# Fox’s heart

**Cuore di volpe**

**Known today as.** The dried heart of a fox.

Kind: Animal

## What did Canale use it for?

Worn, and burnt through the house, against hexes and unclean spirits (ch. 10).

## What does modern science say?

No effect. Animal parts as amulets belong to the oldest layer of the tradition, borrowed by Canale from his sources.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **myoglobin and muscle protein**: 
- **nothing specific**: 

**Mechanism.** Worn or burned, a fox’s heart is muscle: there is no substance in it to act, and its place in the house is the logic of the hunter carrying the hunted. The smoke of burning flesh is the one measurable product.

**Dose.** None.

**Standing.** A sympathetic charm.

## Sources

- Canale, F. (1622). *Discerning and Healing the Bewitched*, ch. 10.

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*Fox’s heart.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-25. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/foxs-heart

Historical description, not medical advice.