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THE
NATURAL HISTORY
FLINT
TEANSLATED,
WITH COPIOUS NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE LATE
JOHN BOSTOCK, M.D., F.R.S.,
AND
H. T. RILEY, ESQ., B.A.,
LATE SCHOLAR OF CLARE HALL, CAMBRIDGE.
VOL. V.
LONDON :
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
MDCCCLTI.
J. BILLING, PBINTF.K AND STKREOTYPER (FROM WOKING),
GU1LDKOBD, 8UEHKY.
CONTENTS
OF THE FIFTH VOLUME.
BOOK XXIV.
THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE FOREST TREES.
CHAP. Page
1. The antipathies and sympathies which exist among trees and
plants . . . . '. . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. The lotus of Italy : six remedies 3
3. Acorns : thirteen remedies . . . . . . . . . . 4
4. The kermes-berry of the holm-oak : three remedies .. .. ib.
5. Gall-nuts : twenty-three remedies . . . . . . . . 5
6. Mistletoe: eleven remedies .. .. .. .. .. ib.
7. The excrescences which grow on the robur : one remedy. The
cerrus : eight remedies . . . . . . . . . . 6
8. The cork-tree : two remedies . . . 7
9. The beech : four remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
I 10. The cypress : twenty- three remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
• 11. The cedar: thirteen remedies .. .. .. .. .. 8
I 12. Cedrides ; ten remedies .. .. .. .. .. .. 9
• 13. Galbanum: twenty-three remedies 10
[ 14. Hammoniacum: twenty-four remedies 11
15. Storax; ten remedies .. .. .. .. .. .. ib.
i]6. Spondylium : seventeen remedies .. .. .. .. 12
17. Sphagnos, sphacos, or bryon : five remedies .. .. .. ib.
18. The terebinth ; six remedies. .. .. .. .. .. ib.
' 19. The pitch-tree and the larch : eight remedies 13
\ 20. The chamaepitys : ten remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
\ 21. Thepityusa: six remedies 14
• 22. Resins: twenty-two remedies 15
23. Pitch : twenty- three remedies . . . . . . . . . . 17
I 24. Pisseleeon and palimpissa : sixteen remedies .. .. .. 18
? 25. Pissasphaltos : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
26. Zopissa: one remedy 19
27. The torch-tree : one remedy . . ib.
28. The lentisk : twenty-two remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
29. The plane-tree : twenty -five remedies . . . . . . . . 20
VI CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
30. The ash : five remedies 21
31. The maple : one remedy ib.
32. The poplar : eight remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
33. The elm : sixteen remedies 22
34. The linden-tree : five remedies 23
35. The elder : fifteen remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
36. The juniper : twenty-one remedies 24
37. The willow : fourteen remedies. The willow of Ameria : one
remedy . . .... . . . . . . . . . . 25
38. The vitex : thirty-three remedies 26
39. The erica : one remedy 28
40. The broom : five remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
41. The myrica, otherwise called tamarica, or tamarix : three re-
medies .. .. .. .. .. .. •.. .. 29
42. The brya : twenty-nine remedies 30
43. The blood-red shrub : one remedy 31
44. The siler : three remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
45. The privet : eight remedies . . . . . . . . . . 32
46. The alder : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
47- The several varieties of the ivy: thirty-nine remedies .. ib.
48. The cisthos : five remedies 34
49. The cissos erythranos : two remedies. The chamsecissos : two
remedies. The smilax : three remedies. The clematis :
eighteen remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
50. The reed : nineteen remedies . . . . . . . . . . 35
61. The papyrus, and the paper made from it : three remedies . . 36
52. The ebony : five remedies .. .. .. .. .. 37
53. The rhododendron : one remedy , . . . . . . . ib.
54. The rhus or sumach-tree ; two varieties of it : eight remedies.
Stomatice 38
55. Rhus erythros : nine remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
56. The erythrodanus : eleven remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
57. The alysson : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . 39
58. The radicula or struthion : thirteen remedies. The apocynum :
two observations upon it . . . . . . . . . . ib.
59. Rosemary : eighteen remedies . . « . . . . . . . 40
60. The seed called cachrys. .. .. .. .. ..41
61. The herb savin : seven remedies .. .. .. .. . . . ib.
62. Selago : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
63. Samolus : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
64. Gum : eleven remedies . . . . ib.
65. The Egyptian or Arabian thorn : four remedies . . . . 43
66. The white thorn : two remedies. The acanthion : one remedy ib.
67. Gum acacia : eighteen remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
68. Aspalathos : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . 4o
69. The erysisceptrum, adipsatheon, or diaxylon : eight remedies ib.
70. The thorn called appendix: two remedies. The pyracantha:
one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
71. The paliurus : ten remedies ib.
CONTENTS. Vll
CHAP. Page
72. The agrifolia. The aquifolia : one remedy. The yew : one
property belonging to it . . . . . . . . . . 46
73. The bramble : fifty-one remedies . . . . . . . . 47
74. The cynosbatos : three remedies . . . . , . . . 48
75. The Idaean bramble 50
76. The rhamnos ; two varieties of it : five remedies . . . . ib.
77. Lycium: eighteen remedies .. .. .. ,. .. 51
78. Sarcocolla : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . 52
79. Oporice : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
80. The trixago, chamaedrys, chaniaedrops, or teucria : sixteen re-
medies . , .... . . . . . . . . . . 52
81. The chamaedaphne : five remedies .. .. .. .. ib.
82. The chamelaea : six remedies . . . . . . . . . . tb
83. The chamaesyce : eight remedies .. .. .. .. .. 54
84. The chamaecissos : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . ib.
85. The chamaeleuce, farfarum, or farfugium : one remedy. . . ib.
86. The chamaepeuce : five remedies. The charaaecyparissos : two
remedies. The ampeloprason : six remedies. The stachys :
one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
87. The clinopodion, cleonicion, zopyron, or ocimoides : three re-
medies . . , . ib.
88. The clematis centunculus : three remedies .. .. .. 56
89. The clematis echites, or lagine . . . . . . . . . . ib.
90. The Egyptian clematis, daphnoides, or polygonoides : two re-
medies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
91. Different opinions on the dracontium .. .. .. .. ib.
92. The aron : thirteen remedies . . . . . . . . . . 58
93. The dracunculus : two remedies . . . , . . . . . . 60
94. The arisaros : three remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
95. The mille folium or my riophy lion t seven remedies .. .. 61
96. The pseudobunion : four remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
97. The myrrhis, myriza, or myrrha : seven remedies . . . . ib.
98. The onobrychis : three remedies 62
99. Coracesta and callicia .. .. .. .. .. .. i//.
100. The rainsas or corinthia : one remedy .. . . .. .. 63
101. The aproxis : six remedies .. .. .. .. .. ib.
102. The aglaophotis or marmaritis. The achaemenis or hippo-
phobas. The theobrotion or semnion. The adamantis.
The arianis. The therionarca. The aethiopis or merois.
The ophiusa. The thalassegle or potamaugis. The thean-
gelis. The gelotophyllis. The hestiatoris or protomedia.
The casignetes or dionysonymphas. The helianthes or
heliocallis. The hermesias. The seschynomene. Thecrocis.
The cenotheris. The anacampseros . . . . . 64
103. The eriphia .. 67
104. The wool plant : one remedy. The lactoris : one remedy. The
militaris : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . 68
105. The stratiotes : five remedies .« .. .. .. .. ib.
106. A plant growing on the head of a statue : one remedy . . ib.
Vlll CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
107. A plant growing on the banks of a river : one remedy . . 69
108. The herb called lingua : one remedy .. .. . . .. ib.
109. Plants that take root in a sieve : one remedy . . . . . . ib.
110. Plants growing upon dunghills : one remedy .. .. .. ib.
111. Plants that have been moistened with the urine of a dog : one
remedy . . , . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
112. Therodarum: three remedies .. ib.
113. The plant called impia : two remedies .. .. . . .. 70
114. The plant called Venus' comb: one remedy .. .. .. ib.
115. The exedum. The plant called notia : two remedies .. .. 71
116. The philanthropos : one remedy. The lappa canaria : two
remedies , . . . . . . . . . . „ . . ib.
117. Tordylon or syreon : three remedies ib.
118. Gramen: seventeen remedies .. .. .. .„ .. 72
119. Dactylos: five remedies .. .. .. .. .. .. 73
120. Fenugreek or silicia : thirty-one remedies .. .. .. 74
BOOK XXV.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE WILD PLANTS.
1. When the wild plants were first brought into use . . . . 77
2. The Latin authors who have written upon these plants . . 78
3. At what period the Eomans acquired some knowledge of this
subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
4. Greek authors who have delineated the plants in colours . . 80
5. The first Greek authors who wrote upon plants . . . . ib.
6. Why a few of the plants only have been used medicinally.
Plants, the medicinal properties of which have been miracu-
lously discovered. The cynorrhodos : two remedies. The
plant called dracunculus : one remedy. The britannica : five
remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
• 7. What diseases are attended with the greatest pain. Names of
persons who have discovered famous plants . . . . . . 86
8. Moly : three remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
9. The dodecatheos : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . 88
10. The pseonia, pentorobus, or glycyside : one remedy .. .. ib.
11. The panaces asclepion : two remedies .. .. .. .. 89
12. The panaces heracleon : three remedies . . . . . . . . 90
13. The panaces chironion : four remedies .. .. .. .. ib.
14. The panaces centaurion or pharnacion : three remedies . . ib.
15. The heracleon sideri on : four remedies .. .. .. .. 91
16. The ampelos chironia : one remedy ib.
17. Hyoscyamos, known also as the apollinaris oraltercum; five
varieties of it : three remedies . . . . . . , . ib.
18. Linozostis, parthenion, hermupoa, or mercurialis : two varieties
of it : twenty-two remedies . . . . . . . . 92
19. The achilleos, sideritis, panaces heracleon, millefolium, or scopae
regiae ^ six varieties of it : three remedies 94
CONTENTS. ix
CHAP. Page
20. The teucrion, hemionion, or splenion : two remedies . . . . 95
21. Melampodium, hellebore, or veratrura; three varieties of it.
The way in which it is gathered, and how the quality of it is
tested , 96
22. Twenty-four remedies derived from black hellebore. How it
should be taken 98
23. Twenty-three remedies derived from white hellebore . . . . 99
24. Eighty-eight observations upon the two kinds of hellebore . . 100
25. To what persons hellebore should never be administered .. 101
26. The mithridatia . . 102
27. The scordotis or scordion : four remedies . . . . . . ib.
28. The polemonia, philetaeria, or chiliodynamus : six remedies .. ib.
29. The eupatoria : one remedy 103
30. Centaurion or chironion : twenty remedies . . . . . . ib.
31. The centaurion lepton, or libadion, known also as fel terra :
twenty-two remedies . . . . . . . . . . 104
32. The centauris triorchis : two remedies ib.
33. Clymenus : two remedies .. ,. .. .. .. 105
34. Gentian : thirteen remedies . . . . . . . . . . ?/;.
35. The lysimachia : eight remedies 106
36. Artemisia, parthenis, botrys, or ambrosia : five remedies . . ib.
37. Nymphaea, heracleou, rhopalon, or madon; two varieties of it:
four remedies . . , . . . . . . . . . . . 107
38. Two varieties of euphorbia : four remedies. The chamelaea . . ib.
39. Two varieties of the plantago : forty-six remedies .. .. 109
40. Buglossos : three remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
41. Cynoglossos: three remedies .. .. .. .. .. HO
42. The buphthalmos or cachla : one remedy . . . . . . ib.
43. Plants which have been discovered by certain nations. The
scythice : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
44. The hippace : three remedies .. .. .. . . ..Ill
45. The ischcemon : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
46. The cestros, psychotrophon, vettonica, or serratula : forty-eight
remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
47. The cantabrica : two remedies 1 12
48. Consiligo : one remedy .. .. .. .. .. .. ib.
49. The iberis : seven remedies 113
50. Plants which have been discovered by certain animals. Cheli-
donia: six remedies .. .. .. .. .. .. 114
51. The dog-plant : one remedy ib.
52. The elaphoboscon 115
53. Dictamnon ; eight remedies. Pseudodictamnon or chondris. In
what places the most powerful plants are found. How that
milk is drunk in Arcadia for the beneficial effects of the
plants upon which the cattle feed . . . . . . . . ib.
51. The aristolochia, clematitis, cretica, plistolochia, lochia polyr-
rhizos, or apple of the earth : twenty-two remedies . . 116
55. The employment of these plants for injuries inflicted by serpents 118
56. The argemonia : four remedies .. .. .. .. ..119
X CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
57. Agaric: thirty-three remedies .... 120
58. The echios ; three varieties of it ; two remedies . . . . ib.
59. Hierabotane, peristereon, or verbenaca ; two varieties of it : ten
remedies .. .. .. .. .. .. ..121
60. The blattaria : one remedy 122
61. Lemonium ; one remedy .. .. .. .. .. ib.
62. Quinquefolium, known also as pentapetes, pentaphyllon, or eha-
maezelon ; thirty-three remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
68.' The sparganion ; one remedy . . . . . . . . . . 123
64. Four varieties of the daucus : eighteen remedies . . . . ib.
65. The therionarca : two remedies 124
66. The persolata or arcion : eight remedies . . . . . . ib.
67. Cyclaminos or tuber terrae : twelve remedies .. .. .. 125
68. The cyelaminos cissanthemos : four remedies . . . . . . ib.
69. The cyelaminos chamaBcissos : three remedies . . . . . . 126
70. Peucedanum : twenty-eight remedies ib.
71. Ebulum : six remedies .. .. .. .. .. .. 127
72. Polemonia : one remedy .. .. .. .. .. .. ib.
73. Phlomos or verbascum : fifteen remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
74. The phlomis : one remedy. The lychnitis or thryallis . . ib.
75. The thelyphonon or scorpio : one remedy .. .. .. 128
76. The phrynion. neuras, or poterion : one remedy . . . . ib.
77. The alisma, damasonion, or lyron: seventeen remedies. . .. 129
78. Peristereos: six remedies .. .. .. .. .. 130
79. Eemedies against certain poisons . . . . . . . . ib.
80. The antirrhinum, anarrhinon, or lychnis agria: three remedies 131
81. Euclea : one remedy .. .. .. .. .. .. ib.
82. The pericarpum ; two varieties of it : two remedies . . . . ib.
83. Remedies for diseases of the head. Nymphsea heraclia : two
remedies 132
84. The lingulaca : one remedy ib.
85. The cacalia or leontice : three remedies . . . . . . 133
86. The callitrichos : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . ib.
87. Hyssop : ten remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
88. The lonchitis : four remedies 134
89. The xiphion or phasganion : four remedies ib.
90. Psyllion, cynoides, crystallion, sicelicon, or cynomyia ; sixteen
remedies. Thryselinum : one remedy . . . . . . 135
91. Remedies for diseases of the eyes .. .. .. ..136
92. The anagallis, or corchoron ; two varieties of it : six remedies ib.
93. The aegilops : two remedies .. .. .. .. .. 138
94. Mandragora, circseon, morion, or hippophlomos ; two varieties
of it : twenty-four remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
95. Hemlock : thirteen remedies 140
96. Crethmos agrios : one remedy .. .. .. .. .. 141
97. Molybdsena : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
98. The first kind of capnos, known also as chicken's foot : one re-
medy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
99. The arborescent capnos : three remedies ib.
CONTENTS. XI
CHAP. Page
100. The aeoron or agrion : fourteen remedies .. .. .. 142
101. The cotyledon : two varieties of it : sixty-one remedies .. 143
102. The greater aizoiim, also called buphthalmos, zoophthalmos,
stergethron, hypogeson, ambrosion, amerimnon, sedum mag-
num, or digitellus : thirty-six remedies. The smaller aizoiim,
also called erithales, trithales, chrysothales, isoetes or sedum :
thirty-two remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
103. The andrachle agria or illecebra: thirty-two remedies . . 144
104. A remedy for diseases of the nostrils .. .. .. .. 145
105. Remedies for diseases of the teeth . . . . . . . . ib.
106. Erigeron, pappus, acanthis, or senecio : eight remedies .. 146
107. The ephemeron : two remedies .. .. .. .. .. 147
108. The labrum Venereum: one remedy . . . . . . 148
109. The batrachion, ranunculus, or strumus ; four varieties of it :
fourteen remedies . . . . . . . . . ib.
110. Remedial preparations for offensive breath : two kinds of them 150
BOOK XXVI.
A CONTINUATION OF THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM PLANTS, CLASSIFIED
ACCORDING TO PARTICULAR DISEASES.
1. New forms of disease *.. .. .. .. .. .. 152
2. The nature of lichen . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
3. At what period lichen first made its appearance in Italy . . ib.
4. Carbuncle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
5. Elephantiasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
6. Colic 155
7. The new system of medicine : Asclepiades the physician . . 156
8. The changes effected by Asclepiades in the practice of medicine 157
9. Remarks in dispraise of the practices of magic . . . . 159
10. Lichen : five remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
11. Quinzy 161
12. Scrofula ib.
13. The plant called bellis : two remedies .. .. .. .. 162
14. The condurdum . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
15. Cough 163
16. Bechion, otherwise known as arcion, chamaeleuce, or tussilago :
three remedies .. .. .. .. .. .. 164
17. The bechion, known also as salvia : four remedies . . . . ib.
18. Affections of the side, chest, and stomach .. .. . . ib.
19. Molon or syron. Amomum . . - . . . . . . . . 165
20. The ephedra or anabasis; three remedies . . . . . . . 166
21. Geum; three remedies ib.
22. Tripolium: three remedies 167
23. The grompha3na ib.
24. The malundrum : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
25. Chalcetum; two remedies. Molemonium ; one remedy .. 168
26. Halus or cotonea : five remedies 169
Xll CONTENTS.
CHAP Page
27. The chamaedrops : one remedy. The stcechas : one remedy .. 169
28. Remedies for diseases of the belly . . . . . . . . ib.
29. The astragalus : six remedies . . .. .. .. .. 170
30. Ladanum : eighteen remedies .. .. .. .. ..171
31. Chondris or pseudodietamnon : one remedy. Hypoeisthis or
orobethron ; two varieties : eight remedies .. .. .. 172
32. Laver or sion : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
33. Potamogiton : eight remedies. The statice : three remedies . . ib.
34. The ceratia : two remedies. Leontopodion, leuceoron, dori-
petron, or thorybethron. Lagopus : three remedies .. 173
35. Epithymon or hippopheos ; eight remedies .. .. .. 174
36. Pycnocomon; four remedies .. .. .. .. .. 17o
37. Polypodion ; three remedies ib.
38. Scammony; eight remedies 176
39. The tithymalos characias .. .. .. .. ..177
40. The tithymalos myrtites, or caryites ; twenty-one remedies .. 178
41. The tithymalos paralios, or tithymalis; four remedies .. 179
42. The tithymalos helioscopios ; eighteen remedies . . . . ib.
43. The tithymalos cyparissias ; eighteen remedies .. .. .. 180
44. The tithymalos platyphyllos, corymbites, or amygdalites ; three
remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
45. The tithymalos dendroides, cobios, or leptophyllos ; eighteen
remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
46. The apios ischas, or raphanos agria ; two remedies . . . . ib.
47. Remedies for griping pains in the bowels .. .. .. 181
48. Remedies for diseases of the spleen . . . . . . . . ib.
49. Remedies for calculi and diseases of the bladder .. .. 182
50. Crethmos; eleven remedies. Cachry 183
51. The anthyllion ; two remedies. The anthyllis ; two remedies. . 184
52. Cepeea ; one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
53. Hypericon, chamsepitys, or corison ; nine remedies .. .. 185
54. Caros or hypericon ; ten remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
55. The callithrix ; one remedy. The perpressa ; one remedy. The
chrysanthemum; one remedy. The anthemis ; one remedy 186
56. Silaus; one remedy .. .. .. .. .. .. ib.
57. The plant of Fulvius .. .. 187
58. Remedies for diseases of the testes and of the fundament . . ib.
59. Inguinalis or argemo .. .. .. .. .. .. 188
60. Remedies for inflamed tumours. Chrysippios ; one remedy . . ib
61. Aphrodisiacs and antaphrodisiacs .. .. .. .. 189
62. The orchis or serapias ; five medicinal properties. Satyrion . . ib.
63. Satyrion ; three medicinal properties. Satyrion erythraicon ;
four medicinal properties . . . . . . . . . . 190
64. Remedies for the gout and diseases of the feet . . . . 192
65. Lappago or mollugo ; one remedy. Asperugo ; one remedy . . ib.
66. Phycos thalassion or sea-weed ; three varieties of it. Lappa
boaria . 193
67. Maladies which attack the whole of the body . . . . . . 194
68. The geranion, myrrhis or myrtis; three varieties of it : six remedies 195
CONTEKTS. xiii
CHAP. Page
69. The onotheras or onear ; three remedies 196
70. Remedies for epilepsy . . . . . . • . . . ib.
71. Remedies for fevers . . . . . . • . ... . . 197
72. Remedies for phrenitis, lethargy, and carbuncles . . . . 198
73. Remedies for dropsy. Acte or ebulum. Chamaeacte . . . . ib.
74. Remedies for erysipelas .. .. .. •• .. ..199
75. Remedies for sprains . . . . . . . . . . • . 200
76. Remedies for jaundice .. .. .. •• •• ib.
77. Remedies for boils 201
78. Remedies for fistula ib.
79. Remedies for abscesses and hard tumours . . . . . . ib.
80. Remedies for burns 202
81. Remedies for diseases of the sinews and joints ib.
82. Remedies for haemorrhage . . . . . . . . . . 203
83. Hippuris, otherwise called ephedron, anabasis, or equisoetum ;
three kinds of it ; eighteen remedies ib.
84. Stephanomelis .. 205
85. Remedies for ruptures and convulsions. Erysithales; one remedy ib.
86. Remedies for phthiriasis 206
87. Remedies for ulcers and wounds .. .. .. .. .. ib.
88. Polycnemon ; one remedy . . . . . . . . . . 209
89. Remedies for warts, and applications for the removal of scars . . ib.
90. Remedies for female diseases . . . . . . . . 210
91. Arsenogonon ; one medicinal property. Thelygonon ; one me-
dicinal property 213
92. Mastos ; one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
93. Applications for the hair. Lysimachia. Ophrys . . . . ib.
BOOK XXVII.
A DESCRIPTION OF PLANTS, AND OF THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THEM.
1. Researches of the ancients upon this subject .. .. .. 217
2. Aconite, otherwise called thelyphonon, cammaron, pardaliaiiches,
or scorpio; four remedies .. .. .. .. .. 218
3. JEthiopis ; four remedies . . . . . . . . . . 221
4. Ageraton ; four remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
5. The aloe ; twenty-nine remedies 222
6. Alcea ; one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
7. The alypon ; one remedy ib.
8. Alsine, a plant used for the same purposes as hebtine ; five re-
medies .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ib.
9. The androsaces ; six remedies . . . . . . . . 225
10. AndrosaBmon or ascyron ; six remedies . . . . , . . . ib
11. Ambrosia, botrys, or artemisia ; three remedies 226
12. The anonis or ononis ; five remedies .. .. .. ib.
13. The anagyros or acopon ; three remedies . . . . . . ib.
14. The anonymos; two remedies . . . . . . . . . . 227
15. Aparine, omphalocarpos, or philanthropes ; three remedies . . ib*
xiv CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
16. The arction or arcturum ; five remedies . . . . . . 228
17. The asplenon or hemionion; two remedies . . . . . . ib.
18. The asclepias ; two remedies .. .. .. .. .. 229
19. The aster or bubonion ; three remedies ib.
20. Ascyron and ascyroides ; three remedies ib.
21. Theaphaca; three remedies .. . . .. .. .. 230
22. Alcibium ; one remedy . . . . . . . . . . ib.
23. Alectoroslophos or crista ; two remedies . . . . . . ib.
24. Alum, also called symphyton petreeon ; fourteen remedies .. 2:U
25. Alga rufa or red sea-weed ; one remedy 232
26. Actaaa ; one remedy ib.
27. The ampelos agria, or wild vine ; four remedies . . ' . . ib.
28. Absinthium or wormwood ; four varieties ; forty-eight remedies i b.
29. Absinthium marinum or seriphum . . . . . . . . 235
30. The ballotes, melamprasion, or black leek ; three remedies . . 236
31. Botrys, ambrosia, or artemisia ; one remedy .. .. .. ib.
32. The brabyla ; one remedy . . . . . . . . . . ib.
33. Bryon maritimum ; five remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
34. The bupleuron ; one remedy ' 237
35. The catanance ; one observation upon it. The cemos ; one ob-
servation upon it . . . . . . . . . . ib.
36. The calyx ; three remedies 238
37. The calyx, known also as anchusa or onoclia ; two remedies . . ib.
38. The circaBa ; three remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
39. The cirsion ; one remedy . . . . . . . . . , 239
40. The crata3gonon ; two kinds of it ; eight remedies . . . . ib.
41. The crocodileon ; two remedies .. .. .. .. ., 240
42. The cynosorchis or orchis ; four remedies . . . . . . ib.
43. The chrysolachanum; two varieties of it; three remedies. Co-
agulum terra3 ; two remedies . . . . . . 241
44. The cucubalus, strumus, or strycbnon ; six remedies . . < . ib.
45. The conferva ; two remedies .. .. .. .. .. 242
46. The coccus Cnidius, or grain of Gnidos ; two remedies. . . . ib
47. Thedipsacos; two remedies ib.
48. The dryopteris ; two remedies 243
49. The dryophonon ib.
50. The elatine ; two remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
51. Empetros, by our people called ealcifraga; four remedies . . 244
52. The epipactis or elleborine ; two remedies . . . . . . ib.
53. The epimedion ; three remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
54. The enneaphyllon; two remedies .. .. .. .. 245
55. Two varieties of filix or fern, known to the Greeks as pteris or
blachnon, and as thelypteris or nympha3a pteris ; eleven re-
medies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #>.
56. Femur bubulum, or ox thigh . . . . . . . . 246
57. Galeopsis, galeobdolon, or galion ; six remedies. . .. .. ib.
58. The glaux ; one remedy . . 247
59. Glaucion; three remedies. Diaglaucia ; two remedies .. ib.
60. The glycyside, pajonia, or pentorobos ; twenty remedies . . 248
CONTENTS. XV
CHAP. Page
61. Gnaphalium or charaaezelon : six remedies .. .. .. 249
62. The gallidraga : one remedy ib,
63. Holcus or aristis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
64. Hyoseris : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . ib.
65. The holosteon : three remedies ib.
66. The hippophaeston : eight remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
67. The hypoglossa : one remedy .. .. .... .. 251
68. Hypecobn ib.
69. The Idaea herba or plant of Ida : four remedies . . . . ib.
70. The isopyron or phasiolon : two remedies . . . . . . ib.
71. The lathyris : two remedies .. .. .. .. 252
72. The leontopetalon or pardalion : two remedies . . . . ib.
73. The lycapsos : two remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
74. The lithospermum, exonychon, diospyron, or heracleos : two
remedies 253
75. Lapidis muscus, or stone moss : one remedy . . . . . . 254
76. The limeum : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . ib.
77. The leuce, mesoleucon, or leucas : three remedies .. .. *b.
78. The leucographis : five remedies . . . . . . . . 255
79. The medion : three remedies ib.
80. The myosota or myosotis : three remedies . . . . . . ib.
81. Themyagros: one remedy .. .. .. .. .. 256
82. The nyma : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
83. The natrix : one remedy. . . . . . . . . . ib.
84. Odontitis : one remedy 257
85.. The othonna : one remedy ib.
86. The onosma : one property . . . . . . . . . . ib.
87. The onopordon : five remedies . . . . . . . . . . 258
88. The osyris : four remedies . . . . . . . . . . ib.
89. The oxys : two remedies. . . . . . . . . . ib.
90. The polyauthemum or batrachion : three remedies .. .. ib.
91. The polygonos, polygonatos, teuthalis, earcinethron, clema, or
myrtopetalos, otherwise known as sanguinaria or orios : four
varieties of it : forty remedies . . . . . . . . 259
92. The pancratium : twelve remedies 260
93. The peplis, syce, meconion, or mecon aphrodes: three remedies 261
94. The periclymenos : five remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
95. Pelecinon : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
96. Polygala : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . ib.
97. Poterion, phrynion, or neuras : four remedies . . . . . . ib.
98. The phalangitis, phalangion, or leucacantha : four remedies . . 263
99. The phyteuma : one property . . . . . . . . . . ib.
100. The phyllon : one property . , . . . . ib.
101. The phellandrion : two remedies .. .. .. .. 264
102. Thephalaris: two remedies .. .. ib.
103. The polyrrhizon : five remedies. . . . . . . . ib.
104. The proserpinaca : five remedies . . . . . . . . ib.
105. Rhacoma : thirty-six remedies . . . . . . . . . . 265
106. The reseda : two remedies ib.
Xvi CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
107. The stoechas : three remedies 266
108. The solanum, by the Greeks called strychnon : two remedial
properties . . . . . . . . - • ; • • • *^«
109. Smyrnion : thirty- two remedies. Sinon : two remedies . . ib.
110. Telephion: four remedies 267
111. The trichomanes: five remedies
112. The thalictrum : one remedy ib.
113. Thlaspi and Persicon napy : four remedies
114. The trachinia : one property .. .. .. •• •• 269
115. The tragonis or tragion : four remedies. ib.
116. The tragos or scorpion : four remedies 270
117. The tragopogon or come .. •• ib.
118. The ages of plants **•
119. How the greatest efficacy in plants may be ensured .. .. 271
120. Maladies peculiar to various nations #•
BOOK XXVIII.
KEMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
1. Introduction . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . 275
"~ 2. Remedies derived from man .. .. .. .. ..276
3. Whether words are possessed of any healing efficacy . . . . 278
4. That prodigies and portents may be confirmed, or made of no
effect 280
6, A description of various usages .. .. .. .. .. -283
6. Two hundred and twenty-six observations on remedies derived
from man. Eight remedies derived from children. . . . 286
7. Properties of the human spittle . . . . 288
8. Remedies derived from the wax of the human ear . . . . 291
9. Remedies derived from the human hair, teeth, &c. .. .. ib.
10. Remedies derived from the human blood, the sexual con-
gress, &c 292
11. Remedies derived from the dead ib.
12. Various reveries and devices of the magicians .. .. .. 293
13. Remedies derived from the human excretions . . .. . . 294
1 4. Remedies depending upon the human will 295
15. Remedies derived from sneezing .. .. .. .. 297
16. Remedies derived from the sexual congress . . . . . . ib.
17. Various other remedies 298
18. Remedies derived from the urine 299
19. Indications of health derived from the urine . . . . . . 301
20. Forty-one remedies derived from the female sex . . . . ib.
21. Remedies derived from woman's milk .. .. .. .. 302
22. Remedies derived from the spittle of females . . . . . . 304
23. Facts connected with the menstrual discharge. . . . ib.
24. Remedies derived from foreign animals : the elephant, eight
remedies 307
CONTENTS. XVil
CHAP. Page
25. Ten remedies derived from the lion .. 308*
26. Ten remedies derived from the camel n.
27. Seventy- nine remedies derived from the hyaena .. .. 309
28. Nineteen remedies derived from the crocodile .. .. .. 31 4:
29. Fifteen remedies derived from the chameleon .. .. .. 31£
30. Four remedies derived from the scincus . . .. . . . . 318
31. Seven remedies derived from the hippopotamus .. . . ib.
32. Five remedies derived from the lynx 319
33. Remedies furnished in common by animals of the same class,
whether wild or tame. Fifty-four medicinal uses of milk,
with observations thereon. . . . . . . . . . . ib.
34. Twelve remedies derived from cheese .. .. .. .. 322
35. Twenty remedies derived from butter . . . . . . . . 323
36. Oxygala : one remedy . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
37. The various uses of fat, and observations upon it, fifty-two in
number. . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
38. Suet 326
39. Marrow 327
40. Gall ib.
41. Blood 328
42. Peculiar remedies derived from various animals, and classified
according to the maladies. Remedies against the poison of
serpents, derived from the stag, the fawn, the ophion, the
she-goat, the kid, and the ass . . .. . . ib.
43. Remedies for the bite of the mad dog. Remedies derived from
the calf, the he-goat, and various other animals . . . . 331
44. Remedies to be adopted against enchantments . . . . . . ib.
45. Remedies for poisons , . .. .. .. .. .. 332
46. Remedies for diseases of the head, and for alopecy . , . . 334
47. Remedies for affections of the eyes 335
48. Remedies.for diseases and affections of the ears. . . . . . 337
49. Remedies for tooth-ache 338
50. Remedies for diseases of the face .. .. .. .. 340
51. Remedies for diseases of the tonsillary glands and for scrofula.. 342
52. Remedies for pains in the neck 343
53. Remedies for cough and for spitting of blood . . . . . . ib.
54. Remedies for affections of the stomach . . . . . . . . 344
55. Remedies for liver complaints and for asthma . . . . . . ib.
56. Remedies for pains in the loins . . . . . . . . . . ib.
57. Remedies for affections of the spleen .. .. . . . . 345
58. Remedies for bowel complaints . . . . . . . . . . 346
59. Remedies for tenesmus, tapeworm, and affections of the colon. . 348
60. Remedies for affections of the bladder, and for urinary calculi,. 349
61. Remedies for diseases of the generative organs and of the fun-
dament 350
62. Remedies for gout and for diseases of the feet . . . . . . 352
63. Remedies for epilepsy . . . . 353
64. Remedies for jaundice .. .. .. .. .. .. 354
65. Remedies for broken bones . . ib.
XV1U CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
66. Eemedies for fevers .. .. . . .. .. .. 354
67. Remedies for melancholy, lethargy, and phthisis .. .. 355
68. Remedies for dropsy . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
69. Remedies for erysipelas, and for purulent eruptions . . . . 357
70. Remedies for sprains, indurations, and boils . . . . . . ib.
71. Remedies for burns. The method of testing bull-glue ; seven
remedies derived from it . . . . . . . . ib.
72. Remedies for affections of the sinews and for contusions • . . 358
73. Remedies for haemorrhage ib.
74. Remedies for ulcers and carcinomatous sores . . .. .. 359
75. Remedies for the itch 360
76. Methods of extracting foreign substances which adhere to the
body, and of restoring scars to their natural colour . . . . ib.
77. Remedies for female diseases . . . . . . . . ib.
78. Remedies for the diseases of infants . . . . . . . . 364
79. Provocatives of sleep . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
80. Stimulants for the sexual passions . . . . . . ib.
81. Remarkable facts relative to animals .. .. .. .. 366
BOOK .XXIX.
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
1. The origin of the medical art ., .. .. .. .. 370
2. Particulars relative to Hippocrates. Date of the origin of clinical
practice and of that of latraleptics . . . . . . . . 371
3 . Particulars relative to Chrysippus and Erasistratus . . . . ib.
4. The Empiric branch of medicine . . . . . . . . . . 372
5. Particulars relative to Herophilus and other celebrated physicians.
The various changes that have been made in the system of
medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
6. Who first practised as a physician at Rome, and at what period 375
7. The opinions entertained by the Romans on the ancient physicians ib.
8. Evils attendant upon the practice of medicine ... ... .. 376
9. Thirty-five remedies derived from wool . . . . . . . . 381
10. Thirty-two remedies derived from wool-grease . . . . . . 383
11. Twenty-two remedies derived from eggs .. .. ., 385
12. Serpents' eggs 388
13. The method of preparing commagenum. Four remedies derived
from it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
14. Remedies derived from the dog .. %. .. .. .. 391
15. Remedies classified according to the different maladies. Reme-
dies for injuries inflicted by serpents. Remedies derived from
mice .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 392
16. Remedies derived from the weasel . . .. .... ib.
17. Remedies derived from bugs .. ,. .. .. .. ib.
18. Particulars relative to the asp .. .. .. .. .. 394
19. Remedies derived from the basilisk .. .. ib.
CONTENTS. XIX
CHAP. Papa
20. Remedies derived from the dragon 395
21. Remedies derived from the viper .. .. .. . . . . ib.
22. Remedies derived from the other serpents . . . . . . 396
23. Remedies derived from the salamander . . . . . . . . 397
24. Remedies derived from birds, for injuries inflicted by serpents.
Remedies derived from the vulture . . . . . . . . 398
25. Remedies derived from poultry 399
26. Remedies derived from other birds . . . . . . . . 400
27. Remedies for the bite of the phalangium. The several varieties
of that insect, and of the spider . . . . . . . . ib.
28. Remedies derived from the stellio, or spotted lizard . . . . 402
29. Remedies derived from various insects . . . . . . . . 403
30. Remedies derived from cantharides ib.
31. Various counter-poisons 405
32. Remedies for the bite of the mad dog .. .. .. .. ib.
33. Remedies for the other poisons . . . . . . . . . . 407
34. Remedies for alopecy . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
35. Remedies for lice and for porrigo . . . . . . . . 409
36. Remedies for head-ache, and for wounds on the head . . . . ib.
37. Remedies for affections of the eyelids .. .. .. .. 410
38. Remedies for diseases of the eyes .. .. .. ..411
39. Remedies for pains and diseases of the ears . . . . . . 416
BOOK XXX.
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
1. The origin of the magic art .. 421
2. "When and where the art of magic originated : by what persons
it was practised . . . . 422
3. Whether magic was ever practised in Italy. At what period
the senate first forbade human sacrifices . . . . . . 425
4. The Druids of the Gallic provinces . . . . , . . . 426
5. The various branches of magic . . . . . . . . . . 427
6. The subterfuges practised by the magicians . . . . . . 428
7. Opinions of the magicians relative to the mole. Five remedies
derived from it 429
8. The other remedies derived from living creatures, classified ac-
cording to the respective diseases. Remedies for tooth-ache 430
9. Remedies for offensive odours and sores of the mouth . . . . 432
10. Remedies for spots upon the face . . . . . . . . ib.
11. Remedies for affections of the throat .. .. .. .. 433
12. Remedies for quinzy and scrofula .. .. .. .. 434
13. Remedies for diseases of the shoulders 436
14. Remedies for pains in the viscera .. . . . . . . 437
15. Remedies for pains in the stomach . . . . . . ib.
16. Remedies for pains in the liver, and for spitting of blood .. 438
17. Remedies for affections of the spleen 439
b
XX CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
18. Remedies for pains in the side and in the loins . . . . . . 440
19. Remedies for dysentery .. .. .. .. .. ..441
20. Remedies for the iliac passion, and for other maladies of the
bowels 442
21. Remedies for urinary calculi and affections of the bladder . . 443
22. Remedies for diseases of the fundament and of the generative
organs . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . 445
23. Remedies for gout and for diseases of the feet 446
24. Remedies for evils which are liable to affect the whole body . . 448
25. Remedies for cold shiverings . . . . . . . . . . 449
26. Remedies for paralysis 450
27. Remedies for epilepsy . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
28. Remedies for jaundice . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
29. Remedies for phrenitis . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
30. Remedies for fevers 453
31. Remedies for dropsy 456
32. Remedies for erysipelas . . . . ib.
33. Remedies for carbuncles 457
34. Remedies for boils . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
35. Remedies for burns . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
36. Remedies for affections of the sinews . . . . . . . . ib.
37. Remedies for maladies of the nails and fingers 458
38. Methods for arresting haemorrhage . . . . . . . . ib.
39. Remedies for ulcerous sores and wounds . . . . . . ib.
40. Remedies for broken bones . . . . . . . . . . 460
41. Applications for cicatrizations, and for the cure of morphew . . 461
42. Methods of extracting foreign substances from the body , . ib.
43. Remedies for female complaints .. .. .. . . .. 462
44. Methods of facilitating delivery . . 463
45. Methods of preserving the breasts from injury 464
46. Various kinds of depilatories 465
47. Remedies for the diseases of infants .. .. .. .. ib.
48. Provocatives of sleep .. .. .. .. .. .. 467
49. Aphrodisiacs and antaphrodisiacs . . . . . . . . ib.
50. Remedies for phthiriasis, and for various other affections . . 468
ol. Remedies for intoxication .. .. .. .. .. ib.
52. Peculiarities relative to certain animals . . . . . . . . 469
53. Other marvellous facts connected with animals . . . . . . ib.
BOOK XXXI.
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE AQUATIC PRODUCTIONS.
1. Remarkable facts connected with water .. .. .. .. 471
2. The different properties of waters 472
?j. Remedies derived from water .. .. .. 473
4. Waters productive of fecundity. "Waters curative of insanity 474
CONTENTS. XXI
CH\P. Papre
5. Waters remedial for urinary calculi . . . . , . 474
6. Waters curative of wounds . . . . . . . . . . 475
7. Waters preventive of abortion ib.
8. Waters which remove morphew .. .. .. .. .. ib.
9. Waters which colour the hair .. .. .. .. .. 476
10. Waters which colour the human body . . . . . . . . ib.
11. Waters which aid the memory, or are productive of forgetfulness 477
12. Waters which sharpen or dull the senses. Waters which im-
prove the voice . . . . . . . . . . ib.
13. Waters which cause a distaste for wine. Waters which produce
inebriety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ih.
14. Waters which serve as a substitute for oil .. .. .. 478
15. Salt and bitter waters .. .. .. .. .. .. ib.
16. Waters which throw up stones. Waters which cause laughter
and weeping. Waters which are said to be curative of love ib.
17. Waters which preserve their warmth for three days .. .. 479
18. Other marvellous facts connected with water. Waters in which
everything will sink. Waters in which nothing will sink ib.
19. Deadly waters. Poisonous fishes .. .. .. .. 480
20. Waters which petrify themselves, or cause other objects to petrify 482
21. The wholesomeness of waters .. .. .. .. .. ib.
22. The impurities of water . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
23. The modes of testing water 4^5
24. The Marcian Waters 487
25. The Virgin Waters 488
26. The method of searching for water . . . . . . . . ib.
27. Signs indicative of the presence of water . . . . . . 489
28. Differences in waters, according to the nature of the soil . . ib.
29. The qualities of water at the different seasons of the year .. 491
30. Historical observations upon waters which have suddenly made
their appearance or suddenly ceased . . . . . . . . 492
31. The method of conveying water .. .. .. .. .. 494
32. How mineral waters should be used .. .. . . _ /#.
33. The uses of sea-water. The advantages of a sea-voyage . . 496
34. How artificial sea- water may be made in places at a distance
from the sea 498
35. How thalassomeli is made . . . . . . . . . . ib.
36. How hydromeli is made . . . . . . . . . . . . ib.
37. Methods of providing against the inconvenience of drinking sus-
pected water .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 499
38. Six remedies derived from moss. Remedies derived from sand ib.
39. The various kinds of suit; the methods of preparing it, and the
remedies derived from it. Two hundred and four observa-
tions thereupon . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
40. Muria ^ ..' 503
41. The various properties of salt : one hundred and twenty histori-
cal remarks relative thereto 504
42. Flower of salt : twenty remedies. Salsugo : two remedies . . 506
43. Garum : fifteen remedies 507
XX11 CONTENTS.
CHAP. Page
44. Alex : eight remedies . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
45. The nature of salt 509
46. The various kinds of nitrum, the methods of preparing it, and
the remedies derived from it : two hundred and twenty-one
observations thereon .. .. .. .. .. ..512
47. Sponges, and the remedies derived from them: ninety-two
observations thereon .. .. 519
NATURAL HISTORY OF PLINY.
BOOK XXIV.
THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE FOREST TREES.
CHAP. l.(l.) — THE ANTIPATHIES AND SYMPATHIES WHICH EXIST
AMONG TUBES AND PLANTS.
even are the forests and the spots in which the aspect of
Nature is most rugged, destitute of their peculiar remedies ;
for so universally has that divine parent of all things distributed
her succours for the benefit of man, as to implant for him
medicinal virtues in the trees of the desert even, while at
every step she presents us with most wonderful illustrations of
those antipathies and sympathies which exist in the vegetable
world.
Between the quercus1 and the olive2 there exists a hatred
so inveterate, that transplanted, either of them, to a site pre-
viously occupied by the other, they will die.3 The quercus
too, if planted near the walnut, will perish. There is a mortal
feud4 existing also between the cabbage and the vine ; and the
cabbage itself, so shunned as it is by the vine, will wither im-
mediately if planted in the vicinity of cyclamen6 or of origanum.
We find it asserted even, that aged trees fit to be felled, are
cut with all the greater difficulty, and dry all the more rapidly,
1 See B. xvi. cc. 6, 8, 33, 50. 2 See B. xvii. c. 3.
3 As Fee justly remarks, the greater part of these so-called sympathies
and antipathies must be looked upon as so many fables. In the majority of
instances, it is the habitual requirements of the tree or plant that con-
stitute the difference ; thus, for instance, the oak or quercus requires a
different site and temperature from that needed by the olive, and the stony
soil adopted by the vine is but ill-suited for the cultivation of the cabbage.
4 See B. xx. c. 36.
5 See B. xxi, cc. 27, 38, and B. xxv. c. 67.
VOL. V. B
2 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXiV.
if touched by the hand of man before the axe is applied : it
is a common belief, too, that when their load consists of fruit,
beasts of burden are immediately sensible 6 of it, and will in-
stantly begin to sweat, however trifling it may be, unless the
fruit is duly shown to them before starting, fennel-giant, as
a fodder, is extremely grateful to the ass, and yet to other beasts
of burden it is a deadly poison : hence it is that the ass is con-
secrated to Father Liber,7 to which deity the fennel is also
sacred.
Inanimate objects again, even of the most insignificant
character, have their own peculiar antipathies. Cooks dis-
engage meat of the brine, when it has been too highly salted,
by the agency of fine meal and the inner bark8 of the linden-
tree. Salt again, tends to neutralize the sickly flavour of food
when over- sweet. The taste of water, when nitrous or bitter,
is modified by the addition of polenta,9 so much so indeed, as
to be rendered potable10 in a couple of hours : it is for a similar
reason, too, that a layer of polenta is put11 in our linen wine-
strainers. A similar property is possessed also by the chalk12
of Ehodes, and the argilla of our own country.
Equal affinities exist as well ; pitch, for instance, is extracted
by the agency of oil, both of them being of an unctuous nature :
oil again, will incorporate only with lime, both of them having
a natural antipathy13 to water. Gum is most14 easily removed
with vinegar, and ink15 with water; in addition to which, there
6 See the same statement made in B. xxiii. c. 62.
7 Or Bacchus.
8 " Philyra." Fee does not think that it can be of any use for such a
purpose. Hardouin says, however, that in his time meat when too highly
salted was wrapped in leaves of the lime or linden, for the purpose of ex-
tracting the salt. . 9 See B. xviii. c. 14.
10 Instead of having this effect. Fee says, it would render it much worse.
11 The intention being to clear the wine, though in reality, as Fee ob-
serves, it would have a tendency to turn the wine into vinegar.
12 Chalk, or in other words, sub-carbonate of lime, and argilla, or
aluminous earth combining several earthy salts, would probably neutralize
the acetic acid in the wine, but would greatly deteriorate its flavour,
18 On the contrary, lime would appear to have a great affinity for water,
absorbing it with avidity, if we may use the term.
14 More easily with water ; though vinegar will do for the purpose.
15 " Atramentum." By this passage, Fee says, it is clearly proved that
the ink of the ancients was soluble in water, and that it contained neither
galls nor salts of iron, "What it really was made of is still a matter of
Chap. 2.] THE LOTUS OF ITALY. 3
are numberless other instances of sympathy and antipathy
which we shall be careful to mention in their appropriate places.
It is in tendencies of this description that the medical art
iirst took its rise ; though it was originally intended, no doubt,
by Nature, that our only medicaments should be those which
universally exist, are everywhere to be found, and are to be
procured at no great outlay, the various substances, in fact, from
which we derive our sustenance. But at a later period the
fraudulent disposition of mankind, combined with an ingenuity
prompted by lucre, invented those various laboratories,16 in
which each one of us is promised an extension of his life — that
is, if he will pay for it. Compositions and mixtures of an in-
explicable nature forthwith have their praises sung, and the
productions of Arabia and India are held in unbounded ad-
miration in the very midst17 of us. For some trifling
sore or other, a medicament is prescribed from the shores
of the Red Sea ; while not a day passes but what the real
remedies are to be found upon the tables of the very poorest
man among us.18 But if the remedies for diseases were
derived from our own gardens, if the plants or shrubs were
employed which grow there, there would be no art, forsooth,
that would rank lower than that of medicine.
Yes, avow it we must — the Roman people, in extending its
empire, has lost sight of its ancient manners, and in that we
have conquered we are the conquered:19 for now we obey the
natives of foreign20 lands, who by the agency of a single art have
even out-generalled our generals.21 More, however, on this
topic hereafter.
CHAP. 2. (.2.) THE LOTUS OF ITALY : SIX KEMEDIES.
We have already22 spoken in their appropriate places of the
doubt ; but it is not improbable that the basis of it was spodium, or ashes
of ivory. 16 " Officinas."
17 "In medio." The reading is very doubtful here.
8 This, of course, is mere exaggeration.
19 He would seem to imply that the medical men of his age had conspired
to gain an adventitious importance by imposing upon the credulity of the
public, on the principle " Omne ignotuin pro magnifico ;" much as the
u medicine-men " of the North American Indians do at the present day.
20 He alludes to the physicians of Greece more particularly.
" Imperatoribus quoque imperaverunt."
23 In B. xiii. c. 32, and B. xvi. c. 53. Pliny ascribes here to the Lotus of
Italy, the Celtis Australia of Linnaeus, the same medicinal properties that
B 2
4 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXIV.
herb called lotus, and of the plant of Egypt known by the
same name and as the " tree of the Syrtes." The berries of
the lotus, which is known among us as the " Grecian bean,"23
act astringently upon the bowels ; and the shavings of the wood,
boiled in wine, are useful in cases of dysentery, excessive
menstruation, vertigo, and epilepsy: they also prevent the
hair from falling off. It is a marvellous thing — but there is no
substance known that is more bitter than the shavings of this
wood, or sweeter than the fruit. The sawdust also of the
wood is boiled in myrtle- water, and then kneaded and divided
into lozenges, which form a medicament for dysentery of re-
markable utility, being taken in doses of one victoriatus,24 in
three cyathi of water.
CHAP. 3. (3.) ACORNS I THIRTEEN REMEDIES.
Acorns,25 pounded with salted axle-grease,25* are curative of
those indurations known as " cacoethe."26 The acorn of the
holm-oak, however, is the most powerful in its effects ; and
in all these trees the bark is still more efficacious, as well as
the inner membrane which lies beneath it. A decoction of
this last is good for coeliac affections ; and it is applied topically
in cases of dysentery, as well as the acorns, which are em-
ployed also for the treatment of stings inflicted by serpents,
fluxes, and suppurations. The leaves, acorns, and bark, as
well as a decoction prepared from them, are good as counter-
poisons. A decoction of the barkr boiled in cows' milk, is
used topically for stings inflicted by serpents, and is adminis-
tered in wine for dysentery. The holm-oak is possessed of
similar properties.
CHAP. 4. (4.) THE KERMES-BERRY OF THE HOLM-OAK : THREE
REMEDIES.
The scarlet berry27 of the holm-oak is applied to fresh
are given by Dioscorides, B. i. c. 171, to the Egyptian bean or Nymphsea
Nelumbo of Linnaeus. Galen gives the same account as Dioscorides ; it
is not improbable, therefore, that Pliny is in error.
23 See B. xvi. c. 53, Note 55.
24 Half a denarius. See Introduction to Vol. III.
25 Acorns, as well as the bark of the various kinds of oak, are of an
astringent nature. 25* Or, hogs' lard.
26 In the singular number, " cacoethes," " a bad habit ;" signifying a
malignant or cancerous tumour.
27 See B. xvi. c. 12. All the properties here ascribed to it, Fee says,
Chap. 6.J MISTLETOE.
wounds with vinegar ; and in combination with water it is
dropt into ths eyes in cases of defluxion of those organs or
of ecchymosis. There grows also in most parts of Attica, and
in Asia, a berry of this description, which becomes transformed
with great rapidity into a diminutive worm, owing to which
circumstance the Greeks have given it the name of " sco-
lecion :"28 it is held, however, in disesteem. The principal
varieties of this berry have been previously29 described.
CHAP. 5. — GALL-NUTS I TWENTY-THREE REMEDIES.
And no fewer are the varieties of the gall-nut which we
have described :30 we have, for instance, the full-bodied gall-
nut, the perforated one, the white, the black, the large, the
small, all of them possessed of similar properties ; that, how-
ever, of Commagene is generally preferred. These substances
remove fleshy excrescences on the body, and are serviceable for
affections of the gums and uvula,31 and for ulcerations of the
mouth. Eurnt, and then quenched in. wine, they are applied
topically in cases of cceliac affections and dysentery, and with
honey, to whitlows, hang-nails, malformed nails, running ulcers,
condylomatous swellings, and ulcerations of the nature known as
phagedsenic.32 A decoction of them in wine is used as an injection
for the ears, and as a liniment for the eyes, and in combination
with vinegar they are employed for eruptions and tumours.
The inner part of the gall, chewed, allays tooth-ache, and is
good for excoriations between the thighs, and for burns. Taken
unripe in vinegar, they reduce the volume of the spleen ; and,
burnt and then quenched in salt and vinegar, they are used as
a fomentation for excessive menstruation and procidence of
the uterus. All varieties of the gall-nut stain the hair black.
CHAP. 6. MISTLETOE t ELEVEN REMEDIES.
We have already33 stated that the best mistletoe is that
which grows on the robur,34 and have described the manner in
are hypothetical. It is no longer used in medicine, at least to any re-
cognized extent.
28 Hence the Latin word " vermiculum," from which our word " ver-
milion " is derived.
29 In B. xvi. c. 12. 30 In B. xvi. c. 9.
31 They might he used advantageously, Fee thinks, in the shape of a
decoction, for procidence of the uvula and uterus.
aa " Eating," or "corrosive." aa See B. xvi. cc. 11, 93, 94.
31 SeeB. xvi. cc, 10, 11.
6 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
which, it is prepared. Some persons, after bruising the berries,
boil them in water, till nothing appears on the surface, while
others, again, bite the berries with the teeth, and reject the
skins.35 The best kind of viscus is that which has none of
the outer skin in it, is extremely light, yellow without, and
of a leek-green colour within. There is no substance more
glutinous than this : it is of an emollient nature, disperses
tumours, and acts as a desiccative upon scrofulous sores ; com-
bined with resin and wax, it heals inflamed swellings of every
description. Some persons add galbanum as well, using equal
proportions of each ingredient, and this preparation they em-
ploy also for the treatment of wounds.
The viscus of the mistletoe has the additional property also
of rectifying malformed nails ; but to effect this it must be
taken off at the end of seven days, and the nails must be
washed with a solution of nitre.35* Some persons have a sort of
superstitious notion that the viscus will be all the more effi-
cacious if the berries are gathered from the robur at new moon,
and without the aid of iron. They have an impression too,
that if it has not touched the ground, it will cure epilepsy,36
that it will promote conception in females if they make a
practice of carrying it about them : the berries, chewed and
applied to ulcers, are remarkably efficacious for their cure, it is
said.
CHAP. 7. THE EXCRESCENCES WHICH GROW ON THE ROBUR :
ONE REMEDY. THE CBRRUS I EIGHT REMEDIES.
The round excrescences37 which grow on the robur * * *
and mixed with bear's grease, are remedial in cases of loss of
the hair by alopecy.
The leaves, bark, and acorns of the cerrus38 act as a desic-
cative upon gatherings and suppurations, and arrest fluxes. A
decoction39 of them, used as a fomentation, strengthens such
parts of the body as are paralyzed ; and it is a very good plan
:35^ This passage, as Fee remarks, is somewhat obscure.
5* As to the identity of the " nitrum" of Pliny, see B. xxxi. cc. 22, 46.
36 Fee says, that till very recently it was a common belief that the oak
mistletoe is curative of epilepsy. It was also employed as an ingredient
in certain antispasmodic powders.
37 See B. xvi. c. 10. as gee j^ xvf. c, 8>
!9 This decoction would be of a tonic and astringent nature, owing to
the tannin and gallic acid which the leaves and baric contain.
Chap. 10.] THE CYPRESS. 7
to employ it as a sitting-bath, for its desiccative or astringent
effects upon the lower extremities. The root of this tree
neutralizes the venom of the scorpion.
CHAP. 8. THE-CORK TREE : TWO REMEDIES.
The bark of the cork-tree,40 pulverized and taken in warm
water, arrests haemorrhage at the mouth and nostrils ;41 and
the ashes of it, taken in warm wine, are highly extolled as a
cure for spitting of blood.
CHAP. 9. (5.) — THE BEECH: FOUR REMEDIES.
The leaves42 of the beech are chewed for affections of the
lips and gums. A liniment is made of the ashes of beech-
mast for urinary calculus, and, in combination with honey, for
alopecy.
CHAP. 10. — THE CYPRESS: TWENTY- THREE REMEDIES.
The leaves of the cypress43 are pounded and applied to
wounds inflicted by serpents, and with polenta, to the head, in
cases of sunstroke. They are used also for hernia, and an infu-
sion of them is taken in drink.44 They are applied with wax to
swellings of the testes, and mixed with vinegar they stain the
hair black.46 Beaten up with twice the quantity of light
bread, and then kneaded with Aminean46 wine, they are found
very soothing for pains in the feet and sinews.
The excrescences of this tree are taken in drink for the
stings of serpents and for discharges of blood from the mouth ;
they are used also as a topical application for gatherings.
Fresh-gathered and beaten up with axle-grease and bean-
meal, they are good for hernia ; and an infusion of them is
40 See B. xvi, c. 13. 41 "Ex utralibet parte."
42 There is no foundation, Fee says, for any of these statements.
43 See 13. xvi. c. 60. The leaves of the cypress, Fee says, contain tan-
nin and an essential oil ; all the medicinal properties therefore, here attri-
buted to them, which are not based upon these principles, must be looked
upon as hypothetical.
44 Down to the present century the leaves and fruit of the cypress were
recommended in some medical works for the cure of hernia. The juice,
however, of the leaves, taken internally, would be, as Fee says, highly
dangerous.
45 Owing probably to the gallic acid they contain.
*6 See 13. xiv. c. 4.
8 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
taken in drink for the same complaint. In combination with
meal, they are applied topically to imposthumes of the parotid
glands, and to scrofulous sores. From these excrescences,
pounded along with the seed, a juice is extracted, which, mixed
with oil, disperses films of the eyes. Taken in doses of one
victoriatus,47 in wine, and applied at the same time in a pulpy,
dried fig, the seeds of which have been removed, this juice
cures maladies of the testes and disperses tumours: mixed
with leaven, it heals scrofulous sores.
The root of the cypress, bruised with the leaves and taken
in drink, is curative of diseases of the bladder, strangury, and
the sting of the phalangium.48 The shavings of the wood,
taken in drink, act as an emmenagogue, and neutralize the
venom of the scorpion.
CHAP. 1 1 . THE CEDAR : THIRTEEN REMEDIES.
The larger cedar, known as the "cedrelates,"49 produces a
pitch called " cedria," which is very useful for tooth-ache, it
having the effect of breaking50 the teeth and extracting them,
and so allaying the pain.1 We have already51 stated how the
juices of cedar are extracted, so remarkably useful for
seasoning books,52 were it not for the head-ache they produce.
This extract from the cedar preserves53 the bodies of the
dead uncorrupted for ages, but exercises a noxious effect upon
the bodies of the living — singular that there should be such a
diversity in its properties, taking away life from animated
47 See Introduction to Vol. III.
48 See B. x. c. 28, and B. xi. cc. 24, 28. 49 See B. xiii. c. 11.
50 Fee remarks, that many of the moderns attribute to frankincense the
properties here ascribed to cedria ; a most unfounded notion, he thinks.
51 In B. xiv. c, 25, and B. xvi. cc. 21, 22.
52 Sillig reads " volumina ;" in which case it is not improbable that the
allusion is to the practice of seasoning the paper of manuscripts with a
preparation of cedar, as a preservative against mildew and worms. An-
other reading is " lumina," and it is not impossible that it is the right one,
meaning that pitch of cedar is useful for making lamps or candles. Fee
reminds us that we are not to confound the " cedria " with the " eedrium "
of B. xvi. c. 21, though Pliny seems here to confound the two. See Note
38 to that Chapter.
53 As in B. xvi. c. 21, he has said the same of "eedrium," a red tar
charged with empyreumatic oil, it is clear that he erroneously identifies it
with " cedria," or pitch of cedar. It is with this last, in reality, that the
Egyptians embalmed the dead, or rather preserved them, by dipping them
in the boiling liquid.
Chap. 12.] CEDIITDES. 9
beings, and imparting a sort of life, as it were, to the dead !
It injures clothing also and destroys54 animal life. It is for
this reason that I cannot recommend it to be taken internally for
the cure of quinzy and indigestion, though there are some who
advise it : I should be greatly in dread too, to rinse the teeth
with it, in combination with vinegar, for tooth-ache, or to use
it as an injection for the ears in cases of hardness of hearing, or
for worms in those organs. There is one very marvellous story
told about it — if the male organs, they say, are rubbed with it
j ust before the sexual congress, it will effectually prevent im-
pregnation.56
Still, however, I should not hesitate to employ it as a fric-
tion for phthiriasis or porrigo. It is strongly recommended
also, in raisin wine, as an antidote to the poison of the sea-
hare,56 but I should be more ready to use it as a liniment for
elephantiasis. Some authors have prescribed it as an oint-
ment for foul ulcers and the fleshy excrescences which grow
in them, as also for spots and films on the eyes ; and have re-
commended it to be taken, in doses of one cyathus, for ulcera-
tions of the lungs, and for tapeworm.
There is an oil extracted from this pitch, known as " pis-
selaeon,"87 the properties of which are of increased activity
for all the purposes before-mentioned. It is a well-known
fact that the saw-dust of cedar will put serpents to flight,
and that a similar effect is produced by anointing the body
with the berries58 bruised in oil.
CHAP. 12. CEDRIDES : TEN REMEDIES.
Cedrides, or in other words, the fruit of the cedar,59 is
curative of coughs, acts as a diuretic, and arrests looseness of
the bowels. It is good also for ruptures, convulsions,
spasms, and strangury, and is employed, as a pessary, for
affections of the uterus. It is used also to neutralize the
54 If he implies that it is poisonous, such in reality is not the case.
55 A mere absurdity, of course.
56 It would be of no use whatever for the cure of injuries inflicted by
the Aplysia vulgaris or Aplysia depilans of Linnaeus. See B. ix. c. 72, and
B. xxxii. c. 3.
57 See B. xv. c. 7, and B. xxv. c. 22. " Pitch oil," a volatile oil.
58 This mention of the berries clearly proves, Fee thinks, that the Cedre-
lates of Pliny belongs in reality to the genus Juniperus.
59 Or of the juniper, Fee thinks.
10 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
venom of the sea-hare,60 and for the cure of the various affections
above-mentioned, as also of gatherings and inflammations.
CHAP. 13. — GALBANUM: TWENTY-THREE REMEDIES.
We have already61 given some description of galbanum : to
be good, it should be neither too moist nor too dry, but just in
the state which we have mentioned.63 It is taken by itself
for inveterate coughs, asthma, ruptures, and convulsions ; and
it is employed externally for sciatica, pains in the sides, inflamed
tumours,63 boils, denudations of the bones, scrofulous sores,
nodes upon the joints, and tooth-ache. It is applied with
honey also, to ulcerations of the head. In combination with
011 of roses or with nard, it is used as an injection for sup-
purations of the ears ; and the odour of it is useful for epilepsy,
hysterical suffocations, and faintness at the stomach. Em-
ployed as a pessary or as a fumigation, it brings away the
foetus in cases of miscarriage; branches too of hellebore
covered with it and laid beneath the patient, have a similar
effect.
We have already64 stated that serpents are driven away by
the fumes of burnt galbanum, and they will equally avoid
persons whose body has been rubbed with it. It is curative
also of the sting of the scorpion. In protracted deliveries, a
piece of galbanum the size of a bean is given in one cyathus
of wine : it has the effect also of reducing the uterus when
displaced, and, taken with myrrh and wine, it brings away
the dead foetus. In combination with myrrh and wine too,
it neutralizes poisons — those which come under the de-
nomination of "toxica"65 in particular. The very touch
of it, mixed with oil and spondylium,66 is sufficient to
kill a serpent.67 It is generally thought to be productive of
strangury.
60 See Note 56 above. 61 In B. xii. c. 56.
62 Cartilaginous, clear, and free from ligneous substances.
63 It is still employed, Fee says, to a small extent, as a topical application
for ulcerated sores. Its properties are energetic, but nearly all the uses to
which Pliny speaks of it as being applied are hypothetical.
64 In B. xii. c. 56. 65 Narcotic poisons.
66 See B. xii. c. 58. See also c. 16 of this Book.
67 This statement is entirely fabulous.
Chap. 15.] STORAX. H
CHAP. 14. (6.) HAMMONIACTJM I TWENTY-FOTTR EEMED1ES.
Of a similar nature to galbanum is hammoniacum, a tear-
like gum, the qualities of which are tested in manner already68
stated. It is of an emollient, warming, resolvent, and dis-
pellent nature. Employed as an ingredient in eye- salves, it
improves the sight. It disperses prurigo, effaces the marks of
sores, removes spots in the eyes, and allays tooth- ache, more
particularly when burnt. It is very useful too, taken in
drink, for hardness of breathing, pleurisy, affections of the
lungs, diseases of the bladder, bloody urine, maladies of the
spleen, and sciatica : employed in a similar manner, it acts as
a purgative upon the bowels. Boiled with an equal proportion
of pitch or wax, and with oil of roses, it is good for diseases of
the joints, and for gout. Employed with honey it ripens hard
tumours, extracts corns, and has an emollient effect upon in-
durations. In combination with vinegar and Cyprian wax,
or oil of roses, it is extremely efficacious as a liniment for
affections of the spleen. In cases of extreme lassitude, it is
an excellent plan to use it as a friction, with vinegar and oil,
and a little nitre.
CHAP. 15. STOBAX: TEN BEMEDIES.
In speaking too of the exotic trees, we have made mention69 of
the properties of storax. In addition to those which we have
already mentioned, it ought to be very unctuous, without alloy,
and to break to pieces in whitish fragments. This substance is
curative of cough, affections of the fauces, diseases of the chest,
and obstructions or indurations of the uterus. Taken in drink,
or employed as a pessary, it acts as an emmenagogue ; it has a
laxative effect also upon the bowels. I find it stated that, taken
in moderate doses, storax dispels melancholy; but that when em-
ployed in large quantities, it promotes it. Used as an injection
it is good for singings in the ears, and employed as a friction,
for scrofulous swellings and nodes of the sinews. It neutra-
lizes poisons of a cold nature, and consequently, hemlock.70
68 In B. xii. c. 49. Gum ammoniac is still used to some small extent
in modern medicine, for asthma, boils, tumours, and diseases of the bladder.
69 In B. xii. c. 55. Fee says that it is of the Araygdalite storax that
Pliny is here speaking. It is little employed at the present day for in-
ternal maladies.
•° This is not the fact.
12 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
CHAP. 16. SPONDYLIUM I SEVENTEEN REMEDIES.
At the same time we have also spoken71 of spondylium ; an
infusion of which is poured upon the head in cases of phrenitis
and lethargy, and of head-ache of long standing. Combined
with old oil, it is taken in drink for affections of the liver,
jaundice, epilepsy, hardness of breathing, and hysterical
suffocations, maladies for which it is equally serviceable in the
shape of a fumigation. It relaxes the bowels, and with rue it
is applied to ulcers of a serpiginous nature. The juice which
is extracted from the blossom is a most useful injection for
suppurations of the ears ; but the moment it is extracted it
should be covered up, as flies and other insects of a similar
nature are remarkably fond of it.
Scrapings of the root, introduced into the interior of fistulas,
have a caustic effect upon their callosities ; and they are some-
times used, in combination with the juice, as an injection for
the ears. The root itself also is prescribed for jaundice, and
for diseases of the liver and uterus. If the head is rubbed
with the juice, it will make the hair curl.72
CHAP. 17. SPHAGNOS, SPHACOS, OR BRYON I FIVE REMEDIES.
Sphagnos, sphacos, or bryon, grows, as we have already73
stated, in Gaul. A decoction of it, employed as a sitting-bath,
is useful for affections of the uterus : mixed with nasturtium,
and beaten up in salt water, it is good for the knees and for
swellings in the thighs. Taken in drink with wine and dried
resin, it acts very powerfully as a diuretic. Pounded in wine
with juniper berries, and taken in drink, it draws off the water
in dropsy.
CHAP. 18. THE TEREBINTH : SIX REMEDIES.
The leaves and root of the terebinth74 are used as applica-
71 In B. xii. c. 58. It is no longer used in medicine, though possessed
of properties of considerable energy. Fee says that most of the assertions
here made respecting it are unfounded.
72 An absurdity, Fee remarks.
73 In B. xii. c. 50. Various lichens probably were called by this name.
No use is made of them in modern medicine.
74 See B. xiii. c. 12. The leaves and root of the terebinth or turpentine-
tree have some medicinal properties, owing to their resin or essential oil;
but no use is made of them in modern medicine.
Chap. 20.] THE CHAMJEPITYS. 13
tions for gatherings ; and a decoction of them is strengthening
to the stomach. The seed of it is taken in wine for head-ache
and strangury : it is slightly laxative to the bowels, and acts
as an aphrodisiac.
CHAP. 19. THE PITCH-TREE AND THE LARCH I EIGHT REMEDIES.
The leaves of the pitch-tree75 and the larch,76 beaten up
and boiled in vinegar, are good for tooth-ache. The ashes of
the bark are used for excoriations and burns. Taken in drink
this substance arrests diarrhoea, and acts as a diuretic ; and
used as a fumigation, it reduces the uterus when displaced.
The leaves of the pitch- tree are particularly good for the liver,
taken in doses of one drachma in hydromel.
It is a well-known fact that forests planted solely with trees
from which pitch and resin are extracted, are remarkably
beneficial for patients suffering from phthisis,77 or who are un-
able to recover their strength after a long illness : indeed it is
said, that in such cases to breathe the air of localities thus
planted, is more beneficial even than to take a voyage to Egypt,78
or to go on a summer's journey to the mountains to drink the
milk there, impregnated with the perfumes of plants.
CHAP. 20. THE CHAMJEPITYS : TEN REMEDIES.
The chamaepitys,79 called in Latin " abiga,"80 because it
promotes abortion, and known to some as " incense of the
earth,"81 has branches a cubit in length, and the odour and
75 See B. xvi. c. 18.
76 See B, xvi. c. 19. The leaves of these trees are of an astringent
and acid nature, Fee says, but they are no longer employed in medicine.
All that Pliny here states relative to them is very problematical.
77 Fee says that it is still the practice of the Turkish physicians to re-
commend to their patients the air of the cypress groves of Candia. He
states also, that it is a very general supposition that resins, balms, and bal-
sams are good for pulmonary phthisis, but is of opinion that the notion is
founded upon no solid basis.
78 See B. xxxi. c. 33, also Celsus, B. iii. c. 22. Similar to a voyage to
Madeira, recommended to our consumptive patients at the present day.
78 Or "ground-pine."
80 From "abigo," to "drive away," it would appear.
81 <; Thus terrae." The Teucrinm Iva of Linnaeus, Fee says, or Chamae-
pitys moschata. Fee remarks that Pliny commits a great error in giving to
it the blossoms of the pine, and that he assigns larger proportions than really
belong to it. The name " incense of the earth," is very inappropriate ; for
it has none of the odour of incense, but merely a resinous smell.
14 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
blossoms of the pine. Another variety82 of it, which is some-
what shorter, has all the appearance of being bent83 down-
wards ; and there is a third,84 which, though it has a similar
smell, and consequently the same name, is altogether smaller,
with a stem the thickness of one's finger, and a diminutive,
rough, pale leaf : it is found growing in rocky localities. All
these varieties are in reality herbaceous productions ; but in
consequence of the resemblance of the name,85 1 have thought
it as well not to defer the consideration of them.
These plants are good for stings inflicted by scorpions, and
are useful as an application, mixed with dates or quinces, for
maladies of the liver : a decoction of them with barley -meal
is used for the kidneys and the bladder. A decoction of them
in water is used also for jaundice and for strangury. The
kind last mentioned, in combination with honey, is good for
wounds inflicted by serpents, and a pessary is made of it, with
honey, as a detergent for the uterus. Taken in drink it brings
away coagulated blood, and rubbed upon the body it acts as a
sudorific : it is particularly useful also for the kidneys. Pills
of a purgative nature are made of it for dropsy, with figs.86
Taken in wine, in doses of one victor iatus,87 it dispels lumbago,
and cures coughs that are not of an inveterate description.
A decoction of it in vinegar, taken in drink, will instantaneously
bring away the dead foetus, it is said.
CHAP. 21. THE P1TYTJSA I SIX REMEDIES.
For a similar88 reason, too, we shall accord the same dis-
tinction to the pityusa, a plant which some persons reckon
among the varieties of the tithy mains.89 It is a shrub,90 re-
82 The Teucrium chamsepitys of Linnaeus, the Chamsepitys lutea vulgaris
of C. Bauhin, the ground-pine.
83 The leaves are imbricated, and the branches bend downwards, like
those of the pine, whence the name.
84 The Teucrium pseudo-chamaepitys of Linnaeus, the bastard ground-
pine.
85 To the pine or pitch-tree, mentioned in c. 19.
86 They are rich in essential oil, and are of a tonic nature. All that is here
stated as to their medicinal uses, and which cannot be based upon that
property, is hypothetical, Fee says, and does not deserve to be refuted.
87 See Introduction to Vol. III.
88 The resemblance of its name to the "pitvs," or pitch-tree.
»» See B. xxvi. c. 39.
90 An Euphorbia with a ligneous stem, the Euphorbia pityusa of Linnaeus.
Chap. 22.] RESINS. 15
sembling the pitch-tree in appearance, and with a diminutive
purple blossom. A decoction of the root, taken in doses of
one hemina, carries off the bilious and pituitous secretions by91
stool, and a spoonful of the seed, used as a suppository, has a
similar effect. A decoction of the leaves in vinegar removes
scaly eruptions of the skin ; and in combination with boiled
rue, it effects the cure of diseases of the mamillae, gripings in
the bowels, wounds inflicted by serpents, and incipient gather-
ings of most kinds.
CHAP. 22. — RESINS : TWENTY- TWO EEMEDIES.
In treating, first of wines,92 and then of trees,93 we have
stated that resin is the produce of the trees above-mentioned,
and have described the several varieties of it, and the countries
in which they are respectively produced. There are two
principal kinds of resin, the dry and the liquid.93* The dry
resins are extracted from the pine94 and the pitch- tree,95 the
liquid from the terebinth,96 the larch,97 the lentisk,98 and the
cypress ;" these last producing it in the province of Asia and
in Syria. It is an error1 to suppose that the resin of the pitch-
tree* is the same as that of the larch ; for the pitch-tree yields
an unctuous2 resin, and of the same consistency as frankin-
cense, while that of the larch is thin, like honey in colour, and
of a powerful odour. It is but very rarely that medical men
make use of liquid resin, and when they do, it is mostly that
produced by the larch, which is administered in an egg for
The characteristics of it differ, however, from the description here given
by Pliny. It is no longer used in medicine, though, like the other Euphor-
biaceae, it has very active properties.
91 This, Fee says, is consistent with truth.
9Mn B. xiv. c. 25. '<* B. xvi. cc. 16, 21, 22, 23.
93* Or, as they are called at the present day, the resins, and the oleo-
resins, or terebinthines.
94 Fee thinks that this name extends to the numerous species of resin-
iferous trees. . _ 95 The Abies excelsa of Linnaeus.
96 The Pistacia-terebinthus; see B. xiii. c. 12. It yields a valuable
turpentine, known in commerce as that of Cyprus or Chios.
97 The so-called Venice turpentine is extracted from the larch.
- It yields mastich solely, a solid resin.
99 It yields a terebin thine, and a very diminutive amount of solid resin.
1 Fee says, that if the same methods are employed, the same products
may be obtained, though in general the larch yields the better terebinthine.
3 Fee thinks that he is speaking of a thick resin, or galipot, as the
; French call it, of the consistency of honey.
16
NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV
cough and ulcerations of the viscera. The resin of the pine,
too, is far from extensively used, and that of the other kinds
is always boiled3 before use : on the various methods of boiling
it, we have enlarged at sufficient length already.4
As to the produce of the various trees, the resin of the tere-
binth is held in high esteem, as being the most odoriferous and
the lightest, the kinds5 which come from Cyprus and Syria
being looked upon as the best. Both these kinds are the
colour of Attic honey ; but that of Cyprus has more body, and
dries with greater rapidity. In the dry resins the qualities
requisite are whiteness, purity, and transparency : but what-
ever the kind, the produce of mountainous6 districts is always
preferred to that of champaign countries, and that of a north-
eastern aspect to that of any other quarter. Resins7 are dis-
solved in oil as a liniment and emollient cataplasm for wounds ;
but when they are used as a potion, bitter almonds8 are also
employed. The curative properties of resins consist in their
tendency to close wounds, to act as a detergent upon gatherings
and so disperse them, and to cure affections of the chest.
The resin of the terebinth * * * it is used too, warmed,
as a liniment for pains in the limbs, the application being re-
moved after the patient has taken a walk in the sun. Among
slave-dealers too, there is a practice of rubbing the bodies of
the slaves with it, which is done with the greatest care, as a
corrective for an emaciated appearance ; the resin having the
property of relaxing the skin upon all parts of the body, and
rendering it more capable of being plumped out by food.9
Next after the resin of the terebinth comes that of the
3 Boiled terebinthine, or turpentine, is still used, Fee says, in medicine ;
that process disengaging the essential oil.
4 In B. xvi. c. 22.
5 Fee thinks that in reality these are terehinthines, and not resins.
6 It has been generally remarked that aromatic plants grown on moun-
tains have a stronger perfume than those of the plains ; Fee queries whether
this extends to the resins.
7 Though of little importance in modern medicine, resins and terebin-
thines are still employed as the basis of certain plasters and other prepara-
tions.
8 Such a potion as this, Fee says, would but ill agree with a person in
robust health even.
9 There would be no necessity whatever, Fee says, for such a process, a j
plentiful supply of food being quite sufficient for the purpose. Galen I
recommends frictions of terebinthine for the improvement of the health.
Chap. 23.] PITCH. 17
Jcntisk:10 it possesses astringent properties, and is the most
powerful diuretic of them all. The other resins are laxative
feto the bowels, promote the digestion of crudities, allay the
[ violence of inveterate coughs, and, employed as a fumigation,
: disengage the uterus of foreign11 bodies with which it is sur-
charged : they are particularly useful too as neutralizing the
effects of mistletoe ; and, mixed with bull suet and honey,
they are curative of inflamed tumours and affections of a similar
nature. The resin of the lentisk is very convenient as a ban-
doline for keeping stubborn eyelashes in their place : it is
useful also in cases of fractures, suppurations of the ears, and
prurigo of the generative organs. The resin of the pine is the
best of them all for the cure of wounds in the head.
CHAP. 23. (7.) PITCH : TWENTY-THREE REMEDIES.
We have also stated on a previous occasion12 from what
tree pitch is extracted, and the methods employed for that
purpose. Of this also there are two kinds ; thick pitch and
liquid pitch.13 Of the several varieties of thick pitch the
most useful for medicinal purposes is that of Bruttium ;14 for
being both extremely unctuous and very resinous, it reunites
the properties both of resin and of pitch, that of a yellow
reddish colour being the most highly esteemed. As to the
statement made in addition to this, that the produce of the
male tree is the best, I do not believe that any such distinc-
tion is at all possible.
Pitch is of a warming, cicatrizing tendency : mixed with
polenta it is particularly useful as a neutralizer of the venom
of the cerastes,15 and in combination with honey it is used
for quinzy, catarrhs, and fits of sneezing caused by phlegm.
With oil of roses it is used as an injection for the ears, and
employed as a liniment with wax it heals lichens. It relaxes16
the bowels, also, and used as an electuary, or applied with
10 Mastich. The medicinal properties here attributed to it, Fee says,
do not exist.
!i " Onera," 12 In B. xiv. c. 25, and B. xvi. cc. 21, 22.
13 Tar. See B. xvi. c. 21.
14 The pitch of Calabria, Fee says, is known at the present day as
yitch resin. All that Pliny states as to the medicinal properties of pitch,
is destitute, Fee thinks, of the slightest probability.
15 Or horned serpent. 16 Taken internally, of course,
VOL. V. • C
18 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
honey to the tonsillary glands, it facilitates expectoration.
Applied topically, it acts as a detergent upon ulcers, and
makes new flesh. Mixed with raisins and axle-grease, it
forms a detergent plaster for carbuncles and putrid ulcers, and,
with pine-bark or sulphur, for serpiginous sores. Pitch has
been administered too by some, in doses of one cyathus, for
phthisis and inveterate coughs. It heals chaps of the feet and
rectum, inflamed tumours, and malformed nails ; and used as a
fumigation, it is curative of indurations and derangements of
the uterus, and of lethargy. Boiled with barley-meal and the
urine of a youth who has not arrived at puberty, it causes
scrofulous sores to suppurate. Dry pitch is used also for the
cure of alopecy. For affections of the mamillae, Bruttian
pitch is warmed in wine with fine spelt meal, and applied as
hot as can be borne.
CHAP. 24. PISSEL^ON AND PALIMPISSA : SIXTEEN REMEDIES.
"We have already17 described the way in which liquid pitch
and the oil known as pisselaeon are made. Some persons boil
the pitch over again, and give it the name of " palimpissa."18 For
quinzy19 and affections of the uvula, liquid pitch is employed
internally. It is used also for the cure of ear-ache, for the
improvement of the sight, and as a salve for the lips ; and is
employed for hysterical suffocations, inveterate coughs, profuse
expectorations, spasms, nervousness, opisthotony, paralysis,
and pains in the sinews. It is a very excellent remedy too for
itch in dogs and beasts of burden.
CHAP. 25. PISSASPH ALTOS : TWO REMEDIES.
There is pissasph altos too, a natural production of the
territory of the Apolloniates,20 and consisting of pitch mixed
17 In B. xvi. c. 22, and B. xv. c. 7.
19 "Pitch boiled over again."
19 Fee says, that this statement is quite beyond all belief. Indeed there
is little doubt that tar taken internally for quinzy, would only tend to
aggravate the complaint. He states that a solution of tar in water is some-
times used internally with success for pulmonary phthisis. Bishop
Berkeley wrote his Siris, on the virtues of Tar- water as a medicament,
having been indebted to it for his recovery from an attack of colic.
20 See B. xvi. c. 23. His description here is faulty, it being solely a
natural pitch or mineral bitumen, without any admixture of vegetable
pitch. Vitruvius calls this pissasphalt, pitch ; but Julian, more correctly,
Chap. 28.] THE LENTISK. 19
with bitumen. Some persons, however, make this mixture
artificially, and employ it for the cure of itch in cattle, and of
injuries done by the young sucklings to the manrillse. The
most esteemed portion of it is that which floats on the surface
when boiled.
CHAP. 26. ZOPISSA : ONE REMEDY.
We have already21 stated that zopissa is the pitch, macerated
with salt-water and wax, that has been scraped from off
the bottoms of ships. The best kind is that taken from ships
which have been to sea for the first time. It is used as an in-
gredient in plasters of an emollient nature, employed to disperse
gatherings.
CHAP. 27. THE TORCH-IEEE : ONE KEMEDT.
A decoction in vinegar of the wood of the torch- tree*2
makes a most eflicacjous gargle for tooth- ache.
CHAP. 28. THE LENT1SK : TWENTY-TWO REMEDIES.
The seed, bark, and tear-like juices of the lentisk are
diuretics, and act astringently upon the bowels :23 a decoction
of them, used as a fomentation, is curative of serpiginous sores,
and is applied topically for humid ulcerations and erysipelas ;
it is employed also as a collutory for the gums. The teeth are
rubbed with the leaves in cases of tooth- ache, and they are
rinsed with a decoction of the leaves when loose :24 this decoc-
tion has the effect also of staining25 the hair. The gum of
this tree is useful for diseases of the rectum, and all cases in
which desiccatives and calorifics are needed ; a decoction too
of the gum is good for the stomach, acting as a carminative
bitumen. The names now given to it are mineral pitch, and malthe or
pitch of Malta.
21 In B. xvi. c. 23. Fee thinks that the use of it is more likely to
have been injurious than beneficial.
22 Or t«da. See B, xvi. c. 19.
23 Fee says, that within the last century, the wood of the lentisk or
mastich, and the oil of its berries, figured in the Pharmacopoeias. Their
medicinal properties are far from energetic, but the essential oil may pro-
bably be of some utility as an excitant.
24 This property is still attributed in the East to the leaves and resin of
the lentisk. We learn from Martial, B. xiv. Epig. 22, that the wood of
the lentisk, as well as quills, was used for tooth-picks.
25 This, Fee says, is not the fact.
20 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
and diuretic ; it is applied also to the head, in cases of head-
ache, with polenta. The more tender of the leaves are used as
an application for inflammations of the eyes.
The mastich26 produced by the lentisk is used as a bando-
line for the hairs of the eye-lids, in compositions for giving
a plumpness to the face, and in cosmetics for smoothing27 the
skin. It is employed for spitting of blood and for inveterate
coughs, as well as all those purposes for which gum acacia is
in request. It is used also for the cure of excoriations ; which
are fomented either with the oil extracted from the seed,
mixed with wax, or else with a decoction of the leaves in
oil. Fomentations too are made of a decoction of it in water
for diseases of the male organs.28 I know for a fact, that in
the illness of Considia, the daughter of M. Servilius, a per-
sonage of consular rank, her malad}^ which had long resisted
all the more severe methods of treatment, was at last success-
fully treated with the milk of goats that had been fed urjon the
leaves of the lentisk.
CHAP. 29. (8.) — THE PLANE-TREE: TWENTY-FIVE REMEDIES.
The plane-tree29 neutralizes the bad effects of bites in-
flicted by the bat.30 The excrescences of this tree, taken in
doses31 of four denarii, in wine, act as an antidote to the
venom of serpents of all kinds and of scorpions, and are cura-
tive of burns. Pounded with strong vinegar, squill vinegar
in particular, they arrest haemorrhage of every kind ; and
with the addition of honey, they remove freckles, carcino-
matous sores, and black spots of long standing on the skin.
The leaves again, and the bark of this tree, are used in the
form of liniments for gatherings and suppurations, and a
decoction of them is employed for a similar purpose. A de-
coction of the bark in vinegar is remedial for affections of
the teeth, and the more tender of the leaves boiled in white
wine are good for the eyes. The down which grows upon the
2(5 See B. xii. c. 36, and B. xiv. c. 25.
27 " Smegmata."
28 Littre thus reads the whole passage, "Sive cum aqua, ut ita foveantur,"
— " A decoction of it is made with water for the purpose of fomentation."
29 See B. xii. c. 3.
30 " Adversantur vespertilionihus." Fee se^s difficulties in this passage,
which really do not seem to exist.
yi Hie produce of the plane is no longer employed in medicine.
Chap. 32.] THE POPLAR. 21
leaves32 is injurious to both the ears and eyes. The ashes of
the excrescences of this tree heal such parts of the body as
have been burnt or frost-bitten. The bark, taken in wine,
reduces the inflammation caused by the stings of scorpions.
CHAP. 30. THE ASH I FIVE REMEDIES.
"We have already33 made some mention of the virtues pos-
sessed by the ash as an antidote to the venom of serpents.
The seed of it is enclosed in follicules, which are good for
diseases of the liver, and, in combination with wine, for pains
in the sides : they are employed also for drawing off the
water in dropsy. They have the property, too, of diminish-
ing obesity, and of gradually reducing the body to a state of
comparative emaciation,34 the follicules being pounded in
wine and administered in proportion to the bodily strength ;
thus, for instance, to a child, five of them are given in three
cyathi of wine, but for persons in more robust health, seven
are prescribed, in five cyathi of wine.
We must not omit to state that the shavings and saw-dust
of this wood are of a highly dangerous nature, according to
some.
CHAP. 31. — THE MAPLE I ONE REMEDY.
The root of the maple,35 beaten up in wine, is extremely
efficacious as a topical application for pains in the liver.
CHAP. 32. THE POPLAR I EIGHT REMEDIES.
We have already36 mentioned,- when speaking of the un-
guents, the use that is made of the berries37 of the white
poplar. A potion prepared from the bark is good for sciatica
32 The young leaves probably, or else the fruit.
33 In B. xvi. c. 24. There are still some traces of this notion existing,
Fee says, among the French peasantry. All the statements here made re-
lative to its medicinal properties, are utterly unfounded.
34 In reality they have no such effect.
35 See B. xvi. c. 26. The root of the maple, Fee says, has no marked
qualities whatever.
36 In B. xii. c. 61. The buds of the poplar, Fee says, are still used in
medicine in the composition of an unguent known as " populeum." The
bark is astringent, and the wood destitute of taste.
37 " Uvarum." Fee thinks that by these berries, or grapes, the blossoms
or buds are meant. See Note 91 to B. xii. c. 61
22 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
and strangury, and the juice of the leaves is taken warm for
ear-ache. So long38 as a person holds a sprig of poplar in
his hand, there is no fear of39 chafing between the thighs.
The black poplar which grows in Crete is looked upon as
the most efficacious of them all. The seed of it, taken in
vinegar, is good for epilepsy. This tree produces a resin also
to a small extent, which is made use of for emollient plasters.
The leaves, boiled in vinegar, are applied topically for gout.
A moisture that exudes from the clefts of the black poplar
removes warts, and pimples caused by friction. Poplars
produce also on the leaves a kind of sticky40 juice, from which
bees prepare their propolis :41 indeed this juice, mixed with
water, 'has the same virtues as propolis.
CHAP. 33. THE ELM I SIXTEEN EEMEDIKS.
The leaves, bark, and branches of the elm42 have the pro-
perty of filling up wounds and knitting the flesh together :
the inner membrane43 too, of the bark, and the leaves, steeped
in vinegar, are applied topically for leprosy. The bark, in
doses of one denarius, taken in one hemina of cold water, acts
as a purgative upon the bowels, and is particularly useful for
carrying off pituitous and aqueous humours. The gum also
which this tree produces is applied topically to gatherings,
wounds, and burns, which it would be as well to foment with
the decoction also. The moisture44 which is secreted on
the follicules of the tree gives a finer colour to the skin,
and improves the looks. The foot-stalks of the leaves that
first appear,45 boiled in wine, are curative of tumours, and
38 See also c. 38, as to the Vitex.
19 This superstition probably applies to persons riding on horseback.
40 "Guttam." This is the substance known to us as "honey-dew."
It is either secreted by the plant itself, or deposited on the leaves by an
aphis. It is found more particularly on the leaves of the rose, the plane,
the lime, and the maple. Bees and ants are particularly fond of it.
41 Bee-glue. See B. xi. c. 6, and B. xxii. c. 50.
42 See B. xvi. c. 29. The bark of the elm, like that of most other trees,
has certain astringent properties.
43 Fee says that it is only some few years since the inner bark of the
elm was sometimes prescribed medicinally, but that it has now completely
fallen into disuse. All that Pliny says here of the virtues of the elm is
entirely suppositions.
44 A kind of honey-dew, no doubt.
45 " Cauliculi foliorum primi."
Cbap. 35.] THE ELDEE. 23
bring them to a head :46 the same, too, is the effect produced by
the inner bark.
Many persons are of opinion that the bark of this tree,
chewed, is a very useful application for wounds, and that the
leaves, bruised and moistened with water, are good for gout.
The moisture too that exudes from the pith of the tree,
as already47 stated, on an incision being made, applied
to the head, causes the hair to grow and prevents it from
falling off.
CHAP. 34. THE LINDEN-TREE I FIVE REMEDIES.
The linden-tree48 is useful, thougli in a less marked degree,
for nearly all the same purposes as the wild olive. The leaves,
however, are the only part that is made use of for ulcers upon
infants ; chewed, too, or employed in the form of a decoction,
they are diuretic. Used as a liniment they arrest menstruation
when in excess, and an infusion of them, taken in drink, carries
off superfluous blood.
CHAP. 35. THE ELDER : FIFTEEN REMEDIES.
There are two kinds of elder, one of which grows wild and
is much smaller than the other ; by the Greeks it is known as
the " chamseacte," or " helion."49 A decoction of the leaves,60
seed, or root of either kind, taken in doses of two cyathi, in
old wine, though bad for the upper regions of the stomach,
carries off all aqueous humours by stool. This decoction is
very cooling too for inflammations, those attendant upon recent
burns in particular. A poultice is made also of the more
46 " Ex trah unique per fistulas."
47 In B. XT!, c. 74.
48 See B. xvi. c. 25. The blossoms of the linden-tree are the only part
of it employed in modern medicine. Fee thinks, with Hardouin, that
Pliny has here attributed to the linden, or Philyra of the Greeks, the pro-
perties which in reality were supposed to belong to the Pliillyrea latifolia,
a shrub resembling the wild olive. Dioscorides, in his description of its
properties, has not fallen into the same error.
49 « Ground elder " or "marsh elder ;" the Sambucus ebulus of Lin-
nseus, or dwarf elder. The other kind mentioned by Pliny is the Sambu-
cus nigra of Linnaeus, or black elder.
50 Fee says that though some of the assertions as to its medicinal pro-
perties made by Pliny are unfounded, it is still an opinion among the
moderns that the leaves of the elder are purgative, the inner bark aa
emetic and hydragogue, the berries laxative, and the flowers emollient.
24 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
tender leaves, mixed with polenta, for bites inflicted by dogs.
The juice of the elder, used as a fomentation, reduces abscesses
of the brain, and more particularly of the membrane which
envelopes that organ. The berries, which have not so power-
ful an action as the other parts of the tree, stain the hair.
Taken in doses of one acetabulum, in drink, they are diuretic.
The softer leaves are eaten with oil and salt, to carry off
pituitous and bilious secretions.
The smaller kind is for all these purposes the more efficacious
of the two. A decoction of the root in wine, taken in doses
of two cyathi, brings away the water in dropsy, and acts
emolliently upon the uterus : the same effects are produced
also by a sitting-bath made of a decoction of the leaves.
The tender shoots of the cultivated kind, boiled in a saucepan
and eaten as food, have a purgative effect : the leaves taken in
wine, neutralize the venom of serpents. An application of
the young shoots, mixed with he-goat suet, is remarkably good
for gout ; and if they are macerated in water, the infusion will
destroy fleas. If a decoction of the leaves is sprinkled about
a place, it will exterminate flies. " Boa "61 is the name given
to a malady which appears in the form of red pimples upon
the body ; for its cure the patient is scourged with a branch of
elder. The inner bark,62 pounded and taken with white wine,
relaxes the bowels.
CHAP. 36. THE JUNIPEK I TWEXTY-ONE REMEDIES.
The juniper is of a warming and resolvent nature beyond
all other plants : in other respects, it resembles the cedar.53
There are two species of this tree, also, one of which is larger54
than the other :55 the odour of either, burnt, repels the ap-
61 According to Hardouin, this would appear to be the measles ; but ac-
cording to Festus, swellings on the legs were so called. The shingles is
probably the malady meant.
62 Fee speaks of a decoction of the inner bark as having been recently
in vogue for the cure of dropsy.
53 This so-called cedar, Fee says, is in reality itself a juniper. The medici-
nal properties of all the varieties of the juniper are not identical. Theessen-
tial oil of the leaves acts with a formidable energy upon the human system.
54 This is identified by Fee with the Juniperus communis of Lamarck,
variety a, the Juniperus communis of Linnaeus.
55 Identified by Fee with the Juniperus nana of Willdenow, the Juni-
perus communis of Lamarck, variety /3. The Spanish juniper, mentioned
in H. xvi. c. 76, he identifies with the Juniperus thurifera of Linnaeus.
Chap. 37.] THE WILLOW. 25
proach of serpents.56 The seed57 is good for pains in the
stomach, chest, and sides ; it dispels flatulency and sudden
chills, soothes cough, and brings indurations to a head. Ap-
plied topically, it checks the growth of tumours ; and the
berries, taken in red wine, act astringently upon the bowels :
they are applied also to tumours of the abdomen. The seed
is used as an ingredient in antidotes of an aperient nature, and
ia diuretic58 in its effects. It is used as a liniment for de-
fluxions of the eyes, and is prescribed for convulsions, rup-
tures, griping pains in the bowels, affections of the uterus,
and sciatica, either in a dose of four berries in white wine, or
in the form of a decoction of twenty berries in wine.
There are persons who rub the body with juniper berries as
a preventive of the attacks of serpents.
CHAP. 37. (9.) — THE WILLOW : FOURTEEN REMEDIES. THB
WILLOW OF AMERIA : ONE REMEDY.
The fruit of the willow,59 before it arrives at maturity, is
covered with a down like a spider's web : gathered60 before it
is ripe, it arrests discharges of blood from the mouth. The
bark of the upper branches, reduced to ashes and mixed with
water, is curative of corns and callosities : it removes spots
also upon the face, being still more efficacious for that purpose
if mixed with the j uices of the tree.
The juices produced by the willow form three different
varieties ; one61 of which exudes in the shape of a gum from
56 Virgil says this of the fumes of the cedar, Georg. III. 414; an
additional proof, Fee says, that under the name of " cedrus," the juniper
was really meant. The smoke of the juniper is not known to have the
effect upon serpents here described.
5> The berries of the juniper contain sugar, mucilage, and a small pro-
portion of essential oil ; a rob is prepared from them, Fee says, under the
name of "extract of juniper."
58 It is a well-known fact, that juniper berries are diuretic ; they impart
also to the urine the odour of the violet, a property which is equally pos-
sessed by turpentine. All the other properties here attributed to the
juniper, are, in Fee's opinion, either hypothetical or absurd.
69 See B. xvi. c. 68.
60 Neither this downy substance nor the seeds are now employed for
any purpose. The bark of the willow has some strongly-pronounced pro-
perties, but all other parts of it are totally inert.
61 A kind of manna, Fee says. The other juices here mentioned are
secreted from the sap.
26 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
the tree itself, and another distils from an incision some three
• fingers in width, made in the bark while the tree is in blossom.
This last is very useful for dispersing humours which impede
the sight, acting also as an inspissative when needed, promoting
the discharge of the urine, and bringing abscesses of all kinds
to a head. The third kind of juice exudes from the wounds,
when the branches are lopt off with the bill. Either of these
juices, warmed in a pomegranate rind, is used as an injection
for diseases of the ears. The leaves, too, boiled and beaten
up with wax, are employed as a liniment for similar purposes,
and for gout. The bark and leaves, boiled in wine, form a
decoction that is remarkably useful as a fomentation for affec-
tions of the sinews. The blossoms, bruised with the leaves,
remove scaly eruptions of the face ; and the leaves, bruised and
taken in drink, check libidinous tendencies,62 and effectually
put an end to them, if habitually employed.
The seed of the black willow of Ameria,63 mixed with
litharge in equal proportions, and applied to the body just
after the bath, acts as a depilatory.
CHAP. 38. — THE VITEX : THIRTY-THREE REMEDIES.
!Not much unlike the willow, for the use that is made of it
in wicker-work, is the vitex,64 which also resembles it in the
leaves and general appearance, though the smell of it is more
agreeable. The Greeks call it "lygos," or "agnos,"65 from
the fact that the matrons of Athens, during the Thesmo-
phoria,66 a period when the strictest chastity is observed, are
in the habit of strewing their beds with the leaves of this tree.
There are two species of vitex : the larger67 one, like the
willow, attains the full proportions of a tree ; while the other,68
which is smaller, is branchy, with a paler, downy leaf. The
first kind, generally known as the " white" vitex, bears a
62 The leaves have no effect whatever as an antaphrodisiac.
63 See B. xvi. c. 69.
64 The Vitex agnus castus of Linnaeus, the tree of chastity.
65 The " chaste" tree. It is no longer used in medicine ; the fruit has some-
what the flavour of spice, Fee says, and taken internally it would have the
converse of an antaphrodisiac effect. The other parts of it are quite inert.
66 An Attic festival celebrated yearly in honour of Demeter, which
lasted four or five days. It was also celebrated in other parts of Greece.
67 The Vitex agnus castus of Lamarck, variety /3, Elatior.
68 The Vitex agnus castus of Linnaeus, the type.
Chap. 38.] THE VITEX. 27
white blossom mixed with purple, whereas the black one has a
flower that is entirely purple. Both of these trees grow on
level spots of a marshy nature.
The seed of these trees, taken in drink, has a sort of vinous
flavour, and has the reputation of being a febrifuge. It is
said also to act as a sudorific, if the body is rubbed with it
mixed with oil, and to have the effect of dispelling extreme
lassitude : it acts too as a diuretic69 and emmenagogue. The
produce of both trees is trying to the head, like wine, and
indeed the odour of them is very similar. They have the
effect also of removing flatulence in the lower regions of the
body, act astringently upon the bowels, and are remarkably
useful for dropsy and affections of the spleen. They promote
the secretion of the milk, and neutralize the venom of serpents,
when of a cold nature more particularly. The smaller kind,
however, is the more efficacious of the two for injuries inflicted
by serpents, the seed being taken in doses of one drachma, in
wine or oxycrate, or else the more tender leaves in doses of two
drachmae.
From both trees also a liniment is prepared for the bites of
spiders, but it is quite sufficient to rub the wounds with the
leaves ; and if a fumigation is made from them, or if they are
spread beneath the bed, they will repel the attacks of all
venomous creatures. They act also as an antaphrodisiac, and
it is by this tendency in particular that they neutralize the
venom of the phalangium, the bite of which has an exciting
effect upon the generative organs. The blossoms and young
shoots, mixed with oil of roses, allay head-aches arising from
inebriation. A decoction of the seed used as a fomentation
cures head-ache, however intense it may be ; and employed as
a fumigation or as a pessary, the seeds acts as a detergent
upon the uterus. Taken in drink with honey and penny -royal,
it has a laxative effect ; pounded and used with barley-meal,
it quickly brings abscesses and hard tumours to a head, and
has an emollient effect.
The seed, in combination with saltpetre and vinegar, removes
lichens and freckles ; mixed with honey, it heals ulcers and
eruptions of the mouth ; applied with butter and vine-leaves,
it reduces swellings of the testes ; used with water, as a lini-
69 It may possibly, Fee says, have this effect, but the other properties
here attributed to it are wholly imaginary.
28 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
ment, it cures chaps of the rectum; and employed with salt,
nitre, and wax, it is good for sprains. The seed and leaves
are used as ingredients also in emollient plasters for diseases
of the sinews, and for gout ; and a decoction of the seed in oil is
employed as a fomentation for the head in cases of phrenitis
and lethargy. Persons70 who carry a sprig of this plant in the
hand, or stuck in the girdle, will be proof, it is said, against
chafing between the thighs.
CHAP. 39. THE ERICA J ONE REMEDY.
The Greeks give the name of " erice,"71 to a shrub that is but
little different from the myrice.72 It has the colour, and very
nearly the leaf, of rosemary. It neutralizes73 the venom of
serpents, it is said.
CHAP. 40. — THE BROOM; FIVE REMEDIES.
The broom is used for making withes ;74 the flowers of it
are greatly sought by bees. I have my doubts whether this
is not the same plant that the Greek writers have called
"sparton," and of which, in those parts of the world, as I have
already75 stated, they are in the habit of making fishing-nets.
I doubt also whether Homer76 has alluded to this plant, when
he speaks of the seams of the ships, — " the sparta" coming
asunder ; for it is certain that in those times the spartuni77 of
Spain or Africa was not as yet in use, and that vessels made
of materials sown together, were united by the agency, not of
spartum, but of flax.
70 Travelling on horseback, probably. A similar superstition is mentioned
as to the poplar, in c. 32 of this Book.
71 Probably the Erica arborea of Linnaeus ; see B. xiii. c. 35. It has
not, however, a leaf similar to that of rosemary, with the sole exception,
Fee says, of the Erica cinerea of Linnaeus.
72 See B. xiii. c. 37. 73 It has no such effect, in reality.
74 See B. xvi. c. 69. The kind here alluded to is the Spanish broom,
Fee thinks. ™ In B. xix. c. 2. Vol. IV. p. 135.
?6 Iliad, B. ii. 1. 135. See B. xix. c. 6, where Pliny states it as his
opinion that in this passage Homer is speaking of flax,
77 See B. xix. c. 7. Fee thinks that the plant, under consideration in
this Chapter is the Spanish broom, Genista juncea of Lamarck, the Spar-
tium junceum of Linnaeus, a different plant from the Spartum of B. xix.
c. 7, the Stipa tenacissima of Linnaeus. He is of opinion also, that Homer
in the passage referred to alludes, not to flax, but to the Genista juncea. See
this question further discussed, in the additional Note at the end of B. xxvii.
Chap. 41.] THE MYllICA. 29
The seed of the plant to which the Greeks now give the
name of " sparton," grows in pods like those of the kidney-
bean. It is as strongly drastic78 as hellebore, and is usually
taken fasting, in doses of one drachma and a half, in four
cyathi of hydrorael. The branches also, with the foliage, are
macerated for several days in vinegar, and are then beaten up,
the infusion being recommended for sciatica, in doses of one
cyathus. Some persons think it a better plan, however, to
make an infusion of them in sea-water, and to inject it as a
clyster. The juice of them is used also as a friction for sciatica,
with the addition of oil. Some medical men, too, make use
of the seed for strangury. Broom, bruised with axle-grease, is
a cure for diseases of the knees.
CHAP. 41. THE MTRICA, OTHERWISE CALLED TAMARICA, OR
TAMARIX I THREE REMEDIES.
Lenseus says, that the myrice,79 otherwise known as the
" erica," is a similar plant to that of which brooms are made at
Aineria.80 He states also that, boiled in wine and then beaten
up and applied with honey, it heals carcinomatous sores. I
would here remark, parenthetically, that some persons identify
it with the tainarice. Ee this as it may, it is particularly
useful for affections of the spleen, the juice of it being ex-
tracted for the purpose, and taken in wine; indeed so marvellous,
they say, is its antipathy to this part of the viscera, and this
only, that if swine drink from troughs made of this wood,61
they will be found to lose the spleen. Hence it is that
78 Fee says that the blossoms and seed of the junciform genista and
other kinds are of a purgative nature ; indeed, one variety has been called
the Genista purgans by Lamarck. None of them, however, are so potent
in their effects as Pliny in the present passage would lead us to suppose.
79 See B. xiii. c. 37, and Note 96 ; where it is stated that, in Fee's
opinion, several plants were united by the ancients under this one collective
name — brooms for instance, heaths, and tamarisks. He thinks, however,
that under the name " Myrica," Pliny may possibly have intended to com-
prehend the larger heaths and the Tamarix Gallica of LinnaBiis. M. Fraas, as
Littre states, gives the Tamarix Africana as the probable synonym of the
Myrica of Pliny.
80 . Of this broom-plant of Ameria nothing is known.
81 This cannot apply to any of the heaths of Europe. The tamarisk
grows to a much larger size, and barrels and drinking vessels are made of
the wood.
30 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKY. [Book XXIV.
in maladies of the spleen victuals and drink are given to the
patient in vessels made of this wood.
A medical author too, of high repute,82 has asserted that a
sprig broken from off this tree, without being allowed to touch
the earth or iron, will allay pains in the bowels, if applied to
the body, and kept close to it by the clothes and girdle. The
common people, as already83 stated, look upon this tree as ill-
omened, because it bears no fruit, and is never propagated
from seed.
CHAP. 42. THE BETA ! TWENTY-NINE REMEDIES.
At Corinth, and in the vicinity of that city, the Greeks give
the name of " brya"84 to a plant of which there are two
varieties ; the wild brya,85 which is altogether barren, and the
cultivated one.86 This last, when found in Syria and Egypt,
produces a ligneous fruit, somewhat larger than a gall-nut, in
great abundance, and of an acrid flavour ; medical men employ
it as a substitute for galls in the compositions known as
" antheraB."87 The wood also, with the blossoms, leaves, and
bark of the tree, is used for similar purposes, but their pro-
perties are not so strongly developed. The bark is pounded
also, and given for88 discharges of blood from the mouth, irre-
gularities of the catamenia, and cosliac affections : beaten up
and applied to the part affected, it checks the increase of all
kinds of abscesses.
The juice too is extracted from the leaves for similar pur-
poses, and a decoction is made of them in wine ; they are ap-
plied also to gangrenes, in combination with honey. A de-
coction of them taken in wine, or the leaves themselves ap-
plied with oil of roses and wax, has a sedative effect : it is in
this form that they are used for the cure of epinyctis. This
decoction is useful also for tooth- ache or ear-ache, and the root
82 " Gravis." He does not, however, show his gravity in the present in-
stance. 83 In B. xvi. c. 45.
84 See B. xiii. c. 37.
85 Identified by Fee with the Tamarix Gallica.
86 The " brya," spoken of in B. xiii. c. 37, as growing in Achaia also,
the Tamarix orientalis of Delille. But there he implies that it does not
produce any fruit when it grows in Egypt.
S7 " Flower compositions."
8S It may possibly be of some use for this purpose, being of an astrin-
gent nature.
Chap. 44.] THE SILEK. 31
is employed for similar purposes. The leaves too have this
additional use — they are applied with polenta to serpiginous
sores. The seed, in doses of one drachma, is administered in
drink for injuries inflicted by spiders or the phalangium ; and
mixed with the grease of poultry, it is applied to boils. It is
very efficacious also for stings inflicted by all kinds of ser-
pents, the asp excepted. The decoction, used as a fomentation,
is curative of jaundice, phthiriasis, and lice; it also arrests
the catamenia when in excess. The ashes of the tree are
employed for all these purposes; there is a story told, too,
that, mixed with the urine of an ox, and taken in the food or
drink, they will act most effectually as an antaphrodisiac.
The charcoal too of this wood is quenched in urine of a similar
nature, and kept in a shady spot. When it is the intention of
the party to rekindle the flames89 of desire, it is set on fire
again. The magicians say,90 that the urine of an eunuch will
have a similar effect.
CHAP. 43. — THE BLOOD-RED SHRUB : ONE KEMEDT.
Nor is the blood-red91 shrub looked upon as a less ill-
omened92 plant than the last. The inner bark of it is used to
re-open ulcers which have healed too rapidly.
CHIP. 44. THE S1LER I THREE REMEDIES.
The leaves of the siler,93 applied to the forehead, allay
head-ache ; and the seed of it, beaten up with oil, is curative
of phthiriasis. Serpents also are greatly in dread of this tree,
and it is for this reason that the country-people are in the
habit of carrying a walking-stick made of it.
89 This seems to be the meaning of " Idem cum liheat accendere re-
solvitur," though in the French translations it is rendered, " It crumbles
into ashes when an attempt is made to kindle it." Holland seems to have
rightly understood the passage, which probably bears reference to some
current superstition.
90 " Magi." He probably alludes in this passage to the Magi of the
East. 91 See B. xvi. cc. 30, 43.
3a The cornel, probably. It was looked upon as " infelix," or ill-omened,
because it was sacred to the Deities of the infernal regions.
93 See B. xvi. c. 31. If this is the Salix vitellina, Fee says, all that
Pliny here states, as to its medicinal properties does not merit the slightest
attention.
32 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
CETAP. 45. — THE PRIVET: EIGHT REMEDIES.
The ligustrum, or privet, if it is the same tree as the Cyprus93
of the East, has also its own medicinal uses in Europe. The
juice of it is used for affections of the sinews and joints, and
for sudden chills ; and the leaves are universally employed,
with a sprinkling of salt, for the cure of inveterate sores and
of ulcerations of the mouth. The berries are curative of
phthiriasis and chafings between the thighs, for which last
purpose the leaves also are employed. The berries are made
use of for the cure of pip in poultry.94
CHAP. 46. — THE ALDER: ONE REMEDY.
The leaves of the alder, steeped in boiling water, are an
undoubted remedy for tumours.
CHAP. 47. THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF THE IVY : THIRTY-NINE
REMEDIES.
"We have already95 enumerated some twenty varieties of the
ivy. The medicinal properties of them all are of a doubtful
nature ; taken in considerable quantities they disturb the
mental faculties and purge the brain. Taken internally they
are injurious to the sinews,96 but applied topically they are
beneficial to those parts of the body. Ivy possesses properties
similar97 to those of vinegar. All the varieties of the ivy are
of a refrigerative nature, and taken in drink they are diuretic.
The softer leaves, applied to the head, allay head-ache, acting
more particularly upon the brain and the membrane which
envelopes that organ. Eor this purpose the leaves are bruised
with vinegar and oil of roses and then boiled, after which som e
more rose-oil is added. The leaves too are applied to the fore-
93 See B. xii. c. 51. The botanical characteristics, Fee says, and the
medicinal properties of the privet, differ essentially from those of the Cypros
or Lawsonia inermis. The leaves of the privet are bitter and astringent.
94 Fee says, that on reading this passage it is impossible to preserve one's
gravity.
95 In B. xvi. c. 62. The ivy is but little used for any of the purposes
of modern medicine. It is said by some authorities that a decoction of the
leaves will kill vermin, and that the berries are purgative and emetic.
96 "Nervis."
97 Fee states that in reality no such similarity exists ; but that acetic acid
is sometimes developed by the rapid fermentation of the jiiices of a great
number of vegetable substances.
Chap. 47.] THE IVY. 33
head, and the mouth is fomented with a decoction of them, -with
which the head is rubbed as well. They are useful also for
the spleen, the leaves being applied topically, or an infusion
of them taken in drink. A decoction of them is used for
cold shiverings in fevers, and for pituitous eruptions ; or else
they are beaten up in wine for the purpose. The umbels too,
taken in drink or applied externally, are good for affections of
the spleen, and an application of them is useful for the liver ;
employed as a pessary, they act as an emmenagogue.
The juice of the ivy, the white cultivated kind more par-
ticularly, cures diseases of the nostrils and removes habitually
offensive smells. Injected into the nostrils it purges the head,
and with the addition of nitre it is still more efficacious for that
purpose. In combination with oil, the juice is injected for
suppurations or pains in the ears. It is a corrective also of the
deformities of scars. The juice of white ivy, heated with the
aid of iron, is still more efficacious for affections of the spleen;
it will be found sufficient, however, to take six of the berries in
two cyathi of wine. Three berries of the white ivy, taken in
4 oxymel, expel tape-worm, and in the treatment of such cases
it is a good plan to apply them to the abdomen as well.
Erasistratus prescribes twenty of the golden-coloured berries of
the ivy which we have-mentioned as the " chrysocarpos,"98 to be
beaten up in one sextarius of wine, and he says that if three
cyathi of this preparation are taken for dropsy, it will carry off
by urine the water that has been secreted beneath the skin.
For cases of tooth-ache he recommends five berries of the
chrysocarpos to be beaten up in oil of roses, and warmed in a
pomegranate-rind, and then injected into the ear opposite the
side affected. The berries which yield a juice of a saffron
colour, taken beforehand in drink, are a preservative against
crapulence ; they are curative also of spitting of blood and of
griping pains in the bowels. The whiter umbels of the black
ivy, taken in drink, are productive of sterility, in males even.
A decoction in wine of any kind of ivy is useful as a liniment
for all sorts of ulcers, those even of the malignant kind known
as " cacoethes." The tears" which distil from the ivy are used
98 " Golden fruit." See B. xvi. c. 62.
99 The same substance which he speaks of at the end of this Chapter as
the gum of ivy, called " hederine," Fee says, in modern chemistry. It
is a gum resin, mixed with ligneous particles.
VOL. V. 7)
34 PLINY* S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
as a depilatory, and for the cure of phthiriasis. The blossoms
too, of all the varieties, taken twice a day in astringent wine,
a pinch in three fingers at a time, are curative of dysentery
and looseness of the bowels : they are very useful also, applied
to burns with wax. The umbels stain the hair black. The
juice extracted from the root is taken in vinegar for the cure
of wounds inflicted by the phalangium. I find it stated too,
that patients suffering from affections of the spleen are cured
by drinking from vessels made of the wood of the ivy. The
berries are bruised also, and then burnt, and a liniment is
prepared from them for burns, the parts being fomented with
warm wrater first.
Incisions are sometimes made in the ivy to obtain the juice,
which is used for carious teeth, it having the effect of breaking
them, it is said ; the adjoining teeth being fortified with wax
against the powerful action of the juice. A kind of gum even
is said to be found in the ivy, which, it is asserted, is extremely
useful, mixed with vinegar, for the teeth.
CHAP. 48. THE CISTHOS: FIVE REMEDIES.
The Greeks give the name of " cisthos" — a word very
similar to"eissos," the Greek name of the ivy- — to a plant
which is somewhat larger than thyme, and has a leaf like that
of ocimum. There are two varieties of this plant ; the male,1
which has a rose-coloured blossom, and the female,2 with a
white one. The blossom of either kind, taken in astringent
wine, a pinch in three fingers at a time, is good for dysentery
and looseness of the bowels. Taken in a similar manner
twice a day, it is curative of inveterate ulcers : used with
wax, it heals burns, and employed by itself it cures ulcer-
ations of the mouth. It is beneath these plants more par-
ticularly that the hypocisthis grows, of which we shall have
occasion3 to speak when treating of the herbs.
CHAP. 49. THE CISSOS ERYTHRANOS I TWO REMEDIES. THE
CHAM^ECISSOS : TWO REMEDIES. THE SMILAX : THREE RE-
MEDIES. THE CLEMATIS : EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
The plant called " cissos erythranos "4 by the Greeks, is
1 The Cistus pilosus of Linneeus, the wild eglantine, or rock-rose.
2 The Cistus salvifolius of Linnaeus.
3 In B. xxvi. cc. 31, 49, 87, and 90.
4 " Ked-berried " or " red-leaved ivy." See B. xvi. c. 62. This kind,
Fee says, appears not to have been identified.
Chap. 50.] THE REED. 35
similar to the ivy : taken in wine, it is good for sciatica and
lumbago. The berries, it is said, are of so powerful a nature
as to produce bloody urine. " Chamaecissos "5 also is a name
given by them to a creeping ivy which never rises from the
surface of the ground : bruised in wine, in doses of one aoe-
tabulum, it is curative of affections of the spleen, the leaves
of it being applied topically with axle-grease to burns.
The smilax6 also, otherwise known as the " anthophoros,"7
has a strong resemblance to ivy, but the leaves of it are smaller.
A chaplet, they say, made of an uneven number of the leaves,
is an effectual cure for head-ache. Some writers mention two
kinds of smilax, one of which is all but perennial, and is found
climbing the trees in umbrageous valleys, the berries hanging
in clusters. These berries, they say, are remarkably efficacious
for all kinds of poisons ; so much so indeed, that infants to
whom the juice of them has been habitually administered, are
rendered proof against all poisons for the rest of their life.
The other kind, it is said, manifests a predilection for cultivated
localities, and is often found growing there ; but as for medicinal
properties, it has none. The former kind, they say, is the
smilax, the wood of which we have mentioned8 as emitting a
sound, if held close to the ear.
Another plant, similar to this, they call by the name of
" clematis :"9 it is found adhering to trees, and has a jointed
stem. The leaves of it cleanse leprous10 sores, and the seed
acts as an aperient, taken in doses of one acetabulum, in one
hemina of water, or in hydromel. A decoction of it is pre-
scribed also for a similar purpose.
CHAP. 50. (11.) — THE HEED: NINETEEN REMEDIES.
We have already11 treated of twenty-nine varieties of the
reed, and there is none of her productions in which that
5 "Ground-ivy." See B. xvi. c. 62, Note 17. M. Fraas adopts
Sprengel's opinion that it is the Antirrhinum Azarina, the bastard asarum.
6 See B. xvi. c. 63. 7 " Flower-bearer."
8 In B. xvi. c. 63.
9 Sprengel thinks that this is the Clematis viticella, hut Fee identifies
it with the Clematis vitalba of Linnaeus, the climber, or traveller's joy.
10 The leaves of it, Fee says, are of a caustic nature, and have been
employed before now by impostors for producing sores on the skin of a
frisrhtful appearance, but easily healed.
11 In B. xvi. c. 34.
D 2
36 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKT. [Book XXIV.
mighty power of Mature,12 which in our successive Books we
have described, is more fully displayed than in this. The
root of the reed, pounded and applied to the part affected,
extracts the prickles of fern from the body, the root of the
fern having a similar effect upon splinters of the reed. Among
the numerous varieties which we have described, the scented
reed13 which is grown in Judaea and Syria as an ingredient in
our unguents, boiled with hay-grass or parsley-seed, has a
diuretic effect : employed as a pessary, it acts as an emmena-
gogue. Taken in drink, in doses of two oboli, it is curative
of convulsions, diseases of the liver and kidneys, and dropsy.
Used as a fumigation, and with resin more particularly, it is
good for coughs, and a decoction of it with myrrh is useful for
scaly eruptions and running ulcers. A juice, too, is collected
from it which has similar properties to those of elaterium.14
In every kind of reed the part that is the most efficacious is
that which lies nearest the root ; the joints also are efficacious
in a high degree. The ashes of the Cyprian reed known as
the "donax,"15 are curative of alopecy and putrid ulcers.
The leaves of it are also used for the extraction1* of pointed
bodies from the flesh, and for erysipelas and all kinds of
gatherings. The common reed, beaten up quite fresh, has
also considerable extractive powers, and not in the root only,
for the stem, it is said, has a similar property. The root is
used also in vinegar as a topical application for sprains and
for pains in the spine ; and beaten up fresh and taken in wine it
acts as an aphrodisiac. The down that grows on reeds, put
into the ears, deadens the hearing.17
CHAP. 51. THE PAPYRUS, AND THE PAPER MADE FROM IT I
THREE REMEDIES.
Of a kindred nature with the reed is the papyrus18 of
Egypt ; a plant that is remarkably useful, in a dried state, for
12 Sympathies and antipathies existing in plants. See c. 1 of tin's Book.
13 Not a reed, Fee thinks, but some other monocotyledon that has not
been identified. See B. xii. c. 48.
14 See B. xx. c. 3. 15 See B. xvi. e. 66.
16 Celsus also speaks of the root of the reed as heing efficacious for this
purpose, B. v. c. 26.
^ Fee says that neither of these last assertions is true.
13 See B. xiii. c. 21, It is no longer used in medicine.
Chap. 53.] THE ItHOBODENDIlOX. 37
dilating and drying up fistulas, and, by its expansive powers,
opening an entrance for the necessary medicaments. The
ashes l9 of paper prepared from the papyrus are reckoned among
the caustics : those of the plant, taken in wine, have a
narcotic effect. The plant, applied topically in water, removes
callosities of the skin.
CHAP. 52. THE EBONY ! FIVE REMEDIES.
The ebony- tree20 does not grow in Egypt even, as we have
already stated, and it is not our intention to speak here of the
medicinal properties of the vegetable productions of foreign cli-
mates. Still, however, the ebony must not be omitted, on
account of the marvels related of it. The saw- dust of this
wood, it is said, is a sovereign remedy for diseases of the eyes,
and the pulp of the wood, rubbed upon a whetstone moistened
with raisin wine, dispels all films which impede the sight.
The root too, they say, applied with water, is curative of
white specks in the eyes, and, with the addition of root of
dracunculus, 21 in equal proportions, and of honey, of cough.
Medical men reckon ebony also in the number of the caustics.22
CHAP. 53 — THE RHODODENDRON! ONE REMEDY.
The rhododendron23 has not so much as found a Latin name
among us, its other names being " rhododaphne "24 and
"nerium." It is a marvellous fact, but the leaves25 of this
plant are poisonous to quadrupeds ; while for man, if taken in
wine with rue, they are an effectual preservative against the
venom of serpents. Sheep too, and goats, it is said, if they
drink water in which the leaves have been steeped, will die
immediately.
19 These statements as to the virtues of the ashes of papyrus, F£e says,
are absurd.
20 See B. xii. c. 8. Desfontaines is inclined to identify the tree here
spoken of with the Diospyros ebenaster of Kcenig.
21 See c. 91 of this Book ; the Artemisia dracunculus of Linnaeus.
22 " Erodentia." Fee remarks upon the singularity, that with this
property attributed to it, it should be recommended for diseases of the eyes.
23 The "rose-tree." Our rose-bay or oleander. 24 "Rose-laurel."
25 See B. xvi. c. 33. It is, Fee says, an energetic poison, but as in-
jurious to man as it is to animals.
38 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
CHAP. 54. THE RHUS OK SUMACH-TREE ; TWO VARIETIES OF IT :
EIGHT REMEDIES. STOMATICE.
^or yet has the tree called "rhus"26 any Latin name, al-
though it is employed in numerous ways. Under this name
are comprehended a wild plant,27 with leaves like those of
myrtle, and a short stem, which is good as an expellent of
tapeworm ; and the shrub28 which is known as the " currier's
plant," of a reddish colour, a cuhit in height, and about the
thickness of one's finger, the leaves of which are dried and
used, like pomegranate rind, for curing leather.
Medical men also employ the leaves of these plants for the
treatment of contusions, and for the cure of cosliac affections,
and of ulcers of the rectum and phagedaenic sores ; for all which
purposes they are pounded with honey and applied with
vinegar. A decoction of them is injected for suppurations of
the ears. With the branches, boiled, a stomatice29 is also made,
which is used for the eame purposes as that prepared from
mulberries ;3U it is more efficacious, however, mixed with alum.
This preparation is applied also toreducethe swelling in dropsy.
CHAP. 55. RHTJS ERYTHROS: NINE REMEDIES.
"Rhus31 erythros is the name given to the seed of this shrub.
It possesses properties of an astringent and cooling nature, and
is used as a seasoning32 for provisions, in place of salt. It has
a laxative effect, and, used in conjunction with silphium, it
gives a finer flavour to meat of all kinds. Mixed with honey,
it is curative of running ulcers, pimples on the tongue,33 con-
tusions, bruises, and excoriations. It causes ulcers of the
head to cicatrize with the greatest rapidity ; and taken with
the food, it arrests excessive menstruation.
CHAP. 56. THE ERYTHHODANUS ! ELEVEN REMEDIES.
The erythrodanus,34 by some called " ereuthodanus," and
26 See B» xiii. c. 13. The sumach-tree ; the Rhus coriaria of Linnams.
r Identified by Fee with the Coriaria myrtifolia of Linnaeus, or myrtle-
leaved sumach. It is used in the preparation of leather, Fee says, and is
intensely poisonous. 28 The sumach-tree.
29 Or <• mouth-medicine." See B. xxii. c. 11, and B. xxiii. cc. 58 and 71.
30 See B. xxiii. c. 71. 31 Or " ros." See B. xiii. c. 13,
12 Fee says that this is still done in some parts of Turkey.
w « Asperitati linguae."
•^ u Bed rose ;" our madder. See B. xix. c. 17. Beckmann is of
Chap. 58.] THE RADICULA. 39
in Latin, "rubia," is quite a different plant. It is used for
dyeing wool, and skins for leather are prepared with it. Used
medicinally, it is a diuretic, and, employed with hydromel, it
is curative of jaundice.35 Employed topically with vinegar,
it heals lichens ; and a potion is prepared from it for sciatica
and paralysis, the patient while using it taking a bath daily.
The root of it and the seed are effectual as an emmenagogue ;
they act astringently upon the bowels, and disperse gatherings.
The branches, together with the leaves, are applied to wounds
inflicted by serpents ; the leaves too have the property of
staining the hair.36 I find it stated by some writers that this
shrub is curative of jaundice, even if worn as an amulet only,
and looked at every now and then.
CHAP. 57. THE ALYSSON : TWO REMEDIES.
The plant known as the "alysson"37 differs only from the
preceding one in the leaves and branches, which are more di-
minutive. It receives its name from the fact, that, taken in
vinegar and worn as an amulet, .it prevents persons bitten by
dogs from becoming rabid. It is a marvellous fact too, that is
added, to the effect that the person bitten has only to look
at this shrub, and the flow of corrupt matter from the wound
will be staunched immediately.
CHAP. 58. THE RADICTJLA OR STRTJTHION : THIRTEEN REMEDIES.
THE APOCYNTJM I TWO OBSERVATIONS UPON IT.
The radicula, which we have already38 mentioned as being
called "struthion" by the Greeks, is used by dyers for pre-
paring wool. A decoction of it, taken internally, is curative
of jaundice and diseases of the chest. It is diuretic also, and
laxative, and acts as a detergent upon the uterus, for which
reasons medical men have given it the name of the "golden
opinion that the " sandix" of B. xxxv. c. 12, is our madder, and identical
with the Eubia. It is not improbable, however, that in reality it was a
mineral. See Beckmann's Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 110, Bohn's Ed.
35 Fee says that it does not possess this property.
36 Madder has no colouring matter which can produce any effect upon
the hair.
37 Or " anti-frantic " plant. C. Bauhin identifies it with the Rubia
silvestris Isevis, or wild madder ; Fee is at a loss for its identification, but
is inclined to think that it was a species of cultivated madder.
38 In B. xix. c. 18. The Gypsophila struthium, or soap-plant, possibly.
Its identity is discussed at great length by Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. ll.
p. 98—102, Eohn's Ed.
40 PLFNY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
beverage."39 Taken with honey, it is a sovereign remedy for
cough ; and it is used for hardness of breathing, in doses of a
spoonful. Applied with polenta and vinegar to the parts
affected, it removes leprous sores. Used with panax and root
of the caper-plant, it breaks and expels calculi, and a decoction
of it in wine with barley-meal disperses inflamed tumours. It
is used as an ingredient in emollient plasters and eye-salves
for the sight, and is found to be one of the most useful sternu-
tories known ; it is good too for the liver and the spleen. Taken
in hydrorael, in doses of one denarius, it effects the cure of
asthma, as also of pleurisy and all pains in the sides.
The apocynum40 is a shrub with leaves like those of ivy, but
softer, and not so long in the stalk, and the seed of it is
pointed and downy, with a division running down it, and a
very powerful smell. Given in their food with water, the seed
is poisonous41 to dogs and all other quadrupeds.
