Aegyptiacum, or ægyptiacum, was used in pharmacy as a kind of detersive, or cleansing unguent. It is so called from its dusky hue or color, which resembles the swarthy complexion of the Egyptian people.
It is composed of verdigris, vinegar, and honey, boiled to a consistency.
The prescription is Masawaiyh's. It is chiefly used for eating off rotten flesh and cleaning foul ulcers, particularly venereal ones in the throat, and mouth ulcers.
One of the ingredients in a wound-cleansing plaster made by Henry VIII of England's Surgeon Thomas Gale in his handbook, Certaine Workes of Chirurgerie.
"A mundicative
Aegyptiacum Unguent 2 ounces
Alum 1 ounce
Frankincense 1/2 ounce
Myrrh 1 dram
Red Wine 2 pounds
Boil"[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). "Aegyptiacum". Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.