What Did Tudor Medics Do With Urine?

Physicians from the Tudor period used urine as one of their favourite tools for diagnosing illness. Each doctor of the time had a collection of carefully shaped glass pots that he used to examine urine for its colour and for any particles.

It was standard procedure to examine the urine three times: once when it was fresh, again when it had cooled for about an hour, and then again when it was completely cold. The urine was also shaken, first gently and then more vigorously to see what effect this had on any particles. Finally, in difficult cases, the doctor would taste the urine to see if it was sweet or sour.

Tudor doctors had elaborate charts that showed them what each shade of colour of the urine indicated and what treatment was required. At the time, none of the information would have been of much use to making the patient better – people then either got better or died, despite rather than because of any medical treatment they received.