The Doctor Will See Your Urine Now

Venice, January 13, 1628

After a long night of carnival celebration, you wake with a pounding headache, scratchy sore throat and sharp cough. You hope it’s only the ill effects of too much wine and meat. But as the morning passes, the sore throat lingers and the cough deepens. You call for the scullery boy.

Fearing the worst, you pee into a glass bottle kept especially for such occasions. The glass bottle, with a wide belly, thin neck, and crystal-clear glass, is designed for easy transport and inspection of its contents. You cork the bottle, press a gold florin into the scullery boy’s hand, and send him off to your physician with the specimen and a note describing your symptoms.

Your physician reads the note and holds the glass bottle up to the light, swirling the contents as he takes note of its color, consistency, and sediments. Perhaps he is unsure and so sends the scullery boy back to collect another sample in the evening. Or perhaps it is an easy diagnosis. He writes out a recipe for the cure and sends the scullery boy to the apothecary.

Of all the diagnostic techniques used in the early 17^th century, the most popular and, in some cases, accurate was the uroscopy. For example, urine sediment and color can, in some instances, indicate a possible pregnancy. Medical students spent months, even years, memorizing the patterns and presentations of urine and disease. On winter mornings in the cities of Europe, a scullery boy, glass bottle of fresh urine in hand, scampering through the morning market, was a common sight.

You can find more information on renaissance medicine in Micheal Stolberg’s “Learned Physicians and Everyday Medical Practice in the Renaissance.”  I read the book before writing “Hand of the Ghost”, a medical adventure set in 17^th century Venice and Istanbul. Just off a development edit, a draft of “Hand of the Ghost” should be ready for circulation to agents and publishers in 2026.