History of Monsters. 313

crements of man are considered by medical schools to be some useful and others useless. First, we will discuss the useful ones, namely milk and sperm. Human milk, among other types of milk, is highly recommended for various diseases because of its natural affinity. It is beneficial for erosions of the stomach and helps with lung complaints. For eye conditions caused by a blow, it serves as a kind and healthy protection; indeed, it is said that whoever is smeared with the milk of both a mother and her daughter will be free from eye troubles for their entire life. For ear defects, milk is prescribed with a bit of oil, and when mixed with hemlock juice or a little opium, it brings relief to those suffering from gout. Finally, if anyone should fall into madness from drinking henbane, they should not hesitate to swallow a large amount of human milk. Furthermore, some assign to human sperm the power to clear up skin eruptions, soothe the pain of gout, and whiten scars.

If we turn our attention to what doctors call the "useless" excrements of the human body—namely saliva, sweat, feces, and urine—we find that these are actually quite useful in medical practice. First, human saliva, especially when taken from someone fasting, enjoys wonderful prerogatives in exterminating various conditions. It wipes away all kinds of pustules and removes lichens, mentagra, and impetigo. To this point, Quintus Serenus sang:

"If there is a defect that takes its name from *impetus*, morning saliva will be able to restrain it."

Furthermore, wounds inflicted by hornets, beetles, and spiders are healed by human saliva. According to Avicenna, this saliva kills scorpions; it even destroys sea scolopendras and other poisonous beasts. Saliva is said to achieve this because of a certain poisonous quality it acquires partly from the grime of the teeth and partly from corrupt humors, for certain constant vapors ascending to the mouth and throat infect the spit with a foul quality. This is why spit sometimes tastes bitter, sometimes acidic, and sometimes somewhat sweet. Moreover, human saliva possesses the power of digestion and concoction. For this reason, peasants chew wheat to mix it with saliva, and when prepared in this way, they apply it like a plaster to boils, which digests them very quickly; otherwise, wheat soaked in water would not effect such a rapid concoction. For the best of reasons, nurses chew bread and apply it like a plaster to the bruised limbs of children, because through the power of saliva, the bruise is dissipated in a short time. Finally, some claim that the saliva of a fasting woman—especially if she abstained from food and wine the day before—is effective for bloodshot eyes.

Human earwax should not be excluded from medical use, as those suffering from migraines, human bites, or stings from scorpions and serpents will receive incredible benefit from it. What more? Even human sweat has a place among medicines. Long ago in the gymnasiums, sweat mixed with dust was collected, and in the baths, the scrapings were gathered—not only, according to Pliny, for smearing ulcers and burns, but also, according to Galen, for dispersing unnatural tumors and for dissolving milk that had curdled in the breasts. Indeed, when this grime from athletes mixed with sweat was too dry, it was made softer with rose oil. Let us hear Galen’s own words: "Furthermore, the sweat of those exercising in the gymnasiums is mixed with grime and helps to digest unnatural tumors through the body's habit; for those substances repel more than they digest, but after the addition of the exercisers' sweat, they acquire much digestive power. Therefore, these scrapings applied alone are a more effective remedy for inflammations of the breasts. If they seem too dry, add cyprinum oil, and if that is not available, mixing in good rose oil is sufficient."

Human urine must not be overlooked, as doctors have found it to be quite fruitful for many conditions. First, when mixed with nitre and applied, it cures dandruff and skin ulcers. Sextius the Philosopher soaks bitter vetch in it and uses this medicine to remove facial spots of any origin. He even adds that if human urine is given to a woman in labor to taste, it immediately expels the placenta. Furthermore, many believe that urine cures gout, citing the example of fullers, who they say are never troubled by such a disease. Additionally, this urine cures mange and leprosy. When boiled with a bit of pomegranate and poured into the ears, according to Sextius the Philosopher, it wipes away pus and worms and drives away...