History of Monsters 318

# USES IN VARIOUS THINGS

Various parts of the human body are employed for a variety of purposes. For instance, according to the eleventh experiment of Artephius, as recorded in the commentaries of Paracelsus, human blood plays a role: clay statues of men and women are smeared with human blood around the head, and their hollow heads are filled with poppy seeds. It is said that when these statues are then thrown upon the ground, they represent as many human images as there were poppy seeds contained within them. These trifles are presented in the chemical art not for mere spectacle, but to signify something deeper.

Since, in the opinion of physicians, fat is generated from blood, let us turn to the use of human fat. Johann Jacob Wecker reports that a candle made of human tallow, when brought to a place where hidden treasures are said to be buried, reveals them by a loud noise and is extinguished when it comes closest to them. Some believe this happens through a kind of sympathy: since fat originates from blood, and the spirits—the instruments of the soul—flow from blood, they remain ensnared by the desire for gold and silver that they possessed while the person was living.

Moreover, a dreadful greed has so invaded the minds of men that they abuse the gifts nature provided for mortal benefit. From many such gathered substances, witches compose an ointment to which they add much superstition; nevertheless, it can produce the desired effect through natural power. They boil the fat of young boys in a bronze vessel, adding celery, aconite, poplar leaves, soot, bat's blood, somniferous nightshade, mandrake, darnel, "inverted" beans, henbane, poppy, opium, and other ingredients of this kind that typically induce deep sleep.

Therefore, Wecker relates that after the body is anointed with this liniment, wonders are seen. These malevolent women report that in their rest they behold theaters, feasts, gardens, handsome youths, and other such delights. We should not find this surprising, since the simple ingredients making up the described ointment are known to cause intense dreams. Wecker describes another such ointment in his *Antidotarium*.

The teeth of children are especially not excluded from these uses. According to the philosopher Sextius, a tooth from a seven-year-old boy, enclosed in a bracelet and worn by a woman, is said to prevent conception. Albertus Magnus, however, claims that children's teeth falling out in their first years should be collected before they touch the ground; when encased in silver and hung from a woman's neck, they are said to cause sterility. Nevertheless, we consider all these claims to be mere old wives' tales.

If we turn our attention to the use of other bones, we learn from Peter Martyr that among the Cannibals, many human bones—especially those of the arms and legs—are found in the corners of their houses. They use these to make arrowheads, as those regions lack iron. The Brazilians also fashion flutes from the bones of enemies killed in war, using them to refresh the spirits of their companions on a journey and to incite the minds of soldiers to destroy the enemy in battle.

A suitable gold solder is made from human urine and copper; furthermore, goldsmiths use it to clean gold. Indeed, a silver plate placed over a vessel full of urine develops a rust that mimics the color of lapis lazuli, which painters can use as a substitute for ultramarine blue. Alchemists also employ distilled human urine to dissolve certain metals. For the health of ailing vines, some suggest a mixture of vine-shoot and oak ashes sprinkled with vinegar around the trunk, but Wecker considers it better and more effective to pour human urine around the roots of the vine.

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