[MR] History Blog: 10th C. Anglo-Saxon Eye Salve Really Works

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Maybe some medieval cures weren't so absurd as they seem to us today. An
Anglo-Saxon eye salve from the 10th century has been found by modern
researchers at Nottingham University to be hell on various types of
otherwise-resistant bacteria. The recipe comes from *Bald's Leechbook*,
written around 950 CE.

The mixture of onion, garlic, wine and bovine bile salts turned out to be a
powerful antibiotic that even worked on MRSA. Although some of the
ingredients did have properties by themselves, all four were needed to make
a truly effective potion.

Before you ask if it would work against the current plague, the
History Blog does not claim so, and the scholarly paper which the article
quotes was written some time ago. In any case, Bald's salve is an
antibacterial, not an antiviral.

The full story is found at http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/59203 .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