Thomas Phaer (also spelled Phaire) was an English physician of the Tudor period. Phaer studied law at Oxford and became an attorney and a Member of Parliament. He also had a lucrative sideline in medical advice and treatments. In 1544, Phaer published The Boke of Chyldren, believed to be the first specialist text on paediatrics.

In this extract, Phaer offers advice on how to deal with bed-wetting and incontinence:

“Old men and children are often times annoyed when their urine issueth out, either in their sleep or waking against their will, having no power to restraint it when it cometh. [To mitigate this] they must avoid all fat meats till the virtue of retention be restored again, and to use these powders in their meats and drinks: Take the windpipe of a cock and pluck it, then burn it to powder and use it twice or thrice a day. The stones [testicles] of a hedgehog, powdered, is of the same virtue. [So is] the claws of a goat, made into powder, drunk or eaten in pottage.”

Source: Thomas Phaer, The Boke of Chlydren (1544). Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.