Medicinal Value Of Mead And Of Other Honey Drinks

Medicinal Value Of Mead And Of Other Honey Drinks


HYDROMEL, i.e., honey and water, made under the special direction of Pliny and Galen, was for centuries not only a popular drink but a salutary medicine. Pliny was a firm believer in hydromel; he thought that "it is an extremely wholesome beverage for invalids who take nothing but light diet; it invigorates the body, is soothing to the mouth and stomach, and by its refreshing properties allays feverish heats. It is well suited for persons of chilly temperament or of a weak and pusillanimous constitution, ... diminishing also the asperities of the mind." According to Pliny, anger, sadness and all other afflictions of the mind can be modified by diet. OXYMEL, made of honey, vinegar, sea salt and rain-water, was in great vogue in olden times, when it was considered an infallible cure for sciatica, gout, and rheumatic ailments. It was also used to "gargarize with in Squinancy." There were many other preparations made with honey. RHODOMEL was a mixture of roses and honey; OMPHACOMEL was made from fermented grape-juice and honey; and OENOMEL from unfermented grape-juice and honey. This last combination was used for gout and "nerves." Clysma of honey and water was considered a remedy of merit for cleansing the bowels. The ancient Greek conditum was honey mixed with wine and pepper. It was a popular medicine for all kinds of digestive ailments. Most ancients attributed to honey-drinks a soporiferous effect.

Butler thought that the virtues of mead were about the same as those of honey. He advocated old mead as "a wine most agreeable to the stomach, as it restores appetite, opens the pas-sages for the Spirit and breath, and softens the bellies." He also thought that "it was good for those who have coughs, quartan ague and cachexia and that it helps to guard against diseases of the brain (Epilepsie or falling evil) for which wine is pernicious." The attainment of old age he attributed to its use.

For many centuries mead was considered a veritable elixir vitae. Its principal medicinal value was in kidney ailments, as an excel-lent diuretic without disastrous effect on the kidneys. As for gout and rheumatism, mead ranked not only as a curative but also as a preventive medicine. It was widely used as a good digestive and laxative.

VINEGAR is another profitable by-product of honey and it far excels in quality all similar products, not excepting wine vinegar. Inferior types of honey can be well utilized for this purpose. Any liquid containing sugar can be used for making vinegar. Five parts of water to one part of honey exposed to acidous fermentation will produce vinegar. It should be boiled for about I0 minutes in a jug or glass container (never metal). Some minerals and a little yeast can be added to hasten the process. Left in a barrel, in a warm room, the bung-hole closed with cheesecloth, the fermentation will be complete in several weeks.

Honey-vinegar, pure or mixed with honey (oxymel), also had wide employment in ancient therapeutics both as a medicine and as an external application.