Overview of Exhumed Ch. 7: Leftovers
In this bonus episode, Aaron Mahnke introduces his new book Exhumed and shares Chapter 7, “Leftovers,” which explores the strange and unsettling history of corpse medicine—the widespread belief that parts of human bodies could heal the living. The chapter traces how ideas like sympathetic magic, alchemy, and the doctrine of signatures helped normalize practices that sound shocking today, from using skull moss to treat nosebleeds to ingesting powdered human skull as medicine.
What This Chapter Is About
This chapter focuses on the question behind the book as a whole: why did people believe these practices worked? Mahnke argues that corpse medicine was not just superstition, but a system shaped by cultural beliefs, medical theory, religious ideas, and social prejudice.
Core idea
- Human bodies, especially those of people who died young, violently, or by execution, were thought to retain powerful “vital spirits.”
- Those remains were then used in medicine because they were believed to transfer that life force to the sick.
Major Examples of Corpse Medicine
Skull moss and nosebleeds
- Robert Boyle reportedly used moss grown on a human skull to stop nosebleeds.
- This was tied to the doctrine of signatures: the belief that God marked objects with clues to their purpose.
Human fat as medicine
- Human fat was harvested from battlefields and executed criminals.
- It was used to treat:
- wounds
- scars
- sore limbs
- gout
- dislocations and lameness
- The practice lingered surprisingly long, with reports of its use still appearing in the 20th century.
The hanged man’s hand
- A dead person’s hand, especially from an executed criminal, was used to treat ailments like:
- boils
- goiters
- cysts
- epilepsy
- At public executions, sick people would rush the scaffold to have the corpse’s hand brushed over them.
Skull powder and drinking from skulls
- Human skulls were ground into powder and consumed in various remedies.
- Some people drank from skulls directly, believing it would help with conditions like epilepsy.
Notable Historical Figures and Sources
Robert Boyle
- Used skull moss for nosebleeds and reflects the blend of emerging science with older magical-medical thinking.
Leonardo da Vinci
- Endorsed corpse medicine, writing that life could be preserved “with the death of others.”
Paracelsus
- Helped systematize the idea that body parts retained usable vitality.
- Believed violent and premature death made corpses especially potent medicinally.
Pliny the Elder
- Recorded numerous human-body remedies in Natural History, including references to hands, teeth, marrow, and skulls.
King Charles II
- Used a concoction known as Goddard’s Drops or King’s Drops.
- Ingredients included:
- human skull
- dried vipers
- ivory
- hartshorn
- opium
- alcohol
- The king’s enthusiasm for it shows how deeply these ideas persisted among elites.
The Dark Side of Corpse Medicine
The chapter emphasizes that corpse medicine was not just bizarre—it was also tied to:
- execution culture
- battlefield scavenging
- colonial violence
- racism and dehumanization
A major example is the English use of Irish skulls for medicine, reflecting the way colonial powers justified cruelty by treating others as less than human. Mahnke points out the hypocrisy of Europeans accusing others of cannibalism while literally consuming human remains themselves.
Key Takeaways
- Corpse medicine was once mainstream across Europe, not fringe nonsense.
- Its popularity came from a mix of:
- magic
- religion
- alchemy
- early medical theory
- cultural prejudice
- Many of these treatments were most valued when the corpse came from someone who died young, violently, or publicly executed.
- The chapter sets up the broader theme of Exhumed: understanding not just the practices themselves, but the beliefs that made them seem sensible.
Book and Episode Notes
- This episode is a promotional preview of Exhumed.
- Aaron Mahnke says the book contains 20 chapters and expands on the historical context behind the ideas first explored in Lore.
- He invites listeners to pre-order and notes the book’s release date is August 6.