davywavy | Quiz for the day.

The Mediaeval Magician/Doctor called Paracelcus once invented a medicine he called the "Weapon Salve". This worked on the principles of sympathetic magic - if a person were harmed by a weapon or similar object, then the weapon would be coated in the salve and bandaged and treated. The power of sympathetic magic would cause the healing opwer of the salve to tranfer itself to the would inflicted, facilitating recovery. If the weapon that inflicted the wound could not be identified or recovered, then another weapon would be touched to the wound and treated accordingly.

Interestingly, injured patients treated in this way would often recover far more quickly - and stand a better chance of recovery from their wounds - than those simply treated in the ordinary fashion. Why was this?

A drink for the first full correct answer.