Syrupus de Fumaria major
Syrup of Fumitory Greater


Tradition:


Western, Unani

Source / Author:


Mesue

Herb Name

Yellow Myrobalan
Chebulic Myrobalan
Bugloss
flowers
Borage
flowers
Violet
flowers
Wormwood
Dodder

Licorice
Rose
Mother of Thyme
Polypody root
Prune
Raisins
Tamarind
Cassia pulp

Latin


Terminalia chebula (yellow)
Terminalia chebula
Anchusa officinalis
Borago o
fficinalis
Viola odorata
Artemisia absinthum
Cuscuta europea
Glycyrrhiza glabra
Rosa gallica
Thymus serpillum
Polypodium vulgare
Prunus domestica
Vitis vinifera
Tamarindus indica
Cassia
fistula

Amount



2 1⁄2 oz. ea.




1 oz. ea.


1⁄2
oz. ea.

7 drams ea

100
1⁄2 lb.

2 oz. ea.


Preparation:


Boil the Polypody in 10 lbs. of water down to 5 lbs.; then add Wormwood, Prunes, Raisins, Mother of Thyme, Rose and Licorice and boil down to 3 lbs., adding the flowers towards the end. To the strained decoction, add 3 lbs. each of clarified Fumitory juice and white Sugar, and form a Syrup SA. Then add the Cassia, Tamarinds and the Myrobalans. Some decocted the Myrobalan fruits with the other medicines.

Function:


Clears Heat, drains Damp, opens Obstructions, resolves Melancholy

Use:


Removes all obstructions of the Liver, Spleen, Stomach and Bowels, and is good to clear Salt and Melancholic Humours.
1. Herpes
2. Acne
3. Eczema
4. Psoriasis

5. Swollen Nodes, Lympdadenitis
6. Fibroids
7. Cancer
8. A good internal medicine to take for External Ulcers


Dose:


1–2, or 3 oz.

Cautions:


None noted

Modifications:


A version from the Dutch Pharmacopoeia (1650’s):
    Polypody root             2 oz.
    Mother of Thyme       1.5 oz.
    Roman Wormwood
    Dodder
    Endive
    Hart’s Tongue
    Hops                              1 handful ea.
Boil in sufficient water until half is consumed. To the strained decoction add 1.5 lbs. of Fumitory juice, and half a pound each of the juices of Borage and Bugloss, and boil gently to a syrup.
Renodeus said the Compound Syrup of Fumitory was difficult to make, and for that reason was often used as a test for young Apothecaries in Paris to prove their skill
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