Mustard Leaf

Mustard Leaf or Mustard Paper seems  to have been important material in the treatment of various  injuries and ailments in times past. We have several examples of the material from the earlier decades of the twentieth century. This package of the material dates from the 1930s.

A packet of Mustard Leaf which can be found at Market Lavington Museum

Our records tell us that this was in the medicine cupboard of Bessie Gye. Bessie, or to give her full name, Lucretia, was the mother of several youngsters at that time, and maybe she found it useful when it came to doing something with suffering children.

This extract comes from the  1904 (1^st) Edition of the Manual of Surgery by Alex Thompson, Professor of Surgery at Edinburgh University. The extract is identical in the 6^th edition published in 1921.

Unless we’ve missed something, this treatment seems to have dropped out of the medical repertoire these days although some experts still recommend mustard for some ailments.

Tags: Health, Market Lavington, medical, Museum