CHAPTER II.SHAKESPEARE.

“All were they sorely hurt and namely one,That with a spear was thirled his breast bone,To other wounds and to broken arms,Some hadden salves and some hadden charms,And pharmacies of herbs eke sage,They dranken, for they would their lives have.”

The carrying of salves by knights to battle probably originated with the Crusaders, who carried, prepared and blessed, unguents to dress their wounds. Other warriors scorned to encumber themselves with the healing medicines, and relied on the charm or talisman which almost every knight carried on going to war. Some would trust to the simple herb or decoction, and sage which is here mentioned was supposed to have special healing virtue.

In the Miller’s tale we are introduced to one Hendy Nicholas, a poor scholar or tutor who lived at Oxford, and

“Had learned art, but all his fantasyWas turned for to learn astrology”.

Nicholas was a sly fellow to boot, and somewhat of a beau or a fop of his time and evidently having a turn for science, he practised it in hisleisure, and was consulted by the farmers of the neighbourhood as to the state of the weather, or in prognosticating the future for their wives. He had a laboratory at his lodgings, which is described in the followingwords:—

“A chamber had he in that hostelry,Alone withouten any company,Full fetisly-y-dight with herbs swoot,And he himself was sweet as is the rootOf liquorice or any setewale.His almagest, and books great and small,His astrolobe belonging to his art,His augrim stones layed fair apart,On shelves couched at his beddes head.His press-y-covered with a falding red,And above all them lay a gay psaltry,On which he made at nightes melodySo sweetely that all the chamber rang,And Angelus a virginem he sang;And after that he sung the Knight’s note;Full often blessed was his merry throat.And thus this sweete clerk his time spent,After his friendes finding, and his rent.”

One can easily imagine from this sketch the astrologer sitting arrayed in his laboratory, the room filled with the perfume of fragrant herbs, with a manner that vied with the sweetness of liquorice or valerian root. Prominent among the many books with which he is surrounded is theAlmagest, the book of Ptolomy, which formed the canon of astrological science in the middle ages. In one corner his bed, and aboveon a shelf his astrolobe, with which he told the stars, and the augrim stones, probably pieces of slate marked with figures used by astrologers in their art. Then there was the press or chest covered with a red cloth, and hanging above it his psaltery gaily decked with ribbons, on which he accompanied himself when he sang, at which he was evidently an adept. Later in the story the astrologer and man of science becomes smitten by Cupid, and one fine morning goes forth at an early hour to serenade a comely maid (unfortunately for him, married) of whom he is enamoured, and we aretold—

“When that the first cock hath crowed, anonUp rose this jolly lover Absolon,And him arrayed gay at point devise,But first he chewed grains and liquorice,To smelle sweet ere he combed his hair.Under his tongue a true love he bear,For thereby thought he to be gracious.”

Like unto other votaries at the shrine of Venus, our astrologer took pains to make himself look to the best advantage, and evidently bestowed the greatest care on his dress. To perfume his breath and make himself acceptable to his lady love, he chewed grains of paradise and liquorice. The former was a favourite spice in early times, but now rarely used. It has a strong aromatic taste, which is imparted by anessential oil it contains. The “true love” is thought to mean some charm or sweetmeat in the form of a “true lover’s knot,” which he placed under his tongue for the same purpose, and thus this ancient gallant went forth to woo.

That belladonna was used in Chaucer’s time as a narcotic may be gathered from a passage in the Reeve’s tale, whichruns:—

“To bedde went the daughter right anon,To bedde went Alein and also John.There was no more, needed them no dwale.”

Dwale was an old name for the nightshade, and we may infer its properties were known, as it was used to produce sleep at this period.

In the Nun’s Priest’s tale we are given a receipt for bad dreams and melancholy, which gives an example of the housewife’s knowledge of the herbs and simples which grew in hergarden:—

“Through in this town is no apothecary,I shall myself two herbes teache you,That shall be for your health and for your prow,And in our yard the herbs shall I find,The which have of their property by kind,To purge you beneath and eke above,Sire, forget not this for Godde’s love.Ye be full coleric of complexion,Ware that the sun in his ascension,You finde not replete of humours hot,And if it do I dare well lay a groat,That ye shall have a fever tertiane,Or else an ague that may be your bane.A day or two ye shall have digestives,Of wormes, ere ye take your laxativesOf laurel, centaury, and fumetére,Or else of elderberry that groweth there,Of catapuce, or of the gaitre berries,Or herb ivy growing in our yard that merry is.Pick them right as they grow and eat them in,Be merry husband for your father’s kin.Dreade no dream. I can say you no more.”

