THE STAG AS AN HISTORICAL SOURCE OF MATERIA MEDICA
THE STAG AS AN HISTORICAL SOURCE OF MATERIA MEDICA

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents a brief overview of the items of materia medica harvested from male red deer [Cervus elephas]. The medicinal use of stag’s antlers and other body parts began in classical times with the writings of Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder, and relied on the legendary vitality, sexual prowess, strength, alexipharmic and rejuvenative powers with which the animal was credited. In early modern times a wide range of organs harvested from stags killed in formal hunts were made available for use as amulets, Galenic simples and alchemical derivatives for incorporation into a wide range of medicaments used to treat a huge diversity of health issues ranging from deadly infections like the plague, through conditions such as barrenness and loss of sexual potency, to baldness. The stag provided a fundamental apothecarial resource which was exploited to the full.

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