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The Use of Mercury against Pediculosis in the Renaissance: The Case of Ferdinand II of Aragon, King of Naples, 1467–96

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2012

Gino Fornaciari ,
Silvia Marinozzi ,
Valentina Gazzaniga ,
Valentina Giuffra ,
Malayka Samantha Picchi ,
Mario Giusiani  and
Massimo Masetti
Gino Fornaciari
Affiliation:
Primary address for correspondence: Professor Gino Fornaciari, Divisione di Paleopatologia, Storia della Medicina e Bioetica, Dipartimento di Oncologia, dei Trapianti e delle Nuove Tecnologie in Medicina, Università di Pisa, via Roma 57, 56126 Pisa, Italy. Email: g.fornaciari@med.unipi.it
Silvia Marinozzi
Affiliation:
Professor Gino Fornaciari and Dr Valentina Giuffra, Department of Oncology, Transplants and Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Division of Palaeopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, University of Pisa, Italy; Dr Silvia Marinozzi and Professor Valentina Gazzaniga, Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of History of Medicine, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Italy; Dr Malayka Samantha Picchi and Dr Massimo Masetti, Department of Biology, Laboratory of Entomology, University of Pisa; Professor Mario Giusiani, Department of Neuroscience, Section of Forensic Medicine, University of Pisa.
Valentina Gazzaniga
Affiliation:
Professor Gino Fornaciari and Dr Valentina Giuffra, Department of Oncology, Transplants and Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Division of Palaeopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, University of Pisa, Italy; Dr Silvia Marinozzi and Professor Valentina Gazzaniga, Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of History of Medicine, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Italy; Dr Malayka Samantha Picchi and Dr Massimo Masetti, Department of Biology, Laboratory of Entomology, University of Pisa; Professor Mario Giusiani, Department of Neuroscience, Section of Forensic Medicine, University of Pisa.
Valentina Giuffra
Affiliation:
Professor Gino Fornaciari and Dr Valentina Giuffra, Department of Oncology, Transplants and Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Division of Palaeopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, University of Pisa, Italy; Dr Silvia Marinozzi and Professor Valentina Gazzaniga, Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of History of Medicine, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Italy; Dr Malayka Samantha Picchi and Dr Massimo Masetti, Department of Biology, Laboratory of Entomology, University of Pisa; Professor Mario Giusiani, Department of Neuroscience, Section of Forensic Medicine, University of Pisa.
Malayka Samantha Picchi
Affiliation:
Professor Gino Fornaciari and Dr Valentina Giuffra, Department of Oncology, Transplants and Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Division of Palaeopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, University of Pisa, Italy; Dr Silvia Marinozzi and Professor Valentina Gazzaniga, Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of History of Medicine, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Italy; Dr Malayka Samantha Picchi and Dr Massimo Masetti, Department of Biology, Laboratory of Entomology, University of Pisa; Professor Mario Giusiani, Department of Neuroscience, Section of Forensic Medicine, University of Pisa.
Mario Giusiani
Affiliation:
Professor Gino Fornaciari and Dr Valentina Giuffra, Department of Oncology, Transplants and Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Division of Palaeopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, University of Pisa, Italy; Dr Silvia Marinozzi and Professor Valentina Gazzaniga, Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of History of Medicine, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Italy; Dr Malayka Samantha Picchi and Dr Massimo Masetti, Department of Biology, Laboratory of Entomology, University of Pisa; Professor Mario Giusiani, Department of Neuroscience, Section of Forensic Medicine, University of Pisa.
Massimo Masetti
Affiliation:
Professor Gino Fornaciari and Dr Valentina Giuffra, Department of Oncology, Transplants and Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Division of Palaeopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, University of Pisa, Italy; Dr Silvia Marinozzi and Professor Valentina Gazzaniga, Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of History of Medicine, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’, Italy; Dr Malayka Samantha Picchi and Dr Massimo Masetti, Department of Biology, Laboratory of Entomology, University of Pisa; Professor Mario Giusiani, Department of Neuroscience, Section of Forensic Medicine, University of Pisa.
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Abstract

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The hair samples of Ferdinand II of Aragon (1467–1496), King of Naples, whose mummy is preserved in the Basilica of San Domenico Maggiore in Naples, showed a high content of mercury, with a value of 827ppm. Furthermore, examination using a stereomicroscope and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) of head and pubic hairs of Ferdinand II, revealed a lice infestation. The reasons for the massive presence of the mercury in the king's hair are discussed and contemporary literature regarding the use of this metal in medical therapies and in cosmetic practices is analysed. As a result, the high value of mercury in the hair of Ferdinand II can be attributed to antipediculosis therapy, applied as a topic medicament. This case represents an important finding for the history of medicine, because demonstrates that in the Renaissance mercury was applied locally not only to treat syphilis, as well attested by direct and indirect sources, but also to prevent or eliminate lice infestation.