The patient seems threatened with a fever, and the good-wife, after some wholesome advice, doses him with digestives for a day or two, and afterwards with aperients. Laurel would doubtless refer to the leaves of the cherry laurel, which, infused with wine, was an old digestive tonic. Centaury, common in our fields, enjoyed a very early reputation. The herb was so called because it is said that by its virtue the centaur Chiron was healed when the poisoned arrow of Hercules had accidentally wounded his foot. Fumitory, too, was grown by the housewives, and was used as a tonic and a remedy for jaundice.

The curative properties of the elder-berry are still recognised as astringent and sudorific, and take a place in domestic remedies.

Catapuce is the old name for spurge, a common herb formerly used for its purgative properties;while the gaitre or dogwood-berries, and the herb ivy, were also used as laxative medicines and liver stimulants.

In the Canon’s Yeoman’s tale we are introduced to a canon who practises alchemy, and whom Chaucer makes the butt for some keen satire against the followers of that science. “It seems,” says Tyrwhitt, “that some sudden resentment had determined Chaucer to interrupt the regular course of his work in order to insert a satire against the alchemists. That their pretended science was much cultivated about this time, and produced its usual evils, may fairly be inferred from the Act that was passed soon after, whereas it was made a felony to multiply gold or silver above the art of multiplication.” The description of the canon as he joined the procession is somewhatamusing:—

“His hat hung at his back down by a lace,For he had ridden more than trot or pace,He hadde pricked like as he were wood.A clote leaf he had laid under his hood,For sweat and to keep his head from heat,But it was joye for to see him sweat.His forehead dropped as a stillatoryWere full of plantain or of paritory.”

To keep his head cool while riding hard he had placed a clote or burdock leaf, which was formerly used as a poultice, in his hat or hood, acommon custom in some parts of the country at the present time. To show the tone of the poet’s mind when he wrote this tale, it may be noted how early the chemical hyperbole is introduced, in comparing the canon’s perspiring forehead to a still which is in operation, filled with plantain, or paritory, an old name for the wallflower. The former plant had a large, thick, juicy leaf, and was formerly used as an astringent, while the wallflower once enjoyed a reputation as an anodyne. The yeoman, in proceeding with the story of his master’s practises, first describes his duties as the philosopher’sman:—

“I will speak of our work,When we be there as we shall exerciseOur elvion craft, we seeme wonder wise,Our termes be so clergial and quaint,I blow the fire till that mine hearte faint.Why should I tellen each proportionOf things whiche that we work upon,As on five or six ounces may well beOf silver, or some other quantity?And busy me to tell you the names,As orpiment, burnt bones, iron squames,That into powder grounden be full small,And in an earthen pot how put is all.”

The poet here describes an old amalgam used in alchemy composed of red lead, bone ash, and ironscales:—

“Of the care and woeThat we had in our matters subliming,And in amalgaming, and calciningOf quicksilver, called mercury crude,For all our sleightes we can not conclude”.

The subliming of mercury was considered a most important process, and was performed with much care.

The yeoman then goes on to enumerate other articles and apparatus used by the craft, in a somewhat disjointedmanner:—

“Yet I will tell them as they come to mind,As bol armoniac, verdigris, borace,And sundry vessels made of earth and glass,Our urinals, and our descensories;Phials, and croslets, and sublimatories,Cucurbites and alembikes eke,And other suche dear enough a leek”.

The descensorie was a kind of flask used in distillingper descensum, while the croslet was an old name for the crucible. The cucurbite was the retort used in distilling, and the alembike was the still itself.

The yeoman thencontinues:—

“Waters rubifying and bulle’s gall,Arsenic, sal-ammoniac, and brimstone,And herbs could I tell eke many a one,As egremonie, valerian, and lunary;And other such if that me list to tarry,Our lampes burning both night and day,To bring about our craft if that we may,Our furnace eke of calcination,And of waters albification”.

Egremonoine or agrimony, commonly called liverwort, was used in early medical practice as an astringent tonic, lunary or moonwort (Botrychium Lunaria) being possessed of similar medicinalproperties:—

“Clay made with horse and mannes hair, and oilOf tartar. Alum, glass, barm, wort, and argoil,Rosalgar and other matters imbibing,And eke of our matters encorporing;And of our silver citrination,Our cementing and fermentation,Our ingots, tests, and many things mo’.”

