The Michigan Medical Codex: P. Mich. Inv. 21 - Corso di Papirologia

146 L.C.Youtie
8 [ua TpLo c]X6uaCE X? Xp[V]
4,5,6 Pap.J 8. ixct
Translation
The white plaster with rose oil: 1 drachm of fresh young pig fat, one
fourth ounce of litharge, one-fourth oz. of birthwort Longa, one-fourth oz.
of wax, one-fourth dr. of myrrh, 5 oz. of oil, the whites of three cooked
eggs. Prepare and use.
1. This line contained the end of the preceding recipe.
2. The title of this recipe, "the white plas-ter with rose oil," is not
duplicated exactly in any of the seven parallel texts.66) Galen's recipe, re
ported by Heras as taken from Asclepiades, is called n 'Po6LcuXn, "the Rhodian
plaster. " Aet. (1 ) has the title &AXn 'AcXXrTTtmLou 5o06vrLn XcLou0vLvn cXXCLcTln,
with one MS calling it 'PO6LcLX. Orib. (1) and (2) are both called f 6L&
_7v, "the plaster with eggs"; Aet. (3), "the plaster of Oribasius with eggs";
that of Paulus, "the plaster with white lead, or, with eggs"; while Aet. (2)
has the strange name, uxoTuX 67) For white plasters in general, see Gal.
XIII 409-457.
Our text does not give the purpose of the recipe, but it is found in three
of the parallel texts. Galen and Aet. (1) and (2) describe it as a dispersing
and healing remedy for hardened swellings of the breast, a good application for
anal ulcerations, "and indeed all other ulcerations." 68)
3ff. It is seen from the Table of Ingredients and Amounts that our text is
most similar to that of Orib. (2), including the omission of white lead. The
amounts of pig fat and oil are the same, while litharge and wax have 2 dr.
each in our text, but only 1 dr. each in Orib. (2).
3-4. [c]lTaLoc XOLpELou [lTpo]c&a[Tl]ou: "fresh young pig fat." Aet. (1) has
c. 6CCoU T1., "fresh pig fat." Gal. has c. Ciou XCTELpyacLcEvoU, "prepared pig
fat." i.e., fat from which the fibres and sinews have been removed. Cf. A,
8-9, note. Orib. (2) has c. 66sXoU, and Aet. (2), c. xrivEsX?OU, goose fat. Orib.
(1), Aet. (3), and Paul. omit the fat altogether.
5. [&P]LCToXoXcx0c 4cLxpdc: For the several different types of birthwort,
66) The seven parallel texts are: Gal. XIII 448,11; Orib. IV 608,31 =
Orib. (1); 615,24 = Orib. (2); Aet. XV, p.128,1 = Aet. (1); p.128,9 = Aet.
(2); p.127,7 = Aet. (3); Paul. VII 17.26. See the Table of Ingredients and
Amounts at the end of the commentary.
67) Three of the six MSS of the text have OLXOTi5Xn. Cf. footnote 68.
68) The full title of Aet. (2) is T DuxOTuXlUX 1-LXLcQL TLOLOOCCL TEPOC Tl. v
6Q1xTUXOLC e'X}n )OL'L TdXAa 6pi TLaVTa. The OuxoTuXn of Paul. VII 17.32, although
for the same purpose, is quite different from that of Aet. (2), with other
metals and many more ingredients.