Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Kenelm Digby

  • Kenelm Digby, polymath and inventor of the wound salve

    Sir Kenelm Digby (1603–1665) was not a physician but came close to practicing medicine. He published in 1658 a treatise called A Late Discourse … Touching the Cure of Wounds by the Powder of Sympathy. It consisted of treating dueling wounds, as proposed by Paracelsus, with a “wound salve,” a mixture of powdered earthworms, iron…