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Badianus Manuscript.

An Aztec Herbal, 1552


http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/herbs/badianus/

The oldest known American herbal: “Little Book of the Medicinal Herbs of the
Indians”

The people of North and South America also used medicinal herbs. Over
thousands of years, the people of North and South Americans accumulated a
vast store of botanical and medical knowledge, a fact that surprised many
European explorers when they began their conquest of the Americas in the
sixteenth century.

Tlazolteolt, Goddess of of Medicine Men

The Aztecs, for example, were expert


herbalists. In 1552, during the early years of
Spanish rule in Mexico, two Native American
students at the College of Santa Cruz in
Tlaltilulco, Martinus de la Cruz and Juannes
Badianus, compiled a list of herbs that had
been used as medicines for centuries by the
Aztecs. Martinus wrote, and probably
illustrated, the original Aztec text, and
Badianus translated the work into Latin. Today their work, Libellus de
Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis which is Latin for “Little Book of the Medicinal
Herbs of the Indians” is commonly called the Badianus Manuscript. Housed
in the Vatican Library, The Badianus Manuscript is the oldest known
American herbal.
For Nose Bleeds
Atzitzicaztli, Urtica chichicaztli (Water nettle)

The juice of nettles, ground with salt in urine and


milk, poured into the nostrils stops the flow of blood
from the nose.

The Mayans used the juice of nettles to treat


nosebleeds. References to the use of nettles are
found in the earliest pharmacopoeias of Europe. The
water nettle, sometimes called chichicaste, grows
throughout Mexico, Central America, the West
Indies, and tropical South America.

For Injured Body

Cortez and other Spanish explorers referred


to the skill of Aztec doctors in treating cuts
and bruises. The following is a rather
complex, multi-herb recipe for the treatment
of the “injured and roughly-handled body”:

The injured and roughly-handled body is to


be anointed with a plaster made of
tlahcoteocacatl [“Goddess of carnal pleasure
grass”], centzonxochitl [“400 flowers”], xiuhtontli [“little plant”], axocotl
[“water sour fruit”], tlayapaloni xiuhtontli [“little black paint plant”], the moss
of any tree, cones of the cypress, seed of nettles, and the ayauhquahuitl tree
[“mist tree”—a variety of pine]. One who has been roughly handled and
beaten is to drink juice well prepared from the stalk of cohuanenepilli
[“serpent tongue”], tlanexiaxihuitl [“bright tree”], chicomacatl [“gum cord”],
flower of axocotl, and yzquixochitl [“popcorn flower”], tetlahuitl [red ochre
stone], eztetl [bloodstone--a variety of jasper], teamoxtli [“stone plant”], liver
of the aquatic bird huexocanauhtli and a few leaves of tlahtlanquaye [“joined
stem"--a kind of pepper], which are to be ground in acid water.
For Lightning Stroke

One who is touched by heaven or struck by


lightning is to drink a well-mixed potion made from
the leaves of trees, namely, ayauhquahuitl [“mist
tree”--a variety of pine] and tepapaquiltiquahuitl
[“painted tree”], an unusually green cypress, the
shrub yztauhyatl [“salty water plant”], the herb
quauhyyauhtil [“wild or wood incense”] and
teamoxtli [“stone plant”]. Whenever the potion is to be given, it should be
heated over the fire.

Then the body should be rubbed with a plaster made of the herbs
papaloquilitl [“butterfly eatable plant”], tlalhecapahtli [“earth/lowland wind
medicine”] quauhyyauhtli, tlatlanquaye, huitzitzilxochitl [“humming bird
flower”] and yztacocoxochitl [“white pine flower”], finally, containing all
those herbs above which the lightning struck. . . . Besides, you shall instill a
medicine into the nostrils, composed of white pearl, the root of tlahtlahcotic
[“having many branches”--a purgative] and of all small herbs growing in a
pleasure garden which has at some time been burned. He shall be
suffumigated with the good odor of white incense, of the wax which is called
xochiocotzotl [“flower pine resin”] and of the herb quauhyyauhtli thrown
onto embers.

