Female barrenness, bodily access and aromatic treatments in seventeenth-century England

Abstract

Across the seventeenth century medical self-help manuals noted that aromatic substances were a suitable remedy for female barrenness. It has often been suggested that in the early modern period physicians did not touch their patients but instead relied upon patient narrative to diagnose and treat the sick body. This article problematizes this issue by investigating the multi-sensory approach to treating infertility, a disorder invested with concerns of gendered bodily access. It will be demonstrated that the recommendation of aromatic treatments for infertility allowed male physicians a means to negotiate the complex gender boundaries that restricted their access to women's bodies.Across the seventeenth century writers in several medical self-help manuals noted that aromatic substances, in the form of fumes, suffumigations, gloves and ointments, were a suitable remedy for female barrenness. In particular the use of musk, civet and ambergris was thought to stimulate the reproductive organs, encouraging sexual desire and fertility. Many traditional histories of early modern medicine have suggested that physicians did not touch their patients, except to take a pulse, instead relying upon patient narrative, and in some cases urine analysis, to diagnose and treat the sick body. 1 Similar comments were also made about the male practice of gynaecological and obstetric medicine.2 Yet it would appear from the language of medical texts, as will be * The research for this article was made possible by a postdoctoral research fellowship provided by the Society for Renaissance Studies. The author would also like to thank Alexandra Walsham, Sarah Toulalan and Catherine Rider, along with the anonymous reviewers, whose generous comments and suggestions helped to shape the final version of this article. Anxiety and Healing in 17th-Century England (Cambridge, 1981), pp. 26-8 (MacDonald did not state explicitly that physicians did not touch their patients but described the process Richard Napier went through with his patients, relying on both questions and patient narrative); J. Lane, John Hall and his Patients: the Medical Practice of Shakespeare's Son-in-Law (Stratford-upon-Avon, 1996) Tudor and Stuart England (1982); Eccles did note at one point that an instrument could be used to help physicians view the internal cavity of the neck of the womb (p. 84)).

Durchdringend

“…21 Um dem Aufsteigen entgegenzuwirken, wurde den Patientinnen geraten, »schlechte« Gerüche einzuatmen, um das Organ abzustoßen, und »gute« Gerüche durch die Vagina anzuwenden, um es anzuziehen. 22 Auch in den Warenkunden wurde auf diese Praxis Bezug genommen: So sollte etwa Bisam (also Moschus) »durch seinen lieblichen Geruch die Mutter an sich ziehe[n]/als appliciret man solchen am besten/denen mit der auffsteigender Mutter behaffteten Weibs-Personen/von unten auf«. 23 Die Gebärmutter wurde hier, wenn vielleicht auch nicht zum riechenden Organ, 24 so doch zumindest metaphorisch, in die Verbindung zwischen dem Geruchssinn und den dichotomen Emotionen der Anziehung und Abstoßung integriert.…”

Perceptions of Pregnancy from the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century

“…As Jennifer Evans has explained, fumes were used to carry a range of therapeutic herbs and scents such as civet, and could also be applied to pessaries, or in some cases a man's penis directly before intercourse. 32 The midwife, then, was trying to sound knowledgeable while revealing her ignorance. Thus, it is significant then that Jonson's interlude omitted any allusion to an absence of menstruation as part of the midwife's diagnostic processes, despite…”

Lazare Rivière (1589-1655 AD), the Pioneer Pharmacologist, Anatomist, and Surgeon, Who Gave the First Modern Description of an Aortic Valve Failure

“…3 -5 Rivière was obsessed with the use of chemical and botanical drugs and experimented with them; he was always eager to test every newly discovered drug, potion, laxative, palliative mixture, hot decoction, ointment, and fumigation. 4,6 He tested laudanum and tea made with coriander and licorice for catarrh and cough, 7 and he was the surgeon who introduced the oil of cloves as a strong sedative. 8 His infallible antivomiting potion was named after him (“l’anti-émétique de Rivière”) and consisted of coffee and lime; it became his most famous botanical therapeutic measure.…”