Part 4

“To gather ye mandragora, go forthe at dead of nyght and take a dogge or other animal and tye hym wyth a corde unto ye plante. Loose ye earth round about ye roote, then leave hym, for in hys struggles to free hymself he wyll teare up ye roote, which by its dreadfull cryes wyll kyll ye animal.”]

Theophrastus is the earliest writer on botany to allude to the virtues of mandragora, among which he mentions its property of inducing sleep, and of its use as an aphrodisiac in love potions. The Greeks gave mandragora the name of “Circeum,” derived from that of the witch Circe, and believed that an evil spirit dwelt in the plant; for, when uprooted, it was said to utter such frightful shrieks that no mortal man might hear them and live.

To prevent this catastrophe, it was usual in gathering the plant to take a dog and let him be sacrificed to the rage of the demon. This method is thus described by an antient writer:--“To gather ye mandragora, go forthe at dead of nyght and take a dogge or other animal and tye hym wyth a corde unto ye plante. Loose ye earth round about ye roote, then leave hym, for in hys struggles to free hymself he will teare up ye roote, whych by its dreadfull cryes wyll kyll ye animal.”

Certain rites and ceremonies were sometimes performed before gathering the root, such as making three circles round it with a sword, and the earth being loosened with an ivory spade, while to drown the cries of the fatal herb a horn was sometimes blown by the gatherer.

According to an antient German legend, the mandragora always grew with greater luxuriance beneath or near a gallows, for the flesh of the felons hanged thereon was believed to nourish the mysterious root in which the demon dwelt. Another legend current was, that the leaves of the plant sometimes glowed with a peculiar light at night.

The supposed likeness of the root to the human form gave rise to many of the superstitions connected with mandragora, and it was believed in early times that there were actually two distinct species, viz., male and female. These roots were often carved to resemble the human figure, and were worn as charms to ward off disease.

From an MS. of the XV century]

The first mention of mandragora (Mandragora Atropa, L.), as an anæsthetic, is made by Dioscorides (ca. A.D. 100), who evidently recognised the difference between the hypnotic and anæsthetic effects of the drug, from which one may assume that it was employed for both purposes in the medical practice of that day. Respecting the former, he states: “Eating which [mandragora] shepherds are made sleepy,” and, referring to the latter property, he remarks that “three wine-glassfuls of a liquid preparation of the root are given to those who are about to be cut or burnt, for they do not feel the pain.”

Of the preparations of mandragora, he gives the following: “There are those who boil the root in wine to a third part, and preserve the decoction, of which they give a cyathus [small glass] in want of sleep or severe pains in any part, and also before operations with the knife, or the actual cautery, that they may not be felt”; also “a wine is prepared from the bark of the root, without boiling, and three pounds of it are put in a cadus [eighteen gallons] of sweet wine; of this, three cyathi are given to those who require to be cut or cauterised, when, being thrown into a deep sleep, they do not feel any pain.”

Dioscorides also refers to a substance called “morion,” believed to be the white seed of the mandragora root, which is mentioned also by Pliny as a narcotic poison. “A drachm of it,” he states, “taken in a draught, or in a cake or other food, causes infatuation, and takes away the use of the reason; the person sleeps without sense, in the attitude in which he ate it, for three or four hours afterwards. Physicians use it when they have to resort to cutting or burning.”

These allusions serve to prove how frequently anæsthesia was practised by the physicians of antient Greece, to whom the narcotic property of mandragora, which is allied to Atropa Belladonna, or deadly nightshade, was well known.

From a drawing of the XVI century

The plant is being uprooted by the struggling dog, whilst a horn is blown to drown the cries of the fatal herb]

The younger Pliny (A.D. 32–79), in his “Natural History,” also describes the use of mandragora as a narcotic, and gives preference to the use of the leaves over the root for that purpose. “The dose,” he says, “is half a cyathus, taken against serpents, and before cuttings and puncturings, that they may not be felt.” He further adds: “For these purposes it is sufficient for some persons to seek sleep from the smell,” from which it is clear that this anæsthetic was also used by inhalation.

With reference to mandragora, Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson once prepared a draught according to one of the recipes given by Dioscorides, and took it. He tells us that “the phenomena repeated themselves with all faithfulness, and there can be no doubt that, in the absence of our now more convenient anæsthetics, ‘morion’ might still be used with some measure of efficacy for general anæsthesia.”

Further allusion is made to mandragora as a surgical anæsthetic by Apuleius in his “Liber de Herbis,” in which he says: “If anyone is to have a limb mutilated, burnt, or sawn, he may drink half an ounce of mandragora with wine; and while he sleeps the member may be cut off without any pain or sense.”

Avicenna, the Father of Arabian medicine, gives special directions as to the employment of mandragora, both as an anæsthetic and a hypnotic; while Averrhöes, another Arabian physician, refers to the soporific effects of the fruit of the same plant. Galen also alludes to its powers to paralyse sensation, and Paulus Ægineta states: “Its apples are narcotic, when smelled to, and also their juice, that if persisted in they will deprive the person of his speech.” According to Isidorus, “a wine of the bark is given to those about to undergo operations, that, being asleep, they feel no pain”; and Serapion confirms this statement in his works.

Evidence of the practice of surgical anæsthesia is to be found in the writings of several physicians during the time of the Roman Empire. It is probable that the practice came to them from the Greek school, for mandragora, which they almost invariably used, grew largely in the Grecian Archipelago. Celsus recommends a pillow of mandragora apples to induce sleep.

HINDU ANÆSTHETICS

From ancient records it appears probable, that the Hindus inhaled the fumes of burning Indian hemp as an anæsthetic at a period of great antiquity. As early as the year 977 they also knew of other drugs which they employed for the same purpose.

Pandit Ballala describes an interesting surgical operation which was performed on King Bhoja at that period. The patient was suffering from severe pain in the head, and, his condition becoming critical, two brother-physicians happened to arrive in Dhar, who, after carefully considering the case, came to the conclusion that a surgical operation was necessary to give relief. They are said to have administered to him a drug called sammohini to render him insensible, and while he was completely under its influence they trepanned his skull and removed the real cause of the complaint. They closed the opening, stitched up the wound, and applied a healing balm.

After the operation, they are said to have administered to the King a drug called sanjivini, to accelerate the return of consciousness and to minimise the chances of death.

It is recorded that “a Chinese physician named Hoa-Tho, who lived about A.D. 220 or 230, was accustomed to administer to his patients on whom he wished to perform painful operations, a preparation called ‘Ma-yo’ (Indian hemp, probably), the effect of which was that, after a few moments, they became insensible as if they were deprived of life.”

Miss Isabella Bird, when visiting the Tung-wah Hospital, in Hong-Kong, states: “The native surgeons do not use chloroform in operations, but they possess drugs which throw their patients into a profound sleep, during which the most severe operations can be performed. One of them showed me a bottle containing a dark brown powder, which, he said, produced this result; but he would not divulge the name of one of its constituents, saying it was a secret taught him by his tutor.”

From very early times the fumes of burning lycoperdon (Lycoperdon gygantum) have been used for stupefying bees before taking honey from the hive.

Thus it will be seen from the many allusions we have quoted from writers in the early ages, it is evident that mandragora and Indian hemp were the two drugs which were more or less in general use as anæsthetics in antient times.

ANÆSTHETICS IN THE MIDDLE AGES

In a Celtic manuscript of the twelfth century on materia medica, a preparation called “potu oblivionis” is mentioned, of which mandragora was probably an ingredient. A draught of this preparation was used by the early Irish to induce sleep.