The medicinal uses of Stag Beetles

This paper reviews the medicinal use of Stag Beetles (Lucanus cervus) the heyday of which was in early modern times, especially in the German and Alpine regions. The head of the beetle was worn as an amulet especially by children, to protect against evil forces, epileptic seizures and convulsions, bedwetting and cramp, and more widely against unspecified pain, headache, oedema, rheumatism, and to ease childbirth and various nervous disorders. It was also commended topically in the treatment of scrophula and gout, while Stag Beetle oil was used for earache and in a bid to cure deafness.