Cures That Were Used In The 17th Century

The Chinese people of the 17th century have used plants for medicinal purposes for 4500 years, many of these were brought to Europe at that time. Domestic plants such as foxglove and marshmellow were used to cure illnesses. As well as the use of plants at this time doctors believed in the power of powders which were made from strange ingredients such as horn from a unicorn and the bezoar stone. Which I believe was made famous in J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter books, which was claimed to be the tears of a stag turned to stone. They used many strange ingredients such as live worms, fox lungs for asthma, spider’s webs, swallow nests and skulls of executed criminals. All these extraordinary ingredients were highly sought after in the mid 17th century.