Keywords

Mercurial TherapyLiceNaplesRenaissanceFerdinand II of Aragon
Type
Short Article
Information
Medical History , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 109 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2011. Published by Cambridge University Press

References

1 Gino Fornaciari, ‘The Mummies of the Abbey of Saint Domenico Maggiore in Naples: A Preliminary Report’, Archivio per l’Antropologia e la Etnologia, 115 (1985), 215–26; Gino Fornaciari, ‘The Mummies of the Abbey of Saint Domenico Maggiore in Naples: A Preliminary Survey’, in Proceedings of the V European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, Siena, September 1984 (Siena: University of Siena, 1986), 97–104; Gino Fornaciari, ‘Italian mummies’, in Thomas Aidan Cockburn, Eve Cockburn, Theodore A. Reyman (eds), Mummies, Disease and Ancient Cultures (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 271–80; Gino Fornaciari, ‘Renaissance Mummies in Italy’, Medicina nei Secoli, 11 (1999), 85–105; Gino Fornaciari, ‘Le mummie aragonesi in San Domenico Maggiore di Napoli’, Medicina nei Secoli, 18 (2007), 875–96; Gino Fornaciari and A. Amadei, ‘Anthropologie et paléodemographie d’une classe socialement élevée de la Renaissance italienne: la série de momies de S. Domenico Maggiore à Naples (XVe–XVIe siècles)’, Journal of Paleopathology Monographic Publications, 1 (1989), 47–52.

2 G. Brunelli, ‘Ferdinando II (Ferrandino) d’Aragona, re di Napoli’, in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Vol. 46 (Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1996), 189–94.

3 Barbara J. Keller, Mark E. Peden and Anthony Rattonetti, ‘Graphites-Furnace Atomic Absorption Method for Trace-level Determination of Total Mercury’, Analytical Chemistry, 56 (1984), 2617–18.

4 W.M. Blakemore and S.M. Billedeau, ‘Analysis of Laboratory Animal Feed for Toxic and Essential Elements by Atomic Absorption and Inductively Coupled Argon Plasma Emission Spectrometry’, Journal of the Association of Analytical Chemists, 64 (1981), 284–90; G.O. Korsrud et al., ‘Trace Element Levels in Liver and Kidney from Cattle, Swine and Poultry Slaughtered in Canada’, Canadian Journal of Comparative Medicine, 49 (1985), 159–63.

5 Mike W. Service, Medical entomology for Students (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000).

6 They are wingless and dorsoventrally flattened insects with short antennae and poorly developed eyes. The three strong pairs of legs terminate with a spine and a claw that allow anchoring to the hairs or clothing of the host. The head louse and the body louse measure about 3mm in length and are morphologically so similar to each other, that still today some authors consider them as subspecies of P. humanus, while others prefer to see them as two separate species (N.P. Leo et al., ‘The Head and Body Lice of Humans are Genetically Distinct (Insecta: Phthiraptera, Pediculidae): Evidence from double infestations’, Heredity, 95 (2005), 34–40). Habitat differentiation probably arose when man adopted the use of clothing (R. Kittler, M. Kayser and M. Stoneking, ‘Molecular Evolution of Pediculus humanus and the Origin of Clothing’, Current Biology, 13 (2003), 1414–17). The pubic louse is about 2mm in length and is called crab louse for its big claws on the second and third pairs of legs and compacted thorax and abdomen.

7 C.J. Ko and D.M. Elston, ‘Pediculosis’, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 50, 1 (2004), 1–12; E. Orion et al., ‘Itch and Scratch: Scabies and Pediculosis’, Clinical Dermatology, 24 (2006), 168–75.

8 See bibliography in Kosta Y. Mumcuoglu, ‘Human Lice: Pediculus and Pthirus’ in Didier Raoul, Paleomicrobiology: Past Human Infections (New York: Springer, 2008), 215–22.

9 Cf. Aristotle, De historia animalium, lib. I, 5, 489a.

10 Galen, De compositione medicamentorum, lib. I, cap. VII.

11 Oeuvres d’Oribase; texte grec… traduit… par le docteurs Bussemaker et Daremberg, Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, 1851–1876, V, lib. 4, 703–4; 6, lib. IV, ch. IX, 535–6.

