We went to the table, and there I noticed many interesting and useful things in this kind scientist's household. The first dish served was a very large bowl with strawberries and milk.
The need for such adish was determined by a case in the past — many years ago M[r.] Archiater experienced severe gout pain causing him unrest, and these bouts lasted 6 to 7 days. Then his spouse served him a large dose of strawberries for refreshment after which he fell into a sound sleep. Every time the pain reoccurred he overcame it with strawberries, which were in season at that time of the year, and the bouts of pain were again replaced by healing sleep until the pain was finally gone. When Mr. Archiater experienced the same bout of gout pain exactly a year later in Ulriksdal and when the Queen heard of it, she joked: “As a doctor, hemust help himself now”, which he agreed to, but only if he could be provided with strawberries every day.
The unlucky baron Horn, who was a court marshal at that time, received an order from the Queen to purchase a large stock of these berries every day for Mr. Archiater. He ate them for several days in a row, and his “enemy” was luckily overpoweredagain.
From that time until this moment, Mr. Archiater has avoided bouts of pain for many years now thanks to constant everyday use of strawberries (which can be found in large quantities in Uppsala — large and very fragrant, especially the wild strawberries).
August in Creative Museum Planner 2018 Designed by H2E.
Fragment from Nikolaus von Himsel (1729–1764) three volume travel diary, Latvian Academic Library, Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts