Hamech, confection of

Statema, B. C. P.

Compound

Hamech, confection of

Confettione Hamech

Known today as: A purgative confection containing myrobalans, senna, polypody, and colocynth, among many other purgatives.
Kind: Compound
Constituents: cucurbitacins, agaric acid (agaricin), senna, rhubarb, myrobalans, 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.

Hamech, confection of: what did Canale use it for?

In the purge for melancholic patients (ch. 4; see note XXXIII).

Hamech, confection of: what does modern science say?

Culpeper calls it chiefly a purge for melancholy and salt phlegm, and warns that it “purgeth very violently, and is not safe given alone.”

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

cucurbitacinscolocynth
agaric acid (agaricin)agaric
senna, rhubarb, myrobalansthe milder purges; myrobalans, Culpeper says, purge phlegm “very gently”
epithymum, fumitory, polypody, wormwoodin the recipe
pulp of prunes, raisins of the sun

Mechanism

A purge for melancholy: colocynth, agaric, and diacrydium with myrobalans, senna, rhubarb, polypody, and epithymum, boiled in whey and thickened with prunes, raisins, sugar, and honey. Culpeper: it “purgeth very violently.”

Toxic dose

A violent purge; Culpeper would not have the unskilled take it by mouth, and gives half an ounce in clysters.

Syndrome

The drastic resins

Standing

Obsolete.

Culpeper, N. (1653). Pharmacopoeia Londinensis, “Confectio Hamech.” 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 confection is chiefly a purge for melancholy and salt phlegm and the skin diseases arising from them, and good against madness, melancholy, forgetfulness and vertigo.

“The receipt is chiefly appropriated as a purge for melancholy and salt flegm, and diseases thence arising, as scabs, itch, leprosies, cancers, infirmities of the skin, it purges adust humours, and is good against madness, melancholy, forgetfulness, vertigo.”

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, The College's electuaries, 'Confectio Hamech', Culpeper's remark. London: Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row, MDCCCL (Project Gutenberg eBook #49513). 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

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
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

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: “Hamech, confection of.” 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/hamech-confection-of.
MLA: “Hamech, confection of.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 3 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/hamech-confection-of. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Hamech, confection of. (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/hamech-confection-of

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