Urine Chart

 

About the Item

Looking, smelling and tasting (yes tasting) urine could tell a Tudor physician (doctor) a lot about what might be wrong with their patient.

Physicians did not have to physically examine, or even see their patients to make their diagnosis. Instead, they would make a diagnosis based on the colour, smell and taste of the patient’s urine.

Physicians often referred to a urine chart, like this one, to help make their diagnosis. According to the medical book 'Fasciculus Medicine', there were 20 shades of urine and each colour told the physician something different about their patient’s health.

White urine, for example, could be an indication of drunkenness; or red wine coloured urine could mean an inflammation of the kidney or liver if accompanied by a fever.

Even today’s doctors use urine as a way of working out what might be wrong with a patient. However, luckily they don't have to taste it anymore!

 

Try this!

Click here to learn more about medical practices then and now. 

 

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