Animal Remedies for Warts. Insights from the Folklore

Folk medicine played an important role in human history. Their sources were fed by experience, superstition and religiosity. In the following, we analyze traditions of wart therapy with a focus on Europe under medical-historical aspects. We focus on zootherapy, i.e. the use of animals to treat common skin warts. Both domestic and wild animals were used. Mollusks, reptiles, spiders, insects, fish, and mammals are mentioned. Often the animals used died an agonizing death within these rites. The cruelty of such procedures may be seen as a reflection of the hard living conditions of common people in history. In contrast to healing, in folk medicine terms such as 'drive away,' 'lose,' or 'disappear' are used. Successes were usually individualized. Suggestion and autosuggestion are important. Considering that the rate of spontaneous remissions is high (up to 2/3 within 2 years), the 'effect' of the procedures is probably mostly due to this circumstance, and we would not recommend any of them. Interestingly, recently some antimicrobial compounds have been isolated from snails and ants.