Moschus ex Africa, c1745-1807

Description

Glass jar containing excrement from an African gazelle but labelled as musk. From the Burges Collection.

Text on paper labels reads ‘Catal. Mat. Med. p. 128, no. 85’ and ‘MOSCHUS EX AFRICA’.

Pomet, in his Compleat History of Druggs, says of musk: ‘It fortifies the Heart and Brain, refreshes the decay’d Spirits; it resists Poison, discusses and rarifies gross Humours, increases Seed, and expels Wind. The Dose is from half a Grain to four Grains. It is good for Deafness, being put into the ear, with a little Cotton. They apply it to the Womb, to allay the Vapours in hysterical Fits, upon the rising of the Womb, called the Mother.’