Unidentified animal horn acting as a receptacle for civet, c1745-1807

Description

Unidentified animal horn acting as a receptacle for civet, a secretion from the glands of the civet cat. From the Burges Collection

In additions made to the Compleat History of Druggs, Lemery believed that civet ‘It comforts the Spirits, and is good against all Diseases of the Head, Brain and Womb’, and that ‘Civet put up in a Pessary, or Piece of Spunge, prevails against hysterical Fits and Vapours; put into the Ears with a little Cotton, it helps the Difficulty of Hearing…and being anointed upon the Glands, just before Coition, it is said to cause Impregnation, and cure Barrenness. Civet is anodyne and good for the Cholick in Infants, if applied to the Navel.’