Uses of Flaxseed Oil in Jane Austen’s Day: Enemas and Burns
Diane Morris | Thursday, January 12th, 2017 | Flaxseed, Jane Austen | No Comments
Regarding a stricture of the rectum: “In its advanced stage I know of none equal to the injection of cold drawn linseed oil …”1 — Thomas Copeland, surgeon (1781-1855) In a previous post I reviewed Dr. Andrew Duncan’s 1803 description of the chemical and therapeutic properties of flaxseed (also called linseed), which information was intended for Regency-era medical practitioners.2 In my […]
Read More »An 1803 Dispensatory Describes Flaxseed
Diane Morris | Thursday, December 8th, 2016 | Flaxseed, Medicine | No Comments
One of the top keywords that bring readers to my blog is “flaxseed.” I’m not surprised, for flaxseed—also called “linseed”—is popular here in North America and elsewhere for its many dietary and medicinal uses. I love to talk about flaxseed! I last mentioned flaxseed in my blog of July 7, 2015, where I described how linseed tea was […]
Read More »Linseed Tea: Popular in Jane Austen’s Day and Today
Diane Morris | Thursday, October 9th, 2014 | Jane Austen, Life & Times, Medicine | No Comments
During Jane Austen’s day, linseed tea and other preparations made with linseed were prescribed by doctors and apothecaries to treat a variety of aliments. A simple recipe from Dr. William Buchan’s popular book Domestic Medicine was among those medicines commonly used in 1811: “linseed, an infusion of 1 ounce to a quart of water, may […]
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