Among the other strange articles named, argoil was the potters’ clay used as a luting to close the joints, seal the flasks, and exclude the air. Rosalgar was the ancient name for flowers of antimony, much esteemed by the philosophers. The term citrination refers to the yellow colour, which, when it occurred through chemical action, proved the philosopher’s stone.

We next have the alchemist’s creed, and the fundamental principles of the oldphilosophy:—

“I will tell you as was one taught also,The foure spirits and the bodies seven.By order as oft I heard my lord them neven,The first spirit quicksilver called is;The second orpiment, the third y-wisSal-ammoniac, and the fourth brimstone,The bodies sion eke lo them here anon;Sol gold is, and Luna silver was threpe,Mars iron, Mercury quicksilver, we clepe.Saturnus is lead, and Jupiter is tin,And Venus copper by my father’s kin.”

The metallic bodies were described in the works of alchemists by the planet under whose influence they were supposed to operate, and known by the alchemical symbol of that planet. Thus gold is called Sol, represented by the symbolSol, and copper is termed Venus, represented by the symbolVenus. It appears to have been a custom of the apothecaries from very early times to fill bottles with coloured solutions which were marked with these symbols; thus, a bottle containing a yellow solution signifying gold would be markedSol, and a red one would be markedIron, signifying iron. These gradually became a kind of trade sign, and are probably the origin of the coloured globes used as the insignia of the pharmacist or compounder of medicines at the present time.

Thebard of Avon, in the wide and general knowledge he displays of the manners, ways, and customs of his own and other countries in his plays, makes many allusions to drugs and herbs, and their use. In his references to drugs, there is none perhaps on which greater difference of opinion exists than that alluded to in the speech of the Ghost inHamlet, in which the apparitionsays:—

“Sleeping within mine orchard,My custom always in the afternoon,Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,With juice of cursèd hebenon in a vial,And in the porches of mine ear did pourThe leprous distilment; whose effectHolds such an enmity with blood of man,That, swift as quicksilver, it courses throughThe natural gates and alleys of the body;And, with a sudden vigour, it doth possetAnd curd, like eager droppings into milk,The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine”.[9]

It has always been a matter of individual speculationand dispute as to the juice of what plant Shakespeare alludes to here as the “cursed hebenon”. The meaning of the word hebenon is ebony-coloured, or black, so that it might apply to any dark liquid. Most writers and commentators seem to be of opinion that henbane is alluded to, but judging from the rapid effect of the liquid, it would appear that some more powerful poison is intended. The juice of henbane is not a powerful poison, and it is but a feeble narcotic whose effects are mainly sedative and soothing. It acts also as a neurotic, affecting the brain and producing delirium. It will be seen that there is little similitude between the actual effect of henbane and that of the poison described by the poet. Others think it more probable that hemlock, an ancient poison of the Greeks, is intended. Its action is much more rapid and powerful, the spinal cord being chiefly affected, and paralysis caused, ending in death. The drug is a powerful narcotic and anodyne, and is also a paralysant. It was well known to the apothecaries of Shakespeare’s day, its poisonous properties having been observed from very early times. It should be taken into account, that as a matter of fact the pouring of any poisonous liquid of vegetable origin into the ear would have little or no immediate effect; and unless the tympanumhad been ruptured it would be almost impossible for it to be absorbed into the system and at once prove fatal.

Paris says: “Might not the juice of cursed hebenon by which, according to Shakespeare, the King of Denmark was poisoned, have been the essential oil of tobacco?” In the first place, the learned commentator Dr. Grey observes, that the word here used—hebenon—was more probably designated by a metathesis, either of the poet or transcriber, for henebon,i.e., henbane. Now, it appears from Gerade, the “tobaco” was commonly called henbane of Peru—Hyoscyamus Peruvianus; and when we consider how high the public prejudice ran against this herb in the reign of James, it seems not unlikely that Shakespeare should have selected it as an agent of extraordinary malignity. No preparation ofhyoscyamuswith which we are acquainted would produce death by application to the ear, whereas the essential oil of tobacco might possibly have such an effect.

