Pomatum. Originally an ointment made from the pulp of apples, lard and rose water, and used as an application for beautifying the face.
Populeum. An ointment made from the buds of the black poplar. It was prescribed by Nicolas of Salermo as a narcotic and resolvent application.
Poultice, from the Latin "puls (pult-)" through the Italian "polta," meaning pap, pottage, pulse. "Poltos" was the Greek term for pottage. The intrinsic purport of the word was something beaten. The Latin "pulsare," to beat, represents the idea, and it is found in our word "pulse," which indicates the heart-beats, and also in such words as impulse, compulsory, and the like. In old medical books, "poultice" is generally spelt "pultesse" or "pultass," and this form was retained until the eighteenth century. In the first quarto of "Romeo and Juliet" (Act II., Sc. 5) the Nurse asks Juliet, "Is this the poultesse for my aking boanes?"
Propomata were drinks made of wine and honey in the proportion of four to one according to Galen.
Psilothrum. A depilatory.
Salamanders' Blood. The red vapours of nitrous acid.
Salia. Salt was a term very vaguely applied in old chemistry. Anything soluble and possessing a marked taste was called a salt. Thus grew the practice of describing substances as salia acida, salia alkalina, and salia salsa. Sal fixum was a salt not affected by heat.
Scutum. See Ecusson.
Sinapisms were a form of poultices or cataplasms used by the Romans as counter irritants. They were generally made with crushed mustard, sometimes with cantharides and crumb of bread, and often with dried figs wetted and reduced to a pulp.
Smegma was an application to the skin composed of