CHAP. 59. ROSEMARY I EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
There are two kinds of rosemary ; one of which is barren,
and the other has a stem with a resinous seed, known as
"cachrys." The leaves have the odour of frankincense.43
The root, applied fresh, effects the cure of wounds, prolapsus
of the rectum, condylomata, and piles. The juice of the
plant, as well as of the root, is curative of jaundice, and such
diseases as require detergents ; it is useful also for the sight.
The seed is given in drink for inveterate diseases of the chest,
and, with wine and pepper, for affections of the uterus ; it
acts also as an emmenagogue, and is used with meal of darnel
as a liniment for gout. It acts also as a detergent upon
freckles, and is used as an application in diseases which
require calorifics or sudorifics, and for convulsions. The plant
itself, or else the root, taken in wine, increases the milk, and
the leaves and stem of the plant are applied with vinegar
to scrofulous sores ; used with honey, they are very useful for
cough.
3'J " Aureum poculum."
40 Desfontaines says that it is the Periploca angustifolia ; Fee gives the
Apocynum folio subrotundo of C. Bauhin, round leafed dogsbaue.
41 This is the fact ; and hence one of its names ** cynanche," or " dog-
strangle."
42 This, .Fee says, is the fact. The plant is rich in essential oil, and is
consequently a powerful excitant. See B. xix. c. 62.
Chap. 62.] SKLAGO. 41
CHAP. 60. THE SEED CALLED CACHRYS.
As already43 stated, there are several kinds of cachrys ;44
but that which is produced by rosemary above-mentioned,
when rubbed, is found to be of a resinous nature. It neu-
tralizes poisons and the venom of animals, that of serpents
exoepted. It acts also as a sudorific, dispels griping pains in
the bowels, and increases the milk in nursing women.
CHAP. 61. THE HEEB SAVIN I SEVEN REMEDIES.
Of the herb savin, known as " brathy" by the Greeks,45 there
are two varieties, one of them46 with a leaf like that of the
tamarix, the other47 with that of the cypress ; for which reason
some persons have called this last the Cretan cypress. It is
used by many for fumigations, as a substitute for frankin-
cense;48 employed in medicine, it is said to have the same effect
as cinnamon, if taken in doses twice as large! It reduces
gatherings, disperses corrosive sores, acts as a detergent upon
ulcers, and, used as a pessaiy and as a fumigation, brings away
the dead foetus.49 It is employed as a topical application for
erysipelas and carbuncles, and, taken with honey in wine, is
curative of jaundice.
The smoke of this plant, they say, cures the pip in all kinds
of poultry.50
CHAP. 62. — SELAGO : TWO REMEDIES.
Similar to savin is the herb known as "selago."*1 Care is
43 In B. xvi. c. 11.
44 A gall or fungoid production, or> in some instances, a catkin. Fee
says that Pliny has committed an error here in attributing a cachrys to
rosemary, the Libanotis stephanomaticos, which, in reality, belongs to
the Libanotis canchryphorus or Libanotis prima.
45 So called from the Greek fipadv, " slow," according to some au-
thorities ; by reason of the slowness of its growth.
46 Identified by Fee with the Sabina vulgatior of Lobelius, or Juniperus
Sabina, variety /3, of Lamarck.
47 The Sabina baceifera of J. Bauhin, the male savin, the type of the
plant.
48 See Ovid's Fasti, B. i. 1. 341, as to this custom, and Virgil's " Culex,"
1. 403.
49 Jt is still a common notion, though Fee says an ill-founded one, that
it produces abortion. Indeed we find Galen stating to the same effect.
60 Fee ridicules this notion with considerable zest.
61 The Lycopodium selago of Linnaeus, upright club-moss, or fir- moss,
42 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
taken to gather it without the use of iron, the right hand
being passed for the purpose through the left sleeve of the
tunic, as though the gatherer were in the act of committing a
theft.52 The clothing too must be white, the feet bare and
washed clean, and a sacrifice of bread and wine must be made
before gathering it : it is carried also in a new napkin. The
Druids of Gaul have pretended that this plant should be
carried about the person as a preservative against accidents of
all kinds, and that the smoke of it is extremely good for all
maladies of the eyes.
CHAP. 63. SAMOLTJS I TWO REMEDIES.
The Druids, also, have given the name of " samolus''53 to a
certain plant which grows in humid localities. This too, they
say, must be gathered fasting with the left hand, as a pre-
servative against the maladies to which swine and cattle are
subject. The person, too, who gathers it must be careful not
to look behind him, nor must it be laid anywhere but in the
troughs from which the cattle drink.
CHAP. 64. GUM : ELEVEN REMEDIES.
We have already** spoken of the different kinds of gum ;
the better sort of each kind will be found the most effective.
Gum is bad for the teeth ; it tends to make the blood coagu-
late, and is consequently good for discharges65 of blood from
the mouth. It is useful for burns,56 but is bad for diseases of
the trachea. It exercises a diuretic effect, and tends to
neutralize all acridities, being astringent in other respects.
The- gum of the bitter-almond tree, which has the most57
according to Sprengel. Fee, however, dissents from that opinion, for the
Lycopodium, he says, is but some three inches in height, while savin, with
which the Selago is here compared, is more than eight or ten feet high. De
Theis (Gloss. Botan.) thinks that it must have been a succulent plant ; but
upon what grounds he bases that conjecture, Fee declares himself at a loss
to conjecture.
52 Evidently a superstition derived from the Druids.
53 Sprengel thinks that it is the Samolus Valerandi of Linnaeus, the round-
leaved water-pimpernel, and Anguillara identifies it with the Anemone pul-
satilla, or pasque-flower. Fee inclines to the opinion that it is the Veronica
beceubunga of Linnaeus, the brook-lime.
54 In B. xiii. c. 20.
65 Gum is still used. Fee says, for this purpose.
66 It is of no use whatever for burns, or as a diuretic.
57 Fee says that it is not different in any way from the gum of other trees.
Chap. 67.] GUM ACACIA. 43
astringent properties of them all, is calorific also in its effects.
Still, however, the gum of the plum, cherry, and vine is
greatly preferred : all which kinds, applied topically, are pro-
ductive of astringent and desiccative effects, and, used with
vinegar, heal lichens upon infants. Taken in must, in doses
of four oboli, they are good for inveterate coughs.
It is generally thought that gum, taken in raisin wine,
improves the complexion,58 sharpens the appetite, and is
good for calculi69 in the bladder. It is particularly useful too
for wounds and affections of the eyes.
CHAP. 65. (12.) THE EGYPTIAN OR ARABIAN THORN I TOUR
REMEDIES.
When speaking60 of the perfumes, we have descanted upon
the merits of the Egyptian or Arabian thorn. This, too, is of
an astringent nature, and acts as a desiccative upon fluxes of
all kinds, discharges of blood from the mouth, and excessive
menstruation; for all which purposes the root is still more
efficacious.
CHAP. 66. THE WHITE THORN ! TWO REMEDIES. THE ACANTHION ;
ONE REMEDY.
The seed of the white thorn is useful as a remedy for the
stings of scorpions, and a chaplet made of it, is good for head-
ache. Similar to this plant is that known to the Greeks as
the " acanthion ;"61 though it is much smaller in the leaf, which
is pointed at the extremity, and covered with a down like a
cobweb in appearance. This downy substance is gathered in
the East, and certain textures are made of it similar to those
of silk. An infusion of the leaves or root of this plant is taken
for the cure of opisthotony.
CHAP. 67. GUM ACACIA : EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
Gum acacia is produced also from the white and black62
5S Fee remarks, that gum is injurious as a cosmetic.
59 Gum is of no use whatever in such a case.
60 In B. xiii. c. 19. In speaking there, however, of this gum, the
Acacia Nilotica of Linnaeus, he makes no mention whatever of Arabia ;
for which reason Sillig concludes that this passage is corrupt,
61 The Onopordum acanthium of Linnaeus, the cotton- thistle, or woolly
thistle.
62 The Mimosa Nilotica of Linnaeus ; see B. xiii. c. 19. Fee seems in-
clined to identify the white thorn with the Cratsegus oxyacantha of Lin-
44 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
thorns of Egypt, and from a green thorn as well ; the pro-
duce, however, of the former trees is by far the best. There is
also a similar gum found in Galatia, but of very inferior
quality, the produce of a more thorny tree63 than those last
mentioned. The seed of all these trees resembles64 the lentil
in appearance, only that it is smaller, as well as the pod which
contains it : it is gathered in autumn, before which period it
would be too powerful in its effects. The juice is left to
thicken in the pods, which are steeped in rain-water for the
purpose, and then pounded in a mortar ; after which, the
juice is extracted by means of presses. It is then dried in the
mortars in the sun, and when dry is divided into tablets. A
similar juice is extracted from the leaves, but it is by no
means65 so useful as the other. The seed is used also, as a
substitute for nut-galls in curing leather.6"
The juice extracted from the leaves, as also tiie extremely
black juice of the Galatian67 acacia, is held in no esteem. The
same too with that of a deep red colour. The gum which is
of a purple, or of an ashy, grey colour, and which dissolves
with the greatest rapidity, possesses the most astringent and
cooling qualities of them all, and is more particularly useful as
an ingredient in compositions for the eyes. "When required
for these purposes, the tablets are steeped in water by some,
while some again scorch them, and others reduce them to
ashes. They are useful for dyeing the hair, and for the cure of
erysipelas, serpiginous sores, ulcerations of the humid parts of
the body, gatherings, contusions of the joints, chilblains, and
hangnails. They are good also for cases of excessive menstru-
ation, procidence of the uterus and rectum, affections of the
eyes, and ulcerations of the generative organs68 and mouth,
naeus, the white hawthorn, or May. In the present passage, however, it
is doubtful whether the colours apply to the varieties of gum, or to the trees
which produce them. Sillig considers the passage to he corrupt.
63 The Prunus spinosa of Linnaeus, F£e thinks, the sloe, or black thorn.
64 Fee says that the difference in appearance is very considerable between
them.
65 The leaves containing little or no tannin.
66 In India, the bark of the Acacia Arabica is still used for tanning
leather.
67 This juice, Fee says, obtained from the Primus spinosa, is known at
the present day in commerce by the name of Acacia nostras.
68 Fee queries, without sufficient foundation, it would appear, whether
he is here speaking of syphilitic affections.
Chap. 69.] THE ERYSISCEPTRUM. 45
CHAP. 68. (13.) — ASPALATHOS I ONE REMEDY".
The common69 thorn too, with which the fulling coppers are
filled, is employed for the same purposes as the radicula.70 In
the provinces of Spain i't is commonly employed as an ingre-
dient in perfumes and unguents, under the name of " aspa-
lathos." There is no doubt, however, that there is also a wild
thorn of the same name in the East, as already mentioned,71 of
a white colour, and the size of an ordinary tree.
CHAP. 69. THE EUYSISCEPTRUM, ADIPSATHEON, OR DIAXYLON :
EIGHT REMEDIES.
There is also found in the islands of Nisyros and of Ehodes,
a shrub of smaller size, but full as thorny, known by some as
the erysisceptrum,72 by others as the adipsatheon, and by the
Syrians as the diaxylon. The best kind is that which is the
least73 ferulaceous in the stem, and which is of a red colour, or
inclining to purple, when the bark is removed. It is found
growing in many places, but is not everywhere odoriferous.
We have already74 stated how remarkably sweet the odour of
it is, when the rainbow has been extended over it.
This plant cures fetid ulcers of the mouth, polypus75 of the
nose, ulcerations or carbuncles of the generative organs, and
chaps ; taken in drink it acts as a carminative, and is curative
of strangury. The bark is good for patients troubled with,
discharges of blood, and a decoction of it acts astringently on
the bowels. It is generally thought that the wild plant is
productive of the same effects.
69 Fee suggests that this may be the Dipsacus fullonum of Linnaeus,
the fuller's thistle.
<° See B. xix. c. 18, and c. 58 of this Book.
71 In B. xii. c. 52. But in that passage he makes the Aspalathos to'be
identical with the Erysisceptrum, which he here distinguishes from it. Fee
thinks that there can be no identity between the common thorn here men-
tioned, and the Aspalathos. This latter, as mentioned in B. xii., according
to Fee, is the Convolvulus scoparius of Linnaeus, the broom bindweed, but
Littre says that M. Fraas has identified it with the Genista acanthoclada.
72 See the preceding Note. Fee identifies this Aspalathos with the
Spartium villosum of Linnaeus, making that of B xii. c. 52, to be the Lignum
Ehodianum of commerce, probably the Convolvulus scoparius of Linnaeus.
73 The corresponding passage in Dioscorides has papvs, "heavy," i. e.
the most solid in the stem.
74 In B. xii. c. 52. 76 " Ozsenas."
46 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
CHAP. 70. THE THORN CALLED APPENDIX : TWO REMEDIES.
THE PTRACANTHA : ONE !RKMEDY.
There is a thorn also known as the appendix ;"* that name
being given to the red berries which hang from its branches.
These berries eaten by themselves, raw, or else dried and
boiled in wine, arrest looseness of the bowels and dispel
griping pains in the stomach. The berries of the pyracantha77
are taken in drink for wounds inflicted by serpents.
CHAP. 71. THE PALITJRUS ! TEN REMEDIES.
The paliurus,78 too, is a kind of thorn. The seed of it, known
by the people of Africa as " zura," is extremely efficacious for
the sting of the scorpion, as also for urinary calculi and cough.
The leaves are of an astringent nature, and the root disperses
inflamed tumours, gatherings, and abscesses; taken in drink
it is diuretic in its effects. A decoction of it in wine arrests
diarrhoea, and neutralizes the venom of serpents : the root
more particularly is administered in wine.
CHAP. 72. THE AGRIFOLIA. THE AQUIFOLIA I ONE EEMEDY.
THE YEW I ONE PBOPERTY BELONGING TO IT.
The agrifolia,79 pounded, with the addition of salt, is good
for diseases of the joints, and the berries are used in cases of
excessive menstruation, coeliac affections, dysentery, and
cholera ; taken in wine, they act astringently upon the bowels.
A decoction of the root, applied externally, extracts foreign
bodies from the flesh, and is remarkably useful for sprains and
tumours.
The tree called " aquifolia," planted80 in a town or country-
7? The Berberis vulgaris of Linnaeus, or barberry, Fee thinks.
77 Identified by Fee with the Mespilus pyraeantha of Linnaeus, the
evergreen thorn. It receives its name probably from the redness of its
berries, which are the colour of fire.
78 Fee considers this to be the Paliurus aculeatus of Decandolle, and not
identical with the Paliurus mentioned in B. xiii. c. 33.
79 Fee thinks that the copyists have made a mistake in this passage, and
that the reading should be " aquifolia," the same plant that is mentioned
afterwards under that name. He identifies them with the Ilex aquifolium,
or holly. See B. xvi. cc. 8, 12, where Pliny evidently confounds the holm
oak with the holly.
fl° Dioscorides says, B, i. c. 119, "the branches of the rlmmnus^ it is
said, placed at the doors and windows, will avert the spells of sorcerers."
Chap. 73.] THE BRAMBLE. 47
house, is a preservative against sorceries and spells. The
blossom of it, according to Pythagoras, congeals81 water, and a
staff82 made of the wood, if, when thrown at any animal, from
want of strength in the party throwing it, it falls short of the
mark, will roll hack again83 towards the thrower, of its own
accord — so remarkable are the properties of this tree. The
smoke of the yew kills84 rats and mice.
CHAP. 73. THE BRAMBLE : FIFTY-ONE REMEDIES.
TsTor yet has Nature destined the bramble85 to be only an
annoyance to mankind, for she has bestowed upon it mul-
berries of its own,86 or, in other words, a nutritive aliment even
for mankind. These berries are of a desiccative, astringent,
nature,87 and are extremely useful for maladies of the gums,
tonsillary glands, and generative organs. They neutralize also
the venom of those most deadly of serpents, the hsemorrhois83
and the prester ;89 and the flowers or fruit will heal wounds
inflicted by scorpions, without any danger of abscesses forming.
The shoots of the bramble have a diuretic effect: and the
more tender ones are pounded, and the juice extracted and then
dried in the sun till it has attained the consistency of honey,
being considered a most excellent remedy, taken in drink or
applied externally, for maladies of the mouth and eyes, dis-
charges of blood from the mouth, quinzy, affections of the
It is not improbable that Pliny, in copying from some other author, has
mistaken the one for the other.
81 An exaggeration, no doubt. The Cissampelos Pareira of Lamarck, an
Indian plant, abounds in mucilage to such an extent, that an infusion of it
in water becomes speedily coagulated.
82 One would be induced to think that this story is derived from some
vague account of the properties of the Boomerang. Although supposed
by many to have been the invention of the natives of Australasia, repre-
sentations of it are found on the sculptures of Nineveh. It is not
improbable that Pythagoras may have heard of it from the Magi during
his travels in the East. See £onomi's Nineveh, p. 136.
83 "Recubitu" seems preferable to " cubitu."
84 This is very doubtful, Fee says.
85 See B. xvi. c. 71. 86 See B. xvi. c. 71.
*' Blackberries are still used in the country, Fee says, as an astringent
medicine, and all here stated that is based upon that property is rational
enough. The same cannot, however, be said of the greatet part of the
other statements in this Chapter.
** See B. xx. cc. '23, 81, and B. xxiii. cc. 12, 18.
89 See B. xx. c, 81, B. xxii. c. 13, and B. xxiii. c. 23.
48 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXIV.
uterus, diseases of the rectum, and cceliac affections. The leaves,
chewed, are good for diseases of the mouth, and a topical ap-
plication is made of them for running ulcers and other maladies
of the head. In the cardiac disease they are similarly applied
to the left breast by themselves. They are applied topically
also for pains in the stomach and for procidence of the eyes.
The juice of them is used as an injection for the ears, and, in
combination with cerate of roses, it heals condylomata.
A decoction of the young shoots in wine is an instantaneous
remedy for diseases of the uvula ; and eaten by themselves
like cymse,90 or boiled in astringent wine, they strengthen
loose teeth. They arrest fluxes of the bowels also, and dis-
charges of blood, and are very useful for dysentery. Dried in
the shade and then burnt, the ashes of them are curative of
procidence of the uvula. The leaves too, dried and pounded,
are very useful, it is said, for ulcers upon beasts of burden. The
berries produced by this plant would seem to furnish a stomatice91
superior even to that prepared from the cultivated mulberry.
Under this form, or else only with hypocisthis91* and honey,
the berries are administered for cholera, the cardiac disease,
and wounds inflicted by spiders.92
Among the medicaments known as " styptics,"92* there is
none that is more efficacious than a decoction of the root of the
bramble in wine, boiled down to one third. Ulcerations of the
mouth and rectum are bathed with it, and fomentations of it
are used for a similar purpose ; indeed, it is so remarkably
powerful in its effects, that the very sponges which are used
become as hard as a stone.93
CHAP. 74. THE CYNOSBATOS: THBEE REMEDIES.
There is another kind of bramble also,94 which bears a rose.
It produces a round excrescence,95 similar to a chesnut in
90 Cabbage-sprouts. See B. xix. c. 41.
91 Or " mouth-medicine." See B. xxiii. c. 71.
91* See B. xxvi. cc. 31, 49, 87, and 90.
92 Tfce spider called " phalangium " is meant, Fee says. See B.-xi. c. 28,
92* Astringents. 93 "Lapidescunt."
94 The eglantine. See B. xvi. c. 71.
95 He alludes to " bedeguar," a fungous excrescence found on the wild
rose-tree, and produced by the insect known as the Cynips rosse. It is
somewhat rough on the exterior, like the outer coat of the chesnut.
Chap. 74.] THE CYNOSBATOS. 49
appearance, which is remarkably valuable as a remedy for
calculus. This is quite a different production from the "cynor-
rhoda," which we shall have occasion to speak of in the
succeeding Book.96
(14.) The cynosbatos97 is by some called " cynapanxis,"98
and by others " neurospastos ;" " the leaf resembles the human
footstep in shape. It bears also a black grape, in the berries
of which there is a nerve, to which it is indebted for its name
of " neurospastos." It is quite a different plant from the cap-
paris1 or caper, to which medical men have also given the name
of " cynosbatos." The clusters2 of it, pickled in vinegar, are
eaten as a remedy for diseases of the spleen, and flatulency :
and the string found in the berries, chewed with Chian mastich,
cleanses the mouth.
The rose3 of the bramble, mixed with axle-grease, is curative
of alopecy : and the bramble-berries themselves, combined with
oil of omphacium,4 stain5 the hair. The blossom of the bram-
ble is gathered at harvest, and the white blossom, taken in
wine, is an excellent remedy for pleurisy and cceliac affections.
The root, boiled down to one third, arrests looseness of the
bowels and haemorrhage, and a decoction of it, used as a gar*gle,
is good for the teeth : the juice too is employed as a fomenta-
tion for ulcers of the rectum and generative organs. The
ashes of the root are curative of relaxations of the uvula.
96 The fruit, Fee says, of the wild eglantine. See B. xxv. c. 6.
97 Or " dog-bramble."
98 « Dog-strangle," apparently.
99 " Drawn with a string." Fee thinks that Pliny has confused the
account given of this plant with that of the Aglaophotis, mentioned in
c. 102 of this Book, and that the Cynosbatos is only a variety of the Rubus
or bramble. Other authorities identify it with the Eubus caninus, or with
the Rosa sempervirens. Desfontaines thinks that it is the Ribes nigrum,
or black currant ; and Littre is of opinion that some gooseberry or currant
tree is meant, l See B. xiii. c. 44.
2 " Thyrsus/' Fee thinks that the allusion is to the produce of the
caper, while Hardouin says that it is the first cynosbatos that he is speak-
ing of. Hardouiii is probably riorht.
a The blossom, perhaps, of the Rubus fruticosus, or blackberry,
4 See B. xii. c. 60.
5 Fee s.ays that they have no such property, and that the blossoms of the
bramble are entirely destitute of any known medicinal qualities. The
roots and leaves are somewhat astringent.
VOL. V. ' E
50 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
CHAP. 75. THE IDJ2AN BRAMBLE.
The Idsean bramble6 is so called from the fact that it is the
only plant of the kind found growing upon Mount Ida. It is
of a more delicate nature than the others, and smaller ; the
canes too are thinner, and not7 so prickly : it mostly grows
beneath the shade of trees. The blossom of it, mixed with
honey, is applied topically for defluxions of the eyes, and is
administered in water for erysipelas and affections of the
stomach.8 In other respects, it has properties similar to those
of the plants9 already mentioned.
CHAP. 76. THE RHAMNOS; TWO VARIETIES OF IT! FIVE REMEDIES.
Among the several kinds10 of bramble is reckoned the plant
called " rhamnos" by the Greeks. One variety of it is whiter11
than the other, and has a more shrublike appearance, throwing
out branches armed with straight thorns, and not hooked, like
those of the other kinds; the leaves too are larger. The other
kind,12 which is found growing wild, is of a more swarthy hue,
in some measure inclining to red ; it bears too a sort13 of pod.
"With the root of it boiled in water a medicament is made,
known as "lycium:"14 the seed of it is useful for bringing
away the after-birth. The white kind, however, is of a more
astringent and cooling nature, and better adapted for the treat-
ment of gatherings and wounds. The leaves of both kinds,
either raw or boiled, are employed topically with oil.
6 The raspberry; see B. xvi. c. 71.
7 There is one variety which is very diminutive, and entirely destitute
of thorns, the Kubus Idaeus Isevis of C. Bauhin, the Rubus Idaeus non
spinosus of J. Bauhin. 8 See B. xvi. c. 71.
9 Of the bramble genus.
10 In reality, as Fee says, there is no botanical affinity between the
•Rubus, or bramble, and the Rhamnus.
11 Sprengel identifies this plant with the Zizyphus vulgarisof Linnseus,
the jujube, and Desfontaines is of the same opinion. Fee, however, takes
it to be the Rhamnus saxatilis of Linnaeus, the rock buckthorn.
12 Identified by some authorities with the Paliurus aculeatus of Decan-
dolles, mentioned in c. 71. Sprengel is in doubt whether it may not be
the Rhamnus lycioides of Linnaeus.
13 Not a characteristic, Fee says, of the genus Rhamnus of modern Botany.
14 Or "Lycian" extract. See B. xii. c. 15.
Chap. 77.] LTCITJM. 51
CHAP. 77. LYCIUM I EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
The best lycium,15 they say, is that prepared from the thorn
of that name, known also as the " Chironian pyxacanthus,"16
and mentioned by us when speaking of the trees of India, the
lycium of those regions being generally looked upon as by
far the best. The branches and roots, which are intensely
bitter,17 are first pounded and then boiled for three days in
a copper vessel, after which the woody parts are removed,
and the decoction is boiled again, till it has attained the
consistency of honey. It is adulterated with various bitter
extracts,18 as also with amurca of olive oil and ox-gall. The
froth or flower19 of this decoction is used as an ingredient in
compositions for the eyes : and the other part of it is employed
as a cosmetic for the face, and for the cure of itch-scabs,
corroding sores in the corners of the eyes, inveterate fluxes,
and suppurations of the ears. It is useful too for diseases of
the tonsillary glands and gums, for coughs, and for discharges
of blood from the mouth, being generally taken in pieces the
size of a bean. For the cure of discharges from wounds, it
is applied to the part affected ; and it is similarly used for
chaps, ulcerations of the genitals, excoriations, ulcers, whether
putrid, serpiginous, or of recent date, hard excrescences20 of
the nostrils, and suppurations. It is taken also by females,
in milk, for the purpose of arresting the catamenia when in
excess.
The Indian lycium is distinguished from the other kinds
by its colour, the lumps being black outside, and, when broken,
red within, though they turn black very quickly.21 It is
bitter and remarkably astringent, and is employed for all the
purposes above mentioned, diseases of the generative organs in
particular.
15 See 8. xii. c. 15. Fee identifies this with the modern Catechu, a de-
coction from the Acacia catechu, a leguminous plant of the East Indies.
16 The Rhamnus lycioides of Linnaeus, our buckthorn. The Indian
plant from which catechu is extracted is of a similar nature. See B. xii. c. 15.
17 This Fee looks upon as an exaggeration.
18 See B. xii. c. 15.
19 /. e. the choice part of it; see B. xii. c. 15. Catechu is adulterated
at the present day with starch and argillaceous earths. As a medicament
it is not possessed of a very powerful action.
20 " Clavos." 21 This statement is quite correct.
E 2
52 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXIV.
CHAP. 78. — SARCOCOLLA: TWO REMEDIES.
Some authors are of opinion that sarcocolla23 is a tearlike
gum which exudes from a kind of thorn ;23 it is similar to
powdered incense in appearance, has a sweet flavour with a
slight degree of bitter, and is of the consistency of gum.
Pounded in wine, it arrests defluxions, and is used as a topical
application for infants more particularly. This substance too
becomes black24 when old ; the whiter it is, the more highly
it is esteemed.
CHAP. 79. OPORICE I TWO REMEDIES.
We are indebted too to the medicinal properties of trees
for one very celebrated medicament, known as " oporice."25
This preparation is used for dysentery and various affections of
the stomach ; the following being the method of preparing it.
Five quinces, seeds and all, with the same number of pome-
granates, one sextarius of sorbs, a similar quantity of Syrian
rhus,26 and half an ounce of saifron, are boiled in one congius
of white grape-juice at a slow heat, till the whole mixture is
reduced to the consistency of honey.
CHAP. 80. THE TRIXAGO, CHAM^EDRYS, CHAM^DROPS, OR
TETJCRIA I SIXTEEN REMEDIES.
We shall now add to these plants, certain vegetable produc-
tions to which the Greeks have given names belonging to trees,
so that it would be doubtful whether they themselves are not
trees as well.
(15.) The chamsedrys27 is the same plant that in Latin is
called "trixago;" some persons, however, call it "chamse-
drops," and others " teucria." The leaves of it are the size
22 See B. xiii. c. 20.
23 The Pensea sarcocolla is not a thorny tree.
24 Fee says that this is not the case. It is no longer used in medicine.
25 Or conserve of fruits. An electuary.
26 Seed of the sumach. See B. xiii. c. 13.
27 " Ground oak." See B. xiv. c. 19 ; where it is identified with the
Teucrium chamsedrys of Linnaeus. Littre, however, informs us, that M.
Fraas considers it to be the Teucrium lucidum of Linnaeus ; because, as we
learn from Bioscorides, it grows on rocky places, is a remarkably diminutive
shrub, and has a fine odour, all of which are characteristics of the latter
plant, and not of the Teucrium chaniiedrys, commonly known as the dwarf
oak or germander.
Chap. 82.] THE CHAMEL^A. 53
of those of mint, but in their colour and indentations they
resemble those of the oak. According to some, the leaves are
serrated, and it was these, they say, that first suggested the
idea of the saw :28 the flower of it borders closely upon purple.
This plant is gathered in rough craggy localities, when it is
replete with juice ; and, whether taken29 internally or applied
topically, it is extremely efficacious for the stings of venomous
serpents, diseases of the stomach, inveterate coughs, collections
of phlegm in the throat, ruptures, convulsions, and pains
in the sides. It diminishes the volume of the spleen, and acts
as a diuretic and emmenagogue ; for which reasons it is very
useful in incipient dropsy, the usual dose being a handful of
the sprigs boiled down to one third in three heminae of water.
Lozenges too are made of it for the above-named purposes, by
bruising it in water. In combination with honey, it heals
abscesses and inveterate or sordid ulcers : a wine30 too is pre-
pared from it for diseases of the chest. The juice of the leaves,
mixed with oil, disperses films on the eyes ; it is taken also, in
vinegar, for diseases of the spleen j employed as a friction, it is
of a warming nature.
CHAP. 81. THE CHABLEDAPHNE : FIVE KEMEDIES.
The chamaedaphne31 consists of a single diminutive stem,
about a cubit in height, the limbs of it being smaller than
those of the laurel. These leaves * * * The seed, which is
of a red colour, and attached to the leaves, is applied fresh for
head- ache, is of a cooling nature for burning heats, and is
taken for griping pains in the bowels, with wine. The juice of
this plant, taken in wine, acts as an emmenagogue and diuretic ;
and applied as a pessary in wool, it facilitates laborious deliveries.
CHAP. 82. — THE CHAMEL^EA : SIX REMEDIES.
The leaves of the chamelsea32 resemble those of the olive ;
they are bitter, however, and odoriferous. This plant is found
28 An invention attributed to Daedalus, in B. vii. c. 57.
29 The Teucrium chamaedrys is a bitter plant, which has been success-
fully used for fever, and it acts as a tonic and vermifuge. Beyond these,
it has no medicinal properties whatever. 30 See B. xiv. c, 19.
si or « ground-laurel." Fee considers this to be identical with the
Alexandrian laurel, mentioned in B. xv. c. 39. It is no longer used in
medicine, but the roots of a plant of kindred nature, the Ruscus aculeatus,
or butcher's broom, are diuretic.
3- Or ''ground olive.'* See B. xiii. c. 35.
54 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book XX JV.
growing in craggy localities, and never exceeds a palm in
height. It is of a purgative33 nature, and carries off phlegm
and bile ; for which purposes, the leaves are boiled with twice
the quantity of wormwood, and the decoction taken with
honey. The leaves, applied to ulcers, have a detergent effect.
It is said, that if a person gathers it before sunrise, taking care
to mention that he is gathering it for the cure of white specks34
in the eyes, and then wears it as an amulet, it will effect a cure :
as also that, gathered in any way, it is beneficial for the eyes
of beasts of burden and cattle.
CHAP. 83. THE CHAMJSSYCE : EIGHT REMEDIES.
The chamsesyce35 has leaves similar to those of the lentil, and
lying close to the ground ; it is found growing in dry, rocky,
localities. A decoction of it in wine is remarkably useful as a
liniment for improving36 the sight, and for dispersing cataract,
cicatrizations, films, and cloudiness of the eyes. Applied in a
pledget of linen, as a pessary, it allays pains in the uterus ;
and used topically37 it removes warts and excrescences of all
kinds. It is very useful also for hardness of breathing.
CHAP. 84. THE CHAIOECTSSOS : ONE REMEDY.
The chamsecissos38 has ears like39 those of wheat, with
numerous leaves, and small branches, about five in number.
When in blossom it might almost be taken for the white violet :
the root of it is diminutive. For sciatica, the leaves of it are
taken, seven days consecutively, in doses of three oboli, in two
cyathi of wine : this is a very bitter potion, however.
CHAP. 85. THE CHAMJELEUCE, FARFABTJM, OR FARFUGITJM I ONE
REMEDY.
The charnseleuce40 is known among us as the " farfarum" or
" farfugium :" it grows on the banks of rivers, and has a leaf
33 This, Fee says, is consistent with modern experience ; indeed it is
drastic to a dangerous extent. 34 " Albugines."
35 Or " ground fig." The Euphorbia chamassyce, or annual spurge.
36 The juices are irritating and acrid, and would in reality be highly
dangerous to the eyes.
37 Owing to its caustic powers, it really is good for the removal of warts.
38 Or " ground-ivy." SeeB. xvi. c. 62, and c. 49 of this Book.
39 Fee says that this comparison is not strictly correct.
40 The " ground-poplar." See B. xxvi. c. 19. Identified with the
Tussilago farfara of Linnaeus ; our colt's-foot.
Chap. 87.] THE CLIXOPODIOtf, ETC. 55
like that of the poplar, only larger. The root of it is burnt
upon cypress charcoal, and, by the aid of a funnel,41 the smoke
inhaled, in cases of inveterate cough.
CHAP. 86. THE CHAM2EPEUCE I FIVE REMEDIES. THE CHAM-E-
CYPARISSOS I TWO REMEDIES. THE AMPELOPRASON J SIX RE-
MEDIES. THE STACHYS: ONE REMEDY.
The chamsepeuce*2 has a leaf which resembles that of the
larch, and is useful more particularly for lumbago and pains in
the back. The chamaecyparissos43 is a herb which, taken in
wine, counteracts the venom of serpents of all kinds, and of
scorpions.
The ampeloprason44 is found growing in vineyards ; it has
leaves like those of the leek, and produces offensive eructa-
tions. It is highly efficacious for the stings of serpents, and
acts as an emmenagogue and diuretic. Taken in drink or
applied externally, it arrests discharges of blood from the gene-
rative organs. It is prescribed also for females after delivery,
and is used for bites inflicted by dogs.
The plant known as " stachys" bears a strong resemblance
also to a leek,45 but the leaves of it are longer and more nume-
rous. It has an agreeable smell, and in colour inclines to
yellow. It promotes menstruation.
CHAP. 87. — THE CLINOPODION, CLEONTCTON, ZOPYRON, OR
OCIM01DES I THREE REMEDIES.
The clinopodion,46 cleonicion, zopyron, or ocimoides, resem-
41 Or " tube "— " infundibulum." Colt's-foot is still smoked, either by
itself or in conjunction with tobacco. Fee says, however, that to inhale
the smoke in the manner here described, would be enough to create a cough
if it did not exist before.
43 "Ground-pine " or " ground pitch-tree." Identified by Sprengel with
the Stcehelina chamaepeuce of Willdenow, a corymbiferous plant of the Isle
of Candia.
43 " Ground-cypress." Identified with the Euphorbia cyparissias of Lin-
naeus, the cypress spurge. Taken internally, it is a corrosive poison.
44 Qr « vine-leek." The Allium ampeloprason of Linnaeus, the great
round-headed garlic. It is no longer used in medicine, and all that Pliny
states as to its medicinal properties is quite unfounded, Fee says.
45 Fee thinks that Pliny has committed an error here, and that the
word " marrubii " should be substituted, our " horehound." He identifies
it with the Stachys Germanica of Linnaeus, or base horehound ; which
is more commonly found in the South of Europe than in Germany.
46 Or " bed-foot." The Clinopodium vulgare of Linnaeus, our wild
56 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book XXIV.
bles wild thyme in appearance. The stem of it is tough and
ligneous, and it is a palm in height. It grows in stony soils,
and the leaves are trained regularly around the stem,47 which
resembles a bed-post in appearance. This plant is taken in
drink, for convulsions, ruptures, strangury, and wounds inflicted
by serpents : a decoction is also made of it, and the juice is
similarly employed.
CHAP. 88. THE CLEMATIS CENTUNCULUS ; THREE REMEDIES.
"We shall now have to annex some plants, of a marvellous
nature no doubt, but not so well known, reserving those of a
higher reputation for the succeeding Books.
Our people give the name of " centunculus,"48 to a creep-
ing plant that grows in the fields, the leaves of which bear a
strong resemblance to the hoods attached to our cloaks. By
the Greeks it is known as the " clematis/' Taken in astrin-
gent wine it is wonderfully effectual for arresting49 diarrhoea :
beaten up, in doses of one denarius, in five cyathi of oxyinel
or of warm water, it arrests haemorrhage, and facilitates the
after-birth.
CHAP. 89. THE CLEMATIS ECHITES, OR LA-GIKE.
The Greeks have other varieties also of the clematis, one of
which is known as " echites"50 or "lagine," and by some as
the •" little scammony." Its stems are about two feet in height,
and covered with leaves: in general appearance it is not
unlike scammony, were it not that the leaves are darker and
more diminutive ; it is found growing in vineyards and cultivated
soils. It is eaten as a vegetable, with oil and salt, and acts as
a laxative upon the bowels. It is taken51 also for dysentery,
basil. It lias some useful properties attributed to it ; but what Pliny here
states respecting it is erroneous.
47 This seems to be the meaning of " orbiculato foliorum ambitu."
48 Turner and C. Bauhin identify it with the Gnaphalium German ieum
of Lamarck, and Sprengel with the Polygonum convolvulus of Linnaeus.
If so, Fee says, the synonym here given by Pliny is erroneous; for the
Greek clematis, there can be little doubt, is the Clematis cirrhosa of Lin-
naeus. See the account given of the Gnaphalion in B. xxvii. c. 61.
49 All that Pliny states as to its medicinal properties, Fee says, is
erroneous.
60 Probably the Asclepias nigra of Linnaeus, black swallow- wort.
51 The Asclepias nigra has no such medicinal effects as those mentioned
by Pliny.
Chap. 91.] THE DEACONTITTM. 57
with linseed, in astringent wine. The leaves of this plant are
applied with polenta for defluxions of the eyes, the part
affected being first covered with a pledget of wet linen. Applied
to scrofulous sores, they cause them to suppurate, and if some
axle-grease is then applied, a perfect cure will he effected.
They are applied also to piles, with green oil, and are good
for phthisis, in combination with honey. Taken with the
food, they increase the milk in nursing women, and, rubbed
upon the heads of infants, they promote the rapid growth of
the hair. Eaten with vinegar, they act as an aphrodisiac.
CHAP. 90. THE EGYPTIAN CLEMATIS, DAPHN01DES, OR POLY-
GON01DES : TWO REMEDIES.
There is another kind also, known as the "Egyptian"52
clematis, otherwise as "daphno'idesj'53or "polygono'ides:" it has
a leaf like that of the laurel, and is long and slender. Taken
in vinegar, it is very useful for the stings of serpents, that of
the asp in particular.
CHAP. 91. (16.) DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON THE DRACONTIUM.
It is Egypt more particularly that produces the clematis
known as the " aron," of which we have already54 made some
mention when speaking of the bulbs, Respecting this plant
and the dracontium, there have been considerable differences
of opinion. Some writers, indeed, have maintained that they
are identical, and Glaucias has made the only distinction
between them in reference to the place of their growth,
assuming that the dracontium is nothing else than the aron in
a wild state. Some persons, again, have called the root " aron,"
and the stem of the plant " dracontium :" but if the dracon-
tium is the same as the one known to us as the " dracuncu-
lus,"55 it is a different plant altogether ; for while the aron has
a broad, black, rounded root, and considerably larger, — large
enough, indeed, to fill the hand, — the dracunculus has a
52 The Vinca major and Vinca minor of Linnaeus, the greater and smaller
periwinkle. Fee is at a loss to know why it should be called " Egyptian,"
as it is a plant of Europe.
53 "Laurel-shaped" and "many-cornered."
54 In B. xix. c. 30.
43 Fee says that the Dracontion of the Greeks and the Dracunculus of
the Latins are identical, being represented in modern Botany by the Arum
dracunculus of Linnaeus, the common dragon.
58 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXIV.
reddish root of a serpentine form, to which, in fact, it owes its
name.66
CHAP. 92. THE AEON I THIRTEEN REMEDIES.
The Greeks themselves, in fact, have established an im-
mense difference between these two plants, in attributing to
the seed of the dracunculus certain hot, pungent properties,
and a fetid odour57 so remarkably powerful as to be productive
of abortion,58 while upon the aron, on the other hand, they
have bestowed marvellous encomiums. As an article of food,
however, they give the preference to the female plant, the
male plant being of a harder nature, and more difficult to cook.
It carries off,69 they say, all vicious humours from the chest,
and powdered and taken in the form either of a potion or of
an electuary, it acts as a diuretic and emmenagogue. Powdered
and taken in oxymel, it is good for the stomach ; and we find
it stated that it is administered in ewe's milk for ulcerations
of the intestines, and is sometimes cooked on hot ashes and
given in oil for a cough. Some persons, again, are in the habit
of boiling it in milk and administering the decoction ; and it
has been used also in a boiled state as a topical application for
defluxions of the eyes, contusions, and affections of the tonsil-
lary glands. * * * *60 prescribes it with oil, as an
injection for piles, and recommends it as a liniment, with
honey, for freckles.
Cleophantus has greatly extolled this plant as an antidote for
poisons, and for the treatment of pleurisy and peripneumony,
prepared the same way as for coughs. The seed too, pounded
with olive oil or oil of roses, is used as an injection for pains
56 From " draco," a " dragon " or " serpent." Fee says, that it is not
to its roots, but to its spotted stem, resembling the skin of an adder, that
it owes its name.
57 *« Virus." Fee says that the Arum dracunculus has a strong, fetid
odour, and all parts of it are acrid and caustic, while the Arum colocasia
has an agreeable flavour when boiled.
58 This, Fee says, is fabulous.
59 Though no longer used in medicine, the account here given of the
properties of the Arum colocasia is in general correct, a few marvellous
details excepted.
60 Sillig thinks that there is a lacuna here, and that the name " Cleo-
phantus " should be supplied.
Chap. 92.] THE AEON. 50
in the ears. Dieuches prescribes it, mixed in bread61 with meal,
for the cure of coughs, asthma, hardness of breathing, and
purulent expectorations. Diodotus recommends it, in combi-
nation with honey, as an electuary for phthisis and diseases of
the lungs, and as a topical application even for fractured bones.
Applied to the sexual parts, it facilitates delivery in all kinds
of animals ; and the juice extracted from the root, in combina-
tion with Attic honey, disperses films upon the eyes, and
diseases of the stomach. A decoction of it with honey is
curative of cough ; and the juice is a marvellous remedy for
ulcers of every description, whether phagedaenic, carcinomatous,
or serpiginous, and for polypus of the nostrils. The leaves,
boiled in wine and oil, are good for burns, and, taken with
salt and vinegar, are strongly purgative ; boiled with honey,
they are useful also for sprains, and used either fresh or
dried, with salt, for gout in the joints.
Hippocrates has prescribed the leaves, either fresh or
dried, with honey, as a topical application for abscesses. Two
drachmae of the seed or root, in two cyathi of wine, are a
sufficient dose to act as an emmenagogue, and a similar quan-
tity will have the effect of bringing away the after-birth, in
cases where it is retarded.62 Hippocrates used to apply the root
also, for the purpose. They say too, that in times of pestilence
the employment of aron as an article of food is very beneficial.
It dispels the fumes of wine ; and the smoke of it burnt drives
away serpents,63 the asp in particular, or else stupefies them to
such a degree as to reduce them to a state of torpor. These
reptiles also will fly at the approach of persons whose bodies
have been rubbed with a preparation of aron with oil of
laurel : hence it is generally thought a good plan to administer
it in red wine to persons who have been stung by serpents.
Cheese, it is said, keeps remarkably well, wrapped in leaves
of this plant.
61 F£e thinks that, thus employed, it would be more injurious than
beneficial. Though Pliny is treating here of the Arum colocasia or
Egyptian Arum, he has mingled some few details with it, relative to the
Arum dracunculus, a plant endowed with much more energetic properties.
See Note 57 above.
62 See B. viii. c. 54, as to the use alleged to be made by animals of this
plant.
*•* Fee says that this is very doubtful.
60 PLINY'S NATTTBAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
CHAP. 93. THE DRACTJNCULUS ; TWO REMEDIES.
The plant which I have spoken of65 as the dracunculus, is
taken out of the ground just when the barley is ripening, and
at the moon's increase. It is quite sufficient to have this
plant about one, to be safe from all serpents ; and it is said,
that an infusion of the larger kind taken in drink, is very useful
for persons who have been stung by those reptiles : it is stated
also that it arrests the catamenia when in excess, due care being
taken not to let iron touch it. The juice of it too is very use-
ful for pains in the ears.
As to the plant known to the Greeks by the name of " dra-
contion," I have66 had it pointed out to me under three dif-
ferent forms ; the first67 having the leaves of the beet, with a
certain proportion of stem, and a purple flower, and bearing
a strong resemblance to the aron. Other persons, again, have
described it as a plant69 with a long root, embossed to all ap-
pearance and full of knots, and consisting of three stems in all ;
the same parties have recommended a decoction of the leaves
in vinegar, as curative of stings inflicted by serpents. The
third70 plant that has been pointed out to me has a leaf larger
than that of the cornel, and a root resembling that of the reed.
This root, I have been assured, has as many knots on it as the
plant is years old, the leaves, too, being as many in number.
The plant is recommended also for the stings of serpents,
administered either in wine or in water.
CHAP. 94. THE ARISAROS : THEEE REMEDIES.
There is a plant also called the " arisaros,"71 which grows
in Egypt, and is similar to the aron in appearance, only that
it is more diminutive, and has smaller leaves ; the root too is
smaller, though fully as large as a good- sized olive. The
white arisaros throws out two stems, the other kind only one.
They are curative, both of them, of running ulcers and burns,
and are used as an injection for fistulas. The leaves, boiled in
65 In c. 91 of this Book. This story is owing merely to its appearance,
which somewhat resembles the skin of a serpent.
66 " Demonstratum mini est."
67 Identified by Fee with the Aram Italicum of Lamarck.
69 Fee queries whether this may not be the Arum maculatum of Linnaeus,
wake-robin, cuckoo pint, or lords and ladies.
10 Identified by 0. Bauhin with the Calla palustris of LinnaBUs.
n The Arum arisarum of Linnaeus, hooded arum or friar's cowl, a
native of the coasts of Barbary and the South of Europe.
Chap. 97.] THE MYRRHIS. 61
water, and then beaten up with the addition of oil of roses,
arrest the growth of corrosive ulcers. But there is one very
marvellous fact connected with this plant — it is quite sufficient
to touch the sexual parts of any female animal with it to cause
its instantaneous death.
CHAP. 95. THE MILLEFOLITJM OE MYRIOPHYLLON ; SEVEN
REMEDIES.
The myriophyllon,72 by our people known as the "mille-
folium " has a tender stem, somewhat similar to fennel-giant
in appearance, with vast numbers of leaves, to which circum-
stance it is indebted for its name. It grows in marshy lo-
calities, and is remarkably useful for the treatment of wounds.
It is taken in vinegar for strangury, affections of the bladder,
asthma, and falls with violence ; it is extremely efficacious also
iior tooth -ache.
In Etruria, the same name is given to a small meadow-
plant,73 provided with leaves at the sides, like hairs, and par-
ticularly useful for wounds. The people of that country say
that, applied with axle-grease, it will knit together and unite
the tendons of oxen, when they have been accidentally severed
by the plough-share.74
CHAP. 96. THE PSEUDOBUNION *. FOUR REMEDIES.
The pseudobunion75 has the leaves of the turnip, and grows
in a shrub-like form, about a palm in height; the most
esteemed being that of Crete. For gripings of the bowels, stran-
gury, and pains of the thoracic organs, some five or six sprigs
of it are administered in drink.
CHAP. 97. THE MYRRHIS, MYRIZA, OR MYRRHA I SEVEN
REMEDIES.
The myrrhis,76 otherwise known as the myriza or myrrha,
72 Or " ten thousand leaves." The Myriophyllum spicatura of Linnaeus,
according to most authorities, though Fee considers it very doubtful.
73 Possibly the Achillea millefolium of Linnaeus, our milfoil or yarrow.
It is still said to have the property of healing wounds made by edge-tools,
for which reason it is known in France as the " carpenter's plant."
74 This assertion, as Fee remarks, is more than doubtful.
75 " Bastard turnip." Desfontaincs identifies it with the Bunium aro-
maticum ; Fee queries whether it may not be the Pimpinella tennis of
Sieber, found in Crete. The Berberis vulgaris has been also suggested.
76 Desfontaincs- identifies it with the Scandix odorata of Linnaeus. Har-
G2 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKT. [Book XXIV.
bears a strong resemblance to hemlock in the stem, leaves, and
blossom, only that it is smaller and more slender : it is by no
means unpleasant to the palate. Taken with wine, it acts as
an emmenagogue, and facilitates parturition : they say too that
in times of pestilence it is very wholesome, taken in drink. It
is very useful also for phthisis, administered in broth. It
sharpens the appetite, and neutralizes the venom of the pha-
langium. The juice of this plant, after it has been macerated
some three days in water, is curative of ulcers of the face and
head.
CHAP. 98.— THE ONOBBYCHIS : THKEE REMEDIES.
The onobrychis77 has leaves like those of the lentil, only
somewhat78 longer ; the blossom is red, and the root small and
slender. It is found growing in the vicinity of springs.
Dried and reduced to powder, and sprinkled in white wine,
it is curative of strangury, and arrests looseness of the
bowels. The juice of it, used as a friction with oil, acts as a
sudorific.
CHAP. 99. (17.) — CORACESTA AND CALLICIA.
While I am treating of plants of a marvellous nature, I am
induced to make some mention of certain magical plants — for
what, in fact, can there be more marvellous than they r The first
who descanted upon this subject in our part of the world were
Pythagoras and Democritus, who have adopted the accounts
given by the Magi. Coracesta79 and callicia, according to
Pythagoras, are plants which congeal80 water. I find no
mention made of them, however, by any other author, and he
himself gives no further particulars relative to them.
douin says that it is musk chervil, the Chserophyllum aromaticum of Lin-
naeus, in which he has followed Dodonaeus. Fuchsius suggests the Chsero-
phyllum silvestre of Linnaeus : Fee expresses himself at a loss to decide.
77 Probably the Hedysarum onobrycliis of Linnasus, our sainfoin.
78 They are very much larger than those of the lentil, in fact. This
diversity has caused Fee to express some doubts whether it really is iden-
tical with sainfoin. The Polygala officinalis has also been suggested.
79 Dalechamps considers these appellations to mean the " virgins' plant,"
and the "plant of beauty."
80 The Cissampelos Pareira, as already stated, abounds in mucilage to
such a degree, as to impart a consistency to water, without impairing its
transparency. See c, 72 of this Book.
Chap. 101.] THE APEOXIS. 63
CHAP. 100. — THE M1NSAS OR CORINTHIAI ONE REMEDY.
Pythagoras gives the name of minsas81 too, or corinthia, to
another plant ; a decoction of which, used as a fomentation,
will effect an instantaneous cure of stings inflicted by serpents,
according to him. He adds too, that if this decoction is poured
upon the grass, and a person happens to tread upon it, or if
the body should chance to be sprinkled with it, the result is
fatal beyond all remedy ; so monstrously malignant are the
venomous properties of this plant, except as neutralizing
other kinds of poison.
CHAP 101. THE APROXIS: SIX REMEDIES.
Pythagoras makes mention, too, of a plant called aproxis,
the root of which takes fire82 at a distance, like naphtha, of
which we have made some mention, when speaking83 of the mar-
vellous productions of the earth. He says too, that if the
human body happens to be attacked by any disease while the
cabbage84 is in blossom, the person, although he may have
been perfectly cured, will be sensible of a recurrence of the
symptoms, every time that plant comes into blossom ; a
peculiarity which he attributes to it in common with wheat,
hemlock, and the violet.
I am not ignorant, however, that the work of his from
which I have just quoted is ascribed to the physician Cleem-
porua by some, though antiquity and the unbroken current of
tradition concur in claiming it for Pythagoras. It is quite
enough, however, to say in favour of a book, that the author
has deemed the results of his labours worthy to be published
under the name of so great a man. And yet who can believe
that Cleemporus would do this, seeing that he has not
hesitated to publish other works under his own name ?
81 The reading of this word is doubtful. Hardouin thinks that it is the
same as the Minyanthes mentioned in B. xxi. c. 88.
62 Fee says that the only cases known of a phenomenon resembling
this, are those of the Dictamnus albus, white dittany, which attracts flame
momentarily when in flower, and of the Tropoeolum majus, or great Indian
cress. He thinks, however, that there are some trees so rich in essential
oil, that they might possibly ignite as readily as naphtha.
«« In B. i'i. c. 109.
84 Another reading here is " aproxis," which seems more probable.
64 PLIOT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
CHAP. 102. - THE AGLAOPHOTIS OR MARMARITIS. THE
MENIS OR HIPPOPHOBAS. THE THEOBROTION OR SEMNION. THE
ADAMANTIS. THE ARIANTS. THE THERIONARCA. THE ^THIOPIS
OR MEROIS. THE OPHIUSA. THE THALASSEGLE OR POTAM-
AUGIS. THE THEANGELIS. THE GELOTOPHYLLIS. THE HESTI-
ATOR1S OR PROTOMEDIA. THE CASIGNETES OR DIONTSONYMPHAS.
THE HELIANTHES OR HELIOCALLIS. HERMESIAS. THE ^ISCHY-
KOMENE. THE CROCIS. THE (ENOTHERIS. THE ANACAMPS-
EROS.
As to Democritus, there can be no doubt that the work
called " Chiroemeta"85 belongs to him. How very much more
marvellous too are the accounts given in this book by the
philosopher who, next to Pythagoras, has acquired the most in-
timate knowledge of the learning of the Magi ! According
to him, the plant aglaophotis,86 which owes its name to the
admiration in which its beauteous tints are held by man, is
found growing among the marble quarries of Arabia, on the
side of Persia, a circumstance which has given it the additional
name of " marmaritis." By means of this plant, he says, the
Magi can summon the deities into their presence when they
please.
The achaemenis,87 he says, a plant the colour of amber,
and destitute of leaves, grows in the country of theTradastili, an
Indian race. The root of it, divided into lozenges and taken
in wine in the day time, torments the guilty to suoh a degree
during the night by the various forms of avenging deities pre-
sented to the imagination, as to extort from them a confession
of their crimes. He gives it the name also of " hippophobas,"
it being an especial object of terror to mares.
* The theobrotion88 is a plant found at a distance of thirty
schceni89 from the river Choaspes ; it represents the varied tints
of the peacock, and the odour of it is remarkably fine. The
85 " The work of his own hands," according to Hesychius.
86 " Admiration of man." It is impossible to say what plant is meant
under this name, but the paeony, Pseonia officinalis, has been suggested ;
also the Tropseolum majus. Desfontaines queries whether it may not be
the Ceesalpinia pulcherrima, a native of the East. Some authors, Fee
says, have identified it with the " Moly " of Homer.
e7 So called from Aehaemenes, the ancestor of the Persian kings. Fee
thinks that it was a variety of the Euphorbia antiquorum, or else a night-
shade. 88 " Food for the gods."
sy See B. xii. c. 30 ; also the Introduction to Vol. 111.
Chap. 102.] THE THEA.NUEL1S. 65
kings of Persia, he says, are in the habit of taking it in their
food or drink, for all maladies of the body, and derangements of
the mind. It has the additional name of semnion,90 from the
use thus made of it by majesty.
He next tells us of the adamantis,91 a plant grown in
Armenia and Cappadocia : presented to a lion, he says, the beast
will fall upon its back, and drop its jaws. Its name originates
in the fact that it is impossible to bruise it. The arianis,92
he says, is found in the country of the Ariani ; it is of a fiery
colour, and is gathered when the sun is in Leo. Wood rubbed
with oil will take fire on coming in contact with this plant. The
therionarca,93 he tells us, grows in Cappadocia and Mysia ; it
has the effect of striking wild beasts of all kinds with a torpor
which can only be dispelled by sprinkling them with the urine
of the hyaena. He speaks too of the aethiopis,94 a plant which
grows in Meroe ; for which reason it is also known as the
"mero'is." In leaf it resembles the lettuce, and, taken with
honied wine, it is very good for dropsy. The ophiusa,95 which
is found in Elephantine, an island also of ^Ethiopia, is a
plant of a livid colour, and hideous to the sight. Taken by a
person in drink, he says, it inspires such a horror of serpents,
which his imagination continually represents as menacing him,
that he commits suicide at last ; hence it is that persons guilty
of sacrilege are compelled to drink an infusion of it. Palm
wine, he tells us, is the only thing that neutralizes its effects.
The thalasssegle96 he speaks of as being found on the banks
of the river Indus, from which circumstance it is also known
as the potamaugis.97 Taken in drink it produces a delirium,98
which presents to the fancy visions of a most extraordinary
nature. The theangelis," he says, grows upon Mount Li-
90 "Venerable " or " majestic." 91 " Hard as a diamond."
12 The Spina Ariana is mentioned in B. xii. c. 18.
93 See B. xx. c. 65, where a plant is mentioned by this name.
94 Dalecbamps thinks that an Euphorbia is meant under this name.
95 " Serpent-plant." Fee thinks that a hemlock may possibly be meant,
or perhaps the Arum serpentaria ; see c. 93 of this Book,
96 « Brightness of the sea." A narcotic plant, Fee thinks, probably a
night-shade.
97 Hardouin suggests " potamitis," river-plant.
98 It is not impossible that this may in reality be an allusion to the
effects of opium, or of hasheesh.
99 " Messenger of the gods," apparently.
VOL. Y. P
66 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
banus in Syria, upon the chain of mountains called Dicte in
Crete, and at Babylon and Susa in Persis. An infusion of it
in drink, imparts powers of divination to the Magi. The
gelotophyllis1 too, is a plant found in Bactriana, and on the
banks of the Borysthenes. Taken internally with myrrh and
wine, all sorts of visionary forms present themselves, and
excite the most immoderate laughter, which can only be put
an end to by taking kernels of the pine-nut, with pepper and
honey, in palm wine.
The hestiatoris,3 he tells us, is a Persian plant, so called from
its promotion of gaiety and good fellowship at carousals.
Another name for it is protomedia, because those who eat of it
will gain the highest place in the royal favour. The casignetes3
too, we learn, is so called, because it grows only among plants
of its own kind, and is never found in company with any
other; another name given to it is " dionysonymphas,"4 from
the circumstance of its being remarkably well adapted to the
nature of wine. Helianthes5 is the name he gives to a plant
found in the regions of Themiscyra and the mountainous parts
of maritime Cilicia, with leaves like those of myrtle. This
plant is boiled up with lion's fat, saffron and palm wine being
added; the Magi, he tells us, and Persian monarchs are in
the habit of anointing the body with the preparation, to add
to its graceful appearance : he states also, that for this reason
it has the additional name of " heliocallis."6 What the same
author calls " hermesias,"7 has the singular virtue of ensuring
the procreation of issue, both beautiful as well as good. It is
not a plant, however, but a composition made of kernels of
pine nuts, pounded with honey, myrrh, saffron, and palm wine,
to which theobrotium8 and milk are then added. He also
1 "Laughing leaves." Possibly, Fee thinks, the Ranunculus philonotis,
the Herba Sardoa or Sardonic plant of Virgil, known by some authorities
as the Apium risus, or " laughing parsley." Desfontaines suggests that
hemp (prepared in the form of hasheesh) is meant.
2 " Convivial " plant. Desfontaines identifies it with the Areca catechu,
which, is chewed in India for the benefit of the teeth and stomach, and as a
sweetener of the breath.
3 " Brother " plant. 4 " Bride of Dionysus or Bacchus."
5 " Sun-flower." Not the plant, however, known to us by that name.
6 " Beauty of the sun," apparently.
7 " Mixture of Hermes," apparently.
6 Previously mentioned in this Chapter.
Chap. 103.] THE EPxIPHIA. g;
recommends those who wish to become parents to drink this
mixture, and says, that females should take it immediately
after conception, and during pregnancy.9 If this is done, he
says, the infant will be sure to be endowed with the highest
qualities, both in mind and body. In addition to what has
here been stated, Democritus gives the various names by which
all these plants are known to the Magi.
Apollodorus, one of the followers of Democritus, has added
to this list the herb aeschynomene,10 so called from the shrink-
ing of its leaves at the approach of the hand ; and another
called "crocis,"11 the touch of which is fatal to the phalan-
gium. Crateuas, also, speaks of the cenotheris,12 an infusion of
which in wine, sprinkled upon them, has the effect of taming
all kind of animals, however wild. A celebrated grammarian,13
who lived but very recently, has described the anacampseros,14
the very touch of which recalls former love, even though
hatred should have succeeded in its place. It will be quite
sufficient for the present to have said thus much in reference
to the remarkable virtues attributed to certain plants by the
Magi ; as we shall have occasion to revert to this subject in a
more appropriate place.15
CHAP. 103. (18.) THE ERIPHIA.
Many authors have made mention of the eriphia,1* a plant
which contains a kind of beetle in its -hollow stem. This
5 As Fee remarks, it has been a notion in comparatively recent times,
that it is possible to procreate children of either sex at pleasure.
10 The "bashful" plant. An Acacia, Fee thinks; see B. xiii. c. 19.
The Mimosa casta, pudica, and sensitiva, have similar properties : the Sensi-
tive Plant is well known in this country.
11 Fee queries whether this may not be the Silene rauscipula of Lin-
na3iis, the fly-trap. 12 The "wine-tamer."
13 Hardouin thinks that he alludes to the Grammarian Apion. Dale-
cliamps thinks that it is either Apion or Apollodorus.
14 The "returning" plant. Fee says that the Sedum Telephium of
Linnreus, or orpine, is called in the dictionaries by this name. He queries
whether it m;iy not be the Sedum anacampseros, or evergreen orpine, as
Hesychius says that it continues to live after being taken up from tbe
earth ; a peculiarity, to some extent, of the house-leek.
15 He probably alludes to his remarks upon Magic, in Books xxix. and xxx.
16 From ept0o£, a "kid." Ruellius has attempted to identify this plant
with one of the Ranunculaceae ; but there is little doubt, as Fee says, that
both plant and insect are imaginary,
F 2
68 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
beetle is continually ascending the interior of the stalk, and
as often descending, while it emits a sound like the cry of a
kid ; a circumstance to which the plant is indebted for its name.
There is nothing in existence, they say, more beneficial to the
voice,
CHAP. 104. THE WOOL PLANT I ONE KEMEDY. THE LACTOKIS :
ONE REMEDY. THE MILITARIST ONE REMEDY.
The wool plant,17 given to sheep fasting, greatly increases the
milk. The plant commonly called lactoris,18 is equally well
known : it is full of a milky juice, the taste of which produces
vomiting. Some persons say that this is identical with, while
others say that it only resembles, the plant known as "mili-
taris,"19 from the fact that, applied with oil, it will effect the
cure, within five days, of any wound that has been inflicted
with iron.
CHAP. 105. THE STRATIOTES: FIVE REMEDIES.
The Greeks speak in high terms also of the stratiotes,20
though that is a plant which grows in Egypt only, and during
the inundations of the river Nilus. It is similar in appearance
to the aizoon,21 except that the leaves are larger. It is of a
remarkably cooling nature, and, applied with vinegar, it heals
wounds, as well as erysipelas and suppurations.. Taken in
drink with male frankincense, it is marvellously useful for
discharges of blood 'from the kidneys.
CHAP. 106. (19.) A PLANT GROWING ON THE HEAD OP A
STATUE: ONE REMEDY.
It is asserted also, that a plant growing22 on the head of a
17 "Herba lanaria." See B. xix. c. 18.
18 Hardouin identifies it with the Ulva lactuca of Linneeus; but that
plant, Fee says, contains no milky j nice, and does not act as an emetk*.
One of the Euphorbiaceae is probably meant.
19 " Military " plant. Hardouin identifies it with the Achillea mille-
folium of Linnaeus, mentioned in c. 95 of this Book. Fee, however, docs
not recognize the identity.
20 " Soldier " plant. Csesalpinus identifies it with the Salvinia natans ;
but Fee thinks, with Sprengel, that it is the Pistia stratiotes of Linnaeus,
great duckweed or pondweed.
21 " Always living." See B. xix. c, 58.
22 It is pretty clear that in relating this, absurdity he is not speaking ot
one plant solely, but of any plant which may chance to grow on the head
Chap. 112.] THE EODAEUM. 69
statue, gathered in the lappet of any one of the garments, and
then attached with a red string to the neck, is an instantaneous
cure for head- ache.
CHAP. 107. — A PLANT GROWING ON THE BANKS OF A RIVER:
ONE REMEDY.
Any plant that is gathered before sunrise on the banks of a
stream or river, due care being taken that no one sees it
gathered, attached to the left arm without the patient knowing
what it is, will cure a tertian fever, they say.
CHAP. 108.— THE HERB CALLED LINGUA I ONE REMEDY.
There is a herb called " lingua,"23 which grows in the
vicinity of fountains. The root of it, reduced to ashes and
beaten up with hog's lard — the hog, they say, must have been
black and barren — will cure alopecy, the head being rubbed
with it in the sun.
CHAP. 109. PLANTS THAT TAKE ROOT IN A SIEVE I ONE
REMEDY.
Plants that take root in a sieve that has been thrown in
a hedge-row, if gathered and worn upon the person by a. preg-
nant woman, will i'acilitate delivery.
CHAP. 110. PLANTS GROWING UPON DUNGHILLS: ONE REMEDY.
A plant that has been grown upon a dungheap in a field, is
a very efficacious remedy, taken in water, for quinzy.
CHAP. 111. PLANTS THAT HAVE BEEN MOISTENED WITH THE
URINE OF A DOG : ONE REMEDY.
A plant upon which a dog has watered, torn up by the roots,
and not touched with iron, is a very speedy cure for sprains.
CHAP. 112. THE ROD ARUM! THREE REMEDIES.
We have already24 made mention of the rumpotinus, when
speaking of the vine-growing25 trees. Near the tree, when not
of a statue. Numerous mosses grow upon marble ; and statues are
gradually covered, Fee says, with the Byssus antiquitatis.
23 " Tongue " plant. Fee identifies it with the Scolopendrium officinaruru
of "Willdenow, the Lingua cervina of other botanists. See B. xxv. c. 84.
24 In B. xiv. c. 3. 25 Or " vine-supporting."
70 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKT. [Book XXIV.
accompanied by the vine, there grows a plant, known to the
Gauls as the "rodarurn."26 It has a knotted stem like the
branch of a fig-tree, and the leaves, which are very similar to
those of the nettle, are white in the middle, though in process
of time they become red all over. The blossom of it is of a
silvery hue. Beaten up with stale axle-grease, due care being
taken not to touch it with iron, this plant is extremely useful
for tumours, inflammations, and gatherings ; the patient, how-
ever, on being anointed with it must spit three times on the
right side. They say too, that as a remedy it is still more
efficacious, if three persons of three different nations rub the
right side of the body with it.
CHAP. 113, THE PLANT CALLED IMPIA : TWO REMEDIES.
The plant called "impia"27 is white, resembling rosemary
in appearance. It is clothed with leaves like a thyrsus, and is
terminated by a head, from which a number of small branches
protrude, terminated, all of them, in a similar manner. It is
this peculiar conformation that has procured for it the name
of " impia," from the progeny thus surmounting the parent.
Some persons, however, are of opinion that it is so called
because no animal will touch it. Bruised between two stones
it yields an effervescent juice, which, in combination with
wine and milk, is remarkably efficacious for quinzy.
There is a marvellous property attributed to this plant, to
the effect that persons who have once tasted it will never be
attacked by quinzy ; for which reason it is given to swine :
those among them, however, which refuse to take it will be sure
to die of that disease. Some persons too are of opinion that
if slips of it are put into a bird's nest, they will effectually
prevent the young birds from choking themselves by eating too
voraciously.
CHAP. 114. THE PLANT CALLED VENUS* COMB I ONE EEMEDT.
Prom its resemblance to a comb, they give the name of
" Venus' comb"29 to a certain plant, the root of which, bruised
16 Fee suggests that this may possibly be the Spiraea ulmaria of Linnaeus.
27 The " impious " or " unnatural " plant, Fee identifies it with the
Filago Gallica of Linnaeus, the corn cudweed. It is destitute of medicinal
properties, and what Pliny states is without foundation.
29 Generally identified with the Scandix pecten Veneris, corn cicely, or
shepherd's needle. See B. xxii. c. 38.
Chap. 117.] TORDILON OR SYREON. 71
with mallows, extracts all foreign substances from the human
body.
CHAP. 115. THE EXEDTJM. THE PLANT CALLED NOTIA I TWO
REMEDIES.
The plant called " exedum"30 is curative of lethargy. The
herbaceous plant called "notia," which is used by curriers
for dyeing leather a bright, cheerful colour, and known by
them under various names — is curative of cancerous ulcers ;
I find it also stated that, taken in wine or in oxycrate, it is
extremely efficacious for stings inflicted by scorpions.
CHAP. 116. THE PHILANTHROPOS : ONE REMEDY. THE LAPPA
CANARIA I TWO REMEDIES.
The Greeks wittily give the name of " philanthropes"31 to a
certain plant, because it attaches itself to articles of dress.3-
A chaplet made of this plant has the effect of relieving head-
ache.
As to the plant known as the " lappa canaria,"33 beaten up
in wine with plantago and mille folium,34 it effects the cure of
carcinomatous sores, the application being removed at the end of
three days. Taken out of the ground without the aid of iron,
and thrown into their wash, or given to them in wine and milk, it
cures diseases in swine. Some persons add, however, that the
person, as he takes it up, must say — " This is the plant arge-
mon, a remedy discovered by Minerva for such swine as shall
taste thereof/*
CHAP. 117. TORDYI/XN" OR SYREON I THREE REMEDIES.
Tordylon is, according to some authorities, the seed of sili,35
while according to others it is a distinct plant,36 known also
as " syreon." I find no particulars relative to it, except that
30 Fee queries whether this may not possibly he the Rhus coriaria of
Linnaeus, elm-leaved sumach, mentioned in B. xiii. c. 13. He would
appear, however, to have confounded it with the Notia, next mentioned.
31 " Man-loving," or rather " attached to man." Identified with the
Galium aparine of Linnaeus, goose-grass, or common ladies bedstraw ; the
seeds of which attach themselves to the dress. 32 See B. xxi. c. 64.
33 The dog -bur. The Lappa tomentosa of Lamarck. See B. xxvi. c. 65.
34 See c. 95 of this Book.
35 Or hartwort; see B. xx. cc. 18, 87.
38 The Tordylium officinale of Linnaeus, officinal hart- wort.
72 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
it grows upon mountains, and that the ashes of it, taken in
drink, act as an einmenagogue and facilitate expectoration. It
is stated also, that for this last purpose the root is even more
efficacious than the stem; that the juice of it, taken in doses of
three oboli, cures diseases of the kidneys ; and that the root is
used as an ingredient for emollient plasters.
CHAP. 118. — GRAMEN I SEVENTEEN [REMEDIES.
Gramen37 is of all herbaceous productions the most common.
As it creeps along the ground it throws out jointed stems, from
the joints of which, as well as from the extremity of the stem,
fresh roots are put forth every here and there. In all other
parts of the world the leaves of it are tapering, and come to a
point ; but upon Mount Parnassus38 they resemble the leaves of
the ivy, the plant throwing out a greater number of stems than
elsewhere, and bearing a blossom that is white and odoriferous.
There is no vegetable production that is more grateful39 to
beasts of burden than this, whether in a green state or whe-
ther dried and made into hay, in which last case it is sprinkled
with water when given to them. It is said that on Mount
Parnassus a juice is extracted from it, which is very abun-
dant and of a sweet flavour.
In other parts of the world, instead of this juice a decoction
of it is employed for closing wounds ; an eliect equally pro-
duced by the plant itself, which is beaten up for the purpose
and attached to the part affected, thereby preventing inflamma-
tion. To the decoction wine and honey are added, and in some
cases, frankincense, pepper, and myrrh, in the proportion of one
third of each ingredient; after which it is boiled again in a
copper vessel, when required for tooth- ache or defluxions of the
eyes. A decoction of the roots, in wine, is curative of griping
pains in the bowels, strangury, and ulcerations of the bladder,
and it disperses calculi. The seed is still more powerful as a
diuretic,40 arrests looseness and vomiting, and is particularly
37 u Grass." The Triticum repens, or Paspalum dactylon of Linnaeus,
our couch-grass.
33 This is probably quite a different production, being the Parnassia
palustris, according to Dodonaeus ; but Fee is inclined to think that it is
the Campanula rapunculus of Linnaeus, bell-flower or rampions.
39 Fee thinks that this appplies to the plant of Parnassus, and not to '
the common Gramen.
40 This property, Fee says, is still attributed to couch-grass.
Chap. 119.] DACTFL03. 73
useful for wounds inflicted by dragons.41 There are some
authorities which give the following prescription for the cure
of scrofulous sores and inflamed tumours : — From one, two,
or three stems, as many as nine joints must be removed,
which must then be wrapped in black wool with the grease in
it. The party who gathers them must do so fasting, and must
then go, in the same state, to the patient's house while he is
from home. When the patient comes in, the other must say to
him three times, " I come fasting to bring a remedy to a fast-
ing man;" and must then attach the amulet to his person, re-
peating the same ceremony three consecutive days. The
variety of this plant which has seven43 joints is considered a
most excellent amulet for the cure of head-ache. For excru-
ciating pains in the bladder, some recommend a decoction of
gramen, boiled down in wine to one half, to be taken imme-
diately after the bath.
CHAP. 119. DACTYLOS; FIVE REMEDIES.
There are some authorities who mention three varieties of
the pointed gramen. That which has at the extremity five43
points at the utmost, is called "dactylos." Twisting these
points together, persons introduce them into the nostrils and then
withdraw them, with the view of preventing haemorrhage.
The second kind, which resembles aizoon/4 is employed with
axle-grease for whitlows and hangnails, and for fleshy excres-
cences upon the nails : this also is called " dactylos," because
it is so useful as a remedy for diseases of the fingers.
The third45 kind, which is also known as " dactylos," is more
diminutive, and is found growing upon walls or tiles. It has
certain caustic properties, and arrests the progress of serpigi-
nous ulcers. By placing a wreath of gramen round the head,
bleeding at the nose is stopped. In Babylonia, it is said, the
gramen4G which grows by the wayside is fatal to camels.
41 " Draconum." A peculiar kind of serpent. See Lucan's Pharsalia,
B. ix. 11. 727-8. 42 No such variety is known.
43 Fee is somewhat at a loss as to its- identity, but thinks that it may be
the Panicum sanguinale of Linmeus, or possibly the Cynodon dactykm.
44 See B. xix. c. 58, and B. xxv. c. 102. Possibly a Sedum or houseleek,
Fee thinks ; certainly not a grass.
45 Fee queries whether this may not be the Poa rigida of Linnaus, hard
meadow-grass.
46 An Euphorbia, Fee thinks.
Ff PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
CHAP. 120. — FENTJGEEEK on SILICIA : THIHTY-OI^E KEMEDIES.
NOT is fenugreek held in less esteem. By some it is known
as " telis," by others as " carphos," and by others again as
"buceras,"47 or " segoceras,"47 the produce of it bearing some
resemblance to horns. Among us it is known as " silicia."
The mode of sowing it we have already48 described on the
appropriate occasion. Its properties are desiccative,49 emollient,
and resolvent. A decoction of it is useful for many female
maladies, indurations for instance, tumours, and contractions of
the uterus ; in all which cases it is employed as a fomentation or
used for a sitting-bath : it is serviceable also as an injection.
It removes cutaneous eruptions on the face ; and a decoction of
it, applied topically with nitre or vinegar, cures diseases of
the spleen or liver. In cases of difficult labour, Diocles re-
commends the seed pounded, in doses of one acetabulum,
mixed with boiled50 must. After taking one third of the mix-
ture, the patient must use a warm bath, and then, while in a
perspiration, she must take another third, and, immediately
after leaving the bath, the remainder — this, he says, will prove
a most effectual means of obtaining relief.
The same authority recommends fenugreek boiled, with
barley or linseed, in hydromel, as a pessary for violent pains
in the uterus : he prescribes it also as an external application
for the lower regions of the abdomen. He speaks also of
treating leprous sores and freckles with a mixture composed
of equal proportions of sulphur and meal of fenugreek, recom-
mending it to be applied repeatedly in the course of the day,
due care being taken not to rub the part affected.
For the cure of leprosy, Theodorus prescribes a mixture of
fenugreek, and one fourth part of cleaned nasturtium, the whole
to be steeped in the strongest vinegar. Damion used to give
a potion by way of emmenagogue, consisting of half an aceta-
bulum of fenugreek seed in nine cyathi of boiled must51 and
water. There is no doubt too, that a decoction of it is re-
markably useful for diseases of the uterus and for ulcerations
47 "Bull's horn" or "goat's horn." & In B.xviii. c. 39.
4a The seed contains a mucilage, and is considered emollient and resolvent.
Till recently, Fenugreek was the base, Fee says, of a plaster held in high
esteem. *
50 " Sapa." Grape-juice boiled down to one-third.
51
Chap. 120.] SUMMARY. 75
of the intestines, and that the seed is beneficial for affections
of the joints and chest. Boiled with mallows and then taken
in honied wine, fenugreek is extolled in the highest terms, as ,
serviceable for affections of the uterus and intestines. Indeed,
the very steam that arises from the decoction may be produc-
tive of considerable benefit. A decoction too of fenugreek seed
is a corrective of the rank odours of the armpits. Meal of
fenugreek, with wine and nitre, speedily removes ring-worm
and dandriff of the head ; and a decoction of it in hydromel,
with the addition of axle-grease, is used for the cure of diseases
of the generative organs, inflamed tumours, imposthumes of
the parotid glands, gout in the feet and hands, maladies of
the joints, and denudations of the bones. Kneaded with
vinegar, it effects the cure of sprains, and, boiled in oxymel
only, it is used as a liniment for affections of the spleen.
Kneaded with wine, it acts as a detergent upon carcinomatous
sores ; after which, applied with hone}', it effects a perfect cure.
A pottage too is made of this meal, which is taken for ulcera-
tions of the chest and chronic coughs ; it is kept boiling a con-
siderable time, in order to remove the bitterness,52 after which
honey is added.
We shall now proceed to speak of the plants which have
gained a higher degree of reputation.
SUMMARY. — Remedies, narratives, and observations, eleven
hundred and seventy- six.
ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED. — C. Yalgius,53 Pompeius Lenaeus,54
Sextius Niger55 who wrote in Greek, Julius Eassus56 who
wrote in Greek, Antonius Castor,57 Cornelius Celsus.58
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Theophrastus,59 Apollodorus,60
Democritus,61 Orpheus,62 Pythagoras,63 Mago,64 Menan-
52 Fee remarks, that in reality there is no bitterness in fenugreek. He
suggests therefore, that the meaning maybe " offensive smell," that emitted
by fenugreek being far from agreeable.
53 See end of B. xx. M See end of B. xiv.
55 See end of B. xii. 66 See end of B. xx.
51 See end of B. xx. 58 See end of B. vii.
59 See end of B. iii. 6° See end of B. xi.
61 See end of B. ii. 62 gee en(i Of 3. xx.
03 See end of B. ii. 6* See end of B. Yin.
76 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV.
dei165 who wrote the " Biochresta," Meander,66 Homer, He-
siod,67 Musseus,68 Sophocles,69 Anaxilatis.70
MEDICAL AUTHORS QUOTED. — Mnesitheus,71 Callimachus,72
Phanias73 the physician, Timaristus,74 Simus,75 Hippo-
crates,76 Chrysippus,77 Diocles,78 Ophelion,79 Heraclides,80 Hi-
cesius,81 Dionysius,82 Apollodorus83 of Citium, Apollodorus84
of Tarentuin, Praxagoras,85 Plistonicus,86 Medius,87 Dieuches,88
Cleophantus,89 Philistion,90 Asclepiades,91 Crateuas,93 Petronius
Diodotus,93 lollas,94 Erasistratus,95 Diagoras,86 Andreas,
Mnesides,97 Epicharinus,58 Damion," Sosinienes,1 Tlepolemus,2
Metrodorus,8 Solon,4 Lycus,5 Olympias6 of Thebes, Philinus,7
Petrichus,8 Micton,9 Glaucias,10 Xenocrates.11
65 See end of B. xix. • 6G See end of B. viii.
67 See end of B. vii. e8 See end of B. xxi.
9 See end of B. xxi. 70 See end of B. xxi.
See end of B. xxi. 72 See end of B. iv.
See end of B. xxi. 74 See end of B. xxi.
See end of B. xxi. 76 See end of B. vii.
77 See end of B. xx. ~8 See end of B. xx.
79 See end of B. xx. 80 Se.e end of B. xii.
81 See end of B. xxv. 82 See end of B. xxii.
63 See end of B. xx. 84 See end of B. xx.
85 See end of B. xx. £6 See end of B. xx.
87 See end of B. xx. S8 See end of B. xx.
83 See end of B. xx. 90 See end of B. xx.
91 See end of B. vil 92 See end of B. xx.
93 See end of B. xx. 94 See end of B. xii.
95 See end of B. xi. 96 See end of B. xii.
97 See end of B. xx. 98 See end of B. xii. '
99 See end of B. xx. l See end of B. xx.
2 See end of B. xx. 3 See end of B. xx.
4 See end of B. xx. 5 See end of B. xx.
6 See end of B. xii. 7 See end of B xx.
8 See end of B. xx. 9 See end of B. xix.
10 See end of B. xx. u See end of B. xx.
12 See end of B. xx.
77
BOOK XXV.
THE NATURAL, HISTORY OF THE WILD PLANTS.
CHAP. 1. (1.) WHEN THE WILD PLANTS WERE FIRST BROUGHT
INTO USE.
THE more highly esteemed plants of which I am now about
to speak, and which are produced by the earth for medicinal
purposes solely, inspire me with admiration of the industry
and laborious research displayed by the ancients. Indeed there
is nothing that they have not tested by experiment or left
untried ; no discovery of theirs which they have not disclosed,
or which they have not been desirous to leave for the benefit
of posterity. We, on the contrary, at the present day, make
it our object to conceal and suppress the results of our labours,
and to defraud our fellow- men of blessings even which have
been purchased by others. For true it is, beyond all doubt,
that those who have gained any trifling accession of knowledge,
keep it to themselves, and envy the enjoyment of it by others; to
leave mankind uninstructed being looked upon as the high prero-
gative of learning. So far is it from being the habit with them
to enter upon new fields of discovery, with the view of bene-
fitting mankind at large, that for this long time past it has been
the greatest effort of the ingenuity of each, to keep to himself
the successful results of the experience of former ages, and so
bury them for ever !
And yet, by Hercules ! a single invention before now has
elevated men to the rank of gods ; and how many an individual
has had his name immortalized in being bestowed upon some
plant which he was the first to discover, thanks to the
gratitude which prompted a succeeding age to make some
adequate return ! If it had been expended solely upon the
plants which are grown to please the eye, or which invite
us by their nutrimental properties, this laborious research on
the part of the ancients would not have been so surprising ;
but in addition to this, we find them climbing by devious
tracts to the very summit of mountains, penetrating to the very
78 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
heart of wilds and deserts, and searching into every vein and
fibre of the earth — and all this, to discover the hidden virtues
of every root, the properties of the leaf of every plant, and the
various purposes to which they might be applied ; converting
thereby those vegetable productions, which the very beasts of
the field refuse to touch, into so many instruments for our
welfare.
CHAP. 2. (2.) THE LATIN AUTHORS WHO HAVE WRITTEN UPON
THESE PLANTS.
This subject has not been treated of by the writers in our
own language so extensively as it deserves, eager as they have
proved themselves to make enquiry into everything that is
either meritorious or profitable. M. Cato, that great master
in all useful knowledge, was the first, and, for a long time, the
only author who treated of this branch1 of learning; and
briefly as he has touched upon it, he has not omitted to make
some mention of the remedial treatment of cattle. After him,
another illustrious personage, C. Valgius,2 a man distinguished
for his erudition, commenced a treatise upon the same subject,
which he dedicated to the late Emperor Augustus, but left
unfinished. At the beginning of his preface, replete as it is
with a spirit df piety,3 he expresses a hope that the majestic
sway of that prince may ever prove a most efficient remedy
for all the evils to which mankind are exposed.
CHAP. 3. AT WHAT PERIOD THE ROMANS ACQUIRED SOME KNOW-
LEDGE OF THIS SUBJECT.
The only4 person among us, at least so far as I have been able
to ascertain, who had treated of this subject before the time of
Yalgius, was Pompeius Lenseus,5 the freedman of Pompeius
Magnus; and it was in his day, I find, that this branch of
knowledge first began to be cultivated among us. Mithridates,
the most powerful monarch of that period, and who was finally
conquered by Pompeius, is generally thought to have been a
1 As Fee remarks, it is more as a writer upon Agriculture than upon
Materia Medica, that Cato is entitled to the thanks of posterity.
2 See end of B. xx.
3 His piety, apparently, was tainted with adulation.
4 With the exception of Cato, of course.
5 See end of B. xiv.
Cbap. 3.] THE EOMANS' FIKST KNOWLEDGE OF WILD PLANTS. 79
more zealous promoter of discoveries for the benefit of mankind,
than any of his predecessors — a fact evinced not only by many
positive proofs, but by universal report as well. It was he
who first thought, the proper precautions being duly taken, of
drinking poison every day ; it being his object, by becoming
habituated to it, to neutralize its daugerous effects. This
prince was the first discoverer too of the various kinds of anti-
dotes, one 6 of which, indeed, still retains his name ; and it is
generally supposed that he was the first to employ the blood
of the ducks of Pontus as an ingredient in antidotes, from the
circumstance that they derive their nutriment from poisons.7
It was to Mithridates that Asclepiades,8 that celebrated
physician, dedicated his works, still extant, and sent them, as a
substitute for his own personal attendance, when requested by
that monarch to leave Rome and reside at his court. It is a
well-known fact, that this prince was the only person that was
ever able to converse in so many as two-and-twenty languages,
and that, during the whole fifty-six years of his reign, he never
required the services of an interpreter when conversing with
any individuals of the numerous nations that were subject to
his sway.
Among the other gifts of extraordinary genius with which
he was endowed, Mithridates displayed a peculiar fondness for
enquiries into the medical art j and gathering items of informa-
tion from all his subjects, extended, as they were, over a large
proportion of the world, it was his hubit to make copies
of their communications, and to take notes of the results which
upon experiment had been produced. These memoranda, which
he kept in his private cabinet,9 fell into the hands of Pompeius,
when he took possession of the royal treasures ; who at once
commissioned his freedman, Lenaeus the grammarian, to trans-
late them into the Latin language : the result of which was,
that his victory was equally conducive to the benefit of the
republic and of mankind at large.
6 See c. 79 of this Book : also B. xxiii. c. 77, and B. xxix. c. 8.
7 A mere prejudice, arising from the fact that numerous poisonous plants
grew in the countries on the shores of the Euxine. The blood of no
animal whatever is an antidote to any poison,
8 See B. vii. c. 37. An interesting account of his system will be found
in B. xxvi. c. 7. See also B. xxix. c. o.
9 See B. xxiii. c. 77.
80 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXY.
CHAP. 4. GREEK AUTHORS WHO HATE DELINEATED THE
PLANTS IN COLOURS.
In addition to these, there are some Greek writers who
have treated of this subject, and who have been already men-
tioned on the appropriate occasions. Among them, Crateuas,
Dionysius, and Hetrodorus, adopted a very attractive method
of description, though one which has done little more than
prove the remarkable difficulties which attended it. It was
their plan to delineate the various plants in colours, and then
to add in writing a description of the properties which they
possessed. Pictures, however, are very apt to mislead, and
more particularly where such a number of tints is required,
for the imitation of nature with any success ; in addition to
which, the diversity of copyists from the original paintings,
and their comparative degrees of skill, add very considerably
to the chances of losing the necessary degree of resemblance
to the originals. And then, besides, it is not sufficient to de-
lineate a plant as it appears at one period only, as it presents
a different appearance at each of the four seasons of the year.10
CHAP. 5. THE FIRST GREEK AUTHORS WHO WROTE UPON PLANTS.
Hence it is that other writers have confined themselves to
a verbal description of the plants ; indeed some of them have
not so much as described them even, but have contented them-
selves for the most part with a bare recital of their names,
considering it sufficient if they pointed out their virtues and
properties to such as might feel inclined to make further en-
quiries into the subject. Nor is this a kind of knowledge
by any means difficult to ' obtain ; at all events, so far as re-
gards myself, with the exception of a very few, it has been
my good fortune to examine them all, aided by the scientific
researches of Antonius Castor,11 who in our time enjoyed the
highest reputation for an intimate acquaintance with this
branch of knowledge. I had the opportunity of visiting his
garden, in which, though he had passed his hundredth year, he
cultivated vast numbers of plants with the greatest care.
Though he had reached this great age, he had never experienced
10 The four great changes in plants, though not always at the four
seasons of the year, are the budding and foliation, the blossoming, the
fructification, and the fall of the leaf. n See end of B. xx.
Chap. 5.] GREEK AUTHORS WHO H AYE WEITTEN ON PLANTS. 81
any bodily ailment, and neither his memory nor his natural
vigour had been the least impaired by the lapse of time.
There was nothing more highly admired than an intimate
knowledge of plants, in ancient times. It is long since the
means were discovered of calculating before-hand, not only
the day or the night, but the very hour even at which au
eclipse of the sun or moon is to take place ; and yet the greater
part of the lower classes still remain firmly persuaded that
these phenomena are brought about by compulsion, through the
agency of herbs and enchantments, and that the knowledge of
this art is confined almost exclusively to females. What
country, in fact, is not filled with the fabulous stories about
Medea of Colchis and other sorceresses, the Italian Circe in
particular, who has been elevated to the rank of a divinity
even ? It is with reference to her, I am of opinion, that
^Eschylus,12 one of the most ancient of the poets, asserts that
Italy is covered with plants endowed with potent effects, and
that many writers say the same of Circeii,13 the pla<;e of her
abode. Another great proof too that such is the case, is the
fact, that the nation of the Marsi,14 descendants of a son of
Circe, are well known still to possess the art of taming ser-
pents.
Homer, that great parent of the learning and traditions of
antiquity, while extolling the fame of Circe in many other
respects, assigns to Egypt the glory of having first discovered
the properties of plants, and that too at a time when the
portion of that country which is now watered by the river
Nilus was not in existence, having been formed at a more recent
period by the alluvion15 of that river. At all events, he states16
that numerous Egyptian plants were sent to the Helena of his
story, by the wife of the king of that country, together with
the celebrated nepenthes,17 which ensured oblivion of all
sorrows and forgetfulness of the past, a potion which Helena
was to administer to all mortals. The first person, however,
of whom the remembrance has come down to us, as having
12 There is little doubt that he alludes to the passage of jEschylus,
quoted by Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. ix. c. 15. Tvpprjvwv -ytviav
QapfiaicoTroibv iQvoQ — " The race of the Tyrrheni, a drug-preparing nation.'*
13 See B. ii. c. 87, B. iii, c. 9, B. xv. c. 36, and B. xxxii. c. 21.
14 See B. vii. c. 2. ]5 See B. ii. c. 87.
16 Od. iv. 228, et seq. 17 See B. xxi. c, 91.
VOL. V. 8
82 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
treated with any degree of exactness on the subject of plants,
is Orpheus ; and next to him Musaeus and Hesiod, of whose
admiration of the plant called polium we have already made
some mention on previous occasions.18 Orpheus and Hesiod
too we find speaking in high terms of the efficacy of fumiga-
tions. Homer also speaks of several other plants by name, of
which we shall have occasion to make further mention in their
appropriate places.
In later times again, Pythagoras, that celebrated philosopher,
was the first to write a treatise on the properties of plants, a
work in which he attributes the origin and discovery of them
to Apollo, ^Esculapius, and the immortal gods in general.
Demoeritus too, composed a similar work. Both of these philo-
sophers had visited the magicians of Persia, Arabia, ^Ethiopia,
and Egypt, and so astounded were the ancients at their recitals,
as to learn to make assertions which transcend all belief.
Xanthus, the author of some historical works, tells us, in the
first of them, that a young dragon19 was restored to life by its
parent through the agency of a plant to which he gives the
name of " ballis," and that one Tylon, who had been killed by
a dragon, was restored to life and health by similar means.
Juba too assures us that in Arabia a man was resuscitated by
the agency of a certain plant. Demoeritus has asserted — and
Theophrastus believes it — that there is a certain herb in
existence, which, upon being carried thither by a bird, the name
of which we have already20 given, has the effect, by the contact
solely, of instantaneously drawing a wedge from a tree, when
driven home by the shepherds into the wood.
These marvels, incredible as they are, excite our admiration
nevertheless, and extort from us the admission that, making
all due allowance, there is much in them that is based on
truth. Hence it is too that I find it the opinion of most
writers, that there is nothing which cannot be effected by the
agency of plants, but that the properties of by far the greater
part of them remain as yet unknown. In the number of
these was Herophilus, a celebrated physician, a saying of whose
is reported, to the effect that some plants may possibly exercise
a beneficial influence, if only trodden under foot. Be this as
it may, it has been remarked more than once, that wounds and
18 See B. xxi. cc. 21, 84. 19 Or serpent.
20 In B. x. c. 20.
Chap. 6.] MEDICINAL PLANTS. 83
maladies are sometimes inflamed21 upon the sudden approach of
persons who have been journeying on foot.
CHAP. 6. WHY A FEW OF THE PLANTS ONLY HAVE BEEN USED
MEDICINALLY. PLANTS, THE MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF WHICH
HAVE BEEN MIRACULOUSLY DISCOVERED. THE CYNORRHODOS :
TWO REMEDIES. THE PLANT CALLED DRACUNCULUS I ONE
REMEDY. THE BRITANNICA I FIVE REMEDIES.
Such was the state of medical knowledge in ancient times,
wholly concealed as it was in the language of the Greeks. But
the main reason why the medicinal properties of most plants
remain still unknown, is the fact that they have been tested
solely by rustics and illiterate people, such being the only class
of persons that live in the midst of them : in addition to
which, so vast is the multitude of medical men always at hand,
that the public are careless of making any enquiries about
them. Indeed, many of those plants, the medicinal properties
of which have been discovered, are still destitute of names —
such, for instance, as the one which we mentioned'22 when speak-
ing of the cultivation of grain, and which we know for certain
will have the effect of keeping birds away from the crops, if
buried at the four corners of the field.
But the most disgraceful cause of all, why so few simples
are known, is the fact that those even who are acquainted
with them are unwilling to impart their knowledge ; as though,
forsooth, they should lose for ever anything that they might
think fit to communicate to others ! Added to all this, there is
no well- ascertained method to guide us to the acquisition of this
kind of knowledge ; for, as to the discoveries that have been
made already, they have been due, some of them, to mere
accident, and others again, to say the truth, to the interposition
of the Deity.
Down to our own times, the bite of the mad dog, the symp-
toms of which are a dread of water and an aversion to every
kind of beverage, was incurable ;23 and it was only recently that
21 Most probably by the agency of " feverish expectation " on the
part of the patient. 22 In B. xviii. c. 45.
23 As Fee remarks, this dreadful malady is still incurable, notwithstand-
ing the eulogiums which have been lavished upon the virtues of the Scu-
tellaria laterifolia of Linnaeus, the Alisma pJantago, Genista tinctoria, and
other plants, as specifics for its cure.
G2
84 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTOET. [Book XXV.
the mother of a soldier who was serving in the praetorian guard,
received a warning in a dream, to send her son the root of
the wild rose, known as the cynorrhodos,24 a plant the beauty
of which had attracted her attention in a shrubbery the
day before, and to request him to drink the extract of it. The
army was then serving in Lacetania, the part of Spain which
lies nearest to Italy ; and it so happened that the soldier,
having been bitten by a dog, was just beginning to manifest a
horror of water when his mother's letter reached him, in
which she entreated him to obey the words of this divine
warning. He accordingly complied with her request, and,
against all hope or expectation, his life was saved ; a result25
which has been experienced by all who have since availed them-
selves of the same resource. Before this, the cynorrhodos had
been only recommended by writers for one medicinal purpose ;
the spongy excrescences, they say, which grow26 in the midst of
its thorns, reduced to ashes and mixed with honey, will make the
hair grow again when it has been lost by alopecy . I know too,
for a fact, that in the same province there was lately discovered
in the land belonging to a person with whom I was staying, a
stalked plant, the name given to which was dracunculus.27 This
plant, about an inch in thickness, and spotted with various
colours, like a viper's skin, was generally reported to be an
effectual preservative against the sting of all kinds of serpents.
I should remark, however, that it is a different plant from the
one of the same name of which mention has been made in the
preceding Book,28 having altogether another shape and appear-
ance. There is also another marvellous property belonging to
it : in spring, when the serpents begin to cast their slough, it
shoots up from the ground to the height of about a couple of
feet, and again, when they retire for the winter it conceals
itself within the earth, nor is there a serpent to be seen so long
as it remains out of sight. Even if this plant did nothing
else but warn us of impending danger, and tell us when to
be on our guard, it could not be looked upon otherwise than
as a beneficent provision made by Nature in our behalves.
24 Dog-rose, or eglantine. See B. via. c. 63.
25 An unwarranted assertion, no doubt.
26 He alludes to a substance known to us as " bedeguar," a kind of
gall-nut, produced by the insect called Cynips rosae.
27 Or " little dragon." The Arum dracunculus of Linnaeus. See B.
xxiy. cc. 91, 93. 28 jn c. 93.
Chap. 6.] THE BlilTANNICA. 85
(3.) It is not, however, the animals only that are endowed
with certain baneful and noxious properties, but, sometimes,
waters29 even, and localities as well. Upon one occasion, in his
German campaign, Germanicus Caesar had pitched his camp
beyond the river Ehenus ; the only fresh water to be obtained
being that of a single spring in the vicinity of the sea-shore.
It was found, however, that within two years the habitual use
of this water was productive of loss of the teeth and a total
relaxation of the joints of the knees : the names given to
these maladies, by medical men, were " stomacace"30 and
" sceloturbe." A remedy for them was discovered, however,
in the plant known as the " britannica,"31 which is good, not
only for diseases of the sinews and mouth, but for quinzy32 also,
and injuries inflicted by serpents. This plant has dark oblong
leaves and a swarthy root : the name given to the flower of it
is " vibones,"33 and if it is gathered and eaten before thunder
has been heard, it will ensure safety in every respect. The
Frisii, a nation then on terms of friendship with us, and within
whose territories the Roman army was encamped, pointed out
this plant to our soldiers : the name34 given to it, however,
29 As Fee remarks, the influence of water impregnated with selenite
upon the health is well known.
30 Fee says that this disease was an " intense gastritis, productive of a
fetid breath." It would seem, however, to be neither more nor less than
the malady now known as " scurvy of the gums." Galen describes the
"sceloturbe," as a kind of paralysis. "Stomacace" means " disease of
the mouth ;" " sceloturbe " ** disease of the legs."
31 Sprengel and Desfontaines identify it with the Runiex aquaticus, but
Fee considers it to be the Inula Britannica of Linnaeus. The Statice
armeria, Statice plantaginea, and Polygonum persicaria have also been
suggested.
32 The pseudo-Apuleius, in B. xxix. t. 7, says, that if gathered before
thunder has been heard, it will be a preservative against quinzy for a whole
year.
33 The flower of the Inula Britannica, Fee says, is much more likely,
from its peculiarities, to have merited a peculiar name, than that of the
Rumex.
34 Lipsius, in his Commentaries upon Tacitus, Ann. i. 63, has very
satisfactorily shown that it did not derive its name from the islands of
Britain, but from a local appellation, the name given by the natives to the
marshy tracts upon the banks of the Ems, between Lingen and Covoerden,
which are still known as the " Bretaasche Heyde." Munting and Poiii-
sinet de Sivry suggest that it may have received its name from being used
as a strengthener of the teeth in their sockets, being compounded of the
words tann, " tooth," and brita, " to break."
surprises nu
^-auod Nvaiise tho s>
Ml} soparaiod by th
by Uus namo from t
a'imnda.iuv. that is (|'
oi. Urilaunia N\as s::
7. — WHAT JftSU
N V\:KS oy VJ-USONS
that has boon dono
oov'asion to snow :-v
Uiado tho dlSOOYOrY
it is far from imj
look upon thoso ivs
f;;l to a Mfo of oas,
SnH. ho\vovoi\ i
place thoso plar.:s
in tho \u mitv, and
Ht&tD "un rur o,uvuTsrruN.
v;soo\i ur- vvvoi s n VMS.
ort of ambition, as it wt^iv. of
pon them one's name, a thins?
gseven»MW*ahaU
a thing did it appear to have
,t. ai-.vi thus far to ha\o i-ontri-
At tho pivsont day. ho\vo\or,
;'\ i\' !r..-.\ bo sor.\o NN ;:o \\ ill
plojred: in taking a reyiew of which one<
than bewail the unhappy lot of mankind
»T*TJ bo:;v is bnn-;:^ wi:h il. to thousand
menace the existence of each mortal bein
almost an act of folly to attempt to detormi
diseases is attended with the most excmc
ftyat ox cry ono is of opinion that tho mal
the moment he himself is afflicted, is the
and insupportable. The general e*perien<
pivson! a^o lias oomo to tho oonolnsion, that
calculiin the bladder ; next to them, those
of the stomach 5 and in the IV
pains and art'ovtions of tho hoad ; for it is
V .»»V Vt» I
ladies
naina
Ami thcartfore
unknown,
thw Book.
87
o castffl, wo find, it patient-.
rwu p'-nt, I am r.urprr-ed that the Or< •
' gono HO f lantt
V: Under
I do not m< -:jrj th' -, plants merely ; for such is OUT
ri of lib; that death
of men. \V< use of a somewhat
peaks of S .odius,Ma
memher of tne !•/]',< illy tormented
wit.li £out, that he had ) :i poisons,
nsa-
the / that frofl tha*
fion, orjii.'ijjy with all pain, |
}>'>dy. J*iit wliat oxou'-.' !
world ,'irf|uai.']t<:<J v, it.h , : Jy roj-ult of t;
\vliif:}j in. to r](:r;jn^o tli'- '. to pro'K
<;r effects eq ua! So far as I am
<:on<;.'-rnf.-<J, I nliall (Jr: ' l}jf;r abortives nor pliiltres,
.n# in mind, an I do, that Jjjr;ullu«, that most celebrated
nil, dif-d of th< of a philtre.* Nor shall I speak
of othor ill-oirjMif-d d':vif:';s of rna^io, unlo«H it he to give
warning a^ain-:t th<-m, or to BXpQf6 thorn, for I most emphati-
rally oondornn all faith and h^liof in t; 8 for
rri(:, and I shall havr: abundantly dono my duty, if J point out
'; }>!ants which WTO made for tho bo-riofit of manJ
tho propr-rtios of whioh I rod in th'. I
time-.
MIAP. 8. (4.) — MOI.V : 'J n HEE KEMKDIES.
According to Horn' r/*'1 the mo-t r:el<:hr;.
that, which, according to him, is known as moly41 a:
•;f: tho ca«e of M. ACTippa, rm .-ritjon^l in 1i. xxiii. c. 27.
-'' Said, by Plutarch, to haw: b«:<-n a<JrniniKU-rcd to him by hi« freedman
Callisthonos, with the view of securing his affection.
<" Od. x. 1. -W2, ^*<-y.
41 F('o rlrjvotfcs a couj)N: of pajres to thet?«af«/'r/y>"'
of thiH plant, and CO! <Hiori that tho Moly of JJorri'-r,
ni<;ntiori<:d on the pr':K«:nl occa.-.ion, stn'1 of Theophrahtus, Ovid, and the
. | only an imaginary plant ; that t.hc whiUi-flowered Moly
of b: 1 OaJen is identical with the AJliurn Jjioscoridig of
thorpo; and that the yellow-flowered Moly of the author of the Priapeia
is not improbably the Allium Moly or magicum of Linnseiw. Sprengel
88 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY, [BookXXY.
gods. The discovery of it he attributes to Mercury, who was
also the first to point out its uses as neutralizing the most
potent spells of sorcery. At the present day, it is said, it
grows in the vicinity of Lake Pheneus, and in Cyllene, a dis-
trict of Arcadia. It answers the description given of it by
Homer, having a round black root, about as large as an onion,
and a leaf like that of the squill : there is no42 difficulty ex-
perienced in taking it up. The Greek writers have deline-
ated43 it as having a yellow flower, while Homer,44 on the
other hand, has spoken of it as white. I once met with a
physician, a person extremely well acquainted with plants,
who assured me that it is found growing in Italy as well, and
that he would send me in a few days a specimen which had
been dug up in Campania, with the greatest difficulty, from a
rocky soil. The root of it was thirty45 feet in length, and even
then it was not entire, having been broken in the getting up.
CHAP. 9. — THE DODECATHEOS I ONE EEMEDY.
The plant next in esteem to moly, is that called dodeca-
theos,46 it being looked upon as under the especial tute-
lage of all the superior gods.47 Taken in water, it is a cure,
they say, for maladies of every kind. The leaves of it, seven
in number, and very similar to those of the lettuce, spring
from a yellow root.
CHAP. 10. THE P^ONIA, PENTOROBTJS, OE GLYCYSIDE : ONE
11EMEDY.
The plant known as "paBonia"48 is the most ancient of them
all. It still retains the name49 of him who was the first to
derives the name "Moly" from the Arabic, and identifies it with the
Allium nigram of Linnseus.
42 Homer says that there is difficulty to men, but not to the gods.
43 In their pictures, mentioned in c. 4-
44 Ovid, Galen, and Theophrastus, say the same.
45 There must either be some error in the reading here, or the physician
must have attempted to impose upon our author's credulity.
46 Or "the twelve gods."
47 Generally identified with the Primula vulgaris or officinalis of Lin-
naeus. Its leaves, however, are of varying number, and not like those of
the lettuce. The Dodecatheos Meadia, or Virginian cowslip, it must be
remembered, is an American plant.
4S The Pseonia officinalis of Linnseus, our Peony.
49 Paeon, the physician, mentioned in the Iliad, B. v. 1. 401, as healing
Pluto, when wounded by Hercules.
Chap. 11.] THE PANACES ASCLEPIOtf. 89
discover it, being known also as the " pentorobus"50 by some,
and the " glycyside"51 by others; indeed, this is one of the great
difficulties attendant on forming an accurate knowledge of
plants, that the same object has different names in different
districts. It grows in umbrageous mountain localities, and puts
forth a stem amid the leaves, some four fingers in height, at the
summit of which are four or five heads resembling Greek
nuts52 in appearance ; enclosed in which, ^there is a considerable
quantity of seed of a red or black colour. This plant is a
preservative against the illusions63 practised by the Fauni in
sleep. It is generally recommended to take it up at night ;
for if the wood-pecker^ of Mars should perceive a person doing
so, it will immediately attack his eyes in defence of the plant.
CHAP. 11. THE PANACES ASCLEP10N : TWO KEMEDIES.
Thepanaces, by its very name,55 gives assurance of a remedy for
all diseases: there are numerous kinds of it, and the discovery
of its properties has been attributed to the gods. One of these
kinds is known by the additional name of " asclepion,"56 in
commemoration of the circumstance that JEsculapius gave the
name of Panacia57 to his daughter. The juice of it, as we have
had occasion to remark already,58 coagulates like that of
fennel- giant; the root is covered with a thick rind of a salt
flavour.
After this plant has been taken up, it is a point religiously
observed to fill the hole with various kinds of grain, a sort of
expiation, as it were, to the earth. We have already59 stated,
when speaking of the exotic productions, where and in what
manner this juice is prepared, and what kind is the most
esteemed. That which is imported from Macedonia is known
as " bucolicon," from the fact that the neatherds there are
in the habit of collecting it as it spontaneously exudes : it
evaporates, however, with the greatest rapidity. As to the
50 From \\sfive seeds, which resemble Jitehes.
51 "'Sweet to the view," apparently.
52 See B. xxiii. c. 76. 53 He means nightmare.
54 See B. x. cc. 18, 20, and B. xxvii. c. 60.
55 The Greek for "all-healing."
68 Probably the Laserpitium hirsutum of Lamarck. The Echinophora
tenuifolia of Linnaeus, the thin-leaved prickly parsnip, has also been named.
« Or "All-heal." 3« In B. xii. c. 57.
89 In B. xii. c. 57.
90 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
other kinds, that more particularly is held in disesteem which
is "black and soft, such being a proof, in fact, that it has been
adulterated with wax.
CHAP. 12. THE PANACES HERACLEON I THREE REMEDIES.
A second kind of panaces is known by the name of " hera-
cleon,"60 from the fact that it was first discovered by Hercules.
Some persons, however, call it " Heracleotic origanum," or
wild origanum, from its strong resemblance to the origanum
of which we have already61 spoken : the root of it is good ibr
nothing.
CHAP. 13. THE PANACES CHIRONION : TOUR REMEDIES.
A third kind of panaces is surnamed " chironion," from
him62 who first discovered it. The leaf is similar to that of
lapathum, except that it is larger and more hairy ; the flower
is of a golden colour, and the root diminutive. It grows in rich,
unctuous soils. The flower of this plant is extremely effi-
cacious ; hence it is that it is more generally used than the
kinds previously mentioned.
CHAP. 14. THE PANACES CENTATJRION OR PHARNACION I
THREE REMEDIES.
A fourth kind of panaces, discovered also by Chiron, is
known by the additional name of " centaurion :"63 it is also
called " pharnacion," from King Pharnaces, it being a matter
in dispute whether it was really discovered by Chiron or by
that prince. It is grown from seed,64 and the leaves of it are
longer than those of the other kinds, and serrated at the edge.
The root, which is odoriferous, is dried in the shade, and is
used for imparting an aroma to wine. Some writers distin-
60 Identified with the Laserpitium Chironium of Linnaeus, otherwise
called Pastinaca opopanax. Fee observes, that when the word ' Panaces '
is used alone, this plant is always the one meant.
61 In B. xx. ec. 62, 69.
62 The Centaur Chiron ; see B. vii. c. 57. Sprengel identifies this plant
with the Hypericum origani folium of Willdenow, but Fee is inclined to
think that its synonym is still unknown. M. Fraas, in his Synopsis, p.
139, identifies it with the Hypericum Olympicum, an odoriferous plant,
which the H. organifoiium is not.
63 The Centaurea centaurium of Linnaeus, the greater centaury.
6i " Seritur."
Chap. 17.] IITOSCYAMOS. 91
guish two varieties of this plant- — the one with a smooth leaf,
the other of a more delicate form.
CHAP. 15. — THE HEIUCLEON SIDERION I FOUR KEMEDIES.
The heracleon siderion65 is also another discovery of Her-
cules. The stem is thin, about four fingers in length, the
flower red, and the leaves like those of coriander. It is found
growing in the vicinity of lakes and rivers, and is extremely
efficacious for the cure of all wounds made by iron.66
CHAP. 16. THE AMPELOS CHIRONIA I ONE REMEDY.
The ampelos Chironia67 also, which we have already63 men-
tioned when speaking of the vines, is a discovery due to
Chiron. We have spoken too, on a previous occasion,69 of a
plant, the discovery of which is attributed to Minerva.
CHAP. 17. HYOSCYAMOS, KNOWN ALSO AS THE APOLLINARIS OR
ALTEKCDM ; FIVE VARIETIES OF IT : THRKE REMEDIES.
To Hercules also is attributed the discovery of the plant
known as the " apollinaris," and, among the Arabians, as the
"altercum" or " altercaugenum :" by the Greeks it is called
" hyoscyamos."70 There are several varieties of it; one of
them,71 with a black seed, flowers bordering on purple, and a
prickly stem, growing in Galatia. The common kind73 again,
is whiter, more shrublike, and taller than the poppy. Tho
seed of a third variety is similar to that of irio73 in appearance ;
but they have, all of them, the effect of producing vertigo and
insanity. A fourth74 kind again is soft, lanuginous, and more
unctuous than the others ; the seed of it is white, and it grows
in maritime localities. It is this kind that medical men
65 Hardouin identifies it with the Geranium Robertianum of Linnseus ;
Sprengel and Desfontaines with the Phellandriura mutellina of Linnaeus;
Colunma with the Sanicula ; Sibthorpe with the Scrofularia lucida ; and
M. Fraas with the Scrofula chrysanthemifolia of Linnaeus. Fee expresses
himself unable to speak with any certainty on the subject.
66 Whence its name " sidereon." 67 Or *' Chironian vine."
68 In B. xxiii. c. 17. 69 In B. xxii. c. 20.
70 " Swine's bean " — our henbane.
71 The Hyoscyamus reticulatus of Linnaeus, reticulated henbane.
72 The Hyoscyamus niger of Linnaeus, black henbane.
73 See B. xviii. c. 22, and B. xxii. c. 75. The Hyoscyamus aureus of
Linnams, golden henbane.
74 The Hyoscyamus albus of Linnaeus, white henbane.
92 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOHT. [Book XXV.
employ, as also that with, a red seed.75 Sometimes, however,
the white seed turns of a reddish colour, if not sufficiently
ripe when gathered ; in which case it is rejected as unfit for
use : indeed, none of these plants are gathered until they are
perfectly dry. Hyoscyamos, like wine, has the property of
flying to the head, and consequently of acting inj uriously upon
the mental faculties.
The seed is either used in its natural state, or else the juice
of it is extracted : the juice also of the stem and leaves is
sometimes extracted, separately from the seed. The root is
sometimes made use of; but the emploj'ment of this plant in
any way for medical purposes is, in my opinion, highly dan-
gerous. For it is a fact well ascertained, that the leaves even
will exercise a deleterious effect upon the mind, if more than
four are taken at a time ; though the ancients were of opinion
that the leaves act as a febrifuge, taken in wine. From the
seed, as already76 stated, an oil is extracted, which, injected
into the ears, deranges the intellect. It is a singular thing,
bat we find remedies mentioned for those who have taken
this juice, as though for a poison, while at the same time we
find it prescribed as a potion among the various remedies.
In this way it is that experiments are multiplied without end,
even to forcing the very poisons themselves to act as an-
tidotes.
CHAP. 18. (5.) LINOZOSTIS, PARTHTOION, HERMUPOA, OB MER-
CURIALIS ; TWO VARIETIES OE IT : TWENTY-TWO REMEDIES.
Linozostis77 or parthenion is a discovery attributed to Mer-
cury : hence it is that among the Greeks it is known as
" hermupoa"78 by many, while among us it is universally
known as " mercurialis." There are two varieties of this
plant, the male and the female, the last possessing more
decided properties than the other, and having a stem a cubit in
height, and sometimes branchy at the summit, with leaves
somewhat narrower than those of ocimum. The joints of the
stem lie close together, and the axils are numerous : the seed
hangs downwards, having the joints for its basis. In the
75 The third kind mentioned above.
'6 In B. xv. c. 7, and B. xxiii. c. 49. This cannot have been a fixed oil.
77 The Mercuralis anmia of Linnaeus, male and female ; the herb mercury.
<8 " Herb of Hermes."
Chap. 18.] MEIICUUIALTS. 93
female plant the seed is very abundant, but in the male79 it is
less so, lies closer to the joints, and is short and wreathed. In
the female plant the seed hangs more loosely, and is of a white
colour. The leaves of the male plant are swarthy, while
those of the female are whiter : the root, which is made no
use of, is very diminutive.
Both of these plants grow in cultivated champaign local-
ities. A marvellous property is mentioned as belonging to
them : the male plant, they say,€0 ensures the conception of
male children, the female plant of females ; a result which is
ensured by drinking the juice in raisin wine, the moment after
conception, or by eating the leaves, boiled with oil and salt,
or raw with vinegar. Some persons, again, boil the plant
in a new earthen vessel with heliotropium and two or three
ears of corn, till it is thoroughly done; and say that the decoc-
tioa should be taken in drink by the female, and the plant
eaten for three days successively, the regimen being com-
menced the second day of menstruation. This done, on the
fourth day she must take a bath, immediately after which the
sexual congress must take place.
Hippocrates81 has lavished marvellous encomiums upon these
plants for the maladies of females, while at the present day
no physician recognizes their utility for such purpose. It was
his practice to employ them for affections of the uterus, in the
form of a pessary, in combination with honey, rose-oil, oil of
iris, or oil of lilies. He employed them also as an emmena-
gogue, and for the purpose of bringing away the after-birth ;
effects which are equally produced, according to him, by taking
them in drink, or using them in the form of a fomentation. It
was his practice also, to inject the juice of these plants in cases
of fetid odours of the ears, and then to wash the ear with old
wine. The leaves also were used by him as a cataplasm for
the abdomen, defluxions of the eyes, strangury, and affections
of the bladder ; a decoction too, of the plants is prescribed by
him, with frankincense and myrrh.
For the purpose of relaxing82 the bowels, or in cases of fever,
79 The male, as Fee suggests, bears no seed at all.
80 A mere absurdity, of course.
81 De Nat. Mul. and De Morb. Mul. B. i. and B. ii.
82 The medicinal properties of the Mercurialis are not by any means
energetic, but it is still used, Fee says, as a gentle aperient.
94 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
a handful of this plant is boiled down to one half, in two
sextarii of water, the decoction being taken with salt and
honey : if a pig's foot or a cock is boiled with it, it will be all
the more beneficial. Some persons have been of opinion, that
as a purgative the two kinds of mercurialis ought to be used
together, or else that a decoction should be made of the plant
in combination with mallows. These plants act as a detergent
upon the chest, and carry off the bilious secretions, but they are
apt to be injurious to the stomach. We shall have to speak
further of their properties on the appropriate occasions.83
CHAP. 19. THE ACHILLEOS, SIDEKITIS, PANACES HEliACLEON,
MILLEFOLIUM, OR SCOPJE REGIJE J SIX VARIETIES OF IT I
THREE REMEDIES.
Achilles too, the pupil of Chiron, discovered a plant which
heals wounds, and which, as being his discovery, is known as
the " achilleos." It was by the aid of this plant, they say.
that he cured Telephus. Other authorities, however, assert that
he was the first81 to discover that verdigris85 is an extremely
useful ingredient in plasters ; and hence it is that he is some-
times represented in pictures as scraping with his sword the
rust from off a spear86 into the wound of Telephus. Some again,
are of opinion that he made use of both remedies.
By some persons this plant is called "panaces heracleon,"
by others, " sideritis,"87 and by the people of our country,
" millefolium : '>88 the stalk of it, they say, is a cubit in length,
branchy, and covered from the bottom with leaves somewhat
smaller than those of fennel. Other authorities, however,
while admitting that this last plant is good for wounds, affirm
that the genuine achilleos has a bluish stem a foot in length,
83 B. xxvi. cc, 74, 76, 89,
84 Both stories are equally improbable.
85 See B. xxxiv. c. 45.
86 The weapons in early time, it must be remembered, were made of
copper or bronze.
87 The third Sideritis of Dioscorides is thought to be the same with the
Heracleon siderion of c. 15 of this Book. Pliny evidently confounds the
Achillea and the Sideritis, totally different plants. The Achillea is identified
by Fee with the Achillea tomentosa or abrotonifolia of Linnaeus. As to
the Sideritis, see B. xxvi. c. 12. The real Panaces heracleon has been
mentioned >in c. 12 of this Book.
83 Or_ •"« Thousand leaves," probably identical with the Achillea mille-
folium of Linnseus, milfoil or yarrow. See B. xxiv. c. 95.
Chap. 20.] THE TEUCRICW. 95
destitute of branches, and elegantly clothed all over with
isolated leaves of a round form. Others again, maintain that
it has a squared stem, that the heads of it are small and like
those of horehound,89 and that the leaves are similar to those
of the quercus — they say too, that this last has the property of
uniting the sinews when cut asunder. Another statement is,
that the sideritis90 is a plant that grows on garden walls, and
that it emits, when bruised, a fetid smell ; that there is also
another plant, very similar to it, but with a whiter and more
unctuous leaf, a more delicate stem, and mostly found growing
in vineyards.
They speak also of another91 sideritis, with a stem two
cubits in length, and diminutive branches of a triangular
shape : the leaf, they say, resembles that of fern, and has a
long footstalk, the seed being similar to that of beet. All
these plants, it is said, are remarkably good for the treatment
of wounds. The one with the largest leaf is known among
us by the name of "scopae regiae,"9* and is used for the cure
of quinzy in swine.
CHAP. 20. — THE TEUCKION, HEMIONION, OK SPLENION : TWO
REMEDIES.
At the same period also, Teucer discovered the teucrion, a
plant known to some as the " hemionion."93 It throws out
thin rush-like stems, with diminutive leaves, and grows in
rugged, uncultivated spots : the taste of it is rough, and it
never blossoms or produces seed. It is used for the cure of
affections of the spleen,91 and it is generally understood that
its properties were discovered in the following manner : — The
entrails of a victim having been placed upon this plant, it
attached itself to the milt, and entirely consumed it ; 95 a
89 "Marrubii."
90 "Ironwork" The third Sideritis of Dioscorides, above mentioned.
See c. 15 of this Book. See also B. xxvi. cc. 12 and 88.
91 Identified by Desfontaines with the Sanguisorba officinalis of Linnaeus.
92 " lloyal broom," identified by many commentators with the Cheno-
podium seoparia of Linnaeus.
93 Or "mule-plant." It is identified by Fee with the Asplenion eete-
rach, or Ceterach officinarum of Linnaeus, the Ceterach, a fern, and a dif-
ferent plant from the Teucrium of B. xxiv. c. SO, or Germander.
94 Hence its name, " Aspleniurn."
95 " Exinanisse." A fable, of course.
96 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
property to which it is indebted for the name of " splenion,"
given to it by some. It is said too, that swine which have fed
upon the root of this plant are found to have no milt.
Some authors give this name also to a ligneous plant,96 with
branches like those of hyssop, and a leaf resembling that of
the bean ; they say too, that it should be gathered while in
blossom, from which we may conclude that they entertain no
doubt that it does blossom. That which grows on the moun-
tains of Cilicia and Pisidia is more particularly praised by them.
CHAP. 21. MELAMPODIUM, HELLEBORE, OR VERATRUM: THREE
VARIETIES OF IT. THE WAY IN WHICH IT IS GATHERED, AJS'D
HOW THE QUALITY OF IT IS TESTED.
The repute of Melarnpus, as being highly skilled in the arts of
divination, is universally known. This personage has given a
name to one species of hellebore, known as the " rnelampodion."
Some persons, however, attribute the discovery of this plant
to a shepherd of that name, who remarked that his she-goats
were violently purged after browsing upon it, and afterwards
cured the daughters of Prcetus of madness, by giving them
the milk of these goats. It will be the best plan, therefore, to
take this opportunity of treating of the several varieties of
hellebore. The two principal kinds are the white97 and the
black ;98 though, according to most authorities, this difference
exists in the root only. There are some authors, however,
who assure us that the leaves of the black hellebore are similar
to those of the plane-tree, only darker, more diminutive, and
more jagged at the edges : and who say, that the white hel-
lebore has leaves like those of beet when first shooting,
though at the same time of a more swarthy colour, with reddish
veins on the under side. The stem, in both kinds, is feru-
laceous, a palm" in height, and covered with coats like those
of the bulbs, the root, too, being fibrous like that of the onion.1
96 The Teucrium lucidum of Linnaeus : though, as Fee says, there is
little similarity between it and hyssop, or between its leaves and those of
the bean. See B. xxiv. c. 80.
97 Identified by Fe'e with the Veratrum album and Veratrum nigrum of
Linnaeus, species between which there is little difference.
98 Identified by Tournefort with the Helleborus niger of Lamarck.
Littre mentions the Helleborus orientalis of Linnaus.
09 The stem of white hellebore is much longer than this.
1 This comparison with the onion, Fee says, is altogether inexact.
Chap. 21.] HELLEBORE. 97
The black hellebore kills horses, oxen, and swine ; hence it
is that those animals avoid it, while they eat the white2 kind.
The proper time, thay say, for gathering this last, is harvest.
It grows upon Mount (Eta in great abundance ; and the best
of all is that found upon one spot on that mountain, in the
vicinity of Pyra. The black hellebore is found growing every-
where, but the best is that of Mount Helicon ; which is also
equally celebrated for the qualities of its other plants. The
white hellebore of Mount (Eta is the most highly esteemed,
that of Pontus occupying the second place, and the produce of
Elea the third ; which last, it is generally said, grows in the
vineyards there. The fourth rank is held by the, white
hellebore of Mount Parnassus, though it is often adulter
with that of the neighbouring districts of ^Etolia.
Of these kinds it is the black hellebore that is known as the
•' melampodium :" it is used in fumigations, attd for the purpose
of purifying houses ; cattle, too, are sprinkled^with it, a certain
form of prayer being repeated. This last plant, too, is gathered
with more numerous ceremonies than the okher : a circle is
first traced around it with a sword, after which, the person
about to cut it turns towards the East, and offers up a prayer,
entreating permission of the gods to do so. At the same time
he observes whether an eagle is in sight — for mostly while the
plant is being gathered that bird is near at hand — and if one
should chance to fly close at hand, it is looked upon as a presage
that he will die within the year. The white hellebore, too, is
gathered not without difficulty, as it is very oppressive to the
head ; more particularly if the precaution has not been used
of eating garlic first, and of drinking wine every now and
then, care being taken to dig up the plant as speedily as possible.
Some persons call the black hellebore "ectomon,"3 and
others " polyrrhizon :" it purges4 by stool, while the white
hellebore acts as an emetic, and so carries off what might other-
wise have given rise to disease. In former days hellebore was
regarded with horror, but more recently the use5 of it has be-
come so familiar, that numbers of studious men are in the
2 If he would imply that they do this without inconvenience, the state-
ment, Fee says, is incorrect.
3 " Cut off," and " With many roots."
4 Hellebore is no longer used, except in veterinary medicine.
5 Petronius Arbiter says that the philosopher Chrysippus used it.
VOL. V. H
98 PLDHT'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
habit of taking it for the purpose of sharpening the intellectual
powers required by their literary investigations. Carneades,
for instance, made use of hellebore when about to answer the
treatises of Zeno ; Drusus 6 too, among us, the most famous of
all the tribunes of the people, and whom in particular the
public, rising from their seats, greeted with loud applause — to
whom also the patricians imputed the Marsic war — is well
known to have been cured of epilepsy in the island of Anti-
cyra ;6* a place at which it is taken with more safety than else-
where, from the fact of sesamoides being combined with it, as
already7 stated. In Italy the name given to it is " veratrum."
These kinds of hellebore, reduced to powder and taken alone,
or else in combination with radicula, a plant used, as already
mentioned,8 for washing wool, act as a sternutatory, and are
both of them productive of narcotic effects. The thinnest and
shortest roots are selected, and among them the lower parts
in particular, which have all the appearance of having been
cut short ;9 for, aa to the upper part, which is the thickest, and
bears a resemblance to an onion, it is given to dogs only, as a
purgative. The ancients used to select those roots the rind of
which was the most fleshy, from an idea that the pith extracted
therefrom was of a more refined10 nature. This substance they
covered with wet sponges, and, when it began to swell, used
to split it longitudinally with a needle ; which done, the fila-
ments were dried in the shade, for future use. At the present
day, however, the fibres11 of the root with the thickest rind
are selected, and given to the patient just as they are. The
best hellebore is that which has an acrid, burning taste, and
when broken, emits a sort of dust. It retains its efficacy, they
say, so long as thirty years.
CHAP. 22. TWENTY-FOUR EEMEDIES DERIVED FROM BLACK HELLE-
BORE. HOW IT SHOULD BE TAKEN.
Elack hellebore is administered for the cure of paralysis,
insanity, dropsy — provided there is no fever — chronic gout,
and diseases of the joints : it has the effect too, of carrying
6 M. Livius Drusus. See B. xxviii. c. 42, and B. xxxiii. c. 6.
6* Anticyra in Phocis was a peninsula, not an island.
• In B. xxii. c. 64. 8 In B. xix. c. 18.
9 Hence the Greek name "ectomon. 10 "Tenuior."
11 This is the meaning assigned by Hardouin to the word "ramulos."
Holland renders it "small shoots " or " slips," and he is probably right.
Chap. 23.] WHITE HELLEBORE. 99
off the bilious secretions and morbid humours by stool. It is
given also in water as a gentle aperient, the proportion being
one drachma at the very utmost, and four oboli for a moderate
dose. Some authorities have recomended mixing scammony
with it, but sa]t is looked upon as more safe. If given in any
considerable quantity in combination with a sweet substance,
it is highly dangerous : used in the form of a fomentation, it
disperses films upon the eyes ; and hence it is that some medical
men have pounded it and used it for an eye-salve. It ripens
and acts detergently upon scrofulous sores, suppurations, and
indurated tumours, as also upon fistulas, but in this latter case
it must be removed at the end of a couple of days. In com-
bination with copper filings12 and sandarach, it removes warts ;
and it is applied to the abdominal regions, with barley-meal
and wine, in cases of dropsy.
This plant is employed for the cure of pituitous defluxions
in cattle and beasts of burden, a slip of it being passed13
through the ear, and removed at the same hour on the fol-
lowing day. With frankincense also, wax, and pitch, or else
pisselaeon,14 it is used for the cure of itch in quadrupeds.
CHAP. 23. TWENTY- THEE E REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WHJTE
HELLEBORE.
The best white hellebore is that which acts most speedily as
a sternutatory ; but it would seem to be a much more formid-
able16 plant than the black kind ; more particularly if we read
in the ancient authors the precautions used by those about
to take it, against cold shiverings, suffocation, unnatural
drowsiness, continuous hiccup or sneezing, derangements of
the stomach, and vomitings, either retarded or prolonged, too
sparing or in excess. Indeed, it was generally the practice to
administer other substances to promote vomiting, and to carry
off the hellebore by the aid of purgatives or clysters, while
bleeding even was frequently had recourse to. In addition to
all this, however successful the results may prove, the symptoms
by which it is attended are really most alarming, by reason of
2 " Squama aeris."
13 See a similar statement as to Consiligo, in B. xxvi. c. 21.
14 See B. xv. c. 7, and B. xxiv. c. 11.
15 Its properties, Fee says, are not more active than those of black helle-
bore.
