English Herbal: Cotton MS Vitellius C III

The illustrations that adorn more than 100 of the herbal’s pages are captivating on their own. Each accompanies short descriptions of a remedy and how people may prepare it (although these entries may not have actually served as practical guides). Small winged creatures appear above a treatment for spider bites, for example, and a snake and scorpion in battle illustrate a recipe made from dried heliotrope and wine, which was purportedly used to heal a serpent’s bite or a scorpion’s sting. A drawing of a dog accompanies one of a mandrake because those seeking the root were supposed to use a canine to successfully deceive and trap the magical plant.

Read more here:
https://hyperallergic.com/371023/peruse-1000-year-old-medical-remedies-from-ox-bile-to-mandrake-root/

See the full digitized book here:
http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=cotton_ms_vitellius_c_iii_f011r