Apiaceae balm, ointment. Take a pound of fresh Apiaceae [1] leaves; a half-pound of tobacco leaves and great beard of Jupiter; two ounces each of: leaves of nightshade, absinthe, agrimony herb, betony herb, tetterwort, white horehound, milfoil, salad burnet, plantain, woundwort, periwinkle, somnite , [2] scarlet pimpernel, Centaurium, water germander, and veronica; two ounces each of: fresh birthwort (Aristolochia) root, clematis, galingale (Cyperus longus), common iris, and figwort; one ounce each of: aloe and myrrh; four pounds of olive oil; twelve ounces of yellow wax; a half a pound of lard; five ounces each of pitch and turpentine. Melt the lard in the oil, then throw in the roots and ground herbs; cook, stirring often, until the moisture in the plants is almost gone; strain and press thoroughly. Now that the liquid has been strained and pressed out, and all residue removed, add the wax, pitch, and turpentine to it; strain a second time, and when the substance has partly cooled, add the aloe and myrrh, which have been turned to powder, to it.

This ointment is recommended for the cleaning and scarring of wounds and ulcers. It is not very commonly used, and it can be said that its composition is very misunderstood, since the majority of the plants used in it only give to the oil, in which they are boiled, their green color, and that their truly medicinal properties either do not dissolve in the oil or are dissipated by the boiling: hence, it follows that even those plants that are truly medicinal and purifying do not contribute any value to this ointment. The reformulated Lemeri balm is not better than the one that we have just described in accordance with the Parisian Materia Medica. [3] Lemeri’s change, which includes using Apiaceae in greater quantities, is above all extremely trivial; [4] because, although it is this particular plant that gives the ointment its name, it is precisely one of those that contribute no particular virtue to it. Furthermore, it appears that it there is a move to incorporate Lemeri’s reforms in dispensing this ointment, which is, moreover, in the Parisian Materia Medica, and which we just described; for Apiaceae is used in still greater proportion than in Lemeri’s reformulated Apieceae balm ; but this observation of pointlessly-used – or, more accurately – childishly-used ingredients in this famous ointment, suits almost all ointments, plasters, and oils whose composition includes herbs. See “Oil obtained by infusion and decoction” under the entry Oil, Sticking plaster, and Ointment.

1. It is unclear which specific variety of Apiaceae this may refer to, as the term "ache" is a vernacular term for certain plants in the Apiaceae family (Umbellifers), which includes varieties of celery, poison hemlock, fool's parsley, fool's watercress, lovage, and others.

2. “Nepheline, a mineral found mixed with other substances, primitive or volcanic in small masses or veins. It is white or yellow. When thrown into nitric acid, its transparent fragments become cloudy . It is a double silicate of alumina and soda, and is known also by the name of somnite .” Samuel Maunder and James Yate Johnson, The Scientific and Literary Treasury , new ed. with supplement (London, 1880), 490. Although the proper spelling seems to sommite , this seems the likeliest identification. – ed.

3. Medical term for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing.

4. The reference is to Nicolas Lemery, Pharmacopée universelle contenant toutes les compositions de pharmacie qui sont en usage dans la médecine (Paris, 1738), 963-64.