The term “distilment,” says Stevens, “is calculated to support this conjecture. Surely the expression signifies that the preparation was the result of a distillation.” It is a singular fact that the essential oil of tobacco differs considerably in its physiological action from aninfusion made from the leaves, the former affecting the brain, and the latter the heart.[10]

Ellacombe states: “Before, and in the time of Shakespeare, other writers had spoken of the narcotic and poisonous effects of heben, hebenon, or hebona.”

Spenser says:—

“Faire Venus sonne,...Lay now thy deadly heben bow apart”.

Gower and Marlowe also wrote of the juice of hebon. It may be taken for granted that all these authors allude to the same tree.

Nicholson and Harrison, after a very exhaustive investigation of the subject, agree that the true reading is hebona, and that hebona is the yew. Their main arguments are based on the following threefacts:—

1. That in nearly all the northern nations the name of the yew is more or less like heben.

2. That all the effects attributed by Shakespeare to the action of hebona are described by different medical writers as arising from yew poisoning.

3. That thepost-mortemappearances after yew poisoning and snake poisoning are similar.

Later on, in the play performed before theKing, Lucianus thus speaks of the poisonous medicine heuses:—

“Thoughts break, hands apt, drugs fit, and time agreeing,Confederate season, else no creature seeing,Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected,With Hecate’s ban thrice blasted, thrice infected,Thy natural magic and dire propertyOn wholesome life usurp immediately”.

Here allusion is made to a mixture of poisonous herbs gathered at midnight, probably hemlock among others, as mentioned in the witches’ incantation inMacbeth, to which we shall refer later. With regard to the gathering of herbs at night, the practice was common, it being supposed that the properties of the plant collected at night were stronger than in the daytime. That there is a certain amount of truth in this is proved by the researches of Sachs and Brown, who have found from their investigations that starch is formed in the leaves of plants during the day, and is consumed during the night, so that the old superstition of the increased activity of the midnight gathered herb was not mythical.

Shakespeare’s well-known description of the poor apothecary of his time, which he introduces inRomeo and Juliet, presents an excellent picture of the needy practitioner in the sixteenthcentury:—

“I do remember an apothecary,And hereabouts he dwells, whom late I notedIn tatter’d weeds, with overwhelming brows,Culling of simples; meagre were his looks,Sharp misery had worn him to the bones:And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,An alligator stuff’d, and other skinsOf ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelvesA beggarly account of empty boxes,Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds;Remnants of packthread and old cakes of roses,Were thinly scattered to make up a show”.[11]

One can readily picture the poverty-stricken appearance of the dark little shop, littered and crowded with the stuffed skins of curious fishes and alligators. One can almost smell the close musty odour blended with the aromatic perfume of drugs and the old cakes of pressed rose leaves, the manner in which they were formerly preserved for medicinal purposes.

The fashionably-dressed Romeo enters, after having made a considerable noise to rouse the attention of the old apothecary from his perchance much-needed repose, and offers his bribe for the poison. Of the purpose for which he requires it he makes little secret.

“Romeo.Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor;Hold, there is forty ducats; let me haveA dram of poison, such soon-speeding gearAs will disperse itself through all the veins,That the life-weary taker may fall dead;And that the trunk may be discharged of breathAs violently as hasty powder fir’dDoth hurry from the fatal cannon’s mouth.”

“Romeo.

Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor;Hold, there is forty ducats; let me haveA dram of poison, such soon-speeding gearAs will disperse itself through all the veins,That the life-weary taker may fall dead;And that the trunk may be discharged of breathAs violently as hasty powder fir’dDoth hurry from the fatal cannon’s mouth.”

Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor;

Hold, there is forty ducats; let me have

A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear

As will disperse itself through all the veins,

That the life-weary taker may fall dead;

And that the trunk may be discharged of breath

As violently as hasty powder fir’d

Doth hurry from the fatal cannon’s mouth.”

The Apothecary’s reply:—

“Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua’s lawIs death to any he that utters them,”

would show that Shakspeare’s idea of the law respecting the sale of poisons was a severe one, and much before his time. The law in England at that time as regards the selling of poisons was very lax. But for the poor apothecary the bribe was too tempting. Perchance he was hungry, and there is something pathetic in his rejoinder,

“My poverty, but not my will, consents”.

And giving Romeo the poison:—

“Put this in any liquid thing you will,And drink it off; and, if you had the strengthOf twenty men, it would despatch you straight”.

