9 - Efficacy phrases in Early Modern English medical recipes

Summary

Introduction

This article will focus on passages in Early Modern English medical recipes that can be interpreted as validating remedies or as attempts to persuade the reader of their efficacy. Such phrases are usually found at the end of recipes, and there are some set formulae expressing the function of the passage, although free formulation is very common, especially in Early Modern English medical recipe collections. The aim of this article is to discuss earlier definitions of the efficacy phrase and to present variation in the use and formulation of functional passages between 1500 and 1700. The article investigates how advances in medicine and scientific thinking are reflected in the efficacy phrases and why such phrases persisted throughout this period.

What is an efficacy phrase?

Efficacy phrases (EPs) are passages in medical recipes that testify to the value or effectiveness of the end product: the medicine itself. The term efficacy statement was first used by Hunt in 1990. Such passages are usually dispensable: the ultimate function of a recipe is not altered by leaving the phrase out (C. Jones 1998: 199).