H 2
100 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [BooTc XXV.
the various colours which the matter vomited presents : besides
which, after the vomiting has subsided, the physician has to
pay the greatest attention to the nature of the alvine evacu-
ations, the due and proper use of the bath, and the general
regimen adopted by the patient ; all of them inconveniences
in themselves, and preceded by the terrors naturally inspired
by the character of the drug ; for one story is, that it has the
property of consuming flesh, if boiled with it.
The great error,16 however, on the part of the ancients was,
that in consequence of these fears, they used to give it too
sparingly, the fact being, that the larger the dose, the more
speedily it passes through the body. Themison used to give
no more than two drachmae, but at a later period as much as
four drachmae was administered ; in conformity with the cele-
brated eulogium passed upon it by Herophilus,17 who was in
the habit of comparing hellebore to a valiant general, and
saying, that after it has set in motion all within, it is the
first to sally forth and show the way. In addition to these
particulars, there has been a singular discovery made : the
hellebore which, as we have already stated, has been cut with
a small pair of scissors,18 is passed through a sieve, upon which
the pith makes its way through, while the outer coat remains
behind. The latter acts as a purgative, while the former is
used for the purpose of arresting vomiting when that evacuation
is in excess.
CHAP. 24. EIGHTY-EIGHT OBSERVATIONS UPON THE TWO KINDS
OF HELLEBORE.
In order to secure a beneficial result, due precautions must
be taken not to administer hellebore in cloudy weather ; for if
given at such a time, it is sure to be productive of excruciating
agonies. Indeed there is no doubt that summer is a better
time for giving it than winter : the body too, by an abstinence
from wine, must be prepared for it seven days previously,
emetics being taken on the fourth and third days before, and
1(5 Fee remarks, that they showed their wisdom in this.
17 Herophilus, it must be remembered, lived a considerable time before
Themison.
js 4< Porficulis." He probably refers to c. 21, where, however, he has
mentioned only a needle — " acus." It is possibly a lapsus memoria oil
his part.
Chap. 25.] HELLEBORE. 101
the patient going without his evening meal the previous day.
White hellebore, too, is administered in a sweet19 medium,
though lentils or pottage are found to be the best for the pur-
pose* There has been a plan also, lately discovered, of splitting
a radish, and inserting the hellebore in it, after which the
sections are pressed together ; the object being that the strength
of the hellebore may be incorporated with the radish, and mo-
dified thereby.
At the end of about four hours it generally begins to be
brought up again ; and within seven it has operated to the full
extent. Administered in this manner, it is good for epilepsy,
as already20 stated, vertigo, melancholy, insanity, delirium,
white elephantiasis, leprosy, tetanus, palsy, gout, dropsy, in-
cipient tympanitis, stomachic affections, cynic spasms,21 sciatica,
quartan fevers which defy all other treatment, chronic coughs,
flatulency, and recurrent gripings in the bowels.
CHAP. 25. TO WHAT PERSONS HELLEBORE SHOULD NEVER BE
ADMINISTERED.
It is universally recommended not to give hellebore to aged
people or children, to persons of a soft and effeminate habit of
body or mind, or of a delicate or tender constitution. It is given
less frequently too to females than to males ; and persons of a
timorous disposition are recommended not to take it : the same
also, in cases where the viscera are ulcerated or tumefied, and
more particularly when the patient is afflicted with spitting of
blood, or with maladies of the side or fauces. Hellebore is ap-
plied, too, externally, with salted axle-grease, to morbid eruptions
of the body and suppurations of long standing : mixed with
polenta, it destroys rats and mice. The people of Gaul, when
hunting, tip their arrows with hellebore, taking care to cut
away the parts about the wound in the animal so slain : the
flesh, they say, is all the more tender for it. Flies are destroyed
with white hellebore, bruised and sprinkled about a place with
milk : phthiriasis is also cured by the use of this mixture.
19 This he has stated to be attended with danger, in the case of black
hellebore, should the dose be too strong.
20 In c. 21 of this Book.
21 Twitchings of the mouth, which cause the patient to show his teeth,
like a dog-.
102 PLINY'S FATTJEAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
CHAP. 26. (6.) — THE MITHRIDATIA.
Crateuas ascribes the discovery of one plant to Mithridates
himself, the name of which is " rnithridatia."22 Near the root
it has two leaves resembling those of the acanthus, between
which it puts forth a stem supporting a flower at the extre-
mity, like a rose.
CHAP. 27. THE SCOBDOTIS OK SCORDION I FOUR REMEDIES.
Lenaeus attributes to Mithridates the discovery of another
plant, the scordotis23 or scordion, which has been described, he
tells us, by the hand even of that prince. This plant, he says,
is a cubit in height, and has a square stem, branchy, covered
with downy leaves, and resembling the quercus24 in appearance :
it is found growing in Pontus, in rich, humid soils, and has a
bitter taste.
There is another25 variety also of this plant, with a larger
leaf, and resembling wild mint in appearance. They are both
of them used for numerous purposes, both individually and in
combination with other ingredients, as antidotes.
CHAP. 28. THE POLEMONIA, PHILETJERIA, OR CHHJODYNAMUS !
SIX REMEDIES.
The polemonia26 is known as the " philetaeria" by some, in
consequence of the contest which has arisen between certain
kings for the honour of its discovery. The people of Cappa-
docia also give it the name of " chiliodynamus."27 The root of
it is substantial, and it has slender branches, with umbels
22 Caesalpinus identifies it with the Erythronium dens canis of Linnaeus,
and Commerson and Schreiber with the Dorstenia tambourissa of Sonnerat.
Fee is probably right in considering its synonym as still unknown.
23 Hardouin identifies it with the Stachys Gernianica, Linnaeus and
Sprengel with the Nepeta scordotis of Linnaeus, and Fee with the Stachys
Palaestina.
24 Fee remarks, that none of the plants mentioned in the last Note bear
any resemblance to the " quercus," or oak.
25 Probably tue Teucrium scorodonia of Linnaeus, Fee says ; though, as
he remarks, the description might apply to many of the Labiatae.
26 Its names were derived from Poleraon, a king of Pontus, and Phile-
taerus, a king of Cappadocia. It is generally identified with the Pole-
monium caeruleum of Linnaeus, Greek valerian, or Jacob's ladder. M.
Fraas suggests that it may be the Hypericum Olympicum of Linnaeus,
with which he also identifies the Panaces chironion.
'£ " With a thousand virtues."
Chap. 30.] CENTAURIOHT. 103
hanging from the extremities, and a black seed. In other
respects, it bears a resemblance to rue, and is found growing
in mountainous localities.
CHAP. 29. — THE ETJPATOBIA: ONE BEMEDY.
The eupatoria28 also is a plant under royal patronage. The
stem of it is ligneous, hairy, and swarthy, and a cubit or more
in length. The leaves, arranged at regular intervals, resemble
those of cinquefoil or hemp ; they have five indentations at the
edge, and are swarthy like the stem, and downy. The root is
never used. The seed, taken in wine, is a sovereign, remedy
for dysentery.
CHAP. 30. CENTATJKION OR CHIRONION : TWENTY REMEDIES.
Centaury,29 it is said, effected a cure for Chiron, on the
occasion when, while handling the arms of Hercules, his
guest, he let one of the arrows fall upon his foot : hence it is
that by some it is called " chironion." The leaves of it are
large and oblong, serrated at the edge, and growing in
thick tufts from the root upwards. The stems, some three
cubits in height and jointed, bear heads resembling those of
the poppy. The root is large and spreading, of a reddish,
colour, tender and brittle, a couple of cubits in length, and full
of a bitter juice, somewhat inclining to sweet.
This plant grows in rich soils upon declivities ; the best in
quality being that of Arcadia, Elis, Messenia, Mount Pholoe, and
Mount Lyca3us : it grows also upon the Alps, and in numerous
other localities, and in Lycia they prepare a lycium30 from it.
So remarkable are its properties for closing wounds, that
pieces of meat even, it is said, are soldered together, when boiled
with it. The root is the only part in use, being administered
in dt>ses of two drachmae in the several cases hereafter31 men-
28 So called probably from a king Eupator. Sprengel and Desfontaines
identify it with the Agrimonia eupatorium, but Fee prefers the Eupatorium
cannabinum of Linnaeus, relying upon the description given by Dioscorides.
B. iv. c. 41.
29 Fee considers this to be the same with the Panacea centaurion or
Pharnaceon of c. 14 of this Book, the greater Centaury. Littre also
names the Centaurea centaureum of Linnasus.
30 See B. xii. c. 15. B. xxiii. cc. 58, 60, and B. xxiv. c. 77, for a pre-
paration with a similar name, but, as Fee says, of an entirely different
character.
31 In B. xxvi. cc, 15, 19, 34, 55, 66, 76, 85, and 91.
104 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOBT. [Book XXV.
tioned. If, however, the patient is suffering from fever, it
should be bruised and taken in water, wine being used in
other cases. A decoction of the root is equally useful for all
the same purposes.
CHAP. 31. THE CENTATJRION LEPTON, OR LIBADION, KNOWN ALSO
AS FEL TERR3J : TWENTY-TWO REMEDIES.
There is another centaury also, with diminutive leaves,
known by the additional name of " lep ton."32 By some per-
sons it is called "libadion,"33 from the circumstance that it
grows upon the borders of fountains. It is similar to origanum
in appearance, except that the leaves are narrower and longer.
The stem is angular, branchy, and a palm in height ; the flower
is like that of the lychnis,34 and the root is thin, and never
used. It is in the juice that its medicinal properties are
centred: it being gathered in the autumn, and the juice extracted
from the leaves. Some persons cut up the stalks, and steep
them for some eighteen days in water, and then extract the
juice.
In Italy this kind of centaury is known as "gall55 of the
earth," from its extreme bitterness. The Gauls give it the
name of " exacum ;"36 from the circumstance that, taken in
drink, it purges off all noxious substances by alvine evacuation.
CHAP. 32. — THE CENTAURIS TRIORCHIS : TWO REMEDIES.
There is a third kind of centaury also, known as the
" centauris triorchis."37 It is but rarely that a person cuts it
without wounding himself. The juice emitted is just the
colour of blood.38 Theophrastus relates that this plant is under
32 Or "small" centaury. Probably the Chironia centaureum of Smith,
Flor. Brit. , our Felwort. Littre names the Ery thraea centaureum of Persoon .
33 From Xipades, " flowing streams."
31 See B. xxi. cc. 10, 39, and 98, also c. 80 of this Book.
35 " Fel terrae."
35 A word of Celtic origin, most probably, and not from the Greek, as
Pintianus supposes.
37 Theophrastus, as stated by Pliny, in B. ix. c. 9, says that centaury is
protected by the "triorchis"' (see B. x. cc. 95, 96), and Pliny in trans-
lating the passage has made a mistake as to a third kind. Fee is probably
right in his conjecture that the Gentaurea centaureum is meant ; though
Brotier and Desfontaines look upon this as being a distinct plant, and
identify it with the Rumex sanguineus of Linnaeus.
38 The root of the greater centaury, Fee remarks, is of a deep red wi thin.
Chap. 34.1 GENTIAN. 105
the protection of the triorchis, a kind of hawk, which attacks
those who gather it ; a circumstance to which it owes its
name. Ignorant39 persons are in the habit of confounding all
these characteristics, and attributing them to the centaury
first named.
CHAP. 33. (7). CLYMENTJS : TWO REMEDIES.
Clymenus is a plant so called, after a certain king.46 It
has leaves like those of ivy, numerous branches, and a hollow,
jointed stem. The smell of it is powerful, and the seed like
that of ivy : it grows in wild and mountainous localities.
"We shall have to state hereafter, of what maladies it is curative,
taken in drink, but it is as well to take the present opportunity
of remarking that, while effecting a cure, in the male sex it
neutralizes the generative powers.
The Greeks speak41 of this plant as being similar to the
plantago in appearance, with a square stem, and a seed in
capsules, interlaced like the arms of the polypus. The juice
of this plant, too, is used, being possessed of refreshing pro-
perties in a very high degree.
CHAP. 34. GENTIAN I THIKTEEN REMEDIES.
Gentian42 was first discovered by Gentius, king of Illyria.
It is a plant to be found everywhere,43 but that of Illyria is
the finest. It has a leaf like that of the ash,44 but equal in
size to a lettuce-leaf: the stem is tender, about the- thickness
of the thumb, hollow and empty, and covered with leaves at
regular intervals. This stem is sometimes three cubits in
length, and the root is flexible, swarthy,45 and inodorous. It
is found in the greatest abundance in humid localities at the
foot of the Alps. The root and juice are the parts of it
that are used : the root is possessed of certain warming pro-
39 Pliny himself is one of the "imperiti" here.
40 Son of Caeneus, and king of Arcadia. The plant is identified with
the Lonicera periclymenum of Linnaeus, our Woodbine or Honeysuckle.
Sibthorp identifies the Clymenum of Dioscorides with the Convolvulus
sepiura of Linnaeus, andSprengel with the Lathyrus clymenum of Linnaeus.
41 Possibly the Clymenum of Dioscorides, mentioned in the preceding
Note. Littre names the Calendula arvensis, the Field marigold.
4- The Gentiana lutea of Linnaeus.
4> This, Fee remarks, is not the fact.
44 This comparison is inexact. *5 It is not swarthy.
106 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY, [Book XXV.
perties, but it should never be taken by women in a state of
pregnancy.
CHAP. 35. THE LYSIMACHIA : EIGHT REMEDIES.
King Lysimachus46 first discovered the plant which from
him has received the name of lysimachia, and the merits of
which have been so highly extolled by Erasistratus. This
plant has green leaves resembling those of the willow, and a
purple47 blossom : it has all the appearance of a shrub, the
branches are erect, and it has a pungent smell. It is found
growing in watery soils. The properties of it are so extremely
powerful, that if placed upon the yoke when beasts of burden
are restive, it will be sure to overcome all stubbornness on their
part.48
CHAP. 36. ARTEMISIA, PARTHEN1S, BOTRYS, OR AMBROSIA :
FIVE REMEDIES.
"Women too have even affected an ambition to give their
name to plants: thus, for instance, Artemisia, the wife of
King Mausolus, adopted the plant, which before was known
by the name of " parthenis." There are some persons, how-
ever, who are of opinion that it received this surname from the
goddess Artemis Ilithyia,49 from the fact of its being used for
the cure of female complaints more particularly. It is a
plant with numerous branches, like those of wormwood, but
the leaves of it are larger and substantial.
There are two varieties of it ; one has broader50 leaves than
the other,51 which last is of a slender form, with a more diminu-
tive leaf, and grows nowhere but in maritime districts.
46 A -king of Thrace, contemporary with Alexander the Great. Sprengel
and Desfontaines identify this plant with the Ly thrum salicaria of Linnaeus,
the purple Willow-herb. Fee, on the authority of Dioscorides, identifies
it with the Lysimachia vulgaris of Linnaeus, the yellow Willow-plant.
Littre gives the Lysimachia atro-purpurea of Linnaeus.
47 Pliny has probably mistranslated the Greek -n-vppov here, "reddish
yellow." 48 An absurdity, of course.
49 Artemis or Diana, the guardian of pregnant women.
50 Probably the Artemisia chamaemelifolia, Camomile-leaved mugwort.
The A. arborescens, the Tree-wormwood is named by Littre.
51 Either the Artemisia Pontica of Linnaeus, Little wormwood, or
Roman wormwood, or else A. campestris of Linnaeus, Field southern- wood.
Chap. 38.] EUPHORBIA. 107
Some persons again, give this name to a plant62 which grows
more inland, with a single stem, extremely diminutive leaves,
and numerous blossoms which open at the ripening of the
grape, and the odour of which is far from unpleasant. In addi-
tion to this name, this last plant is known as "botrys " to some
persons, and " ambrosia" to others :M it grows in Cappadocia.
CHAP. 37. — NYMPHAEA, HERACLEON, RHOPALON, OR MADON J TWO
VARIETIES OF IT : FOUR REMEDIES.
The plant called "nymphgea," owes its name, they say, to a
Nymph who died of jealousy conceived on account of Hercules,
for which reason it is also known as " heracleon" by some. Ey
other persons, again, it is called " rhopalon," from the resem-
blance of its root to a club.54 * * * * and hence it is that
those who take it in drink become impotent for some twelve
days, and incapacitated for procreation. That of the first
quality is found in Orchomenia and at Marathon : the people of
Bceotia call it " madon, " and use the seed for food. It grows
in spots covered with water ; the leaves65 of it are large, and
float upon the surface, while others are to be seen springing
from the roots below. The flower is very similar to a lily
in appearance, and after the plant has shed its blossom, the
place of the flower is occupied by a head like that of the
poppy. The stem is slender, and the plant is usually cut in
autumn. The root, of a swarthy hue, is dried in the sun;
garlic56 manifests a peculiar antipathy to it.
.There is another57 nymphaea also, which grows in the river
Peneus, in Thessaly : the root of it is white, and the head
yellow, about the size of a rose.
CHAP. 38. TWO VARIETIES OF EUPHORBIA: FOUR REMEDIES.
THE CHAMEL^EA.
In the time, too, of our fathers, King Juba discovered58 a
52 Identified with the Artemisia camphorata of Linnaeus, Camphorated
mngwort. 53 Quite a different plant. See B. xxvii. c. 11.
54 Judging from the text of Dioscorides, a passage has been probably
lost here, to the effect that "it is taken in drink by persons troubled with
lascivious dreams."
55 Identified with the Nymphaea alba of Linnaeus, the "White-flowered
nymphaea.
56 " Adversatur ei allium." A corrupt reading, in all probability.
57 The Nuphar lutea of Sib thorp ; the Yellow-flowered nymphjea, or
Nenuphar. 6S See B. v. c. i.
108 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTOIIY. [Book XXV.
plant, to which he gave the name of " euphorbia," in honour
of his physician, Euphorbus, the brother of the same Musa,
whom we have mentioned59 as having saved the life of the late
Emperor Augustus. It was these brothers who introduced the
practice of douching the body with large quantities of cold
water, immediately after the bath, for the purpose of bracing
the system : whereas in former times, as we find stated in the
works of Homer60 even, it was the practice to wash the body
with warm water only. With reference to euphorbia,61 there
is a treatise still in existence, written upon it by King Juba,
in which he highly extols its merits : he discovered it growing
upon Mount Atlas, and describes it as resembling a thyrsus in
appearance, and bearing leaves like those of the acanthus.62
The properties of this plant are so remarkably powerful,63
that the persons engaged in collecting the juices of it are
obliged to stand at a considerable distance. The incisions are
made with a long pole shod with iron, the juice flowing into
receivers of kid-leather placed beneath. The juice has all the
appearance of milk, as it exudes, but when it has coagulated
and dried, it assumes the form and consistency of frankincense.
The persons engaged in collecting it, find their sight improved64
thereby. This juice is an excellent remedy for the stings of
serpents : in whatever part of the body the wound may have
been inflicted, the practice is to make an incision in the crown
of the head, and there introduce the medicament. The Gsetuli
who collect it, are in the habit of adulterating it with warm
milk ;M a fraud, however, easily to be detected by the agency
of fire, that which is not genuine emitting a most disgusting
Bmell.
Much inferior to this is the juice extracted, in Gaul,66 from
the chamelaea,67 a plant which bears the grain of Cnidos. When
broken asunder, it resembles hammoniacum68 in appearance j
and however slightly tasted, it leaves a burning sensation in
59 In B. xix. c. 38. 6° II. xii. 444.
61 The Euphorbia officinarum of Linnaeus, Officinal spurge.
62 An incorrect statement, as Fee remarks.
63 Its odour, Fee says, is not so strong as Pliny would have us believe.
64 On the contrary, Fee observes, it would be not unlikely to produce
ophthalmia of the most obstinate kind.
65 This Fee considers to be almost impracticable.
6<i Cisalpine Gaul. 67 See B. xiii. c, 35.
68 See B. xii. c. 49, B. xxiv. c. 14, and B. xxxi. c. 39.
Chap. 40.] BT7GLOSSOS. 109
the mouth, which lasts a considerable time, and increases every
now and then, until, in fact, it has quite parched the fauces.
CHAP. 39. (8.) — TWO VARIETIES OF THE PLANTAGO I FORTY -SIX
REMEDIES.
The physician Themiso, too, has conferred some celebrity
upon the plantago, otherwise a very common plant ; indeed he
lias written a treatise upon it, as though he had been the first
to discover it. There are two varieties ; one, more diminu-
tive69 than the other, has a narrower and more swarthy leaf,
strongly resembling a sheep* s tongue in appearance : the stem
of it is angular and bends downwards, and it is generally found
growing in meadow lands. The larger70 kind has leaves
enclosed with ribs at the sides, to all appearance, from the
fact of which being seven71 in number, the plant has been
called " heptapleuron"72 by some. The stem of it is a cubit in
height, and strongly resembles that of the turnip. That
which is grown in a moist soil is considered much the most
efficacious : it is possessed of marvellous virtues as a desiccative
and as an astringent, and has all the effect of a cautery. There
is nothing that so effectually arrests the fluxes known by the
Greeks as " rheumatism!. "
CHAP. 40. BUGLOSSOS : THREE REMEDIES.
To an account of the plantago may be annexed that of
the buglossos, the leaf of which resembles an ox tongue.73 The
main peculiarity of this plant is, that if put into wine, it pro-
motes74 mirth and hilarity, whence it has obtained the additional
name of " euphrosynurn."75
69 The Plantago 'lagopus of Linnaeus, according to Sibthorp ; but
Sprengel identifies it with the Plantago lanceolata of Linnaeus, or else the
P. maritima.
70 The Plantago altissiraa or major of modern botany.
71 I. e. the ribs, nerves, or sine\vs of the leaf.
72 " Seven-sided."
73 Whence its name, from the Greek. Sprengel and Desfontaines iden-
tify it with the Borrago officinalis of Linnaeus, our Borage. Littre gives
the Anchusa Italica,
74 Though Pliny's assertion is supported by the authority of the School of
Salerno, Fee treats it as entirely unfounded. Leaves of borage still form
an ingredient in the beverages known as Copas and Cider-cup at Cam-
bridge. See tbis usage, and the identity of the Buglossos discussed at
some length by Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. ii. p. 340, John's Ed.
75 " Promoting cheerfulness."
110 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
CHAP. 41. CYNOGLOSSOS : THREE REMEDIES.
To this plant we may also annex an account of the cynoglos-
sos,76 the leaf of which resembles a dog's tongue, and which pro-
duces so pleasing an effect77 in ornamental gardening. The
root, it is said, of the kind which bears three78 stems sur-
mounted with seed, is very useful, taken in water, for tertian,
and of that with four stems, for quartan, fevers.
There is another plant79 very similar to it, which bears
diminutive burrs resembling those of the iappa : 79* the root of
it, taken in water, is curative of wounds inflicted by frogs80
or serpents.
CHAP. 42. THE BUPHTHALMOS OK CACHLA : 01TE REMEDY.
There is the buphthalmos81 also, so called from its resem-
blance to an ox's eye, and with a leaf like that of fennel. It
grows in the vicinity of towns, and is a branchy plant, with
numerous stems, which are boiled and eaten. Some persons
give it the name of " cachla." In combination with wax, it
disperses scirrhi.82
CHAP. 43. — PLANTS WHICH HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED BY CERTAIN
NATIONS. THE SCYTHICE : ONE REMEDY.
Entire nations, too, have been the discoverers of certain
plants. The Scythse were the first to discover the plant known
as " scythice,"83 which grows in the vicinity of the Palus83*
76 " Dog's tongue." The Cynoglossum offieinale of Linnaeus, Hounds'
tongue, or Venus' navel-wort ; or else the C. pictum of Alton.
77 Fee is at a loss to know how it can have been employed in topiary
work, or ornamental gardening.
78 This statement is made by Dioscorides with reference to Arnoglossos,
Lamb's tongue, or Plantago. See c. 39, above.
79 Identified with the Myosotis lappula of Linnaeus, Prickly-seeded
scorpion-grass. 79* See B. xxi. c. 64.
80 " Ranis." Under this name he probably includes toads.
81 Sprengel and Desfontaines identify it with the Anthemis valentina of
Linnaeus, the Purple-stalked camomile ; but Fee agrees with Sibthorp in
considering it to be the Chrysanthemum segetum of Linnaeus, the Corn
marigold, the former not being, apparently, a native of Greece. Littre gives
the Chrysanthemum coronarium of Linnaeus, the Garland chrysanthemum.
2 " Steatomata." Tumours of a fatty nature.
83 Generally agreed to be identical with the Glycyrrhiza of B. xxii. c. 2,
our Liquorice. Fee says that the G. asperrima grows in great abundance
on the banks of the river Volga. 83* See B. xxvii. c. 1.
Chap. 46.] THE CESTROS. 1 1 1
Maeotis. Among its other properties, this plant is remarkably
sweet, and extremely useful for the affection known as
" asthma. " It is also possessed of another great recommenda-
tion— so long as a person keeps it in his mouth, he will never84
experience hunger or thirst.
CHAP. 44. THE HIPPACE I THREE REMEDIES.
The hippace,85 another plant that grows in Scythia, is
possessed of similar properties : it owes86 its name to the
circumstance that it produces the like effect upon horses. By
the aid of these two plants, the Scythse, they say, are enabled
to endure hunger and thirst, so long as twelve days even.
CHAP. 45. THE. ISCH^EMON I TWO REMEDIES.
The Thracians were the first to discover the ischsemon,87
which, it is said, has the property of stanching the flow of
blood, not only when a vein has been opened, but when it has
been cut asunder even. This is a creeping plant ; it is like
millet in appearance, and the leaves of it are rough and lanugi-
nous. It is used as a plug88 for the nostrils. The kind that
grows in Italy, attached to the body as an amulet, has the pro-
perty of arresting haemorrhage.
CHAP. 46. THE CESTROS, PSYCHOTROPHON, VETTONICA, OR 8ERRA-
TTJLA: FORTY- EIGHT REMEDIES.
The Yettones, a people of Spain, were the original discoverers
of the plant known as the " vettonica"89 in Gaul, the " serra-
tula"90 in Italy, and the " cestros" or " psycho trophon"91 in
i Liquorice certainly palls the appetite, but it is very apt to create thirst.
85 In copying from the Greek, Pliny has mistaken " hippace," a cheese
made from mare's milk, for a plant ! It is very likely, however, that it
would tend, like any other cheese, to appease hunger, though, probably,
not thirst.
86 He has probably invented this reason himself, as it is hardly probable
that the Scythians would feed their horses with cheese, even though made
from mare's milk.
87 Sprengel identifies it with the Andropogon ischsemon of Linnaeus, the
Woolly andropogon. Fee expresses his doubts as to its identification. It
derives its name "ischaemon," from its property of stanching blood.
** To arrest epistaxis or bleeding at the nose.
89 The Betoniea alopecuros of Linnaeus, the Fox-tail betony.
90 The " little saw."
&1 " Nurtured by breezes." M. Fraas thinks that the Cestros of the
112 FLINT* 8 NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XX V.
Greece. This is a plant more highly esteemed than any other : it
puts forth an angular stem two cubits in height, and throws out
leaves from the root, with serrated edges, and closely resembling
those of lapathum.92 The seed of it is purple : the leaves are
dried and powdered, and used for numerous purposes. There
is a wine also prepared from it, and a vinegar, remarkably
beneficial to the stomach and the eyesight. Indeed, this plant
enjoys so extraordinary a reputation, that it is a common be-
lief even that the house which contains it is insured against
misfortunes of every kind.
CHAP. 47. THE CANTABRICA I TWO REMEDIES.
In Spain, too, is found the cantabrica,93 which was first dis-
covered by the nation of the Cantabri in the time of the late
Emperor Augustus. It grows everywhere in those parts, having
a stem like that of the bulrush, a foot in height, and bearing
small oblong flowers, like a calathus94 in shape, and enclos-
ing an extremely diminutive seed.
Nor indeed, in other respects, have the people of Spain
been wanting in their researches into the nature of plants ; for
at the present day even it is the custom in that country, at
their more jovial entertainments, to use a drink called the
hundred-plant drink, combined with a proportion of honied
wine; it being their belief, that the wine is rendered more whole-
some and agreeable by the admixture of these plants. It still
remains unknown to us, what these different plants are, or in
what number exactly they are used : as to this last question,
however, we may form some conclusion from the name that is
given to the beverage.
CHAP. 48.— CONSILIGO : ONE REMEDY.
Our own age, too, can remember the fact of a plant being
discovered in the country of the Marsi. It is found growing
also in the neighbourhood of the village of Kervesia, in the
territory of the JEquicoli, and is known by the name of
Greeks is a different plant from the Vettonica of the Romans, and identifies
it with the Sideritis Syriaca. 92 See B. xx. e. 85.
93 Pliny is the only author that mentions the Cantabrica, and his account,
Fee thinks, is too meagre to enahle us satisfactorily to identify it with the
Convolvulus cantahrica of Linnasus.
84 A conical work-basket or cup. See B, xxi. c. 11,
Chap. 49.] THE IBEKIS. 113
" consiligo."9' It is very useful, as we shall have occasion to
mention96 in the appropriate place, in cases of phthisis where
recovery is considered more than doubtful.
CHA.P. 49. — THE IBERTS : SEVEN KEMEDIES.
It is but very lately, too, that Servilius Democrates, one of
our most eminent physicians, first called attention to a plant
to which he gave the name of iberis,97 a fanciful appellation98
only, bestowed by him upon this discovery of his in the
verses by him devoted99 to it. This plant is found mostly
growing in the vicinity of ancient monuments, old walls, and
overgrown footpaths : it is an evergreen, and its leaves are
like those of nasturtium, with a stem a cubit in height, and a
seed so diminutive as to be hardly perceptible ; the root, too,
has just the smell of nasturtium. Its properties are more
strongly developed in summer, and it is only used fresh-
gathered : there is considerable difficulty in pounding it.
Mixed with a small proportion of axle- grease, it is extremely
useful for sciatica and all diseases of the joints ; the application
being kept on some four hours at the utmost, when used by
the male sex, and about half that time in the case of females.
Immediately after its removal, the patient must take a warm
bath, and then anoint the body all over with oil and wine —
the same operation being repeated every twenty days, so long
as there are any symptoms of pain remaining. A similar
method is adopted for the cure of all internal defluxions ; it
95 Sprengel and other commentators identify it with the Pulmonaria
officinalis of Linnaeus, Lungwort or Pulmonary. Others, again, consider it
to he the Veratrum album of Linnaeus, or "White hellebore. Fee considers
that its synonym has not hitherto been discovered. Holland calls it Bear-
foot. 96 B. xxvi. c. 21.
97 Fee identifies it with the Lepidium graminifolium of Linnaeus, Grass-
leaved pepperwort ; Desfontaines with the L. Iberis of Linnaeus, Bushy
pepperwort Littre gives as its synonym the Iberis amara of Linnaeus,
the White candy-tuft.
98 " Fictum nomen." Salmasius thinks that by these words, Pliny
means that Democrates invented the name of a friend of his as being the
discoverer of this plant, which in reality was discovered by himself. It
would seem to mean, however, that the name " iberis " was only a fanciful
title, derived from the country where it was found, and given to it for want
of acquaintance with its real name.
99 Still preserved in Galen, B. x. c. 2.
VOL. v. I
114 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
is never applied, however, so long as the inflammation is at its
height, but only when it has somewhat abated.
CHAP. 50. PLANTS WHICH HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED BY CERTAIN
ANIMALS. CHELIDONIA : SIX REMEDIES.
The brute animals also have been the discoverers of certain
plants : among them, we will name chelidonia first of all. It
is by the aid of this plant that the swallow restores the sight
of the young birds in the nest, and even, as some persons will
have it, when the eyes have been plucked out. There are two
varieties of this plant ; the larger1 kind has a branchy stem, and
a leaf somewhat similar to that of the wild parsnip,2 but
larger. The plant itself is some two cubits in height, and of
a whitish colour, that of the flower being yellow. The smaller3
kind has leaves like those of ivy, only rounder and not so
white. The juice of it is pungent, and resembles saffron in
colour, and the seed is similar to that of the poppy.
These plants blossom,4 both of them, at the arrival of the
swallow, and wither at the time of its departure. The juice
is extracted while they are in flower, and is boiled gently in a
copper vessel on hot ashes, with Attic honey, being esteemed
a sovereign remedy for films upon the eyes. This juice is
employed also, unmixed with any other substance, for the
eyesalves,5 which from it take their name of " chelidonia."
CHAP. 51. THE DOG-PLANT ! ONE REMEDY.
Dogs, too, are in the habit of seeking a certain plant,0 as a
stimulant to the appetite ; but although they eat it in our
presence, it has never yet been discovered what it is, it being
quite impossible to recognize it when seen half-chewed.
There has also been remarked another bit of spitefulness in
this animal, though in a much greater degree, in reference to
1 The Chelidonium majus of Linnaeus, the Greater celandine or swallow-
wort. 2 " Pastinaca erratica." See c. 64 of this Book.
3 Identified with the Ranunculus ficaria of Linnaeus, the Pilewort, or
Lesser celandine.
4 The same is the case, Fee remarks, with numbers of other plants.
5 "Collyriis."
6 The Dactylos of B. xxiv. c. 119, is supposed to be the plant alluded to.
The word " canariam " is found here in former editions, but Sillig1 omits
it. Indeed Pliny seems to say that it is quite unknown to him.
Chap. 53.] DICTAMNON. 115
another plant. When stung by a serpent, it cures itself, they
say, by eating a certain herb, taking care, however, never to
gather it in presence of man.
CHAP. 52. THE ELAPHOBOSCOX.
The hind, with a much greater degree of frankness, has dis-
covered to us the elaphoboscon, a plant of which we have
already7 spoken, and which is also called " helxine,"8 from the
assistance it affords those animals in yeaning.
CHAP. 53. DICTAMNON I EIGHT REMEDIES. PSETJDODICTAMNON
OR CHONDRI8. IN WHAT PLACES THE MOST POWERFUL PLANTS
ARE FOUND. HOW THAT MILK 16 DRUNK IN ARCADIA FOR THE
BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF THE PLANTS UPON WHICH THE CATTLE
FEED.
It is the hind, too, that, as already9 stated, first made us ac-
quainted with dictamnon,10 or dittany ; for when wounded, it
eats some of this plant, and the weapon immediately falls from
the body. This plant grows nowhere11 but in Crete. The
branches of it are remarkably thin ; it resembles pennyroyal
in appearance, and is hot and acrid to the taste. The leaves
are the only part employed, it being destitute of12 blossom,
seed, and stem : the root is thin, and never used. In Crete
even, it is found growing only in a very limited locality, and
is sought by goats with singular avidity.
In place of it, the pseudodictamnum13 is employed, a plant
that is found growing in many countries. In leaf it is similar
to the other, but the branches are more diminutive : by some
persons it is known as " chondris." Its properties not being
so strongly developed, the difference is immediately recognized :
for an infusion of the very smallest piece of the real dittany,
7 In B. xxii. c. 37.
8 From the Greek e'Xicw, " to draw."
9 In B. viii. c. 41.
10 The Origanum dictamnus of Linnaeus, Dittany of Candia.
11 This is an error : it grows, and doubtless did in Pliny's time, in
numerous other places ; but that of Mount Ida in Crete was held in the
highest esteem.
12 It has all three, in fact ; as Fee says, it is evident that Pliny never
saw it. Its medicinal properties are no longer held in any esteem.
13 " False-dittany." It is generally identified with the Marrubium
pseudodictamnus of Linnaeus, the Shrubby white horehound ; though per-
haps on insufficient grounds.
I 2
116 PLINY:S NATUBAL HISTOKT. [Book XXV.
is sufficient to burn the mouth. The persons who gather it
are in the habit of enclosing it in a stem of fennel-giant or in a
reed, which they close at the ends that the virtues of it may
not escape. Some persons say, that both plants grow indis-
criminately in numerous localities, the inferior sort being the
produce of rich soils, and the genuine dittany being found
nowhere but in rugged, uncultivated spots.
There is, again, a third14 plant called " dictamnum," which,
however, has neither the appearance nor the properties of the
other plant so called ; the leaves of it are like those of sisym-
brium,15 but the branches are larger.
There has long been this impression with reference to Crete,
that whatever plant grows there is infinitely superior in its
properties to a similar plant the produce of any other country ;
the second rank being given to the produce of Mount Parnassus.
In addition to this, it is generally asserted that simples of ex-
cellent quality are found upon Mount Pelion in Thessaly,
Mount Teleuthrius in Eubcea, and throughout the whole of
Arcadia and Laconia, Indeed, the Arcadians, they say, are
in the habit of using, not the simples themselves, but milk,
in the spring season more particularly ; a period at which the
field plants are swollen with juice, and the milk is medicated
by their agency. It is cows' milk in especial that they use
for this purpose, those animals being in the habit of feeding
upon nearly every kind of plant. The potent properties of
plants are manifested by their action upon four-footed animals
in two very remarkable instances : in the vicinity of Abdera
and the tract known as the Boundary16 of Diomedes, the horses,
after pasturing, become inflamed with frantic fury ; the same
is the case, too, with the male asses, in the neighbourhood of
Potnise.
CHAP. 54. THE ARISTOLOCHIl, CLEMATITTS, CRETICA, PLISTOLO-
CHIA, LOCHIA POLYEEHIZOS, OE APPLE OF THE EAETH I TWEN'IT-
TWO EEMED1ES.
In the number of the most celebrated plants is the aristo-
14 Fee is inclined, with Sprengel, to identify it with the Origanum
Creticum of Linnaeus. Other commentators have suggested the Origanum
Tournefortii, the Thymus mastichina of Linnaeus, and the Marrubium
acetabulosum of Linnaeus.
15 See B. xx. c. 91. 16 " Limes Diomcdis."
Chap. 54.] THE AKISTOLOCHIA. 117
lochia, which would appear to have derived its name from
females in a state of pregnancy, as being apiGrri Xo^ou<ra/$,17
Among us, however, it is known as the " malum terrse," or
apple of the earth,18 four different varieties of it being dis-
tinguished. One of these has a root covered with tubercles of
a rounded19 shape, and leaves of a mixed appearance, between
those of the mallow and the ivy, only softer and more swarthy.
The second20 kind is the male plant, with an elongated root
some four fingers in length, and the thickness of a walking-
stick. A third21 variety is extremely thin and long, similar to
a young vine in appearance : it has the most strongly-marked
properties of them all, and is known by the additional names
of " clematitis," and "cretica." All these plants are the
colour of boxwood, have a slender stem, and bear a purple flower
and small berries like those of the caper : the root is the only
part that is possessed of any virtues.
There is also a fourth22 kind, the name given to which is
" plistolochia ;" it is more slender than the one last mentioned,
has a root thickly covered with filaments, and is about as thick
as a good-sized bulrush : another name given to it is " polyr-
rhizos." The smell of all these plants is medicinal, but that of
the one with an oblong root and a very slender stem, is the most
agreeable : this last, in fact, which has a fleshy outer coat, is
well adapted as an ingredient for nardine unguents even. They
grow in rich champaign soils, and the best time for gathering
them is harvest ; after the earth is scraped from off them, they
are put by for keeping.
The aristolochia that is the most esteemed, however, is that
17 "Most excellent for pregnancy." 18 See B. xxvi. c. 56.
19 Identified by Fee with the Aristolochia rotunda of Linnseus, Kounded
birthwort, a native of the south of France and the southern parts of
Europe. Littre gives the Aristolochia pallida of Willdenow.
20 Most probably the Aristolochia longa of Linnaeus, found in France,
Spain, Portugal, and Italy, Littre gives as its synonym the Aristolochia
parvifolia of Sibthorp.
21 The Aristolochia clematis of Linnaeus, almost identical with the
Aristolochia Cretica and Baetica.
22 The Aristolochia plistolochia of Linnaeus, the Spanish branching
stemmed birthwort. Fee thinks that these identifications, though probable
enough, are not altogether satisfactory, and that the Greeks may have made
these distinctions between varieties of the plant comparatively unknown to
the rest of Europe. They are no longer held in any esteem for their
medicinal properties.
118 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKY. [Book XXV.
which comes from Pontus ; but whatever the soil may happen
to be, the more weighty it is, the better adapted it is for me-
dicinal purposes. The aristolochia with a round root is re-
commended for the stings of serpents, and that with an oblong
root * * * * But in this is centred its principal repu-
tation ; applied to the uterus with raw beef, as a pessary, im-
mediately after conception, it will ensure the birth of male'"3
issue, they say. The fishermen on the coasts of Campania
give the round root the name of "poison of the earth ;" and I
myself have seen them pound it with lime, and throw it into
the sea ; immediately on which the fish flew towards it with
surprising avidity, and being struck dead in an instant, floated
upon the surface.
The kind that is known as " polyrrhizos,"24 is remarkably
good, they say, for convulsions, contusions, and falls with
violence, an infusion of the root being taken in water : the
seed, too, is useful for pleurisy and affections of the sinews. It
is considered, too, to be possessed of warming and strengthening
properties, similar to those of satyrion,26 in fact.
CHAP. 55. THE EMPLOYMENT OF THESE PLANTS FOR INJTTKIE3
INFLICTED BY SEKPENTS.
But it will be as well now to mention the various uses made
of these plants, and the effects produced by them, beginning
with that most dangerous of all evils that can befall us, stings
inflicted by serpents. In such cases the plant britannica 27
effects a cure, and the same is the case with the root of all the
varieties of panaces,28 administered in wine. The flower, too,
and seed of panaces chironion are taken in drink, or applied
externally with wine and oil : cunila bubula,29 too, is looked
upon as particularly useful for this purpose, and the root of
polemonia or philetaeris is taken in doses of four drachmae in
unmixed wine. Teucria,30 sideritis,31 and scordotis,32 are used
in wine, plants particularly good,, all of them, for injuries in-
flicted by snakes ; the juice or leaves, or else a decoction of
23 See B. xxvi. c. 91. 24 " With many roots."
26 See B. xxvi. c. 62. ™ See c. 6 of this Book.
28 See cc. 11, 12, 13, 14, of this Book.
29 See B. xx. c. 61. 30 See B. xxiv. c. 80.
31 See c. 15 of this Book. 32 See c. 27 of this Book.
Chap. 56.] THE ARGEHONIA. 119
them, being taken in drink or applied to the wound. For a
similar purpose also, the root of the greater centaury is taken,
in doses of one drachma to three cyathi of white wine. Gentian,
too, is particularly good for the stings of snakes, taken either
fresh or dried, in doses of two drachmae, mixed with rue and
pepper in six cyathi of wine. The odour, too, of lysima-
chia53 puts serpents to flight.
Chelidonia34 is also given in wine to persons who have been
stung ; and betony in particular is used as an external appli-
cation to the wound, a plant the virtues of which are so ex-
traordinary, it is said, that if a circle of it is traced around a
serpent, it will lash itself to death35 with its tail. The seed
of this plant is also administered in such cases, in doses of one
denarius to three cyathi of wine ; or else it is dried and pow-
dered, and applied to the wound, in the proportion of three
denarii of powder to one sextarius of water.
Cantabrica, dittany, and aristolochia, are also similarly used,
one drachma of the root of this last plant being taken every
now and then in a semisextarius of wine. It is very useful
too, rubbed in with vinegar, and the same is the case, also,
with plistolochia :36 indeed it will be quite sufficient to suspend
this last over the hearth, to make all serpents leave the house.
CHAP. 56. (9.) — THE AEGEMONIA : FOUE BEMEDIES.
The argemonia,37 too, is remedial in such cases ; the root of
it being taken, in doses of one denarius, in three cyathi of
wine. It will be as well, however, to enter into some further
details in reference to this plant and others, which I shall have
occasion next to mention ; it being my intention first to describe,
under each head, those plants which are the most efficacious
for the treatment of the affection under consideration.
The argemonia has leaves like those of the anemone, but
divided38 like those of parsley : the head grows upon a slender
stem resembling that of the wild poppy, and the root is also
33 See c. 35 of this Book. 34 See c. 50 of this Book.
35 See B. xvi. c. 24.
86 See c. 54 of this Book. As Fee remarks, these asserted remedies for
the stings of serpents are not deserving of discussion.
37 The Papaver argemone of Linnaeus, the Bough poppy. It is a native
of France, and many other parts of Europe.
38 This, Fee remarks, is not stated by Dioscorides, whose description is
more correct.
120 PLINY'S FATTJEAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
very similar to that of the same plant. The juice is of a
saffron colour, acrid and pungent: the plant is commonly
found in the fields of this country. Among us there are three*9
varieties of it distinguished, the » one being the most highly
approved of, the root of which smells40 like frankincense.*1
CHAP. 57. AGARIC I THIRTY-THREE REMEDIES.
Agaric42 is found growing in the form of a fungus of a white
colour, upon the trees in the vicinity of the Bosporus. It is
administered in doses of four oboli, beaten up in two cyathi of
oxymel. The kind that grows in Galatia is generally looked
upon as not so efficacious. The male43 agaric is firmer than
the other, and more bitter ; it is productive too of head- ache.
The female plant is of a looser texture ; it has a sweet taste at
first, which speedily changes into a bitter flavour.
CHAP. 58. THE ECHIOS; THREE VARIETIES OF IT I TWO REMEDIES.
Of the echios there are two kinds; one44 of which resembles
pennyroyal in appearance, and has a concave leaf. It is ad-
ministered, in doses of two drachmae, in four cyathi of wine.
The other45 kind is distinguished by a prickly down, and bears
small heads resembling those of vipers : it is usually taken in
wine and vinegar. Some persons give the name of " echios
personata "48 to a kind of echios with larger leaves than the
others, and burrs of considerable size, resembling that of the
lappa.47 The root of this plant is boiled and administered in
vinegar.
39 It is supposed by commentators that he is in error here, and that this
description applies to the Lappa banaria, mentioned in B. xxiv. c. 116.
40 The root of the Papaver argemone has no such smell.
41 See B. xxi. c. 94, B. xxiv. c. 116, and B. xxvi. c. 59.
42 The Boletus agaricum of Aiton, or White agaric. It is a strong
purgative, but is rarely used for that purpose.
43 This distinction into male and female is no longer recognized,
though it continued to be so till within the last century.
44 Desfontaines identifies it with the Saponaria ocimoides. Fee thinks
it may have possibly been some kind of sage, or else a variety of the La-
vendula stcechas of Linnaeus, French lavender. Littre gives the Silene
Gallica of Linnaeus, the Gallic catchfly.
45 Identified by Fee with the Pseudanchusa, Echis, or Doris of B. xxii.
c. 24, the Anchusa Italica of Linnaeus. Littre gives the Echium rubrum
of Linnaeus.
46 The Arctium lappa of Linnfeus, probably, our Great clot-burr. See
B. xxi. c. 51. *7 See B. xxi. c. 64.
Chap. 59.] HIEBABOTANE. 121
Henbane, pounded with the leaves on, is taken in wine, for
the sting of the asp in particular.
CHAP. 59. HIERABOTANE, PERISTEREON, OR VERBENACA ; TWO
VARIETIES OF IT : TEN REMEDIES.
But among the Romans there is no plant that enjoys a more
extended renown than hierabotane,48 known to some persons
as " peristereon,"49 and among us more generally as " verbe-
naca."50 It is this plant that we have already51 mentioned as
being borne in the hands of envoys when treating with the
enemy, with this that the table of Jupiter is cleansed,52 with
this that houses are purified and due expiation made. There
are two varieties of it : the one that is thickly covered with
leaves53 is thought to be the female plant ; that with fewer
leaves,54 the male. Both kinds have numerous thin branches,
a cubit in length, and of an angular form. The leaves are
smaller than those of the quercus, and narrower, with larger
indentations. The flower is of a grey colour, and the root
is long and thin. This plant is to be found growing every-
where, in level humid localities. Some persons make no
distinction between these two varieties, and look upon them as
identical, from the circumstance of their being productive of
precisely similar effects.
The people in the Gallic provinces make use of them both for
soothsaying purposes, and for the prediction of future events ;
but it is the magicians more particularly that give utterance to
such ridiculous follies in reference to this plant. Persons, they
tell us, if they rub themselves with it will be sure to gain the
object of their desires ; and they assure us that it keeps away
fevers, conciliates friendship, and is a cure for every possible
disease ; they say, too, that it must be gathered about the
rising of the Dog-star — but so as not to be shone upon by sun
or moon — and that honey-combs and honey must be first pre-
sented to the earth by way of expiation. They tell us also
48 "Holy plant." 49 "_ Pigeon plant."
so our u vervain." It was much used in philtres, and was as highly
esteemed as the mistletoe by the people of Gaul. It is no longer used in
medicine. 51 In B. xxii. c. 3.
52 On the occasion of the Feasts of Jupiter in the Capitol, prepared by
the Septemviri.
33 The Verbena supina of Linnaeus. Recumbent vervain.
54 The Verbena officinalis of Linnaeus, Vervain or holy plant.
122 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOBT. [Book XXV.
that a circle must first be traced around it with iron ; after
which it must be taken up with the left hand, and raised aloft,
care being taken to dry the leaves, stem, and root, separately
in the shade. To these statements they add, that if the ban-
queting couch is sprinkled with water in which it has been
steeped, merriment and hilarity will be greatly promoted
thereby.
As a remedy for the stings of serpents, this plant is bruised
in wine.
CHAP. 60. — THE BLA.TTA1UA I ONE REMEDY.
There is a plant very similar in appearance to verbascum,55
so much so, indeed, as to be frequently gathered for it by mis-
take. The leaves,56 however, are not so white, the stems are
more numerous, and the flower is of a yellow colour. Thrown
upon the ground, this plant attracts black beetles57 to it, whence
its Roman appellation " blattaria."
CHAP. 61. LEMONIUM I ONE KEMEDY.
Lemonium68 furnishes a milky juice, which thickens like
gum. It grows in moist, watery localities, and is generally
administered, in doses of one denarius, in wine.
CHAP. 62. — QUINQUEFOLIUM, KNOWN ALSO AS PENTAPETES, PEN-
TAPHYLLON, OR CHA1OEZELON I THIRTY-THREE REMEDIES.
There is no one to whom quinquefolium59 is unknown, being
recommended by a sort of strawberry60 which it bears : The
Greeks give it the name of pentapetes,61 pentaphyllon,61 and
chamaezelon.62 The root, when taken up, is red; but as it
65 See c. 73 of this Book.
56 Mostly identified with the third Phlomos, mentioned in c. 74 of
this Book. Littre gives as its synonym the Phlomis fruticosa of Linnaeus,
Jerusalem sage, or tree-sage, 57 " Blattse."
6s Not the " Limonion" of B. xx. c. 28, as the Statice limonium emits
no juice. Desfontaines identifies it with the Scolymos or Limonia of B.
xxii. c. 43 ; but Fee is inclined to think that Pliny is speaking of the
Atractylis gummifera, but has made a mistake in the name.
sa Or " five-leaved." Most probably the Potentilla reptans of Linnseus,
our Cinquefoil, or Five-leaved grass. Sprengei, however, identifies it with
the Tormentilla reptans of Linnaeus, the Tormentil ; and other authorities
with the Potentilla rupestris of Linnaeus.
50 Its fruit is dry, and bears no resemblance to the strawberry.
6i « Five-leaved." 62 " Creeping on the' ground."
Chap. 64.] THE DAUCUS, 123
dries it becomes black and angular. Its name is derived from
the number of its leaves : it puts forth and withers with the
leaves of the vine. This plant also is employed in the purifica-
tion of houses.
CHAP. 63. THE SPARGANION I ONE REMEDY.
The root, too, of the plant known as the sparganion,63 is
taken in white wine, as a remedy for the stings of serpents.
CHAP. 64. FOUR VARIETIES OF THE DAUCUS I EIGHTEEN
REMEDIES.
Petronius Diodotus has distinguished four kinds of daucus,
which it would be useless here to describe, the varieties being
in reality but two64 in number. The most esteemed kind is that
of Crete,65 the next best being the produce of Achaia, and of
all dry localities. It resembles fennel in appearance, only
that its leaves are whiter, more diminutive, and hairy on the
surface. The stem is upright, and a foot in length, and the root
has a remarkably pleasant taste and smell. This kind grows
in stony localities with a southern aspect.
The inferior sorts are found growing everywhere, upon de-
clivities for instance, and in the hedges of fields, but always in
a rich soil. The leaves are like those of coriander,66 the stem
being a cubit in length, the heads round, often three or more in
number, and the root ligneous, and good for nothing when
dry. The seed of this kind is like that of cummin, while that
of the first kind bears a resemblance to millet ; in all cases
it is white, acrid, hot, and odoriferous. The seed of the
second kind has more active properties than that of the first ;
for which reason it should be used more sparingly.
If it is considered really desirable to recognize a third
63 Identified by Fee with the Sparganium ramosura of Linnaeus, or
Branchy burr-reed. Littre gives the Butonus umbellatus of linnaeus, the
Flowering rush, or Water gladiole.
64 Fee remarks, that the account given by Pliny has not the same pre-
cision as that of Dioscorides, who describes three varieties of the Daucus.
65 Fee is inclined to identify the Daucus of Crete and Achaia with the
Daucus Creticus of Fuchsius, the Athamanta annua of Linnaeus. Des-
fontaines identifies it with the Athamanta Cretensis of Linnaeus.
66 This kind is identified by Fee with the Seseli ammoides of Linnaeus,
and by Littre with the Ammi majus of Linnaeus, the Common or Greater
bishop's weed.
124 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
variety of the daucus, there is a plant67 of this nature very
similar to the staphy linos, known as the " pastinaca68 erratica,"
with an oblong seed and a sweet root. Quadrupeds will touch
none of these plants, either in winter or in summer, except
indeed, after abortion.69 The seed of the various kinds is used,
with the exception of that of Crete, in which case it is the
root that is employed ; this root being particularly useful for the
stings of serpents. The proper dose is one drachma, taken in
wine. It is administered also to cattle when stung by those
reptiles.
CHAP. 65. THE THER10NARCA '. TWO REMEDIES.
The therionarca, altogether a different plant from that of
the Magi,70 grows in our own climates, and is a branchy plant,
with greenish leaves, and a rose-coloured flower. It has a
deadly effect upon serpents, and the very contact of it is suf-
ficient to benumb71 a wild beast, of whatever kind it be.
CHAP. 66. THE PEBSOLATA OR ARCION ; EIGHT REMEDIES.
The persolata,72 a plant known to every one, and called
" arcion" by the Greeks, has a leaf, larger, thicker, more
swarthy, and more hairy than that of the gourd even, with a
large white root. This plant also is taken, in doses of two
denarii, in wine.
67 Identified by Sprengel with the Daucus Mauritanicus, and by Brotero
and Desfontaines with the Daucus carota, var. a, our Common carrot. Fee
seems inclined to identify it with the Athamanta cervaria of Linnseus,
Mountain carrot, or Broad-leaved spignel. The account given by Pliny
is, however, a mass of confusion.
es Or " wild parsnip." See B. xix. c. 27.
69 For the purpose of expelling the dead foetus, according to Dioscorides,
B. iii. c. 83.
70 See B. xxiv. c. 102. The plant here spoken of has not been identified,
but the Epilobium angustifolium, montanum, tetragonum, &c., varieties of
the Willow-herb, have been suggested. They are destitute, however, of
all poisonous qualities.
71 Hence its name — " Benumbing wild beasts."
72 Fee thinks that there is an error in the name, and that it is the " per-
sonata" that is here spoken of, the plant already mentioned in c. 58 of
this Book. Hardouin identifies it with the Tussilago petasites — the Butter-
burr, according to Nemnich — but apparently without any sufficient au-
thority.
Chap. 68.] THE CYCLAMItfOS CISSANTHEMOS. 125
CHAP. 67. — CTCLAMINOS OR TUBER TERR^ I TWELVE REMEDIES.
So too, the root of cyclaminos73 is good for injuries inflicted
by serpents of all kinds. It has leaves smaller than those of
ivy, thinner, more swarthy, destitute of angles, and covered
with whitish spots. The stem is thin and hollow, the flowers
of a purple colour, and the root large and covered with a
black rind ; so much so, in fact, that it might almost be taken
for the root of rape. This plant grows in umbrageous local-
ities, and by the people of our country is known as the "tuber
terrae."74 It ought to be grown in every house, if there is any
truth in the assertion that wherever it grows, noxious spells
can have no effect. This plant is also what is called an
" amulet ;" and taken in wine, they say, it produces all the
symptoms and appearances of intoxication. The root is dried,
cut in pieces, like the squill, and put away for keeping. When
wanted, a decoction is made of it, of the consistency of honey.
Still, however, it has some deleterious75 properties ; and a
pregnant woman, it is said, if she passes over the root of it,
will be sure to miscarry.
CHAP. 68. THE CYCLAMINOS CISSANTHEMOS : FOUR REMEDIES.
There is also another kind of cyclaminos, known by the ad-
ditional name of " cissanthemos ;"76 the stems of it, which are
jointed, are good for nothing. It is altogether different from
the preceding plant, and entwines around the trunks of trees.
It bears a berry similar to that of the ivy, but soft ; and the
flower is white and pleasing to the sight. The root is never
used. The berries are the only part of it in use, 'being of an
73 Fee identifies it with the Cyclamen hederaefolium of Alton, the Ivy-
leaved sow-bread ; Littre with the Cyclamen Grsecum of Lamarck.
74 " Tuberosity of the earth."
75 *' Suum venenum ei est." Gerard seems to have had a worse opinion
of it than our author ; for he states in his Herbal, p. 845, that he had ex-
perienced great misfortunes owing to his imprudence in having cultivated
Cyclamen in his garden.
76 « Ivy-flowered." It resembles the other plant in nothing but the
name. Fee is inclined, with Desfontaines, to identify it with the Lonicera
caprifolium of Linnaeus, the Italian honeysuckle, though that plant bears
no resemblance in either leaf or flower to the ivy. The Lonicera pericly-
menum of Linn feus, the Common woodbine or honeysuckle, has been also
suggested, as well as the Brvonia alba, Solanum dulcamara, and Cucubalus
bacciferus.
126 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
acrid, viscous taste. They are dried in the shade, after which
they are pounded and divided into lozenges.
CHAP. 69. — THE CYCLAMINOS CHAM^ICISSOS : THEEE REMEDIES.
A third kind77 of cyclaminos has also been shown to me, the
additional name of which is " chamsecissos." It consists of
but a single leaf, with a branchy root, formerly employed for
killing fish.
CHAP. 70. — PETJCEDANUM I TWENTY-EIGHT REMEDIES.
But in the very first rank among these plants, stands peuceda-
num,78 the most esteemed kind of which is that of Arcadia, the
next best being that of Samothrace. The stem resembles that of
fennel, is thin and long, covered with leaves close to the ground,
and terminating in a thick black juicy root, with a powerful smell.
It grows on umbrageous mountains, and is taken up at the end
of autumn. The largest and tenderest roots are the most es-
teemed ; they are cut with bone-knives into slips four fingers
in length, and left to shed their juice79 in the shade ; the persons
employed taking the precaution of rubbing the head and nos-
trils with rose- oil, as a preservative against vertigo.
There is also another kind of juice, which adheres to the
stems, and exudes from incisions made therein. It is con-
sidered best when it has arrived at the consistency of honey :
the colour of it is red, and it has a strong but agreeable smell,
and a hot, acrid taste. This juice, as well as the root and a
decoction of it, enters into the composition of numerous medica-
ments, but the juice has the most powerful properties of
the two. Diluted with bitter almonds or rue, it is taken in
drink as a remedy for injuries inflicted by serpents. Eubbed
upon the body with oil, it is a preservative against the attacks
of those reptiles.
77 According to Brotero, it is the Parnassia palustris of Tournefort, an
opinion with which Fee is inclined to agree. Sprengel considers it to be
the same as the Convallaria bifolia of Linnasus, our Small lily of the valley,
and identifies it with the one-leafed Ceratia of B. xxvi. c. 34. Littre
names the Antirrhinum asarina of Linnaeus, the Bastard asarum.
78 The Peucedanum officinale of Linnaeus, Sulphur- wort, or Hog's fennel.
It receives its name from a fancied resemblance between its fruit and that
of the " Peuce," or pitch-tree.
79 This juice, Fee remarks, is no longer known.
Chap. 74.] THE PHLOMIS. 127
CHAP. 71. (10.) EBTJLTJM : SIX REMEDIES.
A fumigation, too, of ebulum,80 a plant known to every one,
will put serpents to flight.
CHAP. 72. POLEMONIA I ONE .REMEDY.
The root of polemonia,81 even worn as an amulet only, is
particularly useful for repelling the attacks of scorpions, as also
the phalangium and other small insects of a venomous nature.
For injuries inflicted by the scorpion, aristolochia82 is also used,
or agaric, in doses of four oboli to four cyathi of wine. For
the bite of the phalangium, vervain is employed, in combina-
tion with wine or oxy crate : cinquefoil, too, aod daucus, are
used for a similar purpose.
CHAP. 73. PHLOMOS OR VERBASCUM : FIFTEEN REMEDIES.
Verbascum has the name of " phlomos" with the Greeks.
Of this plant there are two principal kinds ; the white,83 which
is considered to be the male, and the black,84 thought to be the
female. There is a third85 kind, also, which is only found in
the woods. The leaves of these plants are larger than those of
the cabbage, and have a hairy surface: the stem is upright, and
more than a cubit in height, and the seed black, and never
used. The root is single, and about the thickness of the finger.
The two principal kinds are found growing in champaign locali-
ties. The wild verbascum has leaves like those of elelisphacus,86
but of an elongated form ; the branches are ligneous.
CHAP. 74. THE PHLOMIS : ONE REMEDY. THE LYCHNIT1S OR
THRYALLIS.
There are also two87 varieties of the phlomis, hairy plants,
80 Or Wall-wort. See B. xxiv. c. 35. and B. xxvi. c. 49.
81 See c. 28 of this Book. 82 See c. 54 of this Book.
83 Identified by Fee with the Verbascum thapsus of Linnaeus, Great
mullein, High-taper, or Cow's lung-wort.
84 Identified by Fee with the Verbascum sinuatum of Linnaeus. Des-
fontaines considers this to be the male plant of Pliny, and the V. thapsus
to be the female.
85 Fee considers this to be the same as the Blattaria mentioned in c. 60,
and identifies it with the Verbascum phlomoides of Linnaeus. Sprengel
and Desfontaines consider it to be the Phlomis lychnitiu of Linnaeus. Littre
gives the Phlomis fruticosa of Linnaeus, the Jerusalem sage, or Tree sage.
86 See B. xxii. c 71.
67 Fee identifies these two kinds with the Phlomis fruticosa of Linnaeus ;
128 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
with rounded leaves, and but little elevated above the surface
of the earth. A third kind, again, is known as the " lychnitis"88
by some persons, and as the " thryallis" by others : it has three
leaves only, or four at the very utmost, thick and unctuous,
and well adapted for making wicks for lamps. The leaves of
the phlomos which we have mentioned as the female plant, if
wrapped about figs, will preserve them most efficiently from
decay, it is said. It seems little better than a loss of time to
give the distinguishing characteristics of these three89 kinds,
the effects of them all being precisely the same.
For injuries inflicted by scorpions, an infusion of the root
is taken, with rue, in water. Its bitterness is intense, but it
is quite as efficacious as the plants already mentioned.
CHAP. 75. THE THELYPHONON OR SCORPIO : 0!NTE REMEDY.
The thelyphonon90 is a plant known as the "scorpio" to some,
from the peculiar form of its roots, the very touch of which
kills91 the scorpion: hence it is that it is taken in drink for stings
inflicted by those reptiles. If a dead scorpion is rubbed with
white hellebore, it will come to life, they say. The thelypho-
non is fatal to all quadrupeds, on the application of the root to
the genitals. The leaf too, which bears a resemblance to that
of cyclaminos, is productive of a similar effect, in the course of
the same day. It is a jointed plant, and is found growing in
unbrageous localities. Juice of betony or of plantago is a
preservative against the venom of the scorpion.
CHAP. 76. THE PHRYNION, NEURAS, OR POTERION ; ONE
REMEDY.
Frogs, too, have their venom, the bramble- frog92 in particular,
Spvengel and Desfontaines consider the second kind to be the Phlomis
Italica of Smith ; on insufficient grounds, Fee thinks. Littre mentions
the Sideritis Romana and S. elegans of Linnaeus.
88 The " Lamp plant." It is mostly identified with the Verbascum
lychnitis of Linnaeus, the "White mullein. Fee is somewhat doubtful on
the point. It is doubtful whether it is not the same as the Thryallis, men-
tioned in B. xxi. c. 61. Littre identifies it with the Phlomis lychnitis.
89 In the last paragraph he is speaking of the Phlomos, here he evidently
reverts to the Phlomis.
so Qr « Female killer." See B. xxvii. c. 2.
91 Dioscorides states, somewhat more rationally, that this plant strikes
the scorpion with torpor, and that the contact of hellebore revives it.
92 "Rubetis." A kind of toad, probably. See B. viii. c. 48, B. xi. c.
16, and B. xxxii. c. 18.
Chap. 77.] THE ALISMA. 129
and I myself have seen the Psylli, in their exhibitions,
irritate them by placing them upon flat vessels made red hot,93
their bite being fatal more instantaneously than the sting even
of the asp. One remedy for their poison is the phrynion,94
taken in wine, which has also the additional names of "neuras"95
and " poterion :" it bears a small flower, and has numerous
fibrous roots, with an agreeable smell.
CHAP. 77. THE ALISMA, DAMASONION, OR LYEON I SEVENTEEN
REMEDIES.
Similar, too, are the properties of the alisma,96 known to some
persons as the " damasonion," and as the " lyron " to others.
The leaves of it would be exactly those of the plantago, were it
not that they are narrower, more jagged at the edges, and
bent downwards in a greater degree. In other respects, they
present the same veined appearance as those of the plantago.
This plant has a single stem, slender, a cubit in height, and
terminated by a spreading head. 97 The roots of it are nume-
rous, thin like those of black hellebore, acrid, unctuous, and
odoriferous : it is found growing in watery localities.
There is another kind also, which grows in the woods, of a
more swarthy colour, and with larger leaves. The root of
them both is used for injuries inflicted by frogs and by the
sea-hare,98 in doses of one drachma taken in wine. Cycla-
minos, too, is an antidote for injuries inflicted by the sea-hare.
The bite of the mad dog has certain venomous properties,
as an antidote to which we have the cynorrhodos, of which
93 Schneider, on Nicander's Alexiph. p. 277, says that he cannot under-
stand this passage. There is little doubt that Sillig is right in his con-
jecture that it is imperfect, for the pith of the narrative, whatever it may
have been, is evidently wanting. The Psylli were said to be proof against
all kinds of poisons. * See B. viii. c. 38, and B. xi. c. 30 ; also Lucan's
Pharsalia, B. ix. 1. 192, et seq.
04 See also B. xxvii. c. 97. Fee identifies it with the Astragalus Creticus
of Lamarck, Desfontaines with the Astragalus poterium.
95 The "nerve-plant" and the " drinking-plant," apparently.
96 Sprengel identifies it with the Alisma Parnassifolium of Linnajus ; but
as that plant is not found in Greece, Sibthorp suggests the Alisma plantago
of Linnaeus, the Great water-plantain. It has no medicinal properties,
though it was esteemed till very recent times as curative of hydrophobia.
97 "Capite thyrsi."
98 See B. ix. c. 72, and B. xxxii. c. 3.
TOL. T. K
130 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOBT. [Book XXV.
we have spoken" elsewhere already. The plantago is useful
for the bites of all kinds of animals, either taken in drink or
applied topically to the part affected. Betony is taken on
similar occasions, in old wine, unmixed.
CHAP. 78. PER1STEBEOS I SIX REMEDIES.
The name of peristereos1 is given to a plant with a tall stem,
covered with leaves, and throwing out other stems from the top.
It is much sought hy pigeons, to which circumstance it
owes its name. Dogs will never bark, they say, at persons
who have this plant about them.
CHAP. 79. REMEDIES AGAINST CERTAIN POISONS.
Closely approaching in their nature to these various kinds of
poisons, are those which have been devised by man for his own
destruction. In the number of antidotes to all these artificial
poisons as well as to the spells of sorcery, the very first place
must be accorded to the moly2 of Homer ; next to which come
the mithridatia,3 scordotis,4 and centaury. The seed of betony
carries off all kinds of noxious substances by stool ; being taken
for the purpose in honied wine or raisin wine, or else pulverized,
and taken, in doses of one drachma, in four cyathi of old wine :
in this last case, however, the patient must bring it off the
stomach by vomit and then repeat the dose. Persons who
accustom themselves to take this plant daily, will never ex-
perience any injury, they say, from substances of a poisonous
nature.
When a person has taken poison, one most powerful remedy
is aristolochia,5 taken in the same proportions as those used for
injuries inflicted by serpents.6 The juice, too, of cinquefoil is
given for a similar purpose ; and in both cases, after the patient
has vomited, agaric is administered, in doses of one denarius, in
three cyathi of hydromel.
99 In c. 6 of this Book.
1 "Pigeon-plant." The same as Vervain, already described in c. 59 of
this Book. 2 See c. 8 of this Book.
3 By "Mithridatia. " he probably means the antidotes attributed to
Mithridates in c, 3 of this Book, and in B. xxix. c. 8, and not the plant
previously mentioned in c. 26.
4 See c.. 27 of this Book. 5 See c. 54 of this Book.
e See c. 55.
Chap. 82.] THE PEBICABPUM:. 131
CHAP. 80. — THE ANTIBBHINTJM, ANARBHINON, OB LYCHNIS AGBIA :
THBEE REMEDIES.
The name of antirrhinum7 .or anarrhinon is given to the
lychnis agria,8 a plant which resembles flax in appearance, is
destitute of root, has a flower like that of the hyacinth, and
a seed similar in form to the muzzle of a calf. According to
what the magicians say, persons who rub themselves with this
plant improve their personal appearance thereby ; and they
may ensure themselves against all noxious substances and
poisons, by wearing it as a bracelet.
CHAP. 81. EUCLEA: ONE BEMEDY.
The same is the case, too, with the plant to which they give
the name of " euclea,"9 and which, they tell us, rubbed upon
the person, will ensure a more extended consideration. They
say, too, that if a person carries artemisia10 about him, he will
be ensured against all noxious drugs, the attacks of wild beasts
of every kind, and sunstroke even. This last plant is taken
also in wine, in cases of poisoning by opium. Used as an
amulet, or taken in drink, it is said to be particularly effica-
cious for injuries inflicted by frogs.
CHAP. 82. THE PEBICABPUM ; TWO VABIET1ES OF IT I TWO
KEMEDIES.
The pericarpum is a kind of bulbous plant. There are two
varieties of it ; one with a red11 outer coat, and the other,12
7 Generally identified with the Antirrhinum Orontium of Linnaeus,
Small toad-flax, Calf's snout, or Lesser wild snapdragon. Desfontaines
mentions the Antirrhinum purpureum, and Littre the A. majus of Lin-
naeus, the Common snapdragon, or Greater calf's snout.
8 " Wild lychnis."
9 Theophrastus says, B. ix. c. 21, speaking of the last-mentioned plant,
" The same too, with reference to glory and consideration." Pliny,
singularly enough, has mistaken the Greek word "eucleia" (glory) for
the name of a plant, and has fabricated one accordingly : a similar blunder
to that made by him with reference to " hippace," in c. 44 of this Book.
10 See c. 36 of this Book.
11 Fee is inclined to identify it with the Bulbine of B. xx. c. 41, pro-
bably the Hyacinthus botryoides of Linnaeus, the Blue grape hyacinth.
Brotero and Desfontaines name the Hyacinthus comosus, the Purple grnpe
hyacinth, Littre mentions the Ornithogalum nutans of Linnaeus, the May
star of Bethlehem.
12 Identified by Fee with the Bulbus vomitorius or Bulb emetic of B. xx.
132 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
similar in appearance to the black poppy, and possessed of
greater virtues than the first. They are both, however, of a
warming nature, for which reason they are administered to
persons who have taken hemlock, a poison for which frankin-
cense and panaces are used, chironion13 in particular. This
last, too, is given in cases of poisoning by fungi.
CHAP. 83. (11.) BEMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE HEAD.
NYMPH1S)A HERACLIA : TWO BEMEDIES.
But we shall now proceed to point out the various classes
of remedies for the, several parts of the body, and the maladies
to which those parts are subject, beginning in the first place
with the head.
The root of nymphsea heraclia u effects the cure of alopecy,
if they are beaten up together,15 and applied. The polythrix16
differs from, the callitrichos17 in having white, rushlike suckers,
larger leaves, and more numerous ; the main stem,18 too, is
larger. This plant strengthens the hair, prevents it from
falling off, and makes it grow more thickly.
CHAP. 84. THE LINGTJLACA I ONE REMEDY.
The same is the case too with the lingulaca,19 a plant that
grows in the vicinity of springs, and the root of which is
reduced to ashes, and beaten up with hog's lard. Due care
must be taken, however, that it is the lard of a female, of a
black colour, and one that has never farrowed. The application
is rendered additionally efficacious, if the ointment is applied in
the sun. Root, too, of cyclaminos is employed in the same
c. 41, the same, in his opinion, with the Narcissus jonquilla. the Emetic jon-
quil. Sprengel, however, would identify the Bulbus vomitorius with either
the Narcissus orientalis or the Pancratium Illyricum; and Sibthorp con-
siders its synonym to be the Ornithogalum stachyoides of Alton. Littre
gives the Muscari comosum.
13 See e. 13 of this Book.
14 See c. 37 of this Book, and B. xxvi. c. 28.
15 There seems to be an hiatus here. From the words of Dioscorides,
B, iii. c. 138, it would appear that pitch was the other ingredient, to be
beaten up with the plant.
16 The same as the Polytrichos of B. xxii. c. 30.
17 In B. xxii. c. 30, he makes them to be the same plant, and it is most
probable that they may be both referred to the Asplenium trichomanes of
Linnaeus. 18 " Frutice."
« See B. xxiv. c. 108.
Chap. 87.] HYSSOP. 133
manner for a similar purpose. A decoction of root of helle-
bore in oil or in water is used for the removal of porrigo. For
the cure of head-ache, root of all kinds of panaces20 is used,
beaten up in oil ; as also aristolochia21 and iberis,22 this last being
applied to the head for an hour or more, if the patient can
bear it so long, care being taken to bathe in the meanwhile.
The daucus, too, is curative of head-ache. Cyclaminos,23 intro-
duced into the nostrils with honey, clears the head; used in
the form of a liniment, it heals ulcers of the head. Periste-
reos,24 also, is curative of diseases of the head.
CHAP. 85. THE CACALIA OR LEONTICK I THREE REMEDIES.
The name of " cacalia"25 or " leontice" is given to a plant
with seed resembling small pearls in appearance, and hang-
ing down between large leaves : it is mostly found upon
mountains. Fifteen grains of this seed are macerated in oil,
and the head is rubbed with the mixture, the contrary way to
the hair.
CHAP. 86. THE CALL1TRICHOS I ONE REMEDY.
A sternutatory, too, is prepared from the callitrichos.26 The
leaves of this plant are similar to those of the lentil, and the
stems resemble fine rushes ; the root is very diminutive. It
grows in shady, moist localities, and has a burning taste in the
mouth.
CHAP. 87. HYSSOP : TEN REMEDIES.
Hyssop,27 beaten up in oil, is curative of phthiriasis and
20 See c. 11 of this Book.
21 See c. 54 of this Book. 22 See c. 49 of this Book.
23 See c. 67 of this Book. «* Or Vervain.
25 Sprengel identified this plant at first with the Buplevnim longifolium'
of Linnaeus, the Long-leaved hare's ear, but at a later period with the
Mercurialis tomentosa, the Woolly mercury. Fee suggests the Cacalia
petasites or albifrons, though with diffidence. ,Littr6 gives the Cacalia ver-
bascifoiia of Sibthorp.
26 See c. 83 of this Book ; also B. xxii. c. 30, and B. xxvii. c. 111.
27 There has been much discussion on the identification of the Hyssopum
of the ancients, their descriptions varying very considerably. It has been
suggested that that of the Egyptians was the Origanum JEgyptianum ; that
of the Hebrews, the Origanum Syriacum ; that of Dioscorides, the Origa-
num Smyrnaeum; and that of the other Greek writers, the Teucrium pseudo-
hyssopus, or else the Thymbra verticillata and spicata. Fee is inclined to
identity that here mentioned by Pliny with the Thymbra spicata of Lin-
naeus, and the Garden hyssop of Dioscorides, with the Hyssopus officinalis
134 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Cook XXV.
prurigo of the head. The best hyssop is that of Mount
Taurus in Cilicia, next to which in quality is the produce of
Pamphylia and Smyrna. This plant is injurious to the
stomach : taken with figs, it produces alvine evacuations, and
used in combination with honey, it acts as an emetic. It is
generally thought that, beaten up with honey, salt, and cum-
min, it is curative of the stings of serpents.
CHAP. 88. THE LONCHITIS I FOUR REMEDIES.
The lonchitis 29 is not, as most writers have imagined, the
same plant as the xiphion30 or phasganion, although the seed
of it does bear a resemblance to the point of a spear. The
lonchitis, in fact, has leaves like those of the leek, of a red-
dish colour near the root, and more numerous there than on the
upper part of the stem. It bears diminutive heads, which are
very similar to our masks of comedy, and from which a small
tongue protrudes :31 the roots of it are remarkably long. It
grows in thirsty, arid soils.
CHAP. 89. THE XIPHION OR PHASGANION : FOUR REMEDIES.
The xiphion32 or phasganion, on the other hand, is found
growing in humid localities. On first leaving the ground it
has the appearance of a sword ; the stem of it is two cubits in
length, and the root is fringed like a hazel nut.33
This root should always be taken up before harvest, and
dried in the shade. The upper part of it, pounded with
frankincense, and mixed with an equal quantity of wine, ex-
tracts fractured bones of the cranium, purulent matter in all
parts of the body, and bones of serpents,34 when accidentally
of Linnaeus. Littre states, however, that this last is a stranger to Greece,
.and that M. Fraas (Synopsis, p. 182) identifies the hyssop of Dioscorides
with the Origanum Smyrnseum or Syriacum.
29 Generally identified with the Serapias lingua of Linnaeus.
30 The same, most probably, as the Gladiolus of B. xxi. c. 67. See also
the next Chapter in thig JBook.
31 This was a characteristic feature of the masks used in the Roman
Comedy.
32 See Note 30 above. The medicinal properties here attributed to the
Xiphion, or Gladiolus communis, our common Red corn-flag, are very doubt-
ful, as Fee remarks.
33 "With the outer coat on, of course.
34 Dalechamps is probably right iu preferring the reading " carpentis "
to " serpentis," in which case the meaning would be, " or bones when
accidentally crushed by the wheels of vehicles."
Chap. 90.] PSYLLION. 135
trodden upon ; it is very efficacious, too, for poisons. In cases
of head-ache, the head should be rubbed with hellebore, boiled
and beaten up in olive oil, or oil of roses, or else with peuce-
danum steeped in olive oil or rose oil, and vinegar. This last
plant, made lukewarm, is very good also for hemicrania36 and
vertigo. It being of a heating nature, the body is rubbed with
the root as a sudorific.
CHAP. 90. — PSYLLION, CYNOlDES, CRYSTALLION, SICELICON, OR
CYNOMYIA; SIXTEEN KEMEDIES. THRYSELINUM : ONE REMEDY.
Psyllion,36 cynoi'des, crystallion, sicelicon, or cynomyia, has
a slender root, of which no use is made, and numerous thin
branches, with seeds resembling those of the bean, at the ex-
tremities.37 The leaves of it are not unlike a dog's head in
shape ;38 and the seed, which is enclosed in berries, bears a
resemblance to a flea — whence its name " psyllion." This plant
is generally found growing in vineyards, is of a cooling nature,
and is extremely efficacious as a dispellent. The seed of it is
the part made use of; for head-ache, it is applied to the fore-
head and temples with rose oil and vinegar, or else with
oxy crate ; it is used as a liniment for other purposes also.
Mixed in the proportion of one acetabulum to one sextarius of
water, it i» left to coagulate and thicken ; after which it is
beaten up, and the thick solution is used as a liniment for all
kinds of pains, abscesses, and inflammations.
Aristolochia is used as a remedy for wounds in the head ; it
has the property, too, of extracting fractured bones, not only
from other parts of the body, but the cranium in particular.
The same, too, with plistolochia.
'Thryselinum39 is a plant not unlike parsley ; the root of it,
eaten, carries off pituitous humours from the head.
35 Or "meagrim."
36 Identified with the Plantago Psyllium of Linnaeus, our Fleawort,
Fleaseed, or Fleabane.
37 Nothing, Fee says, can be more ahsurd than this description of the
plant.
38 Whence its name "cynoi'des" and "cynomyia."
89 This plant has not been identified ; Wild water-parsley, perhaps a kind
of Sium, has heen suggested.
136 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
CHAP. 91. (12.) REMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE EYES.
It is generally thought that the greater centaury 40 strengthens
the sight, if the eyes are fomented with it steeped in water ;
and that by employing the juice of the smaller kind, in com-
bination with honey, films and cloudiness may be dispersed,
marks obliterated, and small flies removed which have got
into the eye. It is thought also that sideritis is curative of
albugo in beasts of burden. As to chelidonia,41 it is marvel-
lously good for all the affections above mentioned. Boot of
panaces42 is applied, with polenta,43 to defluxions of the eyes ;
and for the purpose of keeping them down, henbane- seed is
taken, in doses of one obolus, with an equal proportion of
opium, in wine. Juice, too, of gentian is used as a lini-
ment, and it sometimes forms an ingredient in the more ac-
tive eyesalves,44 as a substitute for meconium. Euphorbia,45
applied in the form of a liniment, improves the eyesight,
and for ophthalmia juice of plantago46 is injected into the
eyes.
Aristolochia disperses films upon the eyes; and iberis,47
attached to the head with cinquefoil, is curative of defluxions
and other diseases of the eyes. Yerbascum48 is applied topi-
cally to defluxions of the eyes, and vervain is used for a
similar purpose, with rose oil and vinegar. For the treat-
ment of cataract and dimness of sight, cyclaminos is reduced
to a pulp and divided into lozenges. Juice, too, of peu-
cedanum, as already mentioned,49 mixed with meconium and oil
of roses, is good for the sight, and disperses films upon the
eyes. Psyllion,60 applied to the forehead, arrests defluxions of
the eyes.
CHAP. 92. (13.) — THE ANA&ALLIS, OR COBCHORON ,' TWO VARIE-
TIES OF IT I SIX REMEDIES.
The anagallis is called " corchoron"51 by some. There are
40 All the plants here mentioned are of a more or less irritating nature,
and would greatly imperil the sight.
1 See c. 50 of this Book. 42 See c. 11 of this Book.
3 See B. xviii. c. 14, and B. xxii. c. 59, **> " Collyriis."
5 A most dangerous application, in reality.
6 A comparatively harmless, though useless application.
7 See c. 49 of this Book. ** See c. 73 of this Book.
9 In c. 70 of this Book. 50 See c. 90 of this Book.
51 The Corchorus of B. xxi. c. 106, is most probably altogether a differ-
ent plant.
Chap. 92.] THE ANAGALLIS. 137
two kinds of it, the male52 plant, with a red blossom, and the
female,53 with a blue flower. These plants do not exceed a
palm in height, and have a tender stem, with diminutive
leaves of a rounded form, drooping upon the ground. They
grow in gardens and in spots covered with water, the blue
anagallis being the first to blossom. The juice54 of either
plant, applied with honey, disperses films upon the eyes,
suffusions of blood55 in those organs resulting from blows, and
argema56 with a red tinge : if used in combination with Attic
honey, they are still more efficacious. The anagallis has the
effect also of dilating57 the pupil ; hence the eye is anointed
with it before the operation of couching58 for cataract. These -\
plants are employed also for diseases of the eyes in beasts of
burden.
The juice, injected into the nostrils, which are then rinsed
with wine, acts as a detergent upon the head : it is taken also,
in doses of one drachma, in wine, for wounds inflicted by ser-
pents. It is a remarkable fact, that cattle will refuse to touch
the female plant ; but if it should so happen that, deceived by
the resemblance — the flower being the only distinguishing
mark — they have accidentally tasted it, they immediately have
recourse, as a remedy, to the plant called " asyla," 59 but more
generally known among us as " ferus oculus."60 Some persons
recommend those who gather it, to prelude by saluting it
before sunrise, and then, before uttering another word, to take
care and extract the juice immediately ; if this is done, they
say, it will be doubly efficacious.
As to the juice of euphorbia, we have spoken61 of its pro-
perties at sufficient length already. In cases of ophthalmia,
52 Identified with the Anagallis arvensis of Linnaeus, with a red flower,
the Red pimpernel, Corn pimpernel, or Shepherd's weather-glass.
53 The Anagallis caeruleo flore of Tournefort, the Blue pimpernel.
54 In reality they are destitute of medicinal properties. It is said,
though apparently on no sufficient grounds, that red pimpernel is poisonous
to small birds.
55 Or u blood-shot eyes." 56 A disease of the pupil.
57 Belladonna, a preparation from the Atropa belladonna, is now gene-
rally used for this purpose. 58 " Paracentesis."
59 This plant is unknown. Fee suggests that Pliny may have made a
mistake, and that the account from which he copies may have been, that
when cattle have been stung by the asilus, or gadfly, they have recourse to
the Anagallis. 60 " Savage eye."
61 In c. 38 of this Book.
138 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
attended with swelling, it will be a good plan to apply worm-
wood beaten up with honey, as well as powdered betony.
CHAP. 93. THE JEGILOPS I TWO BEMEDIES.
The fistula of the eye, called " eegilops," is cured by the
agency of the plant of the same name,63 which grows among
barley, and has a leaf like that of wheat. The seed is
pounded for the purpose, and applied with meal ; or else the
juice is extracted from the stem and more pulpy leaves, the
ears being first removed. This juice is incorporated with meal
of three-month wheat, and divided into lozenges.
CHAP, 94. — MANDBAGORA, CTBCJEON, MOKION", OK HIPPOPHLOMOS j
TWO VARIETIES OF IT I TWENTY-FOUR REMEDIES.
Some persons, too, were in the habit of employing mandra-
gora for diseases of the eyes ; but more recently, the use of it
for such a purpose has been abandoned. It is a well-ascertained
fact, however, that the root, beaten up with rose oil and
wine, is curative of defluxions of the eyes and pains in those
organs ; and, indeed, the juice of this plant still forms an in-
gredient in many medicaments for the eyes. Some persons
give it the name of " circseon."63 There are two varieties,
the white64 mandragora, which is generally thought to be the
male plant, and the black,65 which is considered to be the
female. It has a leaf narrower than that of the lettuce, a
hairy stem, and a double or triple root, black without and
white within, soft and fleshy, and nearly a cubit in length.
Both kinds bear a fruit about the size of a hazel-nut,
enclosing a seed resembling the pips of a pear in appearance.
The name given to the white plant by some persons is
"arsen,"66 by others "morion,"67 and by others again, "hippo-
phlomos." The leaves of it are white, while those of the other
62 See B. xviii. c. 44, and B. xxi. c. 63.
63 Or "Plant of Circe."
64 Identified by Fee with the Atropa mandragora vernalis of Bertolini,
the Spring mandrake.
65 The Atropa mandragora autumnalis of Bertolini, the Autumnal man-
drake. 66 The Greek for " male."
67 "Dementing." Fee remarks that the "Morion" in reality is a
different plant, and queries whether it may not be the Atropa bella-
donna of Linnaeus, the Belladonna, or Deadly nightshade, mentioned above
in Note 57.
Chap. 94.] MANDEAGORA. 139
one68 are broader, and similar to those of garden lapathum69 in
appearance. Persons, when about to gather this plant, take
every precaution not to have the wind blowing in their face ;
and, after tracing three circles round it with a sword, turn
towards the west and dig it up.70 The juice is extracted both
from the fruit and from the stalk, the top being first removed ;
also from the root, which is punctured for the purpose, or else
a decoction is made of it. The filaments, too, of the root ^are
made use of, and it is sometimes cut up into segments and
kept in wine.
It is not the mandragora of every country that will yield a
juice, but where it does, it is about vintage time that it is
collected : it has in all cases a powerful odour, that of the
root and fruit the most so. The fruit is gathered when ripe,
and dried in the shade ; and the juice, when extracted, is left
to thicken in the sun. The same is the case, too, with the
juice of the root, which is extracted either by pounding it or
by boiling it down to one third in red wine. The leaves
are best, kept in brine ; indeed, when fresh, the juice of them
is a baneful poison,71 and these noxious properties are far from
being entirely removed, even when they are preserved in
brine. The very odour of them is highly oppressive to the
head, although there are countries in which the fruit is eaten.
Persons ignorant of its properties are apt to be struck dumb
by the odour of this plant when in excess, and too strong a
dose of the juice is productive of fatal effects.
Administered in* doses proportioned to the strength of the
patient, this juice has a narcotic effect ; a middling dose being
one cyathus. It is given, too, for injuries inflicted by serpents,
and before incisions or punctures are made in the body, in
68 The female, or black, mandrake.
69 See B. xx. c. 85.
70 The superstitions with reference to the Mandrake extended from the
earliest times till a very recent period. It was used in philtres, and was
supposed to utter piercing cries when taken up ; Josephus counsels those
whose business it is to do so, to employ a dog for the purpose, if they would
avoid dreadful misfortunes. All these notions probably arose from the re-
semblance which the root bears to the legs and lower part of the human
body. See B. xxii. c. 9, where we have queried in a Note whether the
Eryngium may not have been the " mandrake," the possession of which
was so much coveted by the wives of Jacob.
71 "Pestis est."
140 PLINY'S NATURAL HiSTcrar. [Book XXY.
order to ensure insensibility to the pain.72 Indeed, for this last
purpose, with some persons, the odour of it is quite sufficient
to induce sleep. The juice is taken also as a substitute for
hellebore, in doses of two oboli, in honied wine : hellebore,
however, is more efficacious as an emetic, and as an evacuant
of black bile.
CHAP. 95. HEMLOCK I THIBTEEN BEMEDIES.
Hemlock,73 too, is a poisonous plant, rendered odious by the
use made of it by the Athenian people, as an instrument of
capital punishment: still,74 however, as it is employed for
many useful purposes, it must not be omitted. It is the seed
that is noxious, the stalk being eaten by many people, either
green, or cooked78 in the saucepan. This stem is smooth,
jointed like a reed, of a swarthy hue, often as much as two
cubits in height, and branchy at the top. The leaves are like
those of coriander, only softer, and possessed of a powerful
odour. The seed is more substantial than that of anise, and
the root is hollow and never used. The seed and leaves are
possessed of refrigerating properties ; indeed, it is owing to
these properties that it is so fatal, the cold chills with which it
is attended commencing at the extremities. The great remedy76
for it, provided it has not reached the vitals, is wine, which is
naturally of a warming tendency ; but if it is taken in wine,
it is irremediably fatal.
A juice is extracted from the leaves and flowers ; for it is
at the time of its blossoming that it is in ifs full vigour. The
seed is crushed, and the juice extracted from it is left to
thicken in the sun, and then divided into lozenges. This
72 In the same way that chloroform is now administered.
73 "Cicuta." Identified with the Conium maculatum of Linnaeus,
Common hemlock or Keghs. It grows in the vicinity of Athens, and pro-
bably formed the basis of the poisons with which that volatile people " re-
compensed," as Fee remarks, the virtues and exploits of their philosophers
and generals. Socrates, Phocion, and Philopcemen, are said to have been
poisoned with hemlock ; but in the case of Socrates, it was probably com-
bined with opium and other narcotics. See B. xiv. cc. 7, 28, and B. xxiii.
c. 23,
74 He has more than once stated, that it is not his object to enter into
a description of poisons.
75 Fee doubts if it is possible to eat it, boiled even, with impunity.
76 See B. xiv. cc. 7, 28, and B. xxiii. c. 23.
Chap. 97.] MOLYBDJ31S-A. 141
preparation proves fatal by coagulating the blood — another
deadly property which belongs to it ; and hence it is that the
bodies of those who have been poisoned by it are covered with
spots. It is sometimes used in combination with water as a me-
dium for diluting certain medicaments. An emollient poultice
is also prepared from this juice, for the purpose of cooling the
stomach ; but the principal use made of it is as a topical ap-
plication, to check defluxions of the eyes in summer, and to
allay pains in those organs. It is employed also as an ingre-
dient in eyesalves, and is used for arresting fluxes in other parts
of the body : the leaves, too, have a soothing effect upon all
kinds of pains and tumours, and upon defluxions of the eyes.
Anaxilaiis makes a statement to the effect, that if the
mamillaB77 are rubbed with hemlock during virginity, they will
always be hard and firm : but a better-ascertained fact is, that
applied78 to the mamillge, it dries up the milk in women re-
cently delivered ; as also that, applied to the testes at the age
of puberty, it acts most effectually as an antaphrodisiac.79 As
to those cases in which it is recommended to take it internally
as a remedy, I shall, for my own part, decline to mention them.
The most powerful hemlock is that grown at Susa, in Parthia,
the next best being the produce of Laconia, Crete, and Asia.80
In Greece, the hemlock of the finest quality is that of Megara,
and next to it, that of Attica.
CHAP. 96. CEETHMOS AGEIOS I ONE EEMEDY/.
Crethmos agrios,81 applied to the eyes, removes rheum ; and,
with the addition of polenta, it causes tumours to disappear.
CHAP. 97. MOLYBMNA I ONE EEMEDY.
Molybdaena82 also grows everywhere in the fields, a plant
commonly known as " plumbago."82 It has leaves like those of
lapathum,83 and a thick, hairy root. Chewed and applied to the
77 A very dangerous use of it, Desfontaines thinks.
'8 Desfontaines says that it is still employed in various ways when the
milk is in excess.
79 By causing those organs to waste away. ^
80 The province of Asia Minor.
81 " Wild crethmos." Generally identified with the Crithmum mariti-
mum of Linnseus, Small samphire, or sea fennel.
82 Or "lead plant." Identified with the Plumbago Europcea of Lin-
nseus, Leadwort, or French dittander. 83 gee B, xx> c< $5,
142 PLINY' 8 NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXV.
eye from time to time, it removes the disease called " plum-
bum,"84 which affects that organ.
CHAP. 98. THE FIRST KIND OF CAPNOS, KNOWN ALSO AS CHICKEN^
FOOT I ONE REMEDY.
The first kind of capnos,85 known also as "chicken's foot/'86 is
found growing on walls and hedges: it has very thin,
straggling branches, with a purple blossom. It is used in a
green state, and the juice of it disperses films upon the eyes ;
hence it is that it is employed as an ingredient in medicinal
compositions for the eyes.
CHAP. 99. THE ARBORESCENT CAPNOS I THREE -REMEDIES-
There is another kind87 of capnos also, similar both in name
and properties, but different in appearance. It is a branchy
plant, is extremely delicate, has leaves like those of coriander,
is of an ashy colour, and bears a purple flower : it grows in
gardens, and amid crops of barley. Employed in the form of
an ointment for the eyes, it improves the sight, producing
tears in the same way that smoke does, to which, in fact, it
owes its name. It has the effect also of preventing the eye-
lashes, when pulled out, from growing again.
CHAP. 100, THE ACORON OR AGRION : FOURTEEN REMEDIES.
•
The acoron88 has leaves similar to those of the iris,89 only
narrower, and with a longer stalk ; the roots of it are black,
and no.t so veined, but in other respects are similar to those of
the iris, have an acrid taste and a not unpleasant smell, and
act as a carminative. The best roots are those grown in
Pontus, the next best those of Galatia, and the next those of
84 " Lead disease," apparently; livid spots on the eyelids, Hardouin
thinks.
85 Or " smoke-plant ;" so called from its smell, which resembles that of
smoke or soot.
86 « Pedes gallinacei." Identified by Fee with the Corydalis digitata of
Persoon, or else the C. bulbosa, or C. fabacea, several varieties of Fu-
mitory.
87 Identified by Fee with the Fumaria parvifolia of Lamarck, Small-
leaved fumitory, or Earth-smoke. Other varieties of Fumitory have also
been mentioned.
b8 The Acorus calamus of Linnaeus, Sweet cane, or Sweet- smelling flag.
See B. xii. c. 48. 89 See B. ixi. c. 19.
Chap. 102.] THE GBEATEE AIZOUM. 143
Crete ; but it is in Colchis, on the banks of the river Phasis,
and in various other watery localities, that they are found in
the greatest abundance. When fresh, they have a more
powerful odour than when kept for some time : these of Crete
are more blanched than the produce of Pontus. They are cut
into pieces about a finger in length, and dried in leather bags90
in the shade.
There are some authors who give the name of " acoron" to
the root of the oxymyrsine ;91 for which reason also some prefer
giving that plant the name of " acorion." It has powerful pro-
perties as a calorific and resolvent, and is taken in drink for
cataract and films upon the eyes ; the juice also is extracted,
and taken for injuries inflicted by serpents.
CHAP. 101. THE COTYLEDON I TWO VAEIETIES OF IT : SIXTY-ONK
EEMEDIES.
The cotyledon92 is a small herbaceous plant, with a diminu-
tive, tender stem, and an unctuous leaf, with a concave surface
like that of the cotyloid cavity of the thigh. It grows in
maritime and rocky localities, is of a green colour, and has a
rounded root like an olive : the juice of it is remedial for
diseases of the eyes.
There is another93 kind also of the same plant, the leaves of
which are of a dirty green94 colour, larger than those of the
other, and growing in greater numbers about the root, which
is surrounded with them just as the eye is with the socket.
These leaves have a remarkably astringent taste, and the stem
is of considerable length, but extremely slender. This plant
is employed for the same purposes as the iris and aizourn.
CHAP. 102. THE GEEATEB AIZOUM, ALSO CALLED BTJPHTHALMOS,
ZOOPHTHALMOS, STEEGETHEOtf, HYPOGESON, AMBE08ION, AME-
EIMNON, SEDUM MAGNUM, OK DIGITELLUS : THIETY-SIX REME-
DIES. THE SMALLEK AIZOUM, ALSO CALLED EEITHALES, TEI-
THALES, CHEYSOTHALES, ISOETES OB SEDUM : THIETY-TWO
EEMEDIES.
Of the plant known as aizoum94* there are two kinds; the
9<> " Utribus." 91 see B. xv. c. 7.
92 Identified with the Cotyledon umbilicus of Smith, Ilor. £rit., Navel-
wort, Kidney-wort, or Wall penny-wort.
93 Identified by Littre with the Saxifraga media of Gouan ; and by Fee
with the Cotyledon serrata of Linnaeus, Saw- toothed navel-woit.
94 "Sordidis." «• ''Always living."
144 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXV.
larger of which is sown in earthen pots. By some persons it
is known as " buphthalmos,"96 and by others as "zoopth-
almos," or else as " stergethron," because it forms an in-
gredient in the composition of philtres. Another name
given to it is "hypogeson," from the circumstance that it
generally grows upon the eaves95* of houses : some persons,
again, give it the names of " ambrosion" and " amerimnon."
In Italy it is known as " sedum magnum,"96 "oculus," or
" digitellus." The other kind97 of aizoiim is more diminutive,
and is known by some persons as " erithales"98 and by others
as " trithales," from the circumstance that it blossoms three
times in the year. Other names given to it are " chryso-
thales"99 and " isoetes :J)1 but aizoiim is the common appellation
of them both, from their being always green.
The larger kind exceeds a cubit in height, and is somewhat
thicker than the thumb : at the extremity, the leaves are simi-
lar to a tongue in shape, and are fleshy, unctuous, Ml of juice,
and about as broad as a person's thumb. Some are bent down-
wards towards the ground, while others again stand upright,
the outline of them resembling an eye in shape. The smaller
kind grows upon walls, old rubbish of houses, and tiled roofs ;
it is branchy from the root, and covered with leaves to the ex-
tremity. These leaves are narrow, pointed, and juicy : the
stem is a palm in height, and the root is never used.
CHAP. 103. THE ANDBA.CHLE AGRIA OK ILLECEBEA: THIRTY-TWO
KEMEDIES.
A similar plant is that known to the Greeks by the name of
" andrachle agria,"2 and by the people of Italy as the " illece-
95 "Bull's eye," "living eye, "and " love exciter." The Semper vivum
tectorum of Linnaeus, common Houseleek or Sengreene.
95* Called "geisa" in Greek.
96 " Great houseleek," "eye," or "little finger/'
97 Fee identifies it with the Sedum ochroleiicum of Sibthorp ; Sprengel
with the Sedum altissimum, and others with the Sedum acre, varieties of
Wall pepper, or Stone-crop. Littre gives the Sedum amplexicaule of
Decandolle. 98 " Spring blossoming."
99 " Blossoming like gold." l " The same all the year."
2 " Wild andrachle." Desfontaines identifies it with the Sedum stel-
latuin ; Fee, though with some hesitation, with the Sedum reflexum of
Linnaeus, the Sharp-pointed stone-crop, or Prick-madam. The Sedum,
however, is of a caustic and slightly corrosive nature, and not edible ; in
which it certainly differs from the Andrachle agria of our author. Holland
calls it " Wild purslain."
Chap. 105.] BEMEDIES FOB DISEASES OF THE TEETH. 145
bra." Its leaves, though small, are larger than those of the
last-named plant, but growing on a shorter stem. It grows in
craggy localities, and is gathered for use as food. All these
plants have the same properties, being cooling and astringent.
The leaves, applied topically, or the juice, in form of a lini-
ment, are curative of defluxions of the eyes : this juice too
acts as a detergent upon ulcers of the eyes, makes new flesh,
and causes them to cicatrize ; it3 cleanses the eyelids also of
viscous matter. Applied to the temples, both the leaves
and the juice of these plants are remedial for head-ache ; they
neutralize the venom also of the phalangium ; and the greater
aizoiim, in particular, is an antidote to aconite. It is asserted,
too, that those who carry this last plant about them will never
be stung by the scorpion.
These plants are curative of pains in the ears ; which
is the case also with juice of henbane, applied in moderate
quantities, of achillea,4 of the smaller centaury and plantago,
of peucedanum in combination with rose-oil and opium, and of
acoron5 mixed with rose-leaves. In all these cases, the liquid
is made warm, and introduced into the ear with the aid of a
syringe.6 The cotyledon is good, too, for suppurations in the
ears, mixed with deer's marrow made hot. The juice of
pounded root of ebulum7 is strained through a linen cloth,
and then left to thicken in the sun : when wanted for use, it
is moistened with oil of roses, and made hot, being employed
for the cure of iinposthumes of the parotid glands. Yervain
and plantago are likewise used for the cure of the same
malady, as also sideritis,8 mixed with stale axle-grease.
CHAP. 104. A REMEDY FOR DISEASES OF THE NOSTRILS.
Aristolochia,8* mixed with cyperus,9 is curative of polypus
of the nose.10
CHAP. 105. REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE TEETH.
The following are remedies for diseases of the teeth : root
3 This is probably the meaning of " palpebras deglutinat."
4 See c. 19 of this Book. 5 See c. 100 of this Book.
6 " Strigil." This in general means a " body-scraper ;" but it most
probably signifies a " syringe," in the present instance. See B. xxix. c.
39, and B. xxxi c. 47. 7 See B. xxiv. c. 35.
8 See c. 19 of this Book. *• See c. 54 of this Book,
9 See B. xxi. cc. 69, 70. 10 " Ozaenam."
VOL. V. L
146 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTOKT. [BookXXY.
of panacea,11 chewed, that of the chironion in particular, and
juice of panaces, used as a collutory ; root, too, of henbane,
chewed with vinegar, and root of polemonia.12 The root of
plantago is chewed for a similar purpose, or the teeth are
rinsed with a decoction of the juice mixed with vinegar. The
leaves, too, are said to he useful for the gums, when swollen
with sanious blood, or if there are discharges of blood there-
from. The seed, too, of plantago is a cure for abscesses in the
gums, and for gum-boils. Aristolochia has a strengthening
effect upon the gums and teeth ; and the same with vervain,
either chewed with the root of that plant, or boiled in wine
and vinegar, the decoction being employed as a gargle. The
same is the case, also, with root of cinquefoil, boiled down to
one third, in wine or vinegar ; before it is boiled, however, the
root should be washed in sea or salt water : the decoction, too,
must be kept a considerable time in the mouth. Some persons
prefer cleaning the teeth with ashes of cinquefoil.
Root of verbascum13 is also boiled in wine, and the decoction
used for rinsing the teeth. The same is done too with hyssop
and juice of peucedanum , mixed with opium ; or else the juice
of the root of anagallis,14 the female plant in particular, is
injected into the nostril on the opposite side to that in which
the pain is felt.
CHAP. 106. ERIGERON, PAPPUS, ACANTHIS, OR SEKECTO : EIGHT
HEM EDI ES.
Erigeron15 is called by our people " senecio." It is said
that if a person, after tracing around this plant with an imple-
ment of iron, takes it up and touches the tooth affected with it
three times, taking care to spit each time on the ground, and
then replaces it in the same spot, so as to take root again,
he will never experience any further pain in that tooth. This
plant has just' the appearance and softness of trixago,16 with a
number of small reddish-coloured stems: it is found growing
upon walls, and the tiled roofs of houses. The Greeks have
11 See c. 11 of this Book. 12 See c. 28 of this Book.
13 See c. 73 of this Book. u See c. 92 of this Book.
15 Identified by Desfontaines with the Senecio Jacobaea of Linnaeus,
Common ragwort. Fee identifies it with the Senecio vulgaris of Linnieus,
our Groundsel. They are botli destitute of medicinal properties.
l.6 See B. xxiv. c. 80.
Chap. 107.] THE EPHEMEEON. 147
given it the name of " erigeron,"17 because it is white in
spring. The head is divided into numerous downy filaments,
which resemble those of the thorn,18 protruding from between
the divisions of the head : hence it is that Callimachus has
given it the name of " acanthis,"19 while others, again, call it
" pappus.20"
After all, however, the Greek writers are by no means agreed
as to this plant; some say, for instance, that it has leaves
like those of rocket, while others maintain that they resemble
those of the robur, only that they are considerably smaller.
Some, again, assert that the root is useless, while others aver
that it is beneficial for the sinews, and others that it produces
suffocation, if taken in drink. On the other hand, some have
prescribed it in wine, for jaundice and all affections of the
bladder, heart, and liver, and give it as their opinion that it
carries off gravel from the kidneys. It has been prescribed,
also, by them for sciatica, the patient taking one drachma
in oxymel, after a walk ; and has been recommended as ex-
tremely useful for griping pains in the bowels, taken in raisin
wine. They assert, also, that used as an aliment with vinegar,
it is wholesome for the thoracic organs, and recommend it to
be grown in the garden for these several purposes.
In addition to this, there are some authorities to be found,
which distinguish another variety of this plant, but without
mentioning its peculiar characteristics. This last they recom-
mend to be taken in water, to neutralize the venom of serpents,
and prescribe it to be eaten for the cure of epilepsy. For my
own part, however, I shall only speak of it in accordance with
the uses made of it among us Romans, uses based upon the
results of actual experience. The down of this plant, beaten
up with saffron and a little cold water, is applied to defluxions
of the eyes ; parched with a little salt, it is employed for the
cure of scrofulous sores.
CHAP. 107. — THE EPHEMEBON : TWO BEMEDII S.
The ephemeron21 has leaves like those of the lily, but smaller j
17"Ea/oi y€pa>i/, "aged," or " hoary in spring."
18 " Spinae." He probably uses a wrong term, and means " thistle."
19 It may possibly have been so called from the Acanthis, or goldfinch, .
that bird being fond of groundsel,
20 u Thistle-down." If Pliny is speaking of groundsel, he is wrong in
his assertion that it turns white, or in other words, goes to seed, in spring.
21 Sprengel identifies it with the Ornithogalum stachyoides ; but that
148 PLINY'S KATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXY.
a stem of the same height, a blue flower, and a seed of which
no use is made. The root is single, about the thickness of
one's finger, and an excellent remedy for diseases of the teeth ;
for which purpose it is cut up in pieces, and boiled in vinegar,
the decoction being used warm as a collutory. The root, too,
is employed by itself to strengthen the teeth, being inserted for
the purpose in those that are hollow or carious.
Boot of chelidonia22 is also beaten up with vinegar, and kept in
the mouth. Black hellebore is sometimes inserted in carious
teeth ; and a decoction of either of these last-mentioned plants,
in vinegar, has the effect of strengthening loose teeth.
CHAP. 108 THE LABKIjM VE2TERETJM : OKE REMEDY.
Labrum Venereum23 is the name given to a plant that grows
in running streams.24 It produces a small worm,25 which is
crushed by being rubbed upon the teeth, or else enclosed in
wax and inserted in the hollow of the tooth. Care must be
taken, however, that the plant, when pulled up, does not touch
the ground.
CHAP. 109. THE BATRACHION, RANUNCULUS. OR STRUMUS J POUR
VARIETIES OF IT : FOURTEEN REMEDIES.
The plant known to the Greeks as " batrachion,"26 we call
ranunculus.27 There are four varieties of it,28 one of which
has no blue flower, and the same is the case with many other plants that
have been suggested as its synonym. Fee suggests the Convallaria verti-
cillata of Linna3us, the whorl-leaved Solomon's seal ; as to which, however,
there is the same difficulty in reference to the flower. Holland calls it the
" May lily," otherwise the Lily of the valley, the Convallaria Maialis ;
and this is the synonym suggested by Fuchsius. Littre gives the Conval-
laria multiflora of Linnaeus. 22 See c. 50 of this Book.
23 Or "Venus' bath." Identified by Littre with the Dipsacus silvestris
of Linnaeus, and by Fee with the Dipsacus fullonum of Linnaeus, the
Teazel, or Fuller's thistle. It received its Roman name from the form of
the leaves, which are channelled, and curved at the edges.
24 This is entirely erroneous ; he may possibly have mistranslated some
author, who has stated that the rain-water settles in reservoirs formed by
the leaves.
25 He alludes to the larvae of the Curculio or weevil, which are found
in the head of the Dipsacus, and many other plants.* See B. xxvii. c. 62,
and B. xxx. c. 8. 26 " Frog-plant."
1 " Little frog." Called " Crow-foot" by us.
28 Sprengel identifies it with the Ranunculus Seguieri, Fee with the R.
Asiaticus, also a native of Greece.
Chap. 109.] THE BATEACHION. 149
has leaves somewhat thicker than those of coriander, nearly the
size of those of the mallow, and of a livid hue : the stem of
the plant is long and slender, and the root white ; it grows on
moist and well-shaded embankments. The second29 kind is
more foliated than the preceding one, the leaves have more
numerous incisions, and the stems of the plant are long. The
third30 variety is smaller than the others, has a powerful smell,
and a flower of a golden colour. The fourth31 kind is very like
the one last mentioned, but the flower is milk-white*
All these plants have caustic properties : if the leaves are
applied unboiled, they raise blisters like those caused by the
action of fire ; hence it is that they are used for the removal of
leprous spots, itch- scabs, and brand marks upon the skin.
They form an ingredient also in all caustic preparations, and
are applied for the cure of alopecy, care being taken to remove
them very speedily. The root, if chewed for some time, in
cases of tooth-ache, will cause32 the teeth to break ; dried and
pulverized, it acts as a sternutatory.
Our herbalists give this plant the name of " struraus," from
the circumstance of its being curative of strumous33 sores and
inflamed tumours, for which purpose a portion of it is hung
up in the smoke. It is a general belief, too, with them, that if
it is replanted, the malady so cured will reappear34 — a criminal
practice, for which the plaritago is also employed. The juice
of tliis last-mentioned plant is curative of internal ulcerations
of the mouth ; and the leaves and root are chewed for a similar
29 Identified by Desfontaines with the Ranunculus hirsutus, or philonotis.
Fee, with Ilardouin, considers it to be the same as the Apiastrum of H.
xx. c. 45, and identifies it with the Ranunculus Sardoiis of Crantz, the
plant probably which produces a contraction of the mouth, rendered famous
as the " Sardonic grin," and more commonly known as the Ranunculus
seeleratus, Apium risus, or Apium Sardoiim, "Laughing parsley," or
" Sardinian parsley/
30 Identified by Sprengel and Desfontaines with the Ranunculus repens.
or Creeping crow-foot ; but by Fee, with the Ranunculus muricatus of
Linnaeus.
31 Identified by Desfontaines with the Ranunculus aconitifolius; by Fee
with the Ranunculus aquatilis of Linnaeus, the Water crowfoot. The
Ranunculi are all active poisons.
32 A fabulous assertion, probably, and it is very doubtful if any one ever
made the trial of its efficacy.
33 Or scrofula. 34 Sje B. xxi. c. 83, and B. xxvi. c. 5.
150 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV.
purpose, even when the mouth is suffering from defluxions.
Ginquefoil effects the cure of ulcerations and offensive breath ;
psyllium35 is used also for ulcers of the mouth.
CHAP. 110. — REMEDIAL PREPARATIONS FOR OFFENSIVE BREATH :
TWO KINDS OF THEM.
We shall also here make mention of certain preparations for
the cure of offensive breath — a most noisome inconvenience.
For this purpose, leaves of myrtle and lentisk are taken in equal
proportions, with one half the quantity of Syrian nut-galls ;
they are then pounded together and sprinkled with old wine,
and the composition is chewed in the morning. In similar
cases, also, ivy berries are used, in combination with cassia and
myrrh ; these ingredients being mixed, in equal proportions,
with wine.
For offensive odours of the nostrils, even though attended
with carcinoma, the most effectual remedy is seed of dra-
contium36 beaten up with honey. An application of hyssop has
the effect of making bruises disappear. Brand marks37 in the
face are healed by rubbing them with mandragora.38
SUMMARY. — Remedies, narratives, and observations, twelve
hundred and ninety-two.
ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED. — C. Yalgius,39 Pompeius Lenaeus,40
Sextius Niger41 who wrote in Greek, Julius Bassus42 who
wrote in Greek, Antonius Castor,43 Cornelius Celsus,44 Fabi-
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Theophrastus,46 Apollodorus,47
Democritus,48 Juba,49 Orpheus,50 Pythagoras,51 Mago,52 Menan-
35 See c. 90 of this Book. 36 See B. xxiv. cc. 91, 93.
37 " Stigmata." 3S See c. 94 of this Book.
39 See end of B. xx. 40 See end of B. xiv.
41 See end of B. xii. 42 See end of B. xx.
43 See end of B. xx. 44 See end of B. vii.
45 j^ Fabianus Papirius, see end of B. ii. ; for Fabianus Sabinus, see
end of B. xviii.
46 See end of B. iii. 47 See end of B. xi.
48 See end of B. ii. 49 See end of B. v.
50 See end of B, xx. 5l See end of B. ii.
52 See end of B. viii.
SUMMARY. 151
dor53 who wrote the " Biochresta," Nicander,54 Horaer, He-
siod,65 Musaeus,56 Sophocles,57 Xanthus,68 Anaxilaiis.59
MEDICAL AUTHORS QUOTED. — Mnesitheus,60 Callimachus,61
Phanias62 the physician, Timaristus,63 Sim us,64 Hippo-
crates,65 Chrysippus,66 Diocles,67 Ophelion,68 Heraclides,69 Hi-
cesius,70 Dionysius,71 Apollodorus7a of Citium, Apollodorus™
of Tarentum, Praxagoras,74 Plistonicus,75 Medius,76 Dieuches,77
Cleophantus,78 Philistion,79 Asclepiades,80 Crateuas,81 Petronius
Diodotus,82 lollas,83 Erasistratus,84 Diagoras,85 Andreas,88
Mnesides,87 Epicharmus,88 Damion,89 Sosimenes,90 Tlepolemus,91
Metrodorus,92 Solon,93 Lycus,94 Olympias95 of Thebes, Philinus,96
Petrichus,97 Micton,98 Glaucias," Xenocrates.1
63 See end of B. xix. 54 See end of B. viii.
65 See end of B. vii. 56 See end of B. xxi.
57 See end of B. xxi.
58 A Lydian historian, anterior to Herodotus, of whom little is known
with any degree of certainty. He prohably flourished in the earlier part
of the fifth century B.C.
59 See end of B. xxi. *° See end of B. xxi.
61 See end of B. iv. 62 See end of B. xxi.
63 See end of B. xxi. 64 See end of B. xxi.
65 See end of B. vii. 66 See end of B. xx.
67 See end of B. xx. 6S See end of B. xx.
69 See end of B. xii. 70 See end of B. xv.
71 See end of B. xii. 72 See end of B. xx.
73 See end of B. xx. 74 See end of 1*. xx.
75 See end cf B. xx. 76 See end of B. xx.
77 See end of B. xx. 78 See end of B. xx.
*79 See end of B. xx. *° See end of B. vii.
81 See end of B. xx. 82 See end of B. xx.
83 See end of B. xii. w See end of B. xi.
85 See end of B. xii. 86 See end of B. xx.
87 See end of B. xii. 88 See end of B. xx.
89 See end of B. xx. 90 See end of B. xx.
91 See end of B. xx. 92 See end of B. xx.
93 See end of B. xx. 94 See end of B. xii.
95 See end of B. xx. 96 See end of B. xx.
97 See end of B. xix. 98 See end of B. xx.
99 See end of B. xx. l See end of B. xx.
152
BOOK XXVI.
A CONTINUATION OF THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM
PLANTS, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO PARTICULAR
DISEASES.
CHAP. 1. (1.) — NEW FOKMS OF DISEASE.
THE face of man has recently been sensible of new forms of
disease, unknown1 in ancient times, not only to Italy, but to
almost the whole of Europe. Still, however, they have not as
yet extended to the whole of Italy, nor have they made any
very great inroads in Illyricum, Gaul, or Spain, or indeed
any other parts, to so great an extent as in Rome and its en-
virons. Though unattended with pain, and not dangerous to
life, these diseases are of so loathsome a nature, that any form
of death would be preferable to them.
CHAP. 2. THE NATURE OF LICHEN.
The most insupportable of all these diseases is the one which,
after its Greek appellation, is known to us as " lichen."1 In
consequence, however, of its generally making its first appear-
ance at the chin, the Latins, by way of joke, originally — so
prone are mankind to make a jest of the misfortunes of others
— gave it the name of " mentagra ;"2 an appellation which has
since become established in general use. In many cases, how-
ever, this disease spreads over the interior of the mouth, and
takes possession of the whole face, with the sole exception of
the, eyes ; after which, it passes downwards to the neck, breast,
and hands, covering them with foul furfuraceous eruptions.
CHAP. 3. AT WHAT PERIOD LICHEN FIRST MADE ITS APPEARANCE
IN ITALY.
This curse was unknown to the ancients,3 and in the times of
our fathers even, having first entered Italy in the middle of
1 Probably as Littre suggests, a peculiar form of elephantiasis, the
leprosy of the middle ages.
2 The "chin disease :" from "men turn," the " chin." It is difficult to
detect the joke which has here incurred the censure of our author.
3 Meaning the people of Italy.
Chap. 3.] WHEN LICHEN FIRST APPEARED IN ITALY. 153
the reign of the Emperor Tiberius4 Claudius Caesar ; where
it was introduced from Asia,4* in which country it had lately
made6 its appearance, by a member of the equestrian order at
Rome, a native of Perusium, secretary to the quaestor. The
disease, however, did not attack either females or slaves,6
nor yet the lower orders, or, indeed, the middle classes, but
only the nobles, being communicated even by the momentary
contact requisite for the act of salutation.7 Many of those
who persevered in undergoing a course of remedial treatment,
though cured of the disease, retained scars upon the body more
hideous even than the malady itself; it being treated with
cauteries, as it was certain to break out afresh, unless means
were adopted for burning it out of the body by cauterizing to
the very bone.
Upon this occasion several physicians repaired to Rome
from Egypt, that fruitful parent of maladies of this nature,
men who devoted themselves solely to this branch of medical
practice ; and very considerable were the profits they made.
At all events, it is a well-known fact that Maniiius Cornutus,
a personage of praetorian rank, and legatus of the province of
Aquitania, expended no less a sum than two hundred thou-
sand8 sesterces upon his cure.
It is much more frequently, on the other hand, that we hear
of new forms of diseases attacking the lower orders ; a singular
fact, and one quite unequalled for the marvellous phaenomena
which sometimes attend these outbreaks. Thus, for instance,
we find an epidemic suddenly making its appearance in a cer-
tain country, and then confining itself, as though it had made
its election so to do, to certain parts of the body, certain ages,
and even certain pursuits in life. In the same way, too, while
* It is somewhat difficult to say whether Tiberius, the predecessor, or
Claudius, the successor of Caligula, is meant ; most probably the latter,
as the former's reign would have been in the times of " our fathers."
4* Asia Minor.
5 ** Cum apparuisset." He is probably wrong here, for leprosy was
known in Asia from the very earliest times.
6 This assertion as to the slaves and lower orders is somewhat doubtful,
though it is very possible that the diet and habits of the higher orders
may have predisposed them more particularly for the attacks of the diseases.
7 "Osculi," "kissing;" a nauseous and silly practice, still adhered to,
between bearded men even, in many parts of Europe.
« Upwards of £1500.
154 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
one class of diseases attacks the young, another confines itself
to adults ; while one malady extends itself only to the higher
classes, another is felt exclusively by the poor.
CHAP. 4. — CARBUNCLE.
We find it stated in the Annals, that it was in the censorship9
of L. Paulus and Q. Marcius that carbuncle10 was first intro-
duced into Italy, a malady which till then had confined itself
solely to the province of Gallia Narbonensis. In the year
in which I am writing these lines, two persons of consular
rank have died of this disease, Julius Rufus11 and Q. Lecanius
Eassus;12 the former in consequence of an incision unskilfully
made by his medical attendants, the latter through a wound
upon the thumb of the left hand by pricking a carbuncle with
a needle, a wound so small originally as to be hardly percep-
tible.
This disease makes its appearance in the more hidden13 parts
of the human body, and mostly beneath the tongue. It ori-
ginally has the form of a hard, red, pimple, with a blackish
head mostly, though sometimes of a livid colour. It produces
tension of the flesh, but unattended with swelling, pain, or
any itching sensation ; indeed, the only symptom that accom-
panies it is a confirmed drowsiness, which overpowers the pa-
tient, and carries him off in the course of three days. Some-
times, however, it is accompanied with shuddering, and small
pustules about the sore ; and occasionally, though but rarely,
with fever. When these symptoms extend to the fauces and
oesophagus, death ensues with the greatest rapidity.
CHAP. 5, ELEPHANTIASIS.
We have already14 stated that elephantiasis15 was unknown
3 A.U.C. 590.
10 ** Carbunculus." A malignant pustule, accompanied with swelling and
ending with gangrene, is still known by this name, but it does not mani-
fest any particular preference for the mouth and tongue. Fee says that
carbuncle was recently (1833) endemic in Provence, the ancient Gallia
Narbonensis, for which reason it had received the name of " Charbon Pro-
ven qal."
11 Consul, A.U.C. 819. 12 Consul, A.U.C. 816.
13 Judging from this symptom, Dalechamps says that it looks more like
chancre than carbuncle. 14 In B. xx. c. 52.
15 Supposed, as Pliny says, to have originally come from Upper Egypt.
Chap. 6.] COLIC. 155
in Italy before the time of Pompeius Magnus. This malady,
too, like those already mentioned, mostly makes its first ap-
pearance in the face. In its primary form it bears a consider-
able resemblance to a small lentil upon the nose ; the skin
gradually dries up all over the body, is marked with spots of
various colours, and presents an unequal surface, being thick
in one place, thin in another, indurated every here and there,
and covered with a sort of rough scab. At a later period, the
skin assumes a black hue, and compresses the flesh upon the
bones, the fingers and toes becoming swollen.
This disease was originally peculiar to Egypt. Whenever it
attacked the kings of that country, it was attended with pe-
culiarly fatal effects to the people, it being the practice to
temper their sitting-baths with human blood, for the treatment
of the disease. As for Italy, however, its career was very
soon cut short : the same was the case, too, with the disease
known as " gernursa"16 to the ancients, a malady which made
its appearance between the toes, and the very name of which is
now buried in oblivion.
CHAP. 6. — COLIC.
It is a remarkable fact that some diseases should disappear
from among us, while others, again, should continue to prevail,
colic17 for example. It was only in the reign of Tiberius
CaBsar that this malady made its appearance in Italy, the
emperor himself being the first to be attacked by it ; a cir-
cumstance which produced considerable mystification through-
out the City, when it read the edict issued by that prince
excusing his inattention to public business, on the ground of his
being laid up with a disease, the very name of which was till
then unknown. To what cause are we to attribute these various
diseases, or how is it that we have thus incurred the anger of
the gods ? Was it deemed too little for man to be exposed to
Lucretius, B. vi. 1. 1111, et seq., attributes it to the water of the Nile. It
is but rarely known in Europe.
16 Fee thinks that this may have been a sort of abscess similar to those
by the Talmudists.
17 " Colum." Fee takes this to be Schirrus of the colon.
156 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTOBY. [Book XXVI.
fixed and determinate classes of maladies, already more than
three hundred in number, that he must have new forms of
disease to alarm him as well ? And then, in addition to all
these, not less in number are the troubles and misfortunes which
man brings upon himself!
The remedies which I am here describing, are those which
were universally employed in ancient times, Nature herself,
so to say, making up the medicines : indeed, for a long time
these were the only medicines employed.
(2.) Hippocrates,18 it is well known, was the first to com-
pile a code of medical precepts, a thing which he did with the
greatest perspicuity, as his treatises, we find, are replete with
information upon the various plants. No less is the informa-
tion which we gain from the works of Diocles 19 of Carystus,
second only in reputation, as well as date, to Hippocrates.
The same, too, with reference to the works of Praxagoras,
Chrysippus, and, at a later period, Erasistratus20 of Cos.
Herophilus21 too, though himself the founder of a more refined
system of medicine, was extremely profuse of his commenda-
tions of the use of simples. At a later period, however, expe-
rience, our most efficient instructor in all things, medicine in
particular, gradually began to be lost sight of in' mere words
and verbiage : it being found, in fact, much more agreeable
to sit in schools, and to listen to the talk of a professor, than
to go a simpling in the deserts, and to be searching for this
plant or that at all the various seasons of the year.
CHAP. 7. (3.) THE NEW SYSTEM OF MEDICINE : ASCLEPIADES
THE PHYSICIAN.
Still, however, the ancient theories remained unshaken,
based as they were upon the still existing grounds of uni-
versally acknowledged experience ; until, in the time of Pom-
peius Magnus, Asclepiades,22 a professor of rhetoric, who
considered himself not sufficiently repaid by that pursuit, and
whose readiness and sagacity rendered him better adapted for
any other than forensic practice, suddenly turned his attention
to the medical art. Having never practised medicine, and
being totally unacquainted with the nature of remedies — a
18 See B. xxix. c. i. 19 See end of B. xx.
20 See B. xxix. c. 3. 21 See B. xxix. c. 5.
22 See end of B. vii.
Chap. 8.] CHANGES EFFECTED BY ASCLEPIADES. 157
knowledge only to be acquired by personal examination and
actual experience — as a matter of course, he was obliged to
renounce all previously-established theories, and to trust rather
to his flowing periods and his well-studied discourses, for
gaining an influence upon the minds of his audience.
Eeducing the whole art of medicine to an estimation solely
of primary causes, he made it nothing but a merely con-
jectural art, and established it as his creed, that there are five
great principles of treatment for all diseases in common ; diet,
use or non-use of wine, frictions, exercise on foot, and ex-
ercise23 in a carriage or on horseback. As every one perceived
that each of these methods of treatment lay quite within his
own reach, all, of course, with the greatest readiness gave
their assent, willing as they were to believe that to be true
which was so easy of acquisition ; and hence it was that he
attracted nearly all the world about him, as though he had
been sent among mankind on a special mission from heaven.
CHAP. 8. — THE CHANGES EFFECTED BY ASCLEPIADES IN THE
PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.
In addition to this, he had a wonderful tact in gaining the
full confidence of his patients : sometimes he would make them
a promise of wine, and then seize the opportune moment for
administering it, while on other occasions, again, he would
prescribe cold water : indeed, as Herophilus, among the an-
cients, had been the first to enquire into the primary .causes of
disease, and Cleophantus had brought into notice the treat-
ment of diseases by wine, so did Asclepiades, as we learn from
M. Varro, prefer to be indebted for his surname and repute
to the extensive use made by him of cold water as a
remedy. He employed also various other soothing remedies
for his patients ; thus, for instance, it was he that introduced
swinging beds, the motion of which might either lull the
malady, or induce sleep, as deemed desirable. It was he,
too, that brought baths into such general use, — a method of
treatment that was adopted with the greatest avidity — in
addition to numerous other modes of treatment of a pleasant
and soothing nature. By these means he acquired a great
professional reputation, and a no less extended fame ; which
23 " Gestationes ;" exercise on horseback, in a litter, or in a carriage
drawn by horses.
158 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
was very considerably enhanced by the following incident :
meeting the funeral procession of a person unknown to him,
he ordered the body to be removed from the funeral pile24 and
carried home, and was thus the means of saving his life. This
circumstance I am the more desirous to mention, that it may
not be imagined that it was on slight grounds only that so
extensive a revolution was effected in the medical art.
There is, however, one thing, and one thing only, at which
we have any ground for indignation, — the fact, that a single
individual, and he belonging to the most frivolous nation25 in
the world, a man born in utter indigence, should all on a
sudden, and that, too, for the sole purpose of increasing his
income, give a new code of medical laws to mankind ; laws,
however, be it remembered, which have been annulled by
numerous authorities since his day. The success of Asclepi-
ades was considerably promoted by many of the usages of ancient
medicine, repulsive in their nature, and attended with far too
much anxiety : thus, for instance, it was the practice to cover
up the patient with vast numbers of clothes, and to adopt
every possible method of promoting the perspiration ; to order
the body to be roasted before a fire ; or else to be continually
sending the patient on a search for sunshine, a thing hardly to
be found in a showery climate like that of this city of ours ;
or rather, so to say, of the whole of Italy, so prolific25* as it is
of fogs and rain.-6 It was to remedy these inconveniences,
that he introduced the use of hanging baths,27 an invention
that was found grateful to invalids in the very highest
degree.
