Medieval Poultices by Abulcasis for the Treatment of Alopecia
Luisa Maria Arvide Cambra
Abstract
The renowned Andalusi physician and surgeon Abulcasis Al-Zahrāwī (c. 936–c. 1013) is the author of the Kitāb al-Taṣrīf li-man ‘ajiza ‘an al-ta’līf (The Book of Medical Arrangement), an encyclopedic work divided into thirty treatises that significantly influenced Renaissance Europe. The twenty-third treatise, segmented into nine chapters and further subdivided into several sections, deals with bandages,poultices, and plasters effective for the treatment of diverse ailments and diseases. This paper offers an approach to this specific treatise,providing the English translation of selected fragments featuring recipes and remedies beneficial for treating both alopecia and general hair loss, based on the Arabic Manuscript 5772nd of the National Library in Paris (BnF). These prescriptions hold substantial pharmacological and historical value for the history of science.
