Pulvis Diacyminum Magnus
Powder of Cumin Greater

Tradition:

Western, Unani

Source / Author:

Nicolas Myrepsus

Herb Name

Latin

Amount

Prepared Cumin *

Cuminum cyminum

1 oz., 1 scruple

Cinnamon

Cinnamonum zeylanicum

Clove

Eugenia caryophyllus

2 drams ea.

Lovage seed

Levisticum officinale

Bishop’s weed seed

Ammi majus

1 dram, 18 grains ea.

Galangal

Alpina officinarum

Savory

Satureja montana

Calamint

Calamintha officinalis

Ginger

Zingiber officinalis

Black Pepper

Piper nigrum

1 dram, 2 scruples. ea.

Long Pepper

Piper longum

Spikenard

Nardostachys jatamansi

Nutmeg

Myristica fragrans

2 1⁄2 scruples ea.

* Cumin is prepared by steeping in Vinegar for 24 hours, then drying

Preparation:

Powder; it can be made into an Electuary with 3 times its weight of Honey, or into a confection with a similar quantity of Sugar.

Function:

Clears Cold and Wind, moves Qi, promotes Digestion, opens Obstructions, warms the Stomach, Bowels, Lungs and Kidneys

Use:

“especially valid for coldness of the Chest and Stomach, Headache, and relieves intestinal wind. He miraculously manages Quartan Fevers”. (Nicholas, Antidotarium)
1. Wind Colic
2. Cold Pain of the Stomach or Bowels
3. Indigestion, Bloating associated with Cold and Damp
4. Warms and Strengthens the Stomach
5. Hiccough, Belching
6. Tightness of the Sinews associated with Cold, Wind and Damp
7. Cough and di
fficulty Breathing from Cold and Phlegm
8. Used for Cold pain of the Kidneys
9. Promotes Menstruation and relieves Pain associated with Cold obstruction
10. Promotes Fertility in Cold and Damp bodies
11. Quartan Fever

Dose:

1 scruple–1 dram in wine; of the Electuary, as much as a Walnut was given:

Cautions:

None noted

Modifications:

Similar Formulas:

Powder of Anise Compound (Dianisum)


‘It heats the Stomach and Bowels, expels wind exceedingly, helps the Wind Colic, helps digestion hindered by cold or wind, is an admirable remedy for wind in the Bowels, and helps Quartan Agues’. (Culpeper)

Wirtzung (1598) said ‘This powder is good for the diseases of the sinews, for a heavy Breath, for the Cough, for the Stomach, and it opens all Obstructions’. He also stated: ‘The Italian women do highly commend the Electuary Diaciminum, if one do take every morning one quarter of an ounce of it, then will the terms [menstruation] come within the space of a month as they affirm: it does make fruitful and strengthens the Stomach’.

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