Foetid pills

Statema, B. C. P.

Compound

Foetid pills

Pillole fetide

Known today as: Pilulae foetidae, named for their stench, made with foul-smelling gum resins such as sagapenum and ammoniacum, together with aloes, colocynth, scammony, and other drastic purgatives.
Kind: Compound
Constituents: ammoniacum, sagapenum, myrrh, cucurbitacins, scammonin, and 2 more
Poisoning: The drastic resins
In the Canale glossary: On the Manner of Discerning and Healing the Bewitched, Appendix A: Part Three, Chapter 4: Stronger Purgatives and Compound Medicines

Revised October 3, 2026: Checked against its sources, each read in full, in part, or in its abstract. Version 1, first published September 25, 2026.

Caution. Hazardous in some form or dose; see the modern assessment below.

Foetid pills: what did Canale use it for?

Among the commended purges (ch. 4).

Foetid pills: what does modern science say?

Drastic, as their ingredients imply.

Foetid pills: is it poisonous?

Yes, in some form or dose. Its poisoning is the drastic resins: One to four hours. Historical description, not medical advice; in a poisoning, call a poison centre.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

ammoniacum, sagapenum, myrrhthe stinking gums
cucurbitacinsfrom the colocynth
scammonin ChEMBL
aloin ChEMBL
castoreumin some recipes

Mechanism

Colocynth, scammony, and aloes with the stinking gums: Culpeper says the pills purge gross and raw phlegm and serve for gouts of all sorts, pains of the back and joints, and leprosies, and he disliked the recipe for its violence.

Toxic dose

A drastic purge; colocynth pulp extract killed rabbits at 200 mg per kilogram a day.

Syndrome

The drastic resins

Standing

Obsolete.

Culpeper, N. (1653). Pharmacopoeia Londinensis, “Pilulae Foetidae.” Read in part · the text read

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.

In Their Own Words

Culpeper says the stinking pills purge gross and raw phlegm and are given for gout, pains of the back and joints, and skin diseases, though he did not much like the recipe.

“They purge gross and raw flegm, and diseases thereof arising; gouts of all sorts, pains in the back-bone, and other joints: it is good against leprosies, and other such like infirmities of the skin. I fancy not the receipt much.”

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, The College's pills, 'Pilulæ Fætidæ, or Stinking Pills', Culpeper's remark. London: Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row, MDCCCL (Project Gutenberg eBook #49513). The text, read in part

Quincy identifies them as the greater fetid pills of Mesue, which the College copied exactly into its first dispensatory.

“Theſe are the Pilule Fætidæ majores of Meſue, and which our College tranſcribed exactly into their firſt Diſpenſatory,”

John Quincy, M.D., Pharmacopœia Officinalis & Extemporanea, or, A Complete English Dispensatory, Part III, pills: 'Pilulæ Fœtidæ, The Fetid Pill'. London: printed for E. Bell and others, 1724; the edition number on the title page is illegible in the scan (Internet Archive OCR text). The text, read in part

Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.

The Recipe

The recipe: 5 ingredients, each linked to its entry. For Club members. Create a free account or sign in.

Sources

[28] Culpeper, N. (1653). Pharmacopœia Londinensis, or, The London Dispensatory [the Royal College of Physicians’ pharmacopoeia in English, with Culpeper’s commentary]. London: Peter Cole. Text Creation Partnership edition A35381. Read in part · the text read

Li, Q. Y., et al. (2021). Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad (bitter apple fruit): promising traditional uses, pharmacological effects, aspects, and potential applications. Frontiers in Pharmacology 12: 791049. Read in part · the text read
The British Pharmaceutical Codex (1911). London: Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Monographs as transcribed at Henriette’s Herbal Homepage, henriettes-herb.com. Read in full · the text read

Verification

Checked

October 1, 2026, and October 3, 2026

Passes

Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
Every source read, in full, in part, or in its abstract, and every sentence checked against what was read (October 3, 2026)

Sources

4 cited: 1 read in full, 3 read in part.

Corrections

None were needed.

What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.

Cite This Entry

Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026 · last revised October 3, 2026

Chicago: “Foetid pills.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 3, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/foetid-pills.
MLA: “Foetid pills.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 3 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/foetid-pills. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Foetid pills. (2026, October 3). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/foetid-pills

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