Die sympathetische Salbe des Wundarztes Matthaeus Gothofrid Purmann anno 1716

The sympathetic salve, also known as weapon salve or unguentum armarium, is one of the magical medical compounds. The composition includes human ingredients, such as mummies and natural products, such as wild pig and bear fat, earthworms, various plants and stones as well as moss from the human skull (usnea cranii humani). In the “magic touch” blood had manifold important functions also for the explanation of the sympathetic salve. It stuck to the weapon or was taken from the wound of an injured person with a wooden spatula then smeared with the wonder salve and stored in a safe place. In this way the spirits in the blood could be set free and have a favorable effect on wound healing even from a large distance away. The word sympathetic means magical and medicine in the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries was still deeply impregnated by magical influences. Paracelsus and 200 years later the famous and respected wound surgeon Purmann found themselves with their theories on the borderline between the superstitious Middle Ages and the already scientifically influenced modern era. We have been successful in finding the original sentence from the year 1603 in the extensive writings of Paracelsus.