Bitter herbs, camphor, acid and spice,
those are the things protecting men who are wise.
The above yours-truly-authored little verse was inspired by one of the most miraculous scented products I have ever investigated in my historian capacity. Can a man's bodily protection rely on a scented preparation? Really? The course of history proves that not only could it have been possible, it must have been likely.
During the great plague in Toulouse between 1628-1631 (claiming 500,000 victims), four thieves were looting the houses of the dead, completely unharmed by the pestilence. When found out, they were arrested and incarcerated. About to be burned at the stake, the thieves inadvertently intrigued the judges thanks to their resilience to the Bubonic plague. In an effort to find out how that was possible, they offered the more lenient death by hanging, in exchange for their secret: the scented recipe of the elixir which they rubbed their entire body for protection before entering the houses. From this story, the name Le Vinaigre des 4 Voleurs ("'Four Thieves Vinegar" and alsoAcetum Quator Furum) was coined.
The same incident also happened in Marseilles in 1720, whereupon the thieves voluntarily shared the recipe with the afflicted city people, thus saving their own lives as well. From that incident Le Vinaigre des 4 Voleurs also gained the names of Marseilles Vinegar or Marseilles Remedy.
In fact, before the sanitation of European cities in the 18th century, delineated in great detail and analytical depth in Alain Corbain's seminal work
Le miasme et la Jonquille, the use of aromatics and fragrances was based predominantly on their prophylactic role; hence the name Prophylactic Water.
During plagues perfumer-doctors visited houses with aromatics molded into a gigantic bird’s beak to protect themselves. As those “witch doctors,” with their duck-like noses, were often no more efficient for the pestilence than the placebo effect, the term “quack” became a synonym for charlatan!
Nevertheless the inclusion of camphor, spice and garlic in those elusive protective elixirs does have a footing in science. Put a clove of garlic or a clove (clou de girofle) on a petri dish and watch it under the microscope to see how bacteria and microbes cannot enter its inner sanctum, keeping their distance. The reasoning probably has to do as much with their flea repellent action as with the direct influence on the microorganisms. Fleas and the mice they infected, as well as dogs, had been a supreme carrier of the grave disease that spread through Europe like wild fire.
French aromatherapy doctor Jean Valnet (1920-1995) gave the story credence. In his book, The Practice of Aromatherapy, he quotes the archives of the Parliament of Toulouse, going on to claim the original recipe was revealed by the four corpse robbers who were caught red-handed in the area around Toulouse in 1628-1631.
One recipe, said to be an accurate reproduction of the 1720 Marseilles incident, widely circulating in the 1930s, stipulated:
"Take three pints of strong white wine vinegar, add a handful of each of wormwood, meadowsweet, wild marjoram and sage, fifty cloves, two ounces of campanula roots, two ounces of angelic, rosemary and horehound and three large measures of champhor. Place the mixture in a container for fifteen days, strain and express then bottle. Use by rubbing it on the hands, ears and temples from time to time when approaching a plague victim."
The Four Thieves Vinegar was inscribed in a codex in 1748, a short time before the French Revolution, and
CONTINUED
to sell at chemists as an antiseptic. Such is its reputation and familiarity with the crowds that an epigrammatist uses it as a tile for verse that reads as a metaphor for four disgraced ministers: Boynes, Maupeou, Terray and Aiguillon.
1
In previous centuries ladies and gentlemen of repute guarded with great pride their recipes for the respective homemade elixirs, perfumes and unguents and it was not unusual for large estates to dedicate a still room, dedicated to the preparation of these valuable concoctions. The rise of the apothecary as the purveyor of scented products only made access more widely available and falls in step with the advent of sanitation and greater attention to hygiene which was the development of the 18th century.
The recipe for the milder skin elixir comprised apple cider vinegar, thanks to its closeness to the natural Ph of the skin contrary to the more acidic wine vinegar. The acid would have cosmetic uses, since the harsh alkali-rich soaps would disrobe the natural acidic mantle of the skin, whereas the finishing with vinegar (alcoholic or not, as the formula stipulated) would help rebalance the skin. It would also act as an anti-microbe aid for people with spots. In an era when skin disfiguration due to various conditions was not unheard of, the benefits of a preventative measure were significant. Hence the Acetum Compositum Antisepticum variants .... Absinthe officinale, Artemisia pontica, Salvia officinalis, Ruta graveolens, Acorus calamus,Myristica moschata (mace), Laurus cinnamom, Lavandula vera, Mentha piperita,Rosemarinums officinalis ... the list reads like an herbarium.
Rosemary, from The Forest Apothecary
Rosemary seems to have been a particularly beloved ingredient in the preparation of scented products at the time, not least forgetting the mention in Shakespeare's Hamlet "There's Rosemary, that's for Remembraunce [sic]." After all, the great playwright was not unfamiliar with the great plague, having siblings lost to the disease and his theater shut down due to the London outbreaks between 1593 and 1608.
Rosemary was after all the "magic" ingredient in another miraculous fragrant preparation: the Eau de Reine d'Hongrie!
William Langham's Garden of Health (1579) holds rosemary in high regard: "Seethe much rosemary, and bathe therein to make thee lusty, lively, joyfull [sic] likeing [sic] and youngly."2
In the English language the earliest mention is in the 1825 Pharmacologia, where the Marseilles story is recounted. But the fascinating part is that it follows it by saying : "It was, however, long used before the plague of Marseilles, for it was the constant custom of Cardinal Wolsey to carry in his hand an orange, deprived of its contents, and filled with a sponge which had been soaked in vinegar impregnated with various spices, in order to preserve himself from infection, when passing through the crowds which his splendour or office attracted. The first plaque raged in 1649, whereas Wolsey died in 1531."
But there's also contention as to the origin by the Atlantic coast: Dr. John Christopher has a slightly different story and a variation of the formula that is clearly American, not French. His "Four Thieves" story is that there was a man named Richard Forthave who developed a remedy for the plague that was marketed under his name, a name which was corrupted to "Four Thieves."3
One particularly pliable and easy DIY recipe for Vinaigre de Toilette for skin conditioning (if not plague prophylactic properties) requires:
1 handful of aromatic herbs, including rosemary, lavender, aniseed, verbena, melisa, dried rose petals
1 liter of apple cider vinegar
You need to bring the vinegar to the boil on the stove. Add the plants and bring the temperature down to a low simmer.
Bring it off the fire, pour into a jar or stoneware and let it marinate for at least a fortnight.
When ready, filter through a thin gauze or mouselline cloth placed in a funnel in order to catch all impurities, into glass bottles.
It is ready to use!
Nowadays the scented "vinegar" is still sold in traditional apothecaries. Its benefits start from the removal of lice and nits, extend to hair and mucous membranes sanitation, headaches (applied on temples), even for respiratory problems.
References:
1. Mémoires secrets de Bachaumont de 1762 à 1787, vol. 4, Paris, 1830, p. 404
2. Quote from Rosetta Clarkson, Magic Gardens, 1939 New York MacMilan, p.118
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
