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 Malagmata were substances applied to the skin to soften it, such as poultices.

Malaxation was the process of making a pill mass or a plaster soft enough to be worked.

Manica Hypocratis (Sleeve of Hippocrates) was a long linen bag used to filter pharmaceutical preparations.

Manipulus, a handful, often prescribed as an approximate measure of the quantity of herbs or flowers to be used in a pharmaceutical process.

Manus Christi was the name of a tablet made of sugar and flavoured with rose into which some prepared pearl entered.

Manus Dei was the name of an old plaster containing myrrh, frankincense, ammoniac, and galbanum.

Marmalades were conserves of various fruits, the pulp of which was preserved in sugar. Said to have been originally the pulp of the quince (in Portuguese marmelo) Some old medical books say the pharmaceutical preparations known by this name, which often contained manna, were derived from the French marc mêlé.

Masticatories. Substances chewed with the object of exciting the saliva. Sage, betony, pyrethrum, and tobacco have been employed for this purpose.

Matrass. A round or oval glass vessel used in chemical operations to digest or evaporate liquids. It was provided with a long straight neck, and is supposed to owe its name to this, matras or matrat being an old word for an arrow or javelin.

Mellites were syrups made with honey instead of sugar.

Mensis Philosophicus, a philosophic month, or forty days.

Menstruum. The alchemists used this term much as the word solvent is now used, and some etymologists