The poet gives no indication of the nature of the poison beyond that its effect was very rapid, as when the distracted lover drinks to his lady love in the deadly draught heexclaims:—

“O true apothecary!Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.”

In the early part of the sixteenth century the practice of the black art was carried on throughoutEngland, mostly by old women, who also sold charms and love philtres. Shakespeare’s description of the witches’ incantations inMacbethpresents some idea of a seance, and the gruesome articles in which they dealt. To know the properties of the most poisonous herbs (often quite fictitious) was part of their trade.

“Round about the cauldron go;In the poison’d entrails throw.Toad, that under coldest stone,Days and nights hast thirty-oneSwelter’d venom sleeping got,Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.Double, double, toil and trouble;Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.“Fillet of a fenny snake,In the cauldron boil and bake;Eye of newt and toe of frog,Wool of bat and tongue of dog,Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,For a charm of powerful trouble;Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.Double, double, toil and trouble;Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.“Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,Witch’s mummy, maw and gulfOf the ravin’d salt-sea shark;Root of hemlock, digg’d i’ the dark,Liver of blaspheming Jew;Gall of goat, and slips of yew,Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse;Nose of Turk and Tartar’s lips;Finger of birth-strangled babe,Ditch-delivered by a drab,Make the gruel thick and slab;Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,For the ingredients of our cauldron.Double, double, toil and trouble;Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”

The method here used by the witches to measure the time that the cauldron should boil by singing their incantation is, according to Dr. Lauder Brunton, an ancient mode of calculating time still used in some parts of the country at the present day. By thus repeating several verses they could regulate the time of boiling fairly well. The old apothecaries used the moon as a method of calculating the time certain processes should take, and the word “menstruum,” still commonly used, was employed because certain drugs were allowed to macerate a month in the liquid to extract the active constituents.

In the toad that had been lying under a stone for thirty-one days and nights, we have another curious instance how the empirical practitioners of mediæval times acted on a certain traditional knowledge, which modern science has since proved to be correct.

We have again in the toad which has lain dormant for a month, the idea that it was the best time for his use, when his venom would be most active, besides the advantage also of catching him napping, when he would have no opportunityof getting rid of the poisonous principle contained in his skin. Dr. Lauder Brunton remarks with respect to this practice: “I remember reading as a child a story of how King John was poisoned by a friar who dropped a toad into his wine, but some books of natural history forty or fifty years ago scouted the idea of toads being poisonous at all. A little while ago, however, Dr. Leonard Guthie sent me an interesting account of a wicked Italian woman whose husband was dying of dropsy. He took so long about it that his wife became tired of the process, and thought that she would help him on. She accordingly caught a toad and put it in his wine, so that he should drink the liquid and die, but instead of dying he, to her astonishment and disgust, completely recovered. Forty years ago this story would have been scouted as equally mythical with that of King John, but now we know that it is precisely what the woman would have expected if she had only been acquainted with the researches of modern pharmacology. For the skin of a toad secretes a poison, the active principle of which, phrynin, has an action very much resembling that of digitalis, which is the remedypar excellencefor dropsy depending on heart disease.”

Not less curious are the directions for gatheringthe poisonous hemlock at night, which has recently been shown to be the time of its greatest activity. These few instances show that the ancient apothecaries had often much greater knowledge than we give them credit for, and that some of the modern discoveries in modern science were well known to them, even if they could not account for them.

In theTaming of the Shrewallusion is made to the simples in vogue at the time for hurts and bruises. The lord’s directions for the treatment of Christopher Sly, who is found sleeping in the road on a cold night after a drinking bout, arecurious:—

“Balm his foul head with warm distilled waters,And burn sweet wood to make the lodging sweet”.

The distilled aromatic waters, of which the apothecary manufactured a considerable number, were much used in the middle ages for the purpose of fomentation. The burning of sweet woods, such as aloe or sandal, to take away evil smells, was a very ancient practice.

An old cure for melancholy is embodied in the followinglines:—

“Your honour’s players, hearing your amendment,Are come to play a pleasant comedy,For so your doctors hold it very meet:Seeing too much sadness hath congeal’d your blood,And melancholy is the nurse of frenzy,Therefore they thought it good you hear a play,And frame your mind to mirth and merriment,Which bars a thousand harms, and lengthens life”.

InMeasure for Measure, the poet had evidently the dulcamara or bitter-sweet in mind when he penned thelines:—

“I should not think it strange, for ’tis a physicThat’s bitter to sweet end”.

