ABSTRACT
In the spring of 1688, a 27-year-old Constance maidservant named Elsbetha Eggenmann fell sick. Her belly had swollen up “like a sponge”, and then contracted again. She was unsure whether this was caused by a pregnancy or by a wandering uterus, but since that year she had had intercourse ten times or so with different men, all using coitus interruptus, she decided to send a urine sample to Master Daubler, the former executioner. Examining it, he delivered his opinion that Elsbetha was suffering from dropsy: her stomach was full of “mucus” that needed to be expelled. Daubler’s wife also examined the urine. She advised Elsbetha to buy from the pharmacy “three types of ash” that she herself had once successfully used against a “growth”. Elsbetha did so, and put the remedy into cloth to soak it in red wine. After drinking a litre of the mixture little changed, so she consulted a woman who prescribed herbs. These too failed to help. By now, her master and mistress thought her illness suspicious: her “whole body” was swollen and she could work only at the spinning-wheel. A doctor now analyzed her urine and recommended a “purgative” drink. Later he prescribed a potion against dropsy and pills for her headaches. After consuming these, Elsbetha woke up at night, her belly “bursting”. She miscarried soon afterwards. 1