In addition to this, he modified the tortures which had
hitherto attended the treatment of certain maladies ; as in
quiuzy for instance, the cure of which before his time had been
usually effected by the introduction of an instrument'8 into the
throat. He condemned, and with good reason, the indiscrimi-
nate use of emetics, which till then had been resorted to in a
24 See B. vii. c. 37. Apuleius gives the story at considerable length., in
the Florida, B. iv.
25 Asia Minor. Asclepiades was a native of Prusa in Bithynia.
25* We a(i0pt Sillig's suggestion, and read " nimborum altrice," the
word " imperatrice " being evidently out of place. The climate of Italy
seems to have changed very materially since his day.
26 See B. ii. c. 51. 27 Set/B. ix. c. 79. 28 " Organo."
Chap. 9.] EEMABKS ON THE PRACTICES OF MAGIC. 159
most extraordinary degree. He disapproved also of the prac-
tice of administering internally potions that are naturally
injurious to the stomach, a thing that may truthfully be pro-
nounced of the greater part of them. Indeed it will be as well
to take an early opportunity of stating what are the medi-
caments which act beneficially upon the stomach.
CHAP. 9. (4). REMARKS IN DISPRAISE OF THE PRACTICES OF MAGIC.
But above all things, it was the follies of magic more par-
ticularly that contributed so essentially to his success — follies
which had been carried to such a pitch as to destroy all confi-
dence in the remedial virtues of plants. Thus, for instance,
it was stoutly maintained that by the agency of the plant gethi-
opis29 rivers and standing waters could be dried up, and that by
the very touch30 * * * * all bars and doors might be opened :
that if the plant achaemenis31 were thrown into the ranks of the
enemy it would be certain to create a panic and put them to
flight : that latace32 was given by the Persian kings to their
ambassadors, to ensure them an abundant supply of every-
thing wherever they might happen to be : with numerous
other reveries of a similar nature. Where, I should like to
know, were all these plants, when the Cimbri and Teutones
brought upon us the horrors of warfare with their terrific yells ?
or when Lucullus defeated, with a few legions, so many kings
who ruled over the Magi ?33 Why is it too that the Roman,
generals have always made it their first care in warfare to
make provision for the victualling of their troops ? And how
was it that atPharsalia the troops of Caesar were suffering from
famine, if an abundance of everything could have been ensured
by the fortunate possession of a single plant ? Would it not have
been better too ibr Scipio ^Emilianus to have opened the gates
of Carthage by touching them with a herb, than to have taken
so many years to batter down its bulwarks with his engines of
war?
Turning to the present moment, let them, by the agency of
the herb merois,34 dry up the Pomptine35 Marshes, if they can,
29 See B. xxiv. c. 102.
30 We agree with Pintianus that the name of some plant here has been
lost, the word "condiendis " making no sense.
31 See B. xxiv. c. 102.
32 Some plant as fictitious as the others here mentioned.
33 See B. xxx. c. i. « See B. xxiv. e. 102. 3> See B. iii. c. 9.
160 PLINY'S KATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
and by these means restore so much territory to the regions of
Italy in the neighbourhood of our city. In the works, too, of
Democritus, already mentioned,36 we find a recipe for the compo-
sition of a medicament which will ensure the procreation of
issue, both sure to be good and fortunate. — What king of Persia,
pray, ever obtained that blessing ? It really would be a mar-
vellous fact that human credulity, taking its rise originally in
the very soundest of notions, should have ultimately arrived at
such a pitch as this, if the mind of man understood, under any
circumstances, how to keep within the bounds of modera-
tion ; and if the very system of medicine thus introduced by
Asclepiades, had not been carried to a greater pitch of extra-
vagance than the follies of magic even, an assertion which
I shall prove on a more appropriate occasion.37
Such, however, is the natural constitution of the human
mind, that, be the circumstances what they may, commencing
with what is necessary it speedily arrives at the point of
launching out in excess.
We will now resume our account of the medicinal properties
of the plants mentioned in the preceding Book, adding to our
description such others as the necessities of the case may seern
to require.
CHAP. 10. — LICHEN: FIVE KEMEDIES.
As to the treatment of lichen, so noisome a disease as it is,
we shall here give a number of additional remedies for it,
gathered from all quarters, although those already described
are by no means few in number. For the cure of lichen
plantago is used, pounded, cinquefoil also, root of albucus38 in
combination with vinegar, the young shoots of the fig-tree
boiled in vinegar, or roots of marsh-mallow boiled down to
one-fourth with glue and vinegar. The sores are rubbed also
with pumice, and then fomented with root of rumex39 bruised
in vinegar, or with scum of viscus40 kneaded up with lime. A
decoction, too, of tithymalos41 with resin is highly esteemed for
the same purpose.
But to all these remedies the plant known as " lichen," from
36 In B. xxiv. c. 102. 3* In B. xxix. c. 5.
38 See B. xxi. c. 68. 39 See B. xx. c. 85.
» " Flos visci." « See c. 39 of this Book.
Chap. 12.] SCROFULA. 161
its efficacy as a cure, is held in preference. It is found grow-
ing among rocks, and has a single broad leaf 42 near the root,
and a single long stem, with small leaves hanging from it.
This plant has the property also of effacing brand marks,
being beaten up with honey for that purpose. There is another
kind43 of lichen also, which adheres entirely to rocks, like
moss, and which is equally used as a topical application. The
juice of it, dropt into wounds, or applied to abscesses, has the
property of arresting haemorrhage : mixed with honey, it is
curative of jaundice, the face and tongue being rubbed with
it. Under this mode of treatment, the patient is recommended
to wash in salt water, to anoint himself with oil of almonds,
and to abstain from garden vegetables. For the cure of
lichen, root of thapsia44 is also used, bruised in honey.
CHAP. 11. QTJINZY.
For the treatment of quinzy, we find argemonia45 recom-
mended, in wine; a decoction of hyssop, boiled with figs,
used as a gargle ; peucedanum,46 with an equal proportion of
sea-calf's rennet; proserpinaca,47 beaten up in the pickle of the
maena48 and oil, or else placed beneath the tongue; as also
juice of cinquefoil, taken in doses of three cyathi. Used as a
gargle, juice of cinquefoil is good for the cure of all affections
of the fauces : verbascum,49 too, taken in wine, is particularly
useful for diseases of the tonsillary glands.
CHAP. 12. (5.) — SCROFULA.
For the cure of scrofula50 plantago is employed, chelidonia61
mixed with honey and axle-grease, cinquefoil, and root of per-
42 Identified by Fee with the Marchantia polymorpha of Linnaeus, Com-
mon Marchantia, or Fountain liverwort, the male plant.
43 Identified by Fee with the Marchantia stellata, Star-headed Mar-
chantia, or Female fountain liverwort. Desfontaines takes it to be either
the Marchantia conica, or the Peltidea caiiina. It must be remembered
that the Marchantia is not a Lichen in the modern acceptation of the word,
and that our Lichens are destitute of stem. Littre identifies it with the
Lecanora parella.
44 See B. xiii. c. 43. « See B. xxv. c. 66.
46 See B. xxv. c. 70. 47 See B. xxvii. c. 104.
** See B. ix. c. 42. 49 See B. xxv. c. 73.
50 Fee remarks that none of the plants here mentioned are of any utility
for the cure of scrofula. 51 See B. xxv. c. 50.
VOL. V. M
162 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
solata52 — this last being applied topically, and covered with the
leaf of the plant — artemisia,53 also, and an infusion of the
root of mandragora54 in water. The large-leaved sideritis,65
cleft hy the left hand with a nail, is worn attached as an
amulet : but after the cure has been effected, due care must be
taken to preserve the plant, in order that it may not be set
again, to promote the wicked designs of the herbalists and so
cause the disease to break out afresh ; as sometimes happens in
the cases already mentioned,66 and others which I find stated,
in reference to persons cured by the agency of artemisia or
plantago.
Damasonion,57 also known as alcea, is gathered at the summer
solstice, and applied with rain-water, the leaves being beaten
up, or the root pounded, with axle- grease, so as to admit, when
applied, of being covered with a leaf of the plant. The same
plan is adopted also for the cure of all pains in the neck, and
tumours on all parts of the body.
CHAP. 13. THE PLANT CALLED BELLIS : TWO KEMEDIES.
Bellis88 is the name of a plant that grows in the fields, with
a white flower somewhat inclining to red ; if this is applied
with artemisia,59 it is said, the remedy is still more efficacious.
CHAP. 14. THE CONDTJRDUM.
The condurdum,60 too, is a plant with a red blossom, which
flowers at the summer solstice. Suspended from the neck, it
52 See B. xxv. c. 66.
53 See B. xxv. c. 36. 54 See B. xxv. c. 94.
65 See B. xxv. c. 19, where our author has confused the Achillea with
the Sideritis ; also c. 15, where he describes the Heraclion siderion. Fee
identifies the Sideritis mentioned in B. xxv. c. 19, as having a square stem
and leaves like those of the quercus, with the Stachys heraclea of modern
botany. That mentioned in the same Chapter, as having a fetid smell, he
identifies with the Phellandrium mutellina of Linnseus. The large-leaved
Sideritis is, no doubt, the one mentioned as having leaves like those of
the quercus. See the Note to B. xxv. c. 19.
56 In B. xxi. c. 83, and B. xxv. c. 119. 57 See B. xxv. c. 77.
58 Probably the Bellis perennis of Linnasus, the Common daisy. Fee
remarks, that it was probably unknown to the Greeks.
59 See B. xxv. c. 36.
60 Identified by Sprengel and Desfontaines with the Saponaria vaccaria,
the Perfoliate soapwort. Other commentators have suggested the Valeriana
rubra, but Fee thinks that its synonym has not been hitherto discovered.
Chap. 15.] COUGH. 163
arrests scrofula, they say : the same being the case also with
vervain, in combination with plantago. For the cure of all
diseases of the fingers, hangnails in particular, cinquefoil is
used,
CHAP. 15. — COUGH.
Of all diseases of the chest, cough is the one that is the
most oppressive. For the cure of this malady, root of pa-
naces 61 in sweet wine is used, and in cases where it is attended
with spitting of blood, juice of henbane. Henbane, too, used as
a fumigation, is good for cough ; and the same with scordotis,62
mixed with nasturtium and dry resin, beaten up with honey :
employed by itself also, scordotis facilitates expectoration, a
property which is equally possessed by the greater centaury,
even where the patient is troubled with spitting of blood ; for
which last juice of plantago is very beneficial. Betony, taken
in doses of three oboli in water, is useful for purulent or
bloody expectorations : root also of persolata,68 in doses of
one drachma, taken with eleven pine-nuts ; and juice of peu-
cedanum.64
For pains in the chest, acoron85 is remarkably useful ; hence
it is that it is so much used an ingredient in antidotes. For
cough, daucus <* and the plant scythice 67 are much employed,
this last being good, in fact, for all affections of the chest,
coughs, and purulent expectorations, taken in doses of three
oboli, with the same proportion of raisin wine. The verbas-
cum68 too, with a flower like gold, is similarly employed.
(6.) This last-named plant is so remarkably energetic, that
an infusion of it, administered in their drink, will relieve
beasts of burden, not only when troubled with cough, but when
broken- winded even — a property which I find attributed to
gentian also. Root of cacalia69 chewed, or steeped in wine, is
good for cough as well as all affections of the throat. Five
sprigs of hyssop, with two of rue and three figs, act detergently
upon the thoracic organs and allay cough,
61 See B. xxv. c. 11. 62 See B. xxv. c. 27.
63 See B. xxv. c. 66. «* See B. xxv. c. 70.
«5 See B. xxv. c. 100. 65 See B. xxv. c. 64.
67 See B. xxii. c. 11, and B. xxv. c. 43. Our Liquorice probably, which,
Fee remarks, as also figs and hyssop, has maintained its ancient reputation
as a pectoral.
68 See B. XXY. c. 73. 69 See B. xxv. c. 85.
164 PLINY'S HATUBAL HISTOEY. [Book XXVI.
CHAP. 16. — BECHION, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS AECION,
LETJCE OE TUSSILAGO I THEEE EEMEDIES.
Bechion70 is known also as tussilago : there are two kinds
of it. "Wherever it is found growing wild, it is generally
thought that there is a spring of water below, and it is looked
upon as a sure sign that such is the ease, by persons in search71
of water. The leaves are somewhat larger than those of
ivy, and are some five or seven in number, of a whitish hue
beneath, and a pale green on the upper surface, The plant is
destitute of stem, blossom, and seed, and the root is very
diminutive. Some persons are of opinion that this bechion is
identical with the arcion, known also as the " chamaeleuce."72
The smoke73 of this plant in a dry state, inhaled by the aid
of a reed and swallowed, is curative, they say, of chronic
cough ; it is necessary, however, at each inhalation to take a
draught of raisin wine.
CHAP. 1 7. - THE BECHION, KNOWN ALSO AS SAL VIA I FOTJE
EEMEDIES.
There is another bechion74 also, known to some persons as
" sal via,"75 and bearing a strong resemblance to verbascum.
This plant is triturated, and the juice strained off and taken
warm for cough and for pains in the side : it is considered
very beneficial also for the stings of scorpions and sea-
dragons.76 It is a good plan, too, to rub the body with this
juice, mixed with oil, as a preservative against the stings of
serpents. A bunch of hyssop is sometimes boiled down with
a quarter of a pound of honey, for the cure of cough.
CHAP. 18. (7.) - AFFECTIONS OF THE SIDE, CHEST, AND STOMACH.
For the cure of pains in the side and chest, verbascum77 is
used in water, with rue ; powdered betony is also taken in
warm water. Juice of scordotis78 is used as a stomachic,
70 See B. xxiv. c. 85.
71 " Aquileges." 72 See B. xxiv. c. 85.
73 Dried bechion, o* coltsfoot, is still smoked by some persons for
affections of the chest.
74 Generally identified with the Phlomos, or Verhascum lychnitis men-
tioned in B. xxv. c. 74. 75 " Sage." See B. xxv. c, 73.
76 See B. ix. c. 43, and B. xxxil c. 53.
T7 See B. xxv. c. 73. 78 See B. xx. c. 27.
Chap. 19.] MOLON OB SYEON. 165
centaury also, gentian taken in water, and plantago, either
eaten with the food, or mixed with lentils or a pottage of
alica.79 Betony, which is in general prejudicial to the stomach,
is remedial for some stomachic affections, taken in drink or
chewed, the leaves being used for the purpose. In a similar
manner too, aristolochia80 is taken in drink, or dried agaric is
chewed, a draught of undiluted wine being taken every now
and then. Nymphsea heraclia81 is also applied topically in
these cases, and juice of peucedanum.82 For burning pains in
the stomach psyUion83 is applied, or else cotyledon84 beaten up
with polenta, or aizoiim.85
CHAP. 19. MOLON OK SYEON. AMOMTTM.
Molon86 is a plant with a striated stem, a soft diminutive
leaf, and a root four fingers in length, at the extremity of
which there is a head like that of garlic ; by some persons it
is known as " syron." Taken in wine, it is curative of affec-
tions of the stomach, and of hardness of breathing. For similar
purposes the greater centaury is used, in an electuary ; juice
also of plantago, or else the plant itself, eaten with the food ;
pounded betony, in the proportion of one pound to half an
ounce of Attic honey, taken daily in warm water ; and aristo-
lochia87 or agaric, taken in doses of three oboli, in warm water
or asses' milk.
For hardness of breathing an infusion of cissanthemos*8 is
taken in drink, and for the same complaint, as also for asthma,
hyssop. For pains in the liver, chest, and side, if unattended
with fever, juice of peucedanum is used. For spitting of
blood agaric is employed, in doses of one victoriatus,89 bruised
and administered in five cyathi of honied wine : amomum,90
too, is equally useful for that purpose. For liver diseases in
79 See B. xviii. c. 29. Fee observes that none of these prescriptions
would be countenanced at the present day.
80 See B. xxv. c. 54. 81 See B. xxv. c. 37.
82 See B. xxv. c. 70. 83 See B. xxv. c. 90.
84 See B. xxv. c. 101. 85 See B. xxv. c. 102.
86 Possibly the same plant as the " Moly " of B. xxv. c. 8. If so, as
Fee says, it would appear to belong to the genus Allium, or garlic.
87 See B. xxv. c. 84. ** See B. xxv. c. 68.
89 See Introduction to Vol. III.
90 See B. xii. c. 28. Fee says that none of these so-called remedies
would now be recognised.
166 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
particular, teucria91 is taken fresh, in doses of four drachmae
to one hemina of oxycrate ; or else betony, in ^the proportion
of one drachma to three cyathi of warm water. For diseases
of the heart, betony is recommended, in doses of one drachma
to two cyathi of cold water. Juice of cinquefoil is remedial
for diseases of the liver and lungs, and for spitting of blood as
well as all internal affections of the blood. The two varieties
of anagallis92 are wonderfully efficacious for liver complaints.
Patients who eat the plant called " capnos"93 discharge the
bile by urine. Acoron94 is also remedial for diseases of the liver,
and daueus95 is useful for the thorax and the pectoral organs.
CHAP. 20 — THE EPHEDEA OR ANABASIS ; THREE REMEDIES.
The ephedra,96 by some persons called " anabasis/ ' mostly
grows in localities exposed to the wind. It climbs the trunks of
trees, and hangs down from the branches, is destitute of leaves,
but has numerous suckers, join ted like a bulrush; the root
is of a pale colour. This plant is given, pounded, in astringent
reel wine, for cough, asthma, and gripings in the bowels. It
is administered also in the form of a pottage, to which some
wine should be added. For these complaints, gentian is also
used, being steeped in water the day before, and then pounded
and given in doses of 5ne denarius, in three cyathi of wine.
CHAP. 21. GEUM : THREE REMEDIES.
Geum97 is a plant with thin, diminutive roots, black, and
aromatic.98 It is curative not only of pains in the chest and
sides, but is useful also for dispelling crudities, owing to its
agreeable flavour. Yervain, too, is good for all affections of
the viscera, and for diseases of the sides, lungs, liver, and
91 See B. xxv. c. 20. 92 See B. xxv. c. 92.
93 See B. xxv. c. 99. 9i See B. xxv. c. 100.
95 See B. xxv. c. 64.
96 Probably the Equisetum silvaticum of Linnaeus, our Wild horse-tail.
He is in error in saying that it climbs the trunks of trees ; a mistake also
made by Dioscorides, B. iv. c. 46, who calls it " hippuris." It is said by
some to be a strong diuretic. Littre, however, gives as its synonym the
Ephedra fragilis of Linnaeus.
97 The Geum urbanum of Linnaeus, the Common avens, or herb bennet.
It was probably unknown to the Greeks.
98 Its root has a smell like that of cloves, for which reason it is some-
times known as <c Caryophyllata."
Chap. 24.] THE MALUNDBUM. 167
thorax. But one invaluable remedy for diseases of the lungs,
and for cases of incipient phthisis, is the root of consiligo, a
plant only very recently discovered, as already" mentioned. It
is a most efficient remedy also for pulmonary diseases in swine
and cattle, even though only passed through the ear of the
animal. When used, it should be taken in water, and kept
for a considerable time in the mouth, beneath the tongue.
Whether the part of this plant which grows above ground is
useful or not for any purpose, is at present unknown. Plantago,
eaten with the food, betony taken in drink, and agaric taken
in the way prescribed for cough, are useful, all of them, for
diseases of the kidneys.
CHAP. 22. TEIPOLIUM I THREE REMEDIES.
Tripolium1 is a plant found growing upon cliffs on the
sea-shore against which the waves break, springing up, so to
say, neither upon dry land nor in the sea. The leaves are
like those of isatis,2 only thicker ; the stem is a palm in height
and divided at the extremity, and the root white, thick, and
odoriferous, with a warm flavour ; it is recommended for
diseases of the liver, boiled with spelt. This plant is thought
by some to be identical with polium^ of which we have already
spoken in the appropriate place.3
CHAP. 23. THE GROMPH^NA.
Gromphaena4 is the name of a plant, the stem of which is
covered with leaves of a green and rose colour, arranged alter-
nately. The leaves of it are administered in oxy crate, in
cases of spitting of blood.
CHAP. 24. THE MALTJNDRTJM : TWO REMEDIES.
For diseases of the liver the malundrum 6 is prescribed, a
99 In B. xxv. c. 48.
1 Sprengel identifies it with the Plumbago of B. xxv. c. 22. F£e is
not of that opinion, and agrees with Matthioli in considering it to he the
Aster tripolium of Linnaeus, the Sea starwort. Littre gives the Statice
limonium of Linnaeus.
2 See B. xx. c. 25. « In B. xxi. c. 21.
4 Sprengel and Desfontaines identify it with the Amaranthus tricolor ;
Fee is strongly of opinion that it has not been correctly identified.
5 Clusius and Sprengel identify it with the Lychnis silvestris of Lin-
naeus, the Wild lychnis or Vi'scous catchfly. Fee considers it to be un-
168 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XZVI.
plant which grows in meadows and corn-fields, with a white
odoriferous flower. The stem is diminutive, and is beaten up
in old wine.
CHAP. 25. CHALCETTJM ; TWO KEMEDIES. MOLEMONIUM ;
ONE BEMEDY.
Chalcetum6 also is the name of a plant, which is pounded
with grape husks and applied topically, for the cure of liver
complaints. Boot of betony acts as a gentle emetic, taken in
the same way as hellebore, in doses of four drachmse in
raisin wine or^ honied wine. Hyssop, too, is beaten up with
honey for similar purposes ; but it is more efficacious if nas-
turtium or irio7 is taken first.
Molemonium8 is used as an emetic, being taken in doses of one
denarius ; the same, too, with sillybum.9 Both of these plants
have a milky juice, which thickens like gum, and is taken with
honey in the proportions above-mentioned, being particularly
good for carrying off bile. On the other hand, vomiting is
arrested by the use of wild cummin or powdered betony,
taken in water. Crudities and distaste for food are dispelled,
and the digestion promoted by employing daucus,10 powdered
betony11 taken in hydroinel, or else plantago boiled like
greens. Hiccup is arrested by taking hemionium12 or aristo-
lochia,13 and asthma by the use of clymenus.14 For pleurisy
and peripneumony, the greater centaury is used, or else
hyssop, taken in drink. Juice of peucedanum 15 is also good
for pleurisy.
known, but of the two, would prefer the Lychnis dioica of Linnaeus, the
"White lychnis, or "White campion.
6 C. Bauhin identifies it with the Valeriana locusta of Linnaeus, Corn
Talerian, Corn-salad, or Lamb's lettuce. Fee considers its identity as still
unknown. 7 See B. xviii. c. 10.
8 Perhaps the same as the Limonium of B. xxv. c. 61.
9 See B. xxii. c. 42 ; one of the Sonchi, probably, which contain a
milky juice. Littre" gives the Sonchus palustris of Linnaeus.
10 See B. xxv. c. 64.
11 The Betonica officinalis of Linnaeus.
12 Either the Asplenium ceterach of Linnaeus, Spleenwort, Ceterach, or
Miltwaste, or the A. hemionitis of Linnaeus, Mule's fern. See B. xxvii. c. 17.
is See B. xxv. c. 54. u See B. xxv. c. 33.
is See B. xxv. c. 70.
Chap. 28.] BEMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE BELLY. 169
CHAP. 26. HALUS OR COTONEA : FIVE BEMEDIES.
The plant halus,16 by the people of Gaul called "sil," and
by the Veneti " cotonea," is curative of pains in the side,
affections of the kidneys, ruptures, and convulsions. It resem-
bles cunila bubula17 in appearance, and the tops of it are like
those of thyme. It is of a sweet flavour, and allays thirst; the
roots of it are sometimes white, sometimes black.
CHAP. 27. THE CHAMJEKOPS I ONE KEMEDY. THE STOZCHAS :
ONE REMEDY.
The chamserops,18 also, is similarly efficacious for pains in
the side. It is a plant with leaves like those of myrtle,
arranged in pairs around the stem, the heads of it resembling
those of the Greek rose : it is taken in wine. Agaric, admin-
istered in drink, in the same manner19 as for cough, assuages
sciatica and pains in the vertebrae : the same, too, with pow-
dered stoechas20 or betony, taken in hydromel.
CHIP. 28. (8.) REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE BELLY.
But it is the belly, for the gratification of which the greater
part of mankind exist, that causes the most suffering to man.
Thus, for instance, at one time it will not allow the aliments
to pass, while at another it is unable to retain them. Some-
times, again, it either cannot receive the food, or, if it can,
cannot digest it ; indeed, such are the excesses practised at
the present day, that it is through his aliment, more than any-
thing else, that man hastens his end. This receptacle,21 more
troublesome to us than any other part of the body, is ever craving,
like some importunate creditor, and makes its calls repeatedly
in the day. It is for its sake, more particularly, that avarice
is so insatiate, for its sake that luxury is so refined,22 for its sake
that men voyage to the shores even of the Phasis, for its sake
that the very depths of the ocean are ransacked. And yet,
with all this, no one ever gives a thought how abject is the
condition of this part of our body, how disgusting the results
of its action upon what it has received ! No wonder then,
16 For the identity of this plant, see B. xxvii. c. 24.
17 See B. xix. c. 50, and B. xx. c. 61.
18 See B. xxiv. c. 80. 19 See c. 18 of this Book.
20 Identified with the Lavendula stoaehas of Linnaeus, the French lavender.
81 " Vas." 22 In search of pheasants. See B. vi. c. 4,
170 PLIGHT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
that the belly should have to be indebted to the aid of medicine
in the very highest degree !
Scordotis,23 fresh-gathered and beaten up, in doses of one
drachma, with wine, arrests flux of the bowels ; an effect
equally produced by a decoction of it taken in drink. Pole-
monia,24 too, is given in wine for dysentery, or two fingers'
length of root of verbascum,25 in water ; seed of nyruphsea
heraclia,26 in wine ; the upper root of xiphion,27 in doses of one
drachma, in vinegar ; seed of plantago, beaten up in wine ;
plantago itself boiled in vinegar, or else a pottage of alica28
mixed with the juice of the plant; plantago boiled with
lentils ; plantago dried and powdered, and sprinkled in drink,
with parched poppies pounded ; juice of plantago, used as an
injection, or taken in drink ; or be tony taken in wine heated
with a red-hot iron. For cceliac affections, betony is taken in
astringent wine, or iberis is applied topically, as already29
stated. For tenesmus, root of nymphaea heraclia is taken in
wine, or else psyllion30 in water, or a decoction of root of
acoron.31 Juice of aizotim32 arrests diarrhoea and dysentery, and
expels round tape-worm. Eoot of symphytum,83 taken in wine,
arrests diarrhoea and dysentery, and daucus34 has a similar
effect. Leaves of aizoiim35 beaten up in wine, and dried
alcea36 powdered and taken in wine, are curative of griping
pains in the bowels.
CHAP. 29. — THE ASTRAGALUS: six REMEDIES.
Astragalus37 is the name of a plant which has long leaves,
with numerous incisions, and running aslant near the root.
The stems are three or four in number, and covered with leaves :
the flower is like that of the hyacinth, and the roots are red,
hairy, matted, and remarkably hard. It grows on stony local-
23 See B. xxv. c. 27. 24 See B. xxv. c. 28.
25 See B. xxv. c. 73. 26 See B. xxv. c. 37.
27 See B. xxv. c. 89. 28 See B. xviii. c. 29.
29 In B. xxv. c. 84. 30 See B. xxv. c. 90.
31 See B. xxv. c. 100. 32 See B. xxv. c. 102.
33 See B. xxvii. c. 24. 34 See B. xxv. c. 84.
35 See Note 32 above. S6 See B. xxvii. c. 6.
37 Sprengel identifies it with the Phaca Baetica, Spanish bastard vetch ;
but the flowers of that plant, as Fee remarks, are yellow. He considers
it to be the Lathyrus tuberosus of Linnaeus, the Pease earth-nut. Littre
gives the Orobus sessilifolius of 3ibthorp.
Chap. 30.] LADANUM. 171
ities, equally exposed to the sun and to falls of snow, those in
the vicinity of Pheneus in Arcadia, for instance. Its proper-
ties are highly astringent; the root of it, taken in wine, arrests
looseness of the bowels, having the additional effect of throw-
ing downward the aqueous humours, and so acting as a diuretic ;
a property, in fact, which belongs to most substances which
act astringently upon the bowels.
Bruised in red37* wine, this plant is curative of dysentery ;
it is only bruised, however, with the greatest difficulty. It is
extremely useful, also, as a fomentation for gum-boils. The
end of autumn is the time for gathering it, after the leaves are
off; it being then left to dry in the shade.
CHAP. 30. LADANUM I EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
Diarrhoea may be also arrested by the use of either kind of
ladanum.38 The kind which is found in corn-fields is pounded
for this purpose, and then passed through a sieve, being taken
either in hydromel, or in wine of the highest quality. "Ledon"
is the name of the plant from which ladanum39 is obtained in
Cyprus, it being found adhering to the beard of the goats
there ; the most esteemed, however, is that of Arabia.40 At
the present day, it is prepared in Syria and Africa also, being
known as "toxicum," from the circumstance that ingathering
it, they pass over the plant a bow,41 with the string stretched,
and covered with wool, to which the dewlike flocks of lada-
num adhere. "We have described it at further length, when
treating of the perfumes.42
This substance has a very powerful odour, and is hard in the
extreme ; for, in fact, there is a considerable quantity of earth
adhering to it : it is most esteemed when in a pure state,
aromatic, soft, green, and resinous. It is of an emollient,
desiccative, and ripening nature, and acts as a narcotic : it pre-
vents the hair from falling off, and preserves its dark colour. In
combination with hydromel or oil of roses, it is used as an
37* " Bubrum," and not " nigrum," which was also what we call " red "
wine.
38 Fee is unable to identify it. The Galeopsis ladanum of Linnaeus,
the Red dead-nettle, has been suggested, but on insufficient grounds, pro-
bably. 39 See B. xii. c. 37.
40 It is still brought from the islands of Greece, but no longer from
Arabia. 41 TO£OJ/.
« In B. xii. c. 37.
172 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOBY. [Book XXVI.
injection for the ears ; with the addition of salt, it is employed
for the cure of furfuraceous eruptions of the skin, and for run-
ning ulcers. Taken with storax, it is good for chronic cough ;
it is also extremely efficacious as a carminative.
CHAP. 31. — CHONDRIS OR PSETJDODICTAMNON I ONE REMEDY. HYPO-
CISTHIS OR OROBETHRON ' TWO VARIETIES ! EIGHT REMEDIES.
Chondris, too, or pseudodictamnon,43 acts astringently on the
bowels. Hypocisthis,44 by some known also as " orobethron,"
is similar to an unripe pomegranate in appearance ; it grows,
as already stated,45 beneath the cisthus, whence its name.
Dried in the shade, and taken in astringent, red wine, these
plants arrest diarrhoea — for there are two kinds of hypocisthis,
it must be remembered, the white and the red. It is the juice
of the plant that is used, being of an astringent, desiccative,
natuue : that of the red kind, however, is the best for fluxes
of the stomach. Taken in drink, in doses of three oboli, with
amylum,46 it arrests spitting of blood ; and, employed either as
a potion or as an injection, it is useful for dysentery. Vervain,
too, is good for similar complaints, either taken in water, or,
when there are no symptoms of fever, in Aminean47 wine, the
proportion being five spoonfuls to three cyathi of wine.
CHAP. 32. — LAYER OR SlOtf : TWO REMEDIES.
Laver,48 too, a plant which grows in streams, preserved and
boiled, is curative of griping pains in the bowels.
CHAP. 33. POTAMOGITON I EIGHT REMEDIES. THE STATIC E :
THREE REMEDIES.
Potamogiton,49 too, taken in wine, is useful for dysentery
and cceliac affections : it is a plant similar to beet in the leaves,
but smaller and more hairy, and rising but little above the
surface of the water. It is the leaves that are used, being of
a refreshing, astringent nature, and particularly good for
diseases of the legs, and, with honey or vinegar, for corrosive
ulcers.
13 " False-dittany," or " bastard dittany." See B. xxv. c. 53.
44 The Cytinus hypocisthis of Linnaeus.
15 In B. xxiv. c. 28. 46 See B. xviii. c. 17, and B. xxii. c. 67.
*7 See B. xiv. c. 5. ™ The Shim of B. xxii. c. 41.
49 Probably the Potamogeton natans of Linnaeus, Broad-leaved pond-
weed, or some kindred plant. Its name signifies " the neighbour of rivers."
Chap. 34.] THE CERATIA. 173
Castor has given a different description of this plant. Ac-
cording to him, it has a smaller leaf,50 like horse-hair,61 with a
long, smooth, stem, and grows in watery localities. "With the
root of it he used to treat scrofulous sores and indurations.
Potamogiton neutralizes the effects of the bite of the crocodile ;
hence it is that those who go in pursuit of that animal, are in
the hahit of carrying it about them.
Achillea62 also arrests looseness of the bowels; an effect
equally produced by the statice,53 a plant with seven heads, like
those of the rose, upon as many stems.
CHAP. 34. THE CERATIA I TWO REMEDIES. LEONTOPODION, LET7-
CEORON, DORIPETRON, OR THORYBETHRON. LAGOPUS : THREE
REMEDIES.
The ceratia54 is a plant with a single55 leaf, and a large
knotted root: taken with the food, it is curative of cceliac
affections and dysentery.
Leontopodion,66 a plant known also as " leuceoron," " dori-
petron," or " thorybethron," has a root which acts astringently
upon the bowels and carries off bile, being taken in doses of
two denarii in hydromel. It grows in champaign localities
with a poor soil: the seed, taken in drink, produces night-mare,57
it is said, in the sleep.
Lagopus58 arrests diarrhoea, taken in wine, or, if there are
symptoms of fever, in water. This plant is attached to the
groin, for tumours in that part of the body : it grows in corn-
fields. Many persons recommend, in preference to anything else,
50 C. Bauhin and Sprengel identify the plant here described with the
Potamogeton pusillum of Linnaeus ; but Fee considers it extremely doubtful.
51 A species of Equisetum would seem to be meant ; indeed, Littre gives
the Equisetum telmateia. 52 See B. xxv. c. 19.
53 Fee thinks that this may possibly be the Statice Armeria of Linnaeus,
Sea thrift, or Sea gilly-flower.
54 Considered by Sprengel to be the Cyclaminos chamaecissos of B. xxv.
c. 69, which he identifies with the Convallaria bifolia of Linnaeus, the
Little lily of the valley, or May lily. Fabius Columna and Brotero con-
sider it to be the Dentaria trifolia, Three-leaved toothwort.
55 This is incorrect, if it is the Lily of the valley.
56 " Lion's paw," " white plant," or " rock-spear." Probably the
Leontice leontopetalum of Linnaeus, Lion's paw, or Lion's leaf. See B.
xxvii. c. 72. 57 " Lymphatica somnia."
58 " Hare's foot." Possibly the Trifolium arvense of Linnaeus, Hare's
foot trefoil.
174 PLINY'S NATTTBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
for desperate cases of dysentery, a decoction of roots of cinque -
foil in milk, or else aristolochia,69 in the proportion of one
victoriatus60 to three cyathi of wine. In the case of the pre-
parations above-mentioned, which are recommended to be taken
warm, it will be the best plan to heat them with a red-hot
iron.
On the other hand, again, the juice of the smaller centaury
acts as a purgative upon the bowels, and carries off bile, taken,
in doses of one drachma, in one hemina of water with a little
salt and vinegar. The greater centaury is curative of griping
pains in the bowels. Be tony, also, has a laxative effect, taken
in the proportion of four drachmae to nine cyathi of hydromel :
the same, too, with euphorbia61 or agaric, taken, in doses of two
drachm ae, with a little salt, in water, or else in three oboli of
honied wine. Cyclaminos,62 also, is a purgative, either taken
in water or used as a suppository ; the same, too, with chamae-
cissos,68 employed as a suppository. A handful of hyssop,
boiled down to one third with salt, or beaten up with oxymel
and salt, and applied to the abdomen, promotes pituitous
evacuations, and expels intestinal worms. Root also of peu-
cedanum64 carries off pituitous humours and bile.
CHAP. 35. EPITHYMON OK HIPPOPHEOS I EIGHT KEMEDIES.
The two kinds of anagallis, taken in hydromel, are purgative ;
the same, too, with epithymon,66 which is the blossom of a
sort66 of thyme similar to savory ; the only difference being that
the flower of this plant is nearer grass green, while that of the
other thyme is white. Some persons call it " hippopheos."67
This plant is by no means wholesome to the stomach, as
it is apt to cause vomiting, but at the same time it disperses
59 See B. xxv. c. 54.
60 See Introduction to Vol. III. Fee remarks that none of the assertions
in the present Chapter are confirmed by modern experience.
61 See B. xxv. c. 38. 62 See B. xxv. c. 67.
63 See B. xxiv. cc. 49, 84, and B. xxv. c. 69.
64 See B. xxv. c. 70.
65 Identical with the Orobanche of B. xviii. c. 44, the Cuscuta Europaea
of Linnaeus, Dodder, Hell-weed, or Devil's guts ; or else the Cuscuta
minor, or epithymum of Linnaeus. See also B. xxii. cc. 78, 80.
66 He is in error here.
67 Hardouin suggests "hypopheos," as " springing up under the Pheos"
or Sto3be, mentioned in B. xxii. c. 13.
Chap. 37,] POLYPODIOK. 175
flatulency and gripings of the bowels. It is taken also, in the
form of an electuary, for affections of the chest, with honey,
or in some cases, with iris.68 Taken in doses of from four to
six drachma, with honey and a little salt and vinegar, it
relaxes the bowels.
Some persons, again, give a different description of epithymon :
according to them, it is a plant without89 a root, diminutive,
and bearing a flower resembling a small hood, and of a red colour.
They tell us, too, that it is dried in the shade and taken in
water, in doses of half an acetabulum ; and that it has a slightly
laxative effect upon the bowels, and carries off the pituitous
humours and bile. NymphaBa70 is taken for similar purposes,
in astringent wine.
CHAP. 36. PYCNOCOMON ; FOUR REMEDIES.
Pycnocomon,71 too, is a purgative. It is a plant with leaves
like those of rocket, only thicker and more acrid ; the root is
round, of a yellow colour, and with an earthy smell. The
stem is quadrangular, of a moderate length, thin, and sur-
mounted with a flower like that of ocimum.72 It is found
growing in rough stony soils. The root, taken in doses of two
denarii in ^hydromel, acts as a purgative upon the bowels,
and effectually carries off bile and pituitous humours. The
seed, taken in doses of one drachma in wine, is productive of
dreams and restlessness. Capnos,73 too, carries off bile by the
urine.
CHAP. 37. POLTPODION : THKEE REMEDIES.
Polypodion,74 known to us by the name of " filicula," bears
some resemblance to fern. The root of it is used medicinally ;
68 See B. xxi. c. 19.
69 It has a root originally, but the root withers as soon as it has attached
itself to the stem of the plant to which it clings.
70 See B. xxv. c. 37. Holland says, on the contrary, that it is a binding
plant.
71 " Thick hair." It is generally identified with the Leonurus mar-
rubiastrum of Linnaeus. Colurana makes it to be the Scabiosa succisa of
Linnaeus, the Devil's bit scabious, and Brunsfeld the Angelica silvestris of
Linnaeus, Wild angelica.
72 See B. xxi. c. 60. 73 See B. xxv. c. 98.
74 " Many-footed." The Polypodium vulgare of Linnaeus, fhe Common
polypody.
176 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book
being fibrous, and of a grass green colour within, about the
thickness of the little finger, and covered with cavernous
suckers like those on the arms of the polypus. This plant is of
a sweetish75 taste, and is found growing among rocks and under
trees. The root is steeped in water, and the juice extracted;
sometimes, too, it is cut in small pieces and sprinkled upon
cabbage, beet, mallows, or salt meat ; or else it is boiled with
pap,76 as a gentle aperient for the bowels, in cases of fever even.
It carries off bile also and the pituitous humours, but acts
injuriously upon the stomach. Dried and powdered and ap-
plied to the nostrils, it cauterizes polypus'7 of the nose. It has
neither seed78 nor flower.
CHAP. 38. — SCAMMONY; EIGHT EEMEDIES.
Scammony,79 also, is productive of derangement of the
stomach. It carries off bile, and acts strongly as a purgative
upon the bowels ; unless, indeed, aloes are added, in the propor-
tion of two drachmae of aloes to two oboli of scammony. The
drug thus called is the juice of a plant that is branchy from
the root, and has unctuous, white, triangular, leaves, with
a solid, moist root, of a nauseous flavour : it grows in rich
white soils. About the period of the rising of the Dog-
star, an excavation is made about the root, to let the juice
collect : which done, it is dried in the sun and divided into
tablets. The root itself, too, or the outer coat of it, is some-
times dried. The scammony most esteemed is that of Colophon,
Mysia, and Priene. In appearance it ought to be smooth and
shiny, and as much like bull glue as possible : it should present
a fungous surface also, covered with minute holes ; should melt
with the greatest rapidity, have a powerful smell, and be sticky
like gum. When touched with the tongue, it should give out
a white milky liquid ; it ought also to be extremely light, and
to turn white when melted.
75 It is for this reason that it is called "reglisse," or "liquorice," in
some parts of France. It contains a proportion of saccharine matter,
which acts as a purgative. 76 " Pulticula."
77 This fancy is solely based on the accidental resemblance of the name.
78 He very incorrectly says this of all the ferns. See B. xxvii. cc. 17,
48, and 55.
79 The produce of the Convolvulus scammonia of Linnaeus, the Scam-
mony bind-weed. The scammony of Aleppo is held in the highest esteem,
and is very valuable. That of Smyrna also is largely imported.
Chap. 39.] THE TITHYMALOS CHABACIA8. 1/7
This last feature is recognized in the spurious scammony
also, a compound of meal of fitches and juice of marine tithy-
malos,80 which is mostly imported from Judea, and is very apt
to choke those who use it. The difference may be easily
detected, however, by the taste, as tithymalos imparts a burn-
ing sensation to the tongue. To be fully efficacious, scammony
should be two81 years old ; before or after that age it is useless.
It has been prescribed to be taken by itself also, in doses of
four oboli, with hydromel and salt : but the most advantageous
mode of using it is in combination with aloes, care being taken
to drink honied wine the moment it begins to operate. The
root, too, is boiled down in vinegar to the consistency of honey,
and the decoction used as a liniment for leprosy. The head is
also rubbed with this decoction, mixed with oil, for head-ache.
CHAP. 39. THE TITHYMALOS CHARACTAS,
The tithymalos is called by our people the " milk plant,"83
and by some persons the "goat lettuce."83 They say, that if
characters are traced upon the body with the milky juice of
this plant, and powdered with ashes, when dry, the letters will
be perfectly visible ; an expedient which has been adopted
before now by intriguers, for the purpose of communicating
with their mistresses, in preference to a correspondence by
letter. There are numerous varieties of this plant.84 The
first kind has the additional name of "characias,"85 and is
generally looked upon as the male plant. Its branches are
about a finger in thickness, red and full of juice, five or six in
number, and a cubit in length. The leaves near the root are
almost exactly those of the olive, and the extremity of the
stem is surmounted with a tuft like that of the bulrush : it is
found growing in rugged localities near the sea-shore. The
seed is gathered in autumn, together with the tufts, and after
being dried in the sun, is beaten out and put by for keeping.
80 See the following Chapters.
51 This assertion is erroneous ; it has all its properties in full vigour im-
mediately after extraction, and retains them for an indefinite period.
82 "Herbalactaria."
5 Because goats are fond of it. See B. xx. c. 24.
!4 Known to us by the general name of Euphorbia of Spurge.
S5 The Euphorbia characias of Linnaeus, Red spurge. An oil is still
extracted from the seed of several species of Euphorbia, as a purgative ;
but they are in general highly dangerous, taken internally
VO*L. V. K
178 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTOEY. [Book XXVI.
As to the juice, the moment the down begins to appear
upon the fruit, the branches are broken off and the juice of
them is received upon either meal of fitches or else figs, and
left to dry therewith. Five drops are as much as each fig
ought to receive ; and the story is, that if a dropsical patient
eats one of these figs he will have as many motions as the fig
has received drops. While the juice is being collected, due
care must be taken not to let it touch the eyes. From the leaves,
pounded, a juice is also extracted, but not of so useful a
nature as the other kind : a decoction, too, is made from the
branches.
The seed also is used, being boiled with honey and made up
into purgative 86 pills. These seeds are sometimes inserted in
hollow teeth with wax : the teeth are rinsed too, with a de-
coction of the root in wine or oil. The juice is used externally
for lichens, and is taken internally both as an emetic and to
promote alvine evacuation : in other respects, it is prejudicial to
the stomach. Taken in drink, with the addition of salt, it car-
ries off pituitous humours ; and in combination with saltpetre,86*
removes bile. In cases where it is desirable that it should purge
by stool, it is taken .with oxycrate, but where it is wanted
to act as an emetic, with raisin wine or hydromel ; three oboli
being a middling dose. " The best method, however, of using it,
is to eat the prepared figs above-mentioned, just after taking
food. In taste, it is slightly burning to the throat ; indeed it
is of so heating a nature, that, applied externally by itself, it
raises blisters on the flesh, like those caused by the action of
fire. Hence it is that it is sometimes employed as a cautery.
CHAP. 40. — THE TITHTMALOS MYRTITES, OE CABY1TES ; TWENTY- ,
ONE KEMEDIES.
A second kind of tithymalos is called "myrtites "87 by some
persons, and " caryites " by others. It has leaves like those
of myrtle, pointed and prickly, but with a softer surface, and
grows, like the one already mentioned, in rugged soils. The
tufted heads of it are gathered just as barley is beginning to
swell in the ear, and, after being left for nine days in the shade,
are thoroughly dried in the sun. The fruit does not ripen all at
96- " Catapotia." 86* " Aphronitrum." See B. xxx. c.46,
87 The Euohorbia urn-smites of Linnaeus.
Chap. 42.] THE TITHTMALOS HELIOSCOPIOS. 1/9
once, some, indeed, not till the ensuing year. The name given to
this fruit is the "nut," whence the Greek appellation "cary-
ites."88 It is gathered at harvest, and is washed and dried, being
given with twice the quantity of black poppy, in doses of one
acetabulum in all.
As an emetic, this kind is not so efficacious as the preceding
one, and, indeed, the same may be said of all the others. Some
physicians recommend the leaf to be taken in the manner
already mentioned, but say that the nut should either be taken
in honied wine or raisin wine, or else with sesame. It carries
off pituitous humours and bile by stool, and is curative of ul-
cerations of the mouth. For corrosive sores of the mouth,
the leaf is eaten with honey.
CHAP. 41. — THE TITHYMALOS PARALI08, OB TITHYMALIS : FOUR
REMEDIES.
A third kind of tithymalos is known by the additional name-
of " paralios,"89 or else as " ti thy mails."90 The leaf is round,
the stem a palm in height, the branches red, and the seed white.
This seed is gathered just as the grape is beginning to form, and
is dried and pounded ; being taken as a purgative, in doses of
one acetabulum.
'CHAP. 42. — THE TITHYMALOS HELIOSCOPIOS : EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
A fourth kind of tithymalos91 is known by the additional
name of " helioscopios."92 It has leaves like those of purslain,93
and some four or five small branches standing out from the root,
of a red colour, half a foot in height, and full of juice. This
plant grows in the vicinity of towns : the seed is white, and
pigeons94 are remarkably fond of it. It receives its additional
name of " helioscopios " from the fact that the heads of it turn95
with the sun. Taken in doses of half an acetabulum, in
oxymel, it carries oif bile by stool : in other respects it has
the same properties as the characias, above-mentioned.
83 From the Greek /cap vo v, a "nut."
89 " Sea-shore" tithymalus. See B. xx. c. 80.
0 The Euphorbia paralias of Linnaeus, Sea spurge.
91 The Euphorbia helioscopia of Linnaeus, Sun spurge or "Wart-wort.
93 'k Sun- watch ing." 93 See B. xx. c. 81.
94 Fee says that this is more than doubtful.
95 An assertion, Fee says, not confirmed by modern observation.
N 2
180 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXVI.
CHAP. 43. THE TITHYMALOS CYPAKISSIAS : EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
In the fifth place we have the tithymalos known as " cypa-
rissias,"96 from the resemblance of its leaves to those of the
cypress. It has a double or triple stem, and grows in cham-
paign localities. Its properties are exactly similar to those of
the helioscopios and characias.
CHAP. 44. THE TITHYMALOS PLATYPHYLLOS, COKYMBITES, OR
AMYGDALITES ! THREE REMEDIES.
The sixth kind is called "platyphyllos"97 by some, and
" corymbites " or " amygdalites " by others, from its resem-
blance to the almond-tree. The leaves of this kind are the
largest of all : it has a fatal effect upon fish. An infusion of
the root or leaves, or the juice, taken in doses of four drachmae,
in honied wine, or hydromel, acts as a purgative. It is par-
ticularly useful also for carrying off the aqueous humours.
CHAP. 45. THE TITHYMALOS DENDROIDES, COBIOS, OR LEPTO-
PHYLLOS I EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.
The seventh kind has the additional name of "dendroides,"9*
and is known by some persons as "cobios," and by others as
" leptophyllos."99 It grows among rocks, and is by far the
most shrubby of all the varieties of the tithymalos. The,
stems of it are small and red, and the seed is remarkably abun-
dant. Its properties are the same as those of the characias.1
CHAP. 46. THE APIOS 1SCHAS, OR RAPHANOS AGRIA : TWO
REMEDIES.
The apios ischas or raphanos agria,2 throws out two or
three rush-like branches of a red colour, creeping upon the
ground, and bearing leaves like those of rue. The root
resembles that of an onion, only that it is larger, for which
96 The Euphorbia cyparissias of Linnaeus, the Cypress spurge, or else the
Euphorbia Aleppica of Linnseus.
97 " Broad-leaved," " clustered," and " almond-like." It is the Eu-
phorbia platyphyllos of Linnaeus, the Broad-leaved spurge.
98 " Tree-like "
99 " Small-leaved." The Euphorbia dendroides of Linnaeus, the Shrubby
spurge. l See c. 39 above.
2 " Wild radish." Identified Tvitfi the Euphorbia apios of Linnseus, a
plant with dangerous properties.
Chap. 48.] DISEASES OF THE SPLEEN. 181
reason some have called it the " wild radish." The interior
of this root is composed of a mammose substance, containing
a white juice : the outer coat is black. It grows in rugged,
mountainous spots, and sometimes in pasture lands. It is
taken up in spring, and pounded and put into an earthen vessel,
that portion of it being removed which floats upon the surface.
The part which remains acts purgatively, taken in doses of
an obolus and a half in hydromel, both as an emetic and by
stool. This juice is administered also, in doses of one ace-
tabulum, for dropsy.
The root of this plant is dried and powdered, and taken in
drink : the upper part of it, they say, carries off bile by acting
as an emetic, the lower part, by promoting alvine evacuation.
CHAP. 47. REMEDIES FOE GEIPINQ PAINS IN THE BOWELS.
Every kind of panaces3 is curative of gripings in the bowels ;
as also betony, except in those cases where they arise from
indigestion. Juice of peucedanum4 is good for flatulency, acting
powerfully as a carminative : the same is the case, also, with
root of acoron 5 and with daucus,6 eaten like lettuce as a salad.
Ladanum7 of Cyprus, taken in drink, is curative of intestinal
affections ; and a similar effect is produced by powdered gentian,
taken in warm water, in quantities about as large as a bean.
For the same purpose, plantago8 is taken in the morning, in
doses of two spoonfuls, with one spoonful of poppy in four
cyathi of wine, due care being taken that it is not old wine. It
is given, too, at the last moment before going to sleep, and with
the addition of nitre or polenta,9 if a considerable time has
elapsed since the last meal. For colic, an injection of the juice
is used, one hemina at a time, even in cases where fever has
supervened.
CHAP. 48. REMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE SPLEEN.
Agaric, taken in doses of three oboli in one cyathus of old
wine, is curative of diseases of the spleen. The same, too,
with the root of every kind of panaces,10 taken in honied wine :
teucria,11 also, is particularly useful for the same purpose,
3 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq. 4 See.B. xxv. c. 70.
5 See B. xxv. c. 100. 6 See B. xxv. c. 64.
7 See B. xii. c. 37, and c. 30 of this Book.
8 See "B. xxv. c. 39. 9 See B. xviii. c. 14.
10 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq. n See B. xxiv. c. 80.
182 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
taken in a dry state, or boiled down in the proportion of one
handful to three heminae of vinegar. Teucria, too, is applied
with vinegar to wounds of the spleen, or, if the patient cannot
bear the application of vinegar, with figs or water. Polemo-
nia 12 is taken in wine, and betony, in doses of one drachma,
in three cyathi of oxymel : aristolochia, too, is used in the
same manner as for injuries inflicted by serpents.13 Arge-
monia,14 it is said, taken with the food for seven consecutive
days, diminishes the volume of the spleen ; and a similar effect
is attributed to agaric, taken in doses of two oboli, in oxymel.
Eoot, too, of nymph sea heraclia,15 taken in wine, or by itself,
diminishes the spleen.
Cissanthemos,16 taken twice a day, in doses of one drachma
in two cyathi of white wine, for forty consecutive days,
gradually carries off the spleen, it is said, by urine. Hyssop,
boiled with figs, is very useful for the same purpose : root of
lonchitis,17 also, boiled before it has shed its seed. A decoction
of root of peucedanum 18 is good for the spleen and kidneys.
Acoron,19 taken in drink, diminishes the spleen ; and the roots
of it are very beneficial for the viscera and iliac regions. Por
similar purposes, seed of clymenus20 is taken, for thirty con-
secutive days, in doses of one denarius, in white wine. Powdered
betony is also used, taken in a potion with honey and squill
vinegar; root too of lonchitis is taken in water. Teucrium21
is used externally for diseases of the spleen ; scordium,22 also,
in combination with wax ; and agaric, mixed with powdered
fenugreek.
CHAP. 49. BEMEDIES EOR CALCULI AND DISEASES OF THE BLADDEK.
For diseases of the bladder and calculi (affections which, as
already observed,23 produce the most excruciating torments),
polemonia 24 is highly efficacious, taken in wine ; agaric also,
and leaves or root of plantago, taken in raisin wine. Betony,
12 See B. xxv. c. 28. 13 See B. xxv. c, 55.
14 See B. xxv. c. 56. 15 See B. xxv. c. 37.
16 See B. xxv. c. 68.
17 See B. xxv. c. 88. Fee says that it is the Aspidium lonchitis of Lin-
naeus, that is meant. 18 See B. xxv. c. 70.
19 See B. xxv. c. 100. 20 See B, xxv. c. 33.
21 See B. xxv. c. 20.
22 Or Scordotis. See B. xxv. c. 27,
23 In B. xxv. c. 7. 24 See B. xxv, c. 28.
Chap. 50.] CRETHMOS. 183
too, is very good, as already observed, when speaking 25 of
diseases of the liver. This last plant is used also for hernia,
applied topically or taken in drink : it is remarkably efficacious
too for strangury. For calculi some persons recommend
betony, vervain, and milfoil, in equal proportions in water, as
a sovereign remedy. It is universaDy agreed, that dittany is
curative of strangury, and that the same is the case with
cinquefoil, boiled down to one third in wine : this last plant is
very useful, too, taken internally and applied topically, for
rupture of the groin.
The upper part of the root of xiphion26 has a diuretic effect
upon infants ; it is administered also in water for rupture of
the groin, and is applied topically for diseases of the bladder.
Juice of peucedanum27 is employed for hernia in infants, and
psyllion28 is used as an application in cases of umbilical
hernia. The two kinds of anagallis29 are diuretic, and a
similar effect is produced by a decoction of root of acoron,30 or
the plant itself bruised and taken in drink ; this last is
good too for all affections of the bladder. Both the stem and
root of cotyledon31 are used for the cure of calculi ; and for all
inflammations of the genitals, myrrh is mixed in equal propor-
tions with the stem and seed. The more tender leaves of
ebulum,32 beaten up and taken with wine, expel calculi of the
bladder, and an application of them is curative of diseases of
the testes. Erigeron,33 with powdered frankincense and sweet
wine, is curative of inflammation of the testes ; and root of
symphytum,34 applied topically, reduces rupture of the groin.
The white hypocisthis35 is curative of corroding ulcers of the
genitals. Artemisia36 is prescribed also in sweet wine for the
cure of calculi and of stranguiy ; and root of nymph asa heraclia,37
taken in wine, allays pains in the bladder.
CHAP. 50. CEETHMOS: ELEVEN REMEDIES. CACHUY.
A similar property belongs also to crethmos,38 a plant highly
25 See c. 19 of this Book, M See B. xxv. cc. 88, 89.
27 See B. xxv. c. 70. 2S See B. xxv. c. 90.
29 See B. xxv. c. 92. 30 See B. xxv. c. 100.
31 It is quite useless for such a purpose ; and the same is the case, Fee
says, with all the asserted remedies mentioned in this Chapter. See B.
xxv. c. 101. 32 See B. xxv. c. 71.
33 See B. xxv. c. 106. 34 See B. xxvii. c. 24.
35 See c. 31 of this Book. 36 See B. xxv. c. 36.
37 See B. xxv. c. 37. 38 See B. xxv. c. 96.
184 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
praised by Hippocrates.39 This is one of the wild plants that
are commonly eaten — at all events, we find Callimachus men-
tioning it as one of the viands set on table by the peasant
Hecale.40 It is a species of garden batis,41 with a stem a palm
in height, and a hot seed, odoriferous like that of libanotis,42
and round. When dried, the seed bursts asunder, and discloses
in the interior a white kernel, known as " cachry" to some.
The leaf is unctuous and of a whitish colour, like that of the
olive, only thicker and of a saltish taste. The roots are three
or four in number, and about a finger in thickness : the plant
grows in rocky localities, upon the sea-shore. It is eaten raw
or else boiled with cabbage, and has JL pleasant, aromatic
flavour ; it is preserved also in brine. .^
This plant is particularly useful for strangury, the leaves,
stem, or root being taken in wine. It improves the complexion
of the skin also, but if taken in excess is very apt to produce
flatulency. Used in the form of a decoction it relaxes the
bowels, has a diuretic effect, and carries off the humours from
the kidneys. The same is the case also with alcea:43 dried and
powdered and taken in wine, it removes strangury, and, with
the addition of daucus,44 is still more efficacious : it is good
too for the spleen, and is taken in drink as an antidote to the
venom of serpents. Mixed with their barley it is remarkably
beneficial for beasts of burden, when suffering from pituitous
defluxions or strangury.
CHAP. 5 1 . THE ANTHYLLION ; TWO REMEDIES. THE ANTHYLLIS I
TWO REMEDIES.
The anthyllion45 is a plant very like the lentil. Taken in
wine, it is remedial for diseases of the bladder, and arrests
haemorrhage. Another variety of it is the anthyllis, a plant
resembling the chamsepitys,46 with a purple flower, a powerful
smell, and a root like that of endive.
CHAP. 52. — CEPJ3A: ONE REMEDY.
The plant known as "cepsea"47 is even more efficacious. It
39 De Nat. Mul. c. 20, and De Morb. Mul. I. 10.
40 See B. xxii. c. 44. 41 See B. xxi. c. 50.
42 See B. xxv. c. 18. 43 See B. xxvii. c. 6.
44 See B. xxv. c. 64. 45 See B. xxi. c. 103.
46 See B. xxi. c. 103.
47 The Sedum cepaea of Linnaeus, the Sea purslain. Holland calls it
*' Beccahunga," or " Brooklime."
Chap. 54.] CAEOS OE HYPEEICON. 185
resembles purslain in appearance, but bas a darker root, tbat
is never used : it grows upon the sands of the sea-shore, and
has a bitter taste. Taken in wine with root of asparagus, it
is remarkably useful for diseases of the bladder.
CHAP. 53. HYPERICON, CHAMJEPITYS, OR CORISON : NINE
REMEDIES.
Hypericon,48 otherwise known as the " chamaapitys"49 or
" corison,"50 is possessed of similar properties. It is a plant51
with a stem like that52 of a garden vegetable, thin, red, and a
cubit in length. The leaf is similar to that of rue, and has
an acrid smell : the seed is enclosed in a swarthy pod, and
ripens at the same time as barley. This seed is of an astringent
nature, arrests diarrhoea, and acts as a diuretic : it is taken
also for diseases of the bladder, in wine.
CHAP. 54. — CAROS OR HYPERICON ! TEN REMEDIES.
There is another hypericon also, known as " caros"53 by
some. The leaves of it resemble those of the tamarix,54
beneath55 which it grows, but are more unctuous56 and not so
red. It is an odoriferous plant, somewhat more than a palm57
in height, of a sweet flavour, and slightly pungent. The seed
is of a warming nature, and is consequently productive of eruc-
tations ; it is not, however, injurious to the stomach. This
plant is particularly useful for strangury, provided the bladder
48 Perhaps so called from the impressions on the leaves, virkp and eucaw,
or else from its resemblance to heath, v-Trep and ipKiKrj. See, however
Note 55 helow. 49 " Ground pine."
50 Sillig reads this "corissum." Former editions have " corion."
51 Identified by Fee with the Hypericum perforatum of Linnaeus, the
Perforated St. John's wort. Littre gives the Hypericum crispum of Linnaeus,
32 " Oleraceo." Another reading is " surculaceo," <4 tough and ligneous ;"
and is, perhaps, preferable.
53 " Coris " is the old and more common reading, Fee identifies it with
the Hypericum coris of Linnaeus, and Brotero with the H. saxatile of
Tournelbrt. Desfontaines gives as its synonym the Coris Monspelliensis.
54 See B. xxiv. c. 41.
55 It is not improbable, supposing the " tamarix " to be one of the
Erica3, that to this circumstance it may owe its name. Indeed Dioscorides
has epeiKr], in the corresponding passage.
56 « Pinguioribus."
87 Dioscorides gives the stem larger dimensions.
186 PLOT'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXVI.
be not ulcerated ; taken in wine, it is curative of pleurisy
also.
CHAP. 55. — THE CALLITHRIX: ONE REMEDY. THE PERPRESSA :
ONE REMEDY. THE CHRYSANTHEMUM I ONE REMEDY. THE
ANTHEMIS I ONE REMEDY.
Callithrix,58 beaten up with cummin seed, and administered
in white wine, is useful also for diseases of the bladder.
Leaves of vervain, boiled down to one third, or root of vervain,
in warm honied wine, expel calculi of the bladder.
Perpressa,59 a plant which grows in the vicinity of Arretium
and in Illyricum, is boiled down to one third in three heminse
of water, and the decoction taken in drink : the same too with
trefoil,60 which is administered in wine ; and the same with
the chrysanthemum.61 The anthemis62 also is an expellent of
calculi. It is a plant with five small leaves running from the
root, two long stems, and a flower like a rose. The roots of
it are pounded and administered alone, in the same way as
raw laver.63
CHAP. 56. — SILAUS : ONE REMEDY.
Silaus64 is a plant which grows in running streams with
a gravelly bed. It bears some resemblance to parsley, and is
a cubit in height. It is cooked in the same manner as the
acid vegetables,85 and is of great utility for affections of the
bladder. In cases where that organ is affected with eruptions,66
it is used in combination with root of panaces,67 a plant
which is otherwise bad for the bladder.
*8 See B. xxii. c. 30, and B. xxv. c. 86.
59 This plant has not been identified. Anguillara says that it is the same
as the " repressa," a plant given to horses by the people at Rome, when
suffering from dysuria. What this plant is, no one seems to know.
60 See B. xxi. c. 30.
ftl The same as the Helichrysos of B. xx. cc. 38 and 96. It is identified
with the Chrysanthemum segetum of Linnaeus, the Corn marygold.
62 Fee identifies it with the Eranthemis of B. xxii. c. 26, which he con-
siders to be the Anthemis rosea of Linnaeus, the Hose camomile.
63 See c. 32 of this Book.
64 Hardouin thinks that it is the Apium graveolens of Linnaeus, Smallage ;
but at the present day it is generally identified with the Peucedanum silaus
of Linnaeus, the Meadow sulphur- wort, or saxifrage.
65 Sorrel, for instance. 66 " Scabiem."
67 See B. xxv. c. 11.
'
Chap. 58.] REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE TESTES. 187
The erratic apple,68 too, is an expellentof calculi. For this
purpose, a pound of the root is boiled down to one half in a
congius of wine, and one hemina of the decoction is taken for
three consecutive days, the remainder being taken in wine
with sium.69 Sea-nettle70 is employed too for the same pur-
pose, daucus,71 and seed of plantago in wine.
CHAP. 57. THE PLANT OF FULVIUS.
The plant of Fulvius72 too — so called from the first discoverer
of it, and well known 73 to herbalists — bruised in wine, acts as
a diuretic.
CHAP. 58. REMEDIES FOB. DISEASES OF THE TESTES AND OF
THE FUNDAMENT.
Scordion74 reduces swellings of the testes. Henbane is
curative of diseases of the generative organs. Strangury is cured
by juice of peucedanum,75 taken witli honey ; as also by the
seed of that plant. Agaric is also used for the same purpose,
taken in doses of three oboli in one cyathus of old wine ; root
of trefoil, in doses of two drachmae in wine ; and root or seed
of daucus,76 in doses of one drachma. For the cure of sciatica,
the seed and leaves of erythrodanum77 are used, pounded ;
panaces,78 taken in drink ; polemonia,79 employed as a friction ;
and leaves of aristolochia,80 in the form of a decoction. Agaric,
taken in doses of three oboli in one cyathus of old wine, is
curative of affections of the tendon known as " platys"81 and
of pains in the shoulders. Cinquefoil is either taken in drink
or applied topically for the cure of sciatica ; a decoction of
scammony is used also, with barley meal ; and the seed of
either kind of hypericon82 is taken in wine.
68 Generally supposed to be the same as the " Apple of the earth,"
mentioned in B. xxv. c. 54. 69 See B. xx. c. 41.
70 It is doubtful whether he means an animal or plant ; most probably
the latter, but if so, it is quite unknown. 1l See B. xxv. c. 64.
'* " Herba Fulviana." 73 A plant now unknown.
74 See B. xxv. c. 27. In reality it is of an irritating nature.
75 See B. xxv. c. 70. 76 See B. xxv. c. 64.
77 Or madder ; see B. xix. c. 17. The seed and leaves are no longer
employed in medicine ; the root has been employed in modern times, Fee
says, but with no success. 78 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq.
79 See B. xxv. c. 28. 80 See B. xxv. c. 54.
81 Or "broad" tendon. The Tendon A chillis.
83 See ec. 53 and 54 of this Book.
188 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKT. [BookXXYI.
Eor diseases of the fundament and for excoriations plantago
is remarkably efficacious ; for condylomata, cinquefoil ; and for
procidence of the rectum, root of cyclaminos,83 applied in
vinegar. The blue anagallis81 reduces procidence of the
rectum, while, on the contrary, that with a red flower has a
tendency to bear it down. Cotyledon85 is a marvellous cure
for condylomatous affections and piles ; and root of acoron,86
boiled in wine and beaten up, is a good application for swel-
ling of the testes. According to what Cato87 says, those who
carry about them Pontic88 wormwood, will never experience
chafing between the thighs.
(9.) Some persons add pennyroyal to the number of these
plants : gathered fasting, they say, and attached to the hinder
part of the body, it will be an effectual preservative against
all pains in the groin, and will allay them in cases where they
already exist.
CHAP. 59. INGUINALIS OR ARGEMO.
Inguinalis89 again, or, as some persons call it, "argemo," a
plant commonly found growing in bushes and thickets, needs
only to be held in the hand to be productive of beneficial effects
upon the groin.
CHAP. 60. REMEDIES TOR INFLAMED TUMOURS. CHRYSIPPIOS 1
ONE REMEDY.
Panaces,90 applied with honey, heals inflammatory tumours ;
an effect which is equally produced by plantago applied with
salt, cinquefoil, root of persolata91 used in the same way as
for scrofula ; damasonium92 also, and verbascum93 pounded with
the root, and then sprinkled with wine, and wrapped in a leaf
warmed upon ashes, and applied hot. Persons of experience
in these matters have asserted that it' is of primary importance
that the application should be made by a maiden, as also that
she must be naked at the time, and fasting. The patient must
83 See B. xxv. c. 67. 84 See B. xxv. c. 92.
85 See B. xxv. c. 101. 86 See B. xxv. c. 100.
87 De Re Rust. c. 159. He says that it must be carried under the ring.
88 See B. xxvii. c. 28.
89 The " Groin plant." Probably the same as the Bubonion of B. xxvii.
c. 19.
30 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq. 9l See c. 12 of this Book.
M See B. xxv. c. 77. 23 See B. xxv. c. 73,
Chap. 62.] THE ORCHIS. 189
be fasting too, and the damsel must say, touching him with
the back of her hand,94 " Apollo forbids that a disease shall
increase which a naked virgin restrains." So saying, she
must withdraw her hand, and repeat to the above effect three
times, both of them spitting upon the ground each time.
Root, too, of mandragora95 is used for this purpose, with
water ; a decoction of root of scammony with honey ; sideritisy6
beaten up with stale grease ; horehound with stale axle-
grease ; or chrysippios,97 a plant which owes its name to its
discoverer — with pulpy figs.
CHAP. 61. (10.) APHRODISIACS AND ANTAPHROD1SIACS.
Nymph a3a heraclia, used as already stated,98 acts most
powerfully as an antaphrodisiac ; the same too if taken once
overy forty days in drink. Taken in drink fasting, or eaten
with the food, it effectually prevents the recurrence of libidi-
nous dreams. The root too, used in the form of a liniment and
applied to the generative organs, not only represses all prurient
desires, but arrests the seminal secretions as well ; for which
reason, it is said to have a tendency to make flesh and to
improve the voice.99
The upper part of the root of xiphion,1 taken in wine, acts
as an aphrodisiac. The same is the case too with .the wild
crethmos,2 or agrios as it is called, and with horminum,3 beaten
up with polenta.4
CHAP. 62. THE ORCHIS OE SERAPIAS : FIVE MEDICINAL
PROPERTIES. SATTRION.
Eut there are few plants of so marvellous a nature as the
orchis5 or serapias, a vegetable production with leaves like
94 The following is the formula of this monstrous piece of absurdity :
" Negat Apollo pestem posse crescere cui nuda virgo restinguat.'1
95 See B. xxv. c. 94. * See B. xxv. c. 19.
97 An unknown plant.
98 In B. xxv. c. 37. This alleged property of the Nymphsea is entirely
fabulous. " See B. xx. c. 13.
1 See B. xxv. cc. 88 and 89. 2 See B. xxv. e. 96.
3 See B. xviii. cc. 10 and 22. ^ 4 See B. xviii. c. 14.
5 Identified by Littre with the Orchis undulatifolia, and by Fee with
the Orchis morio of Linnaeifs, the Female orchis, or Female fool-stones.
Its aphrodisiac properties seem not to have been proved by modern ex-
perience, hut it is nourishing in the highest degree. LinnaBus, however,
seems to be of opinion that it may have the effect of an aphrodisiac upou
190 PLINY' 8 NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
those of the leek, a stem a palm in height, a purple flower,
and a twofold root, formed of tuberosities which resemble the
testes in appearance. The larger of these tuberosities, or, as
some say, the harder of the two, taken in water, is provocative
of lust ; while the smaller, or, in other words, the softer one,
taken in goat's milk, acts as an antaphrodisiac. Some persons
describe this plant as having a leaf like that of the squill,
only smoother and softer, and a prickly stem. The roots heal
ulcerations of the mouth, and are curative of pituitous dis-
charges from the chest ; taken in wine they act astringently
upon the bowels.
Satyrion is also a powerful stimulant. There are two kinds
of it : the first6 has leaves like those of the olive, but longer,
a stem four fingers in length, a purple flower, and a double
root, resembling the human testes in shape. This root swells
and increases in volume one year, and resumes its original
size the next. The other kind is known as the " satyrios or-
chis/'7 and is supposed to be the female plant. It is dis-
tinguished from the former one by the distance between its
joints, and its more branchy and shrublike form. The root is
employed in philtres : it is mostly found growing near the
sea. Beaten up and applied with polenta,8 or by itself, it
heals tumours and various other affections of the generative
organs. The root of the first kind, administered in the milk
of a colonic9 sheep, causes tentigo ; taken in water it produces
a contrary effect.
CHAP. 63. SATYRION : THKEE MEDICINAL PKOPEKTIES. SATY-
KION EKYTHRA1CON I FOTJE MEDICINAL PKOPEKTIES.
The Greeks give the name of "satyrion"10 to a plant with
cattle. It is the name, no doubt, signifying " testicle," which originally
procured for it the repute of being an aphrodisiac.
6 Identified by Desfontaines with the Orchis pyramidalis, and by Fee
with the 0. papilionacea of Linnaeus. Littre gives the Limodorum abor-
tivum.
7 He is probably speaking of the Cratsegonon of B. xxvii. c. 40, which
Fee identifies with the Thelygonon of c. 91 of this Book. He remarks
that from the description, the Satyrios orchis cannot have been a Mono-
cotyledon.
8 See B. xviii. c. 14. 9 See B. viii. c. 72.
10 Littre identifies it with the Aceras anthropophora of Linnaeus ; Des-
fontaines with the Orchis bifolia, the Butterfly orchis. The Iris ftorentina
Chap. 63.] SATTEION. 191
red leaves like those of the lily, but smaller, not more than
three of them making their appearance above ground. The
stem, they say, is smooth and bare and a cubit in length, and
the root double ; the lower part, which is also the larger, pro-
moting the conception of male issue, the upper or smaller part,
that of female.
They distinguish also another kind of satyrion, by the
name of " erythraicon :"" it has seed like that of the vitex,12
only larger, smooth, and hard ; the root, they say, is covered
with a red rind, and is white within and of a sweetish taste :
it is mostly found in mountainous districts. The root, we are
told, if only held in the hand, acts as a powerful aphrodisiac,
and even more so, if it is taken in rough, astringent wine. It
is administered in drink, they say, to rams and he-goats when
inactive and sluggish ; and the people of Sarmatia are in the
habit of giving it to their stallions when fatigued with cover-
ing, a defect to which they give the name of " prosedamum."
The effects of this plant are neutralized by the use of hydro-
mel or lettuces.13
The Greeks, however, give the general name of " satyrion"
to all substances of a stimulating tendency, to the cratsegis1*
for example, the thelygonon,15 and the arrenogonon, plants,
the seed of which bears a resemblance to the testes.16 Persons
who carry the pith of branches of tithynialos17 about them,
are rendered more amorous thereby, it is said. The statements
are really incredible, which Theophrastus,18 in most cases an
author of high authority, makes in relation to this subject ;
thus, for instance, he says that by the contact only of a cer-
of Linnaeus has also been named ; but, though with some doubt, Fee is
inclined to prefer the Tulipa Clusiana, or some other kind of tulip.
11 Mostly identified with the Erythronium dens canis of Linnaeus, the
Dog's tooth violet. M. Fraas, however, in his Synopsis, p. 279, remarks
that the E. dens canis is not to be found in Greece, and is of opinion that
the Fritillaria Pyrenaica, the Pyrenean lily, or Fritillary, is meant. The
Serapias cordigera of Linnaeus has been suggested, and Fee "thinks that
it is as likely to be the plant meant by Pliny as any other that has been
named.
12 See B. xxiv. c. 38. 13 See B. xix. c. 38.
14 " Crataegonon " is most probably the correct reading. See B. xvi.
c. 52, and B. xxvii. c. 40. 13 See c. 91 of this Book.
16 Of the three plants named, the Thelygonon is the only one to which
this assertion will apply. See c. 91 of this Book, and B. xxvii. c. 40,
17 See B. zxvi. c. 39. « Hist. Plant. B. ix. c. 20.
192 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
tain plant, a man has been enabled, in the sexual congress, to
repeat his embraces as many as seventy times even ! The
name and genus, however, of this plant, he has omitted to
mention^
CHAP. 64. — REMEDIES FOR THE GOUT AND DISEASES OF THE
FEET.
Sideritis,19 attached to the body as an amulet, reduces vari-
cose veins, and effects a painless cure. Gout used to be an
extremely rare disease, not in the times of our fathers and
grandfathers only, but within my own memory even. Indeed,
it may justly be considered a foreign complaint ; for if it had
been formerly known in Italy, it would surely have found a
Latin name. It should, however, by no means be looked
upon as an incurable malady ; for before now, in many in-
stances, it has quitted the patient all at once, and still more
frequently, a cure has been effected by proper treatment.
For the cure of gout, roots of panaces20 are used, mixed with
raisins ; juice of henbane, or the seed, combined with meal ;
scordion,21 taken in vinegar ; iberis, as already mentioned ;22
vervain, beaten up with axle-grease ; or root of cyclaminos,23
a decoction of which is good also for chilblains.
As cooling applications for gout, root of xiphion24 is used ;
seed of psyllion ;25 hemlock, with litharge or axle-grease ;
and, at the first symptoms of red gout, or, in other words, hot
gout, the plant aizoiirn.26 For either kind of gout, erigeron,27
with axle-grease, is very useful ; leaves of plantago, beaten up
with a little salt ; or argemonia,28 pounded with honey. An
application of vervain is also remedial, and it is a good plan
to soak the feet in a decoction of that plant in water.
CHAP. 65. LAPPAGO OR MOLLUGO : ONE REMEDY. ASPERUGO I
ONE REMEDY.
Lappago29 is employed also for this disease ; a plant
similar to the anagallis,30 were it not that it is more branchy,
19 See B. xxv. c. 19. 20 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq.
21 See B. xxv. c. 27.
22 In B. xxv. c. 49. None of these so-called remedies are now employed.
23 See B. xxv. c. 67. 24 See B. xxv. cc. 88, 89.
25 See B. xxv. c. 90. 26 See B. xxv c. 102.
27 See B. xxv. c. 106. M See B. xxv. c. 66.
20 See B. zsiv. c. 116. 30 See B. xxv. c. 92.
Chap. 66.] P1ITCOS THALASSEON. 193
bristling with a greater number of leaves, covered with rugo-
sities, full of a more acrid juice, and possessed of a powerful
smell. The kind that resembles anagallis most closely, is
known as mollugo.31 Asperugo32 is a similar plant, only with
a more prickly leaf. The juice of the first is taken daily, in
doses of one denarius, in two cyathi of wine.
CHAP. 66. PHYCOS THALASSION OK SEA- WEED I THREE VARIETIES
OF IT. LAPPA BOARIA.
But it is the phycos thalassion, or sea-weed,33 more particu-
larly, that is so excellent a remedy for the gout. It resembles
the lettuce in appearance, and is used as the basis in dyeing
tissues with the purple of the murex.34 Used before it be-
comes dry, it is efficacious as a topical application not only
for gout, but for all diseases of the joints. There are three
kinds of it ; one with a broad leaf, another with a longer leaf
of a reddish hue, and a third with a crisped leaf, and used in
Crete for dyeing cloths.35 All these kinds have similar pro-
perties ; and we find Nicander prescribing them in wine as an
antidote to the venom of serpents even. The seed also of the
plant which we have spoken of as " psyllion,"36 is useful for
the cure of gout : it is first steeped in water, and one hemina of
the seed is then mixed with two spoonfuls of resin of Colophon,
and one spoonful of frankincense. Leaves of mandragora,37
too, are highly esteemed for this purpose, beaten up with
polenta.
(11.) For swellings of the ankles, slime,38 kneaded up with
oil, is wonderfully useful, and for swellings of the joints the
juice of the smaller centaury ; this last being remarkably good
also for diseases of the sinews. Centauris,39 too, is very useful ;
and for pains in the sinews of the shoulder-blades, shoulders,
31 Identified with the Galium mollugo of Linnaeus, Great ladies' bed-
straw, or Wild bastard madder.
32 The Asperugo procumbens of Linnaeus has been named, but Fee re-
marks that from its resemblance to Mollugo, the plant must be sought
among the Rubiaceae, and not among the Borragineae.
33 <* Fucus marinus." See B. xiii. c. 48.
34 " Qui conchyliis substernitur." See Beckmann's Hist. Inv. Vol. I.
p. 36, Bohn's Ed.
35 What Fucus or Laminaria this may have been is now unknown.
86 See B. xxv. c. 90. 37 See B. xxv. c. 94.
38 " Limus aquaticus." 39 See B. xxv. c. 32,
VOL. V. O
194 PLINY'S NATUHAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
vertebrae, and loins, an infusion of betony is taken in drink in
the same way as for diseases of the liver.40 Cinquefoil is ap-
plied topically to the joints, and a similar use is made of the
leaves of mandragora, mixed with polenta,41 or else the root,
beaten up fresh with wild cucumber 42 or boiled in water. For
chaps upon the toes, root of polypodion43 is used ; and for dis-
eases of the joints, juice of henbane with axle- grease ; amo-
mum,44 with a decoction of the plant ; centunculus,45 boiled ; or
fresh moss steeped in water, and attached to the part till it is
quite dry.
The root, too, of lappa boaria,46 taken in wine, is productive
of similar effects. A decoction of cyclaminos47 in water, is cura-
tive of chilblains, and all other affections resulting from cold.
For chilblains, cotyledon48 is also employed with axle-grease,
leaves of batrachion,49 and juice of epithymum.50 Ladanum,51
mixed with castoreum,51 and vervain applied with wine, ex-
tract corns from the feet.
CHAP. 67. MALADIES WHICH ATTACK THE WHOLE OE THE BODY.
Having now finished the detail of the diseases which are
perceptible in individual parts of the body, we shall proceed
to speak of those which attack the whole of the body. The
following I find mentioned as general remedies : in preference
to anything else, an infusion of dodecatheos,52 a plant already
described, should be taken in drink, and then the roots of the
several kinds53 of panaces, in maladies of long standing more
particularly : seed, too, of panaces should be used for intestinal
complaints. For all painful affections of the body we find
juice of scordium54 recommended, as also that of betony : this
last, taken in a potion, is particularly excellent for removing
a wan and leaden hue of the skin, and for improving its gene-
ral appearance.
40 See c. 19 of this Book. 41 See B. xviii. c. 14.
42 See B. xx. c. 2. 43 See c. 37 of this Book.
44 See B. xii. c. 28. 45 See B. xxiv. c. 88.
46 (4 QX iappa/' Possibly the same as the Philanthropes, or else the
Lappa canina, both, mentioned in B. xxiv. c. 116.
47 See B. xxv. c. 67. 48 See B. xxv. c. 101.
49 3ee B. xxv. c. 109.
50 See B. xii. c. 37, and c. 35 of this Book.
51 See B. viii. c. 47. 52 See B. xxv. c. 9.
58 See B. txv. c. li, et scq. 51 See B. xxv. c. 27.
Chap. 68.] THE GEEANIOtf. 195
CHAP. 68. THE GERANION, MYRRHIS, OR MYRTIS ; THREE VARIE-
TIES OF IT I SIX REMEDIES.
The plant geranion has the additional names of " myrrhis"54*
and " myrtis." It is similar to hemlock in appearance, but
has a smaller leaf and a shorter stem, rounded, and of a plea-
sant taste and odour. Such, at all events, is the description
given of it by our herbalists ; but the Greeks speak of it as
bearing leaves a little whiter than those of the mallow, thin
downy stems, and branches at intervals some two palms in
length, with small heads at their extremities, in the midst
of the leaves, resembling the bill 55 of a crane.66 There is also
another 57 variety of this plant, with leaves like those of the
anemone, but with deeper incisions, and a root rounded like
an apple, sweet, and extremely useful and refreshing 5S for
invalids when recovering their strength : this last would al-
most seem to be the true geranion.
For phthisis this plant is taken, in the proportion of one
drachma to three cyathi of wine, twice a day ; as also for
flatulency. Eaten raw, it is productive of similar effects. The
juice of the root is remedial for diseases of the ear ; and for
opisthotony the seed is taken in drink, in doses of four drachmae,
with pepper and myrrh. Juice of plantago,59 taken in drink,
is curative of phthisis, and a decoction of it is equally good for
the purpose. Plantago taken as a food with oil and salt,
immediately after rising in the morning, is extremely refreshing;
it is prescribed, too, in cases of atrophy, on alternate days.
Betony is given with honey, in the form of an electuary, for
phthisis, in pieces the size of a bean ; agaric, too, is taken in
doses of two oboli in raisin wine, or else daucus60 with the
greater centaury in wine. For the cure of phagedsena, a
54* Not in reality the same plant as the Geranion ; see B. xxiv. c. 97.
Littre, however, gives the Erodium moschatum of Linnaeus as the synonym
of this Geranion myrrhis.
55 Hence its name, from the Greek yspavos, a " crane."
56 This kind of Geranion has been identified with the Geranium molle,
or Erodium malacoides of Linnaeus, the Common dore's-foot crane's bill.
57 Identified with the Geranium tuberosum of Linnaeus.
58 Fee remarks that all his assertions as to the medicinal properties of
the Geranion are erroneous.
59 See B. XXY. c. 39. eo gee g, XX7 c. 64>
196 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVL
name given in common to bulimia61 and to a corrosive kind
of ulcer, tithymalos63 is taken in combination with sesame.
CHAP. 69. THE ONOTHEBAS OE ONEAE I THEEE EEMEDIES.
Among the various evils by which .the whole of the body in
common is afflicted, that of wakefulness is the most common.
Among the remedies for it we find panaces63 mentioned,
clymenus,64 and aristolochia,65 the odour of the plant being
inhaled and the head rubbed with it. Aizoiim, or houseleek,
is beneficial, wrapped in black cloth and placed beneath the
pillow, without the patient being aware of it. The onotheras66
too, or onear, taken in wine, has certain exhilarating pro-
perties ; it has leaves like those of the almond tree, a rose-
coloured flower, numerous branches, and a long root, with a
vinous smell when dried : an infusion of this root has a
soothing effect upon wild beasts even.
For fits of indigestion67 attended with nausea, betony is
taken in drink : used similarly after the evening meal, it faci-
litates the digestion. Taken in the proportion of one drachma
to three cyathi of oxymel, it dispels crapulence. The same is
the case, too, with agaric, taken in warm water after eating.
Betony is curative of paralysis, it is said; the same, too, with
iberis, as already stated.68 This last is good, too, for numbness
of the limbs ; the same being the case with argemonia,69 a
plant which disperses those affections which might otherwise
necessitate the application of the knife.
CHAP. 70. EEMEDIES FOE EPILEPSY.
Epilepsy is cured by the root of the panaces which we have
spoken70 of as the " heraclion," taken in drink with sea-calf's
rennet, the proportions being three parts of panaces and one of
rennet. For the same purpose an infusion of plantago71 is
taken, or else betony or agaric, with oxymel, the former in
doses of one drachma, the latter in doses of three oboli ; leaves
01 Voracious appetite — "sine modo esurientium."
6- See B. xxvi. c. 39. 63 See B. xxv. cc. 11 and 12.
i;4 See B. xxv. c. 33. 65 See B. xxv. c. 54.
6>i Identified with the Epilobiurn roseum of Linnceus, Rose-coloured
willow-herb. 67 See c. 25 of this Book.
** In B. xxv. c. 49. 69 See B. xxv. c. 56.
"° In B. xxv. c. 12. 71 See B. xxv. c. 39.
Chap. 71.] REMEDIES FOB FEVERS. 197
of cinquefoil are taken, also, in water. Archezostis72 is also
curative of epilepsy, but it must be taken constantly for a
year ; root of bacchar,73 too, dried and powdered, and taken in
warm water, in the proportion of three cyathi to one cyathus
of coriander; centunculus74 also, bruised in vinegar, warm
water, or honey ; vervain, taken in wine ; hyssop75 berries,
three in number, pounded and taken in water, for sixteen days
consecutively ; peucedanum,76 taken in drink with sea-calf's
rennet, in equal proportions ; leaves of cinquefoil, bruised in
wine and taken for thirty days ; powdered betony, in doses of
three denarii, with one cyathus of squill vinegar and an ounce
of Attic honey ; as also scammony, in the proportion of two
oboli to four drachmae of castoreum.
CHAP. 71. REMEDIES FOR FEVERS.
Agaric, taken in warm water, alleviates cold fevers : sideritie,
in combination with oil, is good for tertian fevers ; bruised
ladanum 77 also, which is found in corn fields ; plantago,78 taken
in doses of two drachmae, in hydromel, a couple of hours before
the paroxysms come on ; juice of the root of plantago made
warm or subjected to pressure ; or else the root itself beaten up
in water made warm with a hot iron. Some medical men pre-
scribe three roots of plantago, in three cyathi of water ; and
in a similar manner, four roots for quartan fevers. When
buglossos79 is beginning to wither, if a person takes the pith out
of the stem, and says while so doing, that it is for the cure
of such and such a person suffering from fever, and then
attaches seven leaves to the patient, just before the paroxysms
come on, he will experience a cure, they say.
Fevers too, those which are attended with recurrent cold
shiverings more particularly, are cured by administering one
drachma of betony, or else agaric, in three cyathi of hydromel.
Some medical men recommend three leaves of cinquefoil for
tertian, four for quartan, and an increased number for other
fevers ; while others again prescribe in all cases three oboli of
cinquefoil, with pepper, in hydromel.
Vervain, administered in water, is curative of fever, in beasts
73 See B. xxiii. c. 16. 73 See B. xxi. c. 16.
74 See B. xxiv. c. 88. 75 See B. xxv, c. 87.
76 See B. xxv. c. 70. 77 See c. 30 of this Book.
18 See B, xxv. c. 39. 79 See B. xxv. c. 40.
198 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
of burden even ; but care must be taken, in cases of tertian
fever, to cut the plant at the third joint, and of quartan fever
at the fourth. The seed of either kind of hypericon80 is taken
also for quartan fevers and cold shiverings. Powdered betony
modifies these fits, and panaces81 is of so warming a nature
that persons when about to travel amid the snow are recom-
mended to drink an infusion of it, and to rub the body all over
with the plant. Aristolochia81* also arrests shivering produced
by cold.
CHAP. 72. REMEDIES FOR PHRENTTIS, LETHARGY, AND
CARBUNCLES.
Phrenitis is cured by sleep induced by the agency of an
infusion of peucedanum82 in vinegar, poured upon the head, or
else by the juice of either kind of anagallis.82* On the other
hand, when patients are suffering from lethargy, it is with the
greatest difficulty that they are aroused ; a result which may
be effected, they say, by touching the nostrils with juice of
peucedanum in vinegar. For the cure of insanity, betony is
administered in drink. Panaces83 brings carbuncles to a head,
and makes them break; and they are equally cured by
powdered betony applied in water, or else cabbage leaves
mixed with frankincense in warm water, and taken in con-
siderable quantities. For a similar purpose, a red-hot coal is
extinguished in the patient's presence, and the ashes are taken
up with the finger and applied to the sore. Bruised plantago83*
is also used for the cure of carbuncles.
CHAP. 73. REMEDIES FOR DROPSY. ACTE OR EBTTLTTM.
CHAM^ACTE.
For the cure of dropsy, tithymalos characias84 is employed ;
panaces85 also ; plantago,86 used as a diet, dry bread being
eaten first, without any drink ; betony, taken in doses of two
drachmas in two cyathi of ordinary wine or honied wine ;
agaric or seed of lonchitis,87 in doses of two spoonfuls, in
80 See Chapters 53 and 54 of this Book.
81 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq. 81* See B. xxv. c. 54.
33 See B. xxv. c. 70. 82* See B. xxv. c. 92.
83 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq. 88' See B. xxv. c. 39.
84 See c. 39 of this Book. 85 See B. xxv. c. 11, et sea.
86 See B. xxv. c. 39. 87 gee B. xxv. c. 88.
Chap. 74.] REMEDIES FOR ERYSIPELAS. . 199
water; psyllion,88 taken in wine; juice of either anagallis;89
root of cotyledon90 in honied wine ; root of ebulum,91 fresh
gathered, with the mould shaken off, but not washed in
water, a pinch in two fingers being taken in one hemina of
old wine mulled; root of trefoil, taken in doses of two
drachmae in wine ; the tithymalos92 known as " platyphyllos ;"
seed of the hypericon,93 otherwise known as "caros;" the
plant called "acte" — the same thing as ebulum94 according to
some — the root of it being pounded in three cyathi of wine, if
there are no symptoms of fever, or the seed of it being ad-
ministered in red wine ; a good handful of vervain also, boiled
down in water to one half. But of all the remedies for this
disease, juice of chamaeacte95 is looked upon as by far the most
efficacious.
Morbid or pituitous eruptions are cured by the agency of
plantago, or else root of cyclaminos96 with honey. Leaves of
ebulum,97 bruised in old wine and applied topically, are curative
of the disease called "boa," which makes its appearance in
the form of red pimples. Juice of strychnos,98 applied as a
liniment, is curative of prurigo.
CHAP. 74. REMEDIES FOR ERYSIPELAS.
For the cure of erysipelas, aizoiim99 is used, or else pounded
leaves of hemlock, or root of mandragora j1 this last being cut
into round slices like cucumber and suspended over must,2 after
which it is hung up in the smoke, and then pounded in wine
or vinegar. It is a good plan too to use fomentations with
myrtle wine : two ounces of mint beaten up in vinegar with
one ounce of live sulphur, form a mixture sometimes employed ;
as also soot mixed with vinegar.
There are several kinds of erysipelas, one in particular
which attacks the middle of the body, and is known as
" zoster :"3 should it entirely surround the body, its effects are
88 See B. xxv. c. 90. 89 See B. xxv. c. 92.
90 See B. xxv. c. 101. 91 See B. xxv. c. 71.
93 See c. 44 of this Book. 93 See c. 54 of this Book,
u See B. xxv. c. 71. 95 See B. xxv. c. 71.
96 See B. xxv. c. 67. 9T See B. xxv. c. 71.
98 See B. xxi. c. 105. M See B. xxv. c. 102.
1 See B. xxv. c. 94. 2 Or Grape-juice.
3 The "belt " — known to us as " shingles."
200 . PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book XXVI.
fatal. For this disease, plantago4 is remedial, mixed with
Cimolian5 chalk ; vervain, used by itself; or root of persolata.6
For other kinds of erysipelas of a spreading nature, root of
cotyledon7 is used, mixed with honied wine ; aizoiim also,8 or
juice of linozostis,9 in combination with vinegar.
CHAP. 75. (12.) KEMEDIES FOE SPBAINS.
For the cure of sprains, root of polypodion10 is used, in the
form of a liniment : the pain and swelling are modified also by
using seed of psyllion ;n leaves of plantago12 beaten up with
a little salt ; seed of verbascum,13 boiled in wine and pounded ;
or hemlock with axle-grease. Leaves of ephemeron14 are applied
topically to tumours and tuberosities, so long as they are
capable of being dispersed.
CHAP. 76. REMEDIES FOK JAUNDICE.
It is upon the eyes in particular that jaundice is productive
of so remarkable an effect ; the bile penetrating between the
membranes, so extremely delicate as they are and so closely
united. Hippocrates15 tells us that the appearance of jaundice
on or after the seventh day in fevers is a fatal symptom ; but
I am acquainted with some instances in which the patients
survived after having been reduced to this apparently hopeless
state. We may remark also, that jaundice sometimes comes
on without fever supervening. It is combated by taking the
greater centaury,16 as already mentioned, in drink ; agaric, in
doses of three oboli in old wine ; or leaves of vervain, in doses
of three oboli, taken for four consecutive days in one hemina of
mulled wine. But the most speedy cure of all is effected by
using juice of cinquefoil, in doses of three cyathi, with salt
and honey. Eoot of cyclaminos17 is also taken in drink in
doses of three drachmae, the patient sitting in a warm room
free from all cold and draughts, the infusion expelling the
bile by its action as a sudorific.
4 See B. xxv. c. 39. 5 See B. xxxv. c. 57.
6 See B. xxv. c. 66. 7 See B. xxv. c. 101.
8 See B. xxv. c. 102. 9 See B. xxv. c. 18.
10 See c. 37 of this Book. " See B. xxv. c. 90.
12 See B. xxv. c. 39. 13 See B. xxv. c. 73.
14 See B. xxv. c. 107. 15 B. iv. cc. 62, 64.
16 See B. xxv. c. 3'J. tf See B. xxv. c. 67.
Chap. 79.] BEMEDIES FOE ABSCESSES. 201
Leaves of tussilago18 are also used in water for this purpose ;
the seed of either kind of linozostis,19 sprinkled in the drink, or
made into a decoction with chick-pease or wormwood : hyssop
berries taken in water; the plant lichen,20 all other vege-
tables being carefully abstained from while it is being used ;
polythrix,21 taken in wine ; and struthion,22 in honied wine.
CHAP. 77. REMEDIES FOR BOILS.
There are boils also, known as " furunculi,"23 which make
their appearance indiscriminately on all parts of the body, and
are productive of the greatest inconvenience : sometimes
indeed, when the constitution is exhausted, they are fatal in
their effects. For their cure, leaves of pycnocoinon24 are em-
ployed, beaten up with polenta,25 if the boil has not come to a
head. They are dispersed also by an application of leaves of
ephedron.26
CHAP. 78. REMEDIES FOR FISTULA.
Fistulas, too, insidiously attack all parts of the body, owing
to unskilfulness on the part of medical men in the use of the
knife. The smaller centaury27 is used for their cure, with the
addition of lotions28 and boiled honey : juice of plantago29 is
also employed, as an injection ; cinquefoil, mixed with salt and
honey ; ladanum,30 combined with castoreum ;31 cotyledon,32
applied hot with stag's marrow ; pith of the root of verbascum33
reduced to a liquid state in the shape of a lotion, and injected ;
root of aristolochia ;34 or juice of tithymalos.35
CHAP. 79. — REMEDIES FOR ABSCESSES AND HARD TUMOURS.
Abscesses and inflammations are cured by an application of
leaves of argemonia.36 For indurations and gatherings of all
descriptions a decoction of vervain or cinquefoil in vinegar is
18 Or Bechion. See B. xxiv. c. 85.
19 See B. xxv. c. 19. 20 See c. 10 of this Book.
21 See B. xxv. c. 83. 22 See B. xix. c. 18.
23 "Little thieves," literally. 24 See c. 36 of this Book.
25 See B. xviii. c. 14. 26 See c. 83 of this Book.
27 See B. xxv. c. 31. 28 " Collyriis."
29 See B. xxv. c. 39 ™ See B. xii. c. 37, and c. 30 of this Book.
31 See B. viii. c. 47. 32 See B. xxv. c. 101.
33 See B. xxv. c. 73. 34 See B. xxv. c. 54.
*> See c. 39 of this Book. 36 See B. xxv. c. 56.
202 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXVI.
used ; leaves or root of verbascum ;37 a liniment made of wine
and hyssop ; root of acoron,38 a decoction of it being used as a
fomentation ; or else aizoiim.39 Contusions also, hard tumours,
and fistulous abscesses are treated with illecebra.40
All kinds of foreign substances which have pierced the
flesh are extracted by using leaves of tussilago,41 daucus,42 or
seed of leontopodium43 pounded in water with polenta.44 To
suppurations, leaves of pycnocomon45 are applied, beaten up
with polenta, or else the seed of that plant, or orchis.46 An
application of root of satyrion47 is said to be a most efficacious
remedy for deep-seated diseases of the bones. Corrosive ulcers
and all kinds of gatherings are treated with sea- weed,48 used
before it has dried. Boot, too, of alcima49 disperses gatherings.
CHAP. 80. — EEMEDIES FOE BTJENS.
Burns are cured by the agency of plantago,50 or of arction,51
so effectually indeed as to leave no scar. The leaves of this
last plant are boiled in water, beaten up, and applied to the
sore. Boots of cyclaminos52 are used, in combination with
aizoum ;53 the kind of hypericon also, which we have mentioned
as being called " corissum."54
CHAP. 81. EEMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE SINEWS AND JOINTS.
For diseases of the sinews and joints, plantago,55 beaten up
with salt, is a very useful remedy, or else argemonia,56 pounded
with honey. Patients affected with spasms or tetanus are
rubbed with juice of peucedanum.57 For indurations of the
sinews, juice of aegilops58 is employed, and for pains in those
parts of the body erigeron69 or epithymum,60 used as a liniment,
37 See B. xxv. c. 73. 38 See B. xxv. c. 100.
39 See B. xxv. c. 102. 40 See B. xxv. c. 103.
41 See B. xxiv. c. 85. 42 See B. xxv. c. 64.
43 See B. xxvii. c. 72. 44 See B. xviii. c. 14.
45 See Chapters 36 and 77 of this Book.
46 See c. 62 of this Book. 4? See c. 62 of this Book.
48 See c. 66 of this Book.
49 Probably the " Alcea " of B. xxvii. c. 6. See also B. xxv. c. 77.
50 See B. xxv. c. 39. 6l See B. xxvii. c. 16,
32 See B. xxv. c. 67. 53 See B. xxv. c. 102.
54 Or " Corison." See c. 53 of this Book.
55 See B. xxv. c. 39. 56 See B. xxv. c. 56.
67 See B. xxv. c. 70. 58 See B. xxv. c. 93.
59 See B. xxv. c. 106. «o See c. 35 of this Book.
Chap. 83.] HIPPUEIS. 203
with vinegar. In cases of spasms and opisthotony, it is an
excellent plan to rub the part affected with seed of the hype-
ricon known as " caros,"61 and to take the seed in drink.
Phrynion,62 it is said, will effect a cure even when the sinews
have been severed, if applied instantaneously, bruised or
chewed. For spasmodic affections, fits of trembling, and opis-
thotony, root of alcima63 is administered in hydromel ; used in
this manner, it has a warming effect when the limbs are
benumbed with cold.
CHAP. 82. REMEDIES FOR HAEMORRHAGE.
The red seed of the plant called " paeonia"64 arrests haemorr-
hage ; the root also is possessed of similar properties. But it
is clyinenus65 that should be employed, when there are dis-
charges of blood at the mouth or nostrils, from the bowels, or
from the uterus. In such cases, lysimachia66 also is taken in
drink, applied topically, or introduced into the nostrils ; or
else seed of plantago,67 or cinquefoil, is taken in drink, or em-
ployed in the form of a liniment. Hemlock seed is introduced
into the nostrils, for discharges of blood there, or else it is
pounded and applied in water ; aizoum68 also, and root of as-
tragalus.69 Isehsemon70 and achillea71 likewise arrest haemorr-
hage.
CHAP. 83. (13.) HIPPURIS, OTHERWISE CALLED EPHEDRON,
ANABASIS, OR EQTJIS^ETUM ; THREE KINDS OF IT I EIGHTEEN
REMEDIES.
Equisaetum, a plant called " hippuris" by the Greeks, and
which we have mentioned in terms of condemnation, when
treating of meadow lands72 — it being, in fact, a sort of hair of
the earth, similar in appearance to horse- hair78 — is used by
runners for the purpose of diminishing74 the spleen. For this
61 See c. 53 of this Book. 62 See B. xxv. c. 76.
63 See Note 49 above. 64 Our peony. See B. XXY. c. 10.
65 See B. xxv. c. 33. 66 See B. xxv. c. 35.
67 See B. xxv. c. 39. m See B. xxv. c. 102.
69 See c. 29 of the present Book. 70 See B. xxv. c. 45.
71 See B. xxv. c. 19.
72 In B. xviii. c. 67 ; where it is called " equissetis." M. Fraas identifies
it with the Equisaetum limosum of Linnaeus.
73 Whence its name " equisaetum."
7* See B. xi. c. 30.
204 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOBY. [Book XXVI.
purpose it is boiled down in a new earthen vessel to one third,
the vessel being filled to the brim, and the decoction taken
in doses of one hemina for three successive days. It is strictly
forbidden, however, to eat any food of a greasy nature the day
before taking it.
Among the Greeks there are various opinions in relation to
this plant, According to some, who give it the same name of
" hippuris," it has leaves like those of the pine tree, and of a
swarthy hue ; and, if we are to believe them, it is possessed of
virtues of such a marvellous nature, that if touched by the
patient only, it will arrest haemorrhage. Some authorities call it
" hippuris, "others, again, "ephedron," and others "anabasis;"
and they tell us that it grows near trees, the trunks of which it
ascends, and hangs down therefrom in numerous tufts of black,
rush-like hair, much like a horse's tail in appearance. The
branches, we are told, are thin and articulated, and the leaves,
few in number, small, and thin, the seed round, and similar to
coriander in appearance, and the root ligneous : it grows, they
say, in plantations more particularly.
This plant is possessed of astringent properties. The juice
of it, kept in the nostrils, arrests bleeding therefrom, and it
acts astringently upon the bowels. Taken in doses of three
cyathi, in sweet wine, it is a cure for dysentery, is an efficient
diuretic, and is curative of cough, hardness of breathing, rup-
tures, and serpiginous affections. For diseases of the intestines
and bladder, the leaves are taken in drink ; it has the property,
also, of reducing ruptures of the groin.
The Greek writers describe another75 hippuris, also, with
shorter tufts, softer and whiter. This last, they say, is remark-
ably good for sciatica, and, applied with vinegar, for wounds,
it having the property of stanching the blood. Bruised nym-
phaea76 is also applied to wounds. Peucedanum77is taken in drink
with cypress seed, for discharges of blood at the mouth or by
the lower passages. Sideritis79 is possessed of such remark-
able virtues, that applied to the wound of a gladiator just
inflicted, it will stop the flow of blood ; an effect which is equally
produced by an application of charred fennel-giant, or of the
75 Identified by Littre with the Ephedra fragilis of Linnaeus. Fee gives
as its synonym the Equisaetum arvense of Linnaeus, the Common horse-tail,
or Corn horse-tail. 76 See B. xxv. c. 37.
77 See B. xxv. c. 70. ™ See B. xxv. c. 15.
Chap. 85.] REMEDIES FOE RUPTURES. 205
ashes of that plant. For a similar purpose, also, the fungus
that is found growing near the root of fennel-giant is still
more efficacious.
CHAP. 84. STEPHANOMELIS.
For bleeding at the nostrils, seed of hemlock, pounded in
water, is considered efficacious, as also stephanomelis,79 applied
with water. Powdered betony, taken with goat's milk, or
bruised plantago,80 arrests discharges of blood from the ma-
millae. Juice of plantago is administered to patients when
vomiting blood. For local discharges of blood, an application of
root of persolata81 with stale axle-grease is highly spoken of.
CHAP. 85. REMEDIES FOR RUPTURES AND CONVULSIONS,
ERYSITHALES I ONE REMEDY.
For ruptures, convulsions, and falls with violence, the greater
centaury*- is used ; root of gentian pounded or boiled ; j uice of
betony — this last being employed also for ruptures produced by
straining the vocal organs or sides — panaces j83 scordium j84 or
aristolochia85 taken in drink. For contusions and falls, agaric
is taken, in doses of two oboli, in three cyathi of honied wine,
or if there are symptoms of fever, hydromel ; the verbascum,86
also, with a golden flower ; root of acoron ;87 the several varieties
of aizoiim,88 the juice of the larger kind being particularly
efficacious; juice of symphytum,89 or a decoction of the root of
that plant ; daucus,90 unboiled ; erysithales,91 a plant with a
yellow flower and a leaf like that of acanthus, taken in wine ;
chamaerops ;92 irio,93 taken in pottage ; plantago94 taken any
way, as also * * * *
79 Dalechamps identifies it with the Potentilla anserina of Linnaeus,
Silver- weed, or White tansy ; bat on insufficient grounds, Fee thinks.
80 See B. xxv. c. 39. bl See B. xxv. c. 66.
82 See B. xxv. c. 30. 83 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq.
84 See B. xxv. c. 27. 85 See B. xxv. c. 54.
be See B. xxv. c. 73. 87 See B. xxv. c. 100.
88 See B. xxv. c. 102. 89 See B. xxvii. c. 24.
90 See B. xxv. c. 64.
91 C. Bauhin identifies it with the Cnicus erysithales of Willdeuow ; -
but that plant, Fee says, was unknown to the Greeks.
9* See B. xxiv. c. 80. »3 See B. xviii. c. 10.
94 See B. xxv. c. 39.,
206 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
CHAP. 86. — EEMEDIES FOR PHTHIRIASIS.
Phthiriasis is a disease which proved fatal to the Dictator
Sylla,95 and which developes itself by the production of insects
in the blood, which ultimately consume the body. It is combated
by using the juice of Taminian grapes96 or of hellebore, the
body being rubbed all over with it, in combination with oil.
A decoction of Taminian grapes in vinegar, has the effect, also,
of ridding the clothes of these vermin.
CHAP. 87. (14.) REMEDIES FOR ULCERS AND WOUNDS.
Of ulcers there are numerous kinds, which are treated in
various ways. The root of all the varieties of panaces97 is
used as an application for running ulcers, in warm wine.
That which we have spoken of as the " chironion"98 is par-
ticularly good as a desiccative : bruised with honey, it opens
tumours, and is useful for serpiginoyiis ulcers, the cure of which
appears more than doubtful ; in which case it is amalgamated
with flower99 of copper tempered with wine, either the seed,
flower, or root, being employed for the purpose. Mixed with
polenta1 it is good for old wounds. The following are also
good detergents for wounds : heraclion siderion,2 apollinaris,3
psyllion,4 tragacantha,5 and scordotis 6 mixed with honey.
Powdered scordotis, applied by itself, consumes fleshy excres-
cences on the body. Polemonia7 is curative of the malignant
ulcer known as " cacoethes." The greater centaury,8 sprinkled
in powder, or applied in the form of a liniment, or the leaves of
the smaller9 centaury, boiled or pounded, act as a detergent
upon inveterate ulcers, and effect a cure. To recent wounds,
the follicules of the clymenus10 are applied. Gentian is applied
to serpiginous ulcers, the root being bruised or else boiled down
in water to the consistency of honey ; the juice also of the
plant is employed. For wounds, a kind of lycium11 is prepared
from gentian.
95 See B. xi. c. 39, and B. xx. c. 32. 96 See B. xxiii. c. 13.
97 See B. XXT. c. 11, et seq. 98 See B. xxv. c. 15.
99 For a description of this substance, see B. xxxiv. c. 24.
1 See B. xviii. c. 14. 2 See B. xxv. c. 15.
3 See B. xxv. c. 17. 4 See B. xxv. c. 90.
5 See B. xiii. c. 36. 6 See B. xxv. c. 27.
7 See B. xxv. c. 28. 8 See B. xxv. c. 30.
9 See B. xxv. c. 31. 10 See B. xxv. c. 33.
11 See B. xxiv. c. 77.
Chap. 87.] EEHEBIES FOR TJLCEKS. 207
Lysimachia12 is curative of recent wounds, and plantago13 of
all kinds of ulcerations, those on females, infants, and aged per-
sons more particularly. This plant, when softened by the action
of fire, is better still : in combination with cerate it acts as a
detergent upon ulcers with indurated edges, and arrests the
progress of corrosive sores : when applied bruised, it should be
covered with its own leaves. Chelidonia14 also acts as a
desiccative upon suppurations, abscesses, and fistulous ulcers ;
indeed, it is so remarkably useful for the cure of wounds, as
to be employed as a substitute for spodium15 even. In cases
where the cure is almost hopeless, it is applied with axle-
grease. Dittany,16 taken internally, causes arrows to fall from
the flesh ; used as a liniment, it has the effect of extracting other
kinds of pointed weapons : the leaves are taken in the pro-
portion of one obolus to one cyathus of water. Nearly equal
in its efficacy is pseudo-dictamnon : 17 they are both of them
useful, also, for dispersing suppurations.
Aristolochia18 cauterizes putrid sores, and, applied with honey,
acts as a detergent upon sordid ulcers. At the same time also,
it removes maggots, and extracts hard cores, and all foreign
bodies adhering to the flesh, arrows more particularly, and,
applied with resin, splintered bones. Used by itself, it fills the
cavities made by ulcers with new flesh, and, employed with
iris,19 in vinegar, it closes recent wounds. Vervain, or cinque-
foil with salt and honey, is remedial for ulcers of long stand-
ing. Roots of persolata20 are applied to recent wounds in-
flicted with iron, but for old wounds, it is the leaves that are
employed : in both cases, in combination with axle-grease, the
sore being then covered with the leaves of the plant. Damaso-
niuin21 is used for wounds the same way as for scrofula,22 and
leaves of verbascum23 are employed with vinegar or wine.
Vervain is useful for all kinds of callosities or putrid sores ;
root of nympha3a heraclia24 is curative of running ulcers ; and
12 See B. xxv. c. 35. 13 See B. xxv. c. 39.
14 See B. xxv. c. 50.
15 See B. xix. c. 4, B. xxiii. c. 35, and B. xxxiv. c. 52.
16 See B. xxv. c. 53.
17 Bastard dittany. See B. xxv. C. 53.
18 See B. xxv. c. 54. w See B. xxi. c. 19.
20 See B. xxv. c. 66. 21 gee B. xxv. c, 77.
22 See c. 12 of this Book. 23 See B. xxv. c. 73.
34 See B. xxv. c. 37.
208 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
the same is the case with root of cyclaminos,26 either used by
itself, or in combination with vinegar or honey. This last root
is useful also for the cure of steatomatous tumours, and hyssop
for that of running ulcers ; an effect equally produced by peu-
cedanum,26a plant which exercises so powerful an influence upon
fresh wounds, as to cause exfoliation even of the bones. The two
varieties of anagallis27 are possessed of similar properties, and
act as a check upon the corrosive sores known as " nomae" and
upon defluxions; they are useful also in cases of recent wounds,
those of aged people in particular. Fresh leaves of niandra-
gora,28 applied with cerate, are curative of apostemes and
sordid ulcers: the root too is used, with honey or oil, for wounds.
Hemlock, incorporated with flour of winter wheat29 by the
agency of wine — as also the plant aizoum30 — is curative of her-
petic eruptions, and corrosive or putrid sores. Erigeron*1
is employed for ulcers which breed maggots. Boot of astra-
galus32 is used for the cure of recent wounds or of ulcers of
long standing ; and upon these last either kind of hypocisthis33
acts as a detergent. Seed of leontopodium,34 bruised in water
and applied with polenta,35 extracts pointed weapons from the
flesh : a result equally produced by using seed of pycnocomon.36
The tithymalos characias37 supplies its juice for the cure of gan-
grenes, phagedaenic sores, and putrid ulcers; or else a decoction
is made of the branches with polenta and oil. Roots of or-
chis38 have a similar effect ; in addition to which, applied,
either dry or fresh gathered, with honey and vinegar, they are
curative of the ulcer known as " cacoethes." Onothera39 also,
used by itself, is curative of ulcers when rapidly gaining head.
The people of Scythia employ scythice40 for the treatment
of wounds. For carcinoma, argemonia,41 applied with honey,
is extremely efficacious. For sores that have prematurely
closed, root of asphodel is boiled, in manner already42 stated,
25 See B. xxv. c. 67. 26 See B. xxv. c. 70.
27 See B. xxv. c. 92. 28 See B. xxv. c. 94.
29 "Siligo." See B. xviii. c. 20. 30 See B. xxv. c. 102.
31 See B. xxv. c. 106. 33 See c. 29 of this Book.
33 See c. 31 of this Book. 34 See B. xxvii. c. 72.
35 See B. xxviii. c. 14. 36 See c. 36 of this Book.
37 See c. 39 of this Book. 38 See c. 62 of this Book.
39 See c. 69 of this Book.
40 Our "liquorice," see B. xxv. c. 43.
41 See B. xxv. c. 66. *2 In B. xxii. c. 33.
Chap. 89.] EEMEDIES FOB WAETS. 209
and then beaten up with polenta,43 and applied. For all kinds
of wounds apollinaris44 is very useful. Root of astragalus,45
reduced to powder, is good for running ulcers ; the same, too,
with callithrix,46 boiled in water. For blisters, more particu-
larly when caused by the shoes, vervain is used, as also pounded
lysimachia, 47 or nymphsea48 dried and powdered ; but when
they have assumed the form of inveterate ulcers, polythrix4®
will be found more serviceable.
CHAP. 88. POLYCNEMON I ONE REMEDY.
Polycnemon50 is a plant which resembles cunila bubula ; 5l
it has a seed like that of pennyroyal, a ligneous stem with
numerous articulations, and odoriferous umbels, with a plea-
sant though pungent smell. This plant is chewed and applied
to wounds inflicted with iron, the application being removed
at the end of four days. Symphyton53 causes sores to cicatrize
with the greatest rapidity; the same, too, with sideritis,53
which is applied in combination with honey. The seed and
leaves of verbascum,54 boiled in wine and pounded, are used for
the extraction of all foreign substances adhering to the body; and
a similar use is made of leaves of mandragora85 mixed with po-
lenta,56 and roots of cyclaminos57 with honey. Leaves of trixago,53
bruised in oil, are used for ulcers of a serpiginous nature more
particularly, as also sea- weed bruised with honey. Betony,
with the addition of salt, is employed for the cure of carcino-
matous sores and inveterate blisters on the neck.
CHAP. 89. EEMEDIES FOR WARTS, AND APPLICATIONS FOR THE
REMOVAL OF SCARS.
Argemonia59 with vinegar, or root of batrachion,60 removes
warts ; this last having the effect also of bringing off malformed
43 See B. xviii. c. 14. 44 See B. xxv. c. 17.
45 See c. 29 of this Book.
46 See B. xxii. c. 30, and B. xxv. c. 86. 47 See B. xxv. c. 35.
48 See B. xxv. c. 37. 49 See Note 46 above.
50 Desfontaines identifies it with the Mentha cervina, or Stag mint.
51 See B. xix. c. 50, and B. xx. c. 61.
52 See B. xxvii. c. 24. 53 See B. xxv. c. 19.
54 See B. xxv. c. 73. 55 See B. xxv. c. 94.
56 See B. xviii. c. 14. 57 See B. xxv. c. 67.
58 See B. xxiv. c. 80. 59 See B. xxv. c. 56.
60 See B. xxv. c. 109.
VOL. Y. p
210 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
nails. The juice or the leaves, applied topically, of either
kind of linozostis,61 remove warts. All the varieties of tithy-
malos62 are efficacious for the removal of every kind of wart,
as also of hangnails63 and wens. Ladanum64 imparts a fresh
colour and seemly appearance to scars.
(15.) The traveller who carries artemisia65 attached to his
person, or elelisphacus, 66 will never be sensible of lassitude, it
is said.
CHAP. 90. REMEDIES FOR FEMALE DISEASES.
One great remedy for all female diseases in common, is the
black seed of the herbaceous plant paeonia,67 taken in hydro-
mel : the root also is an effectual emmenagogue. Seed of
panaces,68 mixed with wormwood, acts as an emmenagogue and
as a sudorific: the same, too, with scordotis,69 taken internally
or applied topically. Betony, in doses of one drachma to
three cyathi of wine, is taken for various affections of the
uterus, as also directly after child-birth. Excessive menstru-
ation is arrested by a pessary of achillea,70 or else a sitting-bath
composed of a decoction of that plant. Seed of henbane in
wine is used as a liniment for diseases of the mamillge,
and the root is employed in the form of a plaster for uterine
affections ; chelidonia,71 too, is applied to the mamillaB.
Boots of panaces,72 applied as a pessary, bring away the
after-birth and the dead foetus, and the plant itself, taken in
wine, or used as a pessary with honey, acts as a detergent
upon the uterus. Polemonia,73 taken in wine, brings away the
after-birth ; used as a fumigation, it is good for suffocations of
the uterus. Juice of the smaller centaury,74 taken in drink, or
employed as a fomentation, acts as an emmenagogue. The root
also of the larger centaury, similarly used, is good for pains in
the uterus ; scraped and used as a pessary, it expels the
dead foatus. For pains of the uterus, plantago75 is applied as
a pessary, in wool, and for hysterical suffocations, it is taken in
61 See B. xxv. c. 18. 62 See c. 39 of this Book, et seq.
es u pterygia." 64 See B. xii, c. 37 and c. 30 of this Book.
65 See B. xxv. c. 81. 66 See B. xxii. c. 71.
67 See B. xxv. c, 10. 68 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq.
69 See B. xxv. c. 27. 70 See B. xxv. c. 19.
71 See B. xxv. c. 50. 72 See B. xxv. c. 11, et seq.
73 See B. xxv. c. 28. 74 See B. xxv. c. 31.
™ See B. xxv. c. 39.
Chap. 90.] EEMEDIES FOB FEMALE DISEASES. 211
drink. But it is dittany that is of the greatest efficacy in cases
of this description ; it acts as an emmenagogue, and is an ex-
pellent of the foetus when dead or lying transversely in the
uterus. In these cases the leaves of it are taken, in doses of
one obolus, in water : indeed so active is it in its effects that
ordinarily it is forbidden to be introduced into the chamber of
a woman lying-in. Not only is it thus efficacious when taken
in drink, but even when applied topically or used as a fumiga-
tion. Pseudodictamnum76 possesses pretty nearly the same vir-
tues, but it acts as an emmenagogue also, boiled in doses of one
denarius in unmixed wine. Aristolochia,77 however, is employed
for a greater number of purposes : in combination with myrrh
and pepper, either taken in drink or used as a pessary, it acts
as a powerful emmenagogue, and brings away the dead foetus
and the after-birth. This plant, the smaller kind in particular,
used either as a fomentation, fumigation, or pessary, acts as a
preventive of procidence of the uterus.
Hysterical suffocations and irregularities of the catamenia
are treated with agaric, taken in doses of three oboli, in one
cyathus of old wine : vervain is used also in similar cases, as a
pessary, with fresh hog's lard ; or else antirrhinum,78 with rose
oil and honey. Root of Thessalian nymph aea,79 used as a
pessary, is curative of pains in the uterus ; taken in red wine,
it arrests uterine discharges. Boot of cyclaminos,80 on the
other hand, taken in drink and employed as a pessary, acts as
an emmenagogue : a decoction of it, used as a sitting-bath,
cures affections of the bladder. Cissanthemos,81 taken in drink,
brings away the after-birth, and is curative of diseases of the
uterus. The upper part of the root of xiphion,82 taken in
doses of one drachma, in vinegar, promotes menstruation. A
fumigation of burnt peucedanum83 has a soothing effect in
cases of hysterical suffocation. Psyllion,84 taken in the pro-
portion of one drachma to three cyathi of hydromel, is par-
ticularly good for promoting the lochial discharge. Seed of
mandragora,65 taken in drink, acts as a detergent upon the
76 " Bastard dittany." See B. xxv. c. 53. 77 See B. xxv. c. 54.
73 See B. xxv. c. 80. 79 See B. xxv. c. 37.
80 See B. xxv. c. 67. 81 See B. XXT. c. 68,
82 See B. xxv. c. 88. 83 See B. xxv. c 70.
84 See B. xxv. c. 90. 85 gee B xxv< c> 94>
P 2
212 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI.
uterus; the juice, employed in a pessary, promotes menstruation
and expels the dead foetus. The seed of this plant, used with
live sulphur,86 arrests menstruation when in excess ; while ba-
trachion,87 on the other hand, acts as an emmenagogue. This
last plant is either used as an article of food, or is taken in
drink : in a raw state, as already stated,88 it has a burning
flavour ; but when cooked, the taste of it is greatly improved by
the addition of salt, oil, and cummin. Daucus,89 taken in drink,
promotes the catamenia, and is an expellent of the after-birth
in a very high degree. Ladanum,90 used as a fumigation, acts
as a corrective upon the uterus, and is employed topically for
pains and ulcerations of that organ.
Scammony, taken in drink or used as a pessary, is an ex-
pellent of the dead foetus. Either kind of hypericon,91 used
as a pessary, promotes menstruation : but for this purpose it
is crethmos,92 according to Hippocrates, that is the most effica-
cious, the seed or root of it being taken in wine.93 * * *
of the outer coat brings away the after-birth. This plant,
taken in water, is good for hysterical suffocations ; root of
geranion94 also, which is peculiarly useful for the after-birth,
and for inflation of the uterus. Hippuris,95 taken in drink
or applied as a pessary, acts as a detergent upon the uterus :
polygonos,96 taken in drink, promotes menstruation ; and the
same with root of alcima.97 Leaves of plantago,98 and agaric
in hydromel, have a similar effect. Artemisia,99 bruised and
applied as a pessary, with oil of iris,1 figs, or myrrh, is curative
of diseases of the uterus ; the root, too, of this plant, taken
in drink, is so strongly purgative as to expel the dead foetus
even. A decoction of the branches, used as a sitting-bath,
promotes menstruation and brings away the after-birth ; the
86 See B. xxxv. c. 50. 87 See B. xxv. c. 109.
88 In B. xxv. c. 109. 89 See B. xxv. c. 64.
90 See B. xii. c. 37, and c. 30 of this Book.
91 See Chapters 53 and 54 of this Book.
92 See B. xxv. c. 96.
93 Probahly the word "juice," or " decoction,-' is lost here.
94 See c. 68 of this Book.
35 See Chapters 20 and 83 of this Book. M See B. xxvii. c. 91.
97 The same as "Alcea" probably; see Chapters 79 and 81 of this
Book. Also B. xxvii. c. 6.
98 See B. xxv. c. 39. 99 See B. xxv. c. 36.
1 See B. xiii. c. 2, and B. xxi. cc. 19, 83.
Chap. 91.] ARSENOGONON. 213
same, too, with the leaves, taken in doses of one drachma in
drink. The leaves, if applied to the lower regions of the
abdomen with barley-meal, will prove equally efficacious.
Acoron2 is very useful for internal complaints of females ;
as also the two varieties of conyza,3 and crethmos.4 Either
kind of anthyllis,6 taken in wine, is remarkably good for uterine
affections, griping pains in that organ, and retardations of the
after- birth. Callithrix,6 applied as a fomentation, is curative
of affections of the vagina : it removes scaly eruptions7 also
of the head, and, beaten up in oil, it stains the hair. Ge-
ranion,8 taken in white wine, or hypocisthis9 in red, arrests
all uterine discharges. Hyssop modifies hysterical suffocations.
Eoot of vervain, taken in water, is a most excellent remedy
for all accidents incident to, or consequent upon, delivery.
Some persons mix bruised cypress seed with peucedanum10 in
red wine. Seed, too, of psyllion,^ boiled in water and taken
warm, has a soothing effect upon all defluxions of the uterus.
Symphyton,12 bruised in wine, promotes menstruation. Juice
of scordotis,13 in the proportion of one drachma to four cyathi
of hydromel, accelerates delivery. Leaves of dittany are given
for the same purpose, in water, with remarkable success. It
is a well-known fact, too, that these leaves, to the extent of a
single obolus even, will bring away the foetus instantaneously,
even when dead, without the slightest inconvenience to the
patient. Pseudodictamnum 14 is productive of a somewhat
similar effect, but not in so marked a degree : cyclaminos,16
too, attached as an amulet ; cissanthemos,16 taken in drink ;
and powdered betony, in hydromel.
CHAP. 91. ARSENOGONON I ONE MEDICINAL PROPERTY. THELT-
GONON I ONE MEDICINAL PROPERTY.
Arsenogonon17 and thelygonon are plants, both of them,
2 See B. xxv. c. 100. 3 See B. xxi. c. 29.
4 See B. xxv. c. 96. 5 See B. xxi. c. 103.
6 See B. xxii. e. 30, and B. xxv. c. 86. 7 " Albugines."
8 See c. 68 of this Book. 9 See c. 31 of this Book.
10 See B. xxv. c. 70. n See B. xxv. c. 90.
12 See B. xxvii. c. 24. 13 See B. xxv. c. 27.
14 See B. xxv. c. 53. 15 See B. xxv. c. 67.
16 See B. xxv. c. 68.
17 These two plants, the names of which signify " begetting males,"
214 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXVI.
with clusters resembling the blossoms of the olive, but paler,
and a white seed like that of the poppy. By taking thely-
gonon in drink, they say, the conception of female issue is en-
sured. Arsenogonon differs from it in the seed, which
resembles that of the olive, but in no other respect. By
taking this last plant in drink, male issue may be ensured —
that is, if we choose to believe it. Some persons, however,
assert that both plants resemble ocimum,18 but that the seed
of arsenogonon is double, and resembles the testes in appearance.
CHAP. 92. MASTOS I ONE EEMEDY.
Aizoiim, which we have spoken of under the name of digi-
tellus,19 is the great specific for diseases of the mamillse. The
milk is increased by taking erigeron20 in raisin wine, or else
sonchos21 boiled with spelt. The plant known as " mastos,"22
applied topically, removes the hairs from the mamillae,23 which
make their appearance after child-birth : it has the effect also
of dispersing scaly crusts 24 upon the face, and other cutaneous
affections. Gentian also, nymph a?a heraclia25 employed in a
liniment, and root of cyclaminos,26 remove all blemishes of the
skin. Seeds of cacalia,27 mixed with melted wax, plump
out the skin of the face and make wrinkles disappear. Boot
of acoron,28 also, removes all spots upon the skin.
CHAP. 93. APPLICATIONS FOR THE HAIR. LYSIMACHIA. OPHRYS.
Lysimachia29 imparts a blonde tint30 to the hair, and the hy-
pericon,31 otherwise called " corisson," makes it black. The
same too, with ophrys,32 a plant with indentations, which re-
and " begetting females," are identified by Fee as the male and the female
of the same plant, the Mercurialis tomentosa of Linnaeus, the "Woolly
mercury. Littre gives the Mercurialis perennis of Linnaeus, Dog's mer-
cury ; and Desfontaines identifies them with the Thelygonum cynocrambe.
18 See B. xxi. c. 60. 19 In B. xxv. c. 102.
20 See B. xxv. c. 106. 21 See B. xxii. c. 44.
22 Meaning the " breast " plant. It has not been identified.
23 See B. xxxii. c. 10. 24 "Testes."
25 See B. xxv. c. 37. 26 See B. xxv. c. 67.
27 See B. xxv. c. 85. 28 See B. xxv. c. 100.
29 See B. xxy. c. 35.
30 The most highly esteemed among the Romans of all colours of the hair.
31 See Chapter 53 of this Book.
sz The " eye-brow " plant. It is identified by Fee with the Ophrys
Chap. 93.] SUMMAEY. 215
sembles the cabbage, but has only two leaves. Polemonia,33
too, boiled in oil, imparts blackness to the hair.
As for depilatories, I reckon them in the number of cos-
metics, fit for women only, though men use them now-a-days.
For this purpose archezostis 34 is looked upon as highly
efficacious, as also juice of tithymalos,35 applied with oil
every now and then in the sun, or after pulling out the hairs.