For Cough

Tlacoxiloxochitl, [probably] Calliandra anomala (stalky


cornsilk flower)

One troubled with a cough is to drink frequently the juice of


the root of tlacoxiloxochitl peeled and ground in water, with
part of which, mixed with honey, the throat is to be
smeared. But if he spits blood, he is also to take this same
drink before the midday meal. And it would be somewhat
useful if he would merely nibble the same root in honey and chew it.
Ground and added to water, the flowers of this plant were said to improve
eyesight and heal ulcers. Aztec physicians prescribed a decoction of the root
against diarrhea and dysentery, and to relieve indigestion.

For Rumbling of the Abdomen

For one whose bowels are murmuring because of


diarrhea, make a potion, let him take it with an ear
clyster, of the leaves of the herb tlatlanquaye
[“jointed stem”--a kind of pepper], the bark of
quetzalaylin [“green water tree”], the leaves of
yztacocoxochitl [“white pine flower”] and these
herbs tlanextixiuhtontli [“gaudy little plant”],
elocacatl [grain or maize], the tree tlanextia quahuitl
[“bright tree”] ground in bitter tasting water with ashes, a little honey, salt,
pepper, and (stone) alectorium, and finally picietl [“little fragrant tobacco”].

Tlatlanquaye was also used to drive away “chill of the intestines,” and
elocacatl for tubercules of the breast.

For Injury of the Feet

It is not surprising that people who


traveled everywhere by foot invented
numerous remedies for foot problems.
Aztec and Mayan medical texts outlined
treatments for cracks in the soles of the
feet, eruptions, swellings, and even for
foot parasites like the chigoe (jigger flea).

For injured feet grind together these herbs:


tlalhecapahtli [“earth wind medicine”], coyoxiuitl [“rose colored bell plant”],
yztauhyatl [“salty water plant”], tepechian [“mountain chia”], achilli [flexible,
reddish water plant], xiuehcapahtli [“plant wind medicine”], quauhyyauhtli
[“wild incense”], quetzalxoxouhcaphtli [“precious blue medicine”], tzotzotlani
[“glistening plant”], the flowers of cacauaxochitl [cacao flower], and also
piltzintecouhxochitl [“noble lord flower”], and foliage of hecapahtli [“wind
medicine”] and ytzcuinpahtli [“dog medicine”], the stone tlahcalhuatzin
[bezoar stone of huatzin, a native bird], eztetl [“bloodstone”—a type of
jasper] and tetlahuitl [red ochre stone], pale-colored earth…

Put some in a little tub over embers or a fire to heat it in water; and when the
liquid has become hot, put the feet into the tub. And some part of it is to be
inspissated by fire, and is to be applied to the feet; and so that it will not run
off, the feet are to be wrapped in a cloth. Next day our unguent xochiocotzotl
[“flower pine resin”] and white incense are to be thrown on a fire so that the
feet may become healthy from the odor and heat. Besides the seed of the
herb called xexihuitl is to be ground, and when it has been pulverized in hot
water it is to be put on the feet. Thirdly, apply the herb tolohuaxiuitl ["datura
plant"] and briars ground in hot water.

For “Black Blood”

Both the ground leaves and roots of the


herbs quauhtla huitzquilitl [“wild spiney
edible plant”] and tlatlanquaye [“jointed
stem”--a kind of pepper] are to be cooked
in water; to which are to be added a pearl,
a wolf’s liver and our wine. He is to take
the juice thus prepared as a drink. Before
the mid-day meal he shall drink another
juice pressed from good-smelling flowers
of different kinds. He shall walk in a shady place, refrain from venery, drink
our wine moderately, in fact, he should not drink it except as medicine. He
shall engage in the very cheerful pursuits, such as singing or playing music
and beating the tympans which we use in public dancing.

