Episode 717: October Bonus Episode - Corpse Medicine: Tomb to Table | Forensic Files

Ready? Hold on. What if I started every episode like that? I mean, do what you got to do.
>> Whatever it takes. >> You think you'd get over it? >> I think I would just tolerate it.
>> Okay. You know. >> All right. Are we going? >> Whatever you feel. >> Hey, weirdos. I'm Ash.
>> And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid. I feel like you should just leave that in as the beginning of the bonus
episode. Yeah, I was just slapping my own face to get ready to record this. >> Slapping and screaming. Slapping and
screaming. It's my motto. Wow. >> Mikey said, "Girl, don't make that your motto."
>> He said, "Girl, back it up." It's a bonus episode, so we're leaving all of this in.
>> Yeah. All the kookiness is probably going to still be in here. >> Yeah. We're coming off of the most
wonderful week. >> Yeah, it's been a great week. >> No one could even attempt to hurt my
feelings right now. >> And they have. >> They sure have. And it hasn't worked. You can go [ __ ] yourself because I met
Andy Cohen, [ __ ] >> And Kelly Ripa, >> and they were both so sweet. >> And we were in the This This will haunt
me until the day I die. Alex Cooper, if you're listening. >> Yeah. That would be crazy. Um, we were
in the same room as Alex Cooper and I didn't [ __ ] realize it because she was just about to go out on stage. We
just did this big thing with Sirius. It was like the advertising upfront. So, there's all these like presentations
that we got to be a part of. We got to meet some other people who work at Sirius.
>> I'm essentially co-workers with Andy Cohen now. >> Yeah. >> Mikey brought that to my attention this
morning. But yeah, we were in this like little green room with so many cool people and Alex Cooper was one of them
and I didn't see that she was in there cuz I think I was getting fitted for like a microphone.
>> Yeah. >> I will regret that moment until the day I go into the grove. >> And here's the thing, I saw I heard Alex
Cooper first cuz like you know her voice. >> Yeah. >> And then I looked over and she was
getting like touched up. >> Yeah. you don't want to interrupt. >> And I got like I was like I don't know
what to say to her cuz like I was like damn >> boss ass [ __ ] I have been daddy very
sweet. I could see she was very sweet to like everyone around her. So >> yeah and her presentation was so good.
>> Yeah. A+ behavior. >> I have been daddy gang since day one. >> Yeah, you have.
>> And I will be daddy gang until I die. >> I was a later later uh convert. >> You were a later daddy.
>> But I'm I'm I'm there. Well, hopefully there's another event where we can meet
Alex Cooper and apologize for not, you know, bowing down to her greatness the first time we met her.
>> Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Sirius, it was a [ __ ] blast with them. We love >> Sirius was the goddamn move.
>> Yeah, we we love everyone we're working with right now. It's been really great
and you guys have been had such cool responses to it. And I can you guys can feel it as well. And you've been telling
us that and thank you for telling us that cuz it's nice to know that what we feel on the inside is coming out in the
podcast. >> Um we're very happy. We're very happy at work. >> It feels so it it feels so good.
>> That's so This is a little side tangent for the It feels so good. >> It's a bonus episode. So it's loose and
it's goose. We are going to get to something crazy, but we we're going to banter for a bit. There's um this, you
know, this is where we can go on our tangents. >> Uh when we got home from a vacation, we
have like a whiteboard in our kitchen that we like put all the school things on and all that. And uh one of my kids
wrote on the whiteboard, it feels good to be home. >> F L E L S, >> which feels good.
>> First of all, writing it feels good to be home is the most adorable thing ever
cuz I'm pretty sure she was like seven. Yeah, she was she did that. >> She was young. And then but she wrote
fleas and we have literally put a border around it on the whiteboard and it's been there for years now to be erased
and I will not allow anyone to erase it. I'm probably going to take like a saw and saw that portion of the
>> Yeah, like an X-Acto knife. >> I need to keep it forever and it's and it's like dry erase marker so I'm very
scared. If you guys have any tips on how to keep that from >> Do you think >> smearing?
>> Could you laminate it? That's I don't know how to do it without like smooshing
it or making it run or anything. So, if you guys have tips, >> maybe you could go over it with like
permanent marker or something. We're both looking at Mikey like Mikey, what would be
>> I know. I looked at Mikey like I bet you know. >> Mikey's a ci. But we'll we'll figure it out. If you
guys have any tips, I would love them because I do want to keep my It feels good to be home forever. Oh, it feel it
feels so good to be home. >> Um just give it to her when she's like 18 for like a graduation present.
>> The first time she comes home from college >> and just be like, "Here you go. Does it
still feel so good? >> Here's this chunk of our whiteboard from when you were >> She's sentimental. She's very
sentimental. She would love it. She'd cry. Yeah. >> Yeah. That's my girl right there.
>> Yeah. But this weekend was incredible. What else is going on? >> Still dealing with the uh Golden Globes
of it all. >> Still just dealing with that. >> Still just reeling from that. >> Crazy. Yeah. We're going to submit our
application pretty soon. >> Yeah. See if we can make it into the nomination pool. But either way,
>> for me, even if we just get first of all, this is plenty. >> Just being on the short list is
>> being on the short list. >> A win for me. >> And being able to say multiple times
this past week, like at different presentations like, yeah, you know, like we're eligible to be nominated.
>> It's like astric asteric. >> But even if we got nominated, that would also be enough for me.
>> Oh, that's a win. >> Everything is enough for me. >> So far, a win-winwin for me. Like
doesn't matter what happens after this. I'm pretty happy. And this is just my anxiety talking, but are are you ever
terrified when things are so good that you're like, >> "Oh, is everything okay?"
>> 140%. Yes. >> In the back of my mind, I'm like, "Things are like really really
>> No, but you just got to keep manifesting it and you got to keep being thankful
for it." >> Oh, I It's all about being grateful. >> I think that's really like a big thing.
I thank the universe every single day for every Yeah. >> What are you just jingle over there for?
>> Never take it for granted. I thank the universe every day for Mikey's jingle jingles.
>> I do too. Thank you for Mikey's jingle jingles, universe. >> Thank you for Mikey, universe. Period.
