Vinegar of the four thieves
Four Thieves’ Vinegar
- Known today as
- Vinegar steeped with herbs and garlic: in Gattefossé’s recipe, as Garcia gives it, angelica, camphor, cloves, garlic, marjoram, meadowsweet, wormwood, and sage. Grieve calls garlic its principal ingredient.
- Kind
- Compound
- Constituents
- acetic acid, allyl sulphide, camphor
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.
Vinegar of the four thieves: what was it used for?
Put on the hands and face against the plague.
Vinegar of the four thieves: what does modern science say?
Vinegar kills food-borne bacteria in the laboratory; some of the herbs, Garcia notes, are flea repellents.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- acetic acid ChEMBLnot less than 4 per cent
- allyl sulphidefrom the garlic
- camphor ChEMBLin Gattefossé’s recipe
- Mechanism
- Vinegar is bacteriostatic and bactericidal to food-borne bacteria, E. coli O157:H7 among them, and more so when warm; some of the herbs, Garcia notes, are flea repellents.
- Toxic dose
- A skin wash.
- Standing
- Once very popular, by Garcia’s account.
- Entani, E., et al. (1998). “Antibacterial action of vinegar against food-borne pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli O157:H7.” Journal of Food Protection 61. Abstract read · the text read
The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.
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.
What Medicine Makes of It
- The PlagueThe pomander and the vinegar, the flea and the bacillus.
Vinegar of the four thieves: what lore surrounds it?
Grieve tells it of Marseille in 1722: four thieves, protected by the liberal use of aromatic vinegar during the plague, plundered the bodies of its victims with complete security.
In Their Own Words
Mrs Grieve, discussing rue's old use against contagion and gaol-fever, names it as one of the ingredients of the Vinegar of the Four Thieves.
“…given to him for the purpose of warding off gaol-fever. It is one of the ingredients in the 'Vinegar of the Four Thieves.'”
Mrs. M. Grieve, A Modern Herbal: “Rue”, “Rue”. The text of A Modern Herbal as published on botanical.com. The text, read in full
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: 8 ingredients, each linked to its entry. For Club members. Create a free account or sign in.
Sources
- Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal. Read in part · the text read
- Garcia, S. (2020). Pandemics and traditional plant-based remedies: a historical-botanical review in the era of COVID19. Frontiers in Plant Science 11: 571042. Read in full · 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: 2 read in full, 1 read in part, 1 abstract read. 1 with the abstract on file.
- 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
“Vinegar of the four thieves.” 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/four-thieves-vinegar.
- MLA
“Vinegar of the four thieves.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 3 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/four-thieves-vinegar. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Vinegar of the four thieves. (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/four-thieves-vinegar
Club members keep entries on a shelf with private notes, print the plates as cards, and receive an entry by email each week. Create a free account before January 1, 2027 and all of it is yours for good. About the Club
See Also
Sharing acetic acid, camphor
Oxymel, and oxymel of squill · Vinegar · Cinnamomum camphora · Tanacetum vulgare · Paregoric · Salvia officinalis
Drawing on the same sources: Grieve
Violet, lettuce, sow-thistle · Tormentil · Woody nightshade · the bibliography →
Nearby in the alphabet
Viper (Vipera species, dried into troches) · Vine ash (Ash of burnt vine wood) · Vitriol (blue vitriol (copper sulfate), and white vitriol (zinc sulfate)) · The vernicle (leaving his image) · Walnut, middle bark of (The inner bark of Juglans regia) · Verdigris (the green rust of copper)
Historical description, not medical advice.