On the 2nd day of this month Roelof Siegers, a sailor born in Norway, came to me with complaints. I learned that he had been ill for about four weeks in the fatherland. He had debris quotidiana, a regular fever; he was vomiting and he could not eat. I gave him a laxative and a powder against fever (prescription 1).
Prescription 1: Against ordinary fevers
R/ Misce fac pulvis antefebrilis [mix and make a powder against fever] dose: ℈ II
- Oculi cancri [gastro stones of the crayfish]: ℥ III
- Corallum rubrum [red coral; antipyretic]: ℥ I
- Cornu cervi usti [burnt cornu-cervi]: ℥
- Antimonium diaphoreticum [diaphoretic antimony]: ʒ III
- Sal nitri [saltpetre]: ℥ I
- Croci orientales [saffron]: ʒ I
- Oleum macis [nutmeg oil]: Gutta, plural guttaedropguttae XXX
- ℈ scruple = 20 grain, so approximately 1,3 g
- ʒ drachma = 3 scruple, so approximately 4 g
- ℥ uncia = ounce = 8 drachmae, so approximately 31 g
- ß = ½ of the given amount