>> Truly. Thank you for Mikey, universe. >> Oh, yeah. But yeah, I think it's I think
it really is just never take it for granted. >> No, >> you know, you never know what can happen
to Maro. Also, we learned a Tik Tok dance this weekend, and a lot of you were genuinely so surprised at Elena's
ability to tell the truth with her hips, which I did not know if I should take a
compliment or an insult, but I'm just kidding. Uh, but yeah, I I I guess I can learn a dance.
>> It was so funny. After >> the first day in New York, it was like this whirlwind of a day, which was like
so cool. Like, we met all the cool people and everything. And then we were going to go I was like, we should go out
to dinner. like I'm on such a high right now. I literally felt like I was on drugs. Like I was like I feel so
wonderful. We got home. I'm facetiming Drew telling him like how cool the day was and I'm like yeah we're going to go
out to dinner and it's going to be awesome. And I sat down and I'm like I don't really want to go out to dinner. I
kind of just want to hang here. And Elena comes in my room. She's like hey so like what do you think if we just
like ordered food and like hung out? Maybe watched Lagouna Beach. I was like I'm in.
>> You're like I'm in. And then we proceeded to get Chinese food and pizza, >> which both were great.
>> Oh my god. Wherever we got Chinese food from in New York, we need to order. Great.
>> And the pizza was really good because it was so good. >> Yeah. [ __ ] was just lit.
>> We just got in our sweats. >> I got my Halloween PJs. >> Yeah. We just like there were parties
happening. There were all kinds of We didn't go out to dinner. We just said, "No,
>> no. We're going to stay in this hotel room. We're going to watch some old episodes of Laguna Beach.
>> Oh my god. >> And we're going to learn a Tik Tok dance." We specifically like you will
film it and he did and I need you guys to know that that was our first take. >> Yeah, I'm pretty proud of that after
learning it. It was our first take. So that's why I look so focused. Okay. >> So we were messing around with the
lighting and the other takes. But um because I'm getting old every further take that was happening after that I was
getting more and more tired. So it wasn't it wasn't great. >> I disagree. I think they were good.
>> I appreciate that. But >> but the first one was definitely the best. When we changed the lighting in
the later ones, we there were like all kinds of little orb things floating around which is like ooh ghosties.
>> Yeah. I slept really good in the hotel the first night, but then the second night I think it was haunted for sure.
>> Yeah. You kept hearing creaking, right? I was hearing lots of creaking and it
was freaking me out cuz there was like a [ __ ] ton of windows in the room and there were so many drapes and all I
could think of I woke up at like 3:00 a.m. and all I could think of was uh the story that I told about the alien
abduction where she was like I forgot to look behind the drapes. >> Oh my god. >> And I was like I didn't look behind any
of these drapes. What if there's an alien? >> Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. >> I know there wasn't luckily but yeah
that's how we like >> that's how we roll in New York. >> Yeah. We can handle like a little bit of
excitement and then we are in our PJs. >> I feel like >> ordering pizza. >> Some I sometimes I say that I'm an
introverted extrovert but I think I'm becoming more of an introvert who just has to be extroverted sometimes.
>> That's what I am. >> Yeah. >> I'm one I'm for sure an introvert and then but I know that my job requires me
to be an extrovert sometimes so I can pull it out. Yeah. >> And it's the people that are around me
at my job. Like our live shows require me to be an extrovert, but then the energy in the room kind of feeds that
and makes it easier. >> And then like meeting you guys afterwards >> is always so fun.
>> It's so easy to be an extrovert there cuz you guys are just fun to meet and hang out.
>> But then I do like I fully agree with that. But then I do need to recharge. >> Oh, and my recharging it was so funny.
Um, we were so we had just got home from New York and then we had to we or got to
I should say got to go to the Two Girls One Go show which was so much fun. Sabrina and Garin know how to put on a
[ __ ] show. >> They're so [ __ ] good. >> I love them. And we were to So we got to
be guests for that and I was getting ready for it and it was so funny. Drew goes, "You literally did I was sitting
down doing my makeup." He's like, "You didn't say a word to me the entire time you were getting ready for that." And
then you were just like, "Okay, I love you. Bye." >> Just recharging. I was like, "Yeah,
>> I was I was at my charging block." >> It's so true. >> Yeah. It's just how it is sometimes.
>> Yeah. You guys feel us. But yeah, so it's been a whirlwind of a week and >> and you guys have been like really
supportive and awesome. Like everybody's just been like hyping us up. Like you guys have been really cool.
>> I love you guys. >> And you know, there's always a couple [ __ ] but you know, we we eradicate
them from the bunch. >> We do. Sometimes they delete their comments asking you if you're pregnant
when you're not. >> Yeah. Don't ask people if they're pregnant. >> Yeah. It's a really for a million
reasons. It's a really terrible idea. >> Yeah. If somebody somebody who went through infertility for 3 years,
>> um I would have [ __ ] lost my mind if somebody asked me that. >> Um so don't do that. Um but none of you
would. >> None of that's none of you listening. >> None of you listening, none of our like
good community here would. There's always those ones that just like come out of nowhere and are like, "Oh, I'm
going to yuck people's yum on the internet because I'm a miserable cunt." >> It's like, "Sorry, I was on your
discover page." All right. So, let's make sure. You know what? Cuz all you listening, I know it.
You're all the You're all the good ones. >> Hey, beauty queens. >> Yeah. Hey, all you beauties. Uh, when
you see people being [ __ ] on the internet, just chase them. Chase them off the internet.
>> Chase them down. >> Get them Get them gone. We got to start [ __ ] chasing these [ __ ] off the
internet. >> Go on. Get >> people who just go around and leave nasty comments on people's happiness
need to be like chased off the internet. Nasty begets nasty, my dears. >> I love nothing more now than to see a
video of somebody that I'm like, "Wow, that's a fun video." Or like, "That's really cool." I now make it a point, and
we all should >> to leave a kind comment or an uplifting comment on as many videos as I possibly
can, >> and they're all real and genuine. I always am leaving so much yuckiness that
you need to counteract people up. It feels so good. >> It does. >> Like, it really does. Like,
>> it feels so good. >> It feels so good. >> Full of [ __ ] circle. >> I'm telling you, like pumping people up
so much better than trying to tear someone down. It's going to make you feel so much better.