The Aztecs considered melancholia not as a visitation of an evil spirit but as a


definite physical disorder. In translating the Aztec term for melancholia,
Badianus used the words “black blood,” a common term in sixteenth-century
Europe.
For Pain in the Heart

Nonochton azcapanyxua (Little Herb with Ants on its


Shoots)

If one has pain or heat in the heart, the herb nonochton,


which grows near ant hills, gold, amber, teoxihuitl
[“sacred turquoise”], chichiltic tapathtli [“red coral”],
and tetlahuitl [“precious ochre”] with the burned heart
of a stag, are to be ground in water. The juice is to be
drunk.
The Badianus Manuscript
America's Earliest Medical Book
WRF Staff
http://www.wrf.org/ancient-medicine/badianus-manuscript-americas-earliest-medical-book.php
The Badianus Manuscript, (Codex Barberini, Latin 241) an Aztec Herbal of
1552, was discovered at the Vatican Library in 1929 by Professor Charles U.
Clark.
The manuscript was bound in 16th century crimson velvet and is the earliest
treatise on Mexican medicinal plants and native remedies which has ever
come down to us. It is the work of two Aztec Indians, Martinus de la Cruz, a
native physician who composed the work in Aztec, and another Indian,
Juannes Badianus, who translated the text into Latin.
The manuscript was reprinted in 1940 by the John's Hopkins Press, and all
the quoted material in this article comes from this publication.
"We have always known that the Aztecs had physicians of great experience.
The Spanish conquerors were very much impressed by the medical lore of
the Indians and they mentioned it with much praise in all their early reports
from Cortez's letter to Charles V."
What makes this manuscript very unique is that the information that was
provided by the Indians and recorded in the book was unaltered by the
recorder and translator. Therefore there was no professional bias. "This is not
always the case with later writers. Already Hernandez, whose great book is a
mine of information on Aztec materia medica, had the tendency to project
European views into the subject. The same applies still more to such writers
as Juan de Cardenas, who attempted to interpret the New World in terms of
Aristotelian philosophy."
The great value and importance of this manuscript is that it shows no traces
of European influence. It was written by an Indian physician in Aztec and
translated by another Aztec Indian into Latin.
The Badianus manuscript is an herbal. It therefore deals with the
pharmacological treatment of diseases; it is not concerned with surgery.
"The Spanish were astounding colonizers. Soon after the Conquest they built
hospitals and schools for the Indians. They taught them the humanities,
succeeding so well that less than twenty years after Cortez had conquered
the country there were Indian boys who 'spoke Latin as elegantly as Cicero.'
This is evidence not only of the colonizing ability of the Spaniards but of the
adaptability and intelligence of the Aztecs. The Spaniards imposed their
religion upon the Aztecs but allowed them to practice their own medicine
and even allowed Aztec medicine to be taught in the colleges."
"Martinus de la Cruz was a teacher of native medicine, and Badianus, who
translated it was 'Reader in Latin,' both were at the College of Santa Cruz in
Tlalatilulco, one of the greatest culture centers in the early period of Spanish
colonization."
The translator had no Latin equivalents for most plant names; he therefore
had no other choice than to keep the original Aztec names. Moreover, since
the manuscript is illustrated with pictures, which in many cases are very
helpful in identifying the plants, the manuscript is a valuable source of Aztec
lexicography.
"To the Aztec physician practically all members of the plant kingdom were of
use medicinally. The native doctors experimented with the plants in the
gardens of the Montezuma and the lords of Texcoco. Later, Francisco
Hernandez endeavored experimentally (in 1651) to check the reputed uses of
the plants he found in the gardens of the Convent of Huaxtepec and other
hospitals. Of the hundreds of plants known to the Aztecs and referred to by
Hernandez comparatively few are known botanically and from these a
smaller number have found their way into our modern pharmacopoeias.
"Among the most interesting of the native Aztec remedies are the narcotics
and analgesics. In bone setting, in operations, in making incisions as well as
relieving painful bruises and other injuries, pain relieving remedies were
applied externally or combined in potions to be taken internally. The Aztecs
referred to various species by specific native names, tlapatl (Datura
stramonium); toloatzin (Datura innoxia) and nexehuac (Datura ceratocaula)."
Picietl (tobacco) was used in potions as a depressant and externally in lotions
as a counterirritant and disinfectant. The juice of cocoxihuitl (Baccconia
