Confection of hyacinth

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

• zirconthe hyacinth stone
• Armenian bole and terra sigillatathe medicinal clays
• coral and pearlcalcium carbonate
• saffron, myrrh, and camphorthe aromatics

Mechanism

A cordial of ground gems and earths with saffron, made up with syrup of lemons: some medicinal clays bind acids and toxic substances in the gut, and Lemnian earth was taken from antiquity as an antidote to poisoning, which gives the antidote reputation a thread of pharmacology; the pearls and coral are calcium carbonate, an antacid. Against fever and plague it was the cost that impressed: Culpeper supposed it was given sparingly for its chargeableness.

Toxic dose

Culpeper never gave above half a dram at a time, and very seldom so much.

Standing

In the London Pharmacopoeia of 1653; geological medicines were in decline by the late eighteenth century.

• Duffin, C. J. (2013). “Lithotherapeutical research sources,” in A History of Geology and Medicine. Geological Society. Abstract read · the text read
• Culpeper, N. (1653). Pharmacopoeia Londinensis, “Confectio de Hyacintho.” Read in part · the text read

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Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.