Take one apple roasted and cleansed, quicksilver killed
[neutralised] with spittle, mix them well and anoint.
Cosmeticks, or the Beautifying Parts of Physick, Johann Wecker, 1660
I worked in a school once where a teacher came into the
staffroom during morning break and told us about a child whose hair appeared to
be moving of its own accord. I assumed at the time that it was a case of
headlice. I hope so. I have never heard of lice infesting the eyebrows, but I
suppose there is no reason why they should not.
‘Killing’
mercury with spittle presumably involves briskly whisking the two fluids to get
them to mingle. But would this in fact neutralise the mercury? Spittle can have
the opposite effect, that of activating mercury in tooth-fillings – see
www.hugginsappliedhealing.com/digestive-disturbances.php in which Dr H Huggins
points out that chewing stimulates the releasing of enzymes in saliva, and at
the same time stimulates the release of mercury from tooth-fillings. Wecker occasionally specifies 'fasting spittle', but does not in this recipe. The
mercury/saliva mix may have increased the absorbtion rate of the mercury via
the skin. It cannot have done the lice much good, so with luck the whole mess
would have worked and been removed fairly quickly.
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