arborea S.) was applied externally as an analgesic to relieve pain locally.
"The emollients used by the Aztecs consisted largely of balsams and resins,
several of which are still employed today. The oils of these substances serve
as antiseptics and since they are also of mildly irritant nature are believed to
stimulate repair of wounds and ulcerated areas."
"The balsam of the tree known as hoitziloxitl (Toluifera pereirae (Klotzsch)
Baill.), if obtained from the trunk, is of dark reddish brown color and whitish
if extracted from the leaves. Since the balsam are referred to as incense in
the Badianus manuscript it is possible that the red and white varieties may
have been obtained from this tree. In the Badianus manuscript white incense
was applied to the temple in the treatment of the eye and as a salve for
water blisters. White incense was also used with the extract of xachiocotzotl
(Liquidambar styraciflua L.) to relieve toothache and injured feet. In addition
a variety of incense was used externally to relieve roughness of the skin, to
anoint the body of one struck by lightning and to reduce swelling."
"The juices of the nopal (nochtli) as well as the juices of the texiyotl (Sedum
dendroideum) were used as emollients to reduce swelling. The juice of the
Begonia balmisiana is used with other remedies in the cure for dandruff and
in a postoperative treatment for the eye. The use of the Agave and the oil of
the fig (Ficus) were also frequently employed in treatment of wounds."
"Astringent solutions from various plants were of common usage both as
lotions for the skin and douches for various ailments. A number of the plants
used apparently as astringents have been identified, but the majority are
known only by their Aztec names. In the Badianus manuscript there is a
reference to a Commelina called Matalxochitl (blue flower) and is used in a
lotion for the face, and another species of Commelina (Cacamatlalin) was
used as a treatment for constipation."
"A kind of skin disease was treated by irritating the skin with the juice of
certain species of Metopium. Purgative remedies known to the Aztecs, as
tlanoquiloni consisted principally of the extracts of roots, and seeds- of which
a few have been identified botanically. Some of these have been extensively
used and are still in use today. The best known of these roots and one which
was quickly introduced to Europe by the early traders of Mexican
commodities was the Michoacan root. Monardes has given a detailed
account of this root, its use as a purgative, and its extensive importation to
Europe. According to his account it was referred to as the 'Ruibarbe of
Mechoacan' and was brought 'from a countrie that is beyond the greate Citie
of Mexico, more than fortie leages, that is called Mechoacan.'"
"Only one emetic herb extract obtained from the root of tlatlacotic is
referred to in the Badianus manuscript. The use of this emetic extract serves
several functions: to force open the jaw when a swollen condition of the
cheeks and throat made the action voluntarily impossible; to relieve painful
oppression of the chest; in the treatment of epilepsy; and for mental stupor.
In addition a sort of bitter water was given to produce vomiting in the
treatment of certain helminthic afflictions.
"One of the earliest tonics and stimulants to be introduced into Europe in the
sixteenth century was the extract of Guaiacum sanctum L. known to the
Indians as Hoaxacan. Monardes refers to its use for the 'poxe,' 'dropsy', for
the shortness of breath, for the falling sickness, and for other aliments of
widely diverse nature."
Among the inorganic constituents of the medical remedies of the Aztecs
there existed a wide range of stones, crystals, earth pigments, soils of various
kinds and minerals. Many of these were believed to have magical as well as
therapeutic value, and a number were taken to Europe and became
incorporated into the pharmacopoeias of the sixteenth, seventeenth and
early eighteenth centuries.
"In the Badianus manuscript the emerald was used in a plaster for a fractured
head, in a potion to cure heat of the heart; in a lotion for gout; in a potion for
fever; in a potion for the eyes. Crystals were used in the Badianus manuscript
in the application for fractures and in various potions. A purple crystal was
used in a potion for sore eyes while a purple amethyst by the Aztec name of
tlapaltehuitatl was noted that it was used to strengthen the kidney and liver.
A red crystal was also used in the treatment of sore eyes and crushed in a
potion for the treatment of those afflicted by a 'whirlwind.' Another
crystalline white stone also used medicinally is the yztacquetzalitztli which
was crushed and used for pain in teeth."
The Badianus Manuscript (Codex Barberini, Latin 241) translated by Emily
Walcott Emmart, Johns Hopkins Press, 1940.

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