# Hungary water

**Aqua Hungarica Bateana*, renamed *spiritus rorismarini* in 1746*

**Known today as.** Fresh rosemary tops in flower, steeped in spirit of wine and distilled.

Kind: Compound  
Poisoning: Convulsant terpenes (thujone, pinocamphone, camphor) (https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/poisons/convulsant-terpenes)

## What was it used for?

Rubbed on, to restore paralysed limbs, and rubbed hard into gouty hands and feet.

## What does modern science say?

A fragrant alcoholic spirit.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **ethanol**: 
- **1,8-cineole and camphor**: the rosemary oil
- **α-pinene**: 15–25 per cent of the oil

**Mechanism.** Rosemary distilled in spirit: rubbed on, the oil is a rubefacient, which is the palsy and joint use; drunk, it is a strong spirit, and camphor, a large part of rosemary oil, causes convulsions taken by mouth in quantity.

**Dose.** Alcohol; the camphor of the oil is a convulsant by mouth in quantity.

**Standing.** Rosemary oil has an EMA monograph (adopted 2010) for traditional use: by mouth for dyspepsia, and on the skin for minor muscular and joint pain.

## What lore surrounds it?

The story, as Grieve gives it, is that it was first invented for a Queen of Hungary, who was said to have been completely cured by its continued use, and that a formula dated 1235, said to be in the handwriting of Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, is preserved in Vienna. See [Rosemary](https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/rosemary).

## Sources

- Grieve, M. (1931). *A Modern Herbal*.
- *Pharmacopoeia Collegii Regalis Medicorum Londinensis* (1746). London.
- EMA/HMPC (2010). *Assessment report on Rosmarinus officinalis L., aetheroleum and Rosmarinus officinalis L., folium* (EMA/HMPC/13631/2009).
- EMA/HMPC (2011). *Community herbal monograph on Rosmarinus officinalis L., aetheroleum* (EMA/HMPC/457054/2010).

---

*Hungary water.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-03. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/hungary-water

Historical description, not medical advice.