The Uncertain Origins of Aspirin
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The origins of aspirin are shrouded in mystery, and a recent exploration of its history has sparked a lively debate about the validity of the ancient remedy story. Some commenters, like ggm, are willing to buy into the tale, while others, such as derbOac and bena, are more skeptical, pointing out potential misinterpretations of historical data and dosage discrepancies. As the discussion unfolds, it becomes clear that the bitterness of willow bark tea and the actual salicin content are crucial factors in determining the feasibility of ancient remedies. The thread takes a fascinating turn when ChocMontePy reveals that a cited ancient Egyptian text was likely misattributed, adding another layer of complexity to the aspirin's uncertain origins.
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Dec 16, 2025 at 6:08 PM EST
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On the whole, I'm going to give blowing willow smoke up my Anus a miss, if that's ok.
Speaking of which, here lie several etchings of people blowing smoke up a miss's ass FWIW:
https://allthatsinteresting.com/blowing-smoke-up-your-ass
"When researchers gave people willow bark extract corresponding to 240 mg of salicin, then looked at how much salicylic acid was present in their blood over time, it was the equivalent of taking 87 mg of aspirin (300 mg to 600 mg is recommended per dose, with up to 3600 mg allowed per day). Notably, 240 mg of salicin is the recommended daily dose specified by the European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy...
If... each cup of tea provided 240 mg salicin (possible with a good steeping and a high salicin content in the bark), then one would need to drink 41 cups of tea to get a full, therapeutic aspirin dose of 3600 mg."
Wouldn't you only need around 4 cups to get a full dose? That seems not unreasonable to me. The 10L would be to get the maximum safe dose, which seems like a different thing.
It's relevant because it's a primary argument the author uses to dismiss willow use in older times (even as they point to similar use later as eventually motivating the discovery of aspirin even later).
And 240mg is right under the lower end of the recommended dose.
So, two cups?
Or more likely, “drink this until you start to feel better”.
This depends entirely on how bitter it is. There are certainly root bark teas you can brew that will induce vomiting before completing 4 cups.
But Mann made a mistake. The book he was likely quoting from, 'Science and Secrets of Early Medicine' by Jurgen Thorwald (which, to be fair, is not referenced at all by Mann) does mention the Ebers papyrus in the paragraph after the quote (on pp. 57-8 for people playing along at home) but the willow quote itself in the paragraph before turns out to be from the Edwin Smith Papyrus, Case 41 to be exact. It can be read here:
https://archive.org/details/oip3_20220624/page/374/
So that quoted willow did exist in ancient Egypt.
If you use modern medical knowledge to inform the translation (and interpret the phrase "the feathers of birds and the ḏrḏr.w of trees" elsewhere as referring to how trees are covered in bark just as birds are covered in feathers; see commentary on this dictionary entry: https://tla.digital/lemma/185150 ) you potentially get a more accurate translation, but you cannot treat it as independent evidence for the use of willow bark as opposed to willow leaves. Hopefully at least the identity of the willow tree has been established in a less circular manner.
Allow me to clarify: this is a french urban legend, and in french, "aspire in" could mean "snort it in", though in a goofy brand-name-ified sort of way. This is a joke that my french high school chemistry teacher served the entire class in the most serious way possible.
So, rather than killing pain, they probably just stopped complaining about it to save them from having to drink any more bitter willow tea.
i.e. Englifh => English; aftringent => astringent; aguifh => aguish; diforders => disorders; curiofity => curiosity; difpenfatories => dispensatories; faid => said; exifted => existed; fuch => such; fufpected afcribed => suspected ascribed; botanifts => botanists