“Her begynnyth the wyse boke of maystyr peers of Salerne”

So begins the last part of 10a 215.  The Wyse Boke of Maystyr Peers of Salerne is a 14th-century English medical text, and includes sections on the four humors, signs of deaths, herbs, and recipes.  According to a 1993 article by Carol F. Heffernan, the book is attributed to a Peter de Barulo, who lived England in and around 1387.  By all accounts, it seems to have been a popular and well-known book, so it’s not surprising that a copy of it ended up in 10a 215.

f. 29r, Composite medical miscellany, 15th century, 10a 215

Among other things, the Wyse Boke relates how to make “salves plasterys and oynements aftyr the forme and byddyng of maystyr peers of Salarne.”  This section includes instructions for “Grene Entrette” [green ointment containing beeswax, verdigris, mastic sheep fat, cummin]; “Emplome” [a type of plaster]; and “popylian” [an ointment containing mandrake, tendrils of vines, and henbane, among other things; apparently good for insomnia].

 

Translations from Heffernan, Carol F.  “The Wyse Boke of Maystyr Peers of Salerne: Edition and Study of a Fourteenth-Century Treatise of Popular Medicine.”  Manuscripta 37, n. 3 (1993): 291-321.

Definitions from Norri, Juhani.  Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary in English, 1375–1550: Body Parts, Sicknesses, Instruments, and Medicinal Preparations.  London: Routledge (2016).