>> You'll feel better about your own self. >> And we can just like turn that cuz
everything sucks right now. >> Oh god, it's so >> And like the internet is a literal
[ __ ] garbage fire. I was going to say >> and we can try to turn it around a little by just like spreading more
positivity and making those [ __ ] troll ass [ __ ] feel unwelcome. >> Like we really got and I'm seeing people
start to do that more and it's making me happy because I think we are starting to
make the trolls feel very [ __ ] unwelcome on the internet and we need to continue doing that.
>> Absolutely. If you see a video or something that even slightly tickles your pickle,
>> you should you should comment. Hey, this tickles my pickle. Even just the littlest bit.
>> Let that person know. >> Mikey is making an X in the air. He's like, do not do that.
>> Let let that person know that their makeup is awesome. Let that person know that the hair is [ __ ] killing it.
>> Maybe you could say, "Hey, this struck my fancy. This struck my This made me feel,
you know, >> this made me feel the fleas. >> Let that person know that dance was
great. This was a funny video. This made me laugh. >> Like, just do it. >> Just come on up. Throw them in the air.
It's worth it. >> Become a stunter. >> Hell yeah. >> Stunt on these hoes. >> All right. Well, with all that being
said, let's talk about something hella nasty because this is called Morbid after all.
>> I'm very excited for this one. And Ash really, really did the damn thing here.
>> I really went forth and conquered. Thank you for the recognition there, brother.
>> Well, I was looking for something Halloweeny or like Halloween adjacent to talk about cuz it's, you know, an
October bonus episode. >> So, um, that's when I stumbled across a Smithsonian article about something
called corpse medicine >> and I said, "Yeah, I want to hear about that." >> And I said, "Yeah, that sounds pretty
[ __ ] morbid." So corpse medicine or medical cannibalism it's also called was a legit medical practice back in Europe
from the 12th century all the way into the 17th century. Wow. They were really committed to this
>> long time. Yeah. Back then people from all different kinds of walks of life. Even medical doctors believed that
consuming things like blood, human fat, crushed up skull bits would have different medical benefits. Whether it
was relieving headaches, treating bruises, improving circulation, or even curing epilepsy.
>> Damn. >> Damn is right. >> Mummy dust. >> Well, I'm going to actually talk about
mummy dust. Thank you for the foreshadowing, Tobias Forge. >> So, it all kind of started back in
ancient Egypt with mummies. >> There we go. >> But before we get there, we have to talk
about something called bumen. >> Okay, >> it's really called bitchmen. Uh, and also a pretty big mixup in language
translation. So, let's talk about bitammen first. Bammen is actually one of the main
ingredients in asphalt. >> Oh, okay. >> It's like the black sticky sub uh substance that kind of holds everything
together. It acts like a glue. >> Okay. >> It's actually a naturally occurring substance. And thousands of years ago,
they would use it to treat things like asthma, stomach inflammation, broken bones, acne. No, like literally uh you
know your day-to-day snake and scorpion bites. >> Oh yeah. >> Ear infections. Two things.
>> Always looking for something for my dayto-day. Scorpion and snake bites. >> It's it's just a common occurrence. It
is out here, >> especially in Massachusetts. Scorpions everywhere. >> Scorpions and snakes just biting us all.
And we're all covered in asphalt. >> Yeah. So now we obviously know all the harmful effects of ingesting vitamin
like skin cancer, skin irritation, uh respir respiratory problems, death, poison,
>> poison, but back then people really thought it was the tits. wellrespected Roman scientist and close friend to the
emperor Gaes Plennius Secundus >> aka Ply the Elder. He used to tell the Elder >> Ply the Elder. He used to tell people to
mix it in with wine and it would treat their coughs and their dysentery. >> Damn.
>> He said just mix a little tar in with your wine. >> Yeah, it's fine. >> Take a big sip. I love that.
>> And you'll feel better in no time. >> I mean, let's go. Is it gayas? Gas. It's
Gais. >> Gaas. >> Gaes. >> Let's go. Ga. >> Plus secundis. >> Oh yes. Pl. And what was it? The elder.
>> Uh. Uh. Plenny the elder. >> I'm so sorry. Ply the elder. Put some respect on.
>> I was going to say I don't want to [ __ ] it up. >> He's a goddamn elder. >> Put some goddamn respect on his name.
>> Hello. So yeah, that that's bitchmen. >> Now that's bitchmen. >> That's [ __ ] It's bitching. It's
bitchmen. So, now to the mummies and the mistransation of it all. When you picture a mummy, obviously you think of
like a Halloween costumey toilet paper wrapped dead person >> always. But the word mummy originally
wasn't always referring to the entire being or like the body itself. Around the 12th century, the Arabic word mumia
was mistransated. >> Oh, >> yeah. So, originally it was just referring to the substance bit.
>> Oh, >> that's what mumia was. But when Europeans started viewing ancient Egyptian bodies that had been preserved
by this imbalming process that used all kinds of different resin and things like
that, they thought that was naturally occurring bumen. And that it's never not funny to say bumen. Uh but they thought
that was naturally occurring and that it had all these curall properties and they
thought that the word was referring to the entire body and that's how we got the English word mummy.
>> Like this person is a mummy not the substance. >> Exactly. >> Isn't that interesting?
>> That is very interesting. I didn't know that. >> So now because the bo they thought that
the bodies were coded in bumen everyone thought they had all kinds of medical uses.
>> People think I'm coded in bitmen a lot. >> You are bammen coded. But because people wanted all the
bumenumen, they, you know, these bodies started being disturbed so that people could
access the substance. >> Oh, that's [ __ ] up. >> Yeah, real messed up. And it got even
more [ __ ] up as time went on. According to the Science History Institute writer Marielle Carr, she
said, "After this point, the meaning of Mumia expanded to include not just asphalt, but other hardened resonous
material from inbombed bodies, but the flesh of that embalmed body as well." >> Oh,
>> yeah. >> We're getting kooky. Not only were they like, "Hey, I'd like that bitchman."
They were like, "I'd like that arm. I'd like that head." >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I don't want that.
