Bald's Leechbook

This remarkable manuscript is named after its first owner, Bald, a 10th-century Anglo-Saxon physician. Bald’s Leechbook is a compilation of everything then known about medicine. This chapter provides ‘Potions and leechdoms against poison’. One remedy against snakebite prescribes drinking the herb betony mixed with wine; another recommends smearing earwax on the wound while reciting a prayer. Some of the potions were very effective; one has even been proven to combat the MRSA bacteria. Shown here: ff. 41v–42r