Hyssop, applied with oil, heals itch-scab in beasts, and side-
ritis 36 is particularly useful for quinzy in swine.
But let us now turn to the remaining plants of which we
have to speak.
SUMMARY. — Remedies, narratives, and observations, one
thousand and nineteen.
ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED. — M. Varro,37 C. Valgius,38 Pom-
peius Lenseus,39 Sextius Niger40 who wrote in Greek, Julius
Bassus41 who wrote in Greek, Antonius Castor,42 Cornelius
Celsus.43
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Theophrastus,44 Democritus,46
Juba,46 Orpheus,47 Pythagoras,48 Mago,49 Menander M who wrote
the " Biochresta," Nicander,61 Homer, Hesiod,52 Musaeus,53
Sophocles,54 Xanthus,55 Anaxilaiis.56
MEDICAL AUTHORS QUOTED. — Mnesitheus,57 Callimachus,68
ovata or bifolia of Linnaeus, Ivy blade. The indentations in the leaves
are almost imperceptible.
•8s See B. xxv. c. 28. 34 See B. xxvi. c. 70.
35 See c. 39 of this Book, et seg. 36 See B. xxv. c. 19.
37 See end of B. ii. ** See end of B. xx.
39 See end of B. xiv. 40 See end of B. xii.
41 See end of B. xx. 42 See end of B. xx.
43 See end of B. vii. 44 See end of B. iii.
45 See end of B. ii. * See end of B. v.
4" See end of B. xx. 48 See end of B. ii.
49 See end of B. viii. 50 See end of B. xix.
51 See end of B. viii. 52 See end of B. vii.
53 See end of B. xxi. ^ See end of B. xxi.
55 See end of B. xxv. & See end of B. xxi.
57 See end of B. xxi. w See end of B. iv.
216 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXVI.
Phanias59 the physician, Timaristus,60 Simus,61 Hippocrates,62
Chrysippus,63 Diocles,64 Ophelion,65 Heraclides,66 Hicesius,67
Dionysius,68 Apollodorus 69 of Citium, Apollodorus 70 of Taren-
tum, Praxagoras,71 Plistonicus,72 Medius,73 Dieuches,74 Cleophan-
tus,75Philistion,76 Asclepiades,77 Creteuas,78 Petronius Diadotus,79
lollas,80 Erasistratus,81 Diagoras,83 Andreas,83 Mnesides,84 Epi-
charmus,85 Damion,86 Tlepolemus,87 Metrodorus,88 Solo,89
Lycus,90 Olympias91 of Thebes, Philinus,92 Petrichus,93 Micton,94
Glaucias,95 Xenocrates.96
59 See end of B. xxi. eo gee en^ Of B. xxi.
61 See end of B. xxi. 62 See end of B. vii.
63 See end of B. xx. «* See end of B. xx.
65 See end of B. xx. «« See end of B. xii.
67 See end of B. xv. 68 See end of B. xii.
69 See end of B. xx. • 70 See end of B. xx.
71 See end of B. xx. 72 See end of B. xx.
73 See end of B. xx. 74 See end of B. xx.
75 See end of B. xx. 76 See end of B. xx.
77 See end of B. vii. 78 See end of B. xx.
79 See end of B. xx. 8» See end of B. xii.
81 See end of B. xi. ** See end of B. xii.
83 See end of B. xx. 84 See end of B. xii.
85 See end of B. xx. ** See end of B. xx.
67 See end of B. xx. 88 See end of B. xx.
89 See end of B. xx. 9° See end of B. xii.
91 See end of B. xx. ** See end of B. xx.
93 See end of B. xix. 94 See end of B. xx.
S5 See end of B. xx. 95 See end of B. xx.
217
BOOK XXVII.
A DESCRIPTION OF PLANTS, AND OF THE REMEDIES DE-
RIVED FROM THEM.
CHAP. 1. (1.) raSEABCHES OF THE ANCIENTS tf PON THIS
SUBJECT.
THE further I proceed in this work, the more I am impressed
with admiration of the ancients ; and the greater the number
of plants that remain to be described, the more I am induced
to venerate the zeal displayed by the men of former times in
their researches, and the kindly spirit manifested by them in
transmitting to us the results thereof. Indeed their bounteous-
ness in this respect would almost seem to have surpassed the
munificent disposition even of Nature herself, if our knowledge
of plants had depended solely upon man's spirit of discovery :
but as it is, it is evident beyond all doubt that this knowledge
has emanated from the gods themselves, or, at all events, has
been the result of divine inspiration, even in those cases where
man has been instrumental in communicating it to us. In
other words, if we must confess the truth — a marvel surpassed
by nothing in our daily experience — Nature herself, that
common parent of all things, has at once produced them, and
has discovered to us their properties.
Wondrous indeed is it, that a Scythian1 plant should be
brought from the shores of the Palus Mseotis, and the euphor-
bia2 from Mount Atlas and the regions beyond the Pillars of
Hercules, localities where the operations of Nature have reached
their utmost limit ! That in another direction, the plant
britannica2* should be conveyed to us from isles of the
Ocean situate beyond the confines of the earth !3 That the
aethiopis* should reach us from a climate scorched by the
1 He alludes to the Glycyrrhiza or Scythice, our Liquorice, which is
still found on the hanks of the river Volga. See B. xxi. c. 54, B. xxii.
c. 11, B. xxv. c. 43, and B. xxvi. cc. 15,87.
2 See B. xxv. c. 38. 2* See B. xxv. c. 6.
3 " Extra terras." Meaning, the continental part of the earth.
4 See c. 3 of this Book.
218 PLINY'S NATITEAL HISTOEY. [Book XXVII.
luminaries of heaven ! And then, in addition to all this, that
there should be a perpetual interchange going on between all
parts of the earth, of productions so instrumental to the welfare
of mankind ! Results, all of them, ensured to us by the peace
that reigns under the majestic sway of the Roman power, a
peace which brings in presence of each other, not individuals
only, belonging to lands and nations far separate, but moun-
tains even, and heights towering above the clouds, their plants
and their various productions ! That this great bounteousness
of the gods may know no end, is my prayer, a bounteousness
which seems to have granted the Roman sway as a second
luminary for the benefit of mankind.
CHAP. 2. (2.) — ACONITE, OTHEKW1SE CALLED THELYPHONON, CAM-
MARON, PARDALIANCHES, OB SCORPIO J FOUR REMEDIES.
Eut who, I say, can sufficiently venerate the zeal and spirit of
research displayed by the ancients ? It is they who have shown
us that aconite is the most prompt of all poisons in its effects
— so much so indeed, that female animals, if the sexual parts 5
are but touched with it, will not survive a single day. With
this poison it was that M. Csecilius 6 accused Calpurnius Bestia
of killing his wives in their sleep, and this it was that gave
rise to that fearful peroration of his, denouncing the murderous
finger of the accused.7 According to the fables of mythology,
this plant was originally produced from the foam of the dog
Cerberus, when dragged by Hercules from the Infernal 8 Re-
gions ; for which reason, it is said, it is still so remarkably
abundant in the vicinity of Heraclea in Pontus, a spot where
the entrance is still pointed out to the shades below.
And yet, noxious as it is, the ancients have shown us how to
employ aconite for the benefit of mankind, and have taught us
as the result of their experience, that, taken in mulled wine,
it neutralizes the venom of the scorpion : indeed such is the
nature of this deadly plant, that it kills man, unless it can find
* See B. xxv. c. 75.
6 Properly " Caelius " — the same M. Cselius Rufus who is mentioned
in B. vii. c. 50. See also B. xxxv. c. 46.
7 "Hinc ilia atrox peroratio ejus in digitum." Sillig is probably right
in his suggestion that the word " mortiferum " is wanting at the end of
the sentence. Bestia was accused of having killed his wives by the
contact of aconite, applied, through the agency of the finger, to the secret
parts. b See B. vi. c. i.
Chap. 2.] ACONITE. 219
in man something else to kill. When such is the case, as
though it had discovered in the body a fit rival to contend with,
that substance is the sole object of its attack ; finding another
poison in the viscera, to it alone it confines its onslaught;
and thus, a truly marvellous thing ! two poisons, each of them
of a deadly nature, destroy one another within the body, and
the man survives. Even more than this, the ancients have
handed down to us remedies employed by the animals them-
selves, and have shown how that venomous creatures even effect
their own cure. By the contact of aconite the scorpion is
struck with torpor,9 is quite benumbed, assumes a pallid hue,
and so confesses itself vanquished. When this is the case,
white hellebore is its great auxiliary : the very touch of it dis-
pels its torpor, and the aconite is forced to yield before two
foes, its own enemy 10 and the common n enemy of all.
Now, after this, if any one should be of opinion that man
could, by any chance or possibility, make such discoveries as
these, he must surely be guilty of ingratitude in thus appre-
ciating the beneficence of the gods ! In countries frequented
by the panther, they rub meat with aconite, and if one of
those animals should but taste it, its effects are fatal : indeed
were not these means adopted, the country would soon be over-
run by them. It is for this reason, too, that some persons
have given to hellebore the name of " pardalianches."12 It has
been well ascertained, however, that the panther instantaneously
recovers if it can find the opportunity of eating human ordure.13
So far as these animals are concerned, who can entertain a
doubt that it was chance only that first led them to this dis-
covery ; and that as often as this happens the discovery is only
a mere repetition of the accident, there being neither reason
nor an appreciation of experience to ensure its transmission
among them ?
(3.) It is chance,14 yes, it is chance that is the Deity who
has made to us these numerous revelations for our practical
9 See B. xxv. c. 75.
10 The hellebore. See B. xxiii. c. 75, and B. xxv. c. 21.
11 The scorpion. 12 4< Pard-strangle."
™ See B. viii. c. 41.
14 He seems here, by implication, to contradict himself, and, by his ex-
planation, to be sensible that he does so. He would appear not to have
known exactly what his belief was in reference to first causes.
220 PLDHT'S NATTJEAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
benefit ;15 always understanding that under this name we mean
Nature, that great parent and mistress of all things : and this
is evident, whether we come to the conclusion, that these wild
beasts make the discovery from day to day, or that they aro
gifted from the first with these powers of perception. Re-
garded in another point of view, it really is a disgrace that
all animated beings should have an exact knowledge of what
is beneficial to them, with the exception of man !
The ancients, openly professing their belief that there is no
evil without some admixture of good, have asserted that aconite
is a remarkably useful ingredient in compositions for the eyes.
It may therefore be permitted me, though I have hitherto
omitted a description of the poisonous plants, to point out the
characteristics of aconite, if only that it may be the more
easily detected. Aconite 16 has leaves like those of cyclaminos :7
or of the cucumber, never more than four in number, slightly
hairy, and rising from near the root. This root, which is of
moderate size, resembles the sea-fish known as the " cam-
marus,"18 a circumstance owing to which the plant has received
the name of " cammaron " from some ; while others, for the
reason already19 mentioned, have called it " thelyphonon."20
The root is slightly curved, like a scorpion's tail, for which
reason some persons have given it the name of ' 'scorpio."
Others, again, have preferred giving it the name of " myoc-
tonon,"21 from the fact that the odour of it kills mice at a
considerable distance even.
This plant is found growing upon the naked rocks known
as " aconse ;"22 and hence it is, according to some authorities,
15 " Hoc habet nomen " is omitted ; for, as Sillig says, it is evidently a
gloss, which has crept into the text.
16 The ancients no doubt knew several plants under the common name
of Aconitum. The one here described, is identified by Fee with the Do-
ronicum pardalianches of Linnaeus, Leopard's bane.
17 See B. xxv. c. 67. Fee says that neither the leaves of the Doronicum,
nor of any plant of the genus Arnica, bear any resemblance to those of
the _ Cyclamen, or the cucumber. He remarks also, that the contact solely
of it is not productive of poisonous effects.
18 A kind of crab. 19 At the beginning of this Chapter.
" Female-bane," or " female-killer." See B. xx. c. 23.
1 " Mice-killer." This assertion is incorrect.
K So called from a, "without," and KOVIQ, "dust," Theophrastus
says that it received its name from the town of Aconae, in the vicinity of
which it grew in great abundance.
Chap. 4.] AGEBATOtf. 221
that it is called " aconitum," there being not so much as dust
even about it to conduce to its nutriment. Such is the reason
given for its name by some : but according to others, it re-
ceives this appellation from the fact that it fatally exercises the
same effects upon the body that the whetstone23 does upon the
edge of iron, being no sooner employed than its effects are felt.
CHAP. 3. (4.) — ^THIOPIS : roira KEMEDIES.
JEthiopis24 is a plant with leaves resembling those of phlo-
mos,25 large, numerous, hairy, and springing from the root.
The stem is square, rough, similar to that of arction25* in ap-
pearance, and with numerous axillary concavities. The seed
resembles that of the fitch, being white and twofold ; the roots
are several in number, long, fleshy, soft, and of a viscous taste ;
when dry they turn black and hard, and might easily be taken
for horns. In addition to ^Ethiopia, this plant grows upon
Mount Ida in Troas, and in Messenia. The roots are gathered
in autumn, and left to dry for some days in the sun, to prevent
them from turning mouldy. Taken in white wine they are
curative of affections of the uterus, and a decoction of them
is administered for sciatica, pleurisy, and eruptions of the
throat. The kind, however, which comes from ^Ethiopia, is
by far the best, and gives instantaneous relief.
CHAP. 4. AGERATON I FOUR REMEDIES.
Ageraton26 is a ferulaceous plant, a couple of palms in height,
similar to origanum27 in appearance, and bearing flowers like
balls of gold. Used as a fumigation, this plant acts as a
diuretic ; and as a detergent upon the uterus, when used in a
sitting bath more particularly. Its name has been given to it,
from the circumstance that it keeps a very long time without
fading.
23 Also called cucovrj.
24 Generally identified with the Salvia argentea of Linnaeus, Silver sage,
or else with the Salvia JEthiopis, Woolly sage. It must not be confounded
with the plant of the same name mentioned in B. xxiv. c. 102.
25 See B. xxv. c. 73.
25* See c. 16 of this Book.
26 " Not growing old." It is identified by Fee and .Desfontaines with
the Achillaea ageratum of Linnaeus, Sweet milfoil or Maudlin. Littre
gives as its synonym, the Hypericum origanifolium,
27 See B. xx. c. 67.
222 PLINY'S NATIJBAL HISTOBT. [Book XXVII.
CHAP. 5. — THE ALOE ; TWENTY-FINE KEMEDIES.
The aloe28 bears a resemblance to the squill, except that it is
larger, and has more substantial leaves, with streaks running
obliquely. The stem is tender, red in the middle, and not
unlike that of the anthericus.39 It has a single root, which runs
straight downwards, like a stake driven into the ground ; its
smell is powerful, and it has a bitter taste. The most esteemed
aloes are those imported from India, but it grows in the Asiatic
provinces30 as well. This last kind, however, is never used,
except that the leaves are applied fresh to wounds ; indeed,
these leaves, as well as the juice, are glutinous to a marvellous
degree, and it is for this property that it is grown in vessels of
a conical form, in the same way as the greater aizoum.al Some
persons make incisions in the stem to obtain the j uice, before
the seed is ripe, while others, again, make them in the leaves
as well. Tearlike drops are also found adhering to it, which
exude spontaneously : hence it is that some recommend that
the place should be paved where it is grown, to prevent this
juice from being absorbed.
Some authors have stated, that there is found in Judaea,
beyond Hierosolyma, a mineral32 aloe, but that it is inferior to
the other kinds, being of a darker colour and more humid than
any of the rest. Aloes53 of the finest quality should be
unctuous and shining, of a red colour, brittle, compact, like
the substance of liver, and easily liquefied. That which is
hard and black should be rejected; the same, too, when it is
mixed with sand or adulterated with gum and acacia, a fraud
which may be easily detected by the taste.
This plant is of an astringent nature, binding, and slightly
calorific. It is employed for numerous purposes, -but principally
as a purgative,34 it being almost the only one of all the medica-
28 The ancients probably included under this name several distinct species
of the aloe. They were well acquainted, Fee says, with the Indian aloe,
but probably not with that of Africa. As described by Pliny, he identifies
it with the Aloe perfoliata of Linnaeus: Desfontaines gives the Aloe
umbellata. 29 See B. xxi. c. 68. 30 "Asia."
31 See B. xxv. c. 102. The aloe is still grown in large wooden vessels,
in this country, at least ; but only as an ornament.
32 He alludes to the bitumen of Judaea, much used by the Egyptians for
the purposes of embalmment.
33 He is speaking of the prepared aloes of commerce.
34 It is still used for this purpose.
Chap. 5.] THE ALOE. 223
ments which produce that effect, that is at the same time a
good stomachic, and does not exercise the slightest noxious
influence upon the stomach. It is taken in doses of one
drachma, and, in cases of derangement of the stomach, it is
administered two or three times a da}7, in the proportion of
one spoonful to two cyathi of warm or cold water, at intervals,
according to the nature of the emergency. As a purgative it
is mostly taken in doses of three drachm a3 ; and it operates
still more efficaciously, if food is eaten directly afterwards.
Used with astringent wine, it prevents36 the hair from falling
off, the head being rubbed with it the contrary way of the
hair, in the sun. Applied to the temples and forehead with
rose oil and vinegar, or used as an infusion, in a more diluted
form, it allays head-ache. It is generally agreed that it is
remedial for all diseases38 of the eyes, but more particularly for
prurigo and scaly eruptions of the eye-lids ; as also for marks
and bruises, applied in combination with honey, Pontic honey
in particular.
It is employed, also, for affections of the tonsillary glands and
gums, for all ulcerations of the mouth, and for spitting of
blood, if not in excess — the proper dose being one drachma,
taken in water or else vinegar. Used by itself, or in combination
with vinegar, it arrests haemorrhage, whether proceeding from
wounds or from other causes. In addition to these properties, it
is extremely efficacious for the cure of wounds, producing
cicatrization very rapidly : it is sprinkled also upon ulcerations
of the male organs, and is applied to condylomata and chaps
of the fundament, either in common wine, raisin wine, or by
itself in a dry state, according as a mollifying or restrictive
treatment is required. It has the effect, also, of gently
arresting ha3morrhoidal bleeding, when in excess. In cases of
dysentery, it is used as an injection, and where the digestion
is imperfect it is taken shortly after the evening meal. For
jaundice, it is administered in doses of three oboli, in
water. As a purgative for the bowels, it is taken in pills, with
boiled honey or turpentine. It is good also for the removal of
hangnails. When employed in ophthalmic preparations, it is
first washed, that the more gravelly portions of it may subside ;
35 There is no foundation, Fee says, for this statement.
36 It would appear that it is still employed in India for this purpose,
but it is no longer used in Europe.
224 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOHT. [Book XXVII.
or else it is put over the fire in a pipkin, and stirred with a
feather from time to time, that the whole of it may be equally
warmed.
CHAP. 6. — ALCEA : ONE EEMEDY.
Aleea37 is a plant with leaves, resembling those of vervain,38
known also as " peris tereon," some three or four stems
covered with leaves, a flower like that of the rose, and white
roots, at most six in number, a cubit in length, and running
obliquely. It grows in a soil that is rich without being dry.
The root is given in wine or water, for dysentery, diarrhoea,
ruptures, and convulsions.
CHAP. 7. — THE ALYPON: ONE KEMEDT.
The alypon39 has a small stem, with a soft head, and is not
unlike beet in appearance. It has an acrid, viscous taste,
extremely pungent and burning. Taken in hydromel, with
a little salt, it acts as a purgative. The smallest dose is two
drachmae, a moderate dose, four, and the largest, six. When
used as a purgative, it is taken in chicken broth.
CHAP. 8. ALSINE, A PLANT USED FOE THE SAME PUEPOSES AS
HELXINE I FIVE EEMEDIES.
Alsine,40 a plant known as "myosoton "41 to some, grows in the
woods, to which fact it is indebted for its name of " alsine."42
It begins to make its appearance at mid- winter, and withers in
the middle of summer. When it first puts forth, the leaves
bear a strong resemblance to the ears of mice. We shall have
37 Identified by Fee with the Malva alcea of Linnaeus, the Vervain
mallow, an emollient and, comparatively, inert plant. Littre gives as
its synonym the Malope malacho'ides, Marsh mallow. Sibthorp identifies
it with the Hibiscus trionum, and Anguillara with the Althaea cannabina
of Linnaeus. It is probably the same plant as the Alcima, mentioned several
times in B. xxvi. 38 See B. xxv. c. 59.
39 Identified with the Globularia alypum of Linnaeus, the Three-toothed
leaf Globularia, or Turbith.
40 Identified by Sprengel with the Cerastium aquaticum, and by other
authorities with the Alsine media of Linnaeus, the Common chickweed.
Desfontaines suggests the Stellaria nemorum, the Broadleaved stitchwort,
but Fee prefers the Parietaria Cretica of Linnaeus, Cretan pellitory, as its
synonym. 41 " Mouse-ear."
42 From the Greek a\<70£, a "grove."
Chap. 10.] ANDBOS^MOtf. 225
occasion,43 however, to speak of another plant, which may,
with much more justice, be called " myosotis." As for alsine, it
would be the same thing as helxine,44 were it not that it is smaller
and not so hairy. It grows in45 gardens, and upon walls more
particularly : when rubbed, it emits a smell like that of cucum-
ber. It is used for abscesses, inflammations, and all those pur-
poses for which helxine is employed ; its properties, however,
are not so active. It is applied topically, also, to defluxions of
the eyes, and to sores upon the generative organs, and ulcera-
tions, with barley meal. The juice is used as an injection for
the ears.
CHAP. 9. — THE ANDEOSACES I BIX EEMEDIES.
The androsaces46 is a white plant, bitter, without leaves, and
bearing arms surmounted with follicules, containing the seed.
It grows in the maritime parts of Syria, more particularly.
This plant is administered for dropsy, in doses of two drachmae,
pounded or boiled, in either water, wine, or vinegar : it acts
most powerfully as a diuretic. It is used also for gout, either
taken internally or used as a liniment. The seed is possessed
of similar properties.
CHAP. 10. — ANDKOS^MON OE ASCYEON '. SIX EEMEDIES.
Androsaemon47 or, as some persons call it, " ascyron," is not
unlike hypericon, a plant of which we have spoken already i48
the stems, however, are larger, redder, and lie more closely
together. The leaves are of a white colour, and like those of
rue in shape ; the seed resembles that of the black poppy, amd
the upper branches, when bruised, emit a red juice the colour
of blood : these branches have also a resinous smell.
This plant grows in vineyards, and it is usually in the middle
43 In c. 80 of this Book.
44 The Parietaria officinalis ; see B. xxii. c. 19.
45 He has previously stated that it grows in the woods. The fact is,
M. Fraas says, that it grows equally upon garden walls, heaps of rubbish,
in plains, upon shady rocks, and upon mountains, below an elevation of
1500 feet.
46 Generally supposed not to be a vegetable production, but a Madrepore.
Fee identifies it with the Madrepora acetabulum of Linnaeus.
47 " Man's blood." Identified by Sprengel with the Hypericum monta-
num, and by Sibthorp and Fee with the Hypericum perforatum, of Lin-
naeus, Perforated tutsan or St. John's wort. 48 See B. xxvi. cc. 53, 54,
VOL. V. Q
226 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
of autumn that it is taken up and hung to dry. Used as a
purgative, it is bruised with the seed, and taken in the morn-
ing or just after the evening meal, in doses of two drachmae,
in hydromel, wine, or pure water, the draught amounting to
one sextarius in all. It carries off bile, and is particularly
good for sciatica ; but in this last case, caper root must be
taken with resin the day after, the dose being one drachma,
to be repeated every four days : after being purged, it is the
practice for the patient, if in robust health, to take wine, but
if in a weak state of body, water. It is employed topically,
also, for gout, burns, and wounds, as it tends to arrest the flow
of blood.
CHAP. 11. AMBROSIA, BOTRYS, OR ARTEMISIA! THREE REMEDIES.
Ambrosia is a vague name, which has fluctuated between
various plants : there is one,49 however, which has been more
particularly designated by this appellation, a branchy, shrub-
like plant, with a thin stem, some three palms in height ; the
root of it is one third shorter, and the leaves, towards the lower
part of the stem, resemble those of rue. Its diminutive
branches bear a seed which hangs down in clusters, and has a
vinous smell : hence it is that by some persons the plant is
called " botrys,"50 while to others it is known as " artemisia."
The people of Cappadocia use it for garlands. It is employed
in medicine as a resolvent.
CHAP. 12. THE AXONIS OR ONONIS ! FIVE REMEDIES.
The anonis,51 by some called " ononis" in preference, is a
branchy plant, and similar to fenugreek in appearance, except
that it is more shrub-like and more hairy. It has an agreeable
smell, and becomes prickly after spring. It is pickled in brine
for eating. Applied fresh to ulcers, it cauterizes the margins of
them. For the cure of tooth-ache, the root is boiled in oxy-
crate : taken in drink, with honey, the root expels urinary calculi.
For epilepsy, it is administered in oxyrnel, boiled down to one
half.
CHAP. 13. THE ANAGYROS OR ACOPON I THREE REMEDIES.
The anagyros, known to some by the name of " aco-
19 Identified with the Ambrosia maritima of Linnaeus, the Sea ambrosia.
50 The "cluster" plant. It still figures in the Materia Medica. See
B. xxv. c. 36, and c. 31 of this Book. 51 See B. xxi. c. 58.
Chap. 15.] APABHTE. 227
pon,"52 is a shrub-like plant, with an offensive smell, and a
blossom like that of the cabbage. The seed grows in small
hornlike pods of considerable length, and resembles a kidney
in shape ; it hardens about the time of harvest. The leaves of
this plant are applied to gatherings, and are attached to the
person in cases of difficult parturition, care being taken to
remove them the moment after delivery. In cases where the
extraction of the dead foetus is attended with difficulty, or where
the after-birth or catamenia are retarded, the leaves are taken, in
doses of one drachma, in raisin wine. The leaves are adminis-
tered in the same manner for asthma : they are prescribed also
in old wine, for injuries inflicted by the phalangium.63 The
root is employed medicinally as a resolvent and maturative :
the seed, chewed, acts as an emetic.
CHAP. 14. THE ANONTMOS : TWO REMEDIES.
The anonymos,54 through not having a name, has at last
found one.65 It is brought from Scythia, and has been highly
extolled by Hicesius, a physician of no small repute, as also
by Aristogiton. Eruisedin water and applied, it is remarkably
useful for wounds, and taken in drink it is good for blows upon
the chest or mamillae, as also for spitting of blood : it has
been thought, too, that it might be advantageously taken in a
potion for wounds. I am of opinion that the additional state-
ment, to the effect that, burnt fresh, it acts as a solder to iron
or copper, is wholly fabulous.
CHAP. 15. (5.) — APARINE, OMPHALOCARPOS, OK PHILANTHROPOS I
THREE REMEDIES.
Aparine,56 otherwise called " omphalocarpos"57 or " philan-
thropes,JJ58 is a ramose, hairy, plant, with five or six leaves at
regular intervals, arranged circularly around the branches.
52 " Dispelling lassitude." Identified with the Anagyris fcetida of Lin-
naeus, the Stinking bean trefoil. It is a purgative, and its seeds are emetic.
93 See B. viii. c. 41, B. x. c. 95, B. xi. cc. 24, 23.
5i It has not been identified, Pliny being the only author that has men-
tioned it. The Ajuga pyraraidalis of Linnaeus, and the Ajuga iva have
been suggested. 55 "Anonymos," or "nameless."
56 See B. xviii. c. 44, and B. xxiv. c. 116. It is identified with the Galium
Aparine of Linna3us, Ladies* bedstraw, Cleavers, goosegrass, hariff, or
catchweed. Its medicinal properties are next to nothing.
57 "Navel-fruit." » « Man-loving. " See B. xxiv. c. 116.
228 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
The seed is round, hard, concave, and of a sweetish taste. It
grows in cornfields, gardens, and meadows, and, by the aid of
its prickly points, adheres to the clothes. The seed is em-
ployed to neutralize the venom of serpents, being taken in
doses of one drachma, in wine : it is useful also for the bite of
the phalangium.59 The leaves, applied topically, arrest hae-
morrhage from wounds. The juice is used as an injection for
the ears.
CHAP. 16. THE AUCTION OR ARCTURTJM : FIVE REMEDIES.
The arction60 is by some called " arcturum" in preference :
the leaves of it are like those of verbascum,61 except that they
are more hairy ; the stem is long and soft, and the seed resem-
bles that of cummin. It grows in rocky localities, and has a
tender root, white and sweet. A decoction of it is made with
wine for tooth-ache, being retained for that purpose in the
mouth. The plant is taken in drink for sciatica and strangury,
and is applied with wine to burns and chilblains, which are
fomented also with the root and seed bruised in wine.
CHAP. 17. — THE ASPLENON OR HEMIONION : TWO REMEDIES.
Some persons call the asplenon62 by the name of " hemio-
nion."63 It has numerous leaves, a third of a foot in length,
and a slimy root, pierced with holes like that of fern, white,
and hairy. It is destitute of stem, flower, and seed,64 and is
found growing upon rocks or sheltered damp walls. The most
approved kind is that of Crete. A decoction of the leaves
in vinegar, taken in drink for a period of thirty days, will
50 See JSote 53 above.
60 Brotero and Linnaeus identify it with the Arctium lappa of Linnaeus,
the Burdock or clot-burr : Sibthorp with the Conyza Candida, the White
fleabane : others, again, with the Celsia arcturus of Linnaeus, and Sprengel
with the Verbascum ferrugineum of Linnaeus, the Ferruginous mullein ;
between which two last, Fee is unable to decide.
61 See B. xxv. c. 73.
62 So called from its supposed property of consuming the spleen. It is
generally identified with the Asplenium ceterach of Linnaeus, Spleenwort,
or miltwaste. The Asplenium hemionitis of Linnaeus, Mule's fern, and
the Asplenium scolopendrium of Linnaeus, Hart's tongue, have also been
suggested ; but Fee prefers the first-named plant.
53 The " mule's plant." These animals were said to be very fond of it.
64 This is incorrect : the Ceterach has a large quantity of seed, but it
is concealed beneath a kind of downy substance.
Chap. 20.] ASCYRON. 229
consume the spleen, it is said, the leaves being applied simul-
taneously. The leaves give relief also in hiccup. This plant
should never be given to females, being productive of sterility.
CHAP. 18. THE ASCLEPIA8 : TWO EEMEDIES.
The asclepias65 has leaves like those of ivy,66 long branches,
and numerous roots, thin, and odoriferous. The flower has a
strong offensive smell, and the seed is like that of securidaca:67
it is found growing in mountainous districts. The roots are
used for the cure of griping pains in the bowels, and of
stings inflicted by serpents, either taken in drink or applied
topically.
CHAP. 19. THE ASTER OR BUBONION : THREE REMEDIES.
The aster68 is called " bubonion" by some, from the circum-
stance of its being a sovereign remedy for diseases of the
groin. It has a diminutive stem with oblong leaves, two or
three in number ; and at the summit it is surmounted with small
radiated heads, like stars. This plant is taken also in drink
as an antidote to the venom of serpents : but if required for
the cure of inguinal complaints, it is recommended that it
should be gathered with the left hand, and attached to the
body near the girdle. It is of great service also, worn as an
amulet, for sciatica.
CHAP. 20. ASCYRON AND ASCrROlDES I THREE REMEDIES.
Ascyron69 and ascyroides are plants similar to one another,
and to hypericon70 as well, except that the plant known as
65 Possibly the Asclepias vincetoxicum of Linnaeus, the Common white-
flower swallow-wort ; though Fee considers it somewhat doubtful.
66 Those of Swallow-wort have no such resemblance.
67 See B. xviii. c. 44.
68 Desfontaines suggests the Inula bubonium, but Fee adopts the opinion
of Jussieu and Sprengel, that it is the Aster araellus of Linnaeus, the
Italian starwort. It is probably the same plant as the Inguinalis, men-
tioned in B. xx vi. c. 59.
69 Identified by Fee and Desfontaines with the Hypericum androssemum
of Linnaeus, the Common tutsan, or Park leaves. Littre gives as the
synonym the Hypericum perforatum of Linnaeus, the Perforated St. John's
wort ; which last is also preferred by Sprengel. Fuchsius and Mathioli
think that it is the Hypericum montanum of Linnaeus.
70 See B. xxvi. c. 53.
230 PLINY'S NATTTBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
" ascyroides"71 has larger branches, ferulaceous, red all over,
and bearing small yellow heads. The seed, enclosed in small
calyces, is diminutive, black, and resinous. The tops of the
branches, when bruised, stain like blood; for which reason
some persons have given it the name of " androsaemon."r2 The
seed is used for the cure of sciatica, being taken in doses of
two drachmae, in one sextarius of hydromel. It relaxes the
bowels, and carries off bile : it is applied also to burns.
CHAP. 21. — THE APHACA: THREE REMEDIES.
The aphaca73 has remarkably diminutive leaves, and is
but little taller than the lentil. The pods are of a larger
size, and enclose some three or four seeds, of a darker colour,
moister, and more diminutive than those of the lentil : it grows
in cultivated fields. It is naturally more astringent than the
lentil, but in other respects is applied to much the same pur-
poses. The seed, used in a decoction, arrests fluxes of the
stomach arid bowels.
CHAP. 22. — ALCIBITJM I ONE REMEDY.
I have not found it stated by authors what kind of plant
alcibium74 is ; but the root, I find, and the leaves, are pounded
and employed, both externally and internally, for injuries in-
flicted by serpents. When the leaves are used, a handful of
them is bruised in three cyathi of undiluted wine : the root
is employed in the proportion of three drachmae to the same
quantity of wine.
CHAP. 23. ALECTOROSLOPHOS OR CRISTA I TWO REMEDIES.
Alectoroslophos,75 or crista,75* as we call it, has numerous
71 It is considered to be identical with the Ascyron.
72 " Man's blood." See c. 10 of this Book.
73 Different probably from the plant of a similar name mentioned in B. xxi.
cc. 52, 59. Fee identifies it with the Vetch, mentioned in B. xviii. c. 37.
Littre gives as its synonym the Vicia cracca of Linnaeus, the Tufted vetch,
and Desfontaines the Lathyrus aphaca, the Yellow vetchling, or bindweed.
74 Fee considers it to be the same plant as the Anchusa or Archebion,
mentioned in B. xxii. c. 25. Desfontaines identifies the Alcibium with
the Echium rubrum of Linnaaus. Holland observes here that Pliny
" hath here forgotten himself/'
75 " Cock's comb." The Rhinanthus crista galli of Linnaeus, Yellow
rattle, or cock's comb. «• " Crest " or " Comb."
Chap. 24.] ALUM. 231
leaves resembling, a cock's comb, a thin stem, and a black seed
enclosed in pods. Boiled with broken beans and honey, it is
useful for cough and for films upon the eyes. The seed, too, is
sprinkled whole into the eyes, and so far is it from injuring
them, that it attracts and collects the filmy matter. When
thus used, it changes colour, and from black becomes white,
gradually swells, and comes out of itself.
CHAP. 24. (6.) ALUM, ALSO CALLED SYMPHYTON PETR.EON :
FOURTEEN REMEDIES.
The plant which we call "alum,"78 and which is known to the
Greeks as " symphyton77 petrseon," is similar to cunila bubula78
in appearance, having a diminutive leaf and three or four
branches springing from the root, with tops like those of thyme.
It is a ligneous plant, odoriferous, of a sweet flavour, and pro-
vocative of saliva : the root of it is long and red. It grows
upon rocks, to which circumstance it is indebted for its addi-
tional name of " petra3on ;" and is extremely useful79 for affec-
tions of the sides and kidneys, griping pains in the bowels,
diseases of the chest and lungs, spitting of blood, and eruptions
of the fauces. The root is pounded and taken in drink, or else
a decoction is made of it in wine ; sometimes, also, it is ap-
plied externally. Chewed, it allays thirst, and is particularly
refreshing to the pulmonary organs. It is employed topically
for sprains and contusions, and has a soothing effect upon the
intestines.
Cooked upon hot ashes, with the follicules removed, and
then beaten up with nine peppercorns and taken in water, it
acts astringently upon the bowels. For the cure of wounds it
76 Identified by Desfontaines with the Symphytura officinale, or Great
comfrey. Fee, however, considers it to be the Coris Monspeliensis of Lin-
naeus, Montpellier coris. Lobel identifies it with the Prunella vulgaris of
Linnaeus, Common self-heal, and Cassalpinus with the Hyssopus officinalis
of Linnaeus. See B. xxvi. c. 26.
77 Fee reiterates his assertion here that this " rock " symphytum is a
totally different plant from the Symphytum officinale, or Comfrey, though
they appear to have heen generally considered as identical by Scribonius
Largus, Plinius Valerianus, Apuleius, and other writers.
7» See B. xxvi. c. 26.
79 This account of its medicinal properties applies properly to the Sym-
phytum officinale, or Great comfrey, a plant which would appear to have
been confounded by Pliny with the Alum, if Fee is right in his conjecture.
232 PLINY'S NATTJBAL HISTOET. [Book XXVII.
is remarkably efficacious, being possessed of agglutinating80
properties to such a remarkable degree as to solder pieces of
meat together with which it is boiled ; to which, in fact, it is
indebted for its Greek name.81 It is used also for the cure of
fractured bones.
CHAP. 25. (7.) ALGA RUFA OK RED SEA- WEED : ONE REMEDY.
Red sea- weed82 is useful as an application for the sting of the
scorpion.
CHAP. 26. ACT^lA : ONE REMEDY.
Actaea83 has leaves with a powerful smell, rough knotted
stems, a black seed like that of ivy, and soft berries. It
grows in umbrageous, rugged, watery localities ; and is used,
in doses of one full acetabulum, for female complaints.
CHAP. 27. THE AMPELOS AGRIA, OR WILD VINE : FOUR REMEDIES.
Ampelos agria, or wild vine, is the name of a plant with
leaves of an ashy colour, as already84 stated in our description
of the cultivated plants, and long, tough twigs of a red hue,
like that of the flower which we have mentioned,85 when speak-
ing of violets, under the name of " flame of Jove." It bears
a seed which resembles the grains of the pomegranate. The
root, boiled in three cyathi of water, with the addition of two
cyathi of 'Coan wine, is slightly laxative to the bowels, and is
consequently given for dropsy. It is curative also of uterine
affections, and of spots upon the face in females. It is found
a good plan for patients afflicted with sciatica to use the juice
of this plant, bruised, applied topically, with the leaves.
CHAP. 28. ABSINTHIUM OR WORMWOOD ; FOUR VARIETIES I
FORTY-EIGHT REMEDIES.
There are numerous kinds of absinthium ; the Santonic,86 for
80 Hence its Latin name "consolida," and its French name "consoude."
Fee says that Comfrey still figures in the French Materia Medica, and that
the lower classes use it in most of the cases mentioned by Pliny ; he states
also, that it is destitute of energetic properties, in a medicinal point of view.
81 2u/i0vroi>, " consolidating."
82 See B. xiii. c. 48, and B. xxvi. c. 66.
83 The Actaea spicata of Linnaeus, Herb-christopher or bane-berries, is
mentioned by Desfontaines ; but Fee is inclined to identify it with the
Sambucus ebulus of Linnaeus, the Dwarf elder, wall- wort, or dane-wort.
84 See B. xxiii. c, 14. 85 In B. xxi. cc. 33, 38.
86 The Artemisia Santonica of Linnaeus, Tartarian southernwood.
Chap. 28.] ABSINTHIUM. 233
instance, so called from a city in Gaul, and the Pontic,87 which
comes from Pontus, where the cattle are fattened upon it — a
diet which causes them to be destitute of gall.88 The Pontic
wormwood, we may remark, is of the finest quality, superior to
that of Italy,89 and much more bitter ; the pith, however, of the
Pontic wormwood is sweet. As to its general utility, a plant
so commonly found and applied to such numerous uses, people
are universally agreed ; but with the Romans more particularly
it has been always held in the highest esteem, from the fact of
its being employed in their religious ceremonials. Thus, for
instance, upon the Latin90 Festival, it is the custom to have a
race of four-horsed chariots in the Capital, and for the conqueror
to be presented with a draught of wormwood ; from the circum-
stance, no doubt, that our forefathers were of opinion that good
health was the most valuable reward they could bestow upon
his skill.
This plant is very strengthening to the stomach, and hence
it is that wines are flavoured with it, as already91 stated. A
decoction of it in water is also taken, the following being
the method employed in preparing it. Six drachmae of the
leaves are boiled, with the branches, in three sextarii of rain
water, and the preparation is then left to cool in the open air a
day and a night. Salt, too, should be added to it. When old, it
is utterly useless. A dilution of wormwood steeped in water
is also used, such being the name92 given to this method of
preparing it. This dilution is made by leaving the vessel
covered up for three days, any kind of water being used.
Pounded wormwood is but rarely employed, and the same
with the extracted juice of the seed.93 In cases, however,
where it is extracted, the seed is subjected to pressure as soon
as it begins to swell, after which it is soaked for three days
in water, if used fresh, and seven, if dry. It is then boiled
in a copper vessel, in the proportion of ten heminae to forty-
five sextarii of water, after which it is strained off and boiled
87 The Artemisia Pontica of Linnaeus, Little wormwood, or Eoman
wormwood. 88 See B. xi. c. 75.
89 The Artemisia absinthium of Linnaeus, Common wormwood.
90 Upon which occasion a sacrifice was offered on the Alban Mount.
See further as to this Festival, in B. iii. c. 2.
91 In B. xiv. c. 19. Wine of wormwood is still used medicinally.
92 "Dilutum." An infusion.
99 It contains a small quantity of essential oil.
234 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [BookXXVIL
gently to the consistency of honey, in the same way as the juice
is extracted from the smaller centaury. The juice, however,
of wormwood, thus extracted, is bad for the head and stomach ;
whereas the decoction, on the other hand, is wholesome in the
highest degree, as it acts astringently upon the stomach, carries
off bile, is a powerful diuretic, has a soothing effect upon the
bowels, and assuages pains in the intestines. With the addi-
tion of sile,94 Gallic nard, and a little vinegar, it dispels nausea
and flatulency, and expels intestinal worms. It removes
qualmishness, promotes the digestion, and, with the addition
of rue, pepper, and salt, disperses crudities of the stomach.
The ancients were in the habit of giving wormwood as a
purgative, the dose being six drachmas of the seed with three
of salt and one cyathus of honey, in one sextarius of sea water
kept for some time. This preparation, however, is rendered
more efficacious by doubling the proportion of salt ; the seed,
too, must be bruised with the greatest care, as there is con-
siderable difficulty in pounding it. Some authorities have
prescribed the dose above mentioned to be given in polenta,95
with the addition of pennyroyal; while others recommend
the leaves to be given to children in a dried fig, to disguise
their bitterness. Taken with iris,96 wormwood acts as. a
detergent upon the thoracic organs : for jaundice it is used
raw, with parsley or adiantum.97 In cases of flatulency, it is
sipped every now and then, warmed in water ; for liver com-
plaints it is taken with Gallic nard, and for diseases of the
spleen, with vinegar, pap,98 or figs. Taken in vinegar it neu-
tralizes the bad effects of fungi and of viscus :" in wine it is
an antidote to the poison of hemlock, and to the bite of the
shrew-mouse, and is curative of wounds inflicted by the sea-
dragon1 and the scorpion. It contributes also very greatly to
the improvement of the sight, and is used as an external appli-
cation, with raisin wine, for defluxions of the eyes, and with
honey, for bruises.
94 See B. xx. c. 18. 95 See B. xviii. c. 14.
96 See B. xxi. c. 19. 97 See B. xxii. c. 30.
98 " Puls." See B. xviii. c. 19.
99 From a passage in Scribonius Largus, c. 191, it has been concluded
that by the word " YISCO," he means the juice of the Ixias or Chamceleon,
mentioned in B. xxii. c. 21.
1 See B. ix. c. 43, and B. xxxii. c. 53.
Chap. 29.] ABSINTHIUM MAEINDM. 235
The steam of a decoction of wormwood is curative of affec-
tions of the ears ; and when they are attacked with running
sores, a liniment of wormwood bruised with honey is applied.
Three or four sprigs of wormwood, with one root of Gallic
nard, taken in six cyathi of water, act as a diuretic and as
an emmenagogue ; indeed, if taken with honey, or employed
as a pessary with wool, it has especial virtues as an emmena-
gogue. In combination with honey and nitre it is useful for
quinzy, and an infusion of it in water is good for epinyctis.
A topical application is made of it for recent wounds, provided
always they have not been touched with water : it is em-
ployed also for ulcers upon the head. In combination with
Cyprian wax or figs, it is highly recommended as a plaster for
the iliac regions : it is curative also of prurigo, but it must
never be administered in fevers. Taken in drink, it is a pre-
ventive of sea sickness; and, worn attached to the body,
beneath an apron, it arrests inguinal swellings. The smell of
it2 induces sleep, a similar effect being produced by placing
it under the pillow unknown to the party. Kept among
clothes it preserves them from worms, and used as a liniment,
with oil, or burnt as a fumigation, it has the effect of driving
away gnats.
Writing ink, mixed with an infusion of wormwood, effectually
protects the writings from the attacks of mice. Ashes of
wormwood, mixed with rose unguent, stain the hair black.
CHAP. 29. ABSINTHIUM MAEINUM OE SEEIPHTJM.
There is a sea wormwood3 also, known as " seriphum" by
some, the most esteemed being that of Taposiris in Egypt.
Those initiated in the mysteries of Isis carry a branch of it in
the hand. It has a narrower leaf than the preceding plant,
and is not so bitter ; it is injurious to the stomach, has a
laxative effect upon the bowels, and expels intestinal worms.
It is taken in drink with oil and salt ; or else an infusion of it
is taken in a pottage made of meal of three -month wheat.
When employed as a decoction, a handful is used to one sexta-
rius of water, the mixture being boiled down to one half.
2 This, Fee observes, is not the case.
3 The Artemisia maritima of Linnaeus, Sea wormwood : see B. xxxii.
c, 31.
236 PLINY'S NATTJBAL HISTOBY. [Book XXVII.
CHAP. 30. (8.) THE BALLOTES, MELAMPBASION, OB BLACK LEEK I
THKEE BEMEDIES.
The Greeks give to the ballotes4 the other name of " melam-
prasion," meaning " black leek."5 It is a branchy plant, with
black angular stems, covered with hairy leaves, larger and darker
than those of the leek, 6and possessed of a powerful smell. The
leaves, bruised and applied with salt, are highly efficacious for
bites inflicted by dogs : cooked upon hot ashes and applied in
a cabbage leaf, they are curative of condylomata. Mixed with
honey, this plant acts as a detergent upon sordid ulcers.
CHAP. 31. BOTBYS, AMBBOSIA, OB ABTEMTSIA : ONE BEMEDY.
Botrys7 is a shrublike plant, which has small yellow
branches, with the seed growing all round them, and leaves
resembling8 those of endive. It is found upon the banks of
running streams, and is used for the cure of hardness of
breathing. The people of Cappadocia call this plant " am-
brosia," others again, " artemisia."
CHAP. 32. THE BBABYLA I ONE BEMEDY.
The brabyla9 is possessed of astringent properties like those
of the quince, but beyond this, authors give no particulars
relative to it.
CHAP. 33. BBYON MABITIMUM : FIVE BEMEDIES.
Sea bryon10 is a plant, no doubt,11 with leaves like those of
4 The Ballota nigra of Linnaeus, the Fetid ballota, or Stinking black
horehound ; see B. xx. c. 89.
5 He is in error here, as the word " raelamprasion " means " black
horehound.'* " Black leek " would be " melamprason."
6 " Horehound," properly. The Ballota is of a stimulating nature, and
contains a considerable quantity of essential oil.
7 The Chenopodium botrys of Linnaeus, Cut-leaved goose foot, or oak
of Jerusalem. See B. xxv. c. 36, and c. 11 of this Book.
8 There is no such resemblance. The name " botrys " was given to
the plant from the little clusters formed by the blossoms.
9 Identified by Fee with the Prunus domestica of Linnaeus, var. /?, or
Damascena, the Damascene plum or damson. Desfontaines considers it
to he the Prunus instititia, the Bullace plum. Holland mentions in a Note,
" Bullois, skegs, or such like wild plums."
10 The Ulva lactuca of Linnaeus, Lettuce laver ; see B. xiii. c. 49, B.
xxiv. c. 17, and B. xxxii. c. 36.
11 He probably says this in reference to the opinion expressed by Theo-
Chap. 35.] THE CATANANCE. 237
the lettuce, of a wrinkled, pursed appearance, and destitute of
stem, the leaves arising from a single root : it grows upon
rocks more particularly, and shells sunk in the sand. It has
desiccative12 and astringent qualities in a very high degree,
properties which render it useful for reducing all kinds of
abscesses and inflammations, those attendant upon gout in
particular. It is good also for all affections which stand in
need of cooling applications.
CHAP. 34. THE BUPLEURON I ONE REMEDY.
I find it stated that seed of bupleuron13 is given for injuries
inflicted by serpents ; and that the wound is fomented with
a decoction of the plant, in combination with leaves of the
mulberry or of origanum.14
CHAP. 35. — THE CATANANCE ; ONE OBSERVATION UPON IT. THE
CEMOS *. ONE OBSERVATION UPON IT.
The catanance15 is a Thessalian plant, which it would be
a mere loss of time to describe, seeing that it is only used as
an ingredient in philtres. In order, however, to expose the
follies of the magical art, it may not be out of place to remark
that this plant has been selected for the above-named purpose,
from the fact that, as it withers, it gradually contracts and
assumes the shape of the claws of a dead kite.16
For a similar reason we shall give no description of the
plant called " cemos."17
phrastus, Hist. iv. 7, that it was a name for sea- weed in general, and not
a specific plant.
1 - In reality, it is destitute of medicinal properties. Some kinds of laver
are considered a dainty food.
13 See B. xxii. c. 35. u See B. xx. c. 67.
15 Dioscorides speaks of two kinds of Catanance ; one of which has
heen identified hy Sprengel with the Ornithopus compressus of Linnaeus,
and the other with the Astragalus pugniformis. Fee expresses his doubts
as to the correctness of these conclusions.
16 " As if it would catch women, and hold them fast perforce." — Holland.
It has been suggested that the Coronopus, or " crow's foot," mentioned
in B. xxi. c. 59^ was so called for a similar reason.
17 Prosper Alpinus identifies it with the Plantago Cretica of X*inna3us,
and Sprengel with the Micropus erectus of Linnaeus. Fee considers it to
be the Gnaphalium leontopodium of Lamarck.
238 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOBY. [Book XXVII.
CHAP. 36. THE CALYX I THKEE REMEDIES*
Of the calyx18 there are two kinds. One of these resembles
arum, and is found growing in ploughed soils; the proper
time for gathering it being before it begins to wither. It is em-
ployed for the same purposes as arum ;19 and an infusion of the
root is taken as a purgative and as an emmenagogue. The
stalks, boiled with the leaves and some pulse, are curative of
tenesmus.
CHAP. 37. THE CALYX, KNOWN ALSO AS ANCHTJSA OB ONOCLIA :
TWO REMEDIES.
The other20 kind of calyx is known by some persons as
*' anchusa," and by others as " onoclia." The leaves are like
those of the lettuce, but longer, and with a downy surface.
The root is red, and is employed topically, in combination
with fine polenta,21 for the cure of erysipelas : taken inter-
nally with white wine, it is good for affections of the liver.
CHAP. 38. THE CIRCJEA : THEEE REMEDIES.
The circaea22 resembles the cultivated trychnon23 in ap-
pearance, It has a small swarthy flower, a diminutive seed,
like millet, growing in small horn-shaped pods, and a root
half a foot in length, generally triple or fourfold, white,
odoriferous, and hot in the mouth. It is found growing upon
rocks exposed to the sun. An infusion of it is prepared with
wine, and administered for pains and affections of the uterus :
to make it, three ounces of the pounded root should be steeped
18 Other readings are "calsa, " and "calla;" but "calyx" is supported
by the text of Dioscorides, B. iv. c. 23. The first kind has been generally
identified with the Arum arisarum of Linnaeus, Hooded arum, or Monk's
hood, and is identical probably with the Aris aros of B. xxiv. c. 94.
19 See B. xxiv. c. 93.
20 Probably the Anchusa tinctoria of Linnaeus, Dyer's alkanet. See B.
xxii. c. 23.
21 " Flore polentas." See B. xviii. c. 14.
22 Sprengel identifies it with the Asclepias nigra, Black swallow-wort,
but Fee considers it to be the Circasa Lutetiana of Linnaeus, Parisian
circa3a, or enchanter's nightshade. Other authorities have suggested the
Capsicum annuum of Linnaeus, Indian or Guinea pepper, and the Celosia
margaritacea of Linnaeus, Pearly celosia, or cock's coinb. M. Fraas
suggests, though with some doubt, the Cynanchura Monspeliacum, the
Montpellier dog's-bane. 23 See B. xxi. c. 105.
Chap. 40.] THE CEAT^IGONON. 239
in three sextarii of wine a day and a night. This potion is
effectual also for bringing away the after-birth. The seed of
this plant, taken in wine or hydromel, diminishes the milk in
nursing women.
CHAP. 39. THE CIRSION : ONE REMEDY.
The cirsion24 is a plant consisting of a diminutive and deli-
cate stem, two cubits in height, of a triangular form, and
covered with prickly leaves. The prickles on the leaves are
downy, and the leaves themselves resemble those of buglos-
sos25 in shape, but are smaller, and of a whitish colour. At
the summit of the plant there are small purple heads, which
fall off in the shape of down. This plant or the root of it,
worn as an amulet, it is said, is curative of the pains attendant
upon varicose veins.
CHAP. 40. THE CRAT^GONON ; TWO KINDS OF IT ! EIGHT
REMEDIES.
The crataegonon26 is similar to an ear of corn in appearance.
It is formed of numerous shoots, springing from a single root,
and full of joints. It grows in umbrageous localities, and has
a seed like that of millet, with a remarkably acrid taste. If
a man and woman, before the evening meal, take three oboli of
this seed in three cyathi of water, for forty days consecutively,
before the conception of their issue, it will be sure to be of the
male27 sex, they say.
There is another crataagonon, known also as " thelygonos,"28
and distinguished from the last mentioned plant by the mild-
ness of the taste. Some persons assert that females, if they
take the blossom of this plant in drink, will be sure to con-
ceive before the end of forty days. These plants, used in com-
bination with honey, are curative of black ulcers of a chronic
nature ; they also fill the concavities made by fistulous
24 Identified with the Carduus parviflorus of Linnaeus, the Small-flowered
thistle. 25 See B. xxv. c. 40.
26 Identified hy Fee and Desfontaines with the Polygonum persicaria of
Linnaeus, the Spotted persicaria, red-shanks, fleawort, or lakeweed. Littre
gives the Crucianella Monspeliaca of Linnaeus, Montpellier petty madder.
27 Hence its name, signifying that it strengthens the generative powers.
28 See B. xxvi. c. 91.
240 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
ulcers with new flesh, and restore such parts of the hody as
are wasted by atrophy. They act as a detergent upon purulent
sores, disperse inflammatory tumours, and alleviate gout and
all kind of abscesses, those of the mamillae in particular.
Under the name of " crataegos"29 or '*' cratsegon," Theo-
phrastus30 speaks of the tree known in Italy as the " aquifolia."
CHAP. 41. THE CROCODILEON : TWO REMEDIES.
The crocodileon31 resembles the black chamseleon32 in shape :
the root is long, of an uniform thickness, and possessed of a
pungent smell. It is found growing in sandy soils. Taken
in drink, it causes a copious discharge of coagulated blood at
the nostrils, and in this way, it is said, diminishes the volume
of the spleen.
CHAP. 42. THE CYNOSORCHIS OR ORCHIS I FOUR REMEDIES.
The cynosorchis,33 by some called " orchis," has leaves like34
those of the olive, soft, three in number, half a foot in length,
and lying upon the ground. The root is bulbous, oblong, and
divided into two portions,35 the upper one hard, and the lower
one soft. These roots are eaten boiled, like bulbs,36 and are
mostly found growing in vineyards. If males eat the upper
part, they will be parents of male issue, they .say, and females,
if they eat the lower part, of female. In Thessaly, the men
take the soft portion in goats' milk as an aphrodisiac, and the
hard part as an antaphrodisiac. Of these parts, the one effec-
tually neutralizes the action of the other.37
29 See B. xxiv. c. 72. Littre remarks that Pliny is in error here, for
that the Crataegos of Theophrastus is the Cratsegos azarolia of Linnseus,
the Parsley-leaved hawthorn, while the Aquifolia of Pliny is the Holly.
As to the latter point, see B. xvi. cc. 8, 12
30 Hist. Plant. B. iii. c. 15.
31 Desfontaines identifies it with the Centaurea crocodileuin of Linnaeus,
and Littre wjth the Cardims pycnocephalus of Linnaeus. Ruellius con-
siders it to b*e the same plant as the Leucacantha of Dioscoridesj which
Sprengel identifies with the Cnicus Casahonce. Fee expresses himself at
a loss as to its identity. 32 See B. xxii. c. 21.
33 u Do-g'g testicle/"' Considered to be a synonym merely of the Orchis,
mentioned in B. xxvi. c. 62. 34 This comparison is totally incorrect.
35 See B. xxvi. c. 62. 3G Or onions.
37 A tissue of groundless superstitions.
Chap. 44.] THE GUCUBALUS. 241
CHAP. 43. — THE CHRYSOLACHANUM ; TWO VARIETIES OF IT :
THREE REMEDIES. COAGULUM TERRJE I TWO REMEDIES.
The chrysolachanum38 grows in pine plantations, and is
similar to the lettuce in appearance. It heals wounds of the
sinews, if applied without delay. There is another kind39 of
chrysolachauum mentioned, with a golden flower, and a leaf
like that of the cabbage : it is boiled and eaten as a laxative
vegetable. This plant, worn as an amulet by a patient suffer-
ing from jaundice, provided it be always kept in sight, is a cure
for that disease, it is said. I am not certain whether this is
all that might be said about the chrysolachanum, but, at
all events, it is all that I have found respecting it ; for it is
a very general fault on the part of our more recent herbalists,
to confine their account of plants to the mere name, with u
very meagre description of the peculiar features of the plant,
— j ust as though, forsooth, they were universally known. Thus,
they tell us, for instance, that a plant known as " coagulum40
terra3," acts astringently upon the bowels, and that it dispels
strangury, taken in water or in wine.
CHAP. 44. — THE CUCUBALTJS, STRUMUS, OR STRYCHNON I SIX
REMEDIES.
The leaves of the cucubalus,41 they tell us, bruised with
vinegar, are curative of the stings of serpents and of scorpions.
Some persons call this plant by the name of " strumus,"42
while others give it the Greek name of " strychnon :" its ber-
ries are black. The juice of these berries, administered in
doses of one cyathus, in two cyathi of honied wine, is curative
of lumbago ; an infusion of them with rose oil is used for head-
ache, and they are employed as an application for scrofulous
sores.
3S " Golden vegetable." Supposed to be identical with the Atriplex of
B. xx. c. 38, our Orage.
rfy Cultivated orage, probably.
40 " Earth rennet." This plant has not been identified. Lobelius has
made a guess at the Serapias abortiva of Linnaeus, the Helleborine. It is
pretty clear that it was unknown to Pliny himself.
41 The same, probably, as the Trychnon of B. xxi. cc. 52, 105, Solanum
nigrum or Black nightshade. In the former editions the reading is "cuculus."
4~ The " strumous " or "scrofula" plant.
VOL. V. li
242 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTOBY. [Book XXVII.
CHAP. 45. — THE CONFERVA I TWO REMEDIES.
The conferva43 is peculiar to running streams, those of the
Alpine regions more particularly ; receiving its name from
" conferrumino,"44 to solder together. Properly speaking, it is
rather a fresh-water sponge than a moss or a plant, being a
dense, porous mass of filaments. I know an instance where a
man, who fell to the ground while lopping a tree of consider-
able height, and broke nearly every bone of his body, was cured
by the agency of this plant. The patient's body was covered all
over with conferva, the application being continually sprinkled
with water the moment it began to dry, and only removed for
the purpose of changing it when the plant gave signs of losing
its virtues.45 It is hardly credible with what rapidity he re-
covered.
CHAP. 46. (9.) THE COCCUS CNIDIUS, OR GRAIN OF CNIDOS *. TWO
REMEDIES.
The Cnidian grain46 has just the colour of the kermes berry.47
It is larger than a peppercorn, and has very heating proper-
ties : hence it is that when used, it is taken in crumb of
bread, that it may not burn the throat in passing downwards.
It is a sovereign remedy for hemlock, and arrests48 looseness of
the bowels.
CHAP. 47. — THE DIPSACOS : TWO REMEDIES.
The dipsacos49 has leaves like those of the lettuce, with
prickly tubercles on the middle of the back. The stem of it,
two cubits in length, is bristling all over with prickles of a
similar nature. The joints of the stem are closely covered
with two leaves, which form a concave axil in which a saltish
dew-like liquid collects.50 At the summit of the stem there
43 Possibly the Conferva rivularis, or the C. glomerata of Linnaeus, the
Eiver conferva or River sponge, or the Green cluster conferva.
44 On account of its asserted agglutinative properties. In reality it is
an inert plant, and is never used in medicine.
45 Fee considers this statement as fabulous in every respect.
46 See B. xiii. c. 35.
47 " Coccus." See B. xvi. c. 12.
This is not the case. Sillig is of opinion that the passage is imperfect.
49 The same plant as the Labrum Venereum of B. xxv. c. 108. It is
used for carding cloth, but is no longer employed in medicine.
30 Hence its uaiiie " Venus' bath."
Chap. 50.] THE ELATIKE. 243
are small heads covered with prickles : it grows in watery
localities.
This plant is used for the cure of chaps of the fundament
and of fistula ; in which latter case the root is boiled down in
wine to the consistency of wax, to allow of its being introduced
into the fistula in the form of a salve.61 It is employed, too,
for the cure of all kinds of warts : as a liniment for which,
the juice collected in the axils, as above mentioned, is also used
by some.
CHAP. 48. THE DRYOPTERIS : TWO REMEDIES.
The dryopteris,52 which resembles fern in appearance, is
found growing upon trees ; the leaves are of a somewhat sweet-
ish53 flavour and marked with slight indentations, and the
root is hairy. This plant is possessed of caustic properties,54
and hence the root is pounded and used as a depilatory. In
using it the skin is rubbed with it till perspiration is excited,
the operation being repeated a second and a third time, care
being taken not to remove the perspiration.
CHAP. 49. THE DRYOPHONON.
The dryophonon55 is a similar plant, with thin stems a cubit
in length, and surrounded on either side with leaves about as
large as the thumb and like those of the oxymyrsine56 in ap-
pearance, only whiter and softer : the blossom is white, and
similar to that of the elder. The shoots of it are eaten boiled,
and the seed is used as a substitute for pepper.
CHAP. 50. THE ELATIKE I TWO REMEDIES.
The elatine57 has leaves like those of the helxine,68 diminu-
51 "Collyrii."
52 The same plant, prohably, as the Polypodion of B. xxvi. c. 37. Littre,
however, identifies it with the Asplenium adiantum nigrum of Linnaeus, the
Black maiden-hair, or spleenwort.
63 It is the root that is sweet, and not the leaves.
54 It has no such properties.
55 The " oak-killer." Fee thinks that it may possibly be the Conval-
laria uniilora of Linnaeus. Desfontaines names the Cochlearia draba, and
Littre the Lepidium draba of Linnaeus.
56 See B. xv. cc. 7, 37, and B. xxiii, c. 83.
67 Desfontaines and Fee identify it with the Antirrhinum spuriura of
Linnaeus, Bastard toad-flax, calves' snout, or snapdragon. Littre gives
the Linaria Groeea as its synonym. 58 See B. xxii. c. 19.
B 2
244 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
live, round, and hairy ; its branches are small, half a foot in
length, five or six in number, and covered with leaves from
the root upwards. It grows in corn-fields, and has a rough
flavour : hence it is found very useful for defluxions of the
eyes, the leaves being beaten up and applied with polenta 59 in
a linen pledget. A decoction of this plant with linseed, taken
in pottage, is good for dysentery.
CHAP. 51. EMPETROS, BY OTJR PEOPLE CALLED CALCIFRAGA I FOUR
REMEDIES.
Empetros,60 by the people of our country called "calci-
fraga,"61 grows on mountains near the sea, and is generally
found upon rocks : the nearer it grows to the sea the salter it
is, acting as an evacuant of bile and pituitous secretions. That,
on the other hand, which grows at a greater distance and more
inland, is of a more bitter flavour. It carries off the aqueous
humours of the body, being taken for that purpose in broth of
some kind, or else hydromel. When old, it loses its strength ;
but used fresh, either boiled in water or pounded, it acts as a
diuretic, and disperses urinary calculi. Authorities who wish
full credence to be given to this asserted property, assure us
that pebbles boiled with it will split asunder.
CHAP. 52. — THE EPIPACTI8 OR ELLEB ORIFE I TWO REMEDIES.
The epipactis,62 called " elleborine " by some, is a diminutive
plant with small leaves. Taken in drink, it is extremely use-
ful for diseases of the liver, and as an antidote to poisons.
CHAP. 53. THE EPLMEDION I THREE REMEDIES.
The epimedion63 consists of a stem of moderate size, with
ten or twelve leaves like those of ivy : it never flowers, and
69 See B. xviii. c. 14.
60 Fee, with Sprengel, identifies it with the Salsola polychlonos of Lin-
Tiseus, Branchy saltwort or glasswort ; Bauhin with the Passerina poly-
galifolia. The Crithmum maritinmm of Linnaeus, Sea samphire, has
been suggested by Desfontaines. Littre gives the Frankenia pulverulenta
of Linnaeus. Holland suggests Saxifrage.
61 " Calculus-breaking." 62 See B. xiii. c. 35.
63 Sprengel suggests the Marsilea quadrifolia of Linnaeus; Columna
the Botrychium lunaria of LinnaBUs ; C. Bauhin the Ornithogalum Nar-
bonense of Linnaeus, Narbonese star of Bethlehem ; and Talius the Caltha
palustris of Linnseus, the Marsh marigold. Fee considers its identification
Cbap. 55.] FILix OK FEilisr. 245
has a thin, black root, with a powerful smell. It grows in
humid soils. This plant also has certain astringent and cool-
ing properties, but females must be on their guard 64 against
it. The leaves, beaten up in wine, prevent the bosom from
growing too large in young girls.
CHAP. 54. THE ENNEAPHYLLON : TWO EEMEDIES.
The enneaphyllon65 has nine long leaves, and is of a caustic
nature. It is employed topically, but when used it is wrapped
in wool to prevent it from cauterizing further than desirable,
for it blisters immediately. Fort lumbago and sciatica it is of
the greatest utility.
CHAP. 55.— TWO VARIETIES OF FILIX OK FERN, KNOWN TO THE
GREEKS AS PTERIS, OR BLACHNON, AND AS THELYPTERIS, OR
NYMPHS PTERIS I ELEVEN REMEDIES.
Of fern there are two varieties, equally destitute of blossom
and of seed.66 The Greeks give the name of "pteris," and
sometimes " blachnon," to the kind67 in which numerous shoots
take their rise from a single root, exceeding two cubits even in
length, and with a not unpleasant smell i68 this plant is thought
to be the male fern.
The other kind is known to the Greeks as " thelypteris,"69
and sometimes, "nymphoea pteris:" it has a single stem only,
with comparatively few branches, is shorter, softer, and more
tufted than the other, and has channelled leaves growing near
the root. Swine are fattened upon the roots of either kind.
The leaves of both kinds are arranged on either side in the
form of wings, whence the Greek name " pteris." The roots
are long, run obliquely, and are of a swarthy colour, more par-
64 Because it was said to be a cause of sterility.
65 Identified with the Dentaria enneaphylla of Linnaeus, the Nine-leaved
tooth -wort.
66 From this remark, Fee is of opinion that he had in view more par-
ticularly the Pteris aquilina and the Blechnum spicatum of Linnaeus, plants
in which the seed is not easily detected.
67 Identified by Fee with the Polypodiuin filix mas of Linnaeus, the Male
fern.
68 Dioscorides says it has a somewhat unpleasant smell, and this is nearer
the truth.
69 " Female fern." Identified by Fee with the Polypodium filix fsemina
. of Linnaeus, Female fern or Pteris aquilina.
246 PLIKY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXVII.
ticularly when dried : when wanted for use, they should be
dried in the sun. These plants are found growing everywhere,
but in cold soils more particularly ; they should be taken up,
too, at the setting of the Yergilise.70 The root is only used at the
end of three years, neither before that period nor after. They
act as an expellent of intestinal worms ; for tapeworm71 honey
is taken with them, but in other cases sweet wine, for three days.
They are, both of them, extremely detrimental to the sto-
mach, but are laxative to the bowels, carrying off first the bile
and then the aqueous humours of the body. When used for
tapeworm, it is the best plan to take scammony with them, in
equal proportions. For rheumatic defluxions, the root is taken
in doses of two oboli, in water, after a day's abstinence from
food, a little honey being taken first. Neither kind must ever
be given to females ; for in pregnancy they are productive of
abortion, and in other cases entail sterility. Powdered fern is
sprinkled upon sordid ulcers, as also upon the necks of beasts
of burden, when chafed. Fern-leaves kill bugs, and serpents
will never harbour among them : hence it is a good plan to
strew them in places where the presence of those reptiles is
suspected. The very smell, too, of burnt fern will put serpents
to flight. Medical men have made this distinction as to ferns ;
that of Macedonia, they say, is the best, and that of Cassiope
the next.
CHAP. 56. — FEMUR BUBTJLUM, OR OX THIGH.
The name of femur bubulum72 is given to a plant which is
good for the sinews, applied fresh, and beaten up with salt and
vinegar.
CHAP. 57. GALEOPSIS, GALEOBDOLOtf, OR GALION : SIX REMEDIES.
Galeopsis,73 or as some call it, " galeobdolon" or "galion,"
70 See B. xviii. c. 59.
71 Fee remarks that root of fern is an undoubted remedy for tapeworm,
and that it is worthy of remark that we owe to the ancients the two most
efficient anthelmintics known, fern-root, namely, and pomegranate rind.
72 The Femur hubulum has not been identified. C. Bauhin has suggested
the Leonurus cardiaca of Linnaeus, Motherwort.
73 It has been suggested that this plant is the same as the Lamium,
mentioned in B. xxii. c. 16, but Fee is not of that opinion. He identifies
the Galeopsis with the Lamium purpureum of Linnaeus, the Purple arch-
angel, or dead-nettle. Littre gives as its synonym the Scrofularia pere-
grina of Linnaeus, the Foreign figwort.
Chap. 59.] GLAUCIOST. 247
is a plant with a stem and leaves like those of the nettle, only
smaller ; and which, when bruised, emit a powerful smell. The
flower is purple, and the plant is found growing everywhere,
about hedges and foot-paths. The leaves and stems, bruised in
vinegar, and applied topically, are curative of indurations,
carcinomata, and scrofulous sores. They disperse also inflam-
matory tumours and imposthumes of the parotid glands, and
it, is found a useful plan to foment the parts affected with a
decoction of them. Applied with salt, this plant is curative
of putrid ulcers and gangrenous sores.
CHAP. 58. THE GLATJX I ONE REMEDY.
The glaux74 was known in ancient times as the " eugalac-
ton."75 In the leaves it resembles the cytisus and the lentil,
only that they are whiter beneath. The branches, five or six
in number, are extremely thin, and, springing from the root,
creep upon the ground, with small purple blossoms upon them.
This plant is found in localities near the sea. It is boiled in
a pottage made of similago,76 to increase the milk : females,
however, after taking it, must immediately use the bath.
CHAP. 59. (10.) — GLAUCTON: TIIHEE EEMEDIES. DIAGEATJCTA:
TWO REMEDIES.
Glaucion77 grows in Syria and Parthia; it is a plant of
stunted growth, and thickly covered with leaves, like those of
the poppy in appearance, only smaller and of a more repulsive
aspect : it has an offensive smell, and a bitter, astringent taste.
The seed, which is of a saffron colour, is put into a vessel
coated with potter's claj7, and heated in an oven ; when taken
out, a juice78 is extracted, which is known by the same name as
the plant. This juice and the leaves, bruised, are used for de-
fluxions of the eyes, which disappear in an instant, under this
74 Fee thinks that it may possibly be the Astragalus glaux of Linnaeus,
or Milk vetch, as originally suggested by Clusius. Littre gives as its
synonym the Sennebierra coronopus of Poireau.
75 The " Good milk " plant.
76 See B. xviii. cc. 19, 20.
77 See B. xx. c. 78, where a similar plant is mentioned. Fee identifies
this plant •with the Glaucium hybridum, or Chelidonium of Linnaaus,
the Violet-coloured celandine, or horned poppy. Littre' gives the Glau-
ciura flavum of Linna3us as its synonym.
7B This is a yellow, acrid, caustic juice ; it is no longer used in medicine.
248 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
treatment : an eye-salve, too, is prepared from the juice, known
as " diaglaucia," to medical men. The milk, when the secretion
of it is stopped, is restored by the agency of this plant, for which
purpose it is taken in water.
CHAP. 60. THE GLYCYS1DE, PJSONTA, OK PENTOEOBOS I TWENTY
KEMEDIES.
The glycyside,79 by some called " paeonia" or " pentorobos,"
has a stem two cubits in length, accompanied by two or three
others, and of a reddish colour, with a bark like that of the
laurel. The leaves are similar to those of isatis,80 but more
unctuous, rounder, and more diminutive ; the seed is enclosed
in capsules, some being red and some black, there being
two varieties of the plant. The female plant is generally
thought to be the one to the root of which some six or eight
bulbs are attached, of an elongated form; those of the male
plant61 being more in number, as it throws out more roots than
one, a palm in length, and of a white colour : it has also an
astringent taste. The leaves of the female plant smell like
myrrh,82 and lie closer together than those of the male.
Both plants grow in the woods, and they should always be
taken up at night,83 it is said ; as it would be dangerous to do
so in the day-time, the woodpecker of Mars being sure to
attack the eyes84 of the person so engaged. It is stated also
that the person, while taking up the root, runs great risk of
being attacked with procidence of the anus : all this, however,
I take to be so much fiction, most frivolously invented to puff
off their supposed marvellous properties. Both plants are used85
for various purposes : the red seed, taken in red wine, about
fifteen in number, arrest menstruation ; while the black seed,
taken in the same proportion, in either raisin or other wine,
are curative of diseases of the uterus. The root, taken in wine,
allays all kinds of pains in the bowels, and acts as a purgative;
it cures opisthotony also, jaundice, nephritic diseases, and affec-
tions of the bladder. Boiled in wine, it is used for diseases of
79 The Peony ; described in B. xxv. c. 10.
80 See B. xx. c. 25, and B. xxii. c. 2. 81 See B. xxv. c. 10.
82 In reality it is destitute of smell.
83 See B. xxv. c. 10.
84 Or, as Holland says, would " be ready to job out tbeir eyes."
85 In reality, the peony has no medicinal virtues whatever.
Chap. 62.] THE GALLIDHAGA. 249
the trachea and stomach, and acts astringently upon the howels.
It is eaten also by beasts of burden, but when wanted for
remedial purposes, four drachmae are sufficient.
The black seed is useful as a preventive of night-mare,86
being taken in wine, in number above stated : it is very good,
too, to eat this seed, and to apply it externally, for gnawing pains
of the stomach. Suppurations are also dispersed, when recent,
with the black seed, and when of long standing, with the red :
both kinds are very useful, too, for wounds inflicted by ser-
pents, and in cases where children are troubled with calculi,
being employed at the crisis when strangury first makes its
appearance.
CHAP. 61. GNAPHALIUM OR CHA3O2ZELON : SIX BEMEDIES.
Gnaphalium87 is called " chamaezelon" by some : its white,
soft, leaves are used as flock, and, indeed, there is no per-
ceptible difference. This plant is administered in astringent
wine, for dysentery : it arrests looseness of the bowels and
the catamenia, and is used as an injection for tenesmus. It is
employed topically for putrid sores.
CHAP. 62. THE GALLIDRAGA I ONE EEMEDT.
Xenocrates gives the name of " gallidraga" 88 to a plant
which resembles the leucacanthus,89 and grows in the marshes.
It is a prickly plant, with a tall, ferulaceous stem, surmounted
with a head somewhat similar to an egg in appearance. When
this head is growing, in summer, small worms,90 he says, are
generated, which are put away in a box for keeping, and are
attached as an amulet, with bread, to the arm on the side on
which tooth-ache is felt ; indeed it is quite wonderful, he says,
how soon the pain is removed. These worms, however, are of
no use after the end of a year, or in cases where they have been
allowed to touch the ground.
86 " Suppressionibus nocturnis."
87 Sprengel identifies it with the Santolina maritima, Sea cudwort or
cotton-weed. Fee considers its identification as doubtful.
88 Identified by Hardouin and Desfontaines with the Dipsacus pilosus of
Linnaeus, the Shepherd's rod, or small white teasel. Fee is doubtful ou
the subject,
*> See B. xxii. c. 18. 9° See B. xxv. c. 28.
250 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
CHAP. 63. HOLCTJS OR ARISTIS.
Holcus91 is a plant that grows in arid, stony, spots : it has an
ear at the end of a fine stem, and looks like barley that has put
forth again when cut. Attached to the head or around the arm,
it extracts92 spikes of corn adhering to the flesh ; for which
reason, some persons give it the name of " aristis."
CHAP. 64. HYOSERIS: ONE REMEDY.
Hyoseris92* resembles endive in appearance, but is a smaller
plant, and rougher to the touch : pounded and applied to
wounds, it heals them with remarkable rapidity.
CHAP. 65. THE HOLOSTEON I THREE REMEDIES.
The holosteon,93 so called by the Greeks by way of anti-
phrasis,94 (in the same way that they give the name of
" sweet"95 to the gall,) is a plant destitute of all hardness, of
such extreme fineness as to resemble hairs in appearance, four
fingers in length, and very similar to hay-grass. The leaves of it
are narrow, and it has a rough flavour : it grows upon elevated
spots composed of humus. Taken in wine, it is used for rup-
tures and convulsions. It has the property, also, of closing
wounds ; indeed, if applied to pieces of meat it will solder
them together.
CHAP. 66. THE HIPPOPH^STON : EIGHT REMEDIES.
The hippophaeston is one of those prickly plants which
fullers96 use in their coppers ; it has neither stem nor flower,
91 Identified with the Hordeum murinum of Linnaeus, and the same,
most probably, as the Mouse barley of B. xxii. c. 65.
93 "Whence its name, from the Greek g'Xfcw, "to draw."
92* "Swine's endive." It is generally identified with the Centaurea
nigra of Linnaeus ; though, as Fee says, on very insufficient grounds, as
the black centaury has but little similarity to endive.
93 The " all-bone " plant. Desfontaines identifies it with the Plantago
coronopus of Linnaeus, the Buckshorn plantain ; but Fee prefers the Plan-
tago holostea of Lamarck, the Grass-leaved plantain. Lfttre names the
Holosteum umbellatum. The Plantago albicans of Linnaeus has been also
mentioned.
94 Because there is no hardness in it. 95 TA yXttata.
96 See B. xxiv. c. 68. In B. xvi. c. 92, Fee identifies this plant with the
Calcitrapa stellata of Lamarck. He also suggests that it may possibly be
the second " Hippophaes," mentioned in B. xxii. c. 14. Desfontaines
identifies it with the Cuicus stellatus, the Star-thistle. Littre gives as its
Chap. 70.] THE ISOPYRON. 251
but only diminutive, empty heads, numerous small leaves of a
grass-green colour, and small, soft, white roots. From these
roots a juice is extracted in summer, which, taken in doses of
three oboli, acts as a purgative ; being used for this purpose in
cases of epilepsy, fits of trembling, dropsy, vertigo, hardness of
breathing, and incipient paralysis.
CHAP. 67. (11.) THE HYPOGLOSSA : ONE EEMEDY.
The hypoglossa97 is a plant with leaves like those of the
wild myrtle, of a concave form, prickly, and presenting another
small leaf within, resembling a tongue in shape. A wreath
made of these leaves, placed upon the head, alleviates head-
ache.
CHAP. 68. HYPECOON.
Hypecoon98 is a plant found growing in corn-fields, with
leaves like those of rue. Its properties are similar to those of
juice of poppies.
CHAP. 69. THE ID^EA HEEBA, OE PLANT OF IDA : FOUE EEMEDIES.
The Idaean" plant has leaves like those of the oxymyrsine ;l
to which leaves a sort of tendril adheres, that bears a flower.
This plant arrests diarrhoea, the catamenia, when in excess,
and all kinds of haemorrhage. It is of an astringent and
repercussive nature.
CHAP. 70. THE ISOPYEON OE PHAS10LON I TWO EEMEBIES.
The isopyron2 is called " phasiolon" by some, from the cir-
cumstance that the leaf of it, which resembles that of anise,
assumes a spiral form like the tendrils of the phasiolus.3 At
synonym the Centaurea spinosa, Prickly centaury ; in accordance with the
opinion of M. Fraas, who admits, however, that the statement that it has
neither stem nor flower, would hardly seem to indicate a species of centaury.
97 The Ruscus hypoglossum of Linnaeus, the Double tongue.
98 The Hypecoiim procumbens of Liunams, Horned cummin.
99 Fee thinks that " Idsea herba," " plant of Ida," may possibly be one
of the synonyms of the Alexandrian laurel. See B. xv. c. 39. Should
that identity not hold good, he prefers the Uvularia amplexifolia of Linnaeus.
1 See B. xv. cc. 7, 37, and B. xxiii. c. 83.
2 Fee suggests the Corydalis claviculata of Decandolle. Littre mentions
the Fumaria capreolata of Linnaeus,
3 Or kidney-bean. See B. xxiv. c. 40.
252 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
the summit of the stem, it bears small heads full of a seed like
that of melanthium.4 These heads, taken with honey or
hydromel, are good for cough and other affections of the chest;
they are extremely useful also for liver complaints.
CHAP. 71. THE LATHTRIS: TWO REMEDIES.
The lathyris5 has numerous leaves like those of the lettuce,6
with numbers of small buds, in which the seed is contained,
enclosed in envelopes like that of the caper. When these buds
are dry, the seeds, about the size of a peppercorn, are taken out :
they are white, sweet, and easily cleansed from the husk.
Twenty of them, taken in pure water or in hydromel, are
curative of dropsy, and carry off bile. Persons who require a
stronger purgative, take them with the husks on. They are
apt, however, to be injurious to the stomach ; for which reason
a plan has been adopted of taking them with fish or else
chicken broth.
CHAP. 72. THE LEONTOPETALON OR PARDALION : TWO REMEDIES.
The leontopetalon7 is called " pardalion" by some : it has a
leaf like that of the cabbage, and a stem half a foot in height,
with numerous lateral branches, and a seed at the extremities
of them, enclosed in pods like those of the chick-pea. The root
resembles that of rape, and is large and black : it grows in
plough lands. The root, taken in wine, neutralizes the venom
of all kinds of serpents ; indeed, there is nothing known that
is more speedily efficacious for that purpose. It is given also
for sciatica.
CHAP. 73. THE LYCAPSOS I TWO REMEDIES.
The lycapsos8 has longer and thicker leaves than those of
the lettuce,9 and a long, hairy stem, with numerous offshoots a
4 Or Gith. See B. xx. c. 71.
5 The Euphorbia lathyris of Linnaeus, the Caper plant, or Caper spurge.
6 There is no such resemblance, except that they both contain a milky
juice, the properties of which are, however, very different. It is a plant
of an energetic and even dangerous nature, and must never be mistaken
for the real caper.
7 Mostly thought to be the same plant as the Leontopodium of B. xxvi. c.
34. Littre, however, identifies it with the Evax pygmaeus of Linneeus.
8 Probably the Echium Italicum of Linnsus, Italian viper's tongue.
9 There is no resemblance between the Echium and the lettuce.
Chap. 74.] THE LITHOSPEKMTTM. 253
cubit in length; the flower is diminutive, and of a purple colour ;
it grows in champaign localities. In combination with barley-
meal, it is used as an application for erysipelas : the juice of
it, mixed with warm water, is employed as a sudorific, in
fevers.
CHAP. 74. THE LITHOSPERMTJM, EXONYCHON, DIOSPYKON, OR
HEKACLEOS : TWO HEMEDIES.
Among all the plants, however, there is none of a more
marvellous nature than the lithospermum,10 sometimes called
" exonychon," " diospyron,"11 or "heracleos." It is about five
inches in height, with leaves twice the size of those of rue, and
small ligneous branches, about the thickness of a rush. It
bears close to the leaves a sort of fine beard or spike, standing
by itself, on the extremity of which there are small white stones,
as round as a pearl, about the size of a chick-pea, and as hard as
a pebble. These stones,12 at the part where they adhere to
the stalk, have a small cavity, and contain a seed within.
This plant is found in Italy, no doubt, but that of Crete is
the most esteemed. Among all the plants, there is none that
I ever contemplated with greater admiration than this ; so
beauteous is the conformation, that it might be fancied that the
hand of an artist13 had arranged a row of lustrous pearls alter-
nately among the leaves ; so exquisite too the nicety in thus
making a stone to grow upon a plant ! The authorities say
that this is a creeping plant, and that it lies upon the ground ;
but for my own part, I have only seen it when plucked, and
not while growing. It is well known that these small stones,
taken in doses of one drachma, in white wine, break and
expel urinary calculi,14 and are curative of strangury. In-
deed, there is no plant that so instantaneously proclaims, at
10 Identified by Fee and Desfontaines with the Lithospermum officinale
of Linnaeus, Gremil, gromwell, or stone-crop. Littre mentions the Lithos-
permum tenuiflorum of Linnaeus.
11 "Jove's wheat," or the "plant of Hercules."
12 This description applies to the variety of Gremil, known as the Coix
lacryma of Linnseus, Job's tears, originally an Indian plant ; but it may
have been known in Italy in Pliny's time.
18 A poor compliment to Nature, as Fee remarks.
14 It has in reality no medicinal properties to speak of ; but its name,
" stone seed," and its appearance, would, of course, ensure its reputation as
an efficient cure for calculus.
254 PLINY'S NATUEAL HTSTOKY. [Book XXVII.
the mere sight of it, the medicinal purposes for which it was
originally intended; the appearance of it, too, is such, that
it can be immediately recognized, without the necessity of
having recourse to any botanical authority.
CHAP. 75. LAPIDIS MUSCUS, OR STONE MOSS I ONE REMEDY.
There grows near running streams, a dry, white moss,15 upon
ordinary stones. One of these stones, with the addition of
human saliva, is rubbed against another; after which the
first stone is used for touching impetigo,16 the party so doing
uttering these words : —
Osuysrs xa,v6a,pifo$t Xvnog aypiog al/Ma biuxsi.
11 Cantharides17 begone, a wild wolf seeks your blood."18
CHAP. 76. THE L1MEUM I ONE REMEDY.
Limeum19 is the name given by the Gauls to a plant, in a
preparation of which, known to them as "deer's20 poison," they
dip their arrows21 when hunting. To three modii of salivating
mixture22 they put as much of the plant as is used for poisoning
a single arrow ; and a mess of it is passed down the throat,
in cases where oxen are suffering from disease, due care being
taken to keep them fastened to the manger till they have been
purged, as they are generally rendered frantic by the dose. In
case perspiration supervenes, they are drenched all over with
cold water.
CHAP. 77. THE LETJCE, MESOLETJCON, OR LETJCA8 I THREE
REMEDIES.
Leuce,23 a plant resembling mercurialis,24 has received its
15 Some kind of lichen, probably, but what in particular it is impossible
to say. 16 King-worm or tetter.
17 Hardouin says that this herpetic disease is called "cantharides," be-
cause it attacks the body as the cantharis attacks wheat. See B. xviii. c. 44.
18 It would be superfluous to look for sense in this silly formula.
19 Anguillara and C. Bauhin identify it with the Ranunculus thora of
Linnaeus, and other authorities with the Doronicum pardalianches of Lin-
naeus. Pliny is the only writer that mentions it ; and if it really had any
existence, it would seem quite impossible, as Fee says, to identify it with
correctness. 2° " Venenum cervarium." 21 See B. xxv. c. 25.
22 " Salivati." Holland renders this, " A mash wherewith they used to
drench cattle.'' 23 Identified with the Lamium of B. xxii. c. 16.
24 See B. xxv. c. 18. The resemblance, Fee says, is by no means a
striking one.
Chap. 80.] THE MTOSOTA. 255
name25 from the circumstance that a white line runs through
the middle of the leaf; for which reason also, some give it the
name of " mesoleucon."26 The juice of this plant is curative of
fistula, and the plant itself, bruised, is good for carcinomata.
It is prohably the same plant as that called " leucas," so
remarkably efficacious for the venom of all kinds of marine
animals. Authors have not given a description of it, beyond
telling us that the wild leucas has larger leaves than the other,
and has properties more strongly developed : they state also
that the seed of the cultivated kind is the more acrid of the
two.
CHAP. 78. THE LETJCOGRAPHIS I FIVE REMEDIES.
1 have not found a description given by any writer of the
leucographis ;27 a thing I am the more surprised at, as they tell
us that it is good for the cure of spitting of blood, taken in
doses of three oboli with saffron ; as also that it is useful for
cceliac affections, applied beaten up in water, and in cases of
excessive menstruation. They state also that it enters into
the composition of ophthalmic preparations, and that it fills up
ulcers on the more tender parts of the body with new flesh.
CHAP. 79. (12.) — THE MEDION: THREE REMEDIES.
The medion28 has leaves like those of the cultivated seris,29
a stem three feet in length, and a large, round, purple flower,
at its extremity. The seed is diminutive, and the root half a
foot in length : it grows upon umbrageous, sheltered rocks.
The root, taken in doses of two drachmae with honey, arrests
the catamenia, the electuary being used for some days. The
seed, too, is administered in wine for a similar purpose.
CHAP. 80. THE MTOSOTA OR MYOSOTIS : THREE REMEDIES.
The myosota30 or myosotis is a smooth plant, throwing out
25 The " white " plant. 26 " White in the middle."
27 Identified by Fee with the Cerinthe of B. xxi. c. 41. Sprengel, how-
ever, considers it to be the Carduus leucographus of Linnseus.
28 Fee identifies it with the Campanula Medium of Linuieus, our Canter-
bury or Coventry bells ; but this flower is blue, while the colour of the
Medion is purple. Littre gives the Convolvulus althseoides of Linnaeus.
Sibthorp has named the Campanula laciniata ; and other authorities the
Michauxia campanuloides.
29 See B. xx. C: 32.
30 " Mouse-ears." Fee identifies it with the Myosotis scorpioides of
256 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXVII.
from a single root numerous hollowed stems, of a somewhat
reddish colour ; and bearing at the lower extremities swarthy,
narrow, oblong leaves, sharp on the back, arranged in pairs
at regular distances, and springing from delicate branches
attached with axils to the main stems. The flower is blue,
and the root, a finger in length, is provided with numerous
filaments like hairs. This plant possesses certain septic and ul-
cerating properties, and hence is used for the cure of fistula
of the eye. The Egyptians say that if upon the morning of
the twenty-eight day of their month Thoth, a day which gene-
rally falls in our month of August, a person rubs himself with
the juice of this plant before speaking to any one, he will be
sure to have no diseases of the eyes all that year.
CHAP. 81. THE MYAGKOS : ONE KEMEDY.
The myagros31 is a ferulaceous plant, with leaves like those
of madder: the seed is of an oily nature — indeed, an oil is
extracted from it. Ulcerations of the mouth are cured by
rubbing them with the juice of this plant.
CHAP. 82. THE NYMA : ONE KEMEDY.
The plant called " nyma"32 bears three long leaves, like
those of endive : applied to scars, it restores the skin to its
natural colour.
CHAP. 83. THENATKIX: ONE KEMEDY.
" Matrix "33 is the name of a plant, the root of which, when
taken out of the ground, has just the rank smell of the he-goat.
It is used in Picenum for the purpose of keeping away from
females what with a singular credulity they call by the name
of " Fatui."34 For my own part, however, I should think that
Linnaeus, Scorpion-grass, or mouse-ear, which is not of a corrosive nature, as
Pliny says, but emollient and soothing. Littre names the Asperugo pro-
cumbens of Linnaeus, Wild bugloss, German madwort, or great goose-grass.
31 Sprengel identifies it with the Alyssum sativum, the Garden madwort ;
Fee with the Cameliria sativa of Crantz, the Cultivated cameline. Littre
gives the Neslia paniculata as its synonym.
32 Or " Nigina," in some editions. It is utterly unknown.
33 Possibly a fabulous plant ; though it is generally identified with the
Ononis natrix of Linnaeus. Poinsinet de Sivry derives its name from the
Celto-Germanic words, nat, "night," and ns, "wand;" a name given to it,
according to him, for its efficacy in dispelling the illusions of the night.
34 Qr « Fauni," the same as our nightmare.
Chap. 86.] THE ONOSMA. 2.57
persons requiring to be treated with such medicaments as
these, must be labouring under a sort of mental hallucination.
CHAP. 84. ODONTITIS : ONE REMEDY.
Odontitis35 is a sort of hay-grass,36 which throws out from a
single root numerous, small, jointed stems, of a triangular form
and of a swarthy hue. At the joints there are small leaves,
somewhat longer than those of the polygonos ;37 and in the
axils formed by these leaves is the seed, similar to barley in
appearance. It has a purple, diminutive flower, and is found
growing in meadows.38 A handful of the stems, boiled in
astringent wine, is used for the cure of tooth-ache,39 the de-
coction being retained for some time in the mouth.
CHAP. 85. THE OTHONNA I ONE EEMEDY.
The othonna40 is a Syrian plant, resembling rocket in ap-
pearance ; its leaves are pierced with numerous holes, and its
flower resembles that of saffron, for which reason some persons
have given it the name of " anemone." The juice of thjte
plant is employed in ophthalmic preparations ; it is slightly
pungent, of a warming nature, and astringent as it dries. It
acts as a detergent upon cicatrizations, films on the eyes, and
all impediments of the sight. Some say that the plant is
washed and dried, and then divided into lozenges.
CHAP. 86. THE ONOSMA : ONE PROPERTY.
The onosma41 has leaves some four fingers in length, lying
upon the ground, and indented like those of the anchusa :42 it
has neither43 stem, blossom, nor seed. A pregnant woman, they
say, if she eats of this plant, or even walks over it, will be sure
to miscarry.
35 Probably the Euphrasia odontites of Linnaeus, the Red eye-bright.
36 " Inter feni genera."
37 See c. 91 of this Book. There is no resemblance between them.
38 On the contrary, it grows in arid, sterile spots.
39 Hence its name " odontitis," " tooth-wort."
40 Its synonym is unknown. Sprengel has identified it with the Tagetis
patula of Linnaeus, but that is purely an American plant !
41 Probably one of the Borragineae, Fee thinks, but beyond that he
considers it impossible to say. Desfontaines identifies it with the Onosma
echioides of Linnaeus, the Hairy onosma.
42 See B. xxii. c. 23.
48 If it is the plant above-mentioned, this is incorrect.
VOL. V. S
258 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
CHAP. 87. — THE ONOPORDON : FIVE KEMEDIES.
The onopordon,44 it is said, has strongly carminative effects
upon asses, when they eat of it. It acts as a diuretic and as an
emmenagogue, arrests diarrhoea, and disperses abscesses and
suppurations.
CHAP. 88. THE OSYRIS I POUR REMEDIES.
The osyris45 bears small, swarthy, flexible branches, covered
with dark leaves like those of flax. The seed, which grows
upon the branches, is black at first, but afterwards changes its
colour and turns red. Cosmetics46 for females are prepared
from these branches. A decoction of the roots, taken in drink,
is curative of jaundice. The roots, cut in pieces before the
seed ripens, and dried in the sun, act astringently upon the
bowels : gathered after the seed has ripened, and boiled in
pottage, they are curative of defluxions of the abdomen : they
are taken also by themselves, bruised in rain water.
CHAP. 89. THE OXYS I TWO REMEDIES.
The oxys47 is a plant with three leaves ; it is given for
derangement of the stomach, and patients eat it who are
Buffering from intestinal hernia.48
CHAP. 90.; — THE POLYANTHEMUM OR BATRACHION : THREE
REMEDIES.
The polyanthemum,49 by some persons called " batrachion,"50
by virtue of its caustic properties has an excoriating effect
upon scars, and restores the skin to its proper colour. It heals
white morphew51 also.
44 Fee suggests that it may be identical with the Onopyxos of B. xxi.
c. 56. Desfontaines, also, identifies it with the Onopordon acanthium of
Linnaeus, the Cotton thistle or woolly thistle.
45 Probably the Osyris alba of Linnaeus, the Poet's cassia. Anguillara
and Dodonaeus have mentioned the Chenopodium scoparia of Linnaeus, the
Summer cypress, or line-leaved goosefoot, but without any good reason, it
is thought. Holland calls it " toad -flax."
46 "Smegmata."
47 The " sour " plant. Mostly identified with the Oxalis acetosella of
Linnaeus, Cuckoo's meal, three leaved sorrel, or wood-sorrel.
48 "Enterocele."
49 The "many-flowered" plant. Probably the Ranunciilus polyanthemos
of Linnaeus. See B. xxv. c. 109.
50 The " frog " plant. 51 " Vitiligines."
Chap. 91.] THE POLYGONOS. 259
CHAP. 91. THE POLYGONOS, POLYGONATOS, TEUTHALIS, CAKCI-
NETHRON, CLEMA, OR MYRTOPETALOS, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
SANGUINAR1A OR ORIOS ; FOUR VARIETIES OF IT I FORTY
REMEDIES.
The Greeks give the name of " polygonos"52 to the plant
known to us as " sanguinaria."53 It is but little elevated above
the ground, has leaves like those of rue, and resembles grass
in appearance. The juice of it, injected into the nostrils,
arrests haemorrhage : taken with wine, it has a similar effect
upon bleeding at any other part of the body, as also spitting
of blood. Those who distinguish several kinds of polygonos,
make this to be the male54 plant, and say that it is so called
from the large number of seeds, or else from its numerous
branches. Some call it "polygonatos,"66 from the number of
its joints, others, again, "teuthalis," and others, " car cine -
thron," " clema," or " myrtopetalos."
There are some authorities to be found, however, who say that
this is the female plant, and that the male is more diminutive,
less swarthy, and more jointed, with a s,eed protruding beneath
all the leaves. However this may be, these plants are of an
astringent, cooling nature. The seed is laxative, and, taken in
large doses, acts as a diuretic, and arrests defluxions; indeed,
if there is no defluxion, it is of no use taking it. For burning
heats of the stomach, the leaves are applied topically ; and they
are used, in the form of a liniment, for pains in the bladder, and
for erysipelas. The juice is used as an injection for suppurations
of the ears, and by itself, for pains in the eyes. It is admi-
nistered, also, in fevers, tertian and quartan fevers more par-
ticularly, in doses of two cyathi, just before the paroxysms
come on ; as also in cases of cholera, dysentery, and derange-
ment of the stomach.
There is a third kind, which grows on the mountains, and is
known as "orios,"56 similar to a delicate reed in appearance, and
52 " Many-seeded." 53 " Blood plant."
54 Identified by Fee with the Polygonum aviculare of Linnaeus, the
Knot-grass.
55 " Many-knotted." Scribonius says that it received its name, " poly-
gonos," from its being found everywhere.
56 Or "mountain" plant. Fee considers it to be the same as the
second kind above mentioned, and to correspond with the female Polygonos
of Dioscorides. He identifies it with the Hippuris vulgaris of Linnaeus,
s 2
260 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTOBY. [Book XXVII.
having but a single stem, with numerous joints running into
one another ; the leaves of it are similar to those of the pitch-
tree, and the root is never used. This variety, however, is not
so efficacious as those already mentioned, and, indeed, is used
exclusively for sciatica. A fourth kind is known as the wild57
polygonos : it is a shrub, almost a tree in fact, with a ligneous
root, a red trunk like .that of the cedar, and branches resem-
bling those of spartum,58 a couple of palms in length, and with
three or four dark-coloured, knotted joints. This kind, also, is
of an astringent nature, and has a flavour like that of the
quince. . It is either boiled down in water to one third, or else
dried and powdered for sprinkling upon ulcerations of the
mouth and excoriations : it is chewed, also, for affections of
the gums. It arrests the progress of corrosive ulcers and of all
sores of a serpiginous nature, or which cicatrize with difficulty,
and is particularly useful for ulcerations caused by snow.
Herbalists employ it also for quinzy, and use it as a chaplet for
head-ache ; for defluxions of the eyes, they put it round the
neck.
In cases of tertian fever, some persons pull it up with the
left hand, and attach it as an amulet to the body ; the same,
too, in cases of haemorrhage. There is no plant that is more
generally kept by them in a dry state than the polygonos.
CHAP. 92. THE PANCRATIUM I TWELVE REMEDIES.
The pancratium is called by some the " little squill,"59 in
preference : it has leaves like those of the white lily, but
longer and thicker, and a root composed of a large, red, bulb.
The juice of it, taken with meal of fitches, relaxes the bowels,
and acts as a detergent upon ulcers : for dropsy, and diseases
of the spleen, it is administered with honey. Some persons
boil it till the water becomes sweet ; the water is then poured
off, and the root is pounded and divided into tablets, which
Mare's tail, or female horse-tail ; Littre gives the Equisetum pallidum of
Bory as its synonym.
57 Identified by Fee with the Ephedra distachya of Linnaeus, the Great
shrubby horsetail.
58 See B, xix. c. 7.
" Scillam pusillam." Fee considers it to be a squill, the variety with
the red root of the Scilla maritima of Linnseus, the Sea-squill. Littre
gives as its synonym the Pancratium maritimum of Linnaeus, the Sea-
daffodil.
Chap. 94.] THE PERICLYME1SOS. 261
are dried in the sun and used for ulcerations of the head, and
other affections which require detergents. It is sometimes
given for cough, a pinch in three fingers in wine, and, in the
form of an electuary, for pains in the side or peripneumony.
It is administered, also, in wine, for sciatica, griping pains
in the bowels, and retardations of the catamenia.
CHAP. 93. — THE PEPL1S, SYCE, MECONION, OE MECON APHRODES:
THREE REMEDIES.
The peplis,60 known by the various names of " syce,"6*
" meconion," and " mecon aphrodes," is a shrub-like plant,
springing from a single, diminutive, root. The leaves of it
resemble those of rue, but are a little larger ; the seed, which
lies beneath the leaves, is round, and smaller than that of the
white poppy. It is ordinarily gathered in vineyards, at
harvest- time, and is dried with the seed on, receivers being
placed beneath to catch it as it falls. This seed, taken in drink,
purges the bowels, and carries off bile andpituitous secretions:
one acetabulum, taken in three heminse of hydromel, is a
middling dose. It is sprinkled also upon meat and other articles
of food, as a laxative medicine.
CHAP. 94. THE PERICLYMENOS I FIVE REMEDIES.
The periclymenos62 is also a shrub-like plant, with two
whitish, soft, leaves, arranged at intervals. At the extremity,
among the leaves, is the seed, hard, and very difficult to
pluck. It grows in ploughed fields and hedges, entwining
around every object from which it can gain support. The seed
is dried in the shade, pounded, and divided into lozenges.
These lozenges are left to dissolve, in three cyathi of white
wine, for a period of thirty days, and are given for diseases of
the spleen ; the volume of which is gradually diminished either
by discharges of bloody urine, or else by alvine evacuation,
the effects of the medicament being perceptible at the end of
ten days. The leaves, boiled, act as a diuretic, and are useful
for hardness of breathing. Taken in drink, in manner above-
60 Probably the Euphorbia peplis of Linnaeus; see B. xx. c. 81. It is a
strong purgative.
61 "Fig-plant," "poppy-juice," and "poppy -froth." In reference,
no doubt, to its milky juice.
62 See the Clymenus, B. xxv. c. 33.
262 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIL
mentioned, they facilitate delivery, and bring away the after-
birth.
CHAP. 95. — PELECTNON: ONE REMEDY.
We have already63 spoken of pelecinon as growing in corn-
fields, a plant which throws out a number of shoots from
thin stems, and has leaves like those of the chick-pea. The
seed, which is contained in pods of a curved shape, like
diminutive horns and three or four in number, is similar to
gith64 in appearance, bitter, and an excellent stomachic. It is
used as an ingredient in antidotes.65
CHAP. 96. POLYGALA : ONE REMEDY.
Polygala66 is a palm in height, with leaves like those of the
lentil at the extremity of the stem. It has an astringent taste ;
taken in drink, it increases the milk in nursing women.
CHAP. 97. POTERION, PHRYN10N, OR NETJRAS : FOUR REMEDIES.
Poterion,67 or, as some call it, " phrynion" or " neuras,"68
throws out numerous branches, is shrivelled and prickly, and
covered with a thick down. The leaves of it are small and
round ; the branches long, soft, thin, and flexible ; and the
blossom elongated, and of a grass-green colour. The seed is
never used, but it has a pungent flavour and a powerful smell :
the plant is found growing upon moist, watery, elevations.
The roots are two or three in number, some two cubits in
length, sinewy, white, and firm. It is dug up in autumn, and
the stem yields a juice like gum, when cut. The root is said
to be of wonderful efficacy as an application for the cure of
wounds, more particularly of the sinews, even when severed.
A decoction of it is also taken, with honey, for relaxations of
the sinews, and for weakness or wounds of those parts.
63 In B. xviii. c. 44. It was also called " eecuridaca."
64 See B. xx. c. 71.
65 "We learn from Galen that it formed an ingredient in the great anti-
dote of Mithridates.
66 Fee thinks that it may possibly be the Polygala vulgaris of Linnaeus, the
Common milk-wort. Desfontaines mentions the Polygala amara of Lin-
naeus, the Bitter milkwort of the South of Europe ; and Littre gives the
Polygala veniilosa of Sibthorp.
87 See B. xxv. c. 76. 68 The " sinew " plant.
Chap. 100.] THE PHYLLOF. 203
CHAP. 98. THE PHALANG1TIS, PHALANGION, OE LEUCACANTHA I
FOTJK REMEDIES.
The phalangitis69 is by some called " phalangion," and by
others " leucanthemum,"70 or, as I find it written in some
copies, " leucacantha."71 Its branches are diminutive, never
less than two in number, and running in contrary directions :
the blossom is white, and similar to the flower of the red lily ;
the seed dark and broad, resembling the half of a lentil, but
much thinner ; and the root slender and of a grass-green colour.
The leaves, blossoms, or seed of this plant are employed for
the cure of wounds inflicted by scorpions, serpents, and the
phalangium,72 and for the removal of griping pains in the
bowels.
CHAP. 99. THE PHYTEUMA I ONE PROPERTY.
As for the phyteuma,73 1 think it a mere loss of time to
describe it, it being only used as an ingredient in philtres.
CHAP 100. — THE PHYLLON : ONE PROPERTY.
The Greeks give the name of "phyllon"74 to a plant which
grows among the rocks, in mountainous spots. The female
plant is of a more grass-green colour than the other, with a
thin stem, a diminutive root, and a round seed, like that of the
poppy. This last kind ensures the conception of issue of the
same sex ; .while the male plant, differing only in the seed,
which resembles the olive at its first appearance, ensures the
conception of male issue. They are both taken in wine.
69 Generally identified with the Anthericum or Hemerocallis liliastrum
of Linnaeus, the Savoy anthericum or Spider's-wort. M Fraas says, how-
ever (Synopsis, p. 288), that that plant has not been found in Greece ; and
relying upon the description of Dioscorides, he prefers the Lloydia Grseca,
which grows commonly in Attica, the isles of Greece, and the Peloponnesus,
as its synonym. It is found upon elevations of 1 500 feet.
70 « White flower." 71 " White thorn."
72 Hence its name. See B. viii. c. 41, B. x. c. 95, and B. xi. cc. 24,
28, 29.
'3 Most probably the Reseda phyteuma of Linnaeus, the Crosswort.
74 See B. xxii. c. 18, and B. xxvi. c. 91. Fee thinks that it is two plants,
the Cnicus Casabonse, and the Thelygonum cynocrambe of Linnaeus, that
are here spoken of. Littre gives the Mercurialis perennis of Linnaeus,
Dog's mercury, as its synonym.
264 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
CHAP. 101. THE PHELLANDKION I TWO EEMEDIES.
The phellandrion75 grows in marshy spots, and has a leaf like
that of parsley : the seed of it is taken in drink for calculi and
affections of the bladder.
CHAP. 102. THE PHALARIS : TWO EEMEDIES.
The phalaris76 has a long thin stem, like a reed, with a
drooping flower at the extremity ; the seed is like that of
sesame.77 This plant, too, taken with milk and honey, in wine
or vinegar, breaks urinary calculi, and is curative of diseases
of the bladder.
CHAP. 103. THE POLYERHIZON I FIVE KEMEDIES.
The polyrrhizon78 has leaves like those of myrtle, and
numerous roots. These roots are pounded and administered
in wine, for injuries inflicted by serpents : they are useful, also,
for cattle.
CHAP. 104. THE PEOSEEPINACA : FIVE EEMEDIES.
The proserpinaca,79 a common plant enough, is an excellent
remedy for the sting of the scorpion. Powdered and mixed
with brine and oil, in which the msena80 has been preserved, it
is an excellent cure, they say, for quinzy.81 It is also stated
that, however fatigued a person may be, to the extent even of
losing his voice, he will be sure to be refreshed, by putting this
plant beneath his tongue ; and that if it is eaten, a vomit will
be the result, productive of good effects.
75 Linnaeus has given to the Fine-leaved water-hemlock the name of
PheUandrium aquaticum, but the seeds of that plant are an active poison.
It is probable that the Phellandrium, or " Male-cork-plant " of Pliny,
still remains unknown.
76 Possibly the Phalaris aquatiea of Linnaeus, the Water canary-grass.
Littre gives as its synonym, the Phalaris nodosa of Linnaeus, Knotted
canary-grass. See Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 34, .Bohn's Ed.
77 This is an exaggeration ; Dioscorides says " millet."
78 Possibly the plant mentioned in B. xxv. c. 54 ; though the Aristo-
lochia has not leaves like those of the myrtle.
19 Supposed to be identical with the Polygonos, mentioned above inc. 91.
80 See B.ix. c. 42, and B. xxvi. c. 11. From, this passage it would
appear that the maena was preserved in a somewhat similar way to our
Sardines. *i gee g. xxvi. c. 11.
Chap. 106.] THE RESEDA. 265
CHAP. 105. — RHACOMA: THIRTY- six REMEDIES.
Rhacoma82 is imported from the regions situate beyond
Eontus.83 The root of it is similar to black costus,*4 but
smaller and somewhat redder, inodorous, and of a hot, astrin-
gent flavour ; when pounded, it yields a colour like that of
wine,85 but inclining to saffron. Applied topically, it reduces
abscesses and inflammations, and heals wounds : used with
raisin wine, it allays defluxions of the eyes; with honey, ecchy-
mosis; and with vinegar, livid marks upon the skin. Reduced
to powder, it is sprinkled upon malignant ulcers, and is given
internally for spitting of blood, in doses of one drachma, in
water. For dysentery and cceliac affections, if unattended
with fever, it is administered in wine ; but if there is fever, in
water. It is pounded more easily when it has been steeped in
water the night before. A decoction of it is given, in doses
of two drachmae, for ruptures, convulsions, contusions, and falls
with violence.
In cases of pains in the chest, a little pepper and myrrh is
added. When the stomach is deranged, it is taken in cold
water ; and the same in cases of chronic cough, purulent ex-
pectorations, liver complaint, affections of the spleen, sciatica,
diseases of the kidneys, asthma, and hardness of breathing.
Pounded and taken in doses of three oboli, in raisin wine, or
used in the form of a decoction, it cures irritations of the tra-
chea : applied with vinegar, it acts as a detergent upon lichens.
It is taken in drink, also, for flatulency, cold shiverings, chilly
fevers, hiccup, gripings of the bowels, herpetic ulcerations,
oppressions of the head, vertigo attended with melancholy,
lassitude accompanied with pain, and convulsions.
CHAP. 1 06. THE RESEDA : TWO REMEDIES.
In the vicinity of Ariminum, there is a well-known plant
called " reseda :"86 it disperses abscesses and all kinds of in-
flammations. Those who employ it for these purposes, add
82 The reading of this word is very doubtful. It is generally supposed
to be the Rheum Rhaponticum of Linnaeus, Pontic rhubarb.
83 The shores of the Euxine.
**> See B. xii. c. 25.
85 " Fulvum," probably, " tawny-coloured," not white, red, or black ;
see B. xiv. cc. 11, 18.
86 Possibly the Reseda alba of Linnaeus.
266 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII-
the following words : " Beseda,P7 allay this disease ! knowest
thou not, knowest thou not, what chick it is that has torn up
these roots ? Let it have nor head nor feet I"88 This formula
is repeated thrice, the party spitting on the ground each time.
CHAP. 107. THE ST(ECHAS I THREE REMEDIES.
The stcechas 89 grows only in the islands of that name.90 It
is an odoriferous plant, with leaves like those of hyssop, and
of a bitter taste. Taken in drink, it promotes menstruation,
and allays pains in the chest. It forms an ingredient, also, in
antidotes.
CHAP. 108.— THE SOLANUM, BY THE GREEKS CALLED STRYCHNON '.
TWO REMEDIAL PROPERTIES.
The solanum,91 according to Cornelius Celsus,93 is called
"stryehnon " by the Greeks; it is possessed of repercussive and
refrigerative properties.
CHAP. 109. — SMYRNION : THIRTY-TWO REMEDIES. SINON : TWO
REMEDIES.
Smyrnion 93 has a stem like that of parsley, but larger leaves,
and growing principally about the young shoots, which are
numerous. From the midst of these shoots the leaves make
their appearance, unctuous, and bending towards the ground.
This plant has a medicinal smell, penetrating to a certain
degree, and agreeable : the colour of it is a pale yellow, and
the stems bear rounded umbels like those of dill,94 with a
round, black seed, which dries at the beginning of summer.
The root, also, is odoriferous, of an acrid, pungent flavour, soft
and juicy, black on the outer coat and pale within. The smell
of it partakes very much of the nature of that of myrrh, to
87 " Reseda, morbos reseda." A pun upon the name of the plant, and
the verb " resedo."
88 Like the silly charm itself, " neither head nor tail."
89 See B. xxvi. c. 27.
90 The Stcechades. See B. iii. c. 11, and B. xxxii. c. 11.
91 See B. xxi. c. 105, and c. 44 of this Book. The black nightshade is
neither astringent nor cooling, but a narcotic poison.
92 De Be Med. ii. 33.
93 See B. xix. cc. 48, 62. It is generally identified with the Smyrniurn
perfoliatum of Linnaeus, the Perfoliated alexander.
94 "Anethi" is a preferable reading to "apii," "parsley."
Chap. 110.] TELEPHION. 267
which, in fact, it owes its name : it grows in localities of a
stony nature, or covered with humus. Its medicinal properties
are warming and resolvent.
The leaves and root are used as a diuretic and as an emmen-
agogue ; the seed arrests diarrhoea; and the root, applied topi-
cally, disperses abscesses and suppurations, provided they are
not inveterate, and reduces indurated tumours. It is useful,
also, for injuries inflicted by the phalangium and by serpents,
taken in wine, with the addition of cachrys,95 polium,96 or me-
lissophyllum ;97 the dose, however, must be taken a little at a
time only, for otherwise it acts as an emetic, a reason for which
it is sometimes administered with rue. The seed or root is
curative of cough, hardness of breathing, and diseases of the
thoracic organs, spleen, kidneys, and bladder ; the root, too, is
used for ruptures and convulsions. This plant facilitates
delivery, and brings away the afterbirth ; it is also given, in
combination with crethmos,98 in wine, for sciatica. It acts as a
sudorific and carminative, for which reason it is used to disperse
flatulency of the stomach ; it promotes, also, the cicatrization
of wounds.
A juice is extracted from the root, which is very useful for
female complaints, and for affections of the thoracic organs
and viscera, possessing, as it does, certain calorific, digestive,
and detergent properties. The seed, in particular, is given in
drink for dropsy, external applications being made of the
juice, and emollient poultices applied of the dried rind of the
root. It is used, also, as a seasoning for food, boiled meat in
particular, with the addition of honied wine, oil, and garum.90
Sinon,1 a plant with a flavour very like that of pepper, pro-
motes the digestion, and is highly eflicacious for pains in the
stomach.
CHAP. 110. — TELEPHION: FOTTB EEMEDIES.
Telephion2 resembles purslain in the stem and leaves. From
95 See B. xxiv. c. 60. * See B. xxi. c. 21.
97 See B. xxi. c. 86. °8 See B. xxvi. c. 60.
99 " Fish-sauce." See B. ix. c. 30, and B. xxxi. c. 43.
1 Possibly the same plant as the Sison of Dioseorides, identified with
tlie Sison amomum of Linnaeus, Field hone-wort, or stone- parsley.
2 Identified by Fee with the Sedum Telephiura of Linnaeus, the Or-
pine or livelong ; by Desfontaines with the Sedum anacampseros, the Ever-
268 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXVII.
the root of it there spring seven or eight small branches,
covered with thick, fleshy leaves ; it grows in cultivated spots,
and among vines in particular. It is used as an application
for freckles, being removed as soon as dry ; it is employed,
also, for white morphew,3 being applied some six hours each
night or day, and the treatment continued for about three
months : after removing it, barley-meal should be applied.
Telephion is healing, also, for wounds and fistulas.
CHAP. 111. THE TRICHOMANES : FIVE REMEDIES.
The trichomanes4 is a plant that resembles the adiantum,5 ex-
cept that it is more slender and of a darker colour ; the leaves
of it, which are similar to those of the lentil, lie close together,
on opposite sides, and have a bitter taste. A decoction of this
plant, taken in white wine, with the addition of wild cummin,
is-curative of strangury. Bruised and applied to the head, it
prevents the hair from falling off, and, where it has come off,
restores it : pounded and applied with oil, it effects the cure
of alopecy. The mere taste of it is provocative of sneezing.
CHAP. 112. THE THALICTRUM : ONE REMEDY.
The thalictrura6 has leaves like those of coriander, only
somewhat more unctuous, and a stem resembling that of the
poppy.7 It is found growing everywhere, in champaign locali-
ties more particularly. The leaves, applied with honey, heal
ulcers.
CHAP. 113.— THLASPI AND PERSICON NAPY : FOUR REMEDIES.
Of thlaspi there are two kinds ; the first 8 of which has nar-
row leaves, about a finger in length and breadth, turned to-
green orpine ; and by Littre with the Cerinthe aspera, the Prickly honey-
wort. 3 « Vitiligini."
4 The same plant as the Callitrichos of B. xxv. c. 86.
5 See B. xxii. c. 30.
6 Identified by Fee and Desfontaines with the Thalictrum minus of
Linnaeus, the Small meadow rue. Littre gives the Thalictrum flavum of
Linnaeus, the Common meadow rue.
7 In its colour.
8 Fee identifies it with the Thlaspi campestre of Linnaeus, the Wild
bastard-grass ; Littre with the Thlaspi bursa pastoris of Linnseus, Shep-
herd's purse, otherwise known as Capsella bursa pastoris. Desfontaines
gives as the Thlaspi of Galen, the Cochlearia draba of Linnaeus.
Chap. 115.] THE TKAGONIS. 269
wards the ground, and divided at the point. It has a slender
stem, half a foot in length, and not wholly destitute of
branches; the seed, enclosed in a crescent- shaped capsule,9 is
similar to a lentil in shape, 'except that it has a jagged
appearance, to which, in fact, it owes its name ;10 the flower is
white, and the plant is found near footpaths and in hedges.
The seed, which has an acrid flavour, carries oif bile and
pituitous secretions, by vomit and by alvine evacuation, the
proper dose being one acetabulurn. It is used, also, for sciatica,
in the form of an injection, this treatment being persevered in
until it has induced a discharge of blood : it acts also as an
emmenagogue, but is fatal to the foetus.
The other thlaspi, known by some as " Persicon napy,"11 has
broad leaves and large roots, and is also very useful as an
injection for sciatica. Both plants are very serviceable for in-
guinal complaints ; it being recommended that the person who
gathers them should mention that he is taking them for diseases
of the groin, for abscesses of all kinds, and for wounds, and
that he should pluck them with one hand only.
CHAP. 114. THE TRACHINIA : ONE PROPERTY.
What sort of plant the trachinia 12 is, the authorities do not
state. I think that the assurance given by Democritus must
be false : for it would be nothing less than a prodigy, for a
plant, attached as an amulet, to consume the spleen in so short
a time as three days.
CHAP. 115. THE TRAGONIS OR TRAGION : FOUR REMEDIES.
The tragonis,13 or tragion, grows nowhere but in the mari-
time districts of the Isle of Crete ; it resembles the juniper in
9 " Peltarum specie." The " pelta " was a small, light shield, of
various forms, but most commonly, perhaps, that of a crescent.
10 From 0\a'o>, " to break."
11 " Persian mustard." The Lunaria annua of Linnaeus, the Annual
moon-wort, honesty, or satin-flower, has been suggested by Sprengel, but
its identity is very doubtful.
12 This plant is unknown. A rose of this name is mentioned in E. xxi
c. 10.
13 See B. xiii. c. 36. Fee suggests that it may possibly be a variety of
the Pistacia lentiscus of Linnaeus, the Mastich-tree, or lentisk. Desfou-
taines identifies it with the Hypericon hircinum. M. Fraas (Synopsis, p.
182) suggests the Origanum maru.
270 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXVII.
the seed, leaf, and branches. Its milky juice, which thickens
in the form of a gum, or its seed, taken in drink, expels pointed
weapons from the flesh. The plant, too, is pounded fresh and
applied as a liniment with wine, or, dried and powdered, with
honey. It increases the milk in nursing women, and is a
sovereign remedy for diseases- of the mamillse.
CHAP. 116. THE TEAGOS OE SCOEPION : FOUB EEMEDIES.
There is another plant also, called "tragos,"14 or " scorpion"
hy some, half a foot in height, branchy, destitute of leaves,
and bearing diminutive red clusters, with a seed like that of
wheat, but pointed at the extremity : this too grows in mari-
time localities. Ten or twelve tops of the branches, bruised
and taken in wine, are remedial in cases of cceliae affections,
dysentery, spitting of blood, and excessive menstruation.
CHAP. 117. THE TEAGOPOGON OE COME.
There is the tragopogon,15 also, by some called " come ;" a
plant with a small stem, leaves like those of saffron, an elon-
gated, sweet, root, and a large, swarthy calyx at the extremity
of the stem. It grows in rugged soils, and is never used.
CHAP. 118. THE AGES OF PLANTS.
Such, then, is all that I have hitherto been enabled to
learn or discover, worthy of mention, relative to plants. At
the close of this subject, it seems to me that it will not be out
of place to remind the reader, that the properties of plants
vary according to their age. It is elaterium, as already
stated,16 that preserves its properties the longest of all. The
black chamseleon16* retains its virtues forty years, centaury not
more than twelve, peucedanum 17 and aristolochia 18 six, and
the wild vine one year — that is to say, if they are kept in the
shade. I would remark, also, that beyond those animals which
breed within the plants, there are none that attack the roots
14 See B. xiii. c. 37. M. Fraas (Synopsis, p. 257) identifies it with
the Epbedra distachya of Linnaeus, the Great shrubby horsetail.
15 " Goafs-beard. Probably the Tragopogon crocifolium of Linnaeus,
the Saffron-leaved goat's beard. Though its properties are not inert , it
is never used in medicine.
16 In B. xx. c. 3. 16« See c. 41 of this Book.
17 See B. xxv. c. 70. 18 See B. xxv. c. 54.
Chap. 120.] MALADIES PECULIAB TO VARIOUS NATIONS. 271
of any of those which have been mentioned by me ; with the
exception, indeed, of the sphondyle,19 a kind of creeping
insect,20 which infests them all.
CHAP. 119. HOW THE GREATEST EFFICACY IN PLANTS HAY BE
ENSURED.
It is also an undoubted truth, that the virtues and properties
of all roots are more feebly developed, when the fruit has been
allowed to ripen ; and that it is the same with the seed, when
incisions have been previously made in the root, for the ex-
traction of the juice. The efficacy, too, of all plants is impaired
by making habitual use of them ; and these substances, if em-
ployed daily, lose equally their good or bad properties, when
required to be effectual. All plants, too, have more powerful
properties, when grown in soils that are cold and exposed to
the north-eastern blasts, or in dry localities.
CHAP. 120. MALADIES PECULIAB TO VARIOUS NATIONS.
There are certain differences, also, by no means inconsider-
able, in the predispositions of the various nations of the earth.
I have been informed, for instance, that the people of Egypt,
Arabia, Syria, and Cilicia, are subject to tapeworm and maw-
worm, while those of Thracia and Phrygia, on the other hand,
are totally exempt from them. This, however, is less sur-
prising than the fact that, although Attica and Bceotia are
adjoining territories, the Thebans are troubled with these
inflictions, while among the people of Athens they are un-
known.
Considerations of this description lead me now to turn my
attention to the nature of the animated beings themselves, and
the medicinal properties which are inborn in them, the most
assured remedies, perhaps, for all diseases.
For Nature, in fact, that parent of all things, has produced no
animated being for the purpose solely of eating ; she has willed
that it should be born to satisfy the wants of others, and in
its very vitals has implanted medicaments conducive to health.
"While she has implanted them in mute21 and inanimate
objects even, she has equally willed that these, the most in-
19 A kind of foetid beetle, Hardouin says. Probably an Aphis.
20 " Serpentis." 21 See B. xxii. c. 3.
272 FLINT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
valuable aids of life, should be also derived from the life of
another — a subject for contemplation, marvellous in the highest
degree !21
SUMMARY. — Remedies, narratives, and observations, six hun-
dred and two.
ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Caius Yalgius,22 Pompeius Le-
nseus,23 Sextius Niger 24 who wrote in Greek, Julius Bassus 25
who wrote in Greek, Antonius Castor,26 Cornelius Celsus.27
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED, — Theophrastus,28 Apollodorus,29
Democritus,30 Aristogiton,31 Orpheus,32 Pythagoras,33 Mago/4
Menander35 who wrote the " Biochresta," Meander.36
MEDICAL AUTHORS QUOTED. — Mnesitheus,37 Timaristus,38 Si-
mus,39 Hippocrates,40 Chrysippus,41 Diodes,42 Ophelion,43 Hera-
elides,44 Hicesius,45 Dionysius,46 Apollodorus 47 of Citium, Apol-
21 It is with regret that at the close of this Book, we take leave of
the valuable Annotations of M. Fee, a series of illustrations which reflect
the highest credit on his learning, his industry, and his critical acumen.
Were the ancient authors in general subjected to the same minute exami-
nation and thorough enquiry which he has expended upon the Sixteen
Botanical Books of Pliny, their value would be greatly enhanced, equally
to the critical scholar, and to the general reader who makes his acquaint-
ance with them through the medium of a translation. To say, that, in
reference to their respective labours upon Pliny, M. Fee deserves our thanks
almost equally with the learned Sillig — now, alas ! no more — is to say much
indeed in his praise, and to bestow upon him a commendation to which he
is eminently entitled.
22 See end of B. xx. 23 See end of B. xiv.
24 See end of B. xii. 25 See end of B. xx.
26 See end of B. xx. 27 See end of B. vii.
28 See end of .B. iii. 29 See end of B. xi.
30 See end of B. ii.
31 Beyond being mentioned here, and in c. 14 of this Book, nothing is
known of this writer. 32 See end of B. xx.
33 See end of B. ii. 34 See end of B. viii.
35 See end of B. xix. 36 See end of B. viii.
37 See end of B. xix. 3s See end of B. xxi.
39 See end of B. xxi 40 See end of B. vii."
41 See end of B. xx. 42 See end of B. xx.
43 See end of B. xv. 44 See end of B. xii.
45 See end of B. xv. « See end of B. xii.
47 See end of B. xx.
SUMMARY. 273
lodorus48 of Tarentum, Praxagoras,49 Plistonicus,50 Medius,51
Dieuches,52 Cleophantus,53 Philistion,54 Asclepiades,55 Crateuas,56
Petronius Diodotus,57 loUas,58 Erasistratus,59 Diagoras,60 An-
dreas,61 Mnesides,62 Epicharmus,63 Damion,64 Tlepolemus,65 Me-
trodorus,66 Solo,67 Lyciis,68 Olyrapias 69 of Thebes, Philinus,70
Petrichus,71 Micton,™ Glaucias,73 Xenocrates.74
*#* Before quitting the Botanical Books of Pliny, it is a duty both to
our author and to the reader, to call attention to the illustrations of a few
passages in this work, which will be found in the Textrinum Antiquorum ^
by Dr. James Yates, F.R.S., a book characterized by learning, equally pro-
found and extensive, aud the most indefatigable research : it being but re-
cently, we are sorry to say, that we have been made acquainted with its
valuable contents.
The following are selected as among the most useful and interesting results
of his enquiries.
B. vi. c. 20 [V. ii. p. 36]. Dr. Yates is of opinion that Pliny has here
mistranslated a passage of Aristotle, Hist. Anim. v. 19, and that he has
mistaken the word J3o/w/3vKia, <; cocoons," for webs, similar to those of
the spider, attached to the leaves of trees. Not understanding the original,
he would seem to have given -a distorted account of the simple operation
of winding the threads from off the cocoons of the silkworm upon bobbins,
by the hands of females ; the threads upon which bobbins would be after-
wards unwound for the manufacture of silken fabrics. See Notes 8 and 9
on the passage in question ; also B. xi. c. 26.
B. viii. c. 74 [V. ii. p. 336]. For the word " Sororiculata," Dr. Yates
proposes to read " Soriculata," and he suggests that the cloth thus called
may have been a velvet or plush, which received its name from its resem-
blance to the coat of the field-mouse, "sorex," the diminutive of which,
would be " soricula."
