Why was "consumption of gypsum" seen as relevant medical problem following 'De Materia Medica'?
Upvote:1
It's likely because of presumed medical properties.
This page (in French), for instance, offers that Gypsum (called both Gypse and Albâtre in French) as a component to make skin rejuvenating creams in Ancient Egypt. There are a few sensible sources at the bottom of the page to back the claim.
This dictionary of Medical Matter from 1837 (in French) offers that sodium carbonate ("Albâtre calcaire") had been used as an absorbent against stomach pain and diarrhea, as well as against scurvy, and that gypsum proper, or calcium sulfate, had been used according to Paul of Aegina against stomach diseases. That is, IMHO, the most likely source of why it might have been absorbed for and attributed with medical properties.
In more modern times, this dictionary of medicine, surgury and pharmacy from 1834 (in French) also offers that gypsum was used to soften tumors.
I would add: don't discount hocus pocus reasons. This other page (French yet again) holds without citing a source that Gypsium (under Albâtre) has a slew of esoteric benefits, including appeasing effects, self-confidence, bone benefits, and improvements when visiting your radiologist to detect liquid elements if you happen to be hold it in a certain way. If the couple of times I interacted with people who were into would-be properties of crystals are anything to go by, there's an ages old laundry list of beliefs on mineral topics and I wouldn't be surprised the slightest if at least a few of these benefits originate from alchemy treaties, religious beliefs, obscure classical treaties, etc. that got passed on through generations after countless rounds of Chinese whispers.
Upvote:1
Book V of the De Materia Medica itself contains the medical uses of gypsum known at that time. The (uncopyrighted) text is in German, but a google translation roughly reads:
The gypsum has astringent, a skin forming force; he stops bleeding and holds back the sweat; but enjoyed it kills the type of suffocation.
We also have historical reference of gypsum being used, with fatal results.
Pliny the Elder, The Natural History in BOOK XXXVI. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF STONES, has a section devoted to the common uses of gypsum as a plastering compound. He also reveals its dangers:
There is one remarkable fact connected with this substance; Caius Proculeius,461 an intimate friend of the Emperor Augustus, suffering from violent pains in the stomach, swallowed gypsum, and so put an end to his existence.
We can conclude gypsum was historically used, and fatal consequences were known to occur if misused. It would be only logical to also list any counter-agents, no matter how common or uncommon the need may have been. Think of it as an "in case of poisoning, use this" type of protective instruction.
More post
- 📝 To What Extent Were St. Augustine's Just War Principles Used In The First Crusade?
- 📝 Was Pythagoras against traditional/contemporary Greek education?
- 📝 How many Britons lived in India during the British Raj (1858 - 1947)?
- 📝 Did countries use insurance to compensate for their economic losses after the Black Death/Spanish flu/Asian flu?
- 📝 What is the origin of South Indian languages?
- 📝 Was there a European response to the trail of tears?
- 📝 What was the primary source Brugsch used to argue for Egyptian monotheism?
- 📝 Where can I find open historical map data?
- 📝 Austria and Iron Curtain during Cold War
- 📝 Was the secession of the Confederate states illegal?
- 📝 Is there an example of Egypt recording defeat?
- 📝 Why did sculpture and architecture become unpainted white, like skeletons of the dead?
- 📝 How was the British invasion into the US successful in the War of 1812?
- 📝 How did people ensure that renaissance Papal election bribery was honored?
- 📝 How realistic are the number of battle deaths in the Anabasis?
- 📝 In the Medieval period, how long would an average swordsmith need to forge an average sword?
- 📝 Just how fanciful is Egyptology?
- 📝 Has any country ever had 2 former presidents in jail simultaneously?
- 📝 What is this war machine shown on Trajan's column?
- 📝 Has any place exhumed more dead bodies than San Francisco?
- 📝 What were the German "general" ranks in World War II?
- 📝 Are these Red Army uniforms authentic?
- 📝 What was the source of the idea of a republic?
- 📝 Oldest Exercising Equipments
- 📝 What was the reason for the Dutch attack on Venezuela in 1908?
- 📝 Is a "buckle plate" the same thing as a "buckle chape"?
- 📝 References or accounts in historical Egyptian literature about the Exodus
- 📝 How did the written Polish language survive in eastern Germany during partition (if it survived at all)?
- 📝 Would occupying Big Round Top have been a good idea for the Confederates?
- 📝 What are the causes of the 1773 Boston Tea Party?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why was "consumption of gypsum" seen as relevant medical problem following 'De Materia Medica'?
- 📝 Why was the Ottoman empire not seen as an Arabic empire?
- 📝 Why did Hitler attack the Soviet Union when he was still busy fighting the United Kingdom?
- 📝 Why was France granted an equal status among victors of World War II?
- 📝 Why did archery not make a comeback when armor was phased out in the 18th century?
- 📝 Why was Poland spared from the Black Death?
- 📝 Why China was able to unify and not Europe?
- 📝 Why was Africa colonized last of the continents in the Age of Discovery?
- 📝 Why was Britain willing to return Hong Kong but not Gibraltar?
- 📝 Why was Spanish Fascist dictatorship left in power after World War II?
- 📝 Why was the Scout movement so successful?
- 📝 Why was the Council of Nicea held in Nicea rather than Rome or Constantinople?
- 📝 Why was it "acceptable" for Prince Charles to marry a divorced woman, when Edward VIII had to abdicate for marrying divorcee Wallis Simpson?
- 📝 Why was World War I ended on Nov 11 11:00, rather than immediately upon signing the armistice?
- 📝 In the Soviet Union, why was the Cheka renamed so many times?
- 📝 Why was "leaping into the river" a valid trial outcome to prove one's innocence?
- 📝 Why was the Japanese Army's fatalities inflicted:suffered ratio so low in the Pacific theatre?
- 📝 Why was capturing the south of Okinawa necessary?
- 📝 ‘Avoid sleeping on your back’ & ‘breathe in toilet smells’ were seen as precautions against the Black Death. Why did doctors think these would work?
- 📝 Why were the drawings of Colossus burnt after WW2 and why was its very existence "of course" kept secret?
- 📝 Why was there a surge in the US incarceration rate during the 1990s?
- 📝 Why was the Treaty of Versailles so harsh?
- 📝 Why was no Nobel Prize for Literature awarded in 1935?
- 📝 If the Ch’in dynasty was so short-lived, why was China named for it?
- 📝 Why was Switzerland not attacked during the two World Wars?
- 📝 Why does the Great Wall of China follow such a bendy route?
- 📝 Why was sugar cultivation more profitable in the Caribbean/Brazil than West Africa?
- 📝 Why was Germany not as successful as other Europeans in establishing overseas colonies?
- 📝 Why was PTSD not written about as much before the 20th century?
- 📝 Why was Kaliningrad placed under the Russian SFSR rather than the Lithuanian SSR?