  
  Bearberry, a native plant related to the bilberry found in the Scottish Highlands. A trailing plant used to make an astringent tonic.
- Vagina
  
  Body Part
  
  Female genitals.
- Valerian
  
  Treatment
  
  A species of plant belonging to the Valeriana genus. Prescribed as stimulants or antispasmodics.
- Vapour of marshes
  
  Condition
  
  Exhalations or effluvia from marshes at certain times of the year were believed to be noxious and cause fevers. Also known as marsh miasma.
- Varicose
  
  Symptom
  
  Unnaturally swollen or dilated.
- Variola
  
  Condition
  
  An alternative name for smallpox. See entry for smallpox.
- Vascular System
  
  Body Part
  
  All blood vessels in the body, including veins, arteries, capillaries, lymphatic glands, etc. Also known as the sanguiferous system.
- Vegetable Acid
  
  Treatment
  
  Acid derived from various forms of vegetable matter.
- Venereal
  
  Condition
  
  Infection resulting from sexual intercourse. Also refers to symptoms relating to the disease.
- Ventricle
  
  Body Part
  
  Cavities in the heart which circulate blood through the body.
- Ventris Murmura
  
  Symptom
  
  Abdominal murmuring; term for when stomach is making noise.
- Verdigris
  
  Treatment
  
  The common name for a green pigment obtained by applying dilute acetic acid to think plates of copper. Used in medicine for a variety of ailments, such as eye and throat irritation, as well as being used as an antiseptic. See also entry for aerugine aeris.
- Vermes
  
  Condition
  
  A collective term for worms of all species. See also entry for teretes.
- Vermiculation
  
  Symptom
  
  Sensation as if worms or small animals are moving under the surface of the skin.
- Vertebrae
  
  Body Part
  
  Segments or joints of the backbone, spinal cord.
- Vertigo
  
  Symptom
  
  Condition in which patient loses equilibrium and consciousness; dizziness; giddiness.
- Vesania
  
  Symptom
  
  Loss of reason, insanity, insane, loss of senses.
- Vesicalis
  
  Symptom
  
  Inflammation of the bladder that causes pain and frequent need to urinate.
- vesicle
  
  Body Part
  
  A thin-walled sac filled with a fluid, usually clear and small.
- Vibices
  
  Symptom
  
  Lines that appear on skin that denote subcutaneous bleeding.
- Vinum Nicotiana
  
  Treatment
  
  Tobacco leaves that have been dissolved in white wine, then administered.
- Vinum
  
  Treatment
  
  A solution of a medicinal substance in wine.
- Virginian Snakeroot
  
  Treatment
  
  Also known as serpentine root and Rhizome. The derivative of a North American plant Serpentiana Virginiana. Used to treat skin, circulatory and kidney disorders, though in large doses can be damaging to the kidneys.
- Viscera
  
  Body Part
  
  Internal organs in the abdomen e.g. intestines, liver or uterus.
- Vision
  
  Symptom
  
  See entry for blindness.
- Vitriol Aether
  
  Treatment
  
  A mixture of alcohol and vitriolic acid.
- Vitriolic Acid
  
  Treatment
  
  Sulphuric acid with various ingredients added.
- Volatile Aromatic Spirit
  
  Treatment
  
  Volatile oily spirit; A compound of sal ammoniac, rosemary and lemon.
- Volatile Liniment
  
  Treatment
  
  Liniment containing volatile oils, such as rosemary and olive oil, meant to be rubbed on skin to relieve pain. Called volatile due to the quick evaporation of the oils.
- Vomica
  
  Symptom
  
  An ulcerous cavity or abscess, usually in the lungs. Also known as purulent; ulcerous.
- Vomiting
  
  Symptom
  
  Sickness, retching, throwing up.
- Ward's Essence
  
  Treatment
  
  Camphor medication sold as a headache cure by 'Mr Ward of Whitehall', and as first described in John Page, 'Receipts for preparing and compounding the principal medicines made use of by the late Mr Ward' (London: 1763), p. 26.
- Water brash
  
  Condition
  
  Occurs when a person produces an excessive amount of saliva that mixes with stomach acids that have risen to the throat.
- White Vitriol
  
  Treatment
  
  Type of metal sulphate; zinc. Also known as vitriolum album.
- Windy gravel
  
  Condition
  
  Colloquial term for a complaint combining flatulency and indigestion.
- Womb
  
  Body Part
  
  See also entry for uterus.
- Worm seed
  
  Treatment
  
  Alternative name for semen santonica. See entry for semen santonica.
- Worms
  
  Condition
  
  Internal parasitic worms. Also known as taenia, ascarides.
- Wrist
  
  Body Part
  
  The part or joint connecting the hand with the forearm.
- Yellow fever
  
  Condition
  
  An infectious disease most prevalent in tropical-like climates but also significant outbreaks too place in the northern United States of America in the late 1700s.
- Zinc Oxide
  
  Treatment
  
  Mineral metal with anti-inflammatory properties. Also called Calcined Zinc, though became known as Oxide during this time period due to the work of chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, who proposed oxygen as a fuel source for combustion.
- Zingiber
  
  Treatment
  
  See entry for ginger.

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