B. xix. c. 2 [V. iv. p. 133] and c. 6 [p. 138]. Dr. Yates expresses it
as his opinion that the words li Carbasus" and " Carbasa" are derived from
the oriental word Carpas, signifying "cotton," and thinks that Pliny, in
B. xix. c. 2, may have used the word by Catachresis, as meaning linen, in
the same manner as the Latin poets repeatedly use the word " carbasa,"
as signifying various kinds of woven textures. If this view be correct,
the word "Carbasina" in B. xix. c. 6, will probably mean " awnings of
48 See end of B. xx.
49 See end of B. xx.
30 See end of B. xx.
61 See end of B. xx.
52 See end of B. xx.
53 See end of B. xx.
si See end of B. xx.
55 See end of B. vii.
56 See end of B. xx.
57 See end of B. xx.
5* See end of B. xii.
5i) See end of B. xi.
60 See end of "B. xii.
61 See end of B. xx.
6a See end of B. xii.
63 See end of B. xx.
6i See end of B. xx.
65 See end of B. xx.
66 See end of B. xx.
67 See end of B. xx.
68 See end of B. xii.
«' See end of B. xx.
70 See end of B. xx.
71 See end of B. xxi.
72 See end of B. xx.
73 See end of B. xx.
74 See end of B. xx.
TOL. V.
T
274 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII.
woven material " generally, and not of fine linen, or cambric, as suggested
in Note 55.
B. xix. c. 2 [V. iv. p. 134]. The genuineness of the passage which,
makes mention of the " Gossypium," is questioned by Dr. Yates, who
thinks it possible that it is an interpolation : such, however, if we may
judge from the result of Sillig's researches, does not appear to have been
the case. If, on the other hand, the passage is genuine, Dr. Yates is of
opinion that the statement is incorrect, and that cotton was not grown in
Egypt. It seems just possible, however, that Pliny may have had in view
the trees mentioned by him in B. xiv. c. 28,
B. xix. c. 4 [V. iv. p. 137, also p. 134, Note 37]. Dr. Yates has ad-
duced a number of convincing arguments to prove that the " Byssus " of
the ancients cannot have been cotton, but that in all probability it was a
texture of fine flax. The passages of Pausanias, (B. v. c. 25, and B. vi.
c. 26) in which "Byssus" is mentioned, would certainly seem to apply
to flax, a product which is still cultivated near the mouth of the river
Peneus, in ancient Elis. There is no doubt, however, that Philostratus,
though perhaps erroneously, has used the word "Byssus" as meaning
cotton.
275
BOOK XXVIII.
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
CHAP. 1. (1.) INTRODUCTION.
WE should have now concluded our description of the various
things1 that are produced between the heavens and the earth,
and it would have only remained for us to speak of the sub-
stances that are dug out of the ground itself ; did not our expo-
sition of the remedies derived from plants and shrubs neces-
sarily lead us into a digression upon the medicinal properties
which have been discovered, to a still greater extent, in those
living creatures themselves which are thus indebted [to other
objects] for the cure of their respective maladies. For ought we,
after describing the plants, the forms of the various flowers, and
so many objects rare and difficult to be found — ought we to pass
in silence the resources which exist in man himself for the
benefit of man, and the other remedies to be derived from the
creatures that live among us — and this more particularly,
seeing that life itself is nothing short of a punishment, unless
it is exempt from pains and maladies ? Assuredly not ; and
even though I may incur the risk of being tedious, I shall
exert all my energies on the subject, it being my fixed deter-
mination to pay less regard to what may be amusing, than to
what may prove practically useful to mankind.
Nay, even more than this, my researches will extend to the
usages of foreign countries, and to the customs of barbarous
nations, subjects upon which I shall have to appeal to the
good faith of other authors ; though at the same time I have
made it my object to select no2 facts but such as are established
1 The trees and plants.
2 On the contrary, this and the four following Books are full of the most
extravagant assertions, which bear ample testimony to his credulity, not-
withstanding the author's repeated declarations that he does not believe in
Magic. As Ajasson says, he evidently does not know what he ought to
have inserted in his work, and what to reject as utterly unworthy of belief.
His faults, however, were not so much his own as those of his age. Want
of space, equally with want of inclination, compels us to forego the task of
entering into an examination of the system of Animal Therapeutics upon
which so much labour has been wasted by our author.
T 2
276 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
by pretty nearly uniform testimony, and to pay more attention,
to scrupulous exactness than to copiousness of diction.
It is highly necessary, however, to advertise the reader, that
whereas I have already described the natures of the various
animals, and the discoveries2 due to them respectively — for, in
fact, they have been no less serviceable in former times in dis-
covering remedies, than they are at the present day in provid-
ing us with them — it is my present intention to confine myself
to the remedial properties which are found in the animal
world, a subject which has not been altogether lost sight of in
the former portion of this work. These additional details
therefore, though of a different nature, must still be read in
connexion with those whieh precede.
CHAP. 2. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MAN.
We will begin then with man, and our first enquires will
be into the resources which he provides for himself — a subject
replete with boundless difficulties at the very outset.3
Epileptic patients are in the habit of drinking the blood
even of gladiators, draughts teeming with life,4 as it were ; a
thing that, when we see it done by the wild beasts even, upon
the same arena, inspires uswitb horror at the spectacle! And
yet these persons, forsooth, consider it a most effectual cure
for their disease, to quaff the warm, breathing, blood from man
himself, and, as they apply their mouth to the wound, to draw
forth his very life ; and this, though it is regarded as an act
of impiety to apply the human lips to the wound even of a
wild beast ! Others there are, again, who make the marrow5
of the leg-bones, and the brains of infants, the objects of their
research !
Among the Greek writers, too, there are not a few who have
enlarged upon the distinctive flavours of each one of the viscera
and members of the human body, pursuing their researches
to the very parings of the nails ! as though, forsooth, it could
- See B. viii. c. 97, et seq,, and B. xxv. c. 89, et seq.
* See B. xxviii. c. 3.
4 This practice is mentioned with reprobation by Celsus and Tertullian.
It was continued, however, in some degree through the middle ages, and
Louis XV. was accused by his people of taking baths of infants' blood to
repair his premature decrepitude.
3 In recent times, Guettard, a French practitioner, recommended human
marrow as an emollient liniment.
Chap. 2.] REMEDIES DERIVED UROM MAK, 277
possibly be accounted the pursuit of health for man to make
himself a wild beast, and so deserve to contract disease from
the very remedies he adopts for avoiding it. Most righteously,
by Hercules ! if such attempts are all in vain, is he disap-
pointed of his cure ! To examine human entrails is deemed
an act of impiety ;6 what then must it be to devour them ?
Say, Osthanes,7 who was it that first devised these practices:
for it is thee that I accuse, thou uprooter of all human laws,
thou inventor of these monstrosities ; devised, no doubt, with
the view that mankind might not forget thy name ! Who was
it that first thought of devouring each member of the human
body ? By what conjectural motives was he induced ? What
can possibly have been the origin of such a system of medicine as
this ? Who was it that thus made the very poisons less baneful
than the antidotes prescribed for them ? Granted that barbarous
and outlandish tribes first devised such practices, must the
men of Greece, too, adopt these as arts of their own ?
We read, for instance, in the memoirs of Democritus, still
extant, that for some diseases, the skull of a malefactor is most
efficacious, while for the treatment of others, that of one who
has been a friend or guest is required. Apollonius, again, in-
forms us in his writings, that the most effectual remedy for
tooth-ache is to scarify the gums with the tooth of a man who
has died a violent death ; and, according to Miletus, human gall
is a cure for cataract.8 For epilepsy, Artemon has prescribed
water drawn from a spring in the night, and drunk from the
skull of a man who has been slain, and whose body remains
unburnt. From the skull, too, of a man who had been hanged,
Antaeus made pills that were to be an antidote to the bite of a
mad dog. Even more than this, man has resorted to similar re-
medies for the cure of four-footed beasts even — for tympanitis in
oxen, for instance, the horns have been perforated, and human
bones inserted ; and when swine have been found to be diseased,
6 Hence, as Ajasson remarks, the ignorance of anatomy displayed by the
ancients.
7 For further particulars as to Osthanes, see B. xxix. c. 80, and B. xxx.
cc. 5 and 6 ; also cc. 19 and 77 of the present Book. The reading, how-
ever, is very doubtful.
8 " Oculoruni suffusiones." As Ajasson says, the remedy here mentioned
reminds us of the more harmless one used by Tobias for the cure of the
blindness of his father Tobit.
278 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
fine wheat has been given them which has lain for a night in
the spot where a human being has been slain or burnt !
Par from us, far too from our writings, be such prescrip-
tions9 as these ! It will be for us to describe remedies only,
and not abominations ;10 cases, for instance, in which the milk
of a nursing woman may have a curative effect, cases where
the human spittle may be useful, or the contact11 of the human
body, and other instances of a similar nature. We do not look
upon life as so essentially desirable that it must be prolonged
at any cost, be it what it may — and you, who are of that
opinion, be assured, whoever you may be, that you will die
none the less, even though you shall have lived in the midst
of obscenities or abominations !
Let each then reckon this as one great solace to his mind,
that of all the blessings which Nature has bestowed on man,
there is none greater than the death12 which comes at a season-
able hour ; and that the very best feature in connexion with it
is, that every person has it in his own power to procure it for
himself.13
CHAP. 3. (2.) WHETHER WORDS ARE POSSESSED OF ANY
HEALING EFFICACY.
In reference to the remedies derived from man, there arises
first of all one question, of the greatest importance and always
attended with the same uncertainty, whether words, charms,
and incantations, are of any efficacy or not?14 For if such
is the case, it will be only proper to ascribe this efficacy to
man himself ;15 though the wisest of our fellow-men, I should
remark, taken individually, refuse to place the slightest faith
in these opinions. And yet, in our every-day life, we practi-
cally show, each passing hour, that we do entertain this belief,
9 He gives a great many, however, which are equally abominable.
10 " Piacula."
11 We may here discover the first rudiments of the doctrine of Animal
Magnetism.
12 In accordance with the republican doctrines of Cato of Utica, Brutus,
Cassius, and Portia.
13 Holland remarks, " Looke for no better divinitie in Plinie, a meere
Pagan, Epicurean, and professed Atheist." See B. vii. cc. 53, 54.
14 Whether or not, they cannot, as Ajasson remarks, be regarded as
remedies derived from the human body, being no part of the human body.
15 " Homini acceptum fieri oportere conveniat." This passage is pro-
bably corrupt.
Chap. 3.] WHETHER WORDS ARE OF HEALING EFFICACY. 2/P
though at the moment we are not sensible of it. Thus, for
instance, it is a general belief that without a certain form of
prayer16 it would be useless to immolate a victim, and that,
with such an informality, the gods would be consulted to little
purpose. And then besides, there are different forms of
address to the deities, one form for entreating,17 another form for
averting their ire, and another for commendation.
We see too, how that our supreme magistrates use certain
formulae for their prayers: that not a single word may be
omitted or pronounced out of its place,fit is the duty of one
person to precede the dignitary by reacung the formula before
him from a written ritual, of another, to keep watch upon
every word, and of a third to see that18 silence is not ominouslj*
foroken; while a musician, in the meantime, is performing on the
fiuta to prevent any other words being heard.19 Indeed, there ^
Are memorable instances recorded in our Annals, of cases where
• either the sacrifice has been interrupted, and so blemished,
fty imprecations, or a mistake has been made in the utterance
of the prayer J the result being that the lobe of the liver or
the heart has disappeared in a moment, or has been doubled,20
while the victim stood before the altar, f There is still in exist-
ence a most remarkable testimony,21 in the formula which the
Decii, father and son, pronounced on the occasions when they
devoted themselves.22 There is also preserved the prayer
uttered by the Vestal Tuccia,23 when, upon being accused of
incest, she carried water in a sieve — an event which took place
in the year of the City 609. Our own age even has seen a
man and a woman buried alive in the Ox Market,24 Greeks by
birth, or else natives of some other25 country with which we
16 Beginning with an address to Janus and Vesta, imploring their inter-
cession with the other divinities, and concluding with an appeal to Janus.
17 " Impetritis."
18 " Qui favere linguis jubeat." " Favete linguis " were the words used
in enjoining strict silence.
19 By him who is offering up the prayer.
20 A trick adroitly performed by the priests, no doubt.
21 Given by Livy, in Books viii. and x.
!2 To death, in battle, for the good of their country.
23 Preserved by Valerius Maximus, B. viii. c. 1. Tertullian and Saint
Augustin doubt the authenticity of the story. She is said to have carried
water in a sieve from the river Tiber to the temple of Vesta.
24 " Forum Boarium ;M in the Eighth Kegion of the City.
25 Of Gaul, as Plutarch informs us, who mentions also the Greek victims.
280 PLINY'S NATURAL HTSTOET. [Book XXVIII.
were at war at the time. The prayer used upon the occasion
of this ceremonial, and which is usually pronounced first by
the Master of the College of the Quindecimviri,26 if read by a
person, must assuredly force him to admit the potency of
formulae ; when it is recollected that it has been proved to
be effectual by the experience of eight hundred and thirty
years.
At the present day, too, it is a general belief, that our Yestal
virgins have the power, by uttering a certain prayer, to arrest
the flight of runaway slaves, and to rivet them to the spot,
provided they have not gone beyond the precincts of the
City. If then these opinions be once received as truth, and if it
be admitted that the gods do listen to certain prayers, or are
influenced by set forms of words, we are bound to conclude
in the affirmative upon the whole question. Our ancestors,
no doubt, always entertained such a belief, and have even
assured us, a thing by far the most difficult of all, that it is
possible by such means to bring down lightning from heaven,
as already27 mentioned on a more appropriate occasion.
CHAP. 4. THAT PRODIGIES AND PORTENTS MAY BE CONFIRMED, OR
MADE OF NO EFFECT.
L. Piso informs us, in the first Book of his Annals, that King
Tullus Hostilius,28 while attempting, in accordance with the
books of Numa, to summon Jupiter from heaven by means of a
sacrifice similar to that employed by him, was struck by
lightning in consequence of his omission to follow certain
forms with due exactness. Many other authors, too, have
attested, that by the power of words a change has been
effected in destinies and portents of the greatest importance.
While they were digging on the Tarpeian Hill for the founda-
tions of a temple, a human head was found ; upon which de-
puties were sent to Olenus Calenus, the most celebrated
diviner of Etruria. He, foreseeing the glory and success which
The immolation of the Gauls is supposed to have happened in the beginning
of the reign of Vespasian.
2G Originally the " Decemviri Sacris Faciundis," whose number was in-
creased by Sylla to fifteen. They had the management of the Games of
Apollo, and the Secular Games.
27 In B. ii. c. 54.
23 It has been suggested that Tullus Hostilius was acquainted with some
of the secrets of electricity, and that he met his death while trying ex-
periments with a lightning conductor. See B. ii. c. 54,
Chap. 4.] PRODIGIES AND PORTENTS. 281
attached to such a presage as this, attempted, by putting a
question to them, to transfer the benefit of it to his own
nation. First describing, on the ground before him, the outline
of a temple with his staff — "Is it so, Romans, as you say ?"
said he ; "here then must be the temple29 of Jupiter, all good
and all powerful ; it is here that we have found the head" —
and the constant asseveration of the Annals is, that the destiny
of the Roman empire would have been assuredly transferred to
Etruria, had not the deputies, forewarned by the son of the
diviner, made answer — " No, not here exactly, but at Rome,
we say, the head was found/*
It is related also that the same was the case when a certain
four-horse chariot, made of clay, and intended for the roof of
the same temple, had considerably increased while in the
furnace ;30 and that on this occasion, in a similar manner, the
destinies of Rome were saved. Let these instances suffice
then to show, that the virtues of presages lie in our own hands,
and that they are valuable in each instance according as they
are received.31 At all events, it is a principle in the doctrine
of the augurs, that neither imprecations nor auspices of any
kind have any effect upon those who, when entering upon an
undertaking, declare that they will pay no attention whatever
to them ; a greater instance than which, of the indulgent dis-
position of the gods towards us, cannot be found.
And then besides, in the laws themselves of the Twelve
Tables, do we not read the following words — "Whosoever shall
have enchanted the harvest,"32 and in another place, " Whoso-
ever shall have used pernicious incantations"?33 VerriusFlac-
cus cites authors whom he deems worthy of credit, to show
that on the occasion of a siege, it was the usage, the first thing of
all, for the Roman priests to summon forth the tutelary divinity
of that particular town, and to promise him the same rites, or
even a more extended worship, at Rome ; and at the present day
even, this ritual still forms part of the discipline of our pontiffs.
29 Ajasson thinks that there is an equivoque here upon the word '* tern-
plum," which signified not only a building, but certain parts of the heavens,
and corresponding lines traced on the earth by the augur's staff.
30 This story is mentioned by Plutarch, in the Life of Publicola.
31 In which case it was considered necessary to repeat the words, " Ac-
cipio omen," " I accept the omen."
a3 "Qui fruges excantassit."
33 " Q,ui nialum carmen incantassit."
282 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Rook XXVIII.
Hence it is, no doubt, that the name 34 of the tutelary deity of
Rome has been so strictly kept concealed, lest any of our enemies
should act in a similar manner. There is no one, too, who does
[ not dread being spell-bound by means of evil imprecations ;35 and
hence the practice, after eating eggs or snails, of immedi-
ately breaking36 the shells, or piercing them with the spoon.
Hence, too, those love- sick imitations of enchantments which
we find described by Theocritus among the Greeks, and by
Catullus, and more recently, Virgil,37 among our own writers.
Many persons are fully persuaded that articles .of pottery may
be broken by a similar agency ; and not a few are of opinion
even that serpents can counteract incantations, and that this is
the only kind of intelligence they possess-^-so much so, in fact,
that by the agency of the magic spells of the Marsi, they may
be attracted to one spot, even when asleep in the middle of the
night. * Some people go so far, too, as to write certain words38
on the walls of houses, deprecatory of accident by fire.
But it is not easy to say whether the outlandish and unpro-
nounceable words that are thus employed, or the Latin ex-
pressions that are used at random, and which must appear
ridiculous to our judgment, tend the most strongly to stagger
our belief — seeing that the human imagination is always con-
ceiving something of the infinite, something deserving of the
notice of the divinity, or indeed, to speak more correctly, some-
thing that must command his intervention perforce. Homer39
tells us that Ulysses arrested the flow of blood from a wound
34 Ajasson is of opinion that this name was either Favra or Fona, Aeca,
Flora, or Valesia or Valentia.
35 "As in saying thus, The Devill take thee, or The Ravens peck out
thine eyes, or 1 had rather see thee Pie peckt, and such like." — Holland.
36 It is a superstition still practised to pierce the shell of an egg after
eating it, " lest the witches should come." Holland gives the following
Note — " Because afterwards no witches might pricke them with a needle
in the name and behalfe of those whom they would hurt and mischeefe,
according to the practice of pricking the images of any person in wax ;
used in the witchcraft of these daies." We learn from Ajasson that till
recently it was considered a mark of ill-breeding in France not to pierce
the shell after eating the egg. See also Brand's Popular Antiquities,
Vol. III. p. 19, John's Ed. ^
37 See the Eighth Eclogue of Virgil.
38 " That is to say, Arse verse, out of Afranius, as Festus noteth, which
in the old Tuscane language signifieth, Averte ignem, Put backe the fire."
—Holland.
•w Odyss. xix. 457. It is not Ulysses, but the sons of Autolycus that do
this. Their bandages, however, were more likely to be effectual.
Chap. 5.] A DESCRIPTION OF VAKIOUS USAGES. 283
in the thigh, by repeating a charm ; and Theophrastus40 says
that sciatica may be cured by similar means. Cato41 has
preserved a formula for the cure of sprains, and M. Varro for
that of gout. The Dictator Caesar, they say, having on one
occasion accidentally had a fall in his chariot,42 was always in
the habit, immediately upon taking his seat, of thrice repeating
a certain formula, with the view of ensuring safety upon the
journey ; a thing that, to my own knowledge, is done by many
persons at the present day.
CHA.P. 5. A DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS USAGES.
I would appeal, too, for confirmation on this subject, to the
intimate experience of each individual. "Why, in fact, upon
the first day of the new year, do we accost one another with
prayers for good fortune,43 and, for luck's sake, wish each other
a happy new year ? Why, too, upon the occasion of public
lustrations, do we select persons with lucky names, to lead the
victims ? Why, to counteract fascinations, do we Romans
observe a peculiar form of adoration, in invoking the Nemesis
of the Greeks ; whose statue, for this reason, has been placed
in the Capitol at Rome, although the goddess herself possess
no Latin name ?44 Why, when we make mention of the dead,
do we protest that we have no wish45 to impeach their good
name P46 Why is it that we entertain the belief that for every
purpose odd numbers are the most effectual ;47 — a thing that is
particularly observed with reference to the critical days in
fevers? Why is it that, when gathering the earliest fruit,
apples, OB pears, as the case may be, we make a point of saying
— " This fruit is old, may other fruit be sent us that is new ? "
Why is it that we salute48 a person when he sneezes, an obser-
vance which Tiberius Caesar, they say, the most unsociable of
men, as we all know, used to exact, when riding in his chariot
40 De Enthusiasmo. 41 See B. xvii. c. 47.
42 In passing along the Velabrum, on the occasion of his Gallic triumph,
the axle of the carriage having broke.
43 See Ovid's Fasti, B. i. 1. 175, et seq., and Epist. de Ponto. B. iv.
EL 4. 1. 23, et seq.
44 See B. xi. c. 103.
45 Hence the saying, " De mortuis nil nisi bonura."
46 " Defunctorum memoriam a nobis non sollieitari."
47 It is still a saying, and perhaps a belief, that " There is luck in
odd numbers."
48 This has been a practice from the earliest times to the present day.
See Brand's Popular Antiquities, Vol. III. p. 123, £ohn's Ed.
284 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
even ? Some there are, too, who think it a point religiously
to be observed to mention the name as well of the person whom
they salute.
And then, besides, it is a notion49 universally received, that
absent persons have warning that others are speaking of them,
by the tingling of the ears. Attalus50 assures us, that if a
person, the moment he sees a scorpion, says " Duo,"51 the rep-
tile will stop short, and forbear to sting. And now that I am
speaking of the scorpion, I recall to mind that in Africa no one
ever undertakes any matter without prefacing with the word
" Africa ;" while in other countries, before an enterprise is
commenced, it is the practice to adjure the gods that they
will manifest their good will.
In addition to this, it is very clear that there are some
religious observances, unaccompanied by speech, which are
considered to be productive of certain effects. Thus,52 when
we are at table, for instance, it is the universal practice, we
see, to take the ring from off the finger. Another person,
again, will take some spittle from his mouth and place it with
hj| finger behind the ear, to propitiate and modify disquietude
oraiind. When we wish to signify applause, we have a proverb
even which tells us we should press the thumbs.53 When pay-
ing adoration, we kiss the right hand, and turn the whole
body to the right : while the people of the Gallic provinces, on
the contrary, turn to the left, and believe that they show
.mere devoutness by so doing. To salute summer lightning
with clapping of the hands, is the universal practice with all
nations. If, when eating, we happen to make mention of a
fire that has happened, we avert the inauspicious omen by pour-
ing water beneath the table. To sweep the floor at the moment
that a person is rising from table, or to remove the table
or tray,64 as the case may be, while a guest is drinking, is
looked upon as a most unfortunate presage. There is a treatise,
49 In France and England, at the present day, this notion, or rather, per-
haps, the memory of it, is universally to be found. If the right ear tingles,
some one is speaking well of us ; if the left ear, the reverse.
50 King Attalus Philometor. See end of B. viii.
si "Two."
52 This passage, it is pretty clear, ought to follow the preceding one,
though in the Latin it is made to precede.
53 The thumb was turned upwards as a mark of favour, downwards, as
a mark of disfavour. 64 ** Repositorium."
Chap. 5.] A DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS USAGES. 285
written by Servius Sulpicitis, a man of the highest rank, in
which reasons are given why we should never leave the tahle
we are eating at ; for in his day it was not yet55 the practice to
reckon more tables than guests at an entertainment. Where a
person has sneezed, it is considered highly ominous for the
dish or table to be brought back again, and not a taste thereof
to be taken, after doing so ; the same, too, where a person at
table eats nothing at all.
These usages have been established by persons who enter-
tained a belief that the gods are ever present, in all our affairs
and at all hours, and who have therefore found the means of ap-
peasing them by our vices even. It has been remarked, too,
that there is never a dead silence on a sudden among the guests
at table, except when there is an even number present ; when
this happens, too, it is a sign that the good name and repute of
every individual present is in peril. In former times, when
food fell from the hand of a guest, it was the custom to return
it by placing it on the table, and it was forbidden56 to blow
upon it, for the purpose of cleansing it. Auguries, too, have bet n
derived from the words or thoughts of a person at the mom^t
such an accident befalls him ; and it is looked upon as one of
the most dreadful of presages, if this should happen to:
while celebrating the feast of Dis.67 The proper expiati<
such a case is, to have the morsel replaced on table,
burnt in honour of the Lar.58 Medicines, it is said, will prove
ineffectual, if they happen to have been placed on a table before
they are administered. It is religiously believed by many,
that it is ominous in a pecuniary point of view, for a person to
pare his nails without speaking, on the market days59 at Home,
or to begin at the forefinger60 in doing so : it is thought, too,
55 It was not yet the custom to bring in several courses, each served up
on a separate table.
50 Good manners possibly, more than superstition, may have introduced
this practice.
57 Or Pluto. He alludes to the Feralia, or feasts celebrated, in the
month of February, in honour of the dead.
58 Or household god.
59 The "Nundinae," held every ninth day; or rather every eighth day,
according to our mode of reckoning.
60 Gronovius suggests a reading which would make this to mean that it
is ;; ominous to touch money with the forefinger." It does not appear to
be warranted, however.
>n as one 01
to a pontiff,
expiation in V\\
e, and then ;r*
286 PLINY' o NATUKAL HISTOEY, [Book XXVIII.
to be a preventive of baldness and of head- ache, to cut the hair
on the seventeenth and twenty-ninth60 days of the moon.
A rural law observed in most of the farms of Italy, forbids6*
women to twirl their distaffs, or even to carry them uncovered,
while walking in the public roads ; it being a thing so pre-
judicial to all hopes and anticipations, those of a good harvest63
iu particular. It is not so long ago, that M. Servilius
Nonianus, the principal citizen at Rome,63 being apprehensive
of ophthalmia, had a paper, with the two Greek letters P and
A64 written upon it, wrapped in linen and attached to his neck,
before he would venture to name the malady, and before any
other person had spoken to him about it. Mucianus, too, who
was thrice consul, following a similar observance, carried about
him a living fly, wrapped in a piece of white linen ; and it
was strongly asserted, by both of them, that to the use of these
expedients they owed their preservation from ophthalmia.
There are in existence, also, certain charms against hail- storms,
diseases of various kinds, and burns, some of which have been
proved, by actual experience, to be effectual; but so great is the
diversity of opinion upon them, that I am precluded by a
feeling of extreme diffidence from entering into further par-
ticulars, and must therefore leave each to form his own con-
clusions as he may feel inclined.
CHAP. 6. (3.) TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX OBSERVATIONS
ON EEMEDIES DERIVED FROM MAN. EIGHT REMEDIES DERIVED
FROM CHILDREN.
We have already,65 when speaking of the singular peculiar-
ities of various nations, made mention of certain men of a
monstrous nature, whose gaze is endowed with powers of
fascination ; and we have also described properties belonging to
numerous animals, which it would be superfluous here to repeat.
In some men, the whole of the body is endowed with remark-
able properties, as in those families, for instance, which are a
terror to serpents ; it being in their power to cure persons
when stung, either by the touch or by a slight suction of the
wound. To this class belong the Psylli, the Marsi, and the people
60* Twenty-eighth, according to our reckoning.
61 Probably from their ominous resemblance to the Parcae, or Fates, with
their spindles, 62 "Frugum."
63 " Princeps civitatis." 64 "Bho" and "Alpha."
65 In B. vii. c. 2.*
Chap. 6.] EEMEDIES DEBITED FROM MAIN". 287
called " Ophiogenes,"66 in the Isle of Cyprus. One Euagon,
a member of this family, while attending upon a deputation at
Kome, was thrown by way of experiment, by order of the con-
suls, into a large vessel67 filled with serpents ; upon which,
to the astonishment of all, they licked his body all over with
their tongues. One peculiarity of this family — if indeed it is
still in existence — is the strong offensive smell which proceeds
from their body in the spring ; their sweat, too, no less than
their spittle, was possessed of remedial virtues. The people
who are born at Tentyris, an island in the river Nilus, are
so formidable68 to the crocodiles there, that their voice even is
sufficient to put them to flight. The presence even, it is well
known, of all these different races, will suffice for the cure of
injuries inflicted by the animals to which they respectively
have an antipathy ; just in the same way that wounds are-
irritated by the approach of persons who have been stung by
a serpent at some former time, or bitten by a dog. Such
persons, too, by their presence, will cause the eggs upon which
a hen is sitting to be addled, and will make pregnant cattle "
cast their young and miscarry; for, in fact, so much of
the venom remains in their body, that, from being poisoned
themselves, they become poisonous to other creatures. The
proper remedy in such case is first to make them wash their
hands, and then to sprinkle with the water the patient who is
under medical treatment. When, again, persons have been
once stung by a scorpion they will never afterwards be attacked
by hornets, wasps, or bees : a fact at which a person will be
the less surprised when he learns that a garment which has
been worn at a funeral will never be touched by moths ;69 that
it is hardly possible to draw serpents from their holes except
by using the left hand ; and that, of the discoveries made by
Pythagoras, one of the most unerring, is the fact, that in the
name given to infants, an odd number of vowels is portentous
of lameness, loss of eyesight, or similar accidents, on70 the right
66 In B. vii. c. 2, he speaks of these people — " the serpent-born" — as
natives of Parium, a town of the Hellespont. Ajasson suggests that they
may have been a branch of the Thamirades, a sacerdotal family of Cyprus.
67 " Dolium." es see B. viii. c. 38.
69 Ajasson has thought it worth while to contradict this assertion.
70 Meaning, of course, in case such an accident should befall the party.
The passage appears, however, to be corrupt.
288 FLINT'S NATTTKAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
side of the body, and an even number of vowels of the like
infirmities on the left.
(4.) It is said, that if a person takes a stone or other missile
which has slain three living creatures, a man, a boar, and a
bear, at three blows, and throws it over the roof of a house
in which there is a pregnant woman, her delivery, however
difficult, will be instantly accelerated thereby. In such a case,
too, a successful result will be rendered all the more probable,
if a light infantry lance71 is used, which has been drawn from
a man's body without touching the earth ; indeed, if it is
brought into the house it will be productive of a similar result.
In the same way, too, we find it stated in the writings of
Orpheus and Archelaiis, that arrows, drawn from a human
body without being allowed to touch the ground, and placed
beneath the bed, will have all the effect of a philtre ; and,
what is even more than this, that it is a cure for epilepsy if
the patient eats the flesh of a wild beast killed with an iron
weapon with which a human being has been slain.
Some individuals, too, are possessed of medicinal properties
in certain parts of the body ; the thumb of King Pyrrhus, for
instance, as already72 mentioned. At Elis, there used to
be shown one of the ribs73 of Pelops, which, it was generally
asserted, was made of ivory. At the present day even, there
are many persons, who from religious motives will never clip
the hair growing upon a mole on the face.
CHAP. 7. PROPERTIES OF THE HUMAN 'SPITTLE.
But it is the fasting spittle of a human being, that is, as
already n stated by us, the sovereign preservative against the
poison of serpents; while, at the same time, our daily experience
may recognize its efficacy and utility,75 in many other respects.
We are in the habit of spitting,76 for instance, as a preservative
from epilepsy, or in other words, we repel contagion thereby :
71 "Hasta velitaris." 72 In B. vii. c. 2.
73 It is the shoulder-blade of Pelops that is generally mentioned in the
ancient Mythology. Pliny omits to say of what medicinal virtues it was
possessed. 74 In B. vii. c. 2.
75 It certainly does seem to be possessed of some efficacy for the removal
of spots and stains, but for no other purpose probably.
76 In some parts of France, the peasants spit in the hand when in terror
of spectjres at night. In our country, prize-fighters spit in the hand before
beginning the combat, and costermongers spit on their morning's handsel,
or first earned money, for good luck.
Chap. 7.] PROPERTIES OF TliE HUMAN SPITTLE. 289
in a similar manner, too, we repel fascinations, and the evil
presages attendant upon meeting a person who is lame in the
right leg. We ask pardon of the gods, by spitting in 77 the
lap, for entertaining some too presumptuous hope or expecta-
tion.78 On the same principle, it is the practice in all cases
where medicine is employed, to spit three times on the ground,
and to conjure the malady as often ; the object being to aid the
operation of the remedy employed. It is usual, too, to mark
a boil, when it first makes its appearance, three times with
fasting79 spittle. What we are going to say is marvellous,
but it may easily be tested M by experiment : if a person re-
pents of a blow given to another, either by hand or with a
missile, he has nothing to do but to spit at once into the palm
of the hand which has inflicted the blow, and all feelings 8l of
resentment will be instantly alleviated in the person struck.
This, too, is often verified in the case of a beast of burden,
when brought on its haunches with blows; for upon this remedy
being adopted, the animal will immediately step out and mend
its pace. Some persons, however, before making an effort, spit
into the hand in manner above stated, in order to make the
blow more heavy.82
We may well believe, then, that lichens and leprous spots
may be removed by a constant application of fasting spittle ;
that ophthalmia may be cured by anointing, as it were, the
eyes every morning with fasting spittle ; that carcinomata
may be effectually treated, by kneading the root of the plant
known as "apple of the earth,"83 with human spittle; that
crick in the neck may be got rid of by carrying fasting spittle
to the right knee with the right hand, and to the left knee
with the left ; and that when an insect has got into the ear, it
77 "In sinum." 78 See Juvenal, Sat. v. 1. 112.
79 Ajasson remarks that the human spittle contains hydrochlorate of
soda and potash ; the remedial virtues of which, however, would be in-
finitely small.
80 A quibble, Ajasson remarks. Did Pliny ever test it himself? He
would seem to imply it.
81 " Levatur illico in percusso culpa."
82 This is still the case with pugilists, and persons requiring to use strong
exertion. It is based, however, on a mere superstition, as Ajasson remarks.
83 " Malum terrae." See B. xxv. c. 54, and B. xxvi. c. 56. Littre
translates *' malum," " apple," in the former passage ; but here he calls it
44 curse of the earth."
VOL. V. U
290 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
is quite sufficient to spit into that organ, to make it come out.
Among the counter-charms too, are reckoned, the practice of
spitting into the urine the moment it is voided, of spitting into
the shoe of the right foot hefore putting it on, and of spitting
while a person is passing a place in which he has incurred any
kind of peril.
Marcion of Smyrna, who has written a work on the virtues
of simples, informs us that the sea scolopendra will burst
asunder if spit upon ; and that the same is the case with bram-
ble-frogs,84 arid other kinds of frogs. Opilius says that serpents
will do the same, if a person spits into their open mouth ; and
Salpe tells us, that when any part of the body is asleep, the
numbness may be got rid of by the person spitting into his
lap, or touching the upper eyelid with his spittle. If we are
ready to give faith to such statements as these, we must be-
lieve also in the efficacy of the following practices : upon the
entrance of a stranger, or when a person looks at an infant
while asleep, it is usual for the nurse to spit three times upon
the ground ; and this, although infants are under the especial
guardianship of the god Fascinus,85 the protector, not of infants
only, but of generals as well, and a divinity whose worship is
entrusted to the Yestal virgins, and forms part of the Roman
rites. It is the image of this divinity that is attached beneath
the triumphant car of the victorious general, protecting him,
like some attendant physician, against the effects of envy ;86
while, at the same time, equally salutary is the advice of the
tongue, which warns him to be wise in time,87 that so Fortune
84 "Rubetas." See B. viii. c. 48, B. xi. cc. 19, 76, and 116, and B.
xxv. c. 76.
85 This divinity was identical with Mutinus or Tutinrs, and was
worshipped under the form of a phallus, the male generative organ. As
the guardian of infants, his peculiar form is still unconsciously represented
in the shape of the coral bauble with which infants are aided in cutting
their teeth.
b6 Hence the expression " prsefiscini," " Be it said without envy," sup-
posed to avert the effects of the envious eye, fascination, or enchantment.
7 " Resipiscere " seems to be a preferable reading to "respicere," adopted
by Sillig. This passage is evidently in a very corrupt state ; but it is most
probable that reference is made to the attendant who stood behind the
general in his triumph, and reminded him that he was a man — or, according
to Tzetzes, bade him look behind him. Pliny speaks of a servant attending
the triumphant general, with a golden crown, in B. xxxiii. c. 4. liardouiii
attempts another explanation, but a very confused and improbable one.
Chap. 9.] REMEDIES DEBITED FROM THE HUMAN HAIR. 2^1
may be prevailed upon by his prayers, not to follow, as the
destroyer of his glory, close upon his back.
CHAP. 8. REMEDIES DEEIVED FROM THE WAX OF THE HUMAN
EAR.
The human bite is also looked upon as one of the most dan-
gerous of all. The proper remedy for it is human ear-wax :
a thing that \ve must not be surprised at, seeing that, if ap-
plied immediately, it is a cure for the stings of scorpions even,
and serpents. The best, however, for this purpose, is thai
taken from the ears of the wounded person. Agnails, too,
it is said, may be cured in a similar manner. A human tooth,
reduced to powder, is a cure, they say, for the sting of a ser-
pent.
CHAP. 9. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HUMAN HAIR,
TEETH, ETC.
The first hair, it is said, that is cut from an infant's head,
and, in fact, the hair of all persons that have not reached the
age of puberty, attached to the limbs, will modify the attacks
of gout. A man's hair, applied with vinegar, is a cure for the
bite of a dog, and, used with oil or wine, for wounds on the
head. It is said, too, if we choose to believe it, that the hair
of a man torn down from the cross, is good for quartan fevers.
Ashes, too, of burnt human hair are curative of carcinomata.
If a woman takes the first tooth that a child has shed, provided
it has not touched the ground, and has it set in a bracelet, and
wears it constantly upon her arm, it will preserve her from
all pains in the uterus and adjacent parts. If the great toe
is tied fast to the one next to it, it will reduce tumours in the
groin ; and if the two middle fingers of the right hand are
slightly bound together with a linen thread, it will act as a
preservative against catarrhs and ophthalmia. A stone, it is
said, that has been voided by a patient suffering from calculi,
if attached to the body above the pubes, will alleviate the
pains of others similarly afflicted, as well as pains in the liver ;
it will have the effect, also, of facilitating delivery. Granius8*5
adds, however, that for this last purpose, the stone will be more
efficacious if it has been extracted with the knife. Delivery,
when near at hand, will be accelerated, if the man by whom
88 See end of the present Book.
U 2
292 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKY. [Book XXVIII.
the woman has conceived, unties his girdle, and, after tying it
round her, unties it, adding at the same time this formula, " I
have tied it, and I will untie it," and then taking his de-
parture,
CHAr. 10. REMEDIES DERIVED FEOM THE HUMAN BLOOD, THE
SEXUAL CONGRESS, ETC.
The hlood of the human body, come from what part it may,
is most efficacious, according to Orpheus and Archelaiis, as an
application for quinzy : they say, too, that if it is applied to
the mouth of a person who has fallen down in a fit of epilepsy,
he will come to himself immediately. Some say that, for
epilepsy, the great toes should be pricked, and the drops of
blood that exude therefrom applied to the face ; or else, that a
virgin should touch the patient with her right thumb — a cir-
cumstance that has led to the belief that persons suffering from
epilepsy should eat the flesh of animals in a virgin state.
^Eschines of Athens used to cure quinzy, carcinoma, and affec-
tions of the tonsillary glands and uvula, with the ashes of
burnt excrements, a medicament to which he gave the name
of " botryon."89
There are many kinds of diseases which disappear entirely
after the first sexual congress,90 or, in the case of females, at the
first appearance of menstruation; indeed, if such is not the
case, they are apt to become chronic, epilepsy in particular.
Even more than this — a man, it is said, who has been stung
by a serpent or scorpion, experiences relief from the sexual
congress ; but the woman, on the other hand, is sensible of
detriment. We are assured, too, that if persons, when washing
their feet, touch the eyes three times with the water, they will
never be subject to ophthalmia or other diseases of the eyes.
CHAP. 11. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE DEAD.
Scrofula, imposthumes of the parotid glands, and throat
diseases, thejr say, may be cured by the contact of the hand of
a person who has been carried off by an early death : indeed
there are some who assert that any deac^body will produce the
same effect, provided it is of the same sex as the patient, and
89 Properly meaning "a cluster of grapes."
90 Ajasson remarks that there is a considerable degree of truth in this
assertion. He gives a long list of French works on the subject.
Chap. 12.] EEVEBIES AND DEVICES OF THE MAGICIANS. 293
that the part affected is touched with the back of the left
hand.91 To bite off a piece from wood that has been struck
by lightning, the hands being held behind the back, and then
to apply it to the tooth, is a sure remedy, they say, for tooth-
ache. Some persons recommend the tooth to be fumigated
with the smoke of a burnt tooth, which has belonged to another
person of the same sex ; or else to attach to the person a dog-
tooth, as it is called, which has been extracted from a body
before burial. Earth, they say, taken from out of a human
skull, acts as a depilatory to the eyelashes ; it is asserted, also,
that any plant which may happen to have grown there, it'
chewed, will cause the teeth to come out ; and that if a circle-
is traced round an ulcer with a human bone, it will be effec-
tually prevented from spreading.
Some persons, again, mix water in equal proportions from
three different wells, and, after making a libation with part of
it in a new earthen vessel, administer the rest to patients suf-
fering from tertian fever, when the paroxysms come on. So,
too, in- cases of quartan fever, they take a fragment of a nail
from a cross, or else a piece of a halter 92 that has been used
for crucifixion, and, after wrapping it in wool, attach it to the
patient's neck; taking care, the moment he has recovered, to
conceal it in some hole to which the light of the sun cannot
penetrate.
CHAP. 12. VARIOUS REVERIES AND DEVICES OF THE MAGICIANS.
The following are some of the reveries of magic.93 A whet-
stone upon which iron tools have been frequently sharpened,
if put, without his being aware of it, beneath the pillow of a
person sinking under the effects of poison, will make him give
evidence and declare what poison has been administered, and
at what time and place, though at the same time he will not
disclose the author of the crime. When a person has been
struck by lightning, if the body is turned upon the side which
has sustained the injury, he will instantly recover the power
91 This superstition still exists among the lower classes of this country,
with reference to the beneficial effects of stroking neck diseases with tie
hand of a man who has been hanged.
93 Made of " spartum." See B. xix. cc. 6, 7.
s3 Of which the Persian Magi were the most noted professors.
294 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
of speech — that is quite certain.94 For the cure of inguinal
tumours, some persons take the thrum of an old web, and after
tying seven or nine knots in it, mentioning at each knot the
name of some widow woman or other, attach it to the part
affected. To assuage the pain of a wound, they recommend
the party to take a nail or any other substance that has been
trodden under foot, and to wear it, attached to the body with
the thrum of a web. ; To get rid of warts, some lie in a
footpath with the face upwards, when the moon is twenty days
old at least, and after fixing their gaze upon it, extend their
arms above the head, and rub themselves with anything
within their reach. If a person is extracting a corn at the
moment that a star shoots, he will experience an immediate
cure,95 they say. By pouring vinegar upon the hinges of a
' door, a thick liniment is formed, which, applied to the fore-
head, will alleviate headache : an effect equally produced, we
are told, by binding the temples with a halter with which a.
man has been hanged. When a fish-bone happens to stick in
the throat, it will go down immediately, if the person plunges
his feet into cold water ; but where the accident has happened
with any other kind of bone, the proper remedy is to apply
to the head some fragments of bones taken from the same dish.
In cases where bread has stuck in the throat, the best plan is
to take some of the same bread, and insert it in both ears.
CHAP. 13. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HUMAN EXCRETIONS.
In Greece, where everything is turned to account, the
owners of the gymnasia have introduced the very excretions96
even of the human body among the most efficient remedies ;
so much so, indeed, that the scrapings from the bodies of the
athletes are looked upon as possessed of certain properties of
an emollient, calorific, resolvent, and expletive nature, re-
sulting from the compound of human sweat and oil. These
scrapings are used, in the form of a pessary, for inflammations
and contractions of the uterus : similarly employed, they act
as an emmenagogue, and are useful for reducing condylomata
and inflammations of the rectum, as also for assuaging pains
94 The " constat " here, whether it belongs to the magicians, or to Pliny
himself, is highly amusing, as Ajasson remarks.
95 Sillig appears to be right in his conjecture that the "vel" here
should be omitted. 96 See B. xv. c. 5.
Chap. 14.] BEMEDIES DEPENDING- UPON THE WILL. 29.")
in the sinews, sprains, and nodosities of the joints. The
scrapings obtained from the baths are still more efficacious for
these purposes, and hence it is that they form an ingredient in
maturative preparations. Such scrapings as are impregnated
with wrestlers' oil,97 used in combination with mud, have a
mollifying effect upon the joints, and are more particularly
efficacious as a calorific and resolvent ; but in other respects
their properties are not so strongly developed.
The shameless and disgusting researches that have been
made will quite transcend all belief, when we find authors of
the very highest repute proclaiming aloud that the male
seminal fluid is a sovereign remedy for the sting of the scor-
pion ! In the case too, of women afflicted with sterility, they
recommend the application of a pessary, made of the first
excrement that is voided by an infant at the moment of its
birth; the name they give it is " meconium."98 They have
even gone so far, too, as to scrape the very filth from off the
walls of the gymnasia, and to assert that this is also possessed
of certain calorific properties. These scrapings are used as a
resolvent for inflamed tumours, and are applied topically to
ulcers upon aged people and children, and to excoriations and
burns.
CHAP. 14. KKMKDIES DEPENDING UPON THE HUMAN WILL.
It would be the less becoming then for me to omit all
mention of the remedies which depend upon the human will.
Total abstinence from food or drink, or from wine only, from
flesh, or from the use of the bath, in cases where the health
requires any of these expedients, is looked upon as one of the
most effectual modes of treating diseases. To this class of
remedies must be added bodily exercise, exertion of the voice,99
anointings, and frictions according to a prescribed method :
for powerful friction, it should be remembered, has a binding
effect upon the body, while gentle friction, on the other hand,
acts as a laxative ; so too, repeated friction reduces the
body, while used in moderation it has a tendency to make
flesh. But the most beneficial practice of all is to take walking
97 " Ceroma." A mixture of oil and wax.
98 Properly, " poppy juice."
99 Or " clara lectio," "reading aloud," as Celsus calls it, recommending
it for persons of slow digestion.
296 PLIGHT'S NATURAL HISTOBY. [Book XXVIII.
or carriage1 exercise; this last being performed in various ways.
Exercise on horseback is extremely good for affections of the
stomach and hips, a voyage for phthisis,2 and a change of
locality3 for diseases of long standing. So, too, a cure may
sometimes be effected by sleep, by a recumbent position in bed,
or by the use of emetics in moderation. To lie upon the back
is beneficial to the sight, to lie with the face downwards is
good for a cough, and to lie on the side is recommended for
patients suffering from catarrh.
According to Aristotle and Fabianus, it is towards spring and
autumn that we are most apt to dream ; and they tell us that
persons are most liable to do so when lying on the back, but
never when lying with the face downwards. Theophrastus
assures us that the digestion is accelerated by lying on the
right side ; while, on the other hand, it is retarded by lying
with the face upwards. The most powerful, however, of all
remedies, and one which is always at a person's own command,
is the sun : violent friction, too, is useful by the agency of
linen towels and body-scrapers.4 To pour warm water on the
head before taking the vapour-bath, and cold water after it, is
looked upon as a most beneficial practice ; so, too, is the habit
of taking cold water before food, of drinking it every now and
then while eating, of taking it just before going to sleep, and,
if practicable, of waking every now and then, and taking a
draught. It is worthy also of remark, that there is no living
creature but man5 that is fond of hot drinks, a proof thjat they
are contrary to nature. It has been ascertained by experiment,
that it is a good plan to rinse the mouth with undiluted wine,
before going to sleep, for the purpose of sweetening the breath ;
to rinse the mouth with cold water an odd number of times
every morning, as a preservative against tooth-ache ; and to
wash the eyes with oxycrate, as a preventive of ophthalmia.
It has been remarked also, that the general health is improved
by a varying regimen, subject to no fixed rules.
1 "Gestatio." Exercise on horseback, in a carriage drawn by horses,
or in a litter. See B. xxvi. c. 7.
2 See B. xxxi. c. 33. A sea voyage, to Madeira, for instance, is still re-
commended for consumptive patients.
3 Change of locality is still recommended for diseases of the spleen, as
they are called. 4 " Strigilium."
* Except monkeys and some domesticated animals, Ajasson remarks.
Chap. 16.] KEMEDIES FROM THE SEXUAL CONGRESS. 297
(5.) Hippocrates informs us that the viscera of persons who
do not take the morning meal6 become prematurely aged and
feeble ; but then he has pronounced this aphorism, it must be
remembered, by way of suggesting a healthful regimen, and not
to promote gluttony ; for moderation in diet is, after all, the
thing most conducive to health. L. Lucullus gave charge to
one of his slaves to overlook him in this respect ; and, a thing
that reflected the highest discredit on him, when, now an aged
man and laden with triumphs, he was feasting in the Capitol
even, his hand had to be removed from the dish to which he
was about to help himself. Surely it was a disgrace for a man
to be governed by his own slave7 more easily than by himself!
CHAP. 15. (6.) REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SNEEZING.
Sneezing, provoked by a feather, relieves heaviness in the
head ; it is said too, that to touch the nostrils of a mule with
the lips, will arrest sneezing and hiccup. For this last pur-
pose, Yarro recommends us to scratch the palm, first of one
hand and then of the other ; while many say that it is a good
plan to shift the ring from off the left hand to the longest finger
of the right, and then to plunge the hands into hot water.
Theophrastus says, that aged persons sneeze with greater diffi-
culty than others.
CHAP. 16. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SEXUAL CONGRESS.
Democritus spoke in condemnation of the sexual congress, as8
being merely an act through which one human being springs from
another ; and really, by Hercules ! the more rarely it is used
the better. Still however, athletes, we find, when they become
dull and heavy, are re-established by it : the voice, too, is re-
stored by it, when from being perfectly clear, it has degenerated
into hoarseness. The congress of the sexes is a cure also for
pains in the loins, dimness of the eyesight,9 alienation of the
mental difficulties, and melancholy.
6 " Non prandentium."
7 Callisthenes the physician is the person supposed to be alluded to.
Lucullus did not seem to be of opinion that a man " must be a fool or a
physician at forty."
8 "Ut in qua homo alius exsiliret ex homine." The true meaning of
this it seems impossible, with certainty, to ascertain : though a more in-
delicate one than that given might be easily suggested.
9 On the contrary, some authorities say that it is apt to cause dimness of
298 PLINY'S KATUBAL HISTOEY. [Book XXVIII.
CHAP. 17- VARIOUS OTHER REMEDIES.
To sit by a pregnant woman, or by a person to whom any
remedy is being administered, with the fingers of one hand
inserted between those of the other, acts as a magic spell; a
discovery that was made, it is said, when Alcmena10 was
delivered of Hercules. If the fingers are thus joined, clasping
one or both knees, or if the ham of one leg is first put upon
the knee of the other, and then changed about, the omen is of
still worse signification. Hence it is, that in councils held by
generals and persons in authority, our ancestors forbade these
postures, as being an impediment to all business.11 They have
given a similar prohibition also with reference to sacrifices and
the offering of public vows ; but as to the usage of uncovering
the head in presence of the magistrates, that has been enjoined,
Varro says, not as a mark of respect, but with a view to
health, the head being strengthened12 by the practice of keeping-
it uncovered.
When anything has got into the eye, it is a good plan to
close the otber ; and when water has got into the right ear,
the person should hop about on the left foot, with the head
reclining upon the right shoulder, the reverse being done
when the same has happened to the left ear. If the secretion
of the phlegm produces coughing, the best way of stopping it
is for another person to blow in the party's face. When the
uvula is relaxed, another person should take the patient with
his teeth by the crown,13 and lift him from the ground ; while
for pains in the neck, the hams should be rubbed, and for
pains in the hams the neck. If a person is seized in bed with
cramp in the sinews of the legs or thighs, he should set his
feet upon the ground : so, too, if he has cramp on the left
side, he should take hold of the great toe of the left foot with
the right hand, and if on the right side, the great toe of the
right foot with the left hand. For cold shiverings or for
excessive bleeding at the nostrils, the extremities of the body
should be well rubbed with sheep's wool. To arrest inconti-
nence of urine, the extremities of the generative organs should
10 See Ovid, Met. ix. 273, et seq.
11 Much more probably, because they were considered to be significant
of anything but seriousness and attention,
12 Exemplified in the case of the Egyptians, Herodotus says.
13 The remedy would seem to be worse than the evil.
Chap. 18.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE URINE. 299
be tied with a thread of linen or papyrus, and a binding passed
round the middle of the thigh. For derangement of the
stomach, it is a good plan to press the feet together, or to
plunge the hands into hot water.
In addition to all this, in many cases it is found highly be-
neficial to speak but little ; thus, for instance, Maacenas Me-
lissus,14 we are told, enjoined silence on himself for three
years, in consequence of spitting blood after a convulsive fit.
When a person is thrown from a carriage, or when, while
mounting an elevation or lying extended at full length, he
is menaced with any accident, or if he receives a blow, it is
singularly beneficial to hold the breath ; a discovery for which
we are indebted to an animal, as already15 stated.
To thrust an iron nail into the spot where a person's head
lay at the moment he was seized with a fit of epilepsy, is said
to have the effect of curing him of that disease. For pains in
the kidneys, loins, or bladder, it is considered highly soothing
to void the urine lying on the face at full length in a reclining
bath. It is quite surprising how much more speedily wounds
will heal if they are bound up and tied with a Hercules' knot :16
indeed, it is said, that if the girdle which we wear every day
is tied with a knot of this description, it will be productive of
certain beneficial effects, Hercules having been the first to
discover the fact.
Demetrius, in the treatise which he has compiled upon the
number Four, alleges certain reasons why drink should never
be taken in proportions of four cyathi or sextarii. As a pre-
ventive of ophthalmia, it is a good plan to rub the parts be-
hind the ears, and, as a cure for watery eyes, to rub the fore-
head. As to the presages which are derived from man him-
self, there is one to the effect that so long as a person is able
to see himself reflected in the pupil of the patient's eye,
there need be no apprehension of a fatal termination to the
malady.
CHAP. 18. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE URINE.
The urine,17 too, has been the subject not only of numerous
14 See end of B. vii. 15 In B. viii. c. 58.
16 A knot tied very hard, and in which no ends were to be seen.
17 This excretion was, till lately, thought of great importance, as in-
dicative of the health of the patient.
300 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII,
theories with authors, but of various religious observances as
well, its properties being classified under several distinctive
heads : thus, for instance, the urine of eunuchs, they say, is
highly beneficial as a promoter of fruitfulness in females. But
to turn to those remedies which we may be allowed to name
without impropriety — the urine of children who have not
arrived at puberty is a sovereign remedy for the poisonous
secretions of the asp known as the " ptyas,"18 from the fact
that it spits its venom into the eyes of human beings. It is
good, too, for the cure of albugo, films and marks upon the
eyes, white specks19 upon the pupils, and maladies of the eye-
lids. In combination with meal of fitches, it is used for the
cure of burns, and, with a head of bulbed leek, it is boiled
down to one half, in a new earthen vessel, for the treatment of
suppurations of the ears, or the extermination of worms breed-
ing in those organs : the vapour, too, of this decoction acts as
an emmenagogue. Salpe recommends that the eyes should
be fomented with it, as a means of strengthening the sight ;
and that it should be used as a liniment for sun scorches,
in combination with white of egg, that of the ostrich being
the most effectual, the application being kept on for a couple
of hours.
Urine is also used for taking oat ink spots. Male urine
cures gout, witness the fullers for instance,20 who, for this
reason, it is said, are never troubled with that disease. With
stale urine some mix ashes of calcined oyster- shells, for the
cure of eruptions on the bodies of infants, and all kinds of
running ulcers: it is used, too, as a liniment for corrosive sores,
burns, diseases of the rectum, chaps upon the body, and stings
inflicted by scorpions. The most celebrated inidwives have
pronounced that there is no lotion which removes itching sen-
sations more effectually ; and, with the addition of nitre,21 they
prescribe it for the cure of ulcers of the head, porrigo, and
cancerous sores, those of the generative organs in particular.
But the fact is, and there is no impropriety in saying so, that
every person's own urine is the best for his own case, due
18 From the Greek Trruw, " to spit."
19 « Argema."
30 Who had to use lant, or stale urine, in their business.
21 At a future period we shall have to discuss the identity of the
"nitrum " of Pliny. See B. xxxi. c. 46.
Chap. 20.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM FEMALES. 301
care being taken to apply it immediately, and unmixed with
anything else ; in such cases as the bite of a dog, for instance,
or the quill of a hedge-hog entering the flesh, a sponge or
some wool being the vehicle in which it is applied. Kneaded
up with ashes, it is good for the bite of a mad dog, and for the
cure of stings inflicted by serpents. As to the bite of the
scolopendra, the effects of urine are said to be quite mar-
vellous— the person who has been injured has only to touch
the crown of his head with a drop of his own urine, and he
will experience an instantaneous cure.
CHAP. 19. INDICATIONS OF HEALTH DERIVED FROM THE TJRINS.
Certain indications of the health are furnished by the urine.
Thus, for example, if it is white at first in the morning and
afterwards high-coloured, the first signifies that the digestion is
going on, the last that it is completed. When the urine is red,
it is a bad sign ; but when it is swarthy, it is the worst sign
of all. So, too, when it is thick or full of bubbles, it is a bad
sign ; and when a white sediment forms, it is a symptom of
pains in the region of the viscera or in the joints. A green-
coloured urine is indicative of disease of the viscera, a pale urine
of biliousness, and a red urine of some distemper in the blood.
The urine is in a bad state, too, when certain objects form in
it, like bran or fine clouds in appearance. A thin, white, urine
also is in a diseased state ; but when it is thick and possessed
of an offensive smell, it is significant of approaching death : so,
too, when with children it is thin and watery.
The adepts in magic expressly forbid a person, when about
to make water, to uncover the body in the face of the sun22 or
moon, or to sprinkle with his urine the shadow of any object-
whatsoever. Hesiod23 gives a precept, recommending persons to
make water against an object standing full before them, that no
divinity may be offended by their nakedness being uncovered.
Osthanes maintains that every one who drops some urine
upon his foot in the morning will be proof against all noxious
medicaments.
CHAP. 20. (7.) — FORTY-ONE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE
FEMALE SEX.
The remedies said to be derived from the bodies of females
22 This was also one of the Pythagorean precepts.
23 Works and Days, 1. 727, et seq.
302 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
closely approach the marvellous nature of prodigies ; to say
nothing of still-born infants cut up limb by liinb for the most
abominable practices, expiations made with the menstrual dis-
charge, and other devices which have been mentioned, not
only by midwives but by harlots24 even as well ! The smell of a
woman's hair, burnt, will drive away serpents, and hysterical
suffocations, it is said, may be dispelled thereby. The ashes
of a woman's hair, burnt in an earthen vessel, or used in
combination with litharge, will cure eruptions and prurigo of
the eyes : used in combination with honey they will remove
warts and ulcers upon infants ; with the addition of honey and
frankincense, they will heal wounds upon the head, and fill up
all concavities left by corrosive ulcers ; used with hogs' lard,
they will cure inflammatory tumours and gout; and applied topi-
cally to the part affected, they will arrest erysipelas and hse-
morrhage, and remove itching pimples on the body which
resemble the stings of ants.
CHAP. 21. KEMEDIES DERIVED FKOM WOMAN* S MILK.
As to the uses to which woman's milk has been applied, it
is generally agreed that it is the sweetest and the most deli-
cate of all, and that it is the best25 of remedies for chronic
fevers and cceliac affections, when the woman has just weaned
her infant more particularly. In cases, too, of sickness at
stomach, fevers, and gnawing sensations, it has been found by
experience to be highly beneficial ; as also, in combination
with frankincense, for abscesses of the mamillse. When the
eyes are bloodshot from the effects of a blow, or affected with
pain or defiuxion, it is a very good plan to inject woman's milk
into them, more particularly in combination with honey and
juice of daffodil, or else powdered frankincense. In all cases,
however, the milk of a woman who has been delivered of a
male child is the most efficacious, and still more so if she has
had male twins ; provided always she abstains from wine and
food of an acrid nature. Mixed with the white of an egg in
a liquid state, and applied to the forehead in wool, it arrests
24 The use of the word "prodidere" shows that treatises had been
written on these abominable subjects. Lais, Elephantis, and Salpe were
probably the " meretrices" to whom he here alludes. See c. 23, and the
end of this Book.
25 There is probably no foundation for this assertion.
Chap. 21.] BEMEDIKS DEK1VKD FROM WOMAN'S MILK. 303
defluxions of the eyes. If a frog26 has spirted its secretions27
into the eye, woman's milk is a most excellent remedy ; and
for the bite of that reptile it is used hoth internally and ex-
ternally.
It is asserted that if a person is rubbed at the same moment
with the milk of both mother and daughter, he will be proof
for the rest of his life against all affections of the eyes.
Mixed with a small quantity of oil, woman's milk is a cure for
diseases of the ears ; and if they are in pain from the effects
of a blow, it is applied warm with goose-grease. If the ears
emit an offensive smell, a thing that is mostly the case in
diseases of long standing, wool is introduced into those organs,
steeped in woman's milk and honey. While symptoms of
jaundice are still visible in the eyes, woman's milk is injected,
in combination with elaterium.28 Taken as a drink, it is pro-
ductive of singularly good effects, where the poison of the
sea-hare, the buprestis,29 or, as Aristotle tells us, the plant
dorycnium30 has been administered ; as a preventive also of the
madness produced by taking henbane. Woman's milk also,
mixed with hemlock, is recommended as a liniment for gout ;
while some there are who employ it for that purpose in com-
bination with wool-grease31 or goose-grease ; a form in which
it is used as an application for pains in the uterus. Taken as
a drink, it arrests diarrhoea, Eabirius32 says, and acts as an
emmenagogue ; but where the woman has been delivered of a
female child, her milk is of use only for the cure of face
diseases.
Woman's milk is also a cure for affections of the lungs ; and,
mixed with the urine of a youth who has not arrived at pu-
berty, and Attic honey, in the proportion of one spoonful
of each, it removes singing in the ears, I find. Dogs which
have once tasted the milk of a woman who has been delivered
of a male child, will never become mad, they say.
26 "Rana." He means the "rubeta" probably, or " bramble- frog/'
so often mentioned by him. See Note 84, p. 290.
27 " Salivam." 2* See B. xx. c. 2.
29 See B. xxx. c. 10. Latreille has written a very able treatise on the
Buprestis of the ancients, and considers it to belong to the family of Can-
tharides. AnnaUs du Museum d'histoire Naturelle, Vol. xix. p. 129, et seq.
30 Convolvulus dorycnium ; see B. xx^. c. 105, and B. xxiii. c. 18.
31 " CEsypurn." See B- xxx c. 23.
33 Possibly the Epic writer of that name, mentioned by Ovid. Seneca,
Quintilian, and Velleius Paterculus.
304 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
CHAP. 22. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SPITTLE OF FEMALES.
A woman's fasting spittle is generally considered highly
efficacious for "bloodshot eyes : it is good also for defluxions of
those organs, the inflamed corners of the eyes being moistened
with it every now and then ; the result, too, is still more suc-
cessful, if the woman has abstained from food and wine the
day before.
I find it stated that head-ache may be alleviated by tying a
woman's fillet33 round the head.
CHAP. 23.— FACTS CONNECTED WITH THE MENSTRUAL DISCHARGE.
Over and above these particulars, there is no limit to the
marvellous powers attributed to females. For, in the first
place, hailstorms, they say, whirlwinds, and lightning84 even,
will be scared away by a woman uncovering her body while
her monthly courses are upon her. The same, too, with all
other kinds of tempestuous weather ; and out at sea, a storm
may be lulled by a woman uncovering her body merely, even
though not menstruating at the time. As to the menstrual
discharge itself, a thing that in other respects, as35 already
stated on a more appropriate occasion, is productive of the most
monstrous effects, there are some ravings about it of a most
dreadful and unutterable nature. Of these particulars, how-
ever, I do not feel so much shocked at mentioning the follow-
ing. If the menstrual discharge coincides with an eclipse of
the moon or sun, the evils resulting from it are irremediable ;
and no less so, when it happens while the moon is in conjunc-
tion with the sun; the congress with a, woman at such a period
being noxious, and attended with fatal effects to the man. At
this period also, the lustre of purple is tarnished by the touch
of a woman : so much more baneful is her influence at this
time than at any other. At any other time, also, if a woman
strips herself naked while she is menstruating, and walks
round a field of wheat, the caterpillars, worms, beetles, and
other vermin, will fall from off the ears of corn. Metrodorus
of Scepsos tells us that this discovery was first made in Cappa-
docia ; and that, in consequence of such multitudes of can-
353 " Fascia." Either a stomacher, or a fillet for the head.
34 The mention of lightning here, Hardouin seems to look upon as an
interpolation. 35 jn g yfj c 13
Chap. 23.] THE MENSTRUAL DISCHARGE. 305
tharides being found to breed there, it is the practice for
women to walk through the middle of the fields with their
garments tucked up above the thighs.36 In other places, again,
it is the usage for women to go barefoot, with the hair
dishevelled and the girdle loose : due precaution must be taken,
however, that this is not done at sun-rise, for if so, the crop
will wither and dry up. Young vines, too, it is said, are in-
jured irremediably by the touch of a woman in this state ; and
both rue and ivy, plants possessed of highly medicinal virtues,
will die instantly upon being touched by her.
Much as I have already stated on the virulent effects of this
discharge, I have to state, in addition, that bees, it is a well-
known fact, will forsake their hives if touched by a menstruous
woman; that linen boiling in the cauldron will turn black, -that
the edge of a razor will become blunted, and that copper ves-
sels will contract a fetid smell and become covered with verdi-
grease, on coming in contact with her. A mare big with foal,
if touched by a woman in this state, will be sure to miscarry ;
nay, even more than this, at the very sight of a woman,
though seen at a distance even, should she happen to be
menstruating for the first time after the loss of her virginity,
or for the first time, while in a state of virginity. The bitu-
men37 that is found in Judaea, will yield to nothing but the
menstrual discharge ; its tenacity being overcome, as already
stated, by the agency of a thread from a garment which has
been brought in contact with this fluid. Fire itself even, an
element which triumphs over every other substance, is unable
to conquer this ; for if reduced to ashes and then sprinkled
upon garments when about to be scoured, it will change their
purple tint, and tarnish the brightness of the colours. Indeed
so pernicious are its properties, that women themselves, the
source from which it is derived, are far from being proof against
its effects ; a pregnant woman, for instance, if touched with
it, or indeed if she so much as steps over it, will be liable to
miscarry.
Lais and Elephantis38 have given statements quite at va-
riance, on the subject of abortives ; they mention the efficacy
36 Columella describes this practice in verse, in B. x., and in B. xi. c. 3»
JElian also mentions it. ^
37 See B. vii. c. 13. Tacitus tells the same wonderful story.
38 See the end of this Book.
VOL. V. X
306 PLISTY'S KATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
for that purpose of charcoal of cabbage root, myrtle root, or
tamarisk root, quenched in the menstrual discharge ; they say
that she-asses will be barren for as many years as they have
eaten barley-corns steeped in this fluid ; and they have enu-
merated various other monstrous and irreconcileable properties,
the one telling us, for instance, that fruitfulness may be ensured
by the very same methods, which, according to the statement
of the other, are productive of barrenness; to all which stories it
is the best plan to refuse credit altogether. Bithus of Dyrrha-
chium informs us that a mirror,39 which has been tarnished by
the gaze of a^menstruous female, will recover its brightness if
the same woman looks steadily upon the back of it ; he states,
also, that all evil influences of this nature will be entirely
neutralized, if the woman carries the fish known as the sur
mullet about her person.
On the other hand, again, many writers say that, baneful as
it is, there are certain remedial properties in this fluid ; that it
is a good plan, for instance, to use it as a topical application for
gout, and that women, while menstruating, can give relief by
touching scrofulous sores and imposthumes of the parotid
glands, inflamed tumours, erysipelas, boils, and defluxions of
the eyes. According to Lais and Salpe, the bite of a mad dog,
as well as tertian or quartan fevers, may be cured by putting
some menstruous blood in the wool of a black ram and enclo-
sing it in a silver bracelet ; and we learn from Diotimus of
Thebes that the smallest portion will suffice of any kind of
cloth that has been stained therewith, a thread even, if in-
serted and worn in a bracelet. The midwife Sotira informs
us that the most efficient cure for tertian and quartan fevers is
to rub the soles of the patient's feet therewith, the result. being
still more successful if the operation is performed by the woman
herself, without the patient being aware of it ; she says, too,
that this is an excellent method for reviving persons when
attacked with epilepsy.
Icetidas the physician pledges his word that quartan fever
may be cured by sexual intercourse, provided the woman is
just beginning to menstruate. It is universally agreed, too, that
when a person has been bitten by a dog and manifests a dread
of water and of all kinds of drink, it will be quite sufficient
to put under his cup a strip of cloth that has been dipped in
39 See B. vii. c. 13.
Chap. 24.] KEMED1ES DEBITED FROM THE ELEPHANT. 307
this fluid ; the result being that the hydrophobia will immedi-
ately disappear. This arises, no doubt, from that powerful
sympathy which has been so much spoken of by the Greeks,
and the existence of which is proved by the fact,40 already men-
tioned, that dogs become mad upon tasting this fluid. It is awell-
known fact, too, that the menstruous discharge, reduced to ashes,
and applied with furnace soot and wax, is a cure for ulcers upon
all kinds of beasts of burden; and that stains made upon a gar-
ment with it can only be removed by the agency of the urine
of the same female. Equally certain it is, too, that this fluid, re-
duced to ashes and mixed with oil of roses, is very useful, applied
to the forehead, for allaying head-ache, in women more parti-
cularly ; as also that the nature of the discharge is most viru-
lent in females whose virginity has been destroyed solely by
the lapse of time.
Another thing universally acknowledged and one which I
am ready to believe with the greatest pleasure, is the fact, that
if the door-posts are only touched with the menstruous fluid
all spells of the magicians will be neutralized — a set of men
the most lying in existence, as any one may ascertain. I will
give an example of one of the most reasonable of their pre-
scriptions— Take the parings of the toe-nails and finger-nails
of a sick person, and mix them up with wax, the party saying
that he is seeking a remedy for a tertian, quartan, or quotidian
fever, as the case may be ; then stick this wax, before sunrise,
upon the door of another person — such is the prescription they
give for these diseases ! What deceitful persons they must be
if there is no truth in it ! And how highly criminal, if they
really do thus transfer diseases from one person to another !
Some of them, again, whose practices are of a less guilty
nature, recommend that the parings of all the finger-nails
should be thrown at the entrance of ant-holes, the first ant to be
taken which attempts to draw one into the hole; this, they say,
must be attached to the neck of the patient, and he will ex-
perience a speedy cure.
CHAP. 24. (8.) REMEDIES DEEIVED FROM FOREIGN ANIMALS :
THE ELEPHANT, EIGHT REMEDIES.
Such then are the remedies frt>m human beings which may
with any degree of propriety be described, and many of those
only with the leave and good -will of the reader. The rest are
40 See B. vii. c. 13. x 2
308 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
of a most execrable and infamous nature, such, in fact, as to
make me hasten to close my description, of the remedies de-
rived from man : we will therefore proceed to speak of the more
remarkable animals, and the effects produced by them. The
blood of the elephant, the male in particular, arrests all those
defluxions known by the name of " rheumatismi." Ivory
shavings, it is said, in combination with Attic honey, are good
for the removal of spots upon the face : with the sawdust, too,
of ivory, hangnails are removed. By the touch of an elephant's
trunk head-ache is alleviated, if the animal happens to sneeze
at the time more particularly. The right side of the trunk,
attached to the body with red earth of Lemnos, acts powerfully
as an aphrodisiac. Elephant's blood is good for consumption,
and the liver for epilepsy.
CHAP. 25. TEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE LION.
Lion's fat, mixed with oil of roses, protects the skin of the
face from all kinds of spots, and preserves the whiteness of the
complexion ; it is remedial also for such parts of the body as
have been frozen by snow, and for swellings in the joints. The
frivolous lies of the magicians assert that persons who are
anointed with lion's fat, will more readily win favour with
kings and peoples ; more particularly when the fat has been
used that lies between the eyebrows of the animal — a place, in
fact, where there is no fat to be found ! The like effects they
promise also from, the possession of a lion's tooth, one from the
right side in particular, as also the shaggy hairs that are
found upon the lower jaw. The gall, used as an ointment in
combination with water, improves the eyesight, and, employed
with the fat of the same animal, is a cure for epilepsy ; but
a slight taste only must be taken of it, and the patient must
run immediately after swallowing it, in order to digest it. A
lion's heart, used as food, is curative of quartan fevers, and
the fat, taken with oil of roses, of quotidian fevers. "Wild,
beasts will fly from persons anointed with lion's fat, and it is
thought to be a preservative even against treacherous practices.
CHAP. 26. TEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CAMEL.
A camel's41 brains, dried and taken in vinegar, are a cure, they
41 Pliny has omitted the milk of the camel, which, according to Taver-
nier, is an excellent cure for dropsy.
Chap. 27.] EEMEDIES DEBITED FROM THE HY^NA. 309
say, for epilepsy : the same, too, -with the gall, taken with
honey ; which is a remedy also for quinzy. A camel's tail
dried, it is said, is productive of diarrhoea, and ashes of burnt
camel's dung, mixed with oil, make the hair curl. These
ashes, applied topically, are very useful for dysentery, as also
taken in drink, the proper dose beiDg a pinch in three fingers
at a time ; they are curative also of epilepsy. Camel's urine
it is said, is very useful to fullers, and is good for the cure of
running sores. Barbarous nations, we are told, are in the habit
of keeping it till it is five years old, and then taking it as a
purgative, in doses of one semisextarius. The hairs of the
tail, it is said, plaited and attached to the left arm, are a cure
for quartan fevers.
CHAP. 27. SEVENTY-NINE EEMEDIES DEETVED FKOM THE HYAENA.
But of all animals, it is the hyaena that has been held in
the highest admiration by the magicians, who have gone so
far as to attribute to it certain magical virtues even, and the
power of alluring42 human beings and depriving them of their
senses. Of its change of sex each year, and other monstrous
peculiarities43 in its nature, we have spoken already;44 we
will now proceed to describe the medicinal virtues that are
ascribed to it.
The hyaena, it is said, is particularly terrible to panthers ; so
much so, indeed, that they will not attempt to make the slight-
est resistance to it, and will never attack a man who has any
portion of a hyaena's skin about him. A thing truly marvel-
lous to tell of, if the hides of these two animals are hung up
facing one another, the hair will fall from off the panther's skin !
When the hyaena flies before the hunter, it turns off on the
right, and letting the man get before it, follows in his track ;
should it succeed in doing which, the man is sure to lose his
senses and fall from his horse even. But if, on the other hand,
it turns off to the left, it is a sign that the animal is losing
strength, and that it will soon be taken. The easiest method,
however, of taking it, they say, is for the hunter to tie his
girdle with seven knots, and to make as many knots in the
42 See B. viii. c. 44.
43 One peculiarity not mentioned bf Pliny, is, that its skin, like that of
the sea-calf, was said to be proof against the effects of lightning.
44 In 1). viii. c. 44.
310 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVI II-
whip with which he guides his horse. In addition to all this,
so full of quirks and subtleties are the vain conceits of the
magicians, they recommend the hyaena to be captured while
the moon is passing through the sign of Gemini, and every
hair of it to be preserved, if possible. They say, too, that the
skin of the head is highly efficacious, if attached to a person
suffering from head- ache ; that the gall, applied to the fore-
head, is curative of ophthalmia ; and that if the gall is boiled
down with three cyathi of Attic honey and one ounce of saffron,
it will be a most effectual preservative against that disease,
the same preparation being equally good for the dispersion of
films on the eyes and cataract. If, again, this preparation is
kept till it is old, it will be all the better for improving the
sight, due care being taken to preserve it in a box of Cyprian
copper : they assert also, that it is good for the cure of argema,
eruptions and excrescences of the eyes, and marks upon those
organs. For diseases45 of the crystalline humours of the eyes,
it is recommended to anoint them with the gravy of hyaena's
liver roasted fresh, incorporated with clarified honey.
We learn also, from the same sources, that the teeth of the
hysena are useful for the cure of tooth-ache, the diseased tooth
being either touched with them, or the animal's teeth being
arranged in their regular order, and attached to the patient ;
that the shoulders of this animal are good for the cure of pains
in the arms and shoulders ; that the teeth, extracted from the
left side of the jaw, and wrapped in the skin of a sheep or he-
goat, are an effectual cure for pains in the stomach ; that the
lights of the animal, taken with the food, are good for cceliac
affections ; that the lights, reduced to ashes and applied with oil,
are also soothing to the stomach ; that the marrow of the back-
bone, used with old oil and gall, is strengthening to the sinews ;
that the liver, tasted thrice just before the paroxysms, is good
for quartan fevers ; that the ashes of the vertebrae, applied in
hyaena's skin with the tongue and right foot of a sea-calf and a
bull's gall, the whole boiled up together, are soothing for gout;
that for the same disease hyaena's gall is advantageously em-
ployed in combination with stone of Assos;46 that for cold shiver-
ings, spasms, sudden fits of starting, and palpitations of the
45 " Glaucomata." Littre considers, on the authority of M. Sichel, that
"Glaucoma" and "suffusio" are different names for the same disease—-
cataract. 46 See B. xxxvi. c. 27.
Chap. 27.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HTJENA. 311
heart, it is a good plan to eat some portion of a hyaena's heart
cooked, care being taken to reduce the rest to ashes, and to
apply it with the brains of the animal to the part affected ;
that this last composition, or the gall applied alone, acts as
a depilatory, the hairs being first plucked out which are
wanted not to grow again; that by this method superfluous hairs
of the eyelids may be removed ; that the flesh of the loins,
eaten and applied with oil, is a cure for pains in the loins ; and
that sterility in females may be removed by giving them the
eye of this animal to eat, in combination with liquorice and dill,
conception within three days being warranted as the result.
Persons afflicted with night-mare and dread of spectres, will
experience relief, they say, by attaching one of the large teeth
of a hyaena to the body, with a linen thread. In fits of delirium
too, it is recommended to fumigate the patient with the smoke
of one of these teeth, and to attach one in front of his chest,
with the fat of the kidneys, or else the liver or skin. They
assert also that a pregnant woman will never miscarry, if she
wears suspended from her neck, the white flesh from a hyaena's
breast, with seven hairs and the genitals of a stag, the whole
tied up in the skin of a gazelle. The genitals, they say, eaten
with honey, act as a stimulant upon a person, according to
the sex, and this even though it should be the case of a man
who has manifested an aversion to all intercourse with females.
Nay, even more than all this, we are assured that if the
genitals and a certain joint of the vertebrae are preserved in
a house with the hide adhering to them, they will ensure peace
and concord between all members of the family ; hence it is *
that this part is known as the " joint of the spine,"47 or ' ' At-
lantian48 knot." This joint, which is the first, is reckoned among
the remedies for epilepsy.
The fumes of the burnt fat of this animal will put ser-
pents to flight, they say ; and the jawbone, pounded with anise
and taken with the food, is a cure for shivering fits. A fumi-
gation made therewith has the effect of an emmenagogue ; and
such are the frivolous and absurd conceits of the professors of
the magic art, that they boldly assert that if a man attaches to
47 " Spinae " seems a preferable reading to " ruinse," adopted by Sillig.
48 ** Nodum Atlantion." From the Greek drKaq, "much enduring,"
Julius Pollux says, because it was fitted for supporting burdens. The
" hinc " — " hence," of Pliny here appears to be a non sequitur.
312 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKY. [Book XXVIII.
his arm a tooth from the right side of the upper jaw, he will
never miss any object he may happen to aim at with a dart.
The palate, dried and warmed with Egyptian alum,49 is curative
of bad odours and ulcers of the mouth, care being taken to
renew the application three times. Dogs, they say, will never
bark at persons who have a hyaena's tongue in the shoe,
beneath the sole of the foot. The left side of the brain, applied
to the nostrils, is said to have a soothing effect upon all
dangerous maladies either in men or beasts. They say, too, that
the skin of the forehead is a preservative against all fascina-
tions ; that the flesh of the neck, whether eaten or dried and
taken in drink, is good for pains in the loins ; that the sinews
of the back and shoulders, used as a fumigation, are good for
pains in the sinews ; that the bristles of the snout, applied to
a woman's lips, have all the effect of a philtre ; and that the
liver, administered in drink, is curative of griping pains and
urinary calculi.
The heart, it is said, taken with the food or drink, is remedial
for all kinds of pains in the body ; the milt for pains in the
spleen ; the caul, in combination with oil, for inflammatory ul-
cers ; and the marrow for pains in the spine and weakness in the
sinews. The strings of the kidneys, they say, if taken with
wine and frankincense, will restore fruitfulness, in cases where
it has been banished through the agency of noxious spells ; the
uterus, taken in drink with the rind of a sweet pomegranate,
is highly beneficial for diseases of the uterus ; and the fat of
the loins, used as a fumigation, removes all impediments to
• delivery, and accelerates parturition. The marrow of the back,
attached to the body as an amulet, is an effectual remedy for
fantastic illusions,50 and the genitals of the male animal, used
as a fumigation, are good for the cure of spasms. For oph-
thalmia, ruptures, and inflammations, the feet, which are kept
for the purpose, are touched ; the left feet for affections on the
right side of the body, and the right feet for affections on the
left. The left foot, if laid upon the body of a woman in travail,
will be productive, they say, of fatal effects ; but the right foot,
similarly employed, will facilitate delivery. The vesicle
which has contained the gall, taken in wine or with the food, is
49 "We shall have occasion to make enquiry as to the identity of the
" alumen " of Pliny on a future occasion.
Chap. 27.] REMEDIES DEBITED FROM THE HYJEtfA. 313
beneficial for the cardiac disease ; and the bladder, taken in
wine, is a good preservative against incontinence of urine.
The urine, too, which is found in the bladder, taken with oil,
sesame, and honey, is said to be useful for diseases of long
standing.
The first rib and the eighth, used as a fumigation, are said
to be useful for ruptures ; the vertebrae for women in travail ;
and the blood, in combination with polenta,51 for griping pains
in the bowels. If the door-posts are touched with this blood,
the various arts of the magicians will be rendered of no effect ;
they will neither be able to summon the gods into their pre-
sence nor to converse with them, whatever the method to which
they have recourse, whether lamps or basin, water or globe,52
or any other method.
The flesh of the hyaena, taken as food, is said to be efficacious
for the bite of a mad dog, and the liver still more so. The
flesh or bones of a human being which have been found in the
belly of a slain hyaena, used as a fumigation, are said to be
remedial for gout : but if among these remains the nails are
found, it is looked upon as a presage of death to some one among
those who have captured it. The excrements or bones which
have been voided by the animal at the moment when killed,
are looked upon as counter-charms to magic spells. The dung
found in the intestines is dried and administered in drink for
dysentery ; and it is applied to all parts of the body with
goose-grease, in the form of a liniment, in the case of persons
who have received injury from some noxious medicament. By
rubbing themselves with the grease, and lying upon the skin,
of a hysena, persons who have been bitten by dogs are cured.
On the other hand, the ashes of the left pastern-bone, they
say, boiled with weasel's blood, and applied to a person's body,
will ensure universal hatred ; a similar effect being equally
produced by the eye when boiled. But the most extraordinary
thing of all is, their assertion that the extremity of the rectum
of this animal is a preservative against all oppression on the
part of chiefs and potentates, and an assurance of success in all
petitions, judgments, and lawsuits, and this, if a person only
carries it about him. The anus, according to them, has so
'powerful an effect as a philtre, that if it is worn on the left
arm, a woman will be sure to follow the wearer the moment
" See B. xviii. c. 14. « »' Pila."
314 FLINT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
he looks at her. The hairs, too, of this part, reduced to ashes,
and applied with oil to the body of a man who is living a life
of disgraceful effeminacy, will render him not only modest,
they assure us, but of scrupulous morals even.
CHAP. 28. NINETEEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CROCODILE.
For fabulous stories connected with it the crocodile may
challenge the next place ; and, indeed for cunning, the one53
which lives both upon land and in the water is fully its equal :
for I would here remark, that there are two varieties of this
animal. The teeth of the right jaw of the amphibious croco-
dile, attached to the right arm as an amulet, acts as an aphro-
disiac, that is, if we choose to believe it. The eye-teeth of
the animal, filled with frankincense — for they are Jiollow — are
a cure for periodical fevers, care being taken to let the patient
remain five days without seeing the person who has attached
them to his body. A similar virtue is attributed to the small
stones which are found in the belly of this animal, as being a
check to the cold shiverings in fevers, when about to come on ;
and with the same object the ^Egyptians are in the habit of
anointing their sick with the fat of the crocodile.
The other kind of crocodile54 resembles it, but is much in-
ferior in size : it lives upon land only, and among the most
odoriferous flowers ; hence it is that its intestines are so greatly
in request, being filled as they are with a mass of agreeable
perfumes. This substance is called " crocodilea," and it is
looked upon as extremely beneficial for diseases of the eyes,
and for the treatment of films and cataract, being applied with
leek-juice in the form of an ointment. Applied with oil of
Cyprus,56 it removes blemishes growing upon the face ; and, em-
ployed with water, it is a cure for all those diseases, the
nature of which it is to spread upon the face, while at the same
time it restores the natural tints of the skin. An application
of it makes freckles disappear, as well as all kinds of spots and
53 Identified by Ajasson with the chamses, or common crocodile of the
Kile.
54 See B. viii. c. 38. Identified by Ajasson with the souchos of Geoffrey
Saint-Hilaire. It is equally amphibious with the other ; and the account
of its habits given by Pliny is probably founded on the fact that Upper
Egypt, which it inhabits, is covered with a more aromatic vegetation than
the other parts of that country.
55 See B. xii. c. 51.
Chap. 29.] BEMEDIE8 DERIVED FROM THE CHAMELEON. 315
pimples ; and it is taken for epilepsy, in doses of two oboli, in
oxymel. Used in the form of a pessary it acts as an emmena-
gogue. The best kind of crocodilea, is that which is the whitest,
friable, and the lightest in weight : when rubbed between the
fingers it should ferment like leaven. The usual method is
to wash it, as they do white lead. It is sometimes adulterated
with amylum56 or with Cimolian earth, but the most common
method of sophistication is to catch the crocodiles and feed
them upon nothing but rice. It is recommended as one of
the most efficient remedies for cataract to anoint the eyes with
crocodile's gall, incorporated with honey. We are assured
also that it is highly beneficial for affections of the uterus to
make fumigations with the intestines and rest of the body, or
else to envelope the patient with wool impregnated with the
smoke.
The ashes of the skin of either crocodile, applied with vinegar
to such parts of the body as are about to undergo an incision,
or indeed the very smell of the skin when burning, will render
the patient insensible to the knife. The blood of either croco-
dile, applied to the eyes, effaces marks upon those organs and
improves the sight. The body, with the exception of the head
and feet, is eaten, boiled, for the cure of sciatica, and is found
very useful for chronic coughs, in children more particularly :
it is equally good, too, for the cure of lumbago. These animals
have a certain fat also, which, applied to the hair, makes it fall
off; persons anointed with this fat are effectually protected
against crocodiles, and it is the practice to drop it into wounds
inflicted by them. A crocodile's heart, attached to the body
in the wool of a black sheep without a speck of any other
colour, due care too being taken that the sheep was the first
lamb yeaned by its dam, will effectually cure a quartan fever,
it is said.
CHAP. 29. — FIFTEEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CHAMELEON.
To these animals we shall annex some others that are equally
foreign, and very similar in their properties. To begin then
with the chamseleon, which Democritus has considered worthy
to be made the subject of an especial work, and each part of
which has been consecrated to some particular purpose — This
book, in fact, has afforded me no small amusement, revealing
56 SeerB. xviii. c. 17.
316 PLINY'S TSATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
as it does, and exposing the lies and frivolities of the Greeks. —
In size, the chamseleon resembles the crocodile last mentioned,
and only differs from it in having the back-bone arched at a
more acute angle, and a larger tail. There is no animal, it is
thought, more67 timid than this, a fact to which it owes its
repeated changes of colour.58 It has a peculiar ascendancy over
the hawk tribe ; for, according to report, it has the power of
attracting those birds, when flying above it, and then leaving
them a voluntary prey for other animals. Democritus89 asserts
that if the head and neck of a chamseleon are burnt in a,
fire made with logs of oak, it will be productive of a storm
attended with rain and thunder ; a result equally produced by
burning the liver upon the tiles of a house. As to the rest of
the magical virtues which he ascribes to this animal, we shall
forbear to mention them, although we look upon them as un-
founded ;60 except, indeed, in some few instances where their
very ridiculousness sufficiently refutes his assertions.
The right eye, he says, taken from the living animal and
applied with goats' milk, removes diseases of the crystalline
humours of the«eyes ; and the tongue, attached to the body as
an amulet, is an effectual preservative against the perils of
child-birth. He asserts also that the animal itself will facilitate
parturition, if in the house at the moment ; but if, on the
other hand, it is brought from elsewhere, the consequences, he
says, will be most dangerous. The tongue, he tells us, if taken
from the animal alive, will ensure a favourable result to suits
at law ; and the heart, attached to the body with black wool
of the first shearing, is a good preservative against the attacks
of quartan fever.
He states also that the right fore-paw, attached to the left
arm in the skin of the hyaena, is a most effectual preserva-
tive against robberies and alarms at night ; that the pap on
the right side is a preventive of fright and panics ; that the
left foot is sometimes burnt in a furnace with the plant which
also has the name of "chamaeleon,"61 and is then made up, with
some unguent, into lozenges ; and that these lozenges, kept in
51 It is a timid animal, but Pliny's authorities have exaggerated its
timidity/
This change of colour is in reality owing to change of locality.
59 A. Gellius tells the same story, B x. c. 12.
60 And therefore harmless, 61 See B. xxii. c. 21.
Chap. 29.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CHAMELEON. 317
a wooden vessel, have the effect, if we choose to believe him,
of making their owner invisible to others ; that the possession,
also, of the right shoulder of this animal will ensure victory over
all adversaries or enemies, provided always the party throws
the sinews of the shoulder upon the ground and treads them
under foot. As to the left shoulder of the chamaeleon, I should
be quite ashamed to say to what monstrous purposes Demoeri-
tus devotes it; how that dreams may be produced by the
agency thereof, and transferred to any person we may think
proper ; how that these dreams may be dispelled by the em-
ployment of the right foot ; and how that lethargy, which has
been produced by the right foot of this animal, may be removed
by the agency of the left side.
So, too, head -ache, he tells us, may be cured by sprinkling
wine upon the head, in which either flank of a chamaeleon has
been macerated. If the feet are rubbed with the ashes of the
left thigh or foot, mixed with sow's milk, gout, he says, will
be the result. It is pretty generally believed, however, that
cataract and diseases of the crystalline humours of the eyes
may be cured by anointing those organs with the gall for three
consecutive days ; that serpents may be put to flight by drop-
ping some of it into the fire ; that weasels may be attracted by
water into which it has been thrown ; and that, applied to the
body, it acts as a depilatory. The liver, they say, applied with
the lungs of a bramble- frog, is productive of a similar effect :
in addition to which, we are told that the liver counteracts the
effects of philtres ; that persons are cured of melancholy by
drinking from the warm skin of a chamaeleon the juice of
the plant known by that name ; and that if the intestines of
the animal and their contents — we should bear in mind that
in reality the animal lives without food62 — are mixed with
apes* urine, and the doors of an enemy are besmeared with the
mixture, he will, through its agency, become the object of
universal hatred.
We are told, too, that by the agency of the tail, the
course of rivers and torrents may be stopped, and serpents
struck with torpor ; that the tail, prepared with cedar and
myrrh, and tied to a double branch of the date-palm, will
divide waters that are smitten therewith, and so disclose every-
62 See B. viii. c. 51. Flits and gnats are, in reality, its food.
318 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book XXVIII,
thing that lies at the bottom — and I only wish63 that Democri-
tus himself had been touched up with this branch of palm,
seeing that, as he tells us, it has the property of putting an
end to immoderate garrulity. It is quite evident that this
philosopher, a man who has shown himself so sagacious in
other respects, and so useful to his fellow-men, has been led
away, in this instance, by too earnest a desire to promote the
welfare of mankind.
CHAP. 30. — FOTJE KEMEDIES DEKIVED FROM THE SCINCUS.
Similar in appearance to the preceding animals is the
scincus,64 which by some writers has been called the land
crocodile ; it is, however, whiter in appearance, and the skin is
not so thick. But the main difference between it and the cro-
codile is in the arrangement of the scales, which run from the
tail towards the head. The largest of these animals is the Indian
scincus, and next to it that of Arabia ; they are brought here
salted. The muzzle and fat of the scincus, taken in white
wine, act as an aphrodisiac ; when used with satyrion65 and
rocket-seed more particularly, in the proportion of one drachma
of each, mixed with two drachmae of pepper ; the whole being
made up into lozenges of one drachma each, and so taken in
drink. The flesh from the flanks, taken internally in a similar
manner, in doses of two oboli, with myrrh and pepper, is
generally thought to be productive of a similar effect, and to
be even more efficacious for the purpose. According to Apelles,
the flesh of the scincus is good for wounds inflicted by poisoned
arrows, whether taken before or after the wound is inflicted :
it is used as an ingredient, also, in the most celebrated anti-
dotes. Sextius tells us, that, taken in doses of more than one
drachma, in one semisextarius of wine, the flesh is productive of
deadly results : he adds,' too, that a broth prepared from it,
taken with honey, acts as an ant aphrodisiac.
CHAP. 31. SEVEN BEMEDIES DEKIVED FEOM THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.
Between the crocodile, too, and the hippopotamus there is a
certain affinity, frequenting as they do the same river, and
being both of them of an amphibious nature. The hippopo-
63 One of the few pieces of wit in which Pliny is found to indulge.
64 See B. viii. c. 38. Probably the Lacerta ouaran of Cuvier.
65 bee B. xxvi. c. 62.
Chap. 33.] MEDICINAL USES OF MILK. 319
tamus was the first inventor of the practice of letting blood, a
fact to which we have66 made allusion on a previous occasion :
it is found, too, in the greatest numbers in the parts above the
prefecture of Sais.
The hide, reduced to ashes and applied with water, is cura-
tive of inflamed tumours, and the fat, as well as the dung,
used as a fumigation, is employed for the cure of cold agues.
With the teeth of the left side of the jaw, the gums are
scarified for the cure of tooth-ache. The skin of the left side of
the forehead, attached to the groin, acts as an antaphrodisiac; and
an application of the ashes of the same part will cause the hair
to grow when lost through alopecy. The testes are taken in
water, in doses of one drachma, for the cure of injuries inflicted
by serpents. The blood is made use of by painters.
CHAP. 32. FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE LYNX.
To foreign countries, also, belongs the lynx, which of all
quadrupeds is possessed of the most piercing sight. It is said
that in the Isle of Carpathus a most powerful medicament is
obtained by reducing to ashes the nails of the lynx, together
with the hide ; that these ashes, taken in drink, have the
effect of checking abominable desires in men; and that, if they
are sprinkled upon women, all libidinous thoughts will be
restrained. They are good too for the removal of itching
sensations in any part of the body. The urine of the lynx is
a remedy for strangury ; for which reason the animal, it is
said, is in the habit of rooting up the ground and covering it
the moment it is voided.67 It is mentioned, too, that this urine
is an effectual remedy for pains in the throat. Thus much
with reference to foreign animals.
CHAP. 33. (9.) — REMEDIES FURNISHED IN COMMON BY ANIMALS
OF THE SAME CLASS, WHETHER WILD OR TAME. FIFTY-FOUR
MEDICINAL USES OF MILK, WITH OBSERVATIONS THEREON.
We will now return to our own part of the wcrld, speaking,
first of all, of certain remedies common to animals in general,
but excellent in their nature ; such as the use of milk, for
example. The most beneficial milk to every creature is the
mother's68 milk. It is highly dangerous for nursing women to
66 In B. viii. c. 40. 67 See E. viii. c. 57.
68 Except, of course, when the mother is in a state of disease.
320 PLINY' a NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXYI1I.
conceive : children that are suckled by them are known among
us as " colostrati,"69 their inilk being thick, like cheese in ap-
pearance— the name " colostra,"70 it should be remembered, is
given to the first milk secreted after delivery, which assumes a
spongy, coagulated form. The most nutritive milk, in all
cases, is woman's milk, and next to that goats' milk, to which
is owing, probably, the fabulous story that Jupiter was suckled,
by a goat.71 The sweetest, next to woman's milk, is camels'
milk ; but the most efficacious, medicinally speaking, is asses'
milk. It is in animals of the largest size and individuals
of the greatest bulk, that the milk is secreted with the greatest
facility. Goats' milk agrees the best with the stomach, that
animal browsing more than grazing. Cows' milk is considered
more medicinal, while ewes' milk is sweeter and more nutri-
tive, but not so well adapted to the stomach, it being more
oleaginous than any other.
Every kind of milk is more aqueous in spring than in sum-
mer, and the same in all cases where the animal has grazed
upon a new pasture. The best milk of all is that which adheres
to the finger nail, when placed there, and does not run from off
it. Milk is most harmless when boiled, more particularly if
sea pebbles72 have been boiled with it. Cows' milk is the most
relaxing, and all kinds of milk are less apt to inflate when
boiled. Milk is used for all kinds of internal ulcerations,
those of the kidneys, bladder, intestines, throat, and lungs in
particular ; and externally, it is employed for itching sensations
upon the skin, and for purulent eruptions, it being taken fasting
for the purpose. We have already73 stated, when speaking of
the plants, how that in Arcadia cows' milk is administered for
phthisis, consumption, and cachexy. Instances are cited, also,
of persons who have been cured of gout in the hands and feet,
by drinking asses' milk.
To these various kinds of milk, medical men have added
another, to which they have given the name of " schiston ;"74
69 See B. xi. c. 96. Dalechamps remarks that Pliny is in error here :
this name being properly given to infants which have been put to the breast
too soon after child-birth. And so it would appear from the context.
0 The " biestings." 71 Amalthaea,
• Dioscorides says " river pebbles." 73 jn 3. ^y, Cj 53.
74 From the Greek <rx*<rrdv, "divided " milk, or '* curds."
Chap. 33.] MEDICINAL USES OF MILK. 321
the following being the usual method of preparing it. Goats'
milk, which is used in preference for the purpose, is boiled in
a new earthen vessel, and stirred with branches of a fig-tree
newly gathered, as many cyathi of honied wine being added to
it as there are semisextarii of milk. When the mixture boils,
care is taken to prevent it running over, by plunging into it a
silver cyathus measure filled with cold water, none of the water
being allowed to escape. When taken off the fire, the constitu-
ent parts of it divide as it cools, and the whey is thus separated
from the milk. Some persons, again, take this whey, which is
now very strongly impregnated with wine, and, after boiling
it down to one third, leave it to cool in the open air. The
best way of taking it, is in doses of one semisextarius, at stated
intervals, during five consecutive days ; after taking it, riding
exercise should be used by the patient. This whey is admi-
nistered in cases of epilepsy, melancholy, paralysis, leprosy,
elephantiasis, and diseases of the joints.
Milk is employed as an injection where excoriations have
been caused by the use of strong purgatives ; in cases also
where dysentery is productive of chafing, it is similarly em-,
ployed, boiled with sea pebbles or a ptisan of barley. Where,
however, the intestines are excoriated, cows' milk or ewes'
milk is the best. New milk is used as an injection for dysen-
tery ; and in an unboiled state, it is employed for affections of
the colon and uterus, and for injuries inflicted by serpents. It
is also taken internally as an antidote to the venom of cantha-
rides, the pine -caterpillar, the buprestis, and the salamander.
Cows' milk is particularly recommended for persons who have
taken colchicum, hemlock, dorycnium,75 or the flesh of the sea-
hare; and asses' milk, in cases where gypsum, white-lead,
sulphur,76 or quick-silver, have been taken internally. This
last is good too for constipation attendant upon fever, and is
remarkably useful as a gargle for ulcerations of the throat. It
is taken, also, internally, by patients suffering from atrophy, for
the purpose of recruiting their exhausted strength ; as also in
cases of fever unattended with head-ache. The ancients held
it as one of their grand secrets, to administer to children, before
taking food, a semisextarius of asses' milk, or for want of that,
goats' milk ; a similar dose, too, was given to children troubled
75 See B. xxi. c. 105.
76 He perhaps means a sulphate, and not sulphur, which is harmless.
VOL. V. Y
322 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIIL
with chafing of the rectum at stool. It is considered a sove-
reign remedy for hardness of breathing, to take cows' milk
whey, mixed with nasturtium. In cases of ophthalmia, too, the
eyes are fomented with a mixture of one semisextarius of
milk and four drachmae of pounded sesame.
Goats' milk is a cure for diseases of the spleen ; but in such
case the goats must fast a couple of days, and be fed on ivy-
leaves the third ; the patient, too, must drink the milk for three
consecutive days, without taking any other nutriment. Milk,
under other circumstances, is detrimental to persons suffering
from head-ache, liver complaints, diseases of the spleen, and
affections of the sinews ; it is bad for fevers, also, vertigo —
except, indeed, where it is required as a purgative — oppression of
the head, coughs, and ophthalmia. Sows' milk is extremely use-
ful in cases of tenesmus, dysentery, and phthisis ; authors have
been found too, to assert that it is very wholesome for females.
CHAP. 34. TWELVE KEMEDIES DERIVED FKOM CHEESE.
"We have already77 spoken of the different kinds of cheese
when treating of the mamillae and other parts of animals.
Sextius attributes the same properties to mares' milk cheese
that he does to cheese made of cows' milk : to the former he
gives the names of " hippace." Cheese is best for the sto-
mach when not salted, or, in other words, when new cheese is
used. Old [salted] cheese has a binding effect upon the
bowels, and reduces the flesh, but is more wholesome to
the stomach [than new salted cheese]. Indeed, we may pro-
nounce of aliments in general, that salt meats reduce the system,
while fresh food has a tendency to make flesh. Fresh cheese,
applied with honey, effaces the marks of bruises. It acts,
also, emolliently upon the bowels ; and, taken in the form of
tablets, boiled in astringent wine and then toasted with honey on
a platter, it modifies and alleviates griping pains in the bowels.
The cheese known as " saprurn,"78 is beaten up, in wine, with
salt and dried sorb apples, and taken in drink, for the cure of
cceliac affections. Goats' milk cheese, pounded and applied to
the part affected, is a cure for carbuncle of the generative organs;
sour cheese, also, with oxymel, is productive of a similar effect.
In the bath it is used as a friction, alternately with oil, for the
removal of spots.
77 In B. xi, c. 97. 78 From the Greek vaTrpbv, "rotten" cheese.
79 Like our cream cheese, or new milk cheese, probably.
Chap. 35.] REMEDIES DERIVED FEOM BUTTER. 523
CHAP. 35. TWENTY- FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM BUTTER.
Prom milk, too, butter is produced ; held as the most delicate
of food among barbarous80 nations, and one which distinguishes81
the wealthy from the multitude at large. It is mostly made
from cows' milk, and hence its name ; 82 but the richest butter
is that made from ewes' milk. There is a butter made also
from goats' milk ; but previously to making it, the milk should
first be warmed, in winter. In summer it is extracted from
the milk by merely shaking it to and fro in a tall vessel, with
a small orifice at the mouth to admit the air, but otherwise
closely stopped, a little water83 being added to make it curdle
the sooner. The milk that curdles the most, floats upon the sur-
face ; this they remove, and, adding salt to it, give it the name
of " oxygala."84 They then take the remaining part and boil
it down in pots, and that portion of it which floats on the
surface is butter, a substance of an oily nature. The more85
rank it is in smell, the more highly it is esteemed. When old,
it forms an ingredient in numerous compositions. It is of an
astringent, emollient, repletive, and purgative nature.
80 The people of Germany and Scythia, for instance.
81 In this passage also it is generally supposed that he refers to the
nomadic life of barbarous nations, in which multitudes of sheep and
cattle constituted the chief wealth. It is, however, not improbable that
he means to say that among the Romans it was only the wealthy who could
afford to use it.
82 Bovrupov, "cow cheese."
83 Qy. whether for "aquae," "water," we should not read "acidi"
here, " sour milk," as at the beginning of the next Chapter ? Beckmann
suggests " aceti," " vinegar." — Hist. Inv. I. 505, Bohris Ed.
84 Beckmann says on this passage, " What Pliny says respecting oxygala
is attended with difficulties : and I am fully persuaded that his words are
corrupted, though I find no variations marked in MSS. by which this con-
jecture can be supported." — Hist. Inv. I. 505. He suggests another
arrangement of the whole passage, but without improving it, for the diffi-
culty would appear to be totally imaginary ; as it is quite clear that by
" oxygala," or " sour milk," Pliny means the thickest part of the curd,
which is first removed and then salted, forming probably a sort of cream
cheese. Though his meaning is clear, he may very possibly give an,
erroneous description of the process.
85 The remark of Holland on this passage is curious — " Some would
amend this place, and for ' magis,' ' more/ put ' minus,' ' less/ in a con-
trary sense ; but I suppose he writeth in regard of barbarous people, who
make more account of such ranke butyr; like as the uncivile Irish in
these daies."
Y 2
324 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOHY. [Book XXVIII.
CHAP. 36. OXYGALA : ONE REMEDY.
Oxygala, too, is prepared another way, sour milk being
added to the fresh milk which is wanted to curdle. This pre-
paration is extremely wholesome to the stomach : of its pro-
perties we shall have occasion86 to speak in another place.
CHAP. 37. THE YAKIOUS USES OF FAT AND OBSERVATIONS UPON
IT, FIFTY-TWO IN NUMBER.
Among the remedies common to living creatures, fat is the
substance held in the next highest esteem, that of swine in
particular, which was employed by the ancients for certain
religious purposes even : at all events, it is still the usage for
the newly- wedded bride, when entering her husband's house,
to touch the door-posts with it. There are two methods of
keeping hogs' lard, either salted or fresh ; indeed, the older it
is, the better. The Greek writers have now given it the name
of " axungia/'87 or axle-grease, in their works. Nor, in fact,
is it any secret, why swine's fat should be possessed of such
marked properties, seeing that the animal feeds to such a great
extent upon the roots of plants — owing too, to which, its dung
is applied to such a vast number of purposes. It will be as
well, therefore, to premise, that I shall here speak only of the
hog that feeds in the open field, and no other ; of which kind
it is the female that is much the most useful — if she has never
farrowed, more particularly. But it is the fat of the wild boar
that is held in by far the highest esteem of all.
The distinguishing properties, then, of swine's- grease, are
emollient, calorific, resolvent, and detergent. Some physicians
recommend it as an ointment for the gout, mixed with goose-
grease, bull-suet, and wool- grease : in cases, however, where
the pain is persistent, it should be used in combination with
wax, myrtle, resin, and pitch. Hogs' lard is used fresh for
the cure of burns, and of blains, too, caused by snow : with
ashes of burnt barley and nutgalls, in equal proportions, it is em-
ployed for the cure of chilblains. It is good also for excoriations
of the limbs, and for dispelling weariness and lassitude arising
from long journeys. For the cure of chronic cough, new
lard is boiled down, in the proportion of three ounces to three
86 He has forgotten to do so, however.
87 From the Latin "axis," au "axle," and "ungo," "to anoint."
I
Chap. 37.] THE VARIOUS USES OF FAT. 325
cyathi of wine, some honey being added to the mixture. Old
lard too, if it has been kept without salt, made up into pills
and taken internally, is a cure for phthisis : but it is a general
rule not to use it salted in any cases except where detergents are
required, or where there are no symptoms of ulceration. For
the cure of phthisis, some persons boil down three ounces of
hogs' lard and honied wine, in three cyathi of ordinary wine ;
and after swathing the sides, chest, and shoulders of the patient
with compresses steeped in the preparation, administer to him,
every four days, some tar with an egg : indeed, so potent is
this composition, that if it is only attached to the knees even,
the flavour of it will ascend to the mouth, and the patient
will appear to spit it out,88 as it were.
The grease of a sow that has never farrowed, is the most
useful of all cosmetics for the skin of females ; but in all cases,
hogs' lard is good for the cure of itch-scab, mixed with pitch
and beef-suet in the proportion of one-third, the whole being
made lukewarm for the purpose. Fresh hogs' lard, applied as
a pessary, imparts nutriment to the infant in the womb, and
prevents abortion. Mixed with white lead or litharge, it re-
stores scars to their natural colour ; and, in combination with
sulphur, it rectifies malformed nails. It prevents the hair also
from falling off; and, applied with a quarter of a nutgall, it
heals ulcers upon the head in females. When well smoked, it
strengthens the eyelashes. Lard is recommended also for phthisis,
boiled down with old wine, in the proportion of one ounce to a
semisextarius, till only three ounces are left ; some persons add
a little honey to the composition. Mixed with lime, it is used
as a liniment for inflamed tumours, boils, and indurations of
the mamillae : it is curative also of ruptures, convulsions,
cramps, and sprains. Used with white hellebore, it is good
for corns, chaps, and callosities : and, with pounded earthen-
ware89 which has held salted provisions, for imposthumes of
the parotid glands and scrofulous sores. Employed as a fric-
tion in the bath, it removes itching sensations and pimples : but
for the treatment of gout there is another method of preparing
it, by mixing it with old oil, and adding pounded sarcopha-
gus90 stone and cinquefoil bruised in wine, or else with lime
88 Hence it was a notion in the sixteenth century, that pitch and hogs'
lard is a cure for syphilis, by promoting salivation.
8» <»• Farina salsamentariae testae." V0 See B. xxxvi. c. 27.
32ti PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Hook XXVIII.
or ashes. A peculiar kind of plaster is also made of it for the
cure of inflammatory ulcers, seventy-five denarii of hogs' lard
being mixed with one hundred of litharge.
It is reckoned a very good plan also to anoint ulcers with
boars' grease, and, if they are of a serpiginous nature, to add
resin to the liniment. The ancients used to employ hogs' lard
in particular for greasing the axles of their vehicles, that the
wheels might revolve the more easily, and to this, in fact, it owes
its name of " axungia," When hogs' lard has been used for this
purpose, incorporated as it is with the rust of the iron upon
the wheels, it is remarkably useful as an application for dis-
eases of the rectum and of the generative organs. The ancient
physicians, too, set a high value upon the medicinal properties
of hogs' lard in an unmixed state : separating it from the
kidneys, and carefully removing the veins, they used to wash
and rub it well in rain water, after which they boiled it several
times in a new earthen vessel, and then put it by for keeping.
It is generally agreed that it is more emollient, calorific, and
resolvent, when salted ; and that it is still more useful when
it has been rinsed in wine.
Massurius informs us, that the ancients set the highest
value of all upon the fat of the wolf : and that it was for this
reason that the newly-wedded bride used to anoint the door-
posts of her husband's house with it, in order that no noxious
spells might find admittance.
CHAP. 38. — SUET.
Corresponding with the grease of the swine, is the suet91 that
is found in the ruminating animals, a substance employed in
other ways, but no less efficacious in its properties. The pro-
per mode of preparing it, in all cases, is to take out the veins
and to rinse it in sea or salt-water, after which it is beaten up
in a mortar, with a sprinkling of sea-water in it. This done,
it is boiled in several waters, until, in fact, it has lost all smell,
and is then bleached by continual exposure to the sun '; that of
the most esteemed quality being the fat which grows about the
kidneys. In case stale suet is required for any medicinal pur-
pose, it is recommended to melt it first, and then to wash it in
cold water several times ; after which, it must again be melted
with a sprinkling of the most aromatic wine that can be pro-
91 " Sebum"— Suet or tallow.
Chap. 40.] GALL. 327
cured, it being then boiled again and again, until the rank
smell has totally disappeared.
Many persons recommend that the fat of bulls, lions, pan-
thers, and camels, in particular, should be thus prepared. As
to the various uses to which these substances are applied, we
shall mention them on the appropriate occasions.
CHAP. 39. — MARROW. •
Common too, to all these animals, is marrow ; a substance
which in all cases is possessed of certain emollient, expletive,
desiccative, and calorific properties. The most highly esteemed
of all is deer's marrow, the next best being that of the calf, and
then that of the goat, both male and female. These substances
are prepared before autumn, by washing them in a fresh state,
and drying them in the shade ; after which they are passed
through a sieve, and then strained through linen, and put by
in earthen pots for keeping, in a cool spot.
CHAP. 40. GALL.
But among the substances which are furnished in common
by the various animals, it is the gall, we may say, that is the
most efficacious of all. The properties of this substance are of
a calorific, pungent, resolvent, extractive, and dispersive nature.
The gall of the smaller animals is looked upon as the most
penetrating ; for which reason it is that it is generally con-
sidered the most efficacious for the composition of eye-salves.
Bull's gall is possessed of a remarkable degree of potency,
having the effect of imparting a golden tint to the surface
of copper even and to vessels made of other metals. Gall in every
case is prepared in the following manner : it is taken fresh,
and the orifice of the vesicle in which it is contained being tied
fast with a strong linen thread, it is left to steep for half
an hour in boiling water ; after which it is dried in the shade,
and then put away for keeping, in honey.
That of the horse is condemned, being reckoned among the
poisons only. Hence it is that the Flamen92 of the Sacrifices
is not allowed to touch a horse, notwithstandiug that it is the
92 Or Flamen Dialis. Festus gives another reason : lest the Flamen
should travel to a distance, and so neglect his duties.
328 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
custom to immolate one93 of these animals at the public sacri-
fices at Eoine.
CHAP. 41. — BLOOD.
The blood, also, of the horse is possessed of certain corrosive
properties ; and so, too, is mare's blood — except, indeed, where
the animal has not been covered — it having the effect of
cauterizing the margins of ulcers, and so enlarging them.
Bull's blood too, taken fresh, is reckoned94 among the poisons ;
except, indeed, at -^Egira,95 at which place the priestess of the
Earth, when about to foretell coming events, takes a draught
of bull's blood before she descends into the cavern : so power-
ful, in fact, is the agency of that sympathy so generally spoken
of, that it may occasionally originate, we find, in feelings of re-
ligious awe,96 or in the peculiar nature of the locality.
Drusus,97 the tribune of the people, drank goats' blood, it is
said ; it being his object by his pallid looks to suggest that his
enemy, Q, Caepio, had given him poison, and so expose him to
public hatred. So remarkably powerful is the blood of the he-
goat, that there is nothing better in existence for sharpening
iron implements, the rust produced by this blood giving them
a better edge even than a file. Considering, however, that the
blood of all animals cannot be reckoned as a remedy in common,
will it not be advisable, in preference, to speak of the effects
that are produced by that of each kind ?
CHAP. 42. PECULIAR REMEDIES DERIVED FROM VARIOUS ANIMALS,
AND CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE MALADIES. REMEDIES
AGAINST THE POISON OF SERPENTS, DERIVED FROM THE STAG,
THE FAWN, THE OPHION, THE SHE-GOAT, THE KID, AND THE
ASS.
We will therefore classify the various remedies, according
to the maladies for which they are respectively used ; and, first
of all, those to which man has recourse for injuries inflicted by
93 The " Equus October," sacrificed to Mars on the Campus Martius in
October. This sacrifice was attended with some very ridiculous ceremonies.
84 This, as already observed, was probably a fallacy.
95 See B. iv. c. 6.
s6 His meaning is, that the excitement produced hy religious feeling
neutralizes that antipathy which, under ordinary circumstances, is manifested
towards the system by bull's blood.
97 See B. xxxiii. c. 6.
Chap. 42.] REMEDIES AGAINST SEIiPENTS. 329
serpents. That deer are destructive to those reptiles98 no one
is ignorant ; as also of the fact that they drag them from their
holes when they find them, and so devour them. And it is
not only while alive and breathing that deer are thus fatal to
serpents, but even when dead and separated limb from limb.
The fumes of their horns, while burning, will drive away
serpents, as already" stated ; but the bones, it is said, of the
upper part of a stag's throat, if burnt upon a fire, will bring those
reptiles together. Persons may sleep upon a deer's skin in
perfect safety, and without any apprehension of attacks by
serpents ; its rennet too, taken with vinegar, is an effectual anti-
dote to the stings of those reptiles ; indeed, if it has been only
touched by a person, he will be for that day effectually pro-
tected from them. The testes, dried, or the genitals of the
male animal, are considered to be very wholesome, taken in
wine, and so are the umbles, generally known as the " centi-
pellio."1 Persons having about them a deer's tooth, or who
have taken the precaution of rubbing the body with a deer or
fawn's marrow, will be sure to repel the attacks of all serpents.
But the most effectual remedy of all is thought to be the
rennet of a fawn that has been cut from the uterus of the
dam, as already2 mentioned in another place. Deer's blood,
burnt upon a fire of lentisk wood, with dracontium,3 cunilago,4
and alkanet, will attract serpents, they say ; while, on the
other hand, if the blood is removed and pyrethrum5 substituted
for it, they will take to flight.
I find an animal mentioned by Greek writers, smaller than
the stag, but resembling it in the hair, and to which they give
the name of " ophion."6 Sardinia, they say, is the only coun-
try that produces it ; I am of opinion, however, that it is now
extinct, and for that reason I shall not enlarge upon its medi-
cinal properties.
(10.) As a preservative against the attacks of serpents, the
brains and blood of the wild boar are held in high esteem :
the liver also, dried and taken in wine with rue ; and the fat,
98 See B. viii. c. 50. " In B. viii. c. 50.
1 Or *' hundred skins." Called the mirefeuillet in French.
2 In B. viii. c. 50. 3 See B. xxiv. c. 91.
4 See B. xx. c. 63.
5 The Anthemis pyrethrura of Linnaeus, Spanish camomile or pollitory.
6 Possibly the Musmou of B. viii. c. 49. See also B. xxx. c. 52.
330 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
used with honey and resin. Similar properties are attributed
to the liver of the domesticated boar and the outer filaments,
and those only, of the gall, these last being taken in doses of
four denarii ; the brains also, taken in wine, are equally ef-
fectual. The fumes of the burning horns or hair of a she-goat
will repel serpents, they say : the ashes, too, of the horns, used
either internally or externally, are thought to be an antidote
to their poison. A similar effect is attributed to goats' milk,
taken with Taminian7 grapes ; to the urine of those animals,
taken with squill vinegar ; to goats' milk cheese, applied with
origanum ;8 and to goat suet, used with wax.
In addition to all this, as will be seen hereafter, there are a
thousand other remedial properties attributed to this animal ;
a fact which surprises me all the more, seeing that the goat,
it is said, is never free from fever.9 The wild animals of the
same species, which are very numerous, as already10 stated,
have a still greater efficacy attributed to them; but the he-
goat has certain properties peculiar to itself, and Democritus
attributes properties still more powerful to the animal when it
has been the only one yeaned. It is recommended also to apply
she- goat's dung, boiled11 in vinegar, to injuries inflicted by
serpents, as also the ashes of fresh dung mixed with wine.
As a general rule, persons who find that they are recovering
but slowly from injuries inflicted by a serpent, will find their
health more speedily re-established by frequenting the stalls
where goats are kept. Those, however, whose object is a more
assured remedy, attach immediately to the wound the paunch
of a she-goat killed for the purpose, dung and all. Others,
again, use the flesh of a kid just killed, and fumigate it with
the singed hair, the smell of which has the effect of repelling
serpents.
For stings of serpents, as also for injuries inflicted by the
scorpion and shrew-mouse, some employ the skin of a goat
newly killed, as also the flesh and dung of a horse that has
been out at pasture, or a hare's rennet in vinegar. They say,
too, that if a person has the body well rubbed with a hare's
rennet, he will never receive injury from venomous animals.
When a person has been stung by a scorpion, she-goat's dung,
7 See B. xxiii. cc. 13, 14. 8 See B. xx. c. 67.
9 See B. viii. c. 76. 10 In B. viii. c. 76.
11 A remedy of which H. Cloquet highly approves, on chemical grounds,
Chap. 44.] BEMKDIES AGAINST ENCHANTMENTS. 331
boiled with vinegar, is considered a most efficient remedy : in
cases too, where a buprestis has been swallowed, bacon and the
broth in which it has been boiled, are highly efficacious. Nay,
what is even more than this, if a person applies his mouth to
an ass's ear, and says that he has been stung by a scorpion, the
whole of the poison, they say, will immediately pass away
from him and be transferred to the animal. All venomous
creatures, it is said, are put to flight by a fumigation made
by burning an ass's lights. It is considered an excellent
plan too, to fumigate persons, when stung by a scorpion, with
the smoke of burnt calves' dung.
CHAP. 43. REMEDIES FOB THE BITE OF THE MAD DOG. REMEDIES
DERIVED FROM THE CALF, THE HE-GOAT, AND VARIOUS OTHER
ANIMALS.
When a person has been bitten by a mad dog, it is the "
practice to make an incision round the wound to the quick,
and then to apply raw veal to it, and to make the patient
take either veal broth or hogs' lard, mixed with lime internally^
Some persons recommend a he-goat's liver, and maintain that
if it is applied to the wound the patient will never be attacked
with hydrophobia. She- goat's dung, too, is highly spoken of,
applied with wine, as also the dung of the badger, cuckoo, and
swallow, boiled and taken in drink.
For bites inflicted by other animals, dried goats' milk cheese
is applied with origanum and taken with the drink ; and for
injuries caused by the human12 teeth, boiled beef .is applied;
veal, however, is still more efficacious for the purpose, provided
it is not removed before the end of four days.
CHAP. 44. — REMEDIES TO BE ADOPTED AGAINST ENCHANTMENTS.
The dried muzzle of a wolf, they say, is an effectual preser-
vative against the malpractices of magic ; and it is for this
reason that it is so commonly to be seen fastened to the doors of
farm-houses. A similar degree of efficacy, it is thought,
belongs to the skin of the neck, when taken whole from the
animal. Indeed, so powerful is the influence of this animal,
in addition to what we have already13 stated, that if a horse
12 Cloquet says that the application would be useless.
13 In E. viii. c. 34.
332 PLINY'8 NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
only treads in its track, it will be struck with torpor14 in
consequence.
CHAP. 45. REMEDIES FOR POISONS.
In case where persons have swallowed quicksilver,15 bacon
is the proper remedy to be employed. Poisons are neutralized by
taking asses' milk ; henbane more particularly, mistletoe, hem-
lock, the flesh of the sea-hare, opocarpathon,16 pharicon,17 and
dorycnium :18 the same, too, where coagulated milk19 has been
productive of bad effects, for the biestings,'JO or first curdled
milk, should be reckoned as nothing short of a poison.21 We
shall have to mention many other uses to which asses' milk is
applied ; but it should be remembered that in all cases it must
be used fresh, or, if not, as new as possible, and warmed, for
there is nothing that more speedily loses its virtue. The
bones, too, of the ass are pounded and boiled, as an antidote to
the poison of the sea-hare. The wild ass22 is possessed of
similar properties in every respect, but in a much higher
degree.
Of the wild horse23 the Greek writers have made no mention,
it not being a native of their country ; we have every reason to
believe, however, that it has the same properties as the animal
in a tame state, but much more fully developed. Mares' milk
effectually neutralizes the venom of the sea-hare and all
narcotic poisons. Nor had the Greeks any knowledge from
experience of the urus24 and the bison,24 although in India the
forests are filled with herds of wild oxen : it is only reasonable,
14 Cloquet and Ajasson admit the truth of this statement : the latter
suggests that it may be owing to electricity.
15 It is no longer reckoned among the poisons.
16 Juice of carpathum, a substance which does not appear to have been
identified ; but supposed by Bruce to have been a gum called sassa, with
which aloes are adulterated in Abyssinia, a thing that Galen tells us was
done with the carpathum of the ancients. The sea-hare is the Aplysia
depilans of Gmelin. It is not poisonous. See B. ix. c. 72, and B. xxxii.
c. 3.
17 A composite poison, probably, the ingredients of which are now un-
known, is See Chap. 21 of this Book,
19 See B. xx. c. 53. 20 See B. xi. c. 96.
21 On the contrary, cows' biestings are highly thought of in some parts
of England ; and a very delicate dish is made of them, baked.
22 " Onager." 33 See B. Tiii. c. 16, and B. xvi. c. 9.
24 See B. vih. c. 15.
Chap. 45.] REMEDIES FOIt POISONS. 333
however, to conclude that all their medicinal properties must
be much more highly developed than in the animal as found
among us. It is asserted also, that cows' milk is a general
counter-poison, in the cases above-mentioned, more particularly,
as also where the poison of ephemeron26 has settled internally,
or cantharides have been administered ; it acting upon the
poison by vomit. Broth, too, made from goats' flesh, neutral-
izes the effects of cantharides, in a similar manner, it is said.
To counteract the corrosive poisons which destroy by ulcer-
ation, veal or beef-suet is resorted to ; and in cases where a
leech has been swallowed, butter is the usual remedy, with
vinegar heated with a red-hot iron. Indeed, butter employed
by itself is a good remedy for poisons, for where oil is not
to be procured, it is an excellent substitute for it. Used with
honey, butter heals injuries inflicted by millepedes. The
broth of boiled tripe, it is thought, is an effectual repellent of
the above-mentioned poisons, aconite and hemlock more par-
ticularly ; veal-suet also has a similar repute.
Fresh goats' milk cheese is given to persons who have taken
mistletoe, and goats' milk itself is a remedy for cantharides.
Taken with Taminian26 grapes, goats' milk is an antidote to the
effects of ephemeron. Goats' blood, boiled down with the mar-
row, is used as a remedy for the narcotic27 poisons, and kids' blood
for the other poisons. Kid's rennet is administered where per-
sons have taken mistletoe, the juice of the white chameeleon,28
or bull's blood ; for which last, hare's rennet in vinegar is also
used by way of antidote. For injuries inflicted \)j the pasti-
naca,29 and the stings or bites of all kinds of marine animals,
hare's rennet, kid's rennet, or lamb's rennet is taken, in doses
of one drachma, in wine. Hare's rennet, too, generally forms
an ingredient in the antidotes for poisons.
The moth that is seen fluttering about the flame of a lamp
is generally reckoned in the number of the noxious substances :
its bad effects are neutralized by the agency of goat's liver.
Goat's gall, too, is looked upon as an antidote to venomous
25 See B. xxv. c. 107, and B. xxvi. c. 75.
26 See B. xxiii. cc. 13, 14.
27 "Toxica" — properly, those poisons in which the barbarous nations
dipped their arrows.
** See B. xxii. c. 21. 29 Or, sting-ray.
334 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
preparations from the field weazel.30 But we will now return
to the other remedies, classified according to the various diseases.
CHAP. 46. (11.) — EEjsiEDiEs FOE DISEASES OF THE HEAD, A^'D
FOE ALOPECY.
Bears' grease,31 mixed with ladanum32 and the plant adi-
antum,33 prevents the hair from falling off ; it is a cure also
for alopecy and defects in the eyebrows, mixed with the fungus
from the wick of a lamp, and the soot that is found in the
nozzle. Used with wine, it is good for the cure of porrigo, a
malady which is also treated with the ashes of deer's horns in
wine : this last substance also prevents the growth of vermin
in the hair. Eor porrigo some persons employ goat's gall, in
combination with Cimolian chalk and vinegar, leaving the pre-
pration to dry for a time on the head. Sow's gall, too, mixed
with bull's urine, is employed for a similar purpose ; and when
old, it is an effectual cure, with the addition of sulphur, for
furfuraceous eruptions. The ashes, it is thought, of an ass's
genitals, will make the hair grow more thickly, and prevent it
from turning grey ; the proper method of applying it being to
shave the head and to pound the ashes in a leaden mortar with
oil. Similar effects are attributed to the genitals of an ass's
foal, reduced to ashes and mixed with urine ; some nard being
added to render the mixture less offensive. In cases of alopecy
the part affected is rubbed with bull's gall, warmed with
Egyptian alum. Running ulcers of the head are successfully
treated with bull's urine, or stale human urine, in combination
with cyclaminos34 and sulphur : but the most effectual remedy is
calf's gall, a substance which, heated with vinegar, has also the
effect of exterminating lice. Yeal suet, pounded with salt and
applied to ulcers of the head, is a very useful remedy : the fat,
too, of the fox is highly spoken of, but the greatest value is
set upon cats' dung, applied in a similar manner with mustard.
Powdered goats' horns, or the horns reduced to ashes, those
of the he-goat in particular, with the addition of nitre, tama-
risk-seed, butter, and oil, are remarkably effectual for prevent-
ing the hair from coming off, the head being first shaved for
the purpose. So too, the ashes of burnt goats' flesh, applied
30 See B. xxix. c. 16.
J1 This substance still maintains its reputation, as preservative of the
hair. 32 see B< xii. c. 37, and B. xxvi. c. 30.
33 See B. xxii. c. 30. 34 gee B. xxv. c. 67.
Chap. 47.] REMEDIES FOE THE EYES. 335
to the eye-brows with oil, impart to them a black tint. By
using goats' milk, they say, lice may be exterminated ; and the
dung of those animals, with honey, is thought to be a cure for
alopecy : the ashes, too, of the hoofs, mixed with pitch, prevent
the hair from coming off.
The ashes of a burnt hare, mixed with oil of myrtle, alle-
viate head-ache, the patient drinking some water that has
been left in the trough after an ox or ass has been drinking
there. The male organs of a fox, worn as an amulet, are
productive, if we choose to believe it, of a similar effect : the
same, too, with the ashes of a burnt deer's horn, applied with
vinegar, rose oil, or oil of iris.
CHAP. 47. — REMEDIES FOB AFFECTIONS OF THE EYES.
For denuxions35 of the eyes, beef suet, boiled with oil, is
applied to the parts affected ; and for eruptions of those organs,
ashes of burnt deer's horns are similarly employed, the tips of
the horns being considered the most effectual for the purpose.