The dulcamara or bitter-sweet has the peculiar property, when first taken into the mouth, of imparting a bitter flavour which gradually changes to a sweet one, hence its name.

The knowledge of drugs and herbs possessed by the noble dames and housewives is frequently mentioned by Shakespeare. The chatelaine of his time was well acquainted with the medicinal properties of all the simples and herbs, which she cultivated in her own garden. Her skill and experience were always at the service of her household and of dependants for miles around.

The Queen, wife of Cymbeline, gives evidence of this in her conversation with Cornelius thephysician:—

“Queen.Whiles yet the dew’s on ground, gather those flowers;Make haste: who has the note of them?..........Now, master doctor, have you brought those drugs?“Cornelius.Pleaseth your highness, ay: here they are, madam(presenting a small box),But I beseech your grace, without offence—My conscience bids me ask—wherefore you haveCommanded of me these most poisonous compounds,Which are the movers of a languishing death;But, though slow, deadly?“Queen.I do wonder, doctor,Thou ask’st me such a question. Have I not beenThy pupil long? Hast thou not learned me howTo make perfumes, distil, preserve? yea, so,That our great king himself doth woo me oftFor my confections? Having thus far proceeded(Unless thou think’st me devilish), is’t not meetThat I did amplify my judgment inOther conclusions? I will try the forcesOf these thy compounds on such creatures asWe count not worth the hanging, but none human,To try the vigour of them, and applyAllayments to their act, and by them gatherTheir several virtues, and effects.“Cornelius.Your highnessShall from this practice but make hard your heart:Besides, the seeing these effects will beBoth noisome and infectious.“Queen.Oh content thee.EnterPisanio.(aside) Here comes a flattering rascal; upon himWill I first work: he’s for his master,And enemy to my son. How now, Pisanio?Doctor, your service for this time is ended;Take your own way.“Cornelius.(aside) I do suspect you, madam,But you shall do no harm.I do not like her. She doth think she hasStrange lingering poisons. I do not know her spirit,And will not trust one of her malice withA drug of such damn’d nature. Those she hasWill stupify and dull the sense a while:Which first, perchance, she’ll prove on cats and dogs,Then afterwards up higher, but there isNo danger in what show of death it makes,More than the locking up the spirits a timeTo be more fresh reviving. She is fool’dWith a most false effect; and I the truerSo to be false with her.”[12]

“Queen.

Whiles yet the dew’s on ground, gather those flowers;Make haste: who has the note of them?..........Now, master doctor, have you brought those drugs?

Whiles yet the dew’s on ground, gather those flowers;

Make haste: who has the note of them?

..........

Now, master doctor, have you brought those drugs?

“Cornelius.

Pleaseth your highness, ay: here they are, madam(presenting a small box),But I beseech your grace, without offence—My conscience bids me ask—wherefore you haveCommanded of me these most poisonous compounds,Which are the movers of a languishing death;But, though slow, deadly?

Pleaseth your highness, ay: here they are, madam

(presenting a small box),

But I beseech your grace, without offence—

My conscience bids me ask—wherefore you have

Commanded of me these most poisonous compounds,

Which are the movers of a languishing death;

But, though slow, deadly?

“Queen.

I do wonder, doctor,Thou ask’st me such a question. Have I not beenThy pupil long? Hast thou not learned me howTo make perfumes, distil, preserve? yea, so,That our great king himself doth woo me oftFor my confections? Having thus far proceeded(Unless thou think’st me devilish), is’t not meetThat I did amplify my judgment inOther conclusions? I will try the forcesOf these thy compounds on such creatures asWe count not worth the hanging, but none human,To try the vigour of them, and applyAllayments to their act, and by them gatherTheir several virtues, and effects.

I do wonder, doctor,

Thou ask’st me such a question. Have I not been

Thy pupil long? Hast thou not learned me how

To make perfumes, distil, preserve? yea, so,

That our great king himself doth woo me oft

For my confections? Having thus far proceeded

(Unless thou think’st me devilish), is’t not meet

That I did amplify my judgment in

Other conclusions? I will try the forces

Of these thy compounds on such creatures as

We count not worth the hanging, but none human,

To try the vigour of them, and apply

Allayments to their act, and by them gather

Their several virtues, and effects.

“Cornelius.

