Catalogue of Irish Manuscripts in National Library of Ireland
G 414
MEDICAL
16th cent. Paper. 14 x 9 cms. 346 pp. with scribal pagination 181-212, 217-224, 229-242, [skipped 243-4], 245-343, 334 [recte 344]-492 [recte 502], continued in modern pencil to end (526). Scribe: Eoghan Ua Beitheachain, ‘ Baile hI Dhiomasaigh .i. Baile Briotáis ’ [ Co. Laois], 1594 (p. 473; date p. 461, signature p. 493), wrote from exemplar owned by Risdeard mac Muircheartaigh (p. 473).
The following entry of (?) one-time owner: ‘ James O Sheile maryed to Elisabath Cronin on ye 12th of March in ye yeare 1673 ’, p. 517. Entries of other previous owners: ‘ Silvester O Halloran Surgeon MD, F.R.S., MRIA & Accouchier ’, p. 524 (inverted), ‘ Séamus Ó Casaide, Baile Átha Cliath, an chéad lá de'n mbl. 1909. [ceann de leabhraibh an Ridire Séamus Mac Coitir] ’, p. 523. Letter, loosely inserted in manuscript, from Walter J. Purton concerning handwriting in present manuscript and in RIA 23 N 16; another sheet loosely inserted containing names of four owners in the hand of Ó Casaide.
Bound in full leather; cropping of margins has caused loss of text in several places; initials of chapters rubricated. Ó Casaide MS 81.
Page
181 Materia Medica : a pharmacopoeia. Acephalous. Beg. here opium castoreum polium costus each followed by a series of measures. Running title ‘ Confectiones opiate ’. Next section beg. (p. 183) Aesdrae antidotus ex aetio. is amlaid do nitear e. Includes the following other chapters (with running titles): ‘ Syrupi ’, pp. 199-249 [defective: cf. scribal pagination]; ‘ Rob ’, pp. 249i-52; ‘ Lohoch ’, pp. 252i-58; ‘ Lenitiva et solutiva ’, pp. 258i-304; ‘ Pilulae ’, pp. 305-42; ‘ Trochisci ’, pp. 342i-65; ‘ Olea ’, pp. 365i-413; ‘ Conservae ’, pp. 413i-16; ‘ Unguentae ’, pp. 416i-56; ‘ Cerota ’, pp. 456i-58; ‘ Emplastra ’, pp. 458i-73. Ends (p. 473) Sgaoilidh an ceirinsi in tinneas do nitear o gaothmhuireacht . . . isin maclac no isna ballaibh eile. ‘ Indiu isi anni Domini 1594 an seachtmadh la do mi Iúin a mBaile hI Dhiomusaigh .i. a mBaile Briotáis mo log sccribhinn ⁊ ó Risdeard mac Muircheartaigh fuaras an leabhar as ar sgriobhas co ccuittighidh Dia lais e misi Eoghan Ua Beitheachain do sgrioph.’ This is followed (pp. 474-92) by a further Materia Medica giving lists of herbs etc and their properties, beg. Maturativa sive supperativa .i. neithe do ní morgadh no aibiugadh and ending (p. 492) Quatuor persitantissimia contravenena teste . . . a nadur na neimhe dfiadhnuise Mhardus. Followed (pp. 493-503) by a list of contents with page references headed ‘ Tionnsgaintear clár Valerius Cordis anso a nainm Dhe nimhe ⁊ talmhan o Eoghan O mBeitheachain ’. Pp. 504-5 blank. Followed (pp. 506-8) by a further pharmacopoeia beg. (? acephalous) Ar ttus folmaightear in ball le mechacon and ending ⁊ arromaticum rosatum. Perhaps only a fragment. Pp. 509-517 blank.
An Irish version of the DISPENSATORIUM of Valerius Cordus (1515-44), first published in Nürnberg in 1535, the 1548 edition (Paris) entitled Pharmacorum conficiendorum ratio. Vulgo vocant Dispensatorium. Ex omni genere bonorum authorum, cum veterum tum recentium collectum, & scholiis utilissimis illustratum.
518 Medical definitions: (a) ‘ Spes convalescentiae et quam habent aegri de medico fiduciam . . . . [b] Cordi non chartae tradas quae noveris arte . . . . [c] Deffnitio est oratio de monstrans . . . . [d] Descriptio est oratio que verborum . . .’.
520 521 Curative properties of An ghné purgaidísi da ngoirtear untemonins no stibium no stimi goireadh Plinius platiophtalmou dhi ⁊ Galen gynacium. Pp. 522-5 blank. P. 526, now a fragment, seems to have contained medical definitions (cancelled).