>> Yeah. Well, >> no thank you. >> They did in Europe. Eventually, the practice of eating human flesh and other
parts of the body found its way over there. >> Awesome. >> Uh Richard Sugg, who wrote, "Mummies,
cannibals, and vampires, the history of corpse medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians."
>> Let's go, girls. >> He wrote, "For certain practitioners and patients, there was almost nothing
between the head and feet which could not be used in some way." >> Wow. >> And he was right.
>> And he was correct. >> He was correct. So, the idea was kind of rooted in like sympathetic magic. Back
then they believed that there was a connection between two things or two actions. They said like treated like. So
if somebody had a migraine, cool, give them this groundup skull tincture. >> Yeah. I mean honestly with such like,
you know, remedial understanding of pretty much anything at that point. >> Yeah,
>> I get why the connection was made. I suppose if you think this is all going to work.
>> I mean, I get the thinking, you know, like >> Yeah. Like people are going to believe
doctors and all these people being like, "Hey, if your head hurts, >> you might as well eat some skull."
>> Yeah, do it. Ingest some skull. >> Yeah. >> I'm not telling you to, but the doctors
back then were telling people to definitely don't. But they also thought if somebody's bleeding, let's stop the
bleeding with some blood jam. >> Oh yeah. >> Which is funny because it's kind of like
a double entandra. >> It like jams up the blood, stops the bleeding, but it's also like a jelly.
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um, well, that just makes me think of like coagulated blood cuz it looks
like jelly. >> I mean, that's essentially what this was. >> Like, it just I can picture it.
>> Yeah. Well, Richard Sugg actually gives one of the original recipes for blood
jam in his book. Um, first, one needs to get blood from quote, "Persons of warm,
moist temperament, such as those of blotchy red complexion and rather plump of build." So then once you get your
blood from your plump of build blotchy red person, then you're going to let that dry into a sticky mass. Once it's
dry, the recipe says to place it upon a flat smooth table of soft wood, not hard,
>> and cut it into thin little slices, allowing its watery part to drip away. When it's no longer dripping, place it
on a stove on the same table and stir it into a batter with a knife. When it's absolutely dry, place it immediately in
a very warm bronze mortar and pound it, forcing it through a seieve of the finest silk. When it has all been seved,
seal it in a glass jar. Renew it in the spring of every year. >> Okay, we'll do like renew it in the
spring of every year. It sounds very Martha Stewart at the end. >> I was just going to say that. It's
literally Martha being like, and you know what? Keep on top of it, girl. >> Keep on top of it.
>> Renew it in the spring of every year. It's like a garden being like >> storebought is fine.
>> If you can't make it yourself, storebought is fine. >> Which I don't really Well, you know what
I was going to say? I don't think you could get this in the store, but you could because we're going to talk about
the apothecaries in a minute. Oh, here we go. >> That carried all this stuff. But first,
let's get back to the groundup skull tincture. >> So, originally, >> I'd like to get back to that. Thank you.
>> I'm so glad. >> I didn't love that we were we were going so far away from it. I said, "Where is
it?" >> You always want to go back to the tincture. >> As someone with migraines, I would like
to hear about this groundup skull tincture. Please. >> All right. You might end up being
disappointed, but you know what? I'll tell you everything you need to know. >> I'm always looking for a remedy.
>> Here's the thing. Originally, the mixture was referred to as Goddard's drops because they were invented by a
doctor named Jonathan Goddard in the 17th century. Uh, he served as an army surgeon during the English Civil War and
he was one of Oliver Cromwell's personal doctors. Oliver Cromwell can get booked.
>> Truly, >> but I'm an Irish woman. So somehow through his own studies of corpse medicine, he came to believe that
his tincture could cure all kinds of things. Fainting, strokes, ep epilepsy, bladder stones, really just anything
causing you any kind of distress. >> Whenever something is claiming that it can fix
many different complex >> and completely distinct problems, >> question. >> Yeah, question. I'm not saying just
question. just ask a few just >> how's it doing all that? >> How's it doing all that?
>> You'll find out. >> Okay, >> so first let's get to the recipe. The recipe was a mix of 5 lbs of human
skull. >> Whoa. >> 5 lb of human skull, 2 lb of dried vapors, 2 lb of distilled deer horns,
and 2 lb of ivory. >> Oh, I know it's [ __ ] up. After a process of distilling and filtering and
doing that all and all all over again, they were then poured into a tincture bottle. And the instructions were to
take seven to eight drops for things like headaches, migraines, fainting, maybe even if you just needed a simple
stimulant. You're a little tired. >> Yeah. >> Put a little King's drop on your tongue.
>> Yeah, why not? >> Or Goddard's drop, excuse me. We're not to King's Drops yet. But in cases where
you know you had had a stroke or suffered from epilepsy, the dose could increase to 50 drops.
Holy [ __ ] Now, here's where we get to King's drops. King Charles II was such a
fan of this tincture. He was like really into chemistry and science and everything. He literally had like a lab
built in the castle. But so he was so interested. He was such a fan of the tincture. He was said to have bought the
recipe from Dr. Gddard Gddard for £6,000. Damn. >> And then he rebranded the name to the
King's Drops. >> It's the relaunch for me. >> I bet they had a relaunch party. >> It is the relaunch for me. It's the
rebranding. I >> I kind of love that. >> He said, "I bought these. I bought their
name, their likeness, and they're mine now." He said, "Relaunch King's Drops." >> Uh he would add them to his wine. He
would add them to chocolates. Some people said that he had a um like a goblet that was made of skull that he
would drink his wine in with skulls drops in it. >> Here's the thing that's extraordinarily
metal, >> but it's not good. >> Not good. But I have to agree with you. >> But like
you have to do a a guitar riff there. >> You absolutely do. >> That's insane. >> Just walking around with a
>> with a skull goblet drinking your skull tincture and wine. That's the thing. Like a skull goblet filled with skull.
