Lenitive electuary

Statema, B. C. P.

Compound

Lenitive electuary

Elettuario lenitivo

Known today as: A mild compound laxative paste of the Galenic pharmacopoeia, typically of senna, polypody, tamarind, cassia pulp, prunes, raisins, and violets, made up with sugar.
Kind: Compound
Constituents: sennosides, cassia pulp and tamarind, prunes, raisins, jujubes, sebestens, and 2 more
Poisoning: The anthranoid purgatives
In the Canale glossary: On the Manner of Discerning and Healing the Bewitched, Appendix A: Treatise One, Part Three, Chapters 2–3: Purgative and Preparative 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.

Lenitive electuary: what did Canale use it for?

Among the light purges with which the cure begins: for the choleric with syrup of roses, in a draught taken at dawn, and for the phlegmatic with honey of roses (ch. 2).

Lenitive electuary: what does modern science say?

Its senna made it a genuine laxative: senna leaf has a European Union monograph for the short-term treatment of occasional constipation. Culpeper says it “gently opens and mollifies the bowels.”

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

sennosidesthe senna
cassia pulp and tamarind
prunes, raisins, jujubes, sebestensthe fruits
polypody, violet, liquorice
sugar

Mechanism

The senna is the laxative: its sennosides pass unabsorbed to the large intestine, where bacteria turn them into rhein anthrone, which quickens the colon and draws water and salts into it, so that the bowels move some eight to twelve hours later. Canale starts his choleric and phlegmatic patients with it.

Toxic dose

Culpeper allows a man of reasonable strength an ounce at bedtime; senna is not to be taken for more than a week, and in high doses for too long it has injured the liver.

Syndrome

The anthranoid purgatives

Standing

Senna leaf has a European Union monograph as a laxative for occasional constipation.

EMA/HMPC (2020). European Union herbal monograph on Senna alexandrina Mill., folium (EMA/HMPC/625849/2015). Read in full · the text read
Culpeper, N. (1653). Pharmacopoeia Londinensis, “Electuarium Lenitivum.” 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 lenitive electuary gently opens the bowels and brings away choler, phlegm and melancholy without trouble, and being cooling is good in pleurisies and for the wounded.

“It gently opens and molifies the bowels, brings forth choler, flegm, and melancholy, and that without trouble, it is cooling, and therefore is profitable in pleurisies, and for wounded people:”

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, The College's electuaries, 'Electuarium Lenitivum', Culpeper's remark. London: Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row, MDCCCL (Project Gutenberg eBook #49513). The text, read in part

Buchan says a teaspoonful of lenitive electuary two or three times a day generally proves an agreeable laxative, and that it also serves as a vehicle for stronger medicines such as jalap and scammony.

“A tea-spoonful of this electuary, taken two or three times a day, generally proves an agreeable laxative. It likewise serves as a convenient vehicle for exhibiting more active medicines, as jalaps, scammony, and such like.”

William Buchan, M.D., Domestic Medicine: or, a Treatise on the Prevention and Cure of Diseases by Regimen and Simple Medicines. With an Appendix, containing a Dispensatory for the Use of Private Practitioners, Dispensatory, Electuaries: 'Lenitive Electuary'. London: printed for A. Strahan, T. Cadell, 1791 (Project Gutenberg eBook #74359). 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: 8 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
[80] LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury. Bethesda (MD): National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Entries: Germander (updated 12 March 2018); Pennyroyal Oil (updated 28 March 2020); Senna (updated 1 April 2020). Abstract read · the text read
[90] Mwangi, R. W., Macharia, J. M., Wagara, I. N., & Bence, R. L. (2021). The medicinal properties of Cassia fistula L.: a review. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 144: 112240. doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2021.112240 Verified against its record · doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2021.112240

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

5 cited: 1 read in full, 2 read in part, 1 abstract read, 1 verified against its record. 2 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: “Lenitive electuary.” 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/lenitive-electuary.
MLA: “Lenitive electuary.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 3 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/lenitive-electuary. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Lenitive electuary. (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/lenitive-electuary

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