A poultice or medical plaster applied to the skin for healing; a medical preparation used in ancient and traditional medicine.
From Greek 'katápassa', from 'kata-' (down) + 'passein' (to sprinkle), literally 'sprinkled down,' referring to powders and pastes spread on wounds.
Ancient physicians sprinkled healing herbs directly onto wounds, which is exactly what catapasms were—they're an ancestor of modern medical plasters, showing that our bandage technology goes back thousands of years.
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