For the cure of cataract, it is reckoned a good plan to apply
a wolf's excrements: the same substance, too, reduced to
ashes, is used for the dispersion of films, in combination with
Attic honey. Bear's gall, too, is similarly employed; and for
the cure of epinyctis, wild boar's lard, mixed with oil of
roses, is thought to be very useful. An ass's hoof, reduced to
ashes and applied with asses' milk, is used for the removal of
marks in the eyes and indurations of the crystalline humours.
Beef marrow, from the right fore leg, beaten up with soot,
is employed for affections of the eyebrows, and for diseases
of the eyelids and corners of the eyes. For the same purpose,
also, a sort of calliblepharon36 is prepared from soot, the best
of all being that made from a wick of papyrus mixed with
oil of sesame ; the soot being removed with a feather and
caught in a new vessel prepared for the purpose. This mix-
ture, too, is very efficacious for preventing superfluous eye-
lashes from growing again when once pulled out.
Bull's gall is made up into eye- salves37 with white of egg,
35 If they are occasioned by irritation, Ajasson thinks that Pliny's re-
medy may be of some utility.
36 "A cosmetic for " beautifying the eye-brows."
37 " Collyria."
33G FLINT'S NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book XXVIII.
these salves being steeped in water and applied to the eyes for
four days successively. Veal suet, with goose-grease and the
extracted juice of ocimum, is remarkably good for diseases of
the eye-lids. Veal marrow, with the addition of an equal
proportion of wax and oil or oil of roses, an egg being added
to the mixture, is used as a liniment for indurations of the eye-
lids. Soft goats' milk cheese is used as an application, with
warm water, to allay defluxions of the eyes ; but when they
are attended with swelling, honey is used instead of the water.
In both cases, however, the eyes should be fomented with
warm whey. In cases of dry ophthalmia, it is found a very
useful plan to take the muscles38 lying within a loin of pork,
and, after reducing them to ashes, to pound and apply them to
the part affected.
She-goats, they say, are never affected with, ophthalmia,
from the circumstance that they browse upon certain kinds of
herbs : the same, too, with the gazelle. Hence it is that we
find it recommended, at the time of new moon, to swallow the
dung of these animals, coated with wax. As they are able to
see, too, by night, it is a general belief that the blood of a he-
goat is a cure for those persons affected with dimness of sight
to whom the Greeks have given the name of " nyctalopes."*9
A similar virtue is attributed to the liver of a she-goat, boiled
in astringent wine. Some are in the habit of rubbing the eyes
with the thick gravy40 which exudes from a she-goat's liver
roasted, or with the gall of that animal : they recommend the
flesh also as a diet, and say that the patient should expose
his eyes to the fumes of it while boiling : it is a general
opinion, too, that the animal should be of a reddish colour.
Another prescription is, to fumigate the eyes with the steam
arising from the liver boiled in an earthen jar, or, according to
some authorities, roasted.
Goats* gall is applied for numerous purposes : with, honey,
for films upon the eyes ; with one- third part of white hellebore,
for cataract ; with wine, for spots upon the eyes, indurations of
the cornea, films, webs, and argema; with extracted juice
of cabbage, for diseases of the eyelids, the hairs being first
pulled out, and the preparation left to dry on the parts affected ;
38 This is the translation suggested by Dalecbamps for "lumbulis."
39 •' Seers by night." *> " Same."
Chap. 48.] REMEDIES FOE THE EARS. 337
and with woman's milk, for rupture of the coats of the eye.
For all these purposes, the gall is considered the most effica-
cious, when dried. Nor is the dung of this animal held in
disesteem, being applied with honey for defluxions of the eyes.
The marrow, too, of a goat, or a hare's lights, we find used
for pains in the eyes ; and the gall of a goat, with raisin wine
or honey, for the dispersion of films upon those organs. It is
recommended also, for ophthalmia, to anoint the eyes with
wolf's fat or swine's marrow : we find it asserted, too, that per-
sons who carry a wolf's tongue, inserted in a bracelet, will
always be exempt from ophthalmia.
CHAP. 48. REMEDIES FOR DISEASES AND AFFECTIONS OF
THE EARS.
Pains and diseases of the ears are cured by using the urine
of a wild boar, kept in a glass vessel, or the gall of a wild
boar, swine, or ox, mixed with castor-oil and oil of roses in
equal proportions. But the best remedy of all is bull's gall,
warmed with leek juice, or with honey, if there is any suppu-
ration. Bull's gall too, warmed by itself in a pomegranate
rind, is an excellent remedy for offensive exhalations from the
ears : in combination with woman's milk, it is efficacious as a
cure for ruptures of those organs. Some persons are of opinion
that it is a good plan to wash the ears with this preparation in
cases where the hearing is affected ; while others again, after
washing the ears with warm water, insert a mixture composed
of the old slough of a serpent and vinegar, wrapped up in a
dossil of wool. In cases, however, where the deafness is very
considerable, gall warmed in a pomegranate rind with myrrh
and rue, is injected into the ears; sometimes, also, fat bacon
is used for this purpose, or fresh asses' dung, mixed with oil
of roses: in all cases, however, the ingredients should be
warmed.
The foam from a horse's mouth is better still, or the ashes
of fresh horse dung, mixed with oil of roses : fresh butter too
is good ; beef-suet mixed with goose-grease ; the urine of a
bull or she- goat ; or fullers' lant, heated to such a degree that
the steam escapes by the neck of the vessel. For this purpose
also, one third part of vinegar is mixed with a small portion of
the urine of a calf, which has not begun to graze. They apply
also to the ears calf's dung, mixed with the gall of that animal
VOL. V. Z
S38 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
and sloughs of serpents, care being taken to warm the ears be-
fore the application, and all the remedies being wrapped in
wool. Veal-suet, too, is used, with goose-grease and extract of
ocimum ; or else veal marrow, mixed with bruised cummin
and injected into the ears. For pains in the ears, the liquid
ejected by a boar in copulation is used, due care being taken to
receive it before it falls to the ground. For fractures of the
ears, a glutinous composition is made from the genitals of a
calf, which is dissolved in water when used ; and for other
diseases of those organs, foxes' fat is employed, goat's gall
mixed with rose-oil warmed, or else extracted juice of leeks :
in all cases where there is any rupture, these preparations are
used in combination with woman's milk. Where a patient is
suffering from hardness of hearing, ox- gall is employed, with
the urine of a he or she-goat ; the same, too, where there is
any suppuration.
Whatever the purpose for which they are wanted, it is the
general opinion that these substances are more efficacious when
they have been smoked in a goat's horn for twenty days.
Hare's rennet, too, is highly spoken of, taken in Aminean41
wine, in the proportion of one third of a denarius of rennet to
one half of a denarius of sacopenum.42 Bears' grease, mixed
with equal proportions of wax and bull-suet, is a cure for
imposthumes of the parotid glands : some persons add hy-
pocisthis43 to the composition, or else content themselves with
employing butter only, after first fomenting the parts affected
with a decoction of fenugreek, the good effects of which are
augmented by strychnos. The testes, too, of the fox, are very
useful for this purpose ; as also bull's blood, dried and reduced
to powder. She-goats' urine, made warm, is used as an injec*
tion for the ears ; and a liniment is made of the dung of those
animals, in combination with axle- grease.
CHAP. 49. REMEDIES FOR TOOTH- ACHE.
The ashes of deer's horns strengthen loose teeth and allay
tooth-ache, used either as a friction or as a gargle. Some persons,
however, are of opinion that the horn, unburnt and reduced to
powder, is still more efficacious for all these purposes. Denti-
frices are made both from the powder and the ashes. Another
41 See B. xiv. c. 4. ** See B. xx. c. 75.
43 See B. xxvi. c. 31.
Chap. 49.] BEMEDIES TOB TOOTH-ACHE. 339
excellent remedy is a wolf's head, reduced to ashes : it is a
well-known fact, too, that there are bones generally found in
the excrements of that animal ; these bones, attached to the
body as an amulet, are productive of advantageous effects. For
the cure of tooth-ache, hare's rennet is injected into the ear :
the head also of that animal, reduced to ashes, is used in the
form of a dentifrice, and, with the addition of nard, is a correc-
tive of bad breath. Some persons, however, think it a better
plan to mix the ashes of a mouse's head with the dentifrice.
In the side of the hare there is a bone found, similar to a,
needle in appearance : for the cure of tooth-ache it is recom-
mended to scarify the gums with this bone. The pastern-bone
of an ox, ignited and applied to loose teeth which ache, has
the effect of strengthening them in the sockets ; the same bone,
reduced to ashes, and mixed with myrrh, is also used as a denti-
frice. The ashes of burnt pig's feet are productive of a similar
effect, as also the calcined bones of the cotylo'id cavities in which
the hip-bones move. It is a well-known fact, that, introduced
into the throat of beasts of burden, these bones are a cure for
worms, and that, in a calcined state, they are good for strength-
ening the teeth.
When the teeth have been loosened by a blow, they are
strengthened by using asses' milk, or else ashes of the burnt
teeth of that animal, or a horse's lichen, reduced to powder,
and injected into the ear with oil. By lichen45 1 do not mean
the hippomanes, a noxious substance which I purposely forbear
to enlarge upon, but an excrescence which forms upon the
knees of horses, and just above the hoofs. In the heart46 of
this animal there is also found a bone which bears a close
resemblance to the eye-teeth of a dog : if the gums are scarified
with this bone, or with a tooth taken from the jaw-bone of a
dead horse, corresponding in place with the tooth affected, the
pain will be removed, they say. Anaxilaiis assures us that if
the liquid which, exudes from a mare when covered, is ignited
on the wick of a lamp, it will give out a most marvellous
representation47 of horses' heads ; and the same with reference
44 See B. xxi. c. 105. 45 See B. viii. c. 66.
46 See B. xi. c. 70. Ajasson remarks that this bone is only found in
animals that have undergone much fatigue, and that it results from the
consolidation of certain tendinous fibres which form the ligament of the heart.
47 " Capitum visus " seems to be a more probable reading than " capi-
z 2
340 FLINT'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
to the she-ass. As to the hippomanes, it is possessed of proper-
ties so virulent and so truly magical, that if it is only thrown
into fused metal48 which is being cast into the resemblance of
an Olympian mare, it will excite in all stallions that approach
it a perfect frenzy for copulation.
Another remedy for diseases of the teeth is joiners' glue,
boiled in water and applied, care being taken to remove it very
speedily, and instantly to rinse the teeth with wine in which
sweet pomegranate-rind has been boiled. It is considered,
also, a very efficacious remedy to wash the teeth with goats'
milk, or bull's gall. The pastern-bones of a she-goat just
killed, reduced to ashes, and indeed, to avoid the necessity for
repetition, of any other four-footed beast reared in the farm-
yard, are considered to make an excellent dentifrice.
CHAP. 50. (12.) REMEDIES FOB DISEASES OF THE FACE.
It is generally believed that asses' milk effaces wrinkles in
the face, renders the skin more delicate, and preserves its white-
ness : and it is a well-known fact, that some women are in the
habit of washing their face with it seven49 hundred times daily,
strictly observing that number. Poppa3a, the wife of the
Emperor Nero, was the first to practise this ; indeed, she had
sitting-baths, prepared solely with asses' milk, for which pur-
pose whole troops of she- asses50 used to attend her on her jour-
nies.51 Purulent eruptions on the face are removed by an
application of butter, but white lead, mixed with the butter,
is an improvement. Pure butter, alone, is used for serpigi-
nous eruptions of the face, a layer of barley-meal being pow-
dered over it. The caul of a cow that has just calved, is
applied, while still moist, to ulcers of the face.
The following recipe may seem frivolous, but still, to please
the women,52 it must not be omitted ; the pastern-bone of a
white steer, they say, boiled forty days and forty nights, till it is
turn usus " given by Sillig. Be it what it may, the meaning of the pas-
sage is doubtful.
48 See -Elian, Var. Hist. xiv. 18.
49 There surely must be a wrong reading here, or he cannot intend this
to be understood literally. w See B. xi. c. 96.
91 One of the mistresses of Louis XV. not only did this, but (in a spirit
of great charity and consideration, of course) gave the milk to the poor
after she had thus used it.
« " Ad deside:ri£ mulierum."
Chap. 50.] REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE FACE. 341
quite dissolved, and then applied to the face in a linen cloth,
will remove wrinkles and preserve the whiteness of the skin.
An application of bull's dung, they say, will impart a rosy
tint to the cheeks, and not crocodilea53 even is better for the
purpose ; the face, however, must be washed with cold water,
both before and after the application. Sun-burns and all other
discolorations of the skin, are removed by the aid of calves'
dung kneaded up by hand with oil and gum ; ulcerations and
chaps of the mouth, by an application of veal or beef-suet,
mixed with goose-grease and juice of ocirnum. There is
another composition, also, made of veal - suet with stag's
marrow and leaves of white- thorn, the whole beaten up
together. Marrow, too, mixed with resin, even if it be cow
marrow only, is equally good ; and the broth of cow-beef is
productive of similar effects. A most excellent remedy for
lichens on the face is a glutinous substance prepared from the
genitals of a male calf, melted with vinegar and live sulphur,
and stirred together with the branch of a fig-tree : this com-
position is applied twice a day, and should be used quite fresh.
This glue, similarly prepared from a decoction of honey and
vinegar, is a cure for leprous spots, which are also removed by
applying a he- goat's liver warm.
Elephantiasis, too, is removed by an application of goats1
gall ; and leprous spots and furfuraceous eruptions by em-
ploying bull's gall with the addition of nitre, or else asses' urine
about the rising of the Dog-star. Spots on the face are re-
moved by either bull's gall or ass's gall diluted in water by
itself, care being taken to avoid the sun or wind after the skin
has peeled off. A similar effect is produced, also, by using bull's
gall or calf s gall, in combination with seed of cunila and the
ashes of a deer's horn, burnt at the rising of Canicula.
Asses' fat, in particular, restores the natural colour to scars
and spots on the skin caused by lichen or leprosy. A he-goat's
gall, mixed with cheese, live sulphur, and sponge reduced
to ashes, effectually removes freckles, the composition being
brought to the consistency of honey before being applied.
Some persons, however, prefer using dried gall, and mix with it
warm bran, in the proportion of one obolus to four oboli of honey,
the spots being rubbed briskly first. He-goat suet, too, is highly
53 See c. 28 of this Book.
342 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXVIII.
efficacious, used in combination with gith, sulphur, and iris; this
mixture being also employed, with goose-grease, stag's marrow,
resin, and lime, for the cure of cracked lips. I find it stated
by certain authors, that persons who have freckles on the skin
are looked upon as disqualified from taking any part in the
sacrifices prescribed by the magic art.
CHAP. 51. REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE TONSILLARY GLANDS,
AND FOR SCROFULA.
Cow's milk or goat's milk is good for ulcerations of the
tonsillary glands and of the trachea. It is used in the form of
a gargle, warm from the udder or heated, goat's milk being
the best, boiled with mallows and a little salt. A broth made
from tripe is an excellent gargle for ulcerations of the tongue and
trachea; and for diseases of the tonsillary glands, the kidneys of a
fox are considered a sovereign remedy^, dried and beaten up with
honey, and applied externally. For quinzy, bull's gall or goat's
gall is used, mixed with honey. A badger's liver, taken in
water, is good for offensive breath, and butter has a healing
effect upon ulcerations of the mouth. When a pointed or
other substance has stuck in the throat, by rubbing it exter-
nally with cats' dung, the substance, they say, will either come
up again or pass downwards into the stomach.
Scrofulous sores are dispersed by applying the gall of a wild
boar or of an ox, warmed for the purpose : but it is only when the
sores are ulcerated that hare's rennet is used, applied in a linen
cloth with wine. The ashes of the burnt hoof of an ass or
horse, applied with oil or water, is good for dispersing scrofu-
lous sores ; warmed urine also ; the ashes of an ox's hoof,
taken in water ; cow-dung, applied hot with vinegar ; goat-
suet with lime ; goats' dung, boiled in vinegar ; or the testes
of a fox. Soap,54 too, is very useful for this purpose, an
invention of the Gauls for giving a reddish58 tint to the hair.
This substance is prepared from tallow and ashes, the best ashes
for the purpose being those of the beech and yoke-elm : there
are two kinds of it, the hard soap and the liquid, both of them
much used by the people of Germany, the men, in particular,
more than the women.
54 See Beckraann's Hist. Inv. II. 92-3, Bohris Ed., where this sub-
ject is treated at considerable length.
55 " Rutilandis capillis."
Chap. 53.] BEMEDIES FOB COUGH. 343
CHAP. 52. KEMEDIES FOE PAINS IN THE NECK.
For pains in the neck, the part should be well rubbed with
butter or bears' grease ; and for a stiff neck, with beef suet, a
substance which, in combination with oil, is very useful for
the cure of scrofula. For the painful cramp, attended with
inflexibility, to which people give the name of " opisthotony,"
the urine of a she-goat, injected into the ears, is found very
useful ; as also a liniment made of the dung of that animal,
mixed with bulbs.
In cases where the nails have been crushed, it is an excel-
lent plan to attach to them the gall of any kind of animal.
Whitlows upon the fingers should be treated with dried
bull's gall, dissolved in warm water. Some persons are in the
habit of adding sulphur and alum, of each an equal weight.
CHAP. 53. REMEDIES FOR COUGH AND FOR SPITTING OF BLOOD.
A wolf's liver, administered in mulled wine, is a cure for
cough ; a bear's gall also, mixed with honey ; the ashes of the
tips of a cow's horn ; or else the saliva of a horse, taken in the
drink for three consecutive days — in which last case the horse
will be sure to die, they say.66 A deer's lights are useful for
the same purpose, dried with the gullet of the animal in the
smoke, and then beaten up with honey, and taken daily as an
electuary : the spitter67 deer, be it remarked, is the kind that
is the most efficacious for the purpose.
Spitting of blood is cured by taking ashes of burnt deer's
horns, or else a hare's rennet in drink, in doses of one-third
of a denarius, with Samian earth and myrtle- wine. The dung
of this last animal, reduced to ashes and taken in the evening,
with wine, is good for coughs that are recurrent at night.
The smoke, too, of a hare's fur, inhaled, has the effect of bring-
ing off from the lungs such humours as are difficiflt to be dis-
charged by expectoration. Purulent ulcerations of the chest
and lungs, and bad breath proceeding from a morbid state of
the lungs, are successfully treated with butter boiled with an
equal quantity of Attic honey till it assumes a reddish hue, a
spoonful of the mixture being taken by the patient every
morning : some persons, however, instead of honey prefer
using larch-resin for the purpose. In cases where there are
56 " Earn mori tradimt." The reading here is very doubtful.
* "Subulo."
344 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTOBT. [Book XX VI II.
discharges of blood, cow's blood, they say, is good, taken in
small quantities with vinegar ; but as to bull's blood, it would
be a rash thing to believe in any such recommendation. For
inveterate spitting of blood, bull-glue is taken, in doses of three
oboli, in warm water.
CHAP. 54. (13.) — BEMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE STOMACH.
Ulcerations of the stomach are effectually treated with
asses' milk58 or cows' milk. For gnawing pains in that region,
beef is stewed, with vinegar and wine. Fluxes are healed by
taking the ashes of burnt deer's horns ; and discharges of blood
by drinking the blood of a kid just killed, made hot, in doses
of three cyathi, with equal proportions of vinegar and tart
wine ; or else by taking kid's rennet, with twice the quantity
of vinegar.
CHAP. 55. REMEDIES FOR LIVER COMPLAINTS AND FOR ASTHMA.
Liver complaints are cured by taking a wolf's liver dried, in
honied wine ; or by using the dried liver of an ass, with twice
the quantity of rock-parsley and three nuts, the whole beaten
up with honey and taken with the food. The blood, too, of a
he-goat is prepared and taken with the food. For persons suf-
fering from asthma, the most efficient remedy of all is the blood
of wild horses59 taken in drink ; and next to that, asses' milk
boiled with bulbs, the whey being the part used, with the
addition of nasturtium steeped in water and tempered with
honey, in the proportion of one cyathus of nasturtium to three
semi-sextarii of whey. The liver or lights of a fox, taken in
red wine, or bear's gall in water, facilitate the respiration.
CHAP. 56. REMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE LOINS.
For pains in the loins and all other affections which require
emollients, frictions with bears' grease should be used ; or else
ashes of stale boars' dung or swine's dung should be mixed
with wine and given to the patients. The magicians, too,
have added to this branch of medicine their own fanciful
devices. In the first place of all, madness in he-goats, they
say, may be effectually calmed by stroking the beard ; and if
the beard is cut off, the goat will never stray to another flock.
58 Asses' milk is still recommended for pulmonary phthisis.
w See B. viii. c. 16.
Chap. 57.] REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE SPLEEN. 345
To the above composition they add goats' dung, and recom-
mend it to be held in the hollow of the hand, as hot as possible,
a greased linen cloth being placed beneath, and care being
taken to hold it in the right hand if the pain is on the left
side, and in the left hand if the pain is on the right. They
recommend also that the dung employed for this purpose should
be taken up on the point of a needle made of copper. The
mode of treatment is, for the patient to hold the mixture in
his hand till the heat is felt to have penetrated to the loins,
after which the hand is rubbed with a pounded leek, and the
loins with the same dung annealed with honey. They prescribe
also for the same malady the testes of a hare, to be eaten by the
patient. In cases of sciatica they are for applying cow-dung
warmed upon hot ashes in leaves : and for pains in the kidneys
they recommend a hare's kidneys to be swallowed raw, or
perhaps boiled, but without letting them be touched by the
teeth. If a person carries about him the pastern-bone of a
hare, he wifl never be troubled with puins in the bowels,
they say.
CHAP. 57. REMEDIES FOB AFFECTIONS OF THE SPLEEN.
Affections of the spleen are alleviated by taking the gall of
a wild boar or hog in drink ; ashes of burnt deer's horns in
vinegar ; or, what is best of all, the dried spleen of an ass, the
good effects being sure to be felt in the course of three days.
The first dung voided by an ass's foal — a substance known as
"polea"60 by the people of Syria — is administered in oxymel
for these complaints ; a dried horse tongue, too, is taken in
wine, a sovereign remedy which, Caecilius Bion tells us, he first
heard of when living among the barbarous nations. The milt
of a cow or ox is used in a similar manner.; but when it is
quite fresh, the practice is to roast or boil it and take it with
the food. For pains in the liver a topical application is made
by bruising twenty heads of garlick in one sextarius of vinegar,
and applying them in a piece of ox bladder. For the same
malady the magicians recommend a calf's milt, bought at the
price set upon it and without any haggling, that being an
important point, and one that should be religiously observed.
This done, the milt must be cut in two lengthwise, and attached
80 This would appear to be a Greek word in reality.
346 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
to the patient's shirt,61 on either side ; after which, the patient
must put it on and let the pieces fall at his feet, and must
then pick them up, and dry them in the shade. While this
last is doing, the diseased liver of the patient will gradually
contract, they say, and he will eventually be cured. The
lights, too, of a fox are very useful for this purpose, dried on
hot ashes and taken in water ; the same, too, with a kid's
milt, applied to the part affected.
CHAP. 58. (14.) REMEDIES FOR BOWEL COMPLAINTS.
To arrest looseness of the howels, deer's blood is used ; the
ashes also of deer's horns ; the liver of a wild boar, taken fresh
and without salt, in wine ; a swine's liver roasted, or that of a
he-goat, boiled in five semisextarii of wine ; a hare's rennet
boiled, in quantities the size of a chick-pea, in wine, or, if
there are symptoms of fever, in water. To this last some
persons add nut-galls, while others, again, content themselves
with hare's blood boiled by itself in milk. Ashes, too, of
burnt horse-dung are taken in water for this purpose ; or else
ashes of the part of an old bull's horn which lies nearest the
root, sprinkled in water ; the blood, too, of a he-goat boiled
upon charcoal ; or a decoction made from a goat's hide boiled
with the hair on.
For relaxing the bowels a horse's rennet is used, or else the
blood, marrow, or liver of a she-goat. A similar effect is pro-
duced by applying a wolf's gall to the navel, with elaterium;62
by taking mares' milk, goats' milk with salt and honey, or a
she-goat's gall with juice of cyclaminos,63 and a little alum — in
which last case some prefer adding nitre and water to the
mixture. Bull's gall, too, is used for a similar purpose, beaten
up with wormwood and applied in the form of a suppository ; or
butter is taken, in considerable doses.
Cceliac affections and dysentery are cured by taking cow's
liver ; ashes of deer's horns, a pinch in three fingers swallowed
in water ; hare's rennet, kneaded up in bread, or, if there is
any discharge of blood, taken with polenta ;64 or else boar's
61 " Tunica." 62 See B. xx. c. 2.
63 See B. xxv. c. 67. Mares' milk is not a purgative ; and goats' milk,
as Ajasson remarks, is somewhat astringent. Juice of Cyclamen, on the
other hand, or sow-bread, is highly purgative.
64 See B. xviii. c. 14.
Chap. 58.] REMEDIES FOE BOWEL COMPLAINTS. 347
dung, swine's dung, or hare's dung, reduced to ashes and
mixed with mulled wine. Among the remedies, also, for the
coeliac flux and dysentery, veal broth is reckoned, a remedy very
commonly used. If the patient takes asses' milk for these
complaints, it will be all the better if honey is added ; and no
less efficacious for either complaint are the ashes of asses* dung
taken in wine ; or else polea, the substance above65-mentioned.
In such cases, even when attended with a discharge of blood,
we find a horse's rennet recommended, by some persons known
as " hippace ;" ashes of burnt horse-dung ; horses' teeth
pounded ; and boiled cows' milk. In cases of dysentery, it is
recommended to add a little honey ; and, for the cure of grip-
ing pains, ashes of deer's horns, bull's gall mixed with cum-
min, or the flesh of a gourd, should be applied to the navel.
For both complaints new cheese made of cows' milk is used,
as an injection ; butter also, in the proportion of four semi-
sextarii to two ounces of turpentine, or else employed with a de-
coction of mallows or with oil of roses. Veal-suet or beef-suet
is also given, and the marrow of those animals is boiled with
meal, a little wax, and some oil, so as to form a sort of pottage.
This marrow, too, is kneaded up with bread for a similar pur-
pose ; or else goats' milk is used, boiled down to one half. In
cases, too, where there are gripings in the bowels, wine of the
first running66 is administered. . For the last-named pains, some
persons are of opinion that it is a sufficient remedy to take
a single dose of hare's rennet in mulled wine ; though others
again, who are more distrustful, are in the habit of applying a
liniment to the abdomen, made of goats' blood, barley -meal,
and resin.
For all defluxions of the bowels it is recommended to apply
soft cheese, and for cceliac affections and dysentery old cheese,
powdered, one cyathus of cheese being taken in three cyathi of
ordinary wine. Goats' blood is boiled down with the marrow
of those animals for the cure of dysentery ; and the cceliac flux
is effectually treated with the roasted liver of a she- goat, or,
what is still better, the liver of a he-goat boiled in astringent
wine, and administered in the drink, or else applied to the navel
with oil of myrtle. Some persons boil down the liver in three
sextarii of water to half a sextarius, and then add rue to it.
65 In Chap. 57 of this Book.
66 " Protropum." See B. xiv. cc. 9. 11.
348 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
The milt of a he or she-goat is sometimes roasted for this pur-
pose, or the suet of a he-goat is incorporated in bread baked
upon the ashes ; the fat, too, of a she-goat, taken from the kidneys
more particularly, is used. This last, however, must be taken
by itself and swallowed immediately, being generally recom-
mended to be taken in water moderately cool. Some persons,
too, boil goats' suet in water, with a mixture of polenta, cum-
min, anise, and vinegar ; and for the cure of cceliac affections,
they rub the abdomen with a decoction of goats' dung and
honey.
For both the coaliac flux and dysentery, kid's rennet is
employed, taken in myrtle wine in pieces the size of a bean,
or else kid's blood, prepared in the form of a dish known by
the name of "sanguiculus."67 For dysentery an injection is
employed, made of bull glue dissolved in warm water. Flatu-
lency is dispelled by a decoction of calf's dung in wine. For
intestinal affections deer's rennet is highly recommended,
boiled with beef and lentils, and taken with the food ; hare's
fur, also reduced to ashes and boiled with honey; or boiled
goat's milk, taken with a small quantity of mallows and some
salt ; if rennet is added, the remedy will be all the more effec-
tual. Goat suet, taken in any kind of broth, is possessed of
similar virtues, care being taken to swallow cold water imme-
diately after. The ashes of a kid's thighs are said to be mar-
vellously efficacious for intestinal hernia ; as also hare's dung,
boiled with honey, and taken daily in pieces the size of a bean ;
indeed, these remedies are said to have proved effectual in cases
where a cure has been quite despaired of. The broth too,
made from a goat's head, boiled with the hair on, is highly
recommended.
CHAP. 59. REMEDIES FOR TENESMUS, TAPEWORM, AND
AFFECTIONS OF THE COLON.
The disease called " tenesmus," or in other words, a frequent
and ineffectual desire to go to stool, is removed by drinking
asses' milk or cows' milk. The various kinds of tapeworm68 are
expelled by taking the ashes of deer's horns in drink. The bones
67 A kind of black pudding. Dupinet, the old French translator, says
that in his time the people of the Alpine regions still called this dish sancfot.
68 He uses " taenia" probably, as a general name for intestinal worms.
Chap. 60.] AFFECTIONS OF THE BLADDER. 349
which we have spoken69 of as being found in the excrements
of the wolf, worn attached to the arm, are curative of diseases
of the colon, provided they have not been allowed to touch the
ground. Polea, too, a substance already mentioned,70 is re-
markably useful for this purpose, boiled in grape juice :71 the
same too with swine's dung, powdered and mixed with cum-
min, in a decoction of rue. The antler of a young stag,
reduced to ashes and taken in wine, mixed with African snails,
crushed with the shells on, is considered a very useful remedy.
CHAP. 60. (15.) REMEDIES FOE AFFECTIONS OF THE BLADDEE,
AND FOE UELNAEY CALCULI.
Diseases of the bladder, and the torments attendant upon
calculi, are treated with the urine of a wild boar, or the
bladder of that animal taken as food ; both of them being still
more efficacious if they have been thoroughly soaked first.
The bladder, when eaten, should be boiled first, and if the
patient is a female, it should be a sow's bladder. There are
found in the liver of the wild boar certain small stones,72 or
what in hardness resemble small stones, of a white hue, and
resembling those found in the liver of the common swine : if
these stones are pounded and taken in wine, they will expel
calculi, it is said. So oppressed is the wild boar by the bur-
den of his urine,73 that if he has not first voided it, he is
unable to take to flight, and suffers himself to be taken as
though he were enchained to the spot. This urine, they say,
has a consuming effect upon urinary calculi. The kidneys of
a hare, dried and taken in wine, act as an expellent upon
calculi. We have already74 mentioned that in the gammon of
the hog there are certain joint-bones ; a decoction made from
them is remarkably useful for urinary affections. The kidneys
of an ass, dried and pounded, and administered in undiluted
wine, are a cure for diseases of the bladder. The excrescences
that grow on horses' legs, taken for forty days in ordinary
wine or honied wine, expel urinary calculi. The ashes, too, of
69 In c. 49 of this Book. 70 In c. 57 of this Book.
71 " Sapa." Grape-juice boiled down to two-thirds : see B. xiv. c. 11.
72 In reality, these are biliary calculi, found in the gall-bladder of the
animal. They are called " bezoar " stones, from a Persian word signifying
" destructive to poison."
73 See B. viii. c. 77. 74 In c. 49 of this Book.
350 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
a horse's hoof, taken in wine or water, are considered highly
useful for this purpose ; and the same with the dung of a she-
goat — if a wild goat, all the better — taken in honied wine :
goats' hair, too, is used, reduced to ashes.
For carbuncles upon the generative organs, the brains and
blood of a wild boar or swine are highly recommended : and
for serpiginous affections of those parts, the liver of those
animals is used, burnt upon juniper wood more particularly,
and mixed with papyrus and arsenic ;75 the ashes, also, of their
dung; ox-gall, kneaded to the consistency of honey, with
Egyptian alum and myrrh, beet-root boiled in wine being laid
upon it; or else beef. Kunning ulcers of those parts are
treated with veal-suet and marrow, boiled in wine, or with the
gall of a she- goat, mixed with honey and the extracted juice
of the bramble.76 In cases where these ulcers are serpiginous,
it is recommended to use goats' dung with honey or vinegar,
or else butter by itself. Swellings of the testes are reduced by
using veal-suet with nitre, or the dung of the animal boiled in
vinegar. The bladder of a wild boar, eaten roasted, acts as a
check upon incontinence of urine ; a similar effect being pro-
duced by the ashes of the feet of a wild boar or swine sprinkled
in the drink ; the ashes of a sow's bladder taken in drink ; the
bladder or lights of a kid ; a hare's brains taken in wine ; the
testes of a male hare grilled ; the rennet of that animal taken
with goose-grease and polenta ;77 or the kidneys of an ass, beaten
up and taken in undiluted wine.
The magicians tell us, that after taking the ashes of a boar's
genitals in sweet wine, the patient must make water in a dog
kennel, and repeat the following formula — " This I do that I
may not wet my bed as a dog does." On the other hand, a
swine's bladder, attached to the groin, facilitates the discharge
of the urine, provided it has not already touched the ground.
CHAP. 61. — REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE GENERATIVE ORGANS
AND OF THE FUNDAMENT.
Eor diseases of the fundament, a sovereign remedy is bear's
gall, mixed with the grease ; to which some persons are in the
75 Aj assort remarks that arsenic should be used with the greatest care in
such a case.
76 u Rubi." Ho probably means the bramble-berry.
77 See B. xviii. c. 14.
Chap. 61.] EEMEDIES FOB THE GENERATIVE QEOANS. 351
liabit of addiug litharge and frankincense. Butter, too, is very
good, employed with goose-grease and oil of roses. The pro-
portions in which they are mixed will be regulated by the
circumstances of the case, care being taken to see that they are
of a consistency which admits of their being easily applied.
Bull's gall upon lint is a remarkably useful remedy, and has
the effect of making chaps of the fundament cicatrize with
great rapidity. Swellings of those parts are treated with veal
suet — that from the loins in particular — mixed with rue. For
other affections, goats' blood is used, with polenta. Goats'
gall, too, is employed by itself, for the cure of condylomata, and
sometimes, wolf's gall, mixed with wine.
Bears' blood is curative of inflamed tumours and apost-
emes upon these parts in general ; as also bulls' blood, dried
and powdered. The best remedy, however, is considered to
be the stone which the wild ass78 voids with his urine, it is
said, at the moment he is killed. This stone, which is in a
somewhat liquefied state at first, becomes solid when it reaches
the ground : attached to the thigh, it disperses all collections
of humours and all kinds of suppurations : it is but rarely
found, however, and it is not every wild ass that produces it,
but as a remedy it is held in high esteem. Asses' urine too,
used in combination with gith, is highly, recommended ; the
ashes of a horse's hoof, applied with oil and water; a horse's
blood, that of a stone-horse in particular ; the blood, also, of an
ox or cow, or the gall of those animals. Their flesh too, applied
warm, is productive of similar results ; the hoofs reduced to
ashes, and taken in water or honey ; the urine of a she-goat ;
the flesh of a he-goat, boiled in water; the dung of these
animals, boiled with honey ; or else a boar's gall, or swine's
urine, applied in wool.
Biding on horseback, we well know, galls and chafes the
inside of the thighs : the best remedy for accidents of this
nature is to rub the parts with the foam which collects at a
horse's mouth. Where there are swellings in the groin, arising79
from ulcers, a cure is effected by inserting in the sores three
horse-hairs, tied with as many knots.
78 "Onager."
w Arising, by sympathy, from sores in other parts of the body.
352 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
CHAP. 62. (16.) REMEDIES FOR GOTJT AND FOR DISEASES OF
THE FEET.
For the cure of gout, bears' grease is employed, mixed in
equal proportions with, bull-suet and wax ; some persons add
to the composition, hypocisthis80 and nut-galls. Others, again,
prefer he-goat suet, mixed with the dung of a she-goat and
saffron, or else with mustard, or sprigs of ivy pounded and
used with perdicium,81 or with flowers of wild cucumber. Cow-
dung is also used, with lees of vinegar. Some persons speak
highly in praise of the dung of a calf which has not begun to
graze, or else a bull's blood, without any other addition ; a
fox, also, boiled alive till only the bones are left ; a wolf boiled
alive in oil to the consistency of a cerate ; he- goat suet, with
an equal proportion of helxine,82 and one- third part of mus-
tard ; or ashes of goats' dung, mixed with axle-grease. They
say, too, that for sciatica, it is an excellent plan to apply this
dung boiling83 hot beneath the great toes ; and that, for diseases
of the joints, it is highly efficacious to attach bears' gall or
hares' feet to the part affected. Gout, they say, may be allayed
by the patient always carrying about with him a hare's foot,
cut off from the animal alive.
Bears' grease is a cure for chilblains and all kinds of chaps
upon the feet ; with the addition of alum, it is still more effi-
cacious. The same results are produced by using goat-suet ;
a horse's teeth powdered ; the gall of a wild boar or hog ; or
else the lights of those animals, applied with their grease ; and
this, too, where the soles are blistered, or the feet have been
crushed by a substance striking against them. In cases where
the feet have been frozen, ashes of burnt hare's fur are used ;
and for contusions of the feet, the lights of that animal are
applied, sliced or reduced to ashes. Blisters occasioned by the
sun are most effectually treated by using asses' fat, or else
beef- suet, with oil of roses. Corns, chaps, and callosities of
the feet are cured by the application of wild boars' dung or
swine's dung, used fresh, and removed at the end of a couple
80 See B. xxvi. c. 31. Bears' grease is of no use whatever for the cure
of gout.
81 See B. xix. c. 31, B. xxi. cc. 62, 104, and B. xxii. cc. 19, 20.
82 See B. xxi. c. 56.
83 This mode of cure. Ajasson says, is still employed in the East, where
the preparation is known by the name of mow.
Chap. 63.] REMEDIES FOR EPILEPSY. 353
of days. The pastern-bones of these animals are also used, re-
duced to ashes ; or else the lights of a wild boar, swine, or deer.
When the feet have been galled by the shoes, they are rubbed
with the urine of an ass, applied with the mud formed by it
upon the ground. Corns are treated with beef-suet and pow-
dered frankincense ; chilblains with burnt leather, that of an
old shoe, in particular ; and injuries produced by tight shoes
with ashes of goat- skin, tempered with oil.
The pains attendant upon varicose veins are mitigated by
using ashes of burnt calves' dung, boiled with lily roots and a
little honey : a composition which is equally good for all kinds
of inflammations and sores that tend to suppurate. It is very
useful, also, for gout and diseases of the joints, when it is the
dung of a bull-calf that is used more particularly. For exco-
riations of the joints, the gall of a wild boar or swine is applied,
in a warm linen cloth : the dung, also, of a calf that has not
begun to graze ; or else goat-dung, boiled in vinegar with honey.
Yeal-suet rectifies malformed nails, as also goat-suet, mixed with
sandarach. Warts are removed by applying ashes of burnt
calves' dung in vinegar, or else the mud formed upon the ground
by the urine of an ass.
CHAP. 63. REMEDIES FOR EPILEPSY.
In cases of epilepsy, it is a good plan to eat a bear's testes, or
those of a wild boar, with mares' milk or water ; or else to drink
a wild boar's urine with honey and vinegar, that being the
best which has been left to dry in the bladder. The testes,
also, of swine are prescribed, dried and beaten up in sows'
milk, the patient abstaining from wine some days before and
after taking the mixture. The lights of a hare, too, are recom-
mended, salted, and taken with one third of frankincense, for
thirty consecutive days, in white wine : hare's rennet also ;
and asses' brains, smoked with burning leaves, and adminis-
tered in hydromel, in doses of half an ounce per day. An
ass's hoofs are reduced to ashes, and taken for a month toge-
ther, in doses of two spoonfuls ; the testes, also, of an ass,
salted and mixed with the drink, asses' milk or water in par-
ticular. The secundines, also, of a she-ass are recommended,
more particularly when it is a male that has been foaled : placed
beneath the nostrils of the patient, when the fits are likely to
come on, this substance will effectually repel them.
VOL. v. A A
354 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
There are some persons who recommend the patient to eat
the heart of a black he-ass in the open air with bread, upon
the first or second day of the moon : others, again, prescribe
the flesh of that animal, and others the blood, diluted with
vinegar, and taken for forty days together. Some mix horse-
stale for this purpose, with smithy water fresh from the forge,
employing the same mixture for the cure of delirium. Epilepsy
is also treated with mares' milk, or the excrescences from a
horse's legs, taken in honey and vinegar. The magicians
highly recommend goats' flesh, grilled upon a funeral pile ; as
also the suet of that animal, boiled with an equal quantity of
bull's gall, and kept in the gall-bladder; care being taken not
to let it touch the ground, and the patient swallowing it in
water, standing aloft.8i The smell arising from a goat's horns
or deer's antlers, burnt, efficiently detects the presence of
epilepsy.
In cases where persons are suddenly paralyzed, the urine of
an ass's foal, applied to the body with nard, is very useful, it is
said.
'CHAP. 64. — REMEDIES FOR JAUNDICE.
For the cure of jaundice, the ashes of a stag's antlers are
employed ; or the blood of an ass's foal, taken in wine. The
first dung,85 too, that has been voided by the foal after its
birth, taken in wine, in pieces the size of a bean, will effect a
cure by the end of three days. The dung of a new-born colt
is possessed of a similar efficacy.
"^~ CHAP. 65. REMEDIES FOR BROKEN BONES.
For broken bones, a sovereign remedy is the ashes of the
jaw-bone of a wild boar or swine : boiled bacon, too, tied round
the broken bone, unites it with marvellous rapidity. For
fractures of the ribs, goats' dung, applied in old wine, is extolled
as the grand remedy, being possessed in a high degree of
aperient, extractive, and healing properties.
CHAP. 66. — REMEDIES FOR FEVERS.
Deer's flesh, as already86 stated, is a febrifuge. Periodical
84 "Potum vero ex aqua sublime." The true reading and the meaning
are equally doubtful. 85 Spoken of as " polea" in c. 57.
86 In B. viii. c. 50. Because the animal itself was supposed to be free
from fever.
Chap. 67.] HEMEDTES FOtt MELANCHOLY. 355
and recurrent fevers are cured, if we are to believe what the
magicians tell us, by wearing the right eye of a wolf, salted,
and attached as an amulet. There is one kind of fever gene-
rally known as " amphemerine ;"87 it is to be cured, they say,
by the patient taking three drops of blood from an ass's ear, and
swallowing them in two semi-sextarii of water. For quartan
fever, the magicians recommend cats' dung to be attached to
the bod}r, with the toe of a horned owl, and, that the fever
may not be recurrent, not to be removed until the seventh
paroxysm is past. Who,88 pray, could have ever made such a
discovery as this ? And what, too, can be the meaning of this
combination ? Why, of all things in the world, was the toe
of a horned owl made choice of?
Other adepts in this art, who are more moderate in their
suggestions, recommend for quartan fever, the salted liver of a
cat that has been killed while the moon was on the wane, to be
taken in wine just before the paroxysms come on. The ma-
gicians recommend, too, that the toes of the patient should be
rubbed with the ashes of burnt cow-dung, diluted with a boy's
urine, and that a hare's heart should be attached to the hands;
they prescribe, also, hare's rennet, to be taken in drink just
before the paroxysms come on. New goats' milk cheese is
also given with honey, the whey being carefully extracted
first,
CHAP. 67. (17.) REMEDIES FOR MELANCHOLY, LETHARGY, AND
PHTHISIS.
For patients affected with melancholy,89 calves' dung, boiled
in wine, is a very useful remedy. Persons are aroused from
lethargy by applying to the nostrils the callosities from an
ass's legs stepped in vinegar, or the fumes of burnt goats'
horns or hair, or by the application of a wild boar's liver ; a
remedy which is also used for confirmed90 drowsiness.
The cure of phthisis is effected by taking a wolfs liver
boiled in thin wine ; the bacon of a sow that has been fed
upon herbs ; or the flesh of a she-ass, eaten with the broth :
this last mode in particular, being the one that is employed by
87 Or " quotidian," daily fever.
88 A rather singular episode in his narrative. It looks like a gloss.
89 Under this name, as Ajasson remarks, the affections now called " hys-
teria" are included. 9° '• Ye termini."
A A 2
356 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
the people of Achaia. They say too, that the smoke of dried
cow-dung — that of the animal when grazing, I mean — is re-
markably good for phthisis, inhaled through a reed ;91 and we
find it stated that the tips of cows' horns are burnt, and ad-
ministered with honey, in doses of two spoonfuls, in the form
of pills. Goat suet, many persons say, taken in a pottage of
alica,92 or melted fresh with honied wine, in the proportion of
one ounce of suet to one cyathus of wine, is good for cough
and phthisis, care being taken to stir the mixture with a sprig
of rue. One author of credit assures us that before now, a
patient whose recovery has been despaired of, has been restored
to health by taking one cyathus of wild goat93 suet and an
equal quantity of milk. Some writers, too, have stated that
ashes of burnt swine's dung are very useful, mixed with raisin
wine ; as also the lights of a deer, a spitter94 deer in particular,
smoke-dried and beaten up in wine.
CHAP. 68. REMEDIES FOR DROPSY.
!For dropsy, a wild boar's urine is good, taken in small doses
in the patient's drink ; it is of much greater efficacy, however,
when it has been left to dry in the bladder of the animal. The
ashes, too, of burnt cow- dung, and of bulls' dung in particular
— animals that are reared in herds, I mean — are highly esteemed.
This dung, the name given to which is " bolbiton,"95 is re-
duced to ashes, and taken in doses of three spoonfuls to one
semisextarius of honied wine ; that of the female animal being
used where the patient is a woman-, and that of the other sex
in the case of males ; a distinction about which the magicians
have made a sort of grand mystery. The dung of a bull-calf is
also applied topically for this disease, and ashes of burnt calves'
dung are taken with seed of staphy linos,96 in equal proportions,
in wine. Goats' blood also is used, with the marrow ; but it
is generally thought that the blood of the he-goat is the most
efficacious, when the animal has fed upon lentisk, more par-
ticularly.
91 Another instance of smoking, though not a very tempting one.
92 See B. xviii. c. 29. 9:i " Bupicapra."
94 "Stibulo." 95 From the Greek.
86 See B. xix. c. 27, B. xx. c. 15, and B. xxv. c. 64.
Chap. 71.] KEMEDIES FOR BTJKNS. 35 7
CHAP. 69. — REMEDIES FOR ERYSIPELAS, AND FOE PURULENT
ERUPTIONS.
For erysipelas a liniment of bears' grease is used, that from
the kidneys in particular ; fresh calves' dung also, or cow-dung ;
dried goats' milk cheese, with leeks ; or else the fine scrapings of
a deer's skin, brought off with pumice-stone and beaten up in
vinegar. Where there is redness of the skin attended with
itching, the foam from a horse's mouth is used, or the hoof,
reduced to ashes.
For the cure of purulent97 eruptions ashes of burnt asses'
dung are applied, with butter ; and for the removal of swarthy
pimples, dried goats' milk cheese, steeped in honey and vinegar,
is applied in the bath, no oil being used. Pustules are treated
with ashes of swine's dung, applied with water, or else ashes
of deer's antlers.
CHAP. 70.— REMEDIES FOR SPRAINS, INDURATIONS, AND BOILS.
For the cure of sprains the following applications are used ;
wild boars' dung or swine's dung; calves' dung; wild boars'
foam, used fresh with vinegar; goats' dung, applied with
honey; and raw beef, used as a plaster. For swellings, swine's
dung is used, warmed in an earthen pot, and beaten up with
oil. The best emollient for all kinds of indurations upon the
body is wolf's fat, applied topically. In the case of sores
which are wanted to break, the most effectual plan is to apply
cow-dung warmed in hot ashes, or else goats' dung boiled in
vinegar or wine. For the cure of boils, beef-suet is applied
with salt ; but if they are attended with pain, it is melted with
oil, and no salt is used. Goat- suet is employed in a similar
manner.
CHAP. 71. REMEDIES FOR BURNS. THE METHOD OF TESTING
BULL-GLUE ; SEVEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT.
For the treatment of burns, bears' grease is used, with lily
roots; dried wild boars' dung also, or swine's dung; the ashes
of burnt bristles, extracted from plasterers' brushes, beaten up
with grease ; the pastern-bone of an ox, reduced to ashes, and
mixed with wax and bull's marrow or deer's marrow ; or the
dung of a hare. The dung, too, of a she-goat, they say, will
effect a cure without leaving any scars.
91 " Eruptionibus pituitse,"
358 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
The best glue is that prepared from the ears and genitals of
the bull, and there is no better cure in existence for burns.
There is nothing, however, that is more extensively adulterated;
which is done by boiling up all kinds of old skins, and shoes
even, for the purpose. The Bhodian glue is the purest of all,
and it is this that painters and physicians mostly use. The
whiter it is, the more highly glue is esteemed : that, on the
other hand, which is black and brittle like wood, is looked upon
as good for nothing.
CHAP. 72. — REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE SINEWS AND FOR
CONTUSIONS.
For pains in the sinews, goats' dung, boiled in vinegar with
honey, is considered one of the most useful remedies, and this
even where the sinew98 is threatened with putrefaction. Strains
and contusions are healed with wild boars' dung, that has been
gathered in spring and dried. A similar method is employed
where persons have been dragged by a chariot or lacerated by
the wheels, or have received contusions in any other way, the
application being quite as effectual, should the dung happen
to be fresh. Some think it a better plan, however, to boil it
in vinegar ; and if only powdered and taken in vinegar, they
vouch for its good effects where persons are ruptured, wounded
internally, or suffering from the effects of a fall.
Others again, who are of a more scrupulous tendency," take
the ashes of it in water ; and the Emperor Nero, it is said, was
in the habit of refreshing himself with this drink, when he at-
tempted to gain the public applause at the three-horse chariot
races.1 Swine's dung, it is generally thought, is the next
best to that of the goat.
CHAP. 73. (18.) REMEDIES FOR HAEMORRHAGE.
Haemorrhage is arrested by applying deer's rennet with
vinegar, hare's rennet, hare's fur reduced to ashes, or ashes of
burnt asses' dung. The dung, however, of male animals is the
most efficacious for this purpose, being mixed with vinegar, and
applied with wool, in all cases of haemorrhage. In the same way,
too, the ashes of a horse's head or thigh, or of burnt calves' dung,
are used with vinegar ; the ashes also of a goat's horns or dung,
98 Where the sinew has been wounded and exposed, either vinegar or
honey, Ajasson remarks, would be u highly dangerous application.
99 " Reverentiores." J " Trigario."
Chap. 74.] REMEDIES FOR ULCERS. 359
with vinegar. But it is the thick blood that issues from the
liver of a he-goat when cut asunder, that is looked upon as the
most efficacious ; or else the ashes of the burnt liver of a goat
of either sex, taken in wine or applied to the nostrils with
vinegar. The ashes, too, of a leather wine-bottle — but only
when made of he-goat skin — are used very efficiently with
an equal quantity of resin, for the purpose of stanching blood,
and knitting together the lips of the wound. A kid's rennet
in vinegar, or the thighs of that animal, reduced to ashes, are
said to be productive of a similar result.
CHAP. 74. REMEDIES FOR ULCERS AKD CARCIXOMATOUS SORES.
Ulcers upon the legs and thighs are cured by an application
of bears' grease, mixed with red earth : and those of a serpigi-
nous nature by using wild boar's gall, with resin and white
lead ; the jaw-bone of a wild boar or swine, reduced to ashes ;
swine's dung in a dry state ; or goats' dung, made hike- warm
in vinegar. For other kinds of ulcers butter is used, as a
detergent, and as tending to make new flesh ; ashes of deer's
antlers, or deer's marrow ; or else bull's gall, mixed with
oil of Cyprus2 or oil of iris. Wounds inflicted with edged
weapons are rubbed with fresh swine's dung, or with dried
swine's dung, powdered. When ulcers are phagedsenic or
flstulous, bull's gall is injected, with leek-juice or woman's
milk ; or else bull's blood, dried and powdered, with the plant
cotyledon.3
Carcinomatous sores are treated with hare's rennet, sprin-
kled upon them with an equal proportion of capers in wine ;
gangrenes, with bears' grease, applied with a feather ; and
ulcers of a serpiginous nature with the ashes of an ass's hoofs,
powdered upon them. The blood of the horse corrodes the
flesh by virtue of certain septic powers which it possesses ;
dried horse-dung, too, reduced to ashes, has a similar effect.
Those kinds of ulcers which are commonly known as "phage-
dsenic," are treated with the ashes of a cow's hide, mixed with
honey. Calves' flesh, as also cow-dung mixed with honey, pre-
vents recent wounds from swelling. The ashes of a leg of veal,
applied with woman's milk, are a cure for sordid ulcers, and the
malignant sore known as " cacoethes :"4 bull-glue, melted, is
2 See B. xii. c. 51. 8 See B. xxv. c. 101.
4 " Bad habit." A sort of cancer, or malignant ulcer.
360 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
applied to recent wounds inflicted with edged weapons, the
application being removed before the end of three days. Dried
goats' milk cheese, applied with vinegar and honey, acts as a
detergent upon ulcers ; and goat suet, used in combination
with wax, arrests the spread of serpiginous sores : if employed
with pitch and sulphur, it will effect a thorough cure. The
ashes of a kid's leg, applied with woman's milk, have a similar
effect upon malignant ulcers ; for the cure, too, of carbuncles, a
sow's brains are roasted and applied.
CHAP. 75. REMEDIES FOE THE ITCH.
The itch in man is cured very effectually by using the
marrow of an ass, or the urine of that animal, applied with
the mud it has formed upon the ground. Butter, too, is very
good ; as also in the case of beasts of burden, if applied with
warmed resin : bull glue is also used, melted in vinegar, and
incorporated with lime ; or goat's gall, mixed with calcined
alum. The eruption called " boa,"5 is treated with cow-dung,
a fact to which it is indebted for its name. The itch in dogs
is cured by an application of fresh cows' blood, which, when
quite dry, is renewed a second time, and is rubbed off the next
day with strong lie- ashes.
CLJAP. 76. METHODS OF EXTRACTING FOREIGN SUBSTANCES WHICH
ADHERE TO THE BODY, AND OF RESTORING SCARS TO THEIR
NATURAL COLOUR.
Thorns and similar foreign substances are extracted from the
body by using cats' dung, or that of she-goats, with wine ; the
rennet also of any kind of animal, that of the hare more parti-
cularly, with powdered frankincense and oil, or an equal quan-
tity of mistletoe, or else with bee-glue.6
Ass suet restores scars of a swarthy hue to their natural
colour; and they are equally effaced by using calf's gall made
warm. Medical men add myrrh, honey, and saffron, and keep
the mixture in a copper box ; some, too, incorporate with it
flower of copper.
CHAP. 77. (19.) REMEDIES FOR FEMALE DISEASES.
Menstruation is promoted by using bull's gall, in unwashed
v/ool, as a pessary : Olympias of Thebes adds hyssop and nitre.
5 See B. xxiv. c. 35. 6 " Propolis." Sec B. xi. c. 6.
Chop. 77.] REMEDIES EOB EEMALE DISEASES. 361
Ashes,- too, of deer's horns are taken in drink for the same pur-
pose, and for derangements of the uterus they are applied topi-
cally, as also bull's gall, used as a pessary with opium, in the
proportion of two oboli. It is a good plan, too, to use fumigations
for the uterus, made with deer's hair, burnt. Hinds, the}r say,
when they find themselves pregnant, are in the habit of swal-
lowing a small stone. This stone, when found in their excre-
ments, or in the uterus — for it is to be found there as well —
attached to the body as an amulet, is a preventive of abortion.
There are also certain small stones, found in the heart and uterus
of these animals, which are very useful for women during preg-
nancy and in travail. As to the kind of pumice-stone which
is similarly found in the uterus of the cow, we have already7
mentioned it when treating of the formation of that animal.
A wolf's fat, applied externally, acts emolliently upon the
uterus, and the liver of a wolf is very soothing for pains in
that organ. It is found advantageous for women, when near
delivery, to eat wolf's flesh, or, if they are in travail, to have
a person near them who has eaten it ; so much so, indeed, that
it will act as a countercharm even to any noxious spells which
may have been laid upon them. In case, however, a person
who has eaten wolf's flesh should happen to enter the room
at the moment of parturition, dangerous effects will be sure to
follow. The hare, too, is remarkably useful for the complaints
of females : the lights of that animal, dried and taken in drink,
are beneficial to the uterus; the liver, taken in water with Samian
earth, acts as an emmenagogue ; and the rennet brings away
the after-birth, due care being taken by the patient not to bathe
the day before. Applied in wool as a pessary, with saffron and
leek-juice, this last acts as an expellent upon the dead foetus. It
is a general opinion that the uterus of a hare, taken with the
food, promotes the conception of male offspring, and that a
similar effect is produced by using the testes and rennet of that
animal. It is thought, too, that a leveret, taken from the uterus
of its dam, is a restorative of fruitfulness to women who are
otherwise past child-bearing. But it is the blood of a hare's
foetus that the magicians recommend males to drink : while for
young girls they prescribe nine pellets of hare's dung, to ensure
a durable firmness to the breasts. For a similar purpose, also,
7 In B. xi. c, 79.
362 FLINT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
they apply hare's rennet with honey ; and to prevent hairs
from growing again when once removed, they use a liniment
of hare's blood.
For inflations of the uterus, it is found a good plan to apply
wild boars' dung or swine's dung topically with oil : but a
still more effectual remedy is to dry the dung, and sprinkle it,
powdered, in the patient's drink, even though she should be
in a state of pregnancy or suffering the pains of child-birth.
By administering sow's milk with honied wine, parturition is
facilitated ; and if taken by itself it will promote the secre-
tion of the milk when deficient in nursing women. By rub-
bing the breasts of famales with sow's blood they are pre-
vented from becoming too large. If pains are felt in the
breasts, they will be alleviated by drinking asses' milk ; and the
same milk, taken with honey, has considerable efficacy as an
emmenagogue. Stale fat, too, from the same animal, heals
ulcerations of the uterus : applied as a pessary, in wool, it acts
emolliently upon indurations of that organ ; and, applied fresh
by itself, or in water when stale, it has all the virtues of a
depilatory.
An ass's milt, dried and applied in water to the breasts,
promotes the secretion of the milk ; and used in the form of a
fumigation, it acts as a corrective upon the uterus. A fumi-
gation made with a burnt ass's hoof, placed beneath a woman,
accelerates parturition, so much so, indeed, as to expel the dead
foetus even : hence it is that it should only be employed in cases
of miscarriage, it having a fatal effect upon the living foetus.
Asses' dung, applied fresh, has a wonderful effect, they say, in
arresting discharges of blood in females : the same, too, with
the ashes of this dung, which, used as a pessary, are very good
for the uterus. If the skin is rubbed with the foam from a
horse's mouth for forty days together, before the first hair has
made its appearance, it will effectually prevent the growth
thereof : a decoction, too, made from deer's antlers is productive
of a similar effect, being all the better if they are used quite
fresh. Mares' milk, used as an injection, is highly beneficial
to the uterus.
Where the foetus is felt to be dead in the uterus, the
lichens or excrescences from a horse's legs, taken in fresh
water, will act as an expellent : an effect produced also by a
fumigation made with the hoofs or dry dung of that animal.
Chap. 77.] REMEDIES FOE. PEHALE DISEASES- 363
Procidence of the uterus is arrested by using butter, in the
form of an injection ; and indurations of that organ are removed
by similarly employing ox-gall, with oil of roses, turpentine
being applied externally in wool. They say, too, that a fumi-
gation, made from ox- dung, acts as a corrective upon procidence
of the uterus, and facilitates parturition ; and that conception
is promoted by the use of cows' milk. It is a well-known
fact that sterility is often entailed by suffering in child-birth ;
an evil which may be averted, Olympias of Thebes assures us,
by rubbing the parts, before sexual intercourse, with bull's
gall, serpents' fat, verdigrease, and honey. In cases, too, where
menstruation is too abundant, the external parts should be
sprinkled with a solution of calf's gall, the moment, before the
sexual congress ; a method which acts emolliently also upon
indurations of the abdomen. Applied to the navel as a lini-
ment, it arrests excessive discharges, and is generally beneficial
to the uterus. The proportions generally adopted are — one
denarius of gall, one-third of a denarius of opium, and as much
oil of almonds as may appear to be requisite ; the whole being
applied in sheep's wool. The gall, too, of a bull-calf is beaten
up with half the quantity of honey, and kept in readiness for
the treatment of uterine diseases. If a woman about the time
of conception eats roasted veal with the plant aristolochia,8 she
will bring forth a male child, we are assured. Calf's marrow,
boiled in wine and water with the suet, and applied as a pes-
sary, is good for ulcerations of the uterus ; the same, too, with
foxes' fat and cats' dung, the last being applied with resin and
oil of roses.
It is considered a remarkably good plan to subject the uterus
to fumigations made with burnt goats' horns. The blood of
the wild goat, mixed with sea-palm,9 acts as a depilatory. The
gall of the other kinds of goat, used as an injection, acts
emolliently upon callosities of the uterus, and ensures concep-
tion immediately after menstruation: it possesses also the
virtues of a depilatory, the application being left for three days
upon the flesh after the hair has been removed. The midwives
assure us that she-goats' urine, taken in drink, and the dung,
applied topically, will arrest uterine discharges, however
much in excess. The membrane in which the kid is en-
closed in the uterus, dried and taken in wine, acts as an expei-
8 See B. xxv. cc. 79, 84, 91. 9 See B. xiii. c. 49.
364 PLTNT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
lent upon the after-birth. For affections of the uterus, it is
thought a desirable plan to fumigate it with burnt kids' hair ;
and for discharges of blood, kids' rennet is administered in
drink, or seed of henbane is applied. According to Osthanes,
if a woman's loins are rubbed with blood taken from the ticks
upon a black wild bull, she will be inspired with an aversion to
sexual intercourse : she will forget, too, her former love, by
taking a he-goat's urine in drink, some nard being mixed with
it to disguise the loathsome taste.
CHAP. 78.-— REMEDIES FOR THE DISEASES OF INFANTS.
For infants there is nothing more useful than butter,10 either
by itself oy in combination with honey ; for dentition more
particularly, for soreness of the gums, and for ulcerations of
the mouth. A wolf's tooth, attached to the body, prevents
infants from being startled, and acts as a preservative against
the maladies attendant upon dentition; an effect equally
produced by making use of a wolf's skin. The larger teeth,
also, of a wolf, attached to a horse's neck, will render him
proof against all weariness, it is said. A hare's rennet, applied
to the breasts of the nurse, effectually prevents diarrhoea in
the infant suckled by her. An ass's liver, mixed with a little
panax, and dropped into the mouth of an infant, will preserve
it from epilepsy and other diseases to which infants are liable ;
this, however, must be done for forty days, they say. An ass's
skin, too, thrown over infants, renders them insensible to fear.
The first teeth shed by a horse, attached as an amulet to infants,
facilitate dentition, and are better still, when not allowed to
touch the ground. For pains in the spleen, an ox's milt is ad-
ministered in honey, and applied topically ; and for running
ulcers it is used as an application, with honey. A calf's milt,
boiled in wine, is beaten up, and applied to incipient ulcers
of the mouth.
The magicians take the brains of a she-goat, and, after passing
them through a gold ring, drop them into the mouth of the in-
fant before it takes the breast, as a preservative against epilepsy
and other infantile diseases. Goats' dung, attached to in-
fants in a piece of cloth, prevents them from being rest-
less, female infants in particular. By rubbing the gums of
10 There is probably some truth in these statements as to the utility of
butter and honey for infants.
Chap. 80.] STIMULANTS FOR THE SEXUAL PASSIONS. 365
infants with goats' milk or Lare's brains, dentition is greatly
facilitated.
CHAP. 79. PROVOCATIVES OF SLEEP.
Cato was of opinion that hare's flesh,11 taken as a diet, is
provocative of sleep. It is a vulgar notion, too, that this diet
confers heauty for nine days on those who use it ; a silly play12
upon words, no doubt, but a notion which has gained far too
extensively not to have had some real foundation. According
to the magicians, the gall of a she-goat, but only of one that
has been sacrificed, applied to the eyes or placed beneath the
pillow, has a narcotic effect. Too profuse perspiration is
checked by rubbing the body with ashes of burnt goats' horns
mixed with oil of myrtle.
CHAP. 80. — STIMULANTS FOR THE SEXUAL PASSIONS.
Among the aphrodisiacs, we find mentioned, a wild boar's
gall, applied externally; swine's marrow, taken inwardly;
asses' fat, mixed with the grease of a gander and applied as a
liniment ; the virulent substance described by Virgil13 as dis-
tilling from mares when covered ; and the dried testes of a
horse, pulverized and mixed with the drink. The right testicle,
also, of an ass, is taken in a proportionate quantity of wine, or worn
attached to the arm in a bracelet ; or else the froth discharged
by that animal after covering, collected in a piece of red cloth
and enclosed in silver, as Osthanes informs us. Salpe recom-
mends the genitals of this animal to be plunged seven times in
boiling oil, and the corresponding parts to be well rubbed
therewith. Bialcon14 says that these genitals should be reduced
to ashes and taken in drink ; or else the uriiie that has been
voided by a bull immediately after covering : he recommends,
also, that the groin should be well rubbed with earth moistened
with this urine.
11 Ajasson explains this by saying that the hare being eaten by the people
of ancient Latiiim on festival days^ with plenteous potations, they erro-
neously supposed the narcotic eifects of the wine to be produced by the
flesh of the hare.
12 The resemblance of "lepos," "grace," to " lepus," " a hare." See
Martial, B. v. Ep. 29.
13 Georg. iii. 280. He alludes to the " hippomanes."
14 Hardouin is probably right in his suggestion, that " Dalion " is the
correct reading here.
366 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKT. [Book XXVIII.
Mouse-dung, on the other hand, applied in the form, of a
liniment, acts as an antaphrodisiac. The lights of a wild boar or
swine, roasted, are an effectual preservative against drunken-
ness ; they must, however, be eaten fasting, and upon the
same day. The lights of a kid, too, are productive of the
same effect.
CHAP. 81. (20.) EEMAEKABLE FACTS EELATIVE TO ANIMALS.
In addition to those already mentioned, there are various
other marvellous facts related, with reference to these animals.
"When a horse-shoe becomes detached from the hoof, as often
is the case, if a person takes it up and puts it by, it will act as
a remedy for hiccup the moment he calls to mind the spot
where he has placed it. A wolf's liver, they say, is similar to
a horse's hoof in appearance ; and a horse, they tell us, if
it follows in the track of a wolf, will burst15 asunder beneath
its rider. The pastern-bones of swine have a certain tendency
to promote discord, it is said. In cases of fire, if some of the
dung can be brought away from the stalls, both sheep and
oxen may be got out all the more easily, and will make no at-
tempt to return. The flesh of a he-goat will lose its rank
smell, if the animal has eaten barley-bread, or drunk an in-
fusion of laser16 the day on which i't was killed. Meat that
lias been salted while the moon was on the wane, will never
be attacked by worms. In fact, so great has been the care
taken to omit no possible researches, that a deaf hare, we find,
will grow fat17 sooner than one that can hear !
As to the remedies for the diseases of animals — If a beast of
burden voids blood, an injection must be used of swine's dung
mixed with wine. For the maladies of oxen, a mixture of suet
is used with quicksilver, and wild garlic boiled ; the whole
beaten up and administered in wine. The fat, too, of a fox
is employed. The liquor of boiled horse-flesh, administered in
their drink, is recommended for the cure of diseased swine :
and, indeed, the maladies of all four-footed beasts may be effec-
15 He has already stated, in c. 44, that a horse will become torpid if it
follows in the track of a wolf; for which statement, according to Ajasson,
there appears to be some foundation.
16 See B. xix. c. 15.
17 This is not unlikely ; for it has no alarms to make it grow thin.
Chap. 81.] SUMMATIY. 367
tually treated by boiling a she-goat whole, in her skin, along
with a bramble- frog. Poultry, they say, will never be touched
by a fox, if they have eaten the dried liver of that animal, or
if the cock, when treading the hen, has had a piece of fox's
skin about his neck. The same property, too, is attributed to
a weazePs gall. The oxen in the Isle of Cyprus cure them-
selves of gripings in the abdomen, it is said, by swallowing18
human excrements : the feet, too, of oxen will never be worn
to the quick, if their hoofs are well rubbed with tar before
they begin work. Wolves will never approach a field, if, after
one has been caught and its legs broken and throat cut, the
blood is dropped little by little along the boundaries of the
field, and the body buried on the spot from which it was
first dragged. The share, too, with which the first furrow
in the field has been traced in the current year, should be taken
from the plough, and placed upon the hearth of the Lares,
where the family is in the habit of meeting, and left there till
it is consumed : so long as this is in doing, no wolf will attack
any animal in the field.
We will now turn to an examination of those animals which,
being neither tame nor wild, are of a nature peculiar to them-
selves.
SUMMARY. — Remedies, narratives, and observations, one
thousand six hundred and eighty-two.
ROMAN ATJTHOBS QUOTED. — M.Varro,19 L.Piso,20 Eabianus,21 Va-
lerius Antias,22 Verrius Flaccus,23 Cato the Censor,24 Servius Sul-
picius,25 Licinius Macer,26 Celsus,27 Massurius/8 Sextius Niger29
18 See B, viii. c. 41, as to a similar practice on the part of the panther.
19 See end of B. ii. '-° See end of B. ii.
21 For Fabianus Papirius, see end of B. ii. For Fabianus Sabimis,
see end of B. xviii. 22 See end of B. ii.
23 See end of B. iii. -4 See end of B. iii.
25 Servius Sulpicms Lemonia Rufus, a contemporary and friend of Cicero,
lie was Consul with M. Claudius Marcellus, B.C. 51, and died B.C. 43, at
tbe siege of Mutina. . He left about 180 treatises on various subjects; but
beyond the fact that he is often quoted by the writers whose works form
part of the Digest, none of his writings (with the exception of two letters
to Cicero) have come down to us.
26 See end of B. xix. 27 See end of B. vii.
28 See end of B. vii. 2y See end of B. xii.
368 PLINY'S NATTJHAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII.
who wrote in Greek> Bithus30 of Dyrrhachium, Opilius31 the
physician, Granius32 the physician.
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Dernocritus,33 Apollonius34 who
wrote the " Myrosis," Miletus,35 Artemon,36 Sextilius,37 An-
taeus,38 Homer, Theophrastus,39 Lysimachus,40 Attalus,41 Xeno-
crates,42 Orpheus43 who wrote the "Idiophya," Archelaiis44
who wrote a similar work, Demetrius,45 Sotira,48 Lais,47 Ele-
30 From the mention made of him in Chap. 23, he was probably a
physician. Nothing further is known of him.
31 Aurelius Opilius, the freedman of an Epicurean. He taught philosophy,
rhetoric, and grammar at Rome, but finally withdrew to Smyrna. One of
his works, mentioned by A. Gellius, was entitled " Musse," and the name
of another was " JPinax."
32 From the mention made of his profound speculations in Chap. 9,
Fabricius has reckoned him among the medical writers of Rome. It has
also been suggested that he may have been the Granius Flaccus mentioned
by Censorinus as the author of the " Indigitamenta," or Register of the
Pontiffs. 33 gee end of B. ii.
34 Probably Apollonius Mus, or Myronides, a physician who flourished
in the first century B.C., who is mostly identified with Apollonius Hero-
pbileius. His " Myrosis " here mentioned is probably the work " On
Unguents " mentione'd by Athenseus, B. xv.
35 Nothing whatever is known of him. It has been suggested that the
name may have been " Melitus." A contemporary of Socrates, an orator
and tragic writer, was so named.
56 Beyond the mention of him in c. 2 of this Book, nothing is known
relative to this medical writer : no great loss, perhaps, if we may judge from
the extract there given.
37 Though mentioned among the foreign writers, the name is evidently
Roman. Nothing relative to him is known.
38 See end of B. xii. 39 See end of B. iii.
40 Probably the writer mentioned at the end of B. viii.
41 See end* of B. viii. 42 See end of B. xx.
43 See end of B. xx. The " Idiophya " was probably a work " On the
Peculiar Animals," which passed as the composition of the mythic Or.pheus.
44 A Greek post, said to have been born at Chersonesus, a town in Egypt.
Some of his Epigrams are still extant in the Anthology, and it has been
suggested that he flourished either in the time of Ptolemy Soter, of Ptolemy
Euergetes II., or of Ptolemy Philadelphus. His work " On Peculiar
Animals," here mentioned, was probably written in "verse.
45 See end of B. viii.
46 A female writer on medical subjects. In addition to her work men-
tioned in Chap. 23 of this Book, Labbe speaks of a work of hers in MS.
" On Menstruation," preserved in the Library at Florence.
47 The female who is mentioned in Chap. 23 of this Book as having
written on Abortion, or the Diseases peculiar to Females, was probably a
STTMMAIiYr 869
phantis,48 Salpe,49 Olympias50 of Thebes, Diotinms51 of Thebes,
lollas,52 Andreas,53 Marcion54 of Smyrna, ^Eschines55 the
physician, Hippocrates,56 Aristotle,57 Metrodorus68 of Scepsos,
Icetidas*9 the physician, Apelles60 the physician, Hesiod,61
Dalion,62 Caecilius,63 Eion64 who wrote " On Po wers, ' >64* Anaxi-
laiis,65 King Juba.6€
different person from either of the two famous courtesans of that name.
Nothing whatever is known of her.
48 The writer of certain amatory poems, much admired by the Emperor
Tiberius, generally supposed, from the grammatical form of the name, to
have been a female. Galen quotes a work u On Cosmetics," as written by
a person of this name.
49 A native of Lemnos, who wrote on the Diseases of Women. Nym-
ph odorus, as quoted by Athenaeus, states that she also wrote verses on
Sportive subjects. ^ See end of B. xx.
51 Beyond the mention made of him in c. 23, nothing further is known
relative to this writer. Theophrastus, in his work on Sudorifics, speaks of
a. person of this name as having written on Perspiration.
32 See end of B. xii. M See end of B. xx.
54 Beyond the mention made of him in c. 7 of this Book, nothing is
known of this writer. Hardouin suggests that he may have been identical
with the Micton mentioned at the end of B. xx.
55 He is spoken of as a native of Athens, in c. 10 of this Book. Be-
yond this, nothing is known of him.
56 See end of B. vii. 67 See end of B. ii. 58 See end of B. iii.
59 Or more probably, Hicetidas. Nothing is known. of this writer.
60 A native of Thasos. He is also mentioned by Galen.
61 See end of B. vii. 62 See end of B. vi.
63 Probably a physician, of whom Athenseus speaks as being a native of
Anros, and writer of a treatise on Fish.
^4 Probably a different writer from the one of that name mentioned at
the end of B. vi. 64* Htpi dvvdptwv.
65 See end of B. xxi. 66 See end of B. v.
VOL. V. B B
370
BOOK XXIX.
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
CHAP. 1. (1.) THE 01UG1N OF THE MEDICAL ART.
THE nature and multiplicity of the various remedies already
described or which still remain to be enlarged upon, compel
me to enter upon some further details with reference to the
art of medicine itself : aware as I am, that no one1 has hitherto
treated of this subject in the Latin tongue, and that if all new
enterprises are difficult or of doubtful success, it must be one in
particular which is so barren of all charms to recommend it,
and accompanied with such difficulties of illustration. It will
not improbably suggest itself, however, to those who are fami-
liar with this subject, to make enquiry how it is that in the
practice of medicine the use of simples has been abandoned,
so convenient as they are and so ready prepared to our hand :
and they will be inclined to feel equal surprise and indignation
when they are informed that no known art, lucrative as this is
beyond all the rest, has been more fluctuating, or subjected to
more frequent variations.
Commencing by ranking its inventors in the number of the
gods,2 and consecrating for them a place in heaven, the art of me-
dicine, at the present day even, teaches us in numerous instances
to have recourse to the oracles for aid. In more recent times
again, the same art has augmented its celebrity, at the cost perhaps
of being charged with criminality, by devising the fable that
^Esculapius was struck by lightning for presuming to raise Tyn-
dareus3 to life. And this example notwithstanding, it has not
hesitated to relate how that others, through its agency, have
since been restored to life. Already enjoying celebrity in the days
1 He must surely have forgotten Celsus ; unless, indeed, Pliny was un-
acquainted with his treatise " De Medicina."
2 Apollo and JEsculapius, Agenor, Hercules, Chiron, and others.
3 The husband of Leda, and the father of Castor, Timandra, Clyteem-
nestra, and Philonoe. Hippolytus also was fabled to have been raised from
the dead by JEsculapius.
Chap. 3.] CHRYSIPPUS. 371
of the Trojan War, its traditions from that period have ac-
quired an additional degree of certainty; although in those
times, we may remark, the healing art confined itself solely to
the treatment of wounds.
CHAP. 2. — PARTICULARS RELATIVE TO HIPPOCRATES. DATE OF THE
ORIGIN OF CLINICAL PRACTICE AND OF THAT OF IATRAL1PTICS.
Its succeeding history, a fact that is truly marvellous, re-
mains enveloped in the densest night, down to the time of
the Peloponnesian War ;4 at which period it was restored to
light by the agency of Hippocrates, a native of Cos, an island
flourishing and powerful in the highest degree, and consecrated
to ^Esculapius. It being the practice for persons who had re-
covered from a disease to describe in the temple of that god the
remedies to which they had owed their restoration to health,
that others might derive benefit therefrom in a similar emer-
gency ; Hippocrates, it is said, copied out these prescriptions,
arid, as our fellow-countryman Varro will have it, after burn-
ing the temple to the ground,4* instituted that branch of medi-
cal practice which is known as " Clinics."5 There was no
limit after this to the profits derived from the practice of medi-
cine ; for Prodicus,6 a native of Selymbria, one of his disciples,
founded the branch of it known as " latraliptics,"7 and so dis-
covered a means of enriching the very anointers even and the
commonest drudges8 employed by the physicians.
CHAP. 3. — PARTICULARS RELATIVE TO CHRYSIPPUS AND ERASIS-
TKATUS.
In the rules laid down by these professors, changes were
effected by Chrysippus with a vast parade of words, and, after
4 Hippocrates is generally supposed to have been born B.C. 460.
4* In order to destroy the medical books and prescriptions there. The
same story is told, with little variation, (ff Avicenna. Cnidos is also men-
tioned as the scene of this act of philosophical incendiarism.
5 "Clinice" — Chamber-physic, so called because the physician visited
his patients tv K\ivy, "in bed."
6 It is supposed by most commentators that Pliny commits a mistake
here, and that in reality he is alluding to Herodicus of Selymbria in Thrace,
who was the tutor, and not the disciple, of Hippocrates. Prodicus of Se-
lymbria does not appear to be known.
7 "Healing by ointments," or, as we should call it at the present day,
"The Friction cure." 8 " Mediastinis."
372 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
Chrysippus, by Erasistratus, son9 of the daughter of Aristotle.
For the cure of King Antic-chus — to give our first illustration
of the profits realized by the medical art — Erasistratus re-
ceived from his son, King Ptolemseus, the sum of one hundred
talents.
CHAP. 4. THE EMPIEIC BRANCH OF MEDICINE.
Another sect again, known as that of the Empirics10 — be-
cause it based its rules upon the results of experiment —
took its rise in Sicily, having for its founder Acron of Agri-
gentum, a man recommended by the high authority of Empe-
docles11 the physician.
CHAP. 5. PAKTICULARS RELATIVE TO HEKOPBILUS AND OTHEli
CELEBRATED PHYSICIANS. THE VARIOUS CHANGES THAT HAVE
BEEN MADE IN THE SYSTEM OF MEDICINE.
These several schools of medicine, long at variance among
themselves, were all of them condemned by Herophilus,12 who
regulated the arterial pulsation according to the musical13
scale, correspondingly with the age of the patient. In suc-
ceeding years again, the theories of this sect were abandoned,
it being found that to belong to it necessitated an acquaintance
with literature. Changes, too, were effected in the school, of
which, as already13* stated, Asclepiades had become the founder.
His disciple, Themison,14 who at first in his writings implicitly
followed him, soon afterwards, in compliance with the growing
degeneracy of the age, went so far as to modify his own me-
thods of treatment ; which, in their turn, were entirely dis-
placed, with the authorization of the late Emperor Augustus,
by Antonius Musa,15 a physician who had rescued that prince
9 Pythias, the daughter of Aristotle, was his stepmother, and adopted
him. His mother's name was Cretoxena.
10 Or " Sect of Experimentalists." They based their practice upon ex-
perience derived from the observation of facts. The word " Empiric " is
used only in a bad sense at the present day. For an account of Hippo-
crates, see end of B. vii. ; of Chrysippus, see end of B. xx. ; and of Erasis-
tratus, see end of B. xi.
11 See end of B. xi. 12 See end of B. xi.
13 See B. xi. c. 88^ The Chinese, Ajasson remarks, apply the musical
scale to the pulsation ; it being a belief of the Mandarins that the body is
a musical instrument, and that to be in health it must be kept in tune.
13* In B. xxvL cc. 7, 8.
14 See end of B. xi. 15 See B. xix. c. 38.
Chap. 5.] CELEBRATED PHYSICIANS. 373
from a most dangerous malady, by following a mode of treat-
ment diametrically opposite.
I pass over in silence many physicians of the very highest-
celebrity, the Cassii, for instance, the Calpetani, the Arruntii,
and the Rubrii, men who received fees yearly from the great,
amounting to no less than two hundred and fifty thousand
sesterces. As for Q. Stertinius, he thought that he conferred
an obligation upon the emperors in being content with five
hundred thousand16 sesterces per annum ; and indeed he proved,
by an enumeration of the several houses, that a city practice
would bring him in a yearly income of not less than six hun-
dred thousand sesterces.
Fully equal to this was the sum lavished upon his brother
by Claudius Caesar ; and the two brothers, although they had
drawn largely upon their fortunes in beautifying the public
buildings at Neapolis, left to their heirs no less than thirty
millions of sesterces !17 such an estate as no physician but Ar-
runtius had till then possessed.
Next in succession arose Yettius Valens, rendered so noto-
rious by his adulterous connection18 with Messalina, the wife
of Claudius Caesar, and equally celebrated as a professor of
eloquence. When established in public favour, he became the
founder of a new sect.
It was in the same age, too, during the reign of the Emperor
Nero, that the destinies of the medical art passed into the
hands of Thessalus,19 a man who swept away all the precepts
of his predecessors, and declaimed with a sort of frenzy against
the physicians of every age ; but with what discretion and
in what spirit, we may abundantly conclude from a single trait
presented by his character — upon his tomb, which is still
to be seen on the Appian Way, he had his name inscribed as
the " latronices " — the " Conqueror of the Physicians." No
stage-player, no driver of a three-horse chariot, had a greater
throng attending him when he appeared in public : but he
was at last eclipsed in credit by Crinas, a native of Massilia,
who, to wear an appearance of greater discreetness and more
devoutness, united in himself the pursuit of two sciences, and
16 Rattier more than £4400. 17 More than £265,000.
16 For which he was put to death A.D. 48.
19 A native of Tralles in Lydia, and the son of a weaver there. Galen
mentions him in terms of contempt and ridicule.
374 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX
prescribed diets to his patients in accordance with the move-
ments of the heavenly bodies, as indicated by the almanacks
of the mathematicians, taking observations himself of the
various times and seasons. It was but recently that he died,
leaving ten millions of sesterces, after having expended hardly
a less sum upon building the walls of his native place and
of other towns.
It was while these men were ruling our destinies, that
all at once, Charmis, a native also of Massilia, took20 the
City by 'surprise. Not content with condemning the practice
of preceding physicians, he proscribed the use of warm baths
as well, and persuaded people, in the very depth of winter
even, to immerse themselves in cold water. His patients
he used to plunge into large vessels filled with cold water,
and it was a common thing to see aged men of consular
rank make it a matter of parade to freeze themselves ; a
method of treatment, in favour of which Annseus21 Seneca gives
his personal testimony, in writings still extant.
There can be no doubt whatever, that all these men, in the
pursuit of celebrity by the introduction of some novelty or other,
made purchase of it at the downright expense of human life.
Hence those woeful discussions, those consultations at the bed-
side of the patient, where no one thinks fit to be of the same
opinion as another, lest he may have the appearance of being
subordinate to another ; hence, too, that ominous inscription
to be read upon a tomb, "It was the multitude of physicians
that killed me."22
The medical art, so often modified and renewed as it has
been, is still on the change from day to day, and still are we
impelled onwards by the puifs23 which emanate from the in-
genuity of the Greeks. It is quite evident too, that every
one among them that finds himself skilled in the art of speech,
may forthwith create himself the arbiter of our life and death :
as though, forsooth, there were not thousands24 of nations who
*° "Invasit."
21 Ep. 53 and 83. His " adstipulatio " is of a very equivocal character,
however.
22 " Turba raedicorum peril." This is supposed to be borrowed from a
line of Menander —
rioXAwv larpoiv sioo§o£ u.' awiitXtvev.
2* "Flatu."
34 Herodotus states this with reference to the Babylonians ; Strabo, the
Chap. 7.] OPINIONS OK THE ANCIENT PHYSICIANS. 3/5
live without any physicians at all, though not, for all that,
without the aid of medicine. Such, for instance, was the llo-
man25 people, for a period of more than six hundred years ; a
people, too, which has never shown itself slow to adopt all
useful arts, and which even welcomed the medical art with
avidity, until, after a fair experience of it, there was found
good reason to condemn it.
CHAP. 6. WHO FIRST PRACTISED AS A PHYSICIAN AT HOME, AND
AT WHAT PERIOD.
And, indeed, it appears to me not amiss to take the present
opportunity of reviewing some remarkable facts in the days of
our forefathers connected with this subject. Cassius Hemina,26
one of our most ancient writers, says that the first physician
that visited Rome was Archagathus, the son of Lysanias, who
came over from Peloponnesus, in the year of the City 535, L.
.^Emilius and M. Livius being consuls. He states also, that the
right of free citizenship27 was- gran ted him, and that he had a
shop28 provided for his practice at the public expense in the
Acilian Cross- way ;29 that from his practice he received the
name of " Yulnerarius ;"80 that on his arrival he was greatly
welcomed at first, but that soon afterwards, from the cruelty
displayed by him in cutting and searing his patients, he ac-
quired the new name of " Carnifex,"31 and brought his art and
physicians in general into considerable disrepute.
That such was the fact, we may readily understand from the
words of M. Cato, a man whose authority stands so high of
itself, that but little weight is added to it by the triumph32
which he gained, and the Censorship which he held. I shall,
therefore, give his own words in reference to this subject.
CHAP. 7. THE OPINIONS ENTERTAINED BY THE ROMANS ON THE
ANCIENT PHYSICIANS.
" Concerning those Greeks, son Marcus, I will speak to you
Bastitani, a people of Spain ; and Eusebius, the more ancient inhabitants
of Spain. 25 See B. xx. c. 33.
26 See end of B. xii. 27 " Jus Quiritium."
28 "Tabernam." A surgery, in fact, the same as the '* iatreion" of the
Greeks.
29 Or " carrefour " — " compitum." The Acilian Gens pretended to be
under the especial tutelage of the gods of medicine.
30 The " Wound-curer," from u vulnus," a wound.
31 " Executioner," or " hangman." 33 For his conquests in Spain.
376 PLINY'S NATURAL HTSTOET. [Book XXIX.
more at length on the befitting occasion. I will show you the
results of my own experience at Athens, and that, while it is a
good plan to dip into their literature,33 it is not worth while to
make a thorough acquaintance with it. They are a most iniqui-
tous and intractable race, and you may take my word as the word
of a prophet, when I tell you, that whenever that nation shall
bestow itsliterature upon Rome it will mar everything; and that
all the sooner, if it sends its physicians among us. They have
conspired among themselves to murder all barbarians with their
medicine ; a profession which they exercise for lucre, in order
that they may win our confidence,34 and dispatch us all the
more easily. They are in the common habit, too, of calling us
barbarians, and stigmatize us beyond all other nations, by
giving us the abominable appellation of Opici.35 I forbid you
to have anything to do with physicians."
CHAP. 8. — EVILS ATTENDANT UPON THE PRACTICE OP MEDICINE.
Cato, who wrote to this effect, died in his eighty-fifth year,
in the year of the City 605 ; so that no one is to suppose that
he had not sufficient time to form his experience, either with
reference to the duration of the republic, or the length of his
own life. Well then — are we to conclude that he has stamped
' with condemnation a thing that in itself is most useful ? Far
from it, by Hercules ! for he subjoins an account of the medical
prescriptions, by the aid of which he had ensured to himself
and to his wife a ripe old age; prescriptions36 upon which we are
now about to enlarge. He asserts also that he has a book of
recipes in his possession, by the aid of which he treats the
maladies of his son, his servants, and his friends ; a book from
which we have extracted the various prescriptions according to
the several maladies for which they are employed.
It was not the thing itself that the ancients condemned, but
it was the art as then practised, and they were shocked, more
particularly, that man should pay so dear for the enjoyment of
life. For this reason it was, they say, that the Temple of
" Illorum literas inspicere."
34 On the principle that that which costs money must be worth having.
15 The Opici or Osci were an ancient tribe of Italy, settled in Campania,
Latium, and Samnium. From their uncivilized habits the name was long
ng
d-
.
36 Marked by their supereminent absurdity, as Fee remarks.
used as a reproachful epithet, equivalent to our words " bumpkin," " clo
hopper," or " chawbacon."
Chap. 8.] EYILS FROM THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE. 3/7
^Esculapius, even after he was received as a divinity, was built
without the City, and afterwards on an island ;37 for this rea-
son, too, it was, that when, long after the time of Cato, the
Greeks were expelled from Italy, the physicians were not38
exempted from the decree. And here I will39 improve upon
the foresight displayed by them. Medicine is the only one of
the arts of Greece, that, lucrative as it is, the Roman gravity
has hitherto refused to cultivate. It is but very few of our
fellow-citizens that have even attempted it, and so soon as ever
they have done so, they have become deserters to the Greeks
forthwith.40 Nay, even more than this, if they attempt to treat
of it in any other language than Greek, they are sure to lose
all credit, with the most ignorant even, and those who do not
understand a word of Greek ; there being all the less confidence
felt by our people in that which so nearly concerns their wel-
fare, if it happens to be intelligible to them. In fact, this is
the only one of all the arts, by Hercules ! in which the moment
a man declares41 himself to be an adept, he is at once believed,
there being at the same time no imposture, the results of which
are more fraught with peril. To all this, however, we give
no attention, so seductive is the sweet influence of the hope
entertained of his ultimate recovery by each.
And then besides, there is no law in existence whereby
to punish the ignorance of physicians, no instance before us
of capital punishment inflicted. It is at the expense of our
perils that they learn, and they experimentalize by putting us
to death, a physician being the only person that can kill an-
other with sovereign impunity. Nay, even more than this, all
the blame is thrown upon the sick man only ; he is accused of
disobedience forthwith, and it is the person who is dead and
gone that is put upon his trial. It is the usage at Home for
the decuries42 to pass examination under the censorship of the
37 Formed by the river Tiber. See the Quaest. Rom. of Plutarch, on
this subject.
38 We have adopted Sillig's suggestion, and read "nee " for "et" here.
The meaning, however, is very doubtful.
39 « Augebo providentiam illorum." The meaning of this passage also
is doubtful.
40 By adopting that language instead of the Latin ; Sextius Niger, for in-
stance.
41 Diplomas seem to have been less cared for in those times than at the
present day even, when quackery lias so free a range.
42 See B. iii. c. 26, and B. xxxiii. cc. 7, 8.
378 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
emperor, and for inquisitions to be made at our party- walls43
even : persons who are to sit in judgment on our monetary
matters are sent for to Gades44 and the very Pillars of Hercules;
while a question of exile is never entertained without a panel
of forty- five men selected for the purpose.45 But when it is
the judge's own life that is at stake, who are the persons that
are to hold council upon it, but those who the very next moment
are about to take it !
And yet so it is, that we only meet with our deserts, no
one of us feeling the least anxiety to know what is necessary
for his own welfare. We walk46 with the feet of other people,
we see with the eyes of other people, trusting to the memory of
others we salute one another, and it is by the aid of others that
we live. The most precious objects of existence, and the chief
supports47 of life, are entirely lost to us, and we have nothing
left but our pleasures to call our own. I will not leave Cato
exposed to the hatred of a profession so ambitious as this, nor
yet that senate which judged as he did, but at the same time
I will pursue my object without wresting to my purpose the
crimes practised by its adepts, as some might naturally expect.
For what profession has there been more fruitful in poisonings,
or from which there have emanated more frauds upon wills ?
And then, too, what adulteries have been committed, in the
very houses of our princes even ! the intrigue of Eudemus,48
for example, with Livia, the wife of Drusus Caesar, and that of
Valens with the royal lady previously mentioned.49 Let us
not impute these evils, I say, to the art, but to the men who
practise it ; for Cato, I verily believe, as little apprehended
43 " Inquisitio per parietes." The reading is doubtful, but he not im-
probably alludes to the employment of spies.
44 Hardouin thinks that he alludes to Cornelius Balbus here, a native of
Gades. See 13. v. c. 5, and B. vii. 44.
45 " Electis viris datur tabula." He alludes to the three tablets de-
livered to the Judices, one of which had inscribed on it " Acquitted," an-
other " Not proven," and a third " Guilty " — Absolvatur, Non liquety and
Condemno.
46 " In this place he casteth in the Romans' teeth, their Lecticarii, Anag-
nosta, and Nomenclatures." — Holland. Letter-bearers, readers, and promp-
ters as to the names of the persons addressed.
47 He alludes to the resources of medicine.
48 A physician at Rome, who was afterwards put to the torture for this
crime. Livia was the daughter of Drusus Nero, the brother of Tiberius.
49 Messalina, mentioned in c. 5 of this Book.
Chap. 8.] EVILS FROM THE PEACTICE OF MEDICINE. 379
such practices as these in the City, as he did the presence of
royal ladies50 there.
I will not accuse the medical art of the avarice even of its
professors, the rapacious bargains made with their patients while
their fate is trembling in the balance, the tariffs framed upon
their agonies, the monies taken as earnest for the dispatching
of patients, or the mysterious secrets of the craft. I will not
mention how that cataract must be couched51 only, in the eye,
in preference to extracting it at once — practices, all of them,
which have resulted in one very great advantage, by alluring
hither such a multitude of adventurers; it being no mo-
deration on their part, but the rivalry existing between such
numbers of practitioners, that keeps their charges within mo-
deration. It is a well-known fact that Charmis, the phy-
sician52 already mentioned, made a bargain with a patient of
his in the provinces, that he should have two hundred thousand
sesterces for the cure ; that the Emperor Claudius extorted
from Alcon, the surgeon,63 ten millions of sesterces by way of
fine ; and that the same man, after being recalled from his
exile in Gaul, acquired a sum equally large in the course of a
few years.
These are faults, however, which must be imputed to in-
dividuals only ; and it is not my intention to waste reproof
upon the dregs of the medical profession, or to c#ll attention to
the ignorance displayed by that crew,54 the violation of all
regimen in their treatment of disease, the evasions practised in
the use of warm baths, the strict diet they imperiously pre-
scribe, the food that is crammed into these same patients,
exhausted as they are, several times a day ; together with a
thousand other methods of showing how quick they are to
change their mind, their precepts for the regulation of the
kitchen, and their recipes for the composition of unguents,
it being one grand object with them to lose sight of none
of the usual incitements to sensuality. The importation of
foreign merchandize, and the introduction of tariffs settled by
foreigners,55 would have been highly displeasing to our ances-
50 Nothing could possibly be more remote from his republican notions,
than " reginae " at Rome.
51 "Emovendam." In order that a future job may be ensured.
62 In c. 5 of this Book. 53 " Vulnerum medico."
44 " Ejus turba3." 55 See B. xxiv. c. 1.
380 PLOT* 8 NATURAL HISTOBY* [Book XXIX.
tors, I can readily imagine ; but it was not these inconveni-
ences that Cato had in view, when he spoke thus strongly in
condemnation of the medical art.
"Theriaee"56 is the name given to a preparation devised by
luxury ; a composition formed of six hundred57 different in-
gredients ; and this while Nature has bestowed upon us such
numbers of remedies, each of which would have fully answered
the purpose employed by itself! The Mithridatic58 antidote
is composed of four and fifty ingredients, none of which are
used in exactly the same proportion, and the quantity pre-
scribed is in some cases so small as the sixtieth part of one
denarius ! Which of the gods, pray, can have instructed man
in such trickery as this, a height to which the mere subtlety
of human invention could surely never have reached? It
clearly must emanate from a vain ostentation of scientific skill,
and must be set down as a monstrous system of puffing off the
medical art.
And yet, after all, the physicians themselves do not under-
stand this branch of their profession ; and I have ascertained
that it is a common thing for them to put mineral vermilion59
in their medicines, a rank poison, as I shall have occasion60 to
show when I come to speak of the pigments, in place of Indian
cinnabar, and all because they mistake the name of the one
drug for that of the other ! These, however, are errors which
only concern the health of individuals, while it is the practices
which Cato foresaw and dreaded, less dangerous in themselves
and little regarded, practices, in fact, which the leading men
in the art do not hesitate to avow, that have wrought61 the
corruption of the manners of our empire.
The practices I allude to are those to which, while enjoying
robust health, we submit: such, for instance, as rubbing the body
with wax and oil,63 a preparation for a wrestling match, by
rights, but which, these men pretend, was invented as a preser-
vative of health ; the use of hot baths, which are necessary,
56 The origin of our word " treacle." See B. xx. c. 100, and Note 97.
57 Used as a round number, like our expression " ten thousand."
58 See B. xxiii. c. 77, and B. xxv. c. 26.
59 " Minium." This red lead had the name of " cinnabaris nativa,"
whence the error. 60 In B. xxxiii. c. 38.
61 As tending to effeminacy, or undermining the constitution.
62 See B. xxviii. c. 13.
Ohap. 9.] REMEDIES DEBITED FEOM WOOL. 381
they have persuaded us, for the proper digestion of the food,
baths which no one ever leaves without being all the weaker
for it, and from which the more submissive of their patients
are only carried to the tomb; potions taken fasting ; vomits to
clear the stomach, and then a series of fresh drenchings with
drink ; emasculation, self-inflicted by the use of pitch-plasters
as depilatories ; the public exposure, too, of even the most de-
licate parts of the female body for the prosecution of these
practices. Most assuredly so it is, the contagion which has
seized upon the public morals, has had no more fertile source
than the medical art, and it continues, day by day even, to
justify the claims of Cato to be considered a prophet and an
oracle of wisdom, in that assertion of his, that it is quite suffi-
cient to dip into the records of Greek genius, without becoming
thoroughly acquainted with them.
Such then is what may be said in justification of the senate
and of the Iloinan people, during that period of. six hundred
years in which they manifested such repugnance to an art, by
the most insidious terms of which, good men are made to lend
their credit and authority to the very worst, and so strongly
entered their protest against the silly persuasions entertained by
those, who fancy that nothing can benefit them but what is
coupled with high price.
I entertain no doubt, too, that there will be found some to ex-
press their disgust at the particulars which I am about to give, in
relation to animals : and yet Yirgil himself has not disdained
— when, too, there was no necessity for his doing so — to speak
of ants and weevils,
" And nests by beetles made that shun the light."63
Homer,*4 too, amid his description of the battles of the gods,
has not disdained to remark upon the voracity of the common
fly; nor has Nature, she who engendered man, thought it beneath
her to engender these insects as well. Let each then make it
his care, not so much to regard the thing itself, as to rightly
appreciate in each case the cause and its effects.
CHAP. 9. THIRTY- FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WOOL.
I shall begin then with some remedies that are well known,
l« " Lucifugis congesta cubilia blattis." Georg. I. 184, IV. 243.
w 11. xvii. 570, et seq.
382 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book XXIX.
those namely, which are derived from wool and from the eggs of
birds, thus giving due honour to those substances which hold
the principal place in the estimation of mankind ; though at
the same time I shall be necessitated to speak of some others out
of their proper place, according as occasion may offer. I should
not have been at a loss for high-flown language wi'th which to
grace my narrative, had I made it my design to regard any-
thing else than what, as being strictly trustworthy,65 becomes
my work : for among the very first remedies mentioned, we
find those said to be derived from the ashes and nest of the
phoenix,66 as though, forsooth, its existence were a well ascer-
tained fact, and not altogether a fable. And then besides, it
would be a mere mockery to describe remedies that can only
return to us once in a thousand years.
(2.) The ancient Romans attributed to wool a degree of reli-
gious importance even, and it was in this spirit that they enjoined
that the bride should touch the door-posts of her husband's
house with wool. In addition to dress and protection from the
cold, wool, in an unwashed state, used in combination with oil,
and wine or vinegar, supplies us with numerous remedies, accord-
ing as we stand in need of an emollient or an excitant, an astrin-
gent or a laxative. "Wetted from time to time with these liquids,
greasy w ool is applied to sprained limbs, and to sinews that are
suffering from pain. In the case of sprains, some persons are
in the habit of adding salt, while others, again, apply pounded
rue and grease, in wool : the same, too, in the case of con-
tusions or tumours. Wool will improve the breath, it is said,
if the teeth and gums are rubbed with it, mixed with honey ;
it is very good, too, for phrenitis,67 used as a fumigation. To
arrest bleeding at the nose, wool is introduced into the nostrils
with oil of roses ; or it is used in another manner, the ears
being well plugged with it. In the case of inveterate ulcers it is
applied topically with honey : soaked in wine or vinegar, or
in cold water and oil, and then squeezed out, it is used for
the cure of wounds.
Rams' wool, washed in cold water, and steeped in oil, is
used for female complaints, and to allay inflammations of the
uterus. Procidence of the uterus is reduced by using this wool
55 He certainly does not always keep this object in view.
66 See B. x. c. 2, and B. xii. c. 42.
67 A form of fever, Littre remarks, that is known by the moderns
" pseudo-continuous. "
I
Chap. 10.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WOOL- GREASE. 383
in the form of a fumigation. Greasy wool, used as a plaster
and as a pessary, brings away the dead foetus, and arrests
uterine discharges. Bites inflicted by a mad dog are plugged
with unwashed wool, the application being removed at the end
of seven days. Applied with cold water, it is a cure for
agnails : steeped in a mixture of boiling nitre, sulphur, oil,
vinegar, and tar, and applied twice a day, as warm as possible,
it allays pains in the loins. By making ligatures with un-
washed rams' wool about the extremities of the limbs, bleed-
ing is effectually stopped.
In all cases, the wool most esteemed is that from the neck of
the animal ; the best kinds of wool being those of Galatia,
Tarentum, Attica, and Miletus. For excoriations, blows,
bruises, contusions, crushes, galls, falls, pains in the head and
other parts, and for inflammation of the stomach, unwashed
wool is applied, with a mixture of vinegar and oil of roses.
Reduced to ashes, it is applied to contusions, wounds, and
burns, and forms an ingredient in ophthalmic compositions. It
is employed, also, for fistulas and suppurations of the ears.
For this last purpose, some persons take the wool as it is shorn,
while others pluck it from the fleece ; they then cut off the
ends of it, and after drying and carding it, lay it in pots of
unbaked earth, steep it well in honey, and burn it. Others,
again, arrange it in layers alternately with chips of torch-
pine,68 and, after sprinkling it with oil, set fire to it : they
then rub the ashes into small vessels with the hands, and let
them settle in water there. This operation is repeated and the
water changed several times, until at last the ashes are found
to be slightly astringent, without the slightest pungency ; upon
which, they are put by for use, being possessed of certain
caustic properties,69 and extremely useful as a detergent for
the eyelids.
CHAP. 10. THIRTY-TWO REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WOOL-GREASE.
And not only this, but the filthy excretions even of sheep,
the sweat adhering to the wool of the flanks and of the
axillary concavities — a substance known as " cesypum"70- — are
68 See B. xvi. c. 19.
69 " Smectica" is suggested by Gesner, Hist. Anim., as a better reading
than " septica."
70 " (Esypum " is often mentioned by Ovid as a favourite cosmetic with
the Roman ladies.
384 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book XXIX.
applied to purposes almost innumerable ; the grease produced
by the sheep of Attica being the most highly esteemed. There
are numerous ways of obtaining it, but the most approved
method is to take the wool, fresh clipped from those parts of
the body, or else the sweat and grease collected from any part of
the fleece, and boil it gently in a copper vessel upon a slow fire :
this done, it is left to cool, and the fat which floats upon the
surface collected into an earthen vessel. The material originally
used is then subjected to another boiling, and the two results
are washed in cold water; after which, they are strained
through a linen cloth and exposed to the sun till they become
bleached and quite transparent, and are then put by in a pew-
ter box for keeping.
The best proof of its genuineness is its retention of the
strong smell of the original grease, and its not melting when
rubbed with water upon the hand, but turning wh*ite, like
white-lead in appearance. This substance is extremely use-
ful for inflammations of the eyes and indurations of the eye-
lids. Some persons bake the wool in an earthen pot, until it
has lost all its grease, and are of opinion that, prepared this
way, it is a more useful remedy for excoriations and indurations
of the eyelids, for eruptions at the corners of the eyes, and for
watery eyes. And not only does this grease heal ulcerations
of the eyes, but, mixed with goose-grease, of the ears and
generative organs as well ; in combination also with melilote
and butter, it is a cure for inflammations of the uterus, and for
excoriations of the rectum and condylomata. The other uses
to which it is applied, we shall detail on a more appropriate
occasion.
The grease, too, of the wool about the tail is made up into
pills, unmixed with any substance : these pills are dried and
pulverized, being an excellent application for the teeth, when
loose even, and for the gums, when attacked by spreading ulcers
of a cancerous nature. Sheep's wool, too, cleaned, is applied
by itself, or with the addition of sulphur, for dull, heavy pains,
and the ashes of it, burnt, are used for diseases of the genera-
tive organs : indeed, this wool is possessed of such sovereign
virtues, that it is used as a covering for medicinal applications
even. It is also an especial remedy for the sheep itself, when
it has lost its stomach, and refuses to feed ; for, upon plucking
some wool from the tail, and then tying the tail therewith, us
Chap. 11.] HEMEDIES DEBITED FROM EGGS. 385
tight as possible, the sheep will fall to feeding immediately. It
is said, however, that the part of the tail which lies beyond
the knot so made will quickly mortify and die.
CHAP. 11. (3.) TWENTY-TWO REMEDIES DEBITED FBOM EGGS.
There is a considerable affinity also between wool and eggs,
which are applied together as a frontal to the forehead by way
of cure for defluxions of the eyes. Wool, however, is not
required for this purpose to haTe been dressed with radicula,71
the only thing requisite to be combined with it being the
white of an egg and powdered frankincense. The white of an
egg, also applied by itself, arrests defluxions of the eyes, and has
a cooling effect upon inflammations of those organs : some, how-
ever, prefer mixing saffron with it, and employ it as an ingre-
dient in eye-salves, in place of water. For ophthalmia in infants
there is hardly any remedy to be found, except white of egg
mixed with fresh butter. Eggs beaten up with oil, are very
soothing for erysipelas, beet leaves being laid on the liniment.
White of egg, mixed with pounded gum ammoniac, is used
as a bandoline for arranging the hairs of the eyelids ; and, in
combination with pine-nuts and a little honey, it forms a
liniment for the removal of pimples on the face. If the face
is well rubbed with it, it will never be sun-burnt. If, the
moment the flesh has been scalded, an egg is applied, no blis-
ters will form : some persons, howeTer, mix with it barley-
meal and a little salt. In cases of ulceration formed by burns,
there is nothing better than parched barley and hogs' lard,
mixed with the white of an egg. The same mixture js also
used as an application for diseases of the rectum, in infants
eTen, and in cases, too, when there is procidence of those parts.
For the cure of chaps upon the feet, white of eggs is boiled,
with two denarii of white lead, an equal quantity of litharge,
a little myrrh, and some wine. For the cure of erysipelas they
use the whites of three eggs with amylum : 72 it is said, too,
that white of egg has the effect of knitting wounds and of
expelling urinary calculi. The yolk of eggs boiled hard,
applied in woman's milk with a little saffron and honey, has
a soothing effect upon pains in the eyes. The yolk is applied
also to the eyes in wool, mixed with honied wine and oil of
71 See B. xix, c. 1, B. xxiv. c 58, and B. xxv. c. 21.
72 See B. xviii. c. 17.
TOL. v. C C
386 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTOKY. [Book XXIX.
roses ; or else mixed with ground parsley-seed and polenta, and
applied with honied wine. The yolk of a single egg, swallowed
raw by itself without being allowed to touch the teeth, is
remarkably good for cough, defluxions of the chest, and irrita-
tions of the fauces. It is used, too, both internally and ex-
ternally, in a raw state, as a sovereign cure for the sting of the
haemorrhois ;73 and it is highly beneficial for the kidneys, for
irritations and ulcerations of the bladder, and for bloody expec-
torations. For dysentery, the yolks of five eggs are taken raw
in one semi-sextarius of wine, mixed with the ashes of the shells,
poppy-juice, and wine.
For cceliac fluxes, it is recommended to take the yolks of
eggs, with like proportions of pulpy raisins and pomegranate
rind, in equal quantities, for three consecutive days; or else
to follow another method, and take the yolks of three eggs,
with three ounces of old bacon and honey, and three cyathi of
old wine ; the whole being beaten up to the consistency of
honey, and taken in water, when needed, in pieces the size of
a hazel nut. In some cases, too, the yolks of three eggs are
fried in oil, the whole of the egg having been steeped a day
previously in vinegar. It is in this way that eggs are used for
the treatment of spleen diseases ; but for spitting of blood, they
should be taken with three cyathi of must. Yolk of egg is used,
too, for the cure of bruises of long standing, in combination
with bulbs and honey. Boiled and taken in wine, yolks of
eggs arrest menstruation : applied raw with oil or wine, they
dispel inflations of the uterus. Mixed with goose-grease and
oil of roses, they are useful for crick in the neck ; and they
are hardened over the fire, and applied warm, for the cure of
maladies of the rectum. For cond)7lomata, eggs are used in
combination with oil of roses ; and for the treatment of bums,
they are hardened in water, and set upon hot coals till the
shells are burnt, the yellow being used as a liniment with oil
of roses.
Eggs become entirely transformed into yolk, on being re-
moved after the hen has sat upon them for three days ; in
which state they are known by the name of " sitista."74 The
chicks that are found within the shell are used for strengthen-
?3 See B. xx. c. 23.
74 Hermolaiis suggests "schista," "divided," and Dalechamps proposes
•" synchyta," " mixed." The reading is very doubtful.
Chap. 11.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM EGGS. 387
ing a disordered stomach, being eaten with half a nut-gall,
and no other food taken for the next two hours. They are
given also for dysentery, boiled in the egg with one semi-sexta-
rius of astringent wine, and an equal quantity of olive oil and
polenta. The pellicle that lines the shell is used, either raw
or boiled, for the cure of cracked lips ; and the shell itself,
reduced to ashes, is taken in wine for discharges of blood : care
nmst be taken, however, to burn it without the pellicle. In
the same way, too, a dentifrice is prepared. The ashes of the
shell, applied topically with myrrh, arrest menstruation when
in excess. So remarkably strong is the shell of an egg, that
if it is set upright, no force or weight can break it, unless a
slight inclination be made to one side or other of the circum-
ference. Eggs taken whole in wine, with rue, dill, and cum-
min, facilitate parturition. Used with oil and cedar-resin,
they remove itch and prurigo, and, applied in combination with
cyclaminos,75 they are remedial for running ulcers of the head.
For purulent expectorations and spitting of blood, a raw egg
is taken, warmed with juice of cut-leek and an equal quantity
of Greek honey. For coughs, eggs are administered, boiled
and beaten up with honey, or else raw, with raisin wine and an
equal quantity of olive oil. For diseases of the male organs,
an injection is made, of an egg, three cyathi of raisin wine,
and half an ounce of amylum,76 the mixture being used imme-
diately after the bath. Where injuries have been inflicted by
serpents, boiled eggs are used as a liniment, beaten up with
nasturtium.
In what various ways eggs are used as food is well known
to all, passing downwards, however swollen the throat may
be, and warming the parts as they pass. Eggs, too, are the
only diet which, while it affords nutriment in sickness, does
not load the stomach, possessing at the same moment all the
advantages both of food and drink. We have already77 stated,
that the shell of an egg becomes soft when steeped in vinegar :
it is by the aid of eggs thus prepared, and kneaded up with
meal into bread, that patients suffering from the cceliac flux
are often restored to strength. Some, however, think it a better
plan to roast the eggs, when thus softened, in a shallow pan ;
a method, by the aid of which, they arrest not only looseness of
75 Or Sowbread. See B. xxv. c, 67.
76 See B. xviii. c. 17. " In B. x. c. 80.
C C 2.
388 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
the bowels, but excessive menstruation as well. In eases,
again, where the discharges are greatly in excess, eggs are
taken raw, with meal, in water. The yolks, too, are employed
alone, boiled hard in vinegar and roasted with ground pepper,
when wanted to arrest diarrhoea.
For dysentery, there is a sovereign remedy, prepared in the
following manner : an egg is emptied into a new earthen vessel,
which done, in order that all the proportions may be equal,
fill the shell, first with honey, then with oil, and then with
vinegar ; beat them up together, and thoroughly incorporate
them : the better the quality of the several ingredients, the
more efficacious the mixture will be. Others, again, instead
of oil and vinegar, use the same proportions of red resin and
wine. There is also another way of making up this prepara-
tion : the proportion of oil, and of that only, remains the same,
and to it they add two sixtieth parts of a denarius of the
vegetable which we have spoken of under the name of "rhus,"78
and five oboli of honey. All these ingredients are boiled down
together, and no food is eaten by the patient till the end of
four hours after taking the mixture. Many persons, too, have
a cure for griping pains in the bowels, by beating up two eggs
with four cloves of garlick, and administering them, warmed
in one semi-sextarius of wine.
Not to omit anything in commendation of eggs, I would
here add that glair of egg, mixed with quicklime, unites
broken79 glass. Indeed, so great is the efficacy of the substance
of an egg, that wood dipped in it will not take fire, and cloth
with which it has come in contact will not ignite.80 On this
occasion, however, it is only of the eggs of poultry that I have
been speaking, though those of the various other birds as well
are possessed of many useful properties, as I shall have to
mention on the appropriate occasions.
CHAP. 12. — SFIRPENTS' EGGS.
In addition to the above, there is another kind of egg,81 held
7S See B. xxiv. c. 54.
79 This is the fact, and it is similarly used for mending china. White
of egg, mixed with whiskey or spirits of wine, will answer the purpose
equally well.
80 Ajasson remarks that there is some slight truth in this assertion.
81 Pliny alludes here to the beads or rings of glass which were used by
the Druids as charms to impose on the credulity of their devotees, under
Chap. 12.] SEKPENTS' EGGS. 389
in high renown by the people of the Gallic provinces, but
totally omitted by the Greek writers. In summer82 time, num-
berless snakes become artificially entwined together, and form
rings around their bodies with the viscous slime which exudes
from their mouths, and with the foam secreted by them : the
name given to this substance is " anguinum."83 The Druids
tell us, that the serpents eject these eggs into the air by their
hissing,84 and that a person must be ready to catch them in a
cloak, so as not to let them touch the ground ; they say also that he
must instantly take to flight on horseback, as the serpents will
be sure to pursue him, until some intervening river has placed
a barrier between them. The test of its genuineness, they say,
is its floating against the current of a stream, even though it
be set in gold. But, as it is the way with magicians to be
dexterous and cunning in casting a veil about their frauds, they
pretend that these eggs can only be taken on a certain day of
the moon ; as though, forsooth, it depended entirely upon the
human will to make the moon and the serpents accord as to
the moment of this operation.
I myself, however, have seen one of these eggs: it was
round, and about as large as an apple of moderate size ; the
shell 85 of it was formed of a cartilaginous substance, and it was
surrounded with numerous cupules, as it were, resembling
those upon the arms of the polypus : it is held in high estimation
the name of Glainnatdr, or " the Adder gem." Mr. Luyd (in Rowland's
Mona Antiqua, p. 342) says that the genuine Ovum anguinum can be no
other than a shell of the kind called echinus marinus, and that Dr. Borlase
observes that, instead of the natural anguinum, artificial rings of stone,
glass, and sometimes baked clay, were substituted as of equal validity.
The belief in these charms very recently existed in Cornwall and Wales, if
indeed it does not at the present day. The subject is very fully discussed in
Brand's Popular Antiquities, Vol. III. p. 286, et seg., and p. 369, et seq.y
JSohn's Edition. These gems and beads are not uncommonly found in tumuli
of the early British period.
82 A similar belief in its origin was prevalent in Cornwall and "Wales,
and whoever found it was supposed to ensure success in all his undertakings.
83 " The snake's egg" — ovum being understood.
84 " The vulgar opinion in Cornwall and most parts of Wales is that these
are produced through all Cornwall by snakes joining their heads together
and hissing, which forms a kind of bubble like a ring about the head of
one of them, which the rest, by continual hissing, blow on till it comes oft
at the tail, when it immediately hardens and resembles a glass ring." —
Govgh's Camden,Vol. II. p. 571, Ed. 1789.
85 The shell of a sea urchin most probably. See Note 81 above.
390 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
among the Druids. The possession of it is marvellously vaunted
as ensuring success86 in law-suits, and a favourable reception
with princes ; a notion which has been so far belied, that a
Koman of equestrian rank, a native of the territory of the
Yocontii,87 who, during a trial, had one of these eggs in his
bosom, was slain by the late Emperor Tiberius, and for no
other reason, that I know of, but because he was in possession
of it. It is this entwining of serpents with one another, and
the fruitful results of this unison, that seem to me to have
given rise to the usage among foreign nations, of surrounding
the caduceus88 with representations of serpents, as so many
symbols of peace — it must be remembered, too, that on the
caduceus, serpents are never 89 represented as having crests.
CHAP. 13. — THE METHOD OF PREPARING COMMAGEXUM. FOUR
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT.
Having to make mention, in the present Book, of the eggs
of the goose and the numerous uses to which they are applied,
as also of the bird itself, it is our duty to award the honour to
Commagene90 of a most celebrated preparation there made.
This composition is prepared from goose-grease, a substance
applied to many other well-known uses as well ; but in the
case of that which comes from Commagene, a part of Syria, the
grease is first incorporated with cinnamon, cassia,91 white pep-
per, and the plant called " commagene,"92 and then placed in
vessels and buried in the snow. The mixture has an agree-
able smell, and is found extremely useful for cold shiverings,
convulsions, heavy or sudden pains, and all those affections, in
fact, which are treated with the class of remedies known as
" acopa ;"93 being equally an unguent and a medicament.
There is another method, also, of preparing it in Syria : the
fat of the bird is preserved in manner already 94 described, and
86 See Note 82 above.
87 A nation of Ganl. See B. iii. cc. 5, 21.
88 The wand held by heralds, and generally represented as being carried
by Mercury in his character of messenger of the gods.
89 And therefore not portentous of war.
9° See B. v. cc. 13, 20. 9* See B. xii. c. 43.
92 See B. x. c. 28. Generally supposed to be Syrian nard ; though some
identify it with the Comacum of Theophrastus.
93 See B. xxiii. cc. 45, 80. " In B. xxviii. c. 38.
Chap. 14.] BEMEDIES DEBITED FROM THE DOG. 391
there is added to it erysisceptrum,95 xylobalsamum,96 palm
elate,97 and calamus, each in the same proportion as the grease ;
the whole being gently boiled some two or three times in wine.
This preparation is made in winter, as in summer it will never
thicken, except with the addition of wax. There are nume-
rous other remedies, also, derived from the goose, as well as
from the ravun ;98 a thing I am much surprised at, seeing that
both the goose and the raven " are generally said to be in a
diseased state at the end of summer and the beginning of
autumn.
CHAP. 14. (4.) — REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE DOG.
We have already1 spoken of the honours earned by the
geese, when the Gauls were detected in their attempt to scale
the Capitol. It is for a corresponding reason, also, that punish-
ment is yearly inflicted upon the dogs, by crucifying them alive
upon a gibbet of elder, between the Temple of Juventas2 and
that of Summanus.3
In reference to this last-mentioned animal, the usages of our
forefathers compel us to enter into some further details. They
considered the flesh of sucking whelps to be so pure a meat,
that they were in the habit of using them as victims even in
their expiatory sacrifices. A young whelp, too, is sacrificed to
Genita Mana ;4 and, at the repasts celebrated in honour of the
gods, it is still the usage to set whelps' flesh on table ; at the
inaugural feasts, too, of the pontiffs, this dish was in com-
mon use, as we learn from the Comedies5 of Plautus. It is
generally thought that for narcotic6 poisons there is nothing
better than dogs' blood ; and it would appear that it was this
animal that first taught man the use of emetics. Other me-
95 See B. xxiv. c. 69. 96 See B. xii. c. 54. 97 See B. xii. c. 62.
98 No MS., it would appear, gives "oorvis" here, the reading being
"capris," " goats." Ajasson, however, is most probably right in his sug-
gestion that "corvis" is the correct reading.
9a See B. x. c. 15. l In B. x. c. 26.
2 Or Youth, in the Eighth Region of the City.
3 See B. ii. c. 53.
4 An ancient divinity, who is supposed to have presided over childbirth.
See Plutarch, Queest. Rom. 52.
5 In the Saturio probably, quoted by Festus, and now lost. The
aborigines of Canada, and the people of China and Tartary, hold whelpa*
flesh in esteem as a great delicacy,
6 "Toxica,"
392 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXIX.
dicinal uses of the dog which are marvellously commended, I
shall have occasion to refer to on the appropriate occasions.
CHAP. 15. REMEDIES CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE DIFFERENT
MALADIES. REMEDIES FOR INJURIES INFLICTED BY SERPENTS.
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MICE.
We will now resume the order originally proposed.7 For
stings inflicted by serpents fresh sheeps'-dung, boiled in wine,
is considered a very useful application : as also mice split
asunder and applied to the wound. Indeed, these last animals
are possessed of certain properties by no means to be despised,
at the ascension of the plane.ts more particularly, as already8
stated ; the lobes increasing or decreasing in number, with the
age of the moon, as the case may be. The magicians have a
story that swine will follow any person who gives them a
mouse's liver to eat, enclosed in a fig : they say, too, that it
has a similar effect upon man, but that the spell may be de-
stroyed by swallowing a cyathus of oil.
CHAP. 16. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE WEASEL.
There are two varieties of the weasel ; the one, wild,9 larger
than the other, and known to the Greeks as the " ictis :" its
gall is said to be very efficacious as an antidote to the sting of
the asp, but of a venomous nature in other respects.9* The
other kind,10 which prowls about our houses, and is in the
habit, Cicero tells us, u of removing its young ones, and
changing every day from place to place, is an enemy to ser-
pents. The flesh of this last, preserved in salt, is given, in
doses of one denarius, in three cyathi of drink to persons who
have been stung by serpents : or else the maw of the animal is
stuffed with coriander seed and dried, to be taken for the same
purpose in wine. The young one of the weasel is still more
efficacious for these purposes.
CHAP. 17. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM BUGS.
There are some things, of a most revolting nature, but which
7 Of remedies classified according to the different maladies.
8 In B. xi. c. 76. 9 The ferret, most probably.
fl* See c. 33 of this Book. 10 The common weasel.
11 Probably in his work entitled " Admiranda," now lost. Holland says
"eome take these for our cats,"
Chap. 17.] REMEDIES DEBITED FROM BUGS. 393
are recommended by authors with such a degree of assurance,
that it would be improper to omit them, the more particularly
as it is to the sympathy or antipathy of objects that remedies
owe their existence. Thus the bug, for instance, a most filthy
insect, and one the very name of which inspires us with loath-
ing, is said to be a neutralizer of the venom of serpents, asps in
particular, and to be a preservative against all kinds of poisons.
As a proof of this, they tell us that the sting of an asp is never
fatal to poultry, if they have eaten bugs that day; and that,
if such is the case, their flesh is remarkably beneficial to persons
who have been stung by serpents. Of the various recipes12
given in reference to these insects, the least revolting are the
application of them externally to the wound, with the blood of
a tortoise ; the employment of them as a fumigation to make
leeches loose their hold ; and the administering of them to ani-
mals in drink when a leech has been accidentally swallowed.
Some persons, however, go so far as to crush bugs with salt
and woman's milk, and anoint the eyes with the mixture ; in
combination,' too, with honey and oil of roses, they use them
as an injection for the ears. Field-bugs, again, and those found
upon the mallow,13 are burnt, and the ashes mixed with oil
of roses as an injection for the ears.
As to the other remedial virtues attributed to bugs, for the
cure of vomiting, quartan fevers, and other diseases, although
we find recommendations given to swallow them in an egg,
some wax, or in a bean, I look upon them as utterly unfounded,
and not worthy of further notice. They are employed, how-
ever, for the treatment of lethargy, and with some fair reason,
as they successfully neutralize the narcotic eifects of the poison
of the asp : for this purpose seven of them are administered
in a cyathus of water, but in the case of children only four.
In cases, too, of strangury, they have been injected into the
urinary channel :14 so true it is that Nature, that universal
parent, has engendered nothing without some powerful reason
or other. In addition to these particulars, a couple of bugs,
12 Guettard, a French commentator on Pliny, recommends bugs to he
taken internally for hysteria !
13 Perhaps the Cimex pratensis is meant here. Neither this nor the
Cimex juniperiims, the Cimex hrassicae, or the Lygseus hyoscami has the
offensive smell of the house bug.
14 An excellent method, Ajasson remarks, of adding to the tortures of
the patient.
394 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
it is said, attached to the left arm in some wool that has been
stolen from the shepherds, will effectually cure nocturnal fevers ;
while those recurrent in the daytime may he treated with
equal success by enclosing the bugs in a piece of russet- coloured
cloth. The scolopendra, on the other hand, is a great enemy
to these insects ; used in the form of a fumigation, it kills
them.
CHAP. 18. PARTICULARS RELATIVE TO THE ASP.
The sting of the asp takes deadly effect by causing torpor
and drowsiness. Of all serpents, injuries inflicted by the asp
are the most incurable ; and their venom, if it comes in contact
with the blood or a recent wound, produces instantaneous death.
If, on the other hand, it touches an old sore, its fatal effects
are not so immediate. Taken internally, in however large a
quantity, the venom is not injurious,15 as it has no corrosive pro-
perties ; for which reason it is that the flesh of animals killed
by it may be eaten with impunity.
I should hesitate in giving circulation to a prescription for
injuries inflicted by the asp, were it not that M. Yarro, then
in the eighty- third year of his age, has left a statement to the
effect that it is a most efficient remedy for wounds inflicted b}r
this reptile, for the person stung to drink his own urine.
CHAP. 19. REMEDIES DERIVED PROM THE BASILISK.
As to the basilisk,16 a creature which the very serpents fly
from, which kills by its odour even, and which proves fatal to
man by only looking upon him, its blood has been marvel-
lously extolled by the magicians.17 This blood is thick and
adhesive, like pitch, which it resembles also in colour : dis-
solved in water, they say, it becomes of a brighter red than
that of cinnabar. They attribute to it also the property of
ensuring success to petitions preferred to potentates, and to
prayers even offered to the gods; and they regard it as a
remedy for various diseases, and as an amulet preservative
against all noxious spells. Some give it the name of " Saturn's
blood."
15 This is the fact. 16 See B. viii. c. 33,
V The Magi of the East, probably.
Chap. 21.] EEMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE YIPER. 395
CHAP. 20. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE DRAGON.
The dragon18 is a serpent destitute of venom. Its head,
placed beneath the threshold of a door, the gods heing duly
propitiated by prayers, will ensure good fortune to the house,
it is said. Its eyes, dried and beaten up with honey, form a
liniment which is an effectual preservative against the terrors
of spectres by night, in the case of the most timorous even.
The fat adhering to the heart, attached to the arm with a
deer's sinews in the skin of a gazelle, will ensure success in
law-suits, it is said ; and the first joint of the vertebra will
secure an easy access to persons high in office. The teeth,
attached to the body with a deer's sinews in the skin of a roe-
buck, have the effect of rendering masters indulgent and poten-
tates gracious, it is said.
But the most remarkable thing of all is a composition, by
the aid of which the lying magicians profess to render persons
invincible. The)* take the tail and head of a dragon, the hairs
of a lion's forehead with the marrow of that animal, the foam
of a horse that has won a race, and the claws of a dog's feet :
these they tie up together in a deer's skin, and fasten them
alternately with the sinews of a deer and a gazelle. It is,
however, no better worth our while to refute such pretensions
as these, than it would be to describe the alleged remedies for
injuries inflicted by serpents, seeing that all these contrivances
are so many evil devices to poison19 men's morals.
Dragon's fat will repel venomous creatures ; an effect which is
equally produced by burning the fat of the ichneumon.20 They
will take to flight, also, at the approach of a person who has
been rubbed with nettles bruised in vinegar.
CHAP. 21. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE VIPER.
The application of a viper's head, even if it be not the one
that has inflicted the wound, is of infinite utility as a remedy.
It is highly advantageous, too, to hold the viper that inflicted
the injury on the end of a stick, over the steam of boiling
18 Some serpent of the boa species, probably. See B. via. cc. 1C, 14,
22, 41, and B. x. cc. 5, 92, 95, 96.
19 By leading them to confound truth with fiction.
20 See B. viii. c. 35.
396 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
water, for it will quite undo 21 the mischief, they say. The
ashes, also, of the viper, are considered very useful, employed as
a liniment for the wound. According to what Mgidius tells
us, serpents are compelled, by a sort of natural instinct, to
return to the person who has been stung by them. The people
of Scythia split the viper's head between the ears, in order to
extract a small stone,22 which it swallows in its alarm, they
say : others, again, use the head entire.