>> That's literally so much >> skull in one. >> Yeah, >> that's I'm me. I'm going to I'm going to
look for a different remedy for my migraines. >> You know, eedrin seems to work great for
you. >> No, I will not be be trying this. >> I'm glad to hear that. That makes me
feel like a lot more secure as your business partner. >> Yeah. >> Um but he also allegedly gave them to
the royal court too as a kind of truth serum. >> Oh, >> but it's also like >> it's that too. Well, they think so, but
I'm like, you were just giving them wine. Yeah. And people tend to get drunk and people get liquored up and they
start telling you stuff, >> you know. >> Yeah. >> No. Ironically, King Charles II died of
a stroke. >> Oops. >> In 1685, even after upping his dosage on his deathbed to 40 drops per day.
>> It's so weird that that didn't work. >> Yeah. It's crazy. He wasn't the only person who died from that.
>> Really? >> Yeah. King's drops didn't really save a lot of people. >> Well, I had such faith.
>> I I did, too. Now, here's the thing. One of the most important things when it
came to the sourcing of skulls for King's Drops was that the skull came from a person who had died a violent
death. >> Oh yeah, that gets even gnarier. >> Now, this was rooted in the idea of the
vital spirit, which is pretty similar to sympathetic magic. uh Pariselus who was
a Swiss doctor who lived during the 14th and 15th centuries. He believed that if
a person died suddenly, they would have more of this life force or vital spirit inside of them.
>> Damn. >> Because it hadn't been damaged by any kind of illness and the person wasn't
expecting to die necessarily. So that meant that their spirits still possessed some kind of desire to continue on. And
therefore, if you ingested that, >> you would have that will to to continue on and to, you know, not be sick or to
not suffer from whatever was ailing you. >> Damn. I love the mental gymnastics that
they do to make these things make sense cuz you you're like, "Yeah, all right." >> Yeah. Like, sure. If I do a few back
flips, that makes perfect sense. >> Yeah. Def. I mean, if I run over there, come back really quick, do a cartwheel,
chug some Gatorade, and then do 15 more flips, I think I get it. >> Yeah. If I'm Simone Biles, that makes
sense. >> Yeah, if I get the spins, it makes sense. >> Yeah. >> Um, this is going to really send you. He
was called the father of toxicology back then. >> Wow. >> Yeah, we really The bar was in hell.
>> It was. It sure was. >> What do you mean? It sure was. So, in the case of source father, that's that's
not my dad. >> Not my dad. >> So, in the case of sourcing skulls for the king's drops, a lot of them came
from Ireland, which was [ __ ] pointed. >> Wow. >> Like I mentioned earlier, there was many
reasons for it, but one I think the biggest one is what I'm going to say. >> He's definitely not my dad.
>> Yeah. No. So, like I mentioned earlier, Dr. Goddard was the army surgeon during
the English Civil War, the first one. and he was also Oliver Cromwell's personal doctor. The English Civil War
coincided with the Cromwellian massacres in Ireland where thousands of Irish troops and civilians were killed
incredibly violently. Like Oliver Cromwell was a [ __ ] up person. >> He was a turd bucket.
>> Yeah. He loved to like people that were captured, he would torture them. People
that were literally just passing through an area who weren't involved in the war
at all, he would capture them and torture them and they died. Brutal. Brutal deaths.
>> Yeah. For a guy named Oliver, he had a lot of nerve. >> He really did. >> Yeah.
>> It's like you're supposed to be kind of gentle. >> Yeah. I've never met an Oliver that was
like a piece of [ __ ] >> Yeah. That was like this. >> Yeah. >> Well, unfortunately, the Cromwellian
massacres obviously led to a surplus of skulls that physicians back then would have believed contained the perfect
amount of vital force because of the way that they were killed. They weren't expecting to be killed. They died
violently, >> yada yada yada. Now, another desirable quality um of the skulls found in
Ireland was something called skull moss or osnia. A lot of times in Ireland, enemies killed on their land weren't
buried. They were just left out as warning like not to [ __ ] with Ireland. >> Like what I do with spiders sometimes.
>> Yeah. You leave the dead body somewhere. I love that. >> So that the next one knows.
>> That's pretty much >> the same thing. >> That's pretty much genius also. >> Yeah. You got to let them know like this
is what I'm about. I'll leave you alone outside. My house is my house. >> I mean, you are Irish after all.
>> So, because they were left to the elements, moths would start to grow over the tops of the skulls. And physicians
back then thought that these skulls would be even more potent with vital force because the moss would suck it all
up. So, it was ideal for king's drops, but also absorbent enough to be used to stop nose bleeds as well.
>> Oh, good. So they would either they would either grind up the skull and you know add the moss to the tincture like
grind that up too or they would literally just take the moss off of the skulls and shove it up their [ __ ]
nose. >> Absolutely. >> To stop nose bleeds >> of course. >> Or even like it was put on wounds and
that kind of thing at times too. >> Wow. >> Yeah. >> We Wow. We came We've come a long way.
>> We have. >> That's pretty wild. >> We sort of have. Skull moss is I thought what is the vital what is it called?
>> Uh vital force. >> Vital force and life mo and life force. >> Sorry. Vital spirit. Right. I combined
life force and vital spirit. >> Vital spirit sounds like a really cool band name.
>> Yeah. >> Uh and Skull Moss feels like a really good name of a book. >> Yeah, I would read a book called Skull
Moss. >> Yeah. >> I feel like Skull Moss could even be abandoned. They opened up for Vital
Spirit. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Yeah. I like it. I like it. Well, physicians weren't the only people
learning about and stocking their shelves with corpse medicine. There was also apothecaries who had entire stores
filled to the brim with tinctures, body parts, fluids, anything you could dream of.
>> Cool. >> To treat your ailments. >> Yeah. >> Um, one of the main things that they
carried was something that you foreshadowed earlier. >> Mummy powder. >> Mummy powder.
>> Sort of mummy dust. So, mummy powder was really looked at back then to be another
cure all. It was like the end all be all in corpse medicine. >> Um, they thought of it as a panacea,
which is a remedy for like anything that ails you whatsoever. >> Yeah. >> They thought it was a cough suppressant,
an anti-inflammatory, a blood thinner, a painkiller. You name it, mummy powder could fix it.
