Basilicon, or basilicum, is the name given to various ointments that were believed to have 'sovereign' virtues. One such example was an unguent composed of rosin, wax, pitch, and oil, which pre-modern surgeons used as a suppurative.
The German physician Wilhelm Fabry described the use of basilicon ointments in the treatment of burns.[1] English physicians in the early nineteenth century reported their use in the prevention of gangrene.[2]
See also
editNote
editThis article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Basilicon". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. [1]
References
edit- ^ Kirkpatrick, J. J.; Curtis, B.; Fitzgerald, A. M.; Naylor, I. L. (October 1995). "A modern translation and interpretation of the treatise on burns of Fabricius Hildanus (1560-1634)". British Journal of Plastic Surgery. 48 (7): 460–470. doi:10.1016/0007-1226(95)90121-3. ISSN 0007-1226. PMID 7551524.
- ^ Crowther, John (April 1802). "A Successful Mode of Preventing Gangrene in Compound Fractures: As Practised by Messrs. William, Robert, and John Crowther, in the West Riding of Yorkshire". The Medical and Physical Journal. 7 (38): 307–310. ISSN 0267-0100. PMC 5668829. PMID 30490588.