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Seventeen different pieces of sealed, precious medicinal earth known as 'terra sigillata'. Pen drawing. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
The first tablet is made from Lemnian earth and has an inscription in arabic characters, the second is red but unidentified, the third, fourth and fifth all have arabic inscriptions the latter also being Lemnian, the sixth is of Armenian origin and apparently recommended by Galen, the seventh tablet is inscribed in Turkish, the eighth seal bears a coat of arms and is from Strigonia and Ligies (Legnica, Poland), the ninth is inscribed with a double-headed eagle and orginates from Erlachianam (Erlach, Switzerland), the tenth tablet has two crossed keys and a temple inscribed on it - originating from Livonica, the eleventh is illustrated with crossed keys and mountains - from Ligies, the twelfth and thirteenth are perhaps fake terra sigillata, the fourteenth tablet is inscribed with a single eagle and is from Strigonia and Ligies, the fifteenth bears a coat of arms of six stars and is perhaps German, the sixteenth is from Blois, France and bears a 'fleur de lys' on the base and the seventeenth is without an inscription and is of Hungarian origin. Terra sigillata were applied to a wide range of medicinal uses including: animal bites, fevers, tape-worm, dysentery, antidotes to poisons, production of theriac, diarrhoea and any 'fluid' related illnesses
For terra sigillata see further: D. Cowen and W.H. Helfand, Pharmacy an illustrated history, New York 1990, p. 34
Karl H. Dannenfeldt, The introduction of a new sixteenth-century drug: terra silesiaca, Medical History, 1984, no. 28, pp. 174-188
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