>> Let's go. >> And um, just a quick little side detour, it didn't only serve medical purposes,
it also had its role in the arts. Oh, >> there is a famous painting uh called interior of a kitchen and it's by Martin
Drooling. It was done in 1815 and a lot of art historians agree that he used a ton of this color called mummy brown.
>> Mummy brown. >> And that was a mixture of white pitch, myrrh, and mummy flesh.
>> Damn. >> They were straight up painting with mummy flesh >> with pieces of people.
>> Yep. Um, in 1797, a London publication actually wrote that quote, "The most fleshy bits are the best parts."
>> The most fleshy bits are the best parts. >> The best parts for to make paint.
>> Was that Hannah Blector who said that? >> No, it wasn't even >> like what? >> And it was used for hundreds and
hundreds of years >> and it became a great ghost song. >> Yeah, Mommy does. >> That is really fun to watch live.
>> There you go. Yeah, he do be thrusting. He be well in 1881 a famous artist Edward Burr Jones found out the truth
about mommy brown. He thought he had heard like in you know his fancy art community of course people say like oh
yeah it's literally made of mummies and he was like oh p >> imagine that casual conversation
somebody at at like coffee is just like did you hear >> Yeah. Did you hear that Marcus put
[ __ ] bits of flesh in his painting and everybody's like, "Ah." >> They were like, "His brown his brown
isn't really drying as it's supposed to." Because that that was often a complaint of mummy brown was that it
kind of was like um like a little bit see-through. Like it it wasn't as potent as the rest of their paint.
>> Of course not. They had to use a lot of paint. >> That's the thing. So, he found out one
day like that the rumors all the rumors were true. >> Wow. And he went into his backyard that
day and buried the one remaining tube he had of Mummy Brown to give it a quote decent and proper burial.
>> Oh, that's kind of sweet. >> Yeah, he was sweet. He was He was very upset about it.
>> He's like, "That's a person." >> Yeah. >> I should bury it. >> Yeah. >> A >> Wasn't that nice?
>> That's sweet in the most [ __ ] Macob way. >> Yeah. We love an aware king. We do.
>> Um, apparently the use of Mummy Brown though lasted all the way into the 20th
century. >> Damn. >> Yeah. It died out luckily. Um, and now you can't find it anywhere. No pun
intended. >> Now you can't find it anywhere except on display at the Harvard Art Museum.
>> Oh. >> Mhm. >> I want to see it. >> There's a tube on display. I can show you a picture of it.
>> We can just see it. >> We can just see it. >> It's right over there. >> Let's go.
Well, back to the 16th century now. >> Back to it. >> So, these apothecaries, like I
mentioned, would traveled to Egypt to buy mummies from merchants to make their powders, but it was hard to tell what
was authentic and what wasn't. King Francis I of France, if you can even believe it. He was said to carry a
mixture a mixture of true mubia, which was a vis a viscous black liquid directly extracted from a mummy who had
at one time belonged to one of the wealthiest Egyptian families. Holy [ __ ] >> And he like knew for sure he sent the
right people. They robbed the right grave and they got him verified >> his mixture there.
>> And he carried it in case of emergency by the way. >> Yeah. >> Like it was literally in his first aid
kit. Yeah. Absolutely. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> So, it was probably easy for a king to
get what he believed to be the good stuff, but it was hard for others to ensure what was authentic and what
wasn't. There were merchants who would sell camels instead of humans. Um, and there were people who thought that they
were purchasing royal Egyptian bodies that they believed would contain some of the best vital spirit you could buy, who
got completely bamboozled. Uh, Carl H. Danfeld wrote about these merchants and said the bodies now Mumia had been those
of slaves and other dead persons, young and old, male and female, which he had indiscriminately collected. The merchant
cared not for what disease had caused these deaths since when inbalmed, no one could tell the difference.
>> Oh man. So you somebody not you. I'm like you over there, Ren. >> Yeah, me. People would be out here being
like, "Oh, I'm going to go buy like the richest Egyptian mummy that I can get." Because obviously they're going to
contain this rich vital spirit and you know, they're going to be buried with all these delicious
>> Yeah. the fancy vital, you know, >> spirit and all the bummen >> and you could receive a camel.
>> That's what honestly that's what you get. >> I was just going to say when you play
stupid games, you win stupid prizes. It's just >> you might get a camel. >> Yeah, you might. And that's kind of on
you. But also like think you might get somebody who died of the plague >> back then. You might get somebody who
died of like dysentery. >> Yeah. And you're just ingesting their [ __ ] >> No wonder like sometimes they really
were ingesting their [ __ ] >> Yeah. >> They actually I didn't even include this, but just a quick side note cuz
it's it's not really corpse uh medicine, but it's like adjacent. People would um
dry out feces like >> what like human and animal feces. Like he just shot up from what he was doing.
And he was like, "Excuse me?" And they would turn it into a powder that they believed would cure cataracts.
So they would just literally like fling [ __ ] into their eyes. >> Powder into their eyes.
>> Were they able? >> Here's where I'm like, we really have come far. Cuz I'm like,
>> what? Maybe who knows. Would you be able to convince people that like dried up
[ __ ] fluck into your eyes? I mean, >> and like what what line of thinking did they did they pass through here to be
like if you fling dried up [ __ ] into your eyes, it will cure your cataract. >> Here's the thing. I didn't really go
down that rabbit hole because I had to go down many other rabbit holes for this. And I found out that, you know,
fecal medicine is not necessarily corpse medicine. So, I left it for another day.
>> Said that's different. >> Yeah. But I but in these apothecaries they would have like little, you know,
pins that would say like >> goose feal matter poop, you know, like >> they say we sell poop here.
>> Get you poop here. And it wasn't just cataracts. It would it would they used it for all different kinds of things.
>> Yeah, of course. >> But that's that's another episode. >> Wow, that's really interesting.