Your highnessShall from this practice but make hard your heart:Besides, the seeing these effects will beBoth noisome and infectious.

Your highness

Shall from this practice but make hard your heart:

Besides, the seeing these effects will be

Both noisome and infectious.

“Queen.

Oh content thee.EnterPisanio.(aside) Here comes a flattering rascal; upon himWill I first work: he’s for his master,And enemy to my son. How now, Pisanio?Doctor, your service for this time is ended;Take your own way.

Oh content thee.

EnterPisanio.

(aside) Here comes a flattering rascal; upon him

Will I first work: he’s for his master,

And enemy to my son. How now, Pisanio?

Doctor, your service for this time is ended;

Take your own way.

“Cornelius.

(aside) I do suspect you, madam,But you shall do no harm.I do not like her. She doth think she hasStrange lingering poisons. I do not know her spirit,And will not trust one of her malice withA drug of such damn’d nature. Those she hasWill stupify and dull the sense a while:Which first, perchance, she’ll prove on cats and dogs,Then afterwards up higher, but there isNo danger in what show of death it makes,More than the locking up the spirits a timeTo be more fresh reviving. She is fool’dWith a most false effect; and I the truerSo to be false with her.”[12]

(aside) I do suspect you, madam,

But you shall do no harm.

I do not like her. She doth think she has

Strange lingering poisons. I do not know her spirit,

And will not trust one of her malice with

A drug of such damn’d nature. Those she has

Will stupify and dull the sense a while:

Which first, perchance, she’ll prove on cats and dogs,

Then afterwards up higher, but there is

No danger in what show of death it makes,

More than the locking up the spirits a time

To be more fresh reviving. She is fool’d

With a most false effect; and I the truer

So to be false with her.”[12]

The caution of the physician is well described, and his resort to subterfuge in order to checkmate the evil design of his wily mistress and old pupil, whom he evidently distrusts.

The Queen is supposed to have possessed considerable knowledge and skill in the use of drugs, and her conserves had evidently a great reputation. Her scientific ideas were in advance of the age she lived in when she states her desire to make physiological experiments on animals to advance her knowledge; but the clear acumen of Cornelius saw through the apparently laudablespirit of research that imbued his pupil, and he supplied her with drugs of less potency.

The following allusions are made to theapothecary:—

“Cardinal Beaufort.Bid the apothecaryBring the strong poison that I bought of him.”[13]

And again, inPericles, Prince of Tyre, Cerimonsays:—

“Your master will be dead ere you return;There’s nothing can be minister’d to nature,That can recover him. Give this to the apothecary,And tell me how it works.”[14]

This lord of Ephesus was evidently something of an amateur physician, as he tells us later that

“’Tis known I everHave studied physic, through which secret art,By turning o’er authorities, I have(Together with my practice) made familiarTo me and to my aid the blest infusionsThat dwell in vegetives, in metals, stones;And can speak of the disturbances that natureWorks, and of the cures; which doth give meA more content in course of true delightThan to be thirsty after tottering honour”.

Thelines—

“One whose subdu’d eyes,Albeit unused to the melting mood,Drop tears as fast as the Arabian treesTheir medicinal gum,”[15]

spoken by Othello, refer to the manner in which many of the medicinal gums are collected in the East. Small slits or punctures are made in the bark of the tree, through which the semi-liquid gum slowly oozes. It then coagulates in the form of a tear, and is at length scraped off and collected.

“Set ratsbane by his porridge.”[16]

“I had as lief they would put ratsbane in my mouth as offer to stop it with security.”[17]

“I would the milkThy mother gave thee, when thou suck’dst her breast,Had been a little ratsbane for my sake.”[18]

Ratsbane, mentioned in the three preceding quotations, was an old name for arsenic, which in Shakespeare’s time was commonly used for poisoning rats, hence the name.

“I have bought the oil, the balsamum, and aqua vitæ,”[19]

says Dromio of Syracuse. These were the medical comforts for the barque of Epidamnum, and show that sailing vessels in those days carried a certain amount of medicine. The oil may have been one of the many panaceas of the time for “purging the body of bile or humour,” whilebalsams there were by the score, of Hungary, and aromatics for “wind and pain”. Theaqua vitæalluded to was probably brandy, which would serve to keep the courage of the voyagers up and the cold out.

Proteus, in theTwo Gentlemen of Verona,exclaims:—

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