SC - Oxymel, anyone?

[TG]

E.g., the fourth century medical doctor Philargius has some medical uses
mostly for the spleen. Among other uses, he says that one should cook
certain plants in oxymel [1]. You could look if there is an article on
oxymel in the "Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft"
(ed. Pauly and Wissowa, 1894ff; about 100 vols.). If there is an
article, they have the references ...

In the Middle Ages, the Tacuin sanitatis (Taqwim al-sihha) of Ibn-Butlan
mentions oxymel in several places to mitigate certain food stuffs, and I
seem to remember that this text also deals with secanjabin somewhere
(just did not find it now; am somewhat in a hurry).

Preparations of different oxymels and secaniabins seem to have belonged
to the standard repertoire of apothecaries. The 'Compendium
aromatariorum' of Saladin of Asculo (a 15th c. handbook) refers to the
chapters of Mesue in which simple and complex secaniabins and oxymel are
described. Other texts quote and comment on recipes: e.g. the 'Luminare
maius' (1536) gives a recipe for a _Secaniabin de radicibus_ ('a
secaniabin of roots'; fol. xxxij), a number of oxymels and syrops ...

There should be a vaste body of material in other medical and
pharmacological texts of this kind.

Thomas
[1] "Optima enim sunt his capparis radicis cortices et scolopendrion et
myrices cortices et radices aut cymae; coquere autem haec omnia convenit
in aceto aut in oxymelle".
(Puschmann, Th., ed.: Nachträge zu Alexander Trallianus. Fragmente aus
Philumenus und Philagrius. Berlin 1887, 120. Other places where oxymel
is mentioned are in the index.)