>> Yeah. So, people were getting duped. Anyways, back to the my original point. Well, luckily, question mark, for people
who couldn't afford the high-end corpse medicine, there was somebody you could go to for cheaper stuff. Um, and I guess
you could at least guarantee what you were getting there. >> Yeah. Yeah. Not only could you go to
your local executioner for the finest entertainment of the day, but they were also one of the main suppliers of human
remains at the time. Once mummies got harder to come by, people would flock to executions to get their hands on
different body parts, skulls, blood, fat, tissue, you name it. >> Delicious. >> Eventually, executed criminals actually
became the number one source for the medicine. And people back then felt like it was perfect because they could get
their extra vital spirit from people dying quickly and violently. You know, they were either being beheaded or
hanged. Yeah. But they also felt better about using those kinds of bodies for medicine because these people weren't
the most desirable members of society. >> So you didn't have like the moral implications that came with
>> because they were undesirable. >> Yeah. Like grave robbing, you know, >> cuz that's the other thing, the uptick
in grave robbing back then. >> Oh yeah. >> Crazy. >> Oh, you were never safe. >> No. But at executions, you could
literally buy cups of warm blood. >> Oh. And it was suggested that you do drink it while it was warm or that you
did drink it while it was warm because that meant that the spirit of the person was still fresh.
>> And obviously, you know, these >> I hate that a lot. >> These cups sold for a lot of money. Like
it was like going to a concert and paying like $12 for a water, >> you know? >> It was exactly like that.
>> It was similar. >> People who couldn't afford to buy a cup for themselves would either dip cloths
into the blood left over from the execution site and get it that way. Yeah, I remember hearing this.
>> Or they would bring their own bread and dip the bread into it. >> Yeah. >> I'm sorry that that image conjured in
your mind. >> Seeing thinking of somebody taking bread or taking a a handkerchief and just
letting it soak up the warm [ __ ] blood >> and then dranking it. >> We What are we What are we asarian? Like
we're we're real wild. >> Do you guys remember I don't know if you will, Elena, but do you guys remember
Dave the Barbarian? >> Yeah. >> I just said barbarian and I literally just went b barbarian
barbarian in my head. >> Like just so you know, >> that show slapped you guys. >> That was a great show.
>> Quick detour. But yeah, at uh King Charles I different from King Charles II who died after the King's Drops didn't
work when he had a stroke. his dad actually uh was executed and people were seen mopping up his blood with their
handkerchiefs at his execution site. Yeah. And obviously that would be like the most vital of course of of spirits
that you could get. That's the king. >> All the spirit. >> And back then they actually believed
that they believed in something called the royal touch. So like if you even touched the king or if if he allowed his
hand to touch you, they believed even that touch alone could heal you. >> Wow. Wow. So imagine what his blood
could do for you. >> Imagine, you know, >> I can only. >> But yeah, back to the blood of the
execution times. That was thought to be the best cure for epilepsy and tuberculosis.
>> Yeah, of course. >> But it was also just thought to be a good drink if you wanted to stay looking
young and fresh. >> Yeah. I mean, just ask Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. >> I know.
>> He warms up his blood. >> He does. >> And he also puts weedeny bits in it if he wants a little texture.
>> Yeah, he does. >> So that's a little tip from me to you. >> Everybody has preferences,
>> you know. Uh but according to best lovejoy who wrote an article called a brief history of medical cannibalism
cute >> uh Marcilo Faco I think uh who was a highly respected 15th century Italian
scholar and priest wrote that elderly people should quote suck the blood of an adolescent who was clean, happy,
temperate and whose blood is excellent but perhaps a little excessive. >> Yep. >> Yep.
>> If they wanted to stay young. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Absolutely. You know what? That
young person who's clean and happy and temperate and all that, >> become a vampire.
>> They might have a little extra blood and you should drink it right from them.
>> I love that they're just like, >> you know what, become a vampire. >> Yeah. Do it.
>> Let's just all, you know, I feel they're like, I feel like Twilight's going to
come out in a few hundred years and >> we're going to love it. We're going to be ahead of that.
>> They said, have you even seen Carile? >> Have you even seen The Skin of a Killer,
Bella? My god, have you just watched Twilight and I can't stop saying this is the skin of a killer Bella?
>> I love it so much. >> It's the best. >> It's so It's an interesting movie to watch now.
>> Period. >> Uh it's like I was like I just told everyone to be nice on It's entertainment at its finest.
>> It is. It's very entertaining. >> I um started watching it the other night and I got all the way halfway through
Eclipse. >> Yeah. So that's that's a lot. >> Yeah. I'm trying to finish the whole I
haven't watched the series through in so long or the >> No, it's been years and years and years.
>> But back to the blood. So you you could suck the blood of the people who were
young and temperate and happy >> and then you would get the skin of a killer. >> I like that he specified clean, too.
That was smart of him. >> That was nice. >> Um but this belief actually might have
been rooted in Roman history where people allegedly would drink the blood of fall uh fallen gladiators hoping to
get some of their strength and bravery via ingestion of them. >> Wow. Yeah. So many shortcuts people are
looking for. >> Yeah. >> Shortcuts that are very complicated. >> Like maybe just lift, bro.
>> Yeah. Just do you even lift, bro? Do you do you even lift? >> Maybe just make sure you're hydrated.
Just drink some water. >> Yeah. Well, uh the local executioners weren't just doling out cups of warm
blood and stepping aside while people dipped bread in it like they were just having some oil and balsamic.
>> He would also harvest the fat from executed bodies. Ew. >> Most of the time he would sell it to the
local apothecaries and they would melt it down to use in ointments or they would dry it out to use it in powders.
The ointments could be used topically to treat things like bruises, scars, gout,
uh general aches and pains. And in powder form, they were also uh thought to stop bleeding. Sometimes they would
soak bandages in human fat before they were wrapped around like wounds or injured bones because they thought that
promoted healing. You know what? That one I can almost understand the thought process behind.
>> Yeah. No, I get that. >> I like I we know it's ridiculous, but it's like you can almost see the through
line of thinking there. >> Yeah. Because >> that particular one >> I can't put it into words why that makes
sense, but I get it a little bit. >> Like like it doesn't. Yeah. But like you can understand why without
any kind of knowledge of biology or anything >> that that would seem to make some type
of sense. It's the least it's the least intrusive of of them that I can think of.
>> Well, at le I mean like in some cases they were like ingesting the fat, but at
least in that case they were just wrapping it around a wound >> and they're hoping it like promotes
healing, which is like it doesn't, but like >> No, but I kind of get it. But yeah, I
can I'm like, "All right, that one's not as offensive." >> Um, well, it was especially popular. It
was a especially popular form of corpse medicine during wartime. >> Makes sense.
