Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
An Irish Materia Medica (Author: Tadhg Ó Cuinn)

subsection 130

130. Farina ordi: i.e. barley, or meal; it is cold in the first degree and dry in the second degree; it has the repercussive virtue; it is of benefit for the hot apostumes known as carbuncles and erysipelas: take barley meal, foliage of setwall, crassula i.e. orpine, and juice of the daisy, pound these herbs, put white of hen egg through them, and put them as a plaster on the incipient apostumes, and this will repercuss the acute matter. Platearius says that barley serves well for medical purposes, its chaff, its bread, and its meal, because it has the cleansing and opening virtues, for which reason it is suitable for every illness of the liver; when it is mixed with either hot or cold medicines, it operates in them both, because it has a sociable nature, no matter what it is mixed with. A drink is made of it for those with illness of the respiratory organs and the acute fevers, and it is suitable as food in the case of illness of the respiratory organs; a porridge of the barley meal with butter of the month of May matures the apostume, releases the matter, and is good as a nutrient for the weak organs. Put barley meal and vinegar on the hot apostumes in order to repercuss them. To mature the hot apostumes, put meal of barley and honey on them, or meal of barley and warm pitch, or meal of barley and turpentine, to be put on them as a plaster.