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The "Famous French Method for the Bite of a Mad Dog" was a home remedy included in the 1734 work A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick, and Surgery[1] and, apparently, part of the fourth-year Potions curriculum at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.[2]

Preparation[]

  1. Gather equal quantities of Rue, Vervain, Sage, Plantain, Polypody, Common Wormwood, Mint, Motherwort, Balm, Betony, St John's-wort and Centaury leaves and tie them together in bundles, wrap them in paper and hang them in the shade.
  2. After they are dried up, "pound them" into a fine powder.
  3. Mix two to three drams of this powder with half a dram of powder of vipers-flesh in a glass of good white-wine and take it in morning fasting for fifty-two days together (the dose must be doubled if the bite is near the head or the face).
  4. Clean the wound not with sea water, as it is English practice, but with Camphirated Spirit or Spirit of Myrrh.
  5. If possible, take the liver of the dog, dry and powder it immediately, and mix three to six ounces of it with wine, syrup or any way you can get the patient to swallow it. Drink the mixture within twenty-four hours of the incident, if possible.[1][2]

Behind the scenes[]

  • The phrase "mad dog" generally refers to an animal infected with rabies. The disease is highly transmissible to humans and is nearly always fatal. Though this home remedy method (at least in the real world) would not have been effective, modern medicine has developed vaccines that are highly effective in preventing the development of the disease if administered soon after infection.
  • Such remedies were common and generally involved adding a part from the animal in question. The phrase "the hair of the dog that bit you" ie: taking a drink of alcohol to lessen the effects of a hangover, derives from such practices.

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

Potions (class)
Potioneers
Arsenius Jigger · Baruffio · Bella Navarro · Bilius Finbok · Blossom Degrasse · Dai Ryusaki · Damocles Belby · Dorothy Sprottle · Erica Stainwright · Fay Frêne · Fatimah Lawang · Fleamont Potter · Gethsemane Prickle · Gilderoy Lockhart · Glossy · Glover Hipworth · Gregory the Smarmy · Gunhilda de Gorsemoor · Hector Dagworth-Granger · Hesper Starkey · Jalal Sehmi · J. Pippin · Laverne de Montmorency · Leana · Libatius Borage · Linfred of Stinchcombe · Mulpepper · Mundungus Fletcher · Nicolas Flamel · Phineas Bourne · Priya Treadwell · Quintia McQuoid · Regulus Moonshine · Rogue alchemist · Sacharissa Tugwood · Skower · Tilden Toots · Vindictus Viridian · Xiana Bakri · Zenith Xeep · Zygmunt Budge
Potions at Hogwarts
Cauldron cupboard · Dungeon Five · Potions basement · Potions Classroom · Potions Club · Hogwarts Potions Dept. · Potions Staircase · Potions Master's office · Potions Storeroom
Professors Bartholomew · Swoopstikes · Unnamed Professor (16th century) · Aesop Sharp · Horace Slughorn · Unnamed Professor (1960s) · Severus Snape · Unnamed Professor (2021)
Textbooks A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick, and Surgery · Advanced Potion-Making · Ingredient Encyclopedia · Magical Drafts and Potions · One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi
Essays Abandoned potions of the Middle Ages as compared to the Black Plague · Essay on invisibility · Essay on shrinking potions · Essay on the properties of Hemlock · The Properties of Moonstone and its Uses in Potion-Making
Potions studied at Hogwarts
Ageing Potion · Amortentia · Antidotes · Antidote to Common Poisons · Antidote to garish pink blended poison · Antidote to Uncommon Poisons · Antidote to Veritaserum · Babbling Beverage · Befuddlement Draught · Calming Draught · Cheese-Based Potions · Confusing Concoction · Cough Potion · Cure for Boils · Deflating Draught · Doxycide · Draught of Living Death · Draught of Peace · Elixir to Induce Euphoria · Erumpent Potion · Essence of Insanity · Everlasting Elixirs · Felix Felicis · Fire Protection Potion · Forgetfulness Potion · The Famous French Method for the Bite of a Mad Dog · Garish pink blended poison · Garrotting Gas · Girding Potion · Hair-Raising Potion · Herbicide Potion · Hiccoughing Solution · Invigoration Draught · Laughing Potion · Mandrake Restorative Draught · Memory Potion · Pepperup Potion · Polyjuice Potion · Pompion Potion · Potion for Dreamless Sleep · Rat Tonic · Regerminating Potion · Scintillation Solution · Shrinking Solution · Skele-Gro · Strength Potion · Strengthening Solution · Swelling Solution · Undetectable Poisons · Veritaserum · Weedosoros · Wideye Potion · Wiggenweld Potion · Wit-Sharpening Potion · Wolfsbane Potion · Wound-Cleaning Potion