>> Army surgeons like Dr. Goddard, who I mentioned earlier, would go out onto the
battlefield and literally fill up bags of fat from fallen soldiers. >> That's horrifying.
>> And they would take the huge bags back to medical tents and treat wounded soldiers with the fat of fallen
soldiers. >> Damn. >> Yeah. Like [ __ ] was so [ __ ] bleak back then. >> Gnarly. Like and the fact that she just
hearing they were harvesting fat from fallen soldiers. Do you that entails a lot.
>> You have to picture that for a second. >> That entails a very gnarly image. >> And also probably harvesting their
skulls as well, you know. >> Oh my god. >> Yeah. >> Oh my god. Um, you also might remember
from some of our coverage of the Paris catacombs that leftover fat from the surplus of bodies there uh at that time
was used to make soap and candles. >> Yeah. Yeah. Love that. >> Yeah. >> Luckily though, by the 18th century, the
enlightenment/thege of reason came along and people started looking a little deeper into science and actual medicine
and they were like, "Hey, you know what's [ __ ] crazy? None of this seems to work and everyone is still dying
super young." That's so wild. >> I feel like we should try something else. >> You know, that seems to be like a
throughine in our species is >> cuz like even when like we were talking about this like a few days ago that like
during the Salem witch trials, everyone's like, "How did it stop?" And it's like it literally stopped because
they like pressed to death an old man. >> Yeah. >> In a field naked and they were and some
people were like, "I think we went too far. This [ __ ] is weird what we're doing." Huh. Like this is weird. At
least that, you know, I'm hopeful that that actually starts to happen soon again.
>> I hope that >> people start looking around and being like, "Hey, it's [ __ ] weird. Really
gross what we're doing. Maybe we should stop. >> Let's stop. Maybe we should uh >> It is a trait of our species." So, you
know, it's very very well could happen again. >> It always gets worse. >> But it seems to happen there, too. It's
just like everyone's like, "Huh, >> none of this is working. We should stop." >> Yeah. I think they were definitely
feeling weird, too, about the moral implications that were involved. >> Yeah. I love for like a long time they
were just like I guess we just deal with it. >> I guess you know >> once we ran out of bodies to steal at
least we were eating criminals like it's medicinal happiness. >> Very much like a hunter's mentality that
it's like well I use everything on the animal so >> it's fine. >> Yeah. You know
>> I mean it also got harder to supply mummies from Egypt and people were also catching on to like the trickery
involved. >> Oh yeah. The snake oil of it all. >> Yeah. But mostly people just got smarter
and a little more empathetic. Good for us. But shockingly enough, the last recorded listing of a mummy for sale was
in a magazine in the 20th century. 1924 to be exact. So I guess not really good for us.
>> Yeah. I can't really give us too much of a pat on the back. >> Just a little tap tap. It's a little
like we're getting there. Yeah. And that, my friends, is a brief history of corpse medicine. That is [ __ ]
fascinating. It was really fun to dive into. >> I loved that. >> Maybe next I'll look into fecal medicine
>> and as you should poo. >> Mikey said absolutely not medicine. >> I wanted to include it, but and I I
don't I got like very OCD about it. I was like, well, technically it's not corpse medicine because it's not dead.
So, I'll go into it another time. >> This was great. I liked this. >> I'm glad. I had a feeling you would love
this. >> Yeah. Anytime I get to reference a ghost song during a during a morbid episode,
I'm here for it. >> Yeah. Talk about people like dipping their [ __ ] bread into their bread in
fallen blood. >> [ __ ] Like warm execution blood. >> Yeah. >> Damn. I mean, I read something that was
like, is it all that different from taking the Eucharist? >> I mean, >> at church, they're like, "Here's the
blood of Jesus." >> Yeah. >> It's real [ __ ] up. >> I guess one one is symbolic and one is
luckily one is literal. >> Luckily, it's moved on to symbolism, but >> symbolism. Back then they were less
symbolic about it >> apparently. >> [ __ ] crazy. >> Damn. >> Yeah, >> that's wild.
>> Crazy. >> Well, thank you for that. >> You're welcome. It conjures up so many
images, doesn't it? >> Yeah, it really does. >> All right. Well, thank you for joining
us on our uh little bonus episode for Halloweeny. >> Hell yeah. >> And we hope you keep listening.
>> And we hope you >> keep it weird, but not so weird that you go to corpse medicine as a way to treat
your ailments. It's not going to work. >> It's not. But go listen to Mummy Dust by
Ghost. >> A mummy dust. >> Doesn't that talk about [ __ ] >> No, I don't even think it is.
>> Oh, it's not. >> It's literally about like snake oil salesman. >> Oh, that's like it's referring to
>> the corpse medicine aspect of it. >> This one goes out to Tobias Forge.

Weirdos! It's our SECOND BONUS EPISODE!!! This month, Ash is ready to give you a dose of corpse medicine! From mummy dust & king's drops to blood jam & human fat poultices, this month's bonus covers the weird remedies of yesteryear that will make you PRAISE modern medicine!

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Listener Tale Theme Music licensed from @ Main Theme: Matti Paalanen — Trick or Treat — Provided by Jamendo Ad Music: Title: Artist: BlueJay Studio — Spooky Waltz — Provided by Jamendo

Brief Summary

Hosts Ash and Elena discuss their celebrity encounters and the bizarre history of corpse medicine, including human body parts used for healing.

Key points

Meeting Icons. Ash and Elena share their excitement about meeting Andy Cohen and Kelly Ripa.
Regretful Missed Opportunity. Ash reflects on not recognizing Alex Cooper at an event.
A Whirlwind Week. Ash and Elena recap their exciting week in New York.
The Power of Positivity. The hosts discuss the importance of spreading kindness online.
Corpse Medicine. Ash introduces a morbid topic for discussion in the bonus episode.
The Origins of Mummy. The word 'mummy' originally referred to a substance, not the body itself.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It feels so good to be home.

Ash sharing a sweet moment about home.

4:34WatchOct 13, 2025

Tension

30/ 100Low tension

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