12 Rose oil: Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi, Continens Rasis (Venice: Otaviano Scoto, 1529), lib. XXV, cap.17, 521–2; Avicenna, Avicennae arabum medico rum principis, ex Gerardo Cremonensis versione… (Venice: Apud Iuntas, 1608), tomus I, lib. II, tract. 2, 267, cf. tomus II, lib. IV, cap. 27, p. 256; liquid pitch, Trotula, De ornatu mulierum, in Salvatore de Renzi, Collectio Salernitana (Naples: Tipografia del Filiatre-Sebezio, 1856), tome IV, lib. 2, 30–1; egg white, Henry de Mondeville, Chirurgie de Maitre Henry de Mondeville composée de 1306 à 1320 (Paris: Ancienne Libraire Germer Baillière et F Alcen Editeur, 1893), Traite III, ch. XIV, 596–7, cf. also Traite III, ch. XX, 634–6; wormwood, Arnaldo da Villanova, Arnaldi de Villanova medici acutissimi opera nuperrime revisa… (Lyons: apud Scipione de Gabiano, 1532), De semplicibus, cap. 48, fo.237v., cf. also, 268r; orpiment, Pietro d’Argellata, Cirurgia Magistri Petri de Largelata, (Venice, 1499), 87–8, also Ambroise Paré, Les oeuvres d’Ambroise Paré (Paris: Gabriel Buon, 1585), VII.CL; pyrethrum, Giovanni Marinello, Gli ornamenti delle donne (Venice: Giovanni Valgrisio, 1574), 90; soap, Giovanni Battista da Vigo, La prattica universale in cirugia (Venice: Bertani, 1639), 187. Similar remedies involving mercury are given by Johannes Serapion, Practica. Index operum in hoc volumine contentorum, practica Joannis Serapionis aliter brevarium nuncupata, liber Serapionis de simplicium medicinalium… [Lugduni, per Jacobum Myt] 1525, tract. I, cap. V., fol. IVr ; Bernard de Gordon, Cy commence la pratique de… Bernard de Gordon qui s’appelle fleur de lys en médecine (Lyons, 1495), lib. II, cap. VIII–IX; Guy de Chauliac, La grande chirurgie de Guy de Chauliac… composée en l’an 1363 (Paris, Alcan, 1890), Traite VI, doct. I, cap. 3, 421–2; Gabriele Falloppio, La chirurgia di Gabriele Falloppio Modenese (Venice: Stefano Curti, 1655), 435–6; and Giovanni Battista Zapata, Li maravigliosi secreti di medicina e chirurgia (Venice: Santo Lanza, 1629), 125ff.

13 Avicenna, op. cit. (note 12), tomus II, Lib. IV, tract. 2, 243, 248; Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi, op. cit., (note 12), lib. XXV, cap. 12, 517v ; Villanova, op. cit. (note 12), 269; Mondeville, op. cit. (note 12), Traite III, chap. XIV, 612; Gordon, op. cit. (note 12), li. VII, ch. XXV; Battista da Vigo, op. cit. (note 12), 196–7; G. Falloppio, Secreti diversi e miracolosi…, (Venice: Alessandro Gardano, 1578), 31–6, 53, 74–5, 109–10, 173–4; Leonardo Fioravanti, I capricci medicinali (Venice: Comino Gallina, 1567), 155v–151; Leonardo Fioravanti, Il tesoro della vita humana (Venice: Per il Spineda, 1629), 23, 28, 29–30, 36v, 43, and 283v; Zapata, op. cit. (note 12), 116–29; Girolamo Ruscelli, De’ secreti del reverendo donno Alessio Piemontese… (Pesaro: Bartolomeo Cesano, 1559), 4–10, 15–16, 37, 40, 120 and 121.

14 Pietro d’Argellata, op. cit. (note 12), 85; Falloppio, op. cit. (note 12), 321–2.

15 S. Marinozzi and G. Fornaciari, ‘Le mummie e l’arte medica nell’evo moderno’, Medicina nei Secoli, suppl. 1 (2005), 275–9, 282–5.

16 Gérard Tilles and Daniel Wallach, ‘Histoire du traitement de la syphilis par le mercure: 5 siècles d’incertitudes et de toxicité’, Revue d’Histoire de la Pharmacie (Paris), 44, 312 (1996), 347–51.