Scientific Terminology: Units of Measurement

Wine Gallon: The “wine gallon” (also known as “Queen Anne’s Gallon”) is the same as the US gallon, though with a different definition, and contains ~8.34 lbs of water. The old imperial gallon that was adopted in the UK in 1834 contained 10 lbs of water. Though it’s still sometimes used in advertising, neither the EU or Canada officially have a “gallon” measurement anymore; everything is metric, and litres are the standard.

Units of measurement relative to the wine gallon were used in many old pharmacological recipes, primarily on the production end. Even recipes that used hard liquors or non-alcoholic syrups as a delivery method generally used this system, until pharmacology became more standardized in the late 19th century.

“Wine Measure”

• 4 gills = 1 pint
• 2 pints = 1 quart
• 4 quarts = 1 gallon
• 31.5 gallons = 1 barrel
• 42 gallons = 1 tierce
• 63 gallons = 1 hogshead
• 2 hogsheads = 1 pipe or butt
• 2 pipes/butts = 1 tun

Medicine in History: Ancient Egypt - Pharmacology

Putting aside the major strides forward the Egyptians made in establishing medicine, some of their cures were still pretty wild, even without the mysticism aspect. A few of them (from the writings of Herodotus, the Kahun Gynecological papyrus, and the Ebers and Edwin Smith papyri):

• For cure of baldness: “Fat of lion, fat of hippo, fat of crocodile, fat of ibex, fat of serpent, mix together thoroughly and annoint the head of the bald.”
  
  
• For all diseases of the eye: “Human brain, [comparatively easy to obtain given its removal during mummification] divide into its two halves, mix one half with honey, smear on the eye in the morning, dry the other half, mash, sift, smear on the eye in the morning.”
  
  
• Laceration to eyeball: “Take sawdust, acacia leaves, galena, goose fat. Bandage with it”
  
  
• Constipation of a child: “An old book, boil in oil, apply half on the belly to reestablish evacuation.”
  
  
• Common cold: “Milk of a mother who has given birth to a son, untainted and fresh.”
  
  
• Carcinoma Uteri [cancer of the uterus - characterized by a peculiar smell]: “Fumigate her with every sort of roast meat, the smell of which she emits”  
  
  
• Tooth or jaw pain during pregnancy - “toothache of the womb”: “When thou hast fumigated her with grease and incense in a frying-pan, pour on her vulva the urine of an ass that has begotten its like [a sire of a male ass], one day old.
  
  
• Swelling of the abdomen: “1/64 hekt of Malachite, pound, grind fine, cook in mehui (?) of cow’s milk, drink for four days.”
  
  
• Pain in the upper arm, chest, and side of stomach [heart attack]: “Something has entered his mouth. Death is approaching him. Prepare for him an enlivening remedy of herbs, cooked in oil, to be drunk by the man.” [This is one of the only cases where a condition known to be fatal is given a treatment, most are noted that they should not be treated]
  
  
•  Another cure for baldness: “Carapace of a turtle, cooked and crushed, added to fat from the leg of a hippo, anoint forthwith very very frequently”
  
  
• Female Baldness [Used by Shesh, the mother of the pharaoh Teti]: “1 leg of greyhound, 1 stone of date, 1 hoof of donkey, cooked vigorously in oil and applied forthwith.”
  
  
• Headache: “Skull of a catfish, boil in oil, anoint the head with it for 4 days” 

Well, ancient Egypt may not have had treatments quite as bizarrely specific and complicated as medieval Europe, but they certainly had their fair share of odd “treatments”.