From the viper are prepared those tablets which are known
as " theriaci"23 to the Greeks : for this purpose the animal is
cut away three fingers' length from both the head and the tail,
after which the intestines are removed and the livid vein ad-
hering to the back-bone. The rest of the body is then boiled
in a shallow pan, in water seasoned with dill, and the bones are
taken out, and fine wheaten flour added ; after which the
preparation is made up into tablets,24 which are dried in the
shade and are employed as an ingredient in numerous medica-
ments. I should remark, however, that this preparation, it
would appear, can only be made from the viper. Some per-
sons, after cleansing the viper in manner above described, boil
down the fat, with one sextarius of olive oil, to one half. Of
this preparation, when needed, three drops are added to some
oil, with which mixture the body is rubbed, to repel the
approach of all kinds of noxious animals.
CHAP. 22. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE OTHER SERPENTS.
In addition to these particulars, it is a well-known fact that
for all injuries inflicted by serpents, and those even of an
otherwise incurable nature, it is an excellent remedy to apply
the entrails of the serpent itself to the wound ; as also, that
persons who have once swallowed a viper's liver, boiled, will
never afterwards be attacked by serpents. The snake, too,
is not venomous, except, indeed, upon certain days of the
month when it is irritated by the action of the moon : it is a
very useful plan to take it alive, and pound it in water, the
wound inflicted by it being fomented with the preparation.
Indeed, it is generally supposed that this reptile is possessed of
21 This is per/iaps the meaning of "prsecanere." Sillig suggests "re-
canere."
22 Which was said to act as an antidote to the poison, applied to the
wound.
M " Antidotes to serpents' poison." 2* "Pastilli,"
Chap. 23.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SALAMANDER. 397
numerous other remedial properties, as we shall have occasion
more fully to mention from time to time : hence it is that the
snake is consecrated to ^Esculapius.25 As for Democritus, he
has given some monstrous preparations from snakes, by the aid
of which the language of birds, he says, may be understood.26
The ^Esculapian snake was first brought to Eome from
Epidaurus,27 but at the present day it is very commonly reared
in our houses28 even ; so much so, indeed, that if the breed
were not kept down by the frequent conflagrations, it would
be impossible to make head against the rapid increase of them.
But the most beautiful of all the snakes are those which are
of an amphibious nature. These snakes are known as
" hydri,"29 or water-snakes : in virulence their venom is in-
ferior to that of no other class of serpents, and their liver is
preserved as a remedy for the ill effects of their sting.
A pounded scorpion neutralizes the venom of the spotted
lizard.30 From this last animal, too, there is a noxious preparation
made ; for it has been found that wine in which it has been
drowned, covers the face of those who drink it with morphew.
Hence it is that females, when jealous of a rival's beauty, are
in the habit of stifling a spotted lizard in the unguents which
they use. In such a case, the proper remedy is yolk of egg,
honey, and nitre. The gall of a spotted lizard, beaten up in
water, attracts weasels, they say.
CHAP. 23. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SALAMANDER.
But of all venomous animals it is the salamander31 that is
25 The god of Medicine.
26 A favourite reverie with the learned of the East. Dupont de Ne-
mours, Ajasson informs us, has left several Essays on this subject.
21 In Peloponnesus, the principal seat of his worship. A very full
account of his introduction, under the form of a huge serpent, into the
city of Rome, is given by Ovid, Met. B. xv. 1. 544, et seq. This took
place B.C. 293.
28 Among the snakes that are tamed, Ajasson enumerates the Coluber
flagelliformis of Dandin, or American coach-whip snake ; the Coluber con-
structor of Linnaeus, or Black snake; and the Coluber viridiflavus of
Lacepede. The JEseulapian serpent is still found in Italy.
29 Or " chersydri," " amphibious."
30 Or " starred lizard " — " stellio." In reality it is not poisonous.
31 See B. x. c. 86. Some kind of starred lizard, or an eft or newt per-
haps, was thus called : but in most respects it appears to be entirely a
fabulous animal.
398 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book XXIX.
by far the most dangerous ; for while other reptiles attack
individuals only, and never kill many persons at a time — not
to mention the fact that after stinging a human being they
are said to die of remorse, and the earth refuses to harbour32
them — the salamander is able to destroy whole nations at once,
unless they take the proper precautions against it. For if this
reptile happens to crawl up a tree, it infects all the fruit with
its poison, and kills those who eat thereof by the chilling pro-
perties of its venom, which in its effects is in no way different
from aconite. Kay, even more than this, if it only touches
with its foot the wood upon which bread is baked, or if it
happens to fall into a well, the same fatal effects will be sure
to ensue. The saliva, too, of this reptile, if it comes in contact
with any part of the body, the sole of the foot even, will
cause the hair to fall off from the whole of the body. And yet
the salamander, highly venomous as it is, is eaten by certain
animals, swine for example ; owing, no doubt, to that antipathy
which prevails in the natural world.
From what we find stated, it is most probable, that, next
to the animals which eat it, the best neutralizers of the poison
of this reptile, are, cantharides taken in drink, or a lizard eaten
with the food ; other antidotes we have already mentioned, or
shall notice in the appropriate place. As to what the ma-
gicians33 say, that it is proof against fire, being, as they tell us,
the only animal that has the property of extinguishing fire, if it
had been true, it would have been made trial of at Rome long
before this. Sextius says that the salamander, preserved in
honey and taken with the food, after removing the intestines,
head, and feet, acts as an aphrodisiac : he denies also that it
has the property of extinguishing fire.
CHAP. 24. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM BIRDS FOR INJURIES IN-
FLICTED BY SERPENTS. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE VULTURE.
Among the birds that afford us remedies against serpents, it
is the vulture that occupies the highest rank ; the black vulture,
it has been remarked, being less efficacious than the others.
The smell of their feathers, burnt, will repel serpents, they say ;
and it has been asserted that persons who carry the heart of
32 See B ii. c. 63.
3J* He probably alludes to the Magi of Persia here, as most of the stories
about the salamander appear to bear the aspect of an Eastern origin.
Chap. 25.] BEMEDIES DEBITED TfiOM POULTHY. 39 'J
this bird about them will be safe, not only from serpents, but
from wild beasts as well, and will have nothing to fear from
the attacks of robbers or from the wrath of kings.
CHAP. 25. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM POULTRY.
The flesh of cocks and capons, applied warm the moment it
has been plucked from the bones, neutralizes the venom of
serpents ; and the brains, taken in wine, are productive of a
similar effect. The people of Parthia, however, prefer apply-
ing a hen's brains to the wound. Poultry broth, too, is highly
celebrated as a cure, and is found marvellously useful in many
other cases. Panthers and lions will never touch persons who
have been rubbed with it, more particularly if it has been
flavoured with garlic. The broth that is made of an old cock
is more relaxing to the bowels ; it is very good also for chronic
fevers, numbness of the limbs, cold shiverings and maladies of
the joints, pains also in the head, defluxions of the eyes,
flatulency, sickness at stomach, incipient tenesmus, liver
complaints, diseases of the kidneys, affections of the bladder,
indigestion, and asthma. Hence there are several recipes for
preparing this broth ; it being most efficacious when boiled up
with sea-cabbage,34 salted tunny,35 capers, parsley, the plant
mercurialis,36 polypodium,37 or dill. The best plan, however,
is to boil the cock or capon with the plants above-mentioned in
three congii of water, down to three semi-sextarii ; after which
it should be left to cool in the open air, and given at the proper
moment, just after an emetic has been administered.
And here I must not omit to mention one marvellous fact,
even though it bears no reference to medicine : if the flesh of
poultry is mingled with gold38 in a state of fusion, it will
absorb the metal and consume it, thus showing that it acts
as a poison upon gold. If young twigs are made up into a
collar and put round a cock's neck, it will never crow.
34 See B. xxii. c. 33.
35 "Cybium." See B. ix. c. 18. Dioscorides says the plant cnecos, de-
scribed by Pliny in B. xxi. c. 107.
36 See B. xxv. c. 18, arid B. xxvii. c. 77.
37 See B. xvi. c. 92, and B. xxvi. cc. 37, 66.
33 « Hereupon peradventure it is that in collices and cockbroths we use
to seeth pieces of gold, with an opinion to make them thereby more re-
storative."— Holland.
400 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
CHAP. 26. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM OTHER BIRDS.
The flesh of pigeons also, or of swallows, used fresh and
minced, is a remedy for injuries inflicted by serpents : the
same, too, with the feet of a horned owl, burnt with the plant
plumbago.39 While mentioning this bird, too, I must not
forget to cite another instance of the impositions practised by the
magicians : among other prodigious lies of theirs, they pretend
that the heart of a horned owl, applied to the left breast of a
woman while asleep, will make40 her disclose all her secret
thoughts. They say, also, in addition to this, that persons who have
it about them in battle will be sure to display valour. They
describe, too, certain remedies made from the egg of this bird for
the hair. But who, pray, has ever had the opportunity of
seeing the egg of a horned owl, considering that it is so highly
ominous to see the bird itself?41 And then besides, who has
ever thought proper to make the experiment, and upon his hair
more particularly ? In addition to all this, the magicians go
so far as to engage to make the hair curl by using the blood of
the young of the horned owl.
What they tell us, too, about the bat, appears to belong to
pretty much the same class of stories : if one of these animals is
carried alive, three times round a house, they say, and then
nailed outside of the window with the head downwards, it will
have all the effects of a countercharm : they assert, also, that the
bat is a most excellent preservative for sheepfolds, being first
carried three times round them, and then hung up by the foot
over the lintel of the door.42 The blood of the bat is also
recommended by them as a sovereign remedy, in combination
with a thistle,43 for injuries inflicted by serpents.
CHAP. 27. REMEDIES FOR THE BITE OF THE PHALA.NGITJM. THE
SEVERAL VARIETIES OF THAT INSECT, AND OF THE SPIDER.
Of the phalangium,44 an insect unknown to Italy, there are
39 See B. xxv. c. 97.
40 The same is said of a frog's tongue, in B. xxxii. c. 18.
41 That is no reason, as Ajasson remarks, why the egg should not be
found, it being easy to take it from the nest at night, when, the bird
being absent, no ill omen will arise from seeing it.
•2 We still see bats nailed upon and over stable doors in various parts
of tliis country. 43 K Carduus."
44 A sort of spider. See B. xi. cc. 24, 28, 29.
Chap. 27.] YATIIETIES OF THE SPIDER. 401
numerous kinds ; one of which resembles the ant, but is much
larger, with a red head, black as to the other parts of the
body, and covered with white spots. Its sting is much more
acute than that of the wasp, and it lives mostly in the vicinity
of ovens and mills. The proper remedy is, to present before
the eyes of the person stung another insect of the same de-
scription, a purpose for which they are preserved when found
dead. Their husks also, found in a dry state, are beaten up
and taken in drink for a similar purpose. The young of the
weasel, too, as already45 stated, are possessed of a similar pro-
perty. The Greeks give the name of "phalangion" also to a
kind of spider, but they generally distinguish it by the surname
of the "wolf."46 A third kind, also known as the "phalan-
gium," is a spider with a hairy47 body, and a head of enormous
size. When opened, there are found in it two small worms,
thej' say : these, attached in a piece of deer's skin, before sun-
rise, to a woman's body, will prevent conception, according to
what Caecilius, in his Commentaries, says. This property lasts,
however, for a year only ; and, indeed, it is the only one of all
the anti-conceptives48 that I feel myself at liberty to mention,
in favour of some women whose fecundity, quite teeming with
children,49 stands in need of some such respite.
There is another kind again, called " rhagion,"50 similar to
a black grape in appearance, with a very diminutive mouth,
situate beneath the abdomen, and extremely short legs, which
have all the appearance of not being fully developed. The bite
of this last insect causes fully as much pain as the sting of the
scorpion, and the urine of persons who are injured by it, pre-
sents filmy appearances like cobwebs. The asterion51 would be
identical with it, were it not distinguished by white streaks
upon the body : its bite causes failing in the knees. But
worse than either of these last, is a blue spider, covered with
black hair, and causing dimness of the sight and vomiting of
a matter like cobwebs in appearance. A still more dangerous
kind is one which differs only from the hornet, in form, in
45 In c. 16 of this Book. 46 " Lupus." See B. xi. c. 28.
47 The Tarantula has been suggested, but that is a native of Italy,
48 " Atocium." 49 " Plena liberis."
50 From 'pa£, a " grape."
51 Or " starred " spider. Nicander describes all these varieties of the
Phalangium.
VOL. V^ D D
402 PUNT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
being destitute of wings, and the bite of which causes a
wasting away of the system. The myrmecion52 in the head
resembles the ant, has a black body spotted with white, and
causes by its bite a pain like that attendant upon the sting of
the wasp. Of the tetragnathius53 there are two varieties, the
more noxious of which has two white streaks crossing each
other on the middle of the head ; its bite causes the mouth
to swell. The other one is of an ashy colour, whitish on the
posterior part of the body, and not so ready to bite.
The least noxious of all is the spider that is seen extending
its web along the walls, and lying in wait for flies ; it is of the
same ashy colour as the last.
For the bite of all spiders, the best remedies are : a cock's
brains, taken in oxycrate with a little pepper ; five ants, swal-
lowed in drink ; sheep's dung, applied in vinegar ; and spiders
of any kind, left to putrefy in oil. The bite of the shrew-
mouse is cured by taking lamb's rennet in wine ; the ashes of a
ram's foot with honey ; or a young weasel, prepared in manner
already54 mentioned by us when speaking of serpents. lu
cases where a shrewmouse has bitten beasts of burden, a mouse,
fresh caught, is applied to the wound with oil, or a bat's gall
with vinegar. The shrew-mouse itself too, split asunder and
applied to the wound, is a cure for its bite ; indeed, if the
animal is with young when the injury is inflicted, it will
instantly burst asunder. The best plan is to apply the mouse
itself which has inflicted the bite, but others are commonly
kept for this purpose, either steeped in oil or coated with clay.
Another remedy, again, for its bite is the earth taken from the
rut made by a cart-wheel ; for this animal, it is said, owing
to a certain torpor which is natural to it, will never cross55
a rut made by a wheel.
CHAP. 28. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE STELLIO OR SPOTTED
LIZARD.
The stellio, in its turn, is said to have the greatest antipathy
to the scorpion ;56 so much so indeed, that the very sight of it
strikes terror in that reptile, and a torpor attended with cold
sweats ; hence it is that this lizard is left to putrefy in oil, us
52 From /uvp/i»}£, "an ant." 63 The "four-jawed " spider.
54 In c. 16 of this Book. 55 See B. viii. e. 83.
56 See B. xix. c. 22. For further particulars as to the Stellio, see B. xi.
c. 31, and the Note.
Chap. 30.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CANTHARIDES. 403
a liniment for injuries inflicted by the scorpion. Some persons
boil down the oil with litharge, and make a sort of plaster of
it to apply to the wound. The Greeks give the name of
" colotes" to this lizard, as also " ascalabotes," and " galeotes :"
it is never57 found in Italy, and is covered with small spots,
utters a shrill, piercing noise, and lives on food ; characteristics,
all of them, foreign to the stellio of Italy.
CHAP. 29. KEMEDIES DERIVED FROM VARIOUS INSECTS.
Poultry dung, too, is good as an application for the sting of
the scorpion ; a dragon's liver also ; a lizard or mouse split
asunder ; or else the scorpion itself, either applied to the wound,
grilled and eaten, or taken in two cyathi of undiluted wine.
Qne peculiarity of the scorpion is, that it never stings the
palm of the hand, and never touches any parts of the body but
those covered with hair. Any kind of pebble, applied to the wound
on the side which has lain next to the ground, will alleviate the
pain. A potsherd too, covered with earth on any part of it, and
applied just as it is found, will effect a cure, it is said — the
person, however, who applies it must not look behind him,
and must be equally careful that the sun does not shine upon
him. Earth-worms also, are pounded and applied to the
wound; in addition to which, they form ingredients in numerous
other medicaments, being kept in honey fof the purpose.
For injuries inflicted by bees, wasps, hornets, and leeches,
the owlet is considered a very useful remedy ; persons, too, who
carry about them the beak of the woodpecker58 of Mars are
never injured by any of these creatures. The smaller kinds
of locusts also, destitute of wings and known as " attelebi,"
are a good remedy for the sting of the scorpion.
There is a kind of venomous ant, by no means common in
Italy; Cicero calls it "solipuga," and in Eastica it is known
as "salpuga."59 The proper remedy for its venom and that
of all kinds of ants is a bat's heart. We have already60 stated
that cantharides are an antidote to the salamander.
CHAP. 30. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CANTHARTDE3.
But with reference to cantharides, there has been considerable
37 This is probably an error ; see the Note to B. xi. c. 31.
5f* See B. x. cc. 18, 41, 44, and 50.
39 See B. viii. c. 43. A jasson remarks that this is a mere fabulous story,
in reference to the venom of the ants. 60 In B. xxix. c. 23.
D D 2
404 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOBY. [Book XXIX.
eontroversj7" on the subject, seeing that, taken internally, they
are a poison, attended with excruciating pains in the bladder.
Cossinus, a Roman of the Equestrian order, well known for his
intimate friendship with the Emperor Nero, being attacked
with lichen,01 that prince sent to Egypt for a physician to cure
him ; who recommending a potion prepared from cantharides,
the patient was killed in consequence. There is no doubt,
however, that applied externally they are useful, in combina-
tion with juice of Taniinian62 grapes, and the suet of a sheep
or she-goat. As to the part of the body in which the poison
of the insect is situate, autbors are by no means agreed. Some
fancy that it exists in the feet and head, while others, again,
deny it ; indeed the only point tbat has been well ascertained is,
that the wings63 are the only antidote to their venom, wherever
it may be situate.
Cantharides are produced from a small grub, found more
particularly in the spongy excrescences which grow on the
stem of the dog-rose,64 and still more abundantly upon the
ash. Other kinds, again, are found upon the white rose, but
they are by no means so efficacious. The most active of all
in their properties, are those which are spotted with yellow
streaks running transversely across the wings, and are plump
and well-filled. Those which are small, broad, and hairy,
are not so powerfuf in their operation, and the least useful of all
are those which are thin and shrivelled, and present one uniform
colour. They are put in a small earthen pot, not coated with
pitch, and stopped at the mouth with a linen cloth, a layer of
full-blown roses being placed upon them ; they are then sus-
pended over vinegar boiled with salt, until the steam has pene-
trated the cloth and stifled them, after which they are put by
for use. They have a caustic effect upon the skin, and cover'
the ulcerations with a crust ; a property which belongs also
to the pine-caterpillar65 found upon the pitch- tree, and to the
buprestis,66 both of which are prepared in a similar manner.
All these insects are extremely efficacious for the cure of
61 See B. xxvi. c. 2. 62 See B. xxiii. c. 14.
6;i It has been ascertained by experiment that the vesicatory principle
resides in the wings more particularly. Ajasson remarks, that it is possible
that the ancients may not have known the genuine Cantharides, the Canth.
vesicatoria of modern medicine.
*4 See B. xxiv. c. 74.
65 u Pityoeampse." See B. xxiii. cc. 30, 40, and B. xxviii. c. 33.
«« See B. xxviii. cc. 21, 33, 42, and B. xxx. c. 10.
Chap. 32.] KEMEDIES FOE THE BITE OF THE MAD DOG. 405
leprosy and lichens. It is said, too, that they act as an ern-
menagogue and diuretic, for which last reason Hippocrates
used to prescribe them for dropsy. Cato of Utica was re-
proached with selling poison, because, when disposing of a
royal property by auction,67 he sold a quantity of cantharides,
at the price of sixty thousand sesterces. (5.) We may here
remark, too, that it was on the same occasion that some ostrich
fat was sold, at the price of thirty thousand sesterces, a sub-
stance which is preferable to goose-grease in every respect.
CHAP. 31. — VARIOUS COUNTER-POISONS.
We have already68 spoken of various kinds of poisonous
honey : the antidote employed for it is honey in which the
bees have been stifled. This honey, too, taken in wine, is a
remedy for indispositions caused by eating fish.
CHAP. 32. — REMEDIES FOR THE BITE OF THE MAD DOG.
When a person has been bitten by a mad dog, he may be
preserved from h3rdrophobia by applying the ashes of a dog's
head to the wound. All ashes of this description, we may
here remark once for all, are prepared in the same method";
the substance being placed in a new earthen vessel well covered
with potter's clay, and put into a furnace. These ashes, too,
are very good, taken in drink, and hence some recommend the
head itself to be eaten in such cases. Others, again, attach to the
body of the patient a maggot, taken from the carcase of a dead
dog ; or else place the menstruous blood of a bitch, in a linen
cloth, beneath his cup, or insert in the wound ashes of hairs
from the tail of the dog that inflicted the bite. Dogs will fly
from any one who has a dog's heart about him, and thej* will
never bark at a person who carries a dog's tongue in his shoe,
beneath the great toe, or the tail of a weasel which has been
set at liberty after being deprived of it. There is beneath the
tongue of a mad dog a certain slimy spittle, which, taken in
drink, is a preventive of hydrophobia: but much the most
useful plan is, to take the liver of the dog that has inflicted
the injury, and eat it raw, if possible ; should that not be the
case, it must be cooked in some way or other, or else a broth
must be taken, prepared from the flesh.
67 At the sale, under his supervision, of the property of Ptolemy, king
of Cyprus. 68 In B. xxi^ c. 34.
406 PLINY'S NATUKAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
There is a small worm69 in a dog's tongue, known as "lytta"70
to the Greeks : if this is removed from the animal while a
pup, it will never become mad or lose its appetite. This worm,
after being carried thrice round a fire, is given to persons who
have been bitten by a mad dog, to prevent them from becom-
ing mad. This madness, too, is prevented by eating a cock's
brains ; but the virtue of these brains lasts for one year only,
and no more. They say, too, that a cock's comb, pounded, is
highly efficacious as an application to the wound ; as also,
goose-grease, mixed with honey. The flesh also of a mad
dog is sometimes salted, and taken with the food, as a remedy
for this disease. In addition to this, young puppies of the
same sex as the dog that has inflicted the injury, are drowned
in water, and the person who has been bitten eats their liver
raw. The dung of poultry, provided it is of a red colour, is
very useful, applied with vinegar ; the ashes, too, of the tail
of a shrew-mouse, if the animal has survived and been set at
liberty; a clod from a swallow's nest, applied with vinegar;
the young of a swallow, reduced to ashes ; or the skin or old
slough of a serpent that has been cast in spring, beaten up
with a male crab in wine : this slough, I would remark, put
away by itself in chests and drawers, destroys moths.
So virulent is the poison of the mad dog, that its very urine
even, if trod upon, is injurious, more particularly if the person
has any ulcerous sores about him. The proper remedy in such
case is to apply horse-dung, sprinkled with vinegar, and warmed
in a fig. These marvellous properties of the poison will occa-
sion the less surprise, when we remember that, " a stone bitten
bjr a dog" has become a proverbial expression for discord and
variance.71 Whoever makes water where a dog has previ-
ously watered, will be sensible of numbness in the loins, they
say.
69 This is still the vulgar notion ; but in reality there is no worm, but
certain white pustules beneath the tongue, which break spontaneously at
the end of twelve days after birth. Puppies are still " wormed," as it is
called, as a preventive of hydrophobia, it is said, and of a propensity to
fnaw objects which come in their way. The " worming" consists in the
reaking of these pustules. 70 " Rage " or " madness."
71 " For the manner of a dog is to bee angrie with the stone that is
thrown at him, without regard to the partie that flung it, whereupon grew
the proverb in Greeke, KVUV lig TOV XiQov ayavaKTovva (' A dog venting
his rage upon a stone.')" — Holland.
Chap. 33.] REMEDIES FOE THE OTHER POISONS. 407
The lizard known by some persons as the " seps,"72 and by
others as the " chalcidice," taken in wine, is a cure for its
own bite.
CHAP. 33. REMEDIES TOR THE OTHER POISONS.
Where persons have been poisoned by noxious preparations
from the wild weasel,73 the proper remedy is the broth of an
old cock, taken in considerable quantities. This broth, too,
is particularly good, taken as a counter-poison for aconite, in
combination with a little salt. Poultry dung — but the white
part only — boiled with hyssop, or with honied wine, is an ex-
cellent antidote to the poison of fungi and of mushrooms : it is
a cure also for flatulency and suffocations ; a thing the more to
be wondered at, seeing that if any other living creature only
tastes this dung, it is immediately attacked with griping pains
and flatulency. Goose blood, taken with an equal quantity of
olive oil, is an excellent neutralizer of the venom of the sea-
hare : it is kept also as an antidote for all kinds of noxious
drugs,rnade up into lozenges with red earth of Lemnos and juice
of white-thorn, five drachmae of the lozenges being taken in
three cyathi of water. The same property belongs also to the
young of the weasel, prepared in manner already74 mentioned.
Lambs' rennet is an excellent antidote to all noxious pre-
parations ; the blocrd, also, of ducks from Pontus ;75 for which
reason it is preserved in a dry state, and dissolved in wine when
wanted, some persons being of opinion that the blood of the
female bird is the most efficacious. In a similar manner, the
crop of a stork acts as an universal counter-poison ; and so does
sheep's rennet. A broth made from ram's flesh is particu-
larly good as a remedy for cantharides : sheep's milk also, taken
warm ; this last being very useful in cases where persons
have drunk an infusion of aconite, or have swallowed the
buprestis in drink. The dung of wood -pigeons is particularly
good taken internally as an antidote to quicksilver ; and for
72 See B. xx. cc. 6, 20. It is somewhat doubtful what the "seps"
really was ; whether, in fact, it was a lizard at all. Littre* suggests the Tri-
dactylus saurius.
73 Or Ferret, probably. See c. 16 of this Book.
74 In c. 16 of this Book.
75 From the circumstance that that country was covered with herbs and
plants of a medicinal nature,
408 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book XXIX.
narcotic poisons the common weasel is kept dried, and taken
internally, in doses of two drachmae.
CHAP. 34. (6.) KEMEDIES FOE AXOPECY.
Where the hair has been lost through alopecy,76 it is made
to grow again by using ashes of burnt sheep's dung, with oil of
Cyprus77 and honey ; or else the hoof of a mule of either sex,
burnt to ashes and mixed with oil of myrtle. In addition to these
substances, we find our own writer, Yarro, mentioning mouse-
dung, which he calls " muscerda,"78 and the heads of flies,
applied fresh, the part being first rubbed with a fig-leaf.
Some recommend the blood of flies, while others, again, apply
ashes of burnt flies for ten days, in the proportion of one part
of the ashes to two of ashes of papyrus or of nuts. In other
cases, again, we find ashes of burnt flies kneaded up with
woman's milk and cabbage, or, in some instances, with honey
only. It is generally believed that there is no creature less
docile or less intelligent than the fly ; a circumstance which
makes it all the more marvellous that at the sacred games at
Olympia, immediately after the immolation of the bull in
honour of the god called "Myiodes,"79 whole clouds of them
take their departure from that territory. A mouse's head or
tail, or, indeed, the whole of the body, reduced to ashes, is a
cure for alopecy, more particularly when the loss of the hair has
been the result of some noxious preparation. The ashes of a
h edge-hog, mixed with honey, or of its skin, applied with tar,
are productive of a similar effect. The head, too, of this last
animal, reduced to ashes, restores the hair to scars upon the
body ; the place being first prepared, when this cure is made
use of, with a razor and an application of mustard : some
persons, however, prefer vinegar for the purpose. All the
properties attributed to the hedge-hog are found in the por-
cupine in a still higher degree.80
A lizard burnt, as already81 mentioned, with the fresh root
of a reed, cut as fine as possible, to facilitate its being re-
76 So called from a\w7r»}£, " a fox," an animal very subject to the loss
of its hair. ;7 See B. xii. c. 51.
78 So swine's dung was called " sucerda," and cowdung " bucerda."
79 Or Maagrus, the "fly catcher," the name of a hero, invoked at Ali-
phera, at the festivals of Athena, as the protector against flies. It was
also a surname of Hercules. See B. x. c. 40.
*° See B. viii. c. 53. bl In c. 32 of this Book.
Chap. 36.] REMEDIES FOE HEAD-ACHE. 409
duced to ashes, and then mixed with oil of myrtle, will
prevent the hair from coming off. For all these purposes
green lizards are still more efficacious, and the remedy is ren-
dered most effectual, when salt is added, bears' grease, and
pounded onions. Some persons hoil ten green lizards in ten
sextarii of oil, and content themselves with rubhing the place
with the mixture once a month. Alopecy is also cured very
speedily with the ashes of a viper's skin, or by an application
of fresh poultry dung. A raven's egg, beaten up in a copper
vessel and applied to the head, previously shaved, imparts a
black colour to the hair ; care must be taken, however, to keep
some oil in the mouth till the application is quite dry, or else
the teeth will turn black as well. The operation must be per-
formed also in the shade, and the liniment must not be washed
off before the end of three days. Some persons employ the
blood and brains of a raven, in combination with red wine ;
while others, again, boil down the bird, and put it, at bedtime,
in a vessel made of lead. With some it is the practice, for
the cure of alopecy, to apply bruised cantharides with tar, the
skin being first prepared with an application of nitre : — it
should be remembered, however, that cantharides are possessed
of caustic properties, and due care must be taken not to let
them eat too deep into the skin. For the ulcerations thus pro-
duced, it is recommended to use applications made of the heads,
gall, and dung of mice, mixed with hellebore and pepper.
CHAP. 35. REMEDIES FOR LICE AND FOR PORRIGO.
Nits are destroyed by using dogs* fat, eating serpents cooked82
like eels, or else taking their sloughs in drink. Porrigo is
cured by applying sheep's gall with Cimolian chalk, and rub-
bing the head with the mixture till dry.
CHAP. 36. REMEDIES FOR HEAD-ACHE AND FOR WOUNDS OX
THE HEAD.
A good remedy for head-ache are the heads taken from the
snails which are found without83 shells, and in an imperfect
state. In these heads there is found a hard stony substance,
about as large as a common pebble : on being extracted from
82 A recipe well understood in the restaurants of the French provinces,
Ajasson says, but it is doubtful whether with the object named by our author.
83 He means slugs probably.
410 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
the snail, it is attached to the patient, the smaller snails being
pounded and applied to the forehead. Wool-grease, too, is
used for a similar purpose ; the bones of a vulture's head, worn
as an amulet ; or the brains of that bird, mixed with oil and
cedar resin, and applied to the head and introduced into the
nostrils. The brains of a crow or owlet, are boiled and taken
with the food : or a cock is put into a coop, and kept without
food a day and a night, the patient submitting to a similar
abstinence, and attaching to his head some feathers plucked
from the neck or the comb of the fowl. The ashes, too, of a
weasel are applied in the form of a liniment ; a twig is taken
from a kite's nest, and laid beneath the patient's pillow; or a
mouse's skin is burnt, and the ashes applied with vinegar :
sometimes, also, the small bone is extracted from the head of
a snail that has been found between two cart ruts, and after
being passed through a gold ring, with a piece of ivory, is
attached to the patient in a piece of dog's skin ; a remedy
well known to most persons, and always used with success.84
For fractures of the cranium, cobwebs are applied, with oil
and vinegar ; the application never coming away till a cure
has been effected. Cobwebs are good, too, for stopping the
bleeding of wounds85 made in shaving. Discharges of blood
from the brain are arrested by applying the blood of a goose
or duck, or the grease of those birds with oil of roses. The
head of a snail cut off with a reed, while feeding in the
morning, at full moon more particularly, is attached to the
head in a linen cloth, with an old thrum, for the cure of head-
ache ; or else a liniment is made of it, and applied with white
wax to the forehead. Dogs' hairs are worn also, attached to
the forehead in a cloth.
CHAP. 37. REMEDIES FOE AFFECTIONS OF THE EYELIDS.
A crow's brains, taken with the food, they say, will make
the eyelashes grow ; or else wool-grease, applied with warmed
myrrh, by the aid of a fine probe. A similar result is pro-
mised by using the following preparation : burnt flies and
ashes of mouse-dung are mixed in equal quantities, to the
amount of half a denarius in the whole ; two sixths of a deiaa-
. 84 He does not appear to state this on hearsay only !
b5 Cobwebs are still used for this purpose, as also the fur from articles
made of beaver. Ajasson mentions English taffeta.
Chap. 38.] REMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE EYES. 4 J 1
rius of antimony are then added, and the mixture is applied
with wool-grease. For the same purpose, also, the young ones
of a mouse are beaten up, in old wine, to the consistency of the
strengthening preparations known as " aeopa."86 When eye-
lashes are plucked out that are productive of inconvenience, they
are prevented from growing again by using a hedge-hog's gall ;
the liquid portion, also, of a spotted lizard's eggs ; the ashes
of a burnt salamander ; the gall of a green lizard, mixed with
white wine, and left to thicken to the consistency of honey in
a copper vessel in the sun ; the ashes of a s wallow* s young,
mixed with the milky juice of tithymalos ;87 or else the slime
of snails.
CHAP. 38. BEMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE EYES.
According to what the magicians say, glaucoma88 may be
cured by using the brains of a puppy seven days old ; the probe
being inserted in the right side [of the eye], if it is the right
eye that is being operated on, and in the left side, if it is the
left. The fresh gall, too, of the asio89 is used, a bird belonging
to the owlet tribe, with feathers standing erect like ears.
Apollonius of Pitanae used to prefer dog's gall, in combina-
tion with honey, to that of the hysena, for the cure of cataract,
as also of albugo. The heads and tails of mice, reduced to
ashes and applied to the eyes, improve the sight, it is said ; a
result which is ensured with even greater certainty by using the
ashes of a dormouse or wild mouse, or else the brains or gall
of an eagle. The ashes and fat of a field-mouse, beaten up
with Attic honey and antimony, are remarkably useful for
watery eyes — what this antimony90 is, we shall have occasion
to say when speaking of metals.
For the cure of cataract, the ashes of a weasel are used, as
also the brains of a lizard or swallow. Weasels, boiled and
pounded, and so applied to the forehead, allay defluxions of the
eyes, either used alone, or else with fine flour or with frankin-
cense. Employed in a similar manner, they are very good for
sun-stroke, or in other words, for injuries inflicted by the sun.
It is a remarkably good plan, too, to burn these animals alive,
and to use their ashes, with Cretan honey, as a liniment for
*e See c. 13 of this Book. 87 See B. xxvi. c. 39.
8b A disease of the crystalline humours of the eye.
w See B. x. c. 33. 9° " Stibium.*' See B. xxxiii. c. 33.
412 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
films upon the eyes. The cast-off91 slough of the asp, with
the fat of that reptile, forms an excellent ointment for im-
proving the sight in beasts of burden. To burn a viper alive
in a new earthen vessel, with one cyathus of fennel juice,
and a single grain of frankincense, and then to anoint the eyes
with the mixture, is remarkably good for cataract and films
upon the eyes; the preparation being generally known as
" echeon."91* An eye-salve, too. is prepared, by leaving a
viper to putrefy in an earthen pot, and bruising the maggots
that breed in it with saffron. A viper, too, is burnt in a
vessel with salt, and the preparation is applied to the tip of
the tongue, to improve the eyesight, and to act generally as a
corrective of the stomach and other parts of the body. This
salt is given also to sheep, to preserve them in health, and is
used as an ingredient in antidotes to the venom of serpents.
Some persons, again, use vipers as an article of food : when
this is done, it is recommended, the moment they are killed,
to put some salt in the mouth and let it melt there ; after
which, the body must be cut away to the length of four fingers
at each extremity, and, the intestines being first removed, the
remainder boiled in a mixture of water, oil, salt, and dill.
"When thus prepared, they are either eaten at once, or else
kneaded in a loaf, and taken from time to time as wanted.
In addition to the above-mentioned properties, viper-broth
cleanses all parts of the body of lice,92 and removes itching
sensations as well upon the surface of the skin. The ashes,
also, of a viper's head, used by themselves, are evidently pro-
ductive of considerable effects ; they are employed very advan-
tageously in the form of a liniment for the eyes ; and so, too, is
viper's fat. I would not make so bold as to advise what is
strongly recommended by some, the use, namely, of vipers'
gall; for that, as already stated93 on a more appropriate occa-
sion, is nothing else but the venom of the serpent. The fat of
snakes, mixed with verdigrease,94 heals ruptures. of the cuticle
of the eyes ; and the skin or slough that is cast off in spring,
employed as a friction for the eyes, improves the sight. The
91 " Exuta vere," as suggested by Sillig, would appear a better reading
than " ex utero," which can have no meaning here.
91* « Viper mixture."
93 See c. 35 of this Book. « in B. xi. c. 62.
94 As Ajasson remarks, this would be very likely to gangrene the wound.
Chap. 38.] EEMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE EYES. 413
gall of the boa95 is highly vaunted for the cure of albugo, cata-
ract, and films upon the eyes, and the fat is thought to improve
the sight.
The gall of the eagle, which tests its young, as already
stated,96 by making them look upon the sun, forms, with Attic
honey, an eye-salve which is very good for the cure of webs,
films, and cataracts of the eye. A vulture's gall, too, mixed
with leek-juice and a little honey, is possessed of similar pro-
perties ; and the gall of a cock, dissolved in water, is employed
for the cure of argema and albugo : the gall, too, of a white
cock, in particular, is recommended for cataract. For short-
sighted persons, the dung of poultry is recommended as a lini-
ment, care being taken to use that of a reddish colour only.
A hen's gall, too, is highly spoken of, and the fat in particular,
for the cure of pustules upon the pupils, a purpose for which
hens are expressly fattened. This last substance is marvel-
lously useful for ruptures of the coats of the eyes, incorporated
with the stones known as schistos97 and ha3matites. Hens'
dung, too, but only the white part of it, is kept with old oil
in boxes made of horn, for the cure of white specks upon the
pupil of the eye. While mentioning this subject, it is worthy
of remark, that peacocks98 swallow their dung, it is said, as
though they envied man the various uses of it. A hawk,
boiled in oil of roses, is considered extremely efficacious as a lini-
ment for all affections of the eyes, and so are the ashes of its
dung, mixed with Attic honey. A kite's liver, too, is highly
esteemed ; and pigeons' dung, diluted with vinegar, is used as
an application for fistulas of the eye, as also for albugo and
marks upon that organ. Goose gall and duck's blood' are very
useful for contusions of the eyes, care being taken, immediately
iifter the application, to anoint them with a mixture of wool-
grease and honey. In similar cases, too, gall of partridges is
used, with an equal quantity of honey ; but where it is only
wanted to improve the sight, the gall is used alone. It is
generally thought, too, upon the authority of Hippocrates,99
95 See B. viii. c. 14. Not tbe Boa constrictor of modern Natural History.
96 In B. x. c. 3.
97 See B. xxxiii. c. 25, and B. xxxvi. cc. 37, 38.
93 The tongues of peacocks and larks are recommended for epilepsy, by
Lampridius, in his Life of the Emperor Elagabalus. The statement in the
text is, of course, a fiction. " The reading here is doubtful.
414 PLIIST'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
that the gall to be used for these purposes should be kept in a
silver box.
Partridges' eggs, boiled in a copper vessel, with honey, are
curative of ulcers of the eyes, and of glaucoma. For the
treatment of blood-shot eyes, the blood of pigeons, ring-doves,
turtle-doves, and partridges is remarkably useful ; but that
of the male pigeon is generally looked upon as the most effica-
cious. For this purpose, a vein is opened beneath the wing,
it being warmer than the rest of the blood, and consequently
more1 beneficial. After it is applied, a compress, boiled in
honey, should be laid upon it, and some greasy wool, boiled in
oil and wine. ]S"yctalopy,2 too, is cured by using the blood of
these birds, or the liver of a sheep — the most efficacious
being that of a tawny sheep — as already3 stated by us
when speaking of goats. A decoction, too, of the liver is
recommended as a wash for the eyes, and, for pains and swell-
ings in those organs, the marrow, used as a liniment. The eyes
of a horned owl, it is strongly asserted, reduced to ashes and
mixed in an eye-salve, will improve the sight. Albugo is made
to disappear by using the dung of turtle-doves, snails burnt to
ashes, and the dung of the cenchris, a kind of hawk, according
to the Greeks.4 All the substances above mentioned, used in
combination with honey, are curative of argema : honey, too,
in which the bees have died, is remarkably good for the eyes.
A person who has eaten the young of the stork will never
suffer from ophthalmia for many years to come, it is said ; and
the same when a person carries about him the head of a
dragon:5 it is stated, too, that the fat of this last-named
animal, applied with honey and old oil, will disperse incipient
films of the eyes. The young of the swallow are blinded at
full moon, and the moment their sight is restored,6 their heads
are burnt, and the ashes are employed, with honey, to improve
the sight, and for the cure of pains, ophthalmia, and contu-
sions of the eyes.
Lizards, also, are employed in numerous ways as a remedy
1 A puerile reason, Ajasson remarks. It is much more probable that
the reason was, because this vein was the most easily discovered.
2 See B. xxviii. c. 47. 3 In B. xxviii. c. 47.
4 See B. x. c. 52. 5 The serpent so called.
6 An absurdity. The probability is, that the sight of the young birds
was only supposed to be destroyed, the operation being imperfectly performed.
Chap. 38.] REMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE EYES. 415
for diseases of the eyes. Some persons enclose a green lizard
in a new earthen vessel, together with nine of the small stones
known as " cinsedia,"7 which are usually attached to the body
for tumours in the groin. Upon each of these stones they
make nine8 marks, and remove one from the vessel daily,
taking care, when the ninth day is come, to let the lizard go,
the stones being kept as a remedy for affections of the eyes.
Others, again, blind a green lizard, and after putting some
earth beneath it, enclose it in a glass vessel, with some small
rings of solid iron or gold. When they find, by looking
through the glass, that the lizard has recovered its sight,9 they
set it at liberty, and keep the rings as a preservative against
ophthalmia. Others employ the ashes of a lizard's head as
a substitute for antimony, for the treatment of eruptions of the
eyes. Some recommend the ashes of the green lizard with a long
neck that is usually found in sandy soils, as an application for
incipient defluxions of the eyes, and for glaucoma. They say,
too, that if the eyes of a weasel are extracted with a pointed
instrument, its sight will return; the same use being made of it
as of the lizards and rings above mentioned. The right eye
of a serpent, worn as an amulet, is very good, it is said, for
defluxions of the eyes, due care being taken to set the serpent
at liberty after extracting the eye. For continuous watering10
of the eyes, the ashes of a spotted lizard's head, applied with
antimony, are remarkably efficacious.
The cobweb of the common fly-spider, that which lines its
hole more particularly, applied to the forehead across the
temples, in a compress of some kind or other, is said to be
marvellously useful for the cure of defluxions of the eyes : the
web must be taken, however, and applied by the hands of a
boy who has not arrived at the years of puberty ; the boy,
too, must not show himself to the patient for three days, and
during those three days neither of them must touch the
ground with his feet uncovered. The white spider11 with
7 See B. xxxvii. c. 56.
8 The mention of this number denotes the Eastern origin of this re-
medy, Ajasson remarks.
9 See Note 6 above. 10 " Lacrymantibus sine fine oculis."
11 Ajasson remarks, that Pliny has given here a much more exact de-
scription of the varieties of the Spider, than in the Eleventh Book. The
learned Commentator gives an elaborate discussion, of eighteen panes, on
the varieties of the Spider as known to the ancients in common with modern
naturalists.
416 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
very elongated, thin, legs, beaten up in old oil, forms an oint-
ment which is used for the cure of albugo. The spider, too,
whose web, of remarkable thickness, is generally found ad-
hering to the rafters of houses, applied in a piece of cloth, is
said to be curative of defluxions of the eyes. The green
scarabseus has the property of rendering the sight more
piercing12 of those who gaze upon it : hence it is that the
engravers of precious stones use these insects to steady their
sight.
CHAP. 39. REMEDIES FOR PAINS AND DISEASES OF THE EARS.
A sheep's gall, mixed with honey, is a good detergent of the
ears. Pains in those organs are allayed by injecting a bitch's
milk ; and hardness of hearing is removed by using dogs' fat,
with wormwood and old oil, or else goose-grease. Some per-
sons add juice of onions and of garlic,12" in equal proportions.
The eggs, too, of ants are used, by themselves, for this purpose;
these insects being possessed, in fact, of certain medicinal pro-
perties, and bears, it is well known, curing themselves when
sick, by eating13 them as food. Goose-grease, and indeed that
of all birds, is prepared by removing all the veins and leaving
the fat, in a new, shallow, earthen vessel, well covered, to rnelt
in the sun, some boiling water being placed beneath it ; which
done, it is passed through linen strainers, and is then put by
in a cool spot, in a new earthen vessel, for keeping : with the
addition of honey it is less liable to turn rancid. Ashes of
burnt mice, injected with honey or boiled with oil of roses,
allay pains in the ears. In cases where an insect has got into
the ears, a most excellent remedy is found in an iojection of
mouse gall, diluted with vinegar ; where, too, water has made
its way into the passages of the ear, goose-grease is used, in com-
bination with juice of onions. Some persons skin a dormouse,
and after removing the intestines boil the body in a new vessel
with honey. Medical men, however, prefer boiling it down
to one-third with nard, and recommend it to be kept in that
state, and to be warmed when wanted, and injected with a
syringe. It is a well-known fact, that this preparation is an
12 Green is universally the colour least fatiguing to the eye.
2* See B. xx. c. 23.
13 See B. vii. c. 27, and B. via. c. 41. The formic acid which ants con-
tain may possibly possess some medicinal properties.
Chap. 39.] 11EMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE EARS. 417
effectual remedy for the most desperate maladies of the ears :
the same, too, with an injection of earth-worms boiled with
goose-grease. The red worms, also, that are found upon trees,
beaten up with oil, are a most excellent remedy for ulcerations
and ruptures of the ears. Lizards, which have been suspended
for some time and dried, with salt in the mouth, are curative
of contusions of the ears, and of injuries inflicted by blows :
the most efficacious for this purpose are those which have iron-
coloured spots upon the skin,14 and are streaked with lines
along the tail.
Millepedes, known also as " centipedes" or "multipedes,"
are insects belonging to the earth-worm genus, hairy, with
numerous feet, forming curves as they crawl, and contracting
themselves when touched : the Greeks give to this insect the
name of " oniscos," 15 others, again, that of "tylos." Boiled
with leek-juice in a pomegranate rind, it is highly efficacious,
they say, for pains in the ears ; oil of roses being added to
the preparation, and the mixture injected into the ear opposite
to the one affected. As for that kind which does not describe a
curve when moving, the Greeks give it the name of "seps/;
while others, again, call it " scolopendra ;" it is smaller than the
former one, and is injurious.16 The snails which are commonly
used as food, are applied to the ears with myrrh or powdered
frankincense ; and those with a small, broad, shell are employed
with honey as a liniment for fractured ears. Old sloughs of
serpents, burnt in a heated potsherd and mixed with oil of
roses, are used as an injection for the ears, which is considered
highly efficacious for all affections of those organs, and for
offensive odours arising therefrom in particular. In cases
where there is suppuration of the ears, vinegar is used, and it
is still better if goat's gall, ox-gall, or that of the sea tortoise, is
added. This slough, however, is good for nothing when more
than a year old ; the same, too, when it has been drenched with
14 Ajasson suggests that this may be the Lacerta coepium of Dandin, of
a reddish brown colour, with two blackish lines running longitudinally
along the back.
15 This insect in reality is a woodlouse, whereas the millepedes previously
described are evidently caterpillars. Woodlice are still swallowed alive by
schoolboys, and old women are to be found who recommend them for con-
sumption. Holland says that woodlice are good for pains in the ears.
id <i Perniciosam."
VOL. V. E E
418 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
rain, as some think. The thick pulp of a spider's, body, mixed
with oil of roses, is also used for the ears; or else the pulp applied
by itself with saffron or in wool : a cricket, too, is dug up with
some of its earth, and applied. Nigidius attributes great17
virtues to this insect, and the magicians still greater, and all
because it walks backwards, pierces the earth, and chirrups by
night ! The mode of catching it is by throwing an ant,18 made
fast with a hair, into its hole, the dust being first blown away
to prevent it from concealing itself: the moment it seizes the
ant, it is drawn out.
The dried craw of poultry, a part that is generally thrown
away, is beaten up in wine, and injected warm, for suppura-
tions of the ears ; the same, too, with the grease of poultry.
On pulling off the head of a black beetle,19 it yields a sort
of greasy substance, which, beaten up with rose oil, is marvel-
lously good, they say, for affections of the ears : care must be
taken, however, to remove the wool very soon, or else this sub-
stance will be speedily transformed into an animal, in the
shape of a small grub. Some writers assert that two or three
of these insects, boiled in oil, are extremely efficacious for the
ears ; and that they are good, beaten up and applied in linen,
for contusions of those organs.
This insect, also, is one of those that are of a disgusting
character ; but I am obliged, by the admiration which I feel for
the operations of Nature, and for the careful researches, of the
ancients, to enter somewhat more at large upon it on the pre-
sent occasion. Their writers have described several varieties
of it; the soft beetle, for instance, which, boiled in oil, has
been found by experience to be a very useful liniment for
warts. Another kind, to which they have given the name of
"mylo3con,"20 is generally found in the vicinity of mills: de-
prived of the head, it has been found to be curative of leprosy
— at least Musa21 and Picton22 have cited instances to that effect.
17 In the middle ages there were . many superstitions with reference to
this insect, some of which have survived to the present day.
1<8 Ajasson seems to think that this passage means that the ant Use1/
adopts this plan of catching the cricket. If so, he is certainly in error,
and his attack upon Pliny's credulity is, in this instance at least, misplaced.
19 See B. xi. c. 34, and B. xxv. c. 60.
20 " Inhabiting mills."
21 See B. xix. c. 38, and B. xxv. c. 38.
22 Of this writer nothing is known.
Chap. 39.] SUMMARY. 419
There is a third kind, again, odious for its abominable smell,
and tapering at the posterior extremities. Used in combina-
tion with pisselaeon,23 it is curative, they say, of ulcers of a
desperate nature, and, if kept applied for one-and-twenty days,
for scrofulous sores and inflamed tumours. The legs and wings
being first removed, it is employed for the cure of bruises, contu-
sions, cancerous sores, itch-scabs, and boils — remedies, all of
them, quite disgusting even to hear of. And yet, by Hercules !
Diodorus24 tells us that he has administered this remedy inter-
nally, with resin and honey, for jaundice and hardness of
breathing ; such unlimited power has the medical art to pre-
scribe as a remedy whatever it thinks fit !
Physicians who keep more within bounds, recommend the
ashes of these insects to be kept for these various purposes in a
box made of horn ; or else that they should be bruised and injected
in a lavement for hardness of breathing and catarrhs. At all
events, that, applied externally, they extract foreign substances
adhering to the flesh, is a fact well known.
Honey, too, in which the bees have died, is remarkably use-'
ful for affections of the ears. Pigeons' dung, applied by itself,
or with barley- meal or oat-meal, reduces imposthumes of the
parotid glands; a result which is equally obtained by injecting
into the ear an owlet's brains or liver, mixed with oil, or by
applying the mixture to the parotid glands ; also, by applying
millepedes with one-third part of resin ; by using crickets in the
form of a liniment ; or by wearing crickets attached to the body
as an amulet. The other kinds of maladies, and the several
remedies for them, derived from the same animals or from others
of the same class, we shall describe in the succeeding Book.
SUMMARY. — Remedies, narratives, and observations, six
hundred and twenty- one.
ROMAN AUTHOES QUOTED. — M. Yarro,25 L. Piso,26 Flaccus
Yerrius,27 Antias,28 Nigidius,29 Cassius Hemina,30 Cicero,31
Plautus,32 Celsus,33 Sextius Mger34 who wrote in Greek, Cseci-
23 See B. xxiv. c. 11. 24 See the end of this Book.
25 See end of B. ii. 26 See end of B. ii. 27 See end of B. iii.
28 See end of B. ii. 29 See end of B. vi. 30 See end of B. xii.
31 See end of B. vii. *» See end of B. xiv. 33 See end of 13. vii.
34 See end of B. xii.
E E 2
420 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX.
lius35 the physician, Metellus Scipio,36 the Poet Ovid,37 Lici-
nius Macer.38
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Homer, Aristotle,39 Orpheus,40
Palsephatus,41 Democritus,43 Anaxilaiis.43
MEDICAL AUTHORS QUOTED. — Botrys,44 Apollodorus,45 Archi-
demus,46 Aristogenes,47 Xenocrates,48 Democrates,49 Diodorus,50
Chrysippus51 the philosopher, Horus,52 Meander,53 Apollonius54
of Pitanae.
35 See end of B. xxviii. S6 See end of B. viii. 37 See end of B. xviii.
38 See end of B. xix. 39 See end of B. ii. 40 See end of B. xx.
41 There are four literary persons of this name mentioned by Suidas, who
appears to give but a confused account of them. He speaks of an ancient
poet of Athens of this name, who wrote a Cosmogony and other works ;
a native of Priene, to whom some attributed the work on <: Incredible
Stories," by most persons assigned to Pala3phatus of Athens; an historian
of Abydos, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, and a friend of Aristotle ;
and a grammarian of Athens of uncertain date, to whom the work on
" Incredible Stories " is mostly assigned. But in the former editions of
Pliny, the reading " Philopator " is mostly adopted ; bearing reference, it
lias been suggested, to a Stoic philosopher and physician of that name men-
tioned by Galen, " On the Symptoms of Mental Diseases," c. 8.
42 See end of B. ii. 43 See end of B. xxi. 44 See end of B. xiii.
45 See end of B. xi. 46 See end of B. xii.
47 There were two Greek physicians of this name, one of whom was a
native of Thasos, and wrote several medical works. The other was a native
of Cnidos, and, according to Suidas, a slave of the philosopher Chry-
sippus. Galen, however, says that he was a pupil of the physician of that
name, and afterwards became physician to Antigonus Gonatas, king of
Macedonia, B c. 283 — 239. Hardouin is of opinion that the two phy-
sicians were one and the same person.
48 See end of B. xx.
49 Servilius Democrates, a Greek physician at Rome about the time of
the Christian era. He probably received his pr&nomen from being a
client of the Servilian family. Pliny speaks of him in B. xxiv. c.
-28, and B. xxv. c. 49. He wrote several works on medicine in Greek
Iambic verse, the titles and a few extracts from which are preserved by
Galen.
50 Probably the same physician that is mentioned by Galen as belonging
to the sect of the Empirici. See c. 39 of this Book.
51 See end of B. xx.
52 A fabulous king of Assyria, or Egypt, to whom was attributed the
discovery of many remedies and medicaments. See B. xxx. c. 51, and
B. xxxvii. c. 52. 53 See end of B. viii.
54 Beyond the mention made of his absurd remedy in c. 38 of the pre-
sent Book, nothing seems to be known of this writer.
421
BOOK XXX.
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
CHAP. 1. (1.) THE ORIGIN OF THE MAGIC ART.
IN former parts of this work, I have had occasion more than
once, when the subject demanded it, to refute the impostures
of the magic art, and it is now my intention to continue sti 1 1
farther my exposure thereof. Indeed, there are few subjects
on which more might be profitably said, were it only that,
being, as it is, the most deceptive of all known arts, it has
exercised the greatest influence in every country and in nearly
every age. And no one can be^surprised at ,ihe extent of its
influence and authority, when he reflects that by its own ener-
gies it has embraced, and thoroughly amalgamated with itself,
the three other sciences1 which hold the greatest sway upon
the mind of man.
That it first originated in medicine, no one entertains a
doubt ;2 or that, under the plausible guise of promoting health,
it insinuated itself among mankind, as a higher and more holy
branch of the medical art. Then, in the next place, to pro-
mises the most seductive and the most flattering, it has added
all the resources of religion, a subject upon which, at the pre-
sent day, man is still entirely in the dark. Last of all, to
complete its universal sway, it has incorporated with itself the
astrological art ;3 there being no man who is not desirous to
know his future destiny, or who is not ready to believe that
this knowledge may with the greatest certainty be obtained,
by observing the face of the heavens. The senses of men
being thus enthralled by a three-fold bond, the art of magic
has attained an influence so mighty, that at the present day
even, it holds sway throughout a great part of the world, and
rules the kings 4 of kings in the East.
1 u Artes." Medicine, religion, and the art of divination.
2 Ajaseon remarks that, on the contrary, this is a subject of great doubt,
3 u Mathematicas artes."
4 The title of the ancient kings of Persia.
422 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
CHAP. 2. WHEN AND WHERE THE AKT OF MAGIC ORIGINATED:
BY WHAT PERSONS IT WAS FIRST PRACTISED.
There is no doubt that this art originated in Persia,5 under
Zoroaster,6 this being a point upon which authors are generally
agreed ; but whether there was only one Zoroaster, or whether
in later times there was a second person of that name, is a
matter which still remains undecided. Eudoxus,7 who has
endeavoured to show that of all branches of philosophy the
ma.gic art is the most illustrious and the most beneficial, in-
forms us that this Zoroaster existed six thousand years before
the death of Plato, an assertion in which he is supported by
Aristotle. Hermippus,8 again, an author who has written
with the greatest exactness on all particulars connected with
this art, and has commented upon the two millions 9 of verses
left by Zoroaster, besides completing indexes to his several
works, has left a statement, that Agonaces was the name of
the master from whom Zoroaster derived his doctrines, and
that he lived five thousand years before the time of the Trojan
War. The first thing, however, that must strike us with sur-
prise, is the fact that this art, and the traditions connected
with it, should have survived for so many ages, all written
commentaries thereon having perished in the meanwhile ; and
this, too, when there was no continuous succession of adepts,
no professors of note, to ensure their transmission.
For how few there are, in fact, who know anything, even
by hearsay, about the only professors of this art whose names
have come down to us, Apusorus10 and Zaratus of Media,
Marmarus and Arabantiphocus of Babylonia, and Tarmoendas
of Assyria, men who have left not the slightest memorials of
their existence. But the most surprising thing of all is, that
5 Or Bactriana, more properly.
6 Magic, no doubt, has been the subject of belief from the earliest times,
whatever may have been the age of Zoroaster, the Zarathustra of theZend-
avesta, and the Zerdusht of the Persians. In the Zendavesta he is repre-
sented as living in the reign of Gushtasp, generally identified with Darius
Hystaspes. He probably lived at a period anterior to that of the Median
and Persian kings. Niebuhr regards him as a purely mythical personage
7 See end of JB. ii. 8 See end of this Book.
9 An exaggeration, of Oriental origin, most probably.
10 These names have all, most probably, been transmitted to us in a cor-
rupted form. Ajasson gives some suggestions as to their probable Eastern
form and origin.
Chap. 2.] WHO FIRST PBACTISEI) MAGIC. 423
Homer should be totally silent upon this art in his account11 of
the Trojan War, while in his story of the wanderings of
Ulysses, so much of the work should be taken up with it, that
we may justly conclude that the poem is based upon nothing
else ; if, indeed, we are willing to grant that his accounts of
Proteus and of the songs of the Sirens are to be understood in
this sense, and that the stories of Circe and of the summoning
up of the shades below,12 bear reference solely to the practices
of sorcerers. And then, too, to come to more recent times, no
one has told us how the art of sorcery reached Telmessus,13 a
city devoted to all the services of religion, or at what period it
came over and reached the matrons of Thessaly ; whose name14
has long passed, in our part of the world, as the appellation of
those who practise an art, originally introduced among them-
selves even, from foreign lands.15 For in the days of the Trojan
War, Thessaly was still contented with such remedies16 as she
owed to the skill of Chiron, and her only17 lightnings were the
lightnings hurled by Mars.18 Indeed, for my own part, I am
surprised that the imputation of magical practices should have so
strongly attached to the people once under the sway of Achilles,
that Menander even, a man unrivalled for perception in lite-
rary knowledge, has entitled one of his Comedies "The Thes-
salian Matron," and has therein described the devices practised
by the females of that country in bringing down the moon
from the heavens.18* I should have been inclined to think
that Orpheus had been the first to introduce into a country so
near his own, certain magical superstitions based upon the
practice of medicine, were it not the fact that Thrace, his
native land, was at that time totally a stranger to the magic
art.
11 One among the many proofs, Ajasson says, that the Iliad and the
Odyssey belong to totally different periods.
la In reference to the Tenth Book of the Odyssey.
13 See B. v. cc. 28, 29. Cicero mentions a college of Aruspices estab-
lished at this city.
14 The name "Thessala" was commonly used by the Romans to signify
an enchantress, sorceress, or witch. See the story of Apuleius, Books i.
and iii. 15 The countries of the East.
16 Purely medicinal remedies.
17 In contradistinction to lightnings elicited by the practice of Magic.
18 A poetical figure, alluding to the " thunderbolts of war," as wielded
probably by Achilles and other heroes of Thessaly.
18* See B. ii. c. 9.
424 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
The first person, so far as I can ascertain, who wrote upon
magic, and whose works are still in existence, was Osthanes,19
who accompanied Xerxes, the Persian king, in his expedition
against Greece. It was he who first20 disseminated, as it were,
the germs of this monstrous art, and tainted therewith all parts
of the world through which the Persians passed. Authors
who have made diligent enquiries into this subject, make men-
tion of a second Zoroaster, a native of Proconnesus, as living a
little before the time of Osthanes. That it was this same
Osthanes, more particularly, that inspired the Greeks, not with
a fondness only, but a rage, for the art of magic, is a fact be-
yond all doubt : though at the same time I would remark,
that in the most ancient times, and indeed almost invariably,
it was in this 21 branch of science, that was sought the highest
point of celebrity and of literary renown. At all events,
Pythagoras, we find, Empedocles, Democritus, and Plato,
crossed the seas, in order to attain a knowledge thereof, sub-
mitting, to speak the truth, more to the evils of exile 22 than
to the mere inconveniences of travel. Returning home, it was
upon the praises of this art that they expatiated — it was this
that they held as one of their grandest mysteries. It was
Democritus, too, who first drew attention to Apollobeches 23 of
Coptos, to Dardanus,24 and to Phoenix : the works of Dardanus
he sought in the tomh of that personage, and his own were
composed in accordance with the doctrines there found. That
these doctrines should have been received by any portion of
mankind, and transmitted to us by the aid of memory, is to
me surprising beyond anything I can conceive.25 All the par-
ticulars there found are so utterly incredible, so utterly re-
19 Ajasson queries whether thisis a proper name, or an epithet merely.
20 Ajasson combats this assertion at considerable length, and with good
reason. It is quite inadmissible.
21 The mysteries of philosophy, as Ajasson remarks, were not necessarily
identical with the magic art.
2* In reality, Pythagoras was an exile from the tyranny of the ruler of
Samos, Plato from the court of Dionysius the Younger, and Demooritus
from the ignorance of his fellow-countrymen of Abdera. There is no
doubt that Pythagoras and Democritus made considerable researches into
the art of magic as practised in the East.
23 Nothing is known of this writer.
24 Dardanus, the ancestor of the Trojans, if he is the person here meant,
is said to have introduced the worship of the gods into Samothrace.
25 The works of Homer were transmitted in a similar manner.
Chap. 3.] WHETHER MAGIC WAS EYER PRACTISED IN ITALY. 425
volting, that those even who admire Democritus in other
respects, are strong in their denial that these works were really
written by him. Their denial, however, is in vain ; for it
was he, beyond all doubt, who had the greatest share in fas-
cinating men's minds with these attractive chimaeras.
There is also a marvellous coincidence, in the fact that the
two arts — medicine, I mean, and magic — were developed
simultaneously : medicine by the writings of Hippocrates, and
magic by the works of Democritus, about the period of the
Peloponnesian War, which was waged in Greece in the year
of the City of Rome 300.
There is another sect, also, of adepts in the magic art, who
derive their origin from Moses,26 Jannes,27 and Lotapea,28 Jews
by birth,29 but many thousand years posterior to Zoroaster : and
as much more recent, again, is the branch of magic culti-
vated in Cyprus.30 In the time, too, of Alexander the Great,
this profession received no small accession to its credit from
the influence of a second Osthanes, who had the honour of
accompanying that prince in his expeditions, and who, evi-
dently, beyond all doubt, travelled 81 over every part of the
world.
CHAP. 3. WHETHER MAGIC WAS EVER PRACTISED IN ITALY. AT
WHAT PERIOD THE SENATE FIRST FORBADE HUMAN SACRIFICES.
It is clear that there are early traces still existing of the
26 Moses, no doubt, was represented by the Egyptian priesthood as a
magician, in reference more particularly to the miracles wrought by him
before Pharaoh. From them the Greeks would receive the notion.
27 In 2 Tim. iii. 8, we find the words, " Now as Jannes and Jambres
withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth." Eusebius, in his Pra-
phratio Evangelica, B. ix., states that Jannes and Jambres, or Mambres,
were the names of Egyptian writers, who practised Magic, and opposed
Moses before Pharaoh. This contest was probably represented by the
Egyptian priesthood as merely a dispute between two antagonistic schools
of Magic.
28 Of this person nothing is known. The former editions mostly have
" Jotapea." " Jotapata" was the name of a town in Syria, the birthplace
of Josephus.
29 He is mistaken hefe as to the nation to which Jannes belonged.
30 By some it has been supposed that this bears reference to Christianity,
as introduced into Cyprus by the Apostle Barnabas Owing to the miracles
wrought in, the infancy of the Church, the religion of the Christians was
very generally looked upon as a sort of Magic. The point is very doubtful.
31 His itinerary, Ajasson remarks, would have been a great curiosity.
426 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
introduction of magic into Italy; in our laws of the Twelve
Tables for instance ; besides other convincing proofs, which I
have already noticed in a preceding Book.32 At last, in the
year of the City 657, Cneius Cornelius Lentulus and P. Lici-
nius Crassus being consuls, a decree forbidding human sacri-
fices ^ was passed by the senate ; from which period the cele-
bration of these horrid rites ceased in public, and, for some a4
time, altogether.
CUAP. 4. THE DRUIDS OF THE GALLIC PROVINCES.
The Gallic provinces, too, were pervaded by the magic art/'5
and that even down to a period within memory ; for it was
the Emperor Tiberius that put down their Druids,36 and all that
tribe of wizards and physicians. Eut why make further men-
tion of these prohibitions, with reference to an art which has
now crossed the very Ocean even, and has penetrated to the
void 37 recesses of Mature ? At the present day, struck with
fascination, Britannia still cultivates this art, and that, with
ceremonials so august, that she might almost seem 38 to have
been the first to communicate them to the people of Persia.39
To such a degree are nations throughout the whole world,
totally different as they are and quite unknown to one another,
in accord upon this one point !
32 B. xxviii. c. 4.
33 These sacrifices forming the most august rite of the Magic art, as
practised in Italy.
34 That this art was still practised in secret in the days of Pliny himself,
we learn from the testimony of Tacitus (Annals, II, 69), in his account of
the enquiries instituted on the death of Germanicus.
35 More particularly in the worship of their divinity Heu or Hesus, the
god of war.
36 This lie did officially, but not effectually, and the Druids survived as
a class for many centuries both in Gaul and Britain.
37 He alludes to the British shores bordering on the Atlantic. See B.
xix. c. 2.
38 It is a curious fact that the round towers of Ireland bear a strong re-
semblance to those, the ruins of which are still to be seen on the plains of
ancient Persia.
39 " Ut dedisse Persis videri possit." This might possibly mean, " That
Persia might almost seem to have communicated it direct to Britain. " Ajas-
son enumerates the following superstitions of ancient Britain, as bearing-
probable marks of an Oriental origin : the worship of the stars, lakes,
forests, and rivers ; the ceremonials used in cutting the plants samiolus,
selago, and mistletoe, and the virtues attributed to the adder's egg.
Chap. 5.] THE VAiuoirs BIIA.XCHES OF MAGIC. 427
Such being the fact, then, we cannot too highly appreciate
the obligation that is due to the Roman people, for having put
an end to those monstrous rites, in accordance with which, to
murder a man was to do an act of the greatest devoutness, and
to eat40 his flesh was to secure the highest blessings of health.
CHAP. 5. (2.) THE VARIOUS BKAtfCHES OF MAGIC.
According to what Osthanes tells us, there are numerous
sorts of magic. It is practised 41 with water, for instance, with
balls, by the aid of the air, of the stars, of lamps, basins, hatchets,
and numerous other appliances ; means by which it engages
to grant a foreknowledge of things to come, as well as converse
with ghosts and spirits of the dead. All these practices, how-
ever, have been proved by the Emperor Nero, in our own day,
to be so many false and chimaerical illusions ; entertaining as
he did a passion for the magic art, unsurpassed even by his
enthusiastic love for the music of the lyre, and for the songs of
tragedy ; so strangely did his elevation to the highest point
of human fortune act upon the deep-seated vices of his mind !
It was his leading desire to command the gods of heaven, and
no aspiration could he conceive more noble than this. Never
did person lavish more favours upon any one of the arts ; and
for the attainment of this, his favourite object, nothing was
wanting to him, neither riches, nor power, nor aptitude at
learning, and what not besides, at the expense of a suffering
world.
It is a boundless, an indubitable proof, I say, of the utter
falsity of this art, that such a man as Nero abandoned it ; and
would to heaven that he had consulted the shades below, and
any other spirits as well, in order to be certified in his sus-
picions, rather than commissioned the denizens of stews and
brothels to make those inquisitions of his [with reference to
the objects of his jealousy]. For assuredly there can be no
40 Ajasson seems inclined to suggest that this may possibly bear reference
to the Christian doctrines of redemption and the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper.
41 These kinds of divination, rather than magic, were called hydromancy,
sphaeromancy, aeromancy, astromancy, lychnomancy, lecanomancy, and
axinomancy. See Eabelais, B. iii. c. 25, where a very full account is given
of the Magic Art, as practised by the ancients. Coffee-grounds, glair of
eggs, and rose-leaves, are still used in France for purposes of divination
by the superstitious.
428 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKY. [Book XXX.
superstition, however barbarous and ferocious the rites which
it sanctions, that is not more tolerant than the imaginations
which he conceived, and owing to which, by a series of blood-
stained crimes, our abodes were peopled with ghosts.
CHAP. 6. — THE SUBTERFUGES PRACTISED BY THE MAGICIANS.
The magicians, too, have certain modes of evasion, as, for
instance, that the gods will not obey, or even appear to, persons
who have freckles upon the skin. Was this perchance the
obstacle42 in Nero's way ? As for his limbs, there was43 nothing
deficient in them. And then, besides, he was at liberty to
make choice of the days prescribed by the magic ritual : it
was an easy thing for him to make choice of sheep whose
colour was no other than perfectly black : and as to sacrificing
human beings, there was nothing in the world that gave him
-greater pleasure. The Magian Tiridates44 was at his court,
having repaired thither, in token of our triumph over Armenia,
accompanied by a train which post dear to the provinces through
which it passed. For the fact was, that he was unwilling to
travel by water, it being a maxim with the adepts in this art
that it is improper to spit into the sea or to profane that element
by any other of the evacuations that are inseparable from the
infirmities of human nature. He brought with him, too,
several other Magi, and went so far as to initiate the emperor
in the repasts45 of the craft ; and yet the prince, for all he had
bestowed a kingdom upon the stranger, found himself unable
to receive at his hands, in return, this art.
We may rest fully persuaded then, that magic is a thing
detestable in itself. Frivolous and lying as it is, it still bears,
however, some shadow of truth upon it ;v though reflected, in
reality, by the practices of those who study the arts of secret
poisoning, and not the pursuits of magic. Let any one picture
to himself the lies of the magicians of former days, when he
learns what has been stated by the grammarian Apion,46 a
42 Suetonius says that his body was full of foul spots.
43 It was probably a doctrine of Magic, that an adept must not be de-
ficient in any of his limbs.
44 After being conquered by the Roman general, Corbulo, he received
the crown of Armenia from Nero, A.D. 63.
45 All vegetable substances were divided, according to their doctrine, into
the pure and the impure, the rule being strictly observed at their reports.
16 See end of this Book.
Chap. 7.] KEMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE MOLE. 429
person -whom I remember seeing myself when young. He
tells us that the plant cynocephalia,47 known in Egypt as
"osiritis," is useful for divination, and is a preservative against
all the malpractices of magic, but that if a person takes it out
of the ground entire, he will die upon the spot. He asserts,
also, that he himself had raised the spirits48 of the dead, in
order to make enquiry of Homer in reference to his native
country and his parents ; but he does not dare, he tells us,
disclose the answer he received.
CHAP. 7. (3.) — OPINIONS OF THE MAGICIANS RELATIVE TO THE
MOLE. FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT.
Let the following stand as a remarkable proof of the frivo-
lous nature of the magic art. Of all animals it is the mole
that the magicians admire most ! a creature that has been
stamped with condemnation by Nature in so many ways ;
doomed as it is to perpetual blindness,49 and adding to this
darkness a life of gloom in the depths of the earth, and a state
more nearly resembling that of the dead and buried. There
is no animal in the entrails of which they put such implicit
faith, no animal, they think, better suited for the rites of reli-
gion ; so much so, indeed, that if a person swallows the heart of
a mole, fresh from the body and still palpitating, he will receive
the gift of divination, they assure us, and a foreknowledge of
future events. Tooth-ache, they assert, may be cured by
taking the tooth of a live mole, and attaching it to the body.
As to other statements of theirs relative to this animal, we
shall draw attention to them on the fitting occasions, and shall
only add here that one of the most probable of all their asser-
tions is, that the mole neutralizes the bite of the shrew-mouse;
seeing that, as already50 stated, the very earth even that is
found in the rut of a cart-wheel, acts as a remedy in such a
47 See B. xxv. c. 80.
48 Like the assertions of the famous impostor of the close of the last
century, Count Cagliostro.
49 A mistake, of course ; and one for which there is little excuse, as its
eyes are easily perceptible. It is not improbable, however, that it was an
impression with the ancients that its sight is impeded by the horny covering
of its eyes. 50 In B. xxix. c. 27.
430 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
CHAP. 8. THE OTHER REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES,
CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE RESPECTIVE DISEASES. REMEDIES
FOR TOOTH- ACHE.
But to proceed with the remedies for tooth-ache — the magi-
cians tell us, that it may be cured by using the ashes of the
head of a dog that has died in a state of madness. The head,
however, must be burnt without the flesh, and the ashes
injected with oil of Cyprus51 into the ear on the side affected.
Eor the same purpose also, the left eye-tooth of a dog is used,
the gum of the affected tooth being lanced with it ; one of the
vertebrae also of a dragon or of an enhydris, which is a male
white serpent.52 The eye-tooth, too, of this last, is used for
scarifying the gums ; and when the pain affects the teeth of the
upper jaw, they attach to the patient two of the upper teeth of
the serpent, and, similarly, two of the lower ones for tooth-acho
in the lower jaw. Persons who go in pursuit of the crocodile,
anoint themselves with the fat of this animal. The gums are
also scarified with the frontal bones of a lizard, taken from
it at full moon, and not allowed to touch the ground : or else
the mouth is rinsed with a decoction of dogs' teeth in wine,
boiled down to one half.
Ashes of dogs' teeth, mixed with honey, are useful for
difficult dentition in children, and a dentifrice is similarly
prepared from them. Hollow teeth are plugged with ashes of
burnt mouse- dung, or with a lizard's liver, dried. To eat a
snake's heart, or to wear it, attached to the body, is considered
highly efficacious. There are some among the magicians, who
recommend a mouse to be eaten twice a month, as a preventive
of tooth-ache. Earth-worms, boiled in oil and injected into
the ear on the side affected, afford considerable relief : ashes,
too, of burnt earth-worms, introduced into carious teeth, make
them come out easily ; and, used as a friction, they allay pains
in such of the teeth as are sound : the proper way of burning
them isv in an earthen potsherd. They are useful, too, boiled
with root of the mulberry-tree in squill vinegar, and employed
as a collutory for the teeth. The small worm that is found
in the plant known as Venus'53 bath, is remarkably useful,
51 See B. xii. c. 51.
52 It is doubtful what is meant by this male white " water-serpent."
In B. xxxii. c. 26, he appears to include it among the fishes.
63 See B. xxv. c. 108.
Chap. 8.] KEMEDIE8 FOE TOOTH-ACHE. 431
introduced54 into a hollow tooth ; and as to the cabbage cater-
pillar, it will make hollow teeth come out, by the mere contact
only. The bugs55 that are found upon mallows, are injected
into the ears, beaten up with oil of roses.
The small grits of sand that are found in the horns of snails
introduced into hollow teeth, remove the pain instantaneously.
Ashes of empty snail-shells, mixed with myrrh,56 are good for
the gums ; the ashes also of a serpent, burnt with salt in an
earthen pot, and injected, with oil of roses, into the ear opposite
to the side affected ; or else the slough of a snake, warmed with
oil and torch-pirie resin,57 and injected into either ear. Some
persons add frankincense and oil of roses, a preparation which,
of itself, introduced into hollow teeth, makes them come out
without pain. It is all a fiction, in my opinion, to say that
white snakes cast this slough about the rising of the Dog-star ;
for such a thing has never been seen in Italy, and it is still
more improbable that sloughing should take place at so late
a period in the warmer climates. We find it stated also, that this
slough, even when it has been kept for some time, mixed with
wax, will extract a tooth very expeditiously, if applied there-
to : a snake's tooth, also, attached^to the bodv as an amulet,
ajla^gjbooth-ache. &ome persons tnink that it iSTTgObd. remedy
Tocatch a spuTeF"with the left hand, to beat it up with oil of
roses, and then to inject it into the ear on the side affected.
The small bones of poultry, preserved in a hole in a wall,
the medullary channel being left intact, will immediately cure
tooth- ache, they say, if the tooth is touched or the gum
scarified therewith, care being taken to throw away the bone
the moment the operation is performed. A similar result is
obtained by using raven's dung, wrapped in wool and attached
to the body, or else sparrow's dung, warmed with oil and in-
jected into the ear on the side affected. This last remedy,
however, is productive of an intolerable itching, for which
reason it is considered a better plan to rub the part with .the
ashes of young sparrows burnt upon twigs, mixed with vinegar
for the purpose.
54 It is a singular thing that we still hear of the mag
being used for the same purpose.
55 See B. xxix. c. 17.
50 Marcus Empincus says, honey. 57 See B. xvi. c. 19.
432 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
CHAP. 9. (4.) REMEDIES FOS OFFENSIVE ODOURS AND SORES OF
THE MOUTH.
To impart sweetness to the breath, it is recommended to
rub the teeth with ashes of burnt mouse-dung and honey :
some persons are in the habit of mixing fennel root. To pick
the teeth with a vulture' s feather, is productive of a sour
breath ; but to use a porcupine's quill for that purpose, greatly
strengthens the teeth. Ulcers of the tongue and lips are cured
by taking a decoction of swallows, boiled in honied wine ; and
chapped lips are healed by using goose-grease or poultry -grease,
wool-grease mixed with nut-galls, white spiders' webs, or the
fine cobwebs that are found adhering to the beams of roofs.
If the inside of the mouth has been scalded with any hot sub-
stance, bitches' milk will afford an immediate cure.
CHAP. 10. REMEDIES FOR SPOTS UPON THE FACE.
"Wool-grease, mixed with Corsican honey — which by the way
is considered the most acrid honey of all — removes spots upon
the face. Applied with oil of roses in wool, it causes scurf upon
the face to disappear : some persons add butter to it. In cases
of morphew, the spots are first pricked with a needle, and then
rubbed with dog's gall. For livid spots and bruises on the
face, the lights of a ram or sheep are cut fine and applied
warm, or else pigeons' dung ie used. Goose-grease or poultry-
grease is a good preservative of the skin of -the face. For
lichens a liniment is used, made of mouse- dung in vinegar, or
of the ashes of a hedge-hog mixed with oil : but, when these
remedies are employed, it is recommended first to foment the
face with nitre dissolved in vinegar. Maladies of the face are also
removed by employing the ashes of the small, broad, snail that
is so commonly found, mixed with honey. Indeed, the ashes
of all snails are of an inspissative nature, and are possessed of
certain calorific and detersive properties : hence it is that they
form an ingredient in caustic applications, and are used in the
form of a liniment for itch-scabs, leprous sores, and freckles on
the face.
I find it stated that a certain kind of ant known by the name
of " Herculanea/' 58 is beaten up, with the addition of a little
58 Dalechamps thinks that these " Herculean " ants were so called from
their great size. Ajasson queries whether they may not be the " grenadier
ants " of Dupont de Nemours.
Chap. 11.] EEMEDIES FOB AFFECTIONS OF THE THBOAT. 433
salt, and used for the cure of these diseases. The buprestis69
is an insect but rarely found in Italy, and very similar to a
scarabaeus, with long legs. Concealed among the grass, it is
very liable to be swallowed unobserved, by oxen in particular ;
and the moment it comes in contact with the gall, it causes
such a degree of inflammation, that the animal bursts asunder;
a circumstance to which the insect owes its name. Applied
topically with he-goat suet, it removes lichens on the face,
owing to its corrosive properties, as previously60 stated. A
vulture's blood, beaten up with cedar resin and root of white
chamaeleon — a plant which we have already61 mentioned— and
covered with a cabbage leaf, when applied, is good for the cure
of leprosy ; the same, too, with the legs of locusts, beaten up
with he-goat suet. Pimples are treated with poultry grease,
beaten up and kneaded with onions. One very useful sub-
stance for the face is honey in which the bees have died ; but a
sovereign detergent for that part is swans' grease, which has
also the property of effacing wrinkles. Brand-marks 82 are
removed by using pigeons' dung, diluted in vinegar.
CHAP. 11. REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE THROAT.
I find it stated that catarrhs oppressive to the head may be
cured by the patient kissing a mule's nostrils. Affections of
the uvula and pains in the fauces are alleviated by using the dung
of lambs before they have begun to graze, dried in the shade.
Diseases of the uvula are cured with the juices of a snail pierced
with a needle ; the snail, however, must be then hung up in the
smoke. The same maladies are treated also with ashes of
burnt swallows, mixed with honey ; a preparation which is
equally good for affections of the tonsillary glands. Sheep's
milk, used as a gargle, alleviates diseases of the fauces and
tonsillary glands. Millepedes, bruised with pigeons' dung, are
taken as a gargle, with raisin wine ; and they are applied, exter-
nally, with dried figs and nitre, for the purpose of soothing
roughness of the fauces and catarrhs, for such cases, too,
snails should be boiled unwashed, the earth only being re-
moved, and then pounded and administered to the patient in
raisin wine. Some persons are of opinion that for these pur-
59 See B. xxii. c. 36. Belon takes it to be the Lixus paraplecticus.
60 In B. xxix. c. 30. 61 In B. xxii. c. 21. 62 " Stigmata,"
VOL. V. F P
434 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
poses the snails of Astypalsea63 are the most efficacious, and
they give the preference to the detersive preparation64 made
from them. The parts affected are sometimes rubbed with
a cricket, and affections of the tonsillary glands are alleviated
by being rubbed with the hands of a person who has bruised a
cricket.
CHAP. 12. REMEDIES FOR QUINZY AND SCROFULA..
For quinzy we have very expeditious remedies in goose-gall,
mixed with elateriurn85 and honey, an owlet's brains, or the
ashes of a burnt swallow, taken in warm water ; which last
remedy we owe66 to the poet Ovid. But of all the remedies
spoken of as furnished by the swallow, one of the most effica-
cious is that derived from the young of the wild swallow, a
bird which may be easily recognized by the peculiar conforma-
tion of its nest.67 By far the most effectual, however, of them
all, are the young of the bank- swallow,68 that being the name
given to the kind which builds its nest in holes on the banks of
rivers. Many persons recommend the young of any kind of
swallow as a food, assuring us that the person who takes it
need be in no apprehension of quinzy for the whole of the
ensuing year. The young of this bird are sometimes stifled
and then burnt in a vessel with the blood, the ashes being
administered to the patient with bread or in the drink : some,
however, mix with them the ashes of a burnt weasel, in equal
proportion. The same remedies are recommended also for
scrofula, and they are administered for epilepsy, once a day, in
drink. Swallows preserved in salt are taken for quinzy, in
doses of one drachma, in drink : the nest,69 too, of the bird,
taken internally, is said to be a cure for the same disease.
Millepedes,70 it is thought, used in the form of a liniment, are
peculiarly efficacious for quinzy : some persons, also, administer
eleven of them, bruised in one semi-sextarius of hydromel,
through a reed, they being of no us.e whatever if once touched
by the teeth. Other remedies mentioned are, the broth of a
63 See B. iv. c. 23, B. viii. c. 59, and cc. 15 and 43 of the present Book.
6i " Smegma." 65 See B. xx. c. 2.
66 No very great obligation, apparently.
B7 See B. x. c. 49. 68 " Riparia."
69 The only birds' nests that are now taken internally are the soutton
bmrong, or, edible birds' nests, of the Chinese.
70 See B. xxix. c. 39.
Chap. 12.] EEMEDIES FOE SCEOFtJLA. 435
mouse boiled with vervain, a thong of dogskin passed three
times round the back, and pigeons' dung mixed with wine and
oil. For the cure of rigidity of the muscles of the neck, and
of opisthotony, a twig of vitex, taken from a kite's nest, is
attached to the body as an amulet.
(5.) For ulcerated scrofula, a weasel's blood is employed, or
the animal itself, boiled in wine ; but not in cases where the
tumours have been opened with the knife. It is said, too,
that a weasel, eaten with the food, is productive of a similar
effect ; sometimes, also, it is burnt upon twigs, and the ashes
are applied with axle-grease. In some instances, a green lizard
is attached to the body of the patient, a fresh one being sub-
stituted at the end of thirty days. Some persons preserve the
heart of this animal in a small silver vessel,71 as a cure for
scrofula in females. Old snails, those found adhering to shrubs
more particularly, are pounded with the shells on, and applied
as a liniment. Asps, too, are similarly employed, reduced to
ashes and mixed with bull suet ; snakes' fat also, diluted with
oil; and the ashes of a burnt snake, applied with oil or wax.
It is a good plan also, in cases of scrofula, to eat the middle
of a snake, the extremities being first removed, or to drink
the ashes of the reptile, similarly prepared and burnt in a
new earthen vessel : they will be found much more efficacious,
however, when the snake has been killed between the ruts
made by wheels. It is recommended also, to dig up a cricket
with the earth about its hole, and to apply it in the form of a
liniment ; to use pigeons' dung, either by itself, or with barley-
meal, or oatmeal and vinegar; or else to apply the ashes "of a
burnt mole, mixed with honey.
Some persons apply the liver of this last animal, crumbled
in the hands, due care being taken not to wash it off for three
days : it is said, too, that a mole's right foot is a remedy for
scrofula. Others, again, cut off the head of a mole, and after
kneading it with earth thrown up by those animals, divide
it into tablets, and keep it in a pewter box, for the treatment
of all kinds of tumours, diseases of the neck, and the affections
known as " apostemes :" in all such cases the use of swine's
71 Marcus Empiricus says that the heart must be enclosed in a silver
lupine and worn suspended from the neck, being efficacious for scrofula
both in males and females. The silver lupine was probably what we
should call a "locket."
F F 2
436 PLLTTY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Cook XXX.
flesh is forbidden to the patient. " Taurus"72 is the name
usually given to an earth- beetle, very similar to a tick in
appearance, and which it derives from the diminutive horns
with which it is furnished : some persons call it the " earth-
louse."73 Prom the earth thrown up by these insects a lini-
ment is prepared for scrofula and similar diseases, and for gout,
the application not being washed off till the end of three days.
This last remedy is effectual for a whole year, and all those
other properties are attributed to it which we have mentioned74
when speaking of crickets. There are some, again, who make
a similar use of the earth thrown up by ants ; while others
attach to the patient as many earth-worms as there are scrofu-
lous tumours, the sores drying as the worms dry up.
Some persons cut off the head and tail of a viper, as already
mentioned,75 about the rising of the Dog-star, which done, they
burn the middle, and give a pinch of the ashes in three fingers,
for thrice seven days, in drink — such is the plan they use for
the cure of scrofula. Others, again, pass round the scrofulous
tumours a linen thread, with which a viper has been suspended
by the neck till dead. Millepedes76 are also used, with one
fourth part of turpentine ; a remedy which is equally recom-
mended for the cure of all kinds of apostemes.
CHAP. 13. REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE SHOULDERS.
The ashes of a burnt weasel, mixed with wax, are a cure
for pains in the shoulders. To prevent the arm-pits of young
persons from becoming hairy, they should be well rubbed with
ants' eggs. Slave- dealers also, to impede the growth of
the hair in young persons near puberty, employ the blood that
72 " The bull." Dalechamps takes this to be the stag-beetle or bull-fly ;
but that, as Ajasson remarks, has four horns, two antennae, and two large
mandibules ; in addition to which, from its size, it would hardly be called
the " earth-louse." He concludes that a lamellicorn is meant ; but whether
belonging to the Lucanidge or the Scarabseidee, it is impossible to say.
73 " Pediculus terrse."
™ In B. xxix. c. 33. 75 In B. xxix. c. 21.
76 He probably speaks of woodlice here. Ettmuller asserts their utility
in this form for scrofula. Valisnieri says the same ; Spielmann prescribes
them for arthrosis ; Riviere considers them as a detergent for ulcers, and
a resolvent for tumours of the mamillae ; and Baglivi maintains that they
are a first-rate diuretic, and unequalled as a lithontriptic. They contain
muriate of lime and of potash, which may possibly, in some small degree,
give them an aperitive virtue.
Chap. 15.] BEMEDIES FOE PAINS IN THE STOMACH. 437
flows from the testes of lambs when castrated. This blood,
too, applied to the arm-pits,77 the hairs being first pulled out,
is a preventive of the rank smell of those parts.
CHAP. 14. — REMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE VISCERA.
We give the one f general name of " praecordia" to the
human viscera; for pains in any part of which, a sucking
whelp is applied, being pressed close to the part aifected.78 The
malady, it is said, will in such case pass into the animal ; a
fact which may be satisfactorily ascertained ; for on disembowel-
ling it, and sprinkling the entrails with wine, that part of the
viscera will be found affected in which the patient himself
was sensible of pain : to bury the animal in such a case is a
point most religiously observed. The dogs,79 too, which we
call "Melitaei," applied to the stomach every now and then,
allay pains in thaf region : the malady, it is supposed, passes
into the animal's body, as it gradually loses its health, and
it mostly dies.
(6.) Affections of the lungs are cured by using mice, those of
Africa more particularly, the animal being skinned and boiled
in salt and oil, and then taken with the food. The same pre-
paration is used also, for the cure of purulent or bloody ex-
pectorations.
CHAP. 15. REMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE STOMACH.
One of the very best remedies for affections of the stomach,
is to use a snail diet.60 They must first be left to simmer in
water for some time, without touching the contents of the
shell, after which, without any other addition, they must be
grilled upon hot coals, and eaten with wine and garum ;81 the
snails of Africa being the best of all for the purpose. The
efficacy of this remedy has been proved in numerous instances
of late. Another point, too, to be observed, is to take an un-
even number of them. Snails, however, have a juice, it should
be remembered, which imparts to the breath an offensive smell.
77 See Horace, Epode xii. 1. 5.
78 Hence, perhaps, the practice of nursing lap-dogs.
79 See B. iii. c. 30, and Note 2, p. 267.
80 In France and Italy, snails are considered a delicacy by some. Snail
milk is sometimes used medicinally in England for consumptive patients :
it is doubtful with what effect.
»l Or fish-sauce. See B. xxxi. c. 43,
43S PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
For patients troubled with spitting of blood, they are remark-
ably good, the shell being first removed, and the contents
bruised and administered in water. The most esteemed kinds
of all are those of Africa — those which come from lol,82 in
particular — of Astypalsea, and, after them, those of ^Etna, in
Sicily, those I mean of moderate size, for the large ones are
hard, and destitute of juice. The Balearic snails, called "ca-
vaticae," from being found in caverns, are much esteemed ; and
so, too, are those from the islands of Caprese.83 Those of Greece,
on the other hand, are never used for food, either old or
fresh .
River snails, and those with a white shell, have a strong,
rank, juice, and forest snails are by no means good for the
stomach, having a laxative effect upon the bowels ; the same,
too, with all kinds of small snails. Sea-snails,84 on the other
hand, are more beneficial to the stomach; l5ut it is for pains
in that region that they are found the most eificacious : the
best plan, it is said, is to eat them alive, of whatever kind
they may happen to be, with vinegar. In addition to these,
there are the snails called " aceratae,"85 with a broad shell, and
found in numerous localities : of the uses to which they are
put we shall86 speak further on the appropriate occasions. The
craw of poultry, dried and sprinkled in the drink, or else used
fresh and grilled, has a soothing effect upon pectoral catarrhs
and coughs attended with phlegm.87 Snails, beaten up raw
and taken in three cyathi of warm water, allay cough. A
piece of dog's skin, wrapped round any one of the fingers, af-
fords relief to patients suffering from catarrh. A broth made
of boiled partridges is strengthening for the stomach.
CHAP. 16. REMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE LIVER, AND FOR SPITTING
OF BLOOD.
For the cure of pains in the liver, a wild weasel is taken
with the food, or the liver only of that animal ; a ferret also,
roasted like a sucking-pig. In cases of asthma, millepedes
are used, thrice seven of them being soaked in Attic honey,
82 See B. v. c. 20. 83 See B. iii. c. 12. & Our periwinkles.
85 Dalechamps takes this to mean "without horns :" and Hardouin is
of opinion that it means "genuine" or "unmixed." In either sense,
the word is derived from the Greek.
86 He has omitted to do so. 87 " Humida tussis,"
Chap. 17.] REMEDIES FOE AFFECTIONS OF THE SPLEEN. 439
and taken internally by the aid of a reed i88 for all vessels, it
should be remembered, turn black on coming in contact with
them. Some persons grill one sextarius of these insects on a
flat pan, till they become white, and then mix them with
honey. There are some authorities who call thia insect a
" centipede," and recommend it to be given in warm water.
Snails are administered to persons subject to fainting fits,
alienation of the senses, and vertigo : for which purposes, a
snail is beaten up, shell and all, with three cyathi of raisin
wine, and the mixture is administered warm with the drink,
for nine days at most. Others, again, give one snail the first
day, two the second, three the third, two the fourth, and one
the fifth ; a mode of treatment also adopted for the cure of
asthma and of abscesses.
There is, according to some authorities, an insect resem-
bling the locust in appearance, destitute of wings, and known
by the Greek name of " troxallis," it being without a name in
Latin : a considerable number of writers, however, consider
it as identical with the insect known to us as " gryllus."8'
Twenty of these insects, they say, should be grilled, and taken
in honied wine, by patients troubled with hardness of breath*
ing or spitting of blood. Some persons pour pure grape-juice,90
or sea- water, upon unwashed snails, and then boil and eat
them for food ; or else they bruise the snails, shells and all,
and take them with this grape-juice. A similar method is
also adopted for the cure of cough. Honey in which the bees
have died, is particularly good for the cure of abscesses. Eor
spitting of blood a vulture's lungs are used, burnt upon vine
logs, and mixed with half the quantity of pomegranate blos-
soms, or with the same proportion of quince and lily blossom :
the whole being taken morning and evening, in wine, if there
is no fever ; but where there are symptoms of fever, instead of
wine, water is used in which quinces have been boiled.
CHAP. 1 7. REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE SPLEEN.
According to the prescriptions given by the magicians, a
fresh sheep's milt is the best application for pains in the spleen,
the person who applies it uttering these words : " This I do
88 See c. 12 of this Book.
89 Qur « cricket." The troxallis was probably a kind of locust, still
known to naturalists by that name.
90 ",Protropum." Wine of the first running.
440 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX
for the cure of the spleen." This done, it is enjoined that the
railt should be covered up with mortar in the wall of the
patient's sleeping- room, and sealed with a ring, a charm91 being
repeated thrice nine times. A dog's milt, removed from the
animal while still alive, taken with the food, is a cure for dis-
eases of the spleen : some, again, attach it fresh to that part
of the patient's body. Others give the patient — without his
knowing it — the inilt of a puppy two days old, to eat, in
squill vinegar ; the milt, too, of a hedge-hog is similarly
used. Ashes of burnt snails are employed, in combination
with linseed, nettle-seed, and honey, the treatment being per-
sisted in till the patient is thoroughly cured.
A green lizard has a remedial effect, suspended alive in an
earthen vessel, at the entrance of the sleeping-room of the
patient, who, every time he enters or leaves it, must take care
to touch it with his hand : the head, too, of a horned owl, re-
duced to ashes and incorporated with an unguent ; honey, also,
in which the bees have died ; and spiders, the one known as
the " lycos"92 in particular,
CHAP. 18. KEMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE SIDE AND IN THE LOINS.
For pains in the side, the heart of a hoopoe is highly es-
teemed ; ashes, too, of burnt snails, that have been boiled in
a ptisan, snails being sometimes applied in the form of a lini-
ment, alone. Potions employed for this purpose have a sprink-
ling in them of the ashes of a mad dog's skull. For the cure
of lumbago, the spotted lizard93 from beyond seas is used :
the head and intestines being first removed, the body is boiled
in wine, with half a denarius of black poppy, and the decoc-
tion is taken in drink. Green lizards, also, are taken with
the food, the feet and head being first removed ; or else three
snails are crushed, shells and all, and boiled with fifteen pepper-
corns in wine. The feet of an eagle are wrenched off in a
contrary direction to the joint, and the right foot is attached
to the right side, the left foot to the left, according as the
pains are situate. The millepede,94 which we have spoken of
91 "Carmen." Holland says "the aforesaid charm:" hut this does
not appear from the context. .From the account, however, given by Marcus
Empiricus, we learn that the charm, thus repeated twenty-seven times, is
the same as that already given.
92 Or " wolf." See B. xi. c. 28. 93 See B. xxix. c. 28.
M Or woodlouse. See B. xxix. c. 39.
Chap. 19.] REMEDIES FOE DYSENTERY. 441
as being called the " oniscoa," is a cure for these pains,
taken, in doses of one denarius, in two cyathi of wine.
The magicians recommend an earth-worm to be put in a
wooden dish, which has been split and mended with iron
wire ; which done, some water must be taken up with the dish,
the worm drenched with it and buried in the spot from
which it was taken, and the water drunk from the dish.
They assert, also, that this is a marvellously excellent cure for
sciatica.
CHAP. 19. (7.) EEMEDIES FOR DYSENTERY.
Dysentery is cured by taking the broth of a leg of mutton,
boiled with linseed in water ; by eating old ewe- milk cheese ;
or by taking mutton suet boiled in astringent wine. This
last is good, too, for the iliac passion, and for inveterate coughs.
Dysentery is removed also, by taking a spotted lizard from
beyond seas, boiled down till the skin only is left, the head,
feet, and intestines, being first removed. A couple of snails
also, and an egg, are beaten up, shells and all, in both cases,
and made lukewarm in a new vessel, with some salt, three
cyathi of water, and two cyathi of raisin-wine or date-juice,
the decoction being taken in drink. Ashes, too, of burnt snails,
are very serviceable, taken in wine with a modicum of resin.
The snails without shells, which we have95 mentioned as
being mostly found in Africa, are remarkably useful for dy-
sentery, five of them being burnt with half a denarius of gum
acacia, and taken, in doses of two spoonfuls, in myrtle wine or
any other kind of astringent wine, with an equal quantity of
warm water. Some persons employ all kinds of African snails
indiscriminately in this manner ; while others, again, make use
of a similar number of African snails or broad- shelled snails,
as an injection, in preference : in cases, too, where the flux is
considerable, they add a piece of gum acacia, about the size of
a bean. For dysentery and tenesmus, the cast-off slough of a
snake is boiled in a pewter vessel with oil of roses : if pre-
pared in any other kind of vessel, it is applied with an instru-
ment made of pewter. Chicken-broth is also used as a remedy
for these affections ; but the broth of an old cock, strongly
salted, acts more powerfully as a purgative upon the bowels.
A pullet's craw, grilled and administered with salt and oil, has
95 In B. xxix. c. 36.
442 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
a soothing effect upon cceliac affections ; but it is absolutely
necessary that neither fowl nor patient should have eaten
corn96 for some time before. Pigeons' dung, also, is grilled and
taken in drink. The flesh of a ring-dove, boiled in vinegar,
is curative of dysentery and cooliac affections : and for the cure
of the former, a thrush is recommended, roasted with myrtle-
berries ; a blackbird, also ; or honey, boiled, in which the bees
have died.
CHAP. 20. EEMEDIES FOR THE ILIAC PASSION, AND FOB OTHER
MALADIES OF THE BOWELS.
One of the most dangerous of maladies is that known by the
name of " ileos :"97 it may be combatted, they say, by tearing
a bat asunder, and taking the blood, or by rubbing the abdo-
men with it. Diarrhoea is arrested more particularly by taking
snails, prepared in manner already98 mentioned for cases of
asthma ; the ashes, also, of snails burnt alive, administered in
astringent wine ; the liver of poultry grilled ; the dried craw
of poultry, a part that is usually thrown away, mixed with
poppy-juice — in some cases it is used fresh, grilled, and taken
in wine — partridge broth ; the craw of partridges beaten up by
itself in red wine ; a wild ringdove boiled in oxy crate ; a sheep's
milt, grilled and beaten up in wine ; or else pigeons' dung,
applied with honey. The crop of an ossifrage, dried and taken
in drink, is remarkably useful for patients whose digestion is
impaired — indeed, its good effects may be felt if they only hold .
it in the hand while eating. Hence it is that some persons
wear it attached to the body as an amulet ; a practice which .
must not be too long continued, it being apt to cause a wasting
of the flesh. The blood, too, of a drake has an astringent'
effect.
Flatulency is dispelled by eating snails ; and griping pains
in the bowels, by taking a sheep's milt grilled, with wine; a
wild ringdove boiled in oxy crate ; the fat of an otis" in wine ; or
the ashes of an ibis, burnt without the feathers, administered in
drink. Another prescription mentioned for griping pains in
the bowels is of a very marvellous nature : if a duck, they say,
is applied to the abdomen, the malady will pass into the bird,
96 See B. xxix. c. 36. 97 The iliac passion, or ileus volvulus.
98 In c. 16 of this Book.
99 A kind of bustard. See B. x. cc. 29, 50, and c. 45 of this Book.
Chap. 21.] REMEDIES FOR UEINAEY CALCULI. 443
and it will die.1 Gripings of the bowels are treated also with
boiled honey in which the bees have died.
Colic is most effectually cured by taking a roasted lark with
the food. Some recommend, however, that it should be burnt
to ashes in a new vessel, feathers and all, and then pounded
and taken for four consecutive days, in doses of three spoonfuls,
in water. Some say that the heart of this bird should be
attached to the thigh, and, according to others, the heart should
be swallowed fresh, quite warm, in fact. There is a family
of consular dignity, known as the Asprenates,2 two brothers,
members of which, were cured of colic ; the one by eating a
lark and wearing its heart in a golden bracelet ; the other, by
performing a certain sacrifice in a chapel built of raw bricks,
in form of a furnace, and then blocking up the edifice the mo-
ment the sacrifice was concluded. The ossifrage has a single
intestine only, which has the marvellous property of digesting
all that the bird has swallowed : the extremity of this intes-
tine, it is well known, worn as an amulet, is an excellent
remedy for colic.
There are certain concealed maladies incident to the intes-
tines, in relation to which there are some marvellous statements
made. If to the stomach and chest, more particularly, blind
puppies are applied, and suckled with milk from the patient's
mouth,3 the virulence of the malady, it is said, will be trans-
ferred to them, and in the end they will die : on opening
them, too, the causes of the malady will be sure to be dis-
covered. In all such cases, however, the puppies must be
allowed to die, and must be buried in the earth. According
to what the magicians say, if the abdomen is touched with a
bat's blood, the person will be proof against colic for a whole
year : when a patient, too, is attacked with the pains of colic,
if he can bring himself to drink the water in which he has
washed his feet, he will experience a cure.
CHAP. 21. (8.) — EEMEDIES FOE URINARY CALCULI AND
AFFECTIONS OF THE BLADDER.
For the cure of urinary calculi, it is a good plan to rub
1 See c. 14 of this Book, where a similar notion is mentioned.
2 There were three consuls of this name, L. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 7 ;
L. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 29 ; and P. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 38. They
are mentioned also by Suetonius, Tacitus, Dion Cassius, Frontinus, and
Seneca. 3 See c. 14 of this Book.
444 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
the abdomen with mouse-dung. The flesh of a hedge -hog is
agreeable eating, they say, if killed with a single blow upon
the head, before it has had time to discharge its urine3* upon
its body : [persons4 who eat this flesh, it is said, will never by
any possibility suffer from strangury.] The flesh of a hedge-
hog thus killed, is a cure for urinary obstructions of the blad-
der ; and the same, too, with fumigations made therewith. If,
on the other hand, the animal has discharged its urine upon its
body, those who eat the flesh will be sure to be attacked by
strangury, it is said. As a lithontriptic,5 earth-worms are
recommended, taken in ordinary wine or raisin wine ; or else
boiled snails, prepared the same way6 as for the cure of asthma.
For the cure of urinary obstructions, snails are taken from the
shells, pounded, and administered in one cyathus of wine, three
the first day, two the second, and one the third. For the ex-
pulsion of calculi, the empty shells are reduced to ashes and
taken in drink : the liver also of a water- snake, and the ashes
of burnt scorpions are similarly employed, or are taken with
bread or eaten with a locust. For the same purpose, the
small grits that are found in the gizzard of poultry or in the
craw of the ringdove, are beaten up and sprinkled in the
patient's drink ; the craw, too, of poultry is taken, dried, or if
fresh, grilled.
For urinary calculi and other obstructions of the bladder,
dtmg of ring-doves is taken, with beans ; ashes also of wild
ring-doves' feathers, mixed with vinegar and honey ; the in-
testines of those birds, reduced to ashes, and administered in
doses of three spoonfuls ; a small clod from a swallow's nest,
dissolved in warm water ; the dried crop of an ossifrage ; the
dung of a turtle-dove, boiled in honied wine ; or the broth of
a boiled turtle-dove.
It is very beneficial also for urinary affections to eat thrushes
with myrtle-berries, or grasshoppers grilled on a shallow-pan ;
or else to take the millepedes, known as " onisci,"7 in drink.
For pains in the bladder, a decoction of lambs' feet is used.
3* See B. viii. c. 56.
4 This passage is omitted by Sillig as an evident interpolation from the
context a couple of lines below.
5 The belief in lithontriptics can hardly be said to exist at the present
day. Ajasson refers to the grant made by the British Parliament of £5000
to Mrs. Stephens for her lithontriptic ! !
6 In c. 16 of this Book. 7 See B. xxix. c. 39.
Chap. 22.] BEMEDIES J?OE THE GENEBATIVE OKGAtfS. 445
Chicken-broth relaxes the bowels and mollifies acridities ;
swallows' dung, too, with honey, employed as a suppository,
acts as a purgative.
CHAP. 22. REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE FUNDAMENT AND OF
THE GENEEATIVE ORGANS.
The most efficacious remedies for diseases of the rectum are
wool-grease — to which some add pompholix8 and oil of roses —
a dog's head reduced to ashes ; or a serpent's slough, with
vinegar. In cases where there are chaps and fissures of those
parts, the ashes of the white portion of dogs' dung are used,
mixed with oil of roses ; a prescription due, they say, to ^Escu-
lapius,9 and remarkably efficacious also for the removal of
warts. Ashes of burnt mouse- dung, swan's fat, and cow
suet, are also used. Procidence of the rectum is reduced by an
application of the juices discharged by snails when punctured.
For the cure of excoriation of those parts, ashes of burnt wood-
mice are used, with honey ; the gall of a hedge-hog, with a
bat's brains and bitches' milk ; goose-grease, with the brains of
the bird, alum, and wool-grease ; or else pigeons' dung, mixed
with honey. A spider, the head and legs being first removed,
is remarkably good as a friction for condylomata. To prevent
the acridity of the humours from fretting the flesh, goose-
grease is applied, with Punic wax, white lead, and oil of
roses ; swan's grease also, which is said to be a cure for piles.
A very good thing, they say, for sciatica, is, to pound raw
snails in Aminean10 wine, and to take them with pepper ; to
eat a green lizard, the feet, head, and intestines being first
removed ; or to eat a spotted lizard, with the addition of three
oboli of black poppy. Ruptures and convulsions are treated
with sheep's gall, diluted with woman's milk. The gravy which
escapes from a rani's lights roasted, is used for the cure of
itching pimples and warts upon the generative organs : for
other affections of those parts, the ashes of a ram's wool, un-
washed even, are used, applied with water; the suet of a
sheep's caul, and of the kidneys more particularly, mixed with
ashes of pumice-stone and salt ; greasy wool, applied with cold
water ; sheep's flesh, burnt to ashes, and applied with water ;
8 See B. xxxiv. c. 33. 9 It can hardly be said to add to his fame.
10 See B. xiv. c. 4.
446 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
a mule's hoofs, burnt to ashes ; or the powder of pounded
horse teeth, sprinkled upon the parts. In cases of decidence
of either of the testes, an application of the slime discharged
by snails is remedial, they say. For the treatment of sordid
or running ulcers of those parts, the fresh ashes of a burnt
dog's head are found highly useful ; the small, broad kind of
snail, beaten up in vinegar ; a snake's slough, or the ashes of
it, applied in vinegar ; honey in which the bees have died,
mixed with resin ; or the kind of snail without a shell, that is
found in Africa, as already11 mentioned, beaten up with pow-
dered frankincense and white of eggs, the application being
renewed at the end of thirty days ; some persons, however,
substitute a bulb for the frankincense.
For the cure of hydrocele, a spotted lizard, they say, is
marvellously good, the head, feet, and intestines being first
removed, and the rest of the body roasted and taken frequently
with the food. For incontinence12 of urine dogs' fat is used,
mixed with a piece of split alum the size of a bean ; ashes,
also, of African snails burnt with the shells, taken in drink ;
or else the tongues of three geese roasted and eaten with the
food, a remedy which we owe to Anaxilaiis. Mutton-suet,13
mixed with parched salt, has an aperient effect upon inflam-
matory tumours, and mouse-dung, mixed with powdered
frankincense and sandarach, acts upon them as a dispellent :
the ashes, also, of a burnt lizard, or the lizard itself, split
asunder and applied ; or else bruised millepedes, mixed with one
third part of turpentine. Some make use of earth of Sinope'14
for this purpose, mixed with a bruised snail. Ashes of
empty snail-shells burnt alone, mixed with wax, possess cer-
tain repercussive properties ; the same, too, with pigeons' dung,
employed by itself, or applied with oat-meal or barley-meal.
Cantharides, mixed with lime, remove inflammatory tumours
quite as effectually as the lancet ; and small snails, applied
topically with honey, have a soothing effect upon tumours in
the groin.
11 In B. xxix. c. 36 and in c. 19 of this Book.
12 See B. xxxii. c. 35.
13 Ajasson remarks that this may probably be useful.
14 See B. xxxv. cc. 12, 13.
Chap. 23.] REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE FEET. 447
CHAP. 23. (9.) REMEDIES FOE GOUT AND FOR DISEASES OF THE
FEET.
To prevent varicose veins, the legs of children are rubbed
with a lizard's blood : but both the party who operates and the
patient must be fasting at the time. Wool- grease, mixed with
woman's milk and white lead, has a soothing effect upon gout ;
the liquid dung also voided by sheep ; a sheep's lights ; a
ram's gall, mixed with suet ; mice, split asunder and applied ;
a weasel's blood, used as a liniment with plantago; the ashes
of a weasel burnt alive, mixed with vinegar and oil of roses,
and applied with a feather, or used in combination with wax
and oil of roses ; a dog's gall, due care being taken not to touch
it with the hand, and to apply it with a feather ; poultry dung ;
or else ashes of burnt earth-worms, applied with honey, and
removed at the end of a couple of days. Some, however, pre-
fer using this last with water, while others, again, apply the
worms themselves, in the proportion of one acetabulum15 to
three cyathi of honey, the feet of the patient being first anointed
with oil of roses. The broad, flat, kind of snail, taken in drink,
is used for the removal of pains in the feet and joints ; two of
them being pounded for the purpose and taken in wine. They
are employed, also, in the form of a liniment, mixed with the
juice of the plant helxine:16 some, however, are content to
beat up the snails with vinegar. Some say that salt, burnt
in a new earthen vessel with a viper, and taken repeatedly, is
curative of gout, and that it is an excellent plan to rub the
feet with viper's fat. It is asserted, too, that similar results
are produced by keeping a kite till it is dry, and then powder-
ing it and taking it in water, a pinch in three fingers at a
time ; by rubbing the feet with the blood of that bird mixed
with nettles ; or by bruising the first feathers of a ring-dove
with nettles. The dung of ring-doves is used as a liniment
for pains in the joints; the ashes also of a burnt weasel, or
of burnt snails, mixed with amylum17 or gum tragacanth.
A very excellent cure for contusions of the joints is a spider's
web ; but there are persons who give the preference to ashes
of burnt cobwebs or of burnt pigeons' dung, mixed with
polenta and white wine. Eor sprains of the joints a sovereign
15 " Acetabuli mensura " seems a preferable reading to " aceto mensura,"
which makes no sense.
16 See B. sxi. e. 56. 17 See B. xviii. c. 17.
448 PLISTY/S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
remedy is mutton suet, mixed with the ashes of a woman's hair ;
a good application, too, for chilblains is mutton suet, mixed
with alum, or else ashes of a burnt dog's head or of burnt
mouse-dung. Ulcers, free from discharge, are brought to cica-
trize by using the above-named substances in combination with
wax ; ashes, also, of burnt dormice, mixed with oil ; ashes of
burnt wood-mice, mixed with honey ; ashes of burnt earth-
worms, applied with ol.d oil ; or else ashes of the snails without
a shell that are so commonly found. All ulcers on the feet are
cured by the application of ashes of snails, burnt alive ; and
for excoriations of the feet, ashes of burnt poultry-dung are
used, or ashes of burnt pigeons' dung, mixed with oil. When
the feet have been galled by the shoes, the ashes of an old shoe-
sole are used, or the lights of a lamb or ram. For gatherings
beneath18 the nails, a horse's tooth, powdered, is a sovereign
remedy. A light application of a green lizard's blood, will
cure the feet of man or beast when galled beneath.
For the removal of corns upon the feet, the urine of a mule
of either sex is applied, mixed with the mud which it has
formed upon the ground ; sheep's dung, also ; the liver of a
green lizard, or the blood of that animal, applied in wool ;
earth-worms, mixed with oil ; the head of a spotted lizard,
pounded with an equal quantity of vitex and mixed with oil ;
or pigeons' dung, boiled with vinegar. For the cure of all kinds
of warts, dogs' urine is applied fresh, with the mud which it
has formed upon the ground ; dogs' dung, also, reduced to ashes
and mixed with wax ; sheep's dung ; the blood of mice, ap-
plied fresh, or the body of a mouse, split asunder ; the gall of
a hedgehog ; a lizard's head or blood, or the ashes of that
animal, burnt entire ; the cast-off slough of a snake ; or else
poultry dung, applied with oil and nitre. Cantharides, also,
bruised with Taminian19 grapes, act corrosively upon warts :
but when warts have been thus removed, the remedies should
be employed which we have pointed out for ulcerations on the
skin.
CHAP. 24. (10.) REMEDIES FOR EVILS WHICH ARE LIABLE TO
AFFECT THE WHOLE BODY.
We will now turn our attention to those evils which are a
18 " Subluviem." The same, probably, as the disease of the fingers which
he elsewhere calls " paronychia," and perhaps identical with whitlow.
» See B. xxiii. c. 13.
Chap. 25.] KEMEDIES FOE COLD SHIVElilNaS. 449
cause of apprehension, as affecting the whole body. According
to what the magicians say, the gall of a male black dog -is a
counter-charm for the whole of a house ; and it will be quite suffi-
cient to make fumigations with it, or to use it as a purification,
to ensure its preservation against all noxious drugs and pre-
parations. They say the same, too, with reference to a dog's
blood, if the walls are sprinkled with it ; and the genitals of
that animal, if buried beneath the threshold. This will sur-
prise persons the less who are aware how highly these same
magicians extol that most abominable insect, the tick, and
all because it is the only one that has no20 passage for the
evacuations, its eating ending only in its death, and it living all
the longer for fasting : in this latter state it has been known
to live so long as seven days, they say, but when it gorges to
satiety it will burst in a much shorter period. According to
these authorities, a tick from a dog's left ear, worn as an
amulet, will allay all kinds of pains. They presage, too, from
it on matters of life and death ; for if the patient, they say,
gives an answer to a person who has a tick about him, and,
standing at the foot of the bed, asks how he is, it is an infal-
lible sign that he will survive ; while, on the other hand, if he
makes no answer, he will be sure to die. They add, also, that
the dog from whose left ear the tick is taken, must be entirely
black. Nigidius has stated in his writings that dogs will
avoid the presence all day of a person who has taken a tick.
from off a hog.
The magicians likewise assure us that patients suffering
from delirium will recover their reason on being sprinkled
with a mole's blood; and that persons who are apt to be
troubled by the gods of the night21 and by Fauni, will expe-
rience relief by rubbing themselves morning and evening with
the tongue, e}^es, gall, and intestines of a dragon,22 boiled in
oil, and cooled in the open air at night.
CHAP. 25. REMEDIES FOR COLD SHIVERINGS.
A remedy for cold shiverings, according to Meander, is a
dead amphisbaena,23 or its skin only, attached to the body : in
addition to which, he informs us that if one of these reptiles
20 A popular fallacy of Pliny's time. See B. xi. c. 40.
21 Spectres and nightmare. 22 The serpent so called.
23 See B. viii. c. 35.
VOL. V. G Cr
450 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
is attached to a tree that is being felled, the persons hewing
it will never feel cold, and will fell it all the more easily. For
so it is, that this is the only one among all the serpents that
faces the cold, making its appearance the first of all, and even,
before the cuckoo's note is heard. There is another marvellous
fact also mentioned, with reference to the cuckoo : if, upon the
spot where a person hears this bird for the first time, he traces
round the space occupied by his right foot and then digs
up the earth, it will effectually prevent fleas from, breeding,
wherever it is thrown.
CHAP. 26. REMEDIES FOR PARALYSIS.
For persons apprehensive of paralysis the fat of dormice and
of field-mice, they say, is very useful, boiled : and for patients
threatened with phthisis, millepedes are good, taken in drink,
in manner already24 mentioned for the cure of quinzy. The
same, too, with a green lizard, boiled down to one cyathus in
three sextarii of wine, and taken in doses of one spoonful
dailj', until the patient is perfectly cured ; the ashes also of
burnt snails, taken in wine.
CHAP. 27. REMEDIES FOR EPILEPSY.
For the cure of epilepsy wool-grease is used, with a modi-
cum of myrrh, a piece about the size of a hazel-nut being dis-
solved and taken after the bath, in two cyathi of wine : a
ram's testes, also, dried and pounded, and taken in doses of
half a denarius, in water, or in a semi-sextarius of asses'
milk; the patient being forbidden wine five days before and
after using the remedy. Sheep's blood, too, is mightily praised,
taken in drink ; sheep's gall, also, and lambs' gall in particular,
mixed with honey ; the flesh of a sucking puppy, taken with
wine and myrrh, the head and feet being first removed ; the
callosities from a mule's legs, taken in three cyathi of oxymel;
the ashes of a spotted lizard from beyond seas, taken in vine-
gar ; the thin coat of a spotted lizard, which it casts like a
snake, taken in drink — indeed some persons recommend the
lizard itself, gutted with a reed and dried and taken in drink ;
while others, again, are for roasting it on a wooden spit and
taking it with the food.
It is worth while knowing how the winter slough of this
24 In c. 12 of this Book. Woodlice are meant.
Chap. 27.] BEMEDIES FOE EPILEPSY. 451
lizard is obtained when it casts it off, before it has had the oppor-
tunity of devouring25 it ; there being no creature, it is said, that
resorts in its spite to more cunning devices for the deception of
man ; a circumstance owing to which, the name of " stellio"2ti
has been borrowed as a name of reproach. The place to which
it retires in summer is carefully observed, being generally some
spot beneath the projecting parts of doors or windows, or else
in vaults or tombs. In the early days of spring, cages made
of split reeds are placed before these spots ; and the narrower
the interstices the more delighted is the animal with them,
it being all the better enabled thereby to disengage itself of
the coat which adheres to its body and impedes its freedom of
action : when, however, it has once quitted it, the construc-
tion of the cage prevents its return. There is nothing what-
ever preferred to this lizard as a remedy for epilepsy. The
brains of a weasel are also considered very good, dried and
taken in drink ; the liver, too, of that animal, or the testes,
uterus, or paunch, dried and taken with coriander, in manner
already27 mentioned ; the ashes also of a burnt weasel ; or a
wild weasel, eaten whole with the food. All these properties
are equally attributed to the ferret. A green lizard is some-
times eaten, dressed with seasonings to stimulate the appetite,
the feet and head being first removed ; the ashes, too, of burnt
snails are used, as an ointment, with linseed, nettle-seed, and
honey.
The magicians think highly of a dragon's tail, attached to
the body, with a deer's sinews, in the skin of a gazelle ; as
also the small grits found in the crops of young swallows,
tied to the left arm of the patient ; for swallows, it is said, give
small stones to their young the moment they are hatched.
If, at the commencement of the first paroxysm, an epileptic
patient eats the first of a swallow's brood that has been
hatched, he will experience a perfect cure : but at a later
period the disease is treated by using swallow's blood with
frankincense, or by eating the heart of the bird quite fresh.
Nay, even more than this, a small stone taken from a
swallow's nest will relieve the patient the moment it is ap-
plied, they say ; worn, too, as an amulet, it will always act as
25 See B. viii. c. 49.
23 A cozener, cheat, or rogue. Ajasson has a page of discussion on the
origin of this appellation. ~7 In 13. xxix. c. 16.
r< f ' '
Gr G J
452 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
a preservative against the malady. A kite's liver, too, eaten
by the patient, is highly vaunted ; the slough also of a ser-
pent ; a vulture's liver, beaten up with the blood of the bird,
and taken thrice seven days in drink ; or the heart of a young
vulture, worn attached to the body.
And not only this, but the vulture itself is recommended as
a food for the patient, and that, too, when it has been glutted
with human flesh. Some recommend the breast of this bird
to be taken in drink from a cup made of cerrus28 wood, or the
testes of a dunghill cock to be taken in milk and water ; the
patient abstaining from wine the five preceding days, and the •
testes being dried for the purpose. There have been authori-
ties found to recommend one-and-twenty red flies — and those
found dead, too ! — taken in drink, the number being reduced
where the patient is of a feeble habit.
CHAP. 28. (11.) — REMEDIES FOR JAUNDICE.
Jaundice is combated by administering ear-wax to the patient,
or else the filth that adheres to the udders of sheep, in doses
of one denarius, with a modicum of myrrh, in two cyathi of
wine; the ashes, also, of a dog's head, mixed with honied
wine ; a millepede, in one semi-sextarius of wine ; earth-
worms, in hydromel with myrrh ; wine in which a hen's
feet have been washed, after being first cleansed with water —
the hen must be one with yellow29 feet — the brains of a partridge
or of an eagle, in three cyathi of wine ; the ashes of a ring-
dove's feathers or intestines, in honied wine, in doses of three
spoonfuls ; or ashes of sparrows burnt upon twigs, in doses of
two spoonfuls, in hydromel.
There is a bird, known as the " icterus,"30 from its peculiar
colour: if the patient looks at it, he will be cured of jaun-
dice, they say, and the bird will die. In my opinion this
is the same bird that is known in Latin by the name of
"galgulus."31
CHAP. 29. REMEDIES FOR PJIRENITIS.
In cases of phrenitis a sheep's lights, attached warm round
the patient's head, would appear to be advantageous. But as
to giving a man suffering from delirium a mouse's brains in
28 See B. xvi. e. 6. 29 Like our game poultry.
30 This word being also the Greek name for the jaundice.
31 See B. x. c. 50. The AVit nail.
Chap. 30.] EEMEDIES FOB FEVERS. 453
water to drink, the ashes of a burnt weasel, or the dried flesh
even of a hedgehog, who could possibly do it, supposing even
the effects of the remedy were certain ? I should be inclined,
too, to rank the ashes of the eyes of a horned owl in the num-
ber of those monstrous prescriptions with which the adepts in
the magic art abuse the credulity of mankind.
It is in cases, too, of fever, more particularly, that the ac-
knowledged rules of medicine run counter to the prescriptions
of these men : for they have classified the various modes of
treating the disease in accordance with the twelve signs of the
Zodiac, and relatively to the revolutions of the sun and moon,
a system which deserves to be utterly repudiated, as I shall
prove by a few instances selected from many. They recom-
mend, for example, when the sun is passing through Gemini,
that the patient should be rubbed with ashes of the burnt
combs, ears, and claws of cocks, beaten up and mixed with
oil. If, again, it is the moon that is passing through that
sign, it is the spurs and wattles .of cocks that must be simi-
larly employed. When either of these luminaries is passing
through Virgo, grains of barley must be used ; and when
through Sagittarius, a bat's wings. When the moon is pass-
ing through Leo, it is leaves of tamarisk that must be employed,
and of the cultivated tamarisk, they add : if, again, the sign,
is Aquarius, the patient must use an application of box-wood
charcoal, pounded.
Of the remedies, however, that we find recommended by
them, I shall be careful to insert those only the efficacy
of which has been admitted, or, at least, is probable in any
degree ; such, for instance, as the use of powerful odours, as
an excitant for patients suffering from lethargy ; among which,
perhaps, may be reckoned the dried testes of a weasel, or the
liver of that animal, burnt. They consider it a good plan,
too, to attach a sheep's lights, made warm, round the head of
the patient.
CHAP. 30. REMEDIES FOR FEVERS.
In the treatment of quartan fevers, clinical medicine is, so to
say, pretty nearly powerless ; for which reason we shall insert
a considerable number of remedies recommended by professors
of the magic art, and, first of all, those prescribed to be worn
as amulets : the dust, for instance, in which a hawk has bathed
454 PLINY'S KATUEAL HISTOKY. [Book XXX.
itself, tied up in a linen cloth, with a red string, and attached
to the body ; the longest tooth of a black dog ; or the wasp
known by the name of " pseudosphex,"32 which is always to
be seen flying alone, caught with the left hand and attached
beneath the patient's chin. Some use for this purpose the
first wasp that a person sees in the current year. Other
amulets are, a viper's head, severed from the body and wrapped
in a linen cloth ; a viper's heart, removed from the reptile
while still alive ; the muzzle33 of a mouse and the tips of its
ears, wrapped in red cloth, the animal being set at liberty
after they are removed; the right eye plucked from a living
lizard, and enclosed with the head, separated from the body,
in goat's skin ; the scarabseus also that forms pellets34 and rolls
them along.
It is on account of this kind of scarabseus that the people
of a great part of Egypt worship those insects as divinities ;
an usage for which Apion gives a curious reason, asserting, as he
does, by way of justifying the rites of his nation, that the insect
in its operations pictures the revolution of the sun. There is
also another kind of scarabseus, which the magicians recom-
mend to be worn as an amulet — the one that has small horns38
thrown backwards ; it must be taken up, when used for this
purpose, with the left hand. A third kind also, known by the
name of "fullo/'37 and covered with white spots, they recom-
mend to be cut asunder and attached to either arm, the other
kinds being worn upon the left arm. Other amulets recom-
mended by them, are, the heart of a snake taken from the
living animal with the left hand ; or four joints of a scorpion's
tail, together with the sting, attached to the body in a piece of
black cloth ; due care being taken that the patient does not see
32 " Bastard-wasp."
33 " Rostellum." Holland renders it " The little prettie snout's end of
a mouse."
34 Of cowdung. It was supposed that there was no female scarabseus,
and that the male insect formed these balls for the reproduction of its
species. It figures very largely in the Egyptian mythology and philosophy
as the emblem of the creative and generative power. It has been suggested
that its Coptic name " skalouks" is a compound Sanscrit word, signifying
— " The ox-insect that collects dirt into a round mass." See B. xi c. 34.
36 Probably the " lucanus " mentioned in B. xi. c. 34 ; supposed to be
the same as the stag-beetle.
37 The u fuller," apparently. This name may possibly be derived, how-
ever, from the Greek <pv\\6v, a ''leaf."
Chap. 30.] REMEDIES FOll FEVERS. 455
the scorpion, which is set at liberty after the operation, or
the person who has attached the amulet, for the space of
three days: after the recurrence, too, of the third paroxysm,
he must bury the whole in the ground. Some enclose a cater-
pillar in a piece of linen with a thread passed three times
round it, and tie as many knots, repeating at each knot why it
is that the patient performs that operation. A slug is some-
times wrapped in a piece of skin, or the heads of four slugs,
cut from the body with a reed : a millepede is rolled up in
wool : the small grubs that produce the gadfly,38 are used
before the wings of the insect are developed ; or any other kind
of hairy grub is employed that is found adhering to prickly
shrubs. Some persons attach to the body four of these grubs,
enclosed in an empty walnut shell, or else some of the snails
that are found without a shell.
In other cases, again, it is the practice to enclose a spotted
lizard in a little box, and to place it beneath the pillow of the
patient, taking care to set it at liberty when the fever abates.
It is recommended also, that the patient should swallow the
heart of a sea-diver, removed from the bird without the aid of
iron, it being first dried and then bruised and taken in warm
water. The heart of a swallow is also recommended, with
honey ; and there are persons who say that, just before the
paroxysms come on, the patient should take one drachma of
swallow's dung in three cyathi of goats' milk or ewes' milk,
or of raisin wine : others, again, are of opinion that the birds
themselves should be taken, whole. The nations of Parthia,
as a remedy for quartan fevers, take the skin of the asp, in
doses of one sixth of a denarius, with an equal quantity of
pepper. The philosopher Chrysippus has left a statement to
the effect, that the phryganion,39 worn as an amulet, is a
remedy for quartan fevers ; but what kind of animal this is he
has nowhere informed us, nor have I been able to meet with
any one who knows. Still, however, I felt myself bound to
notice a remedy that was mentioned by an author of such high
repute, in case any other person should happen to be more
successful in his researches. To eat the flesh of a crow, and
ss See B. xi. c. 38.
39 Some suppose that this was an insect that lived among dry wood,
and derive the name from the Greek <ppvyavbv. Queslon is of opinion that
it is the salamander.
456 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
to use nitre in the form of a liniment, is considered highly
efficacious for the treatment of chronic diseases.
In cases of tertian fever — so true it is that suffering takes
delight in prolonging hope by trying every remedy— it may be
worth while to make trial whether the web of the spider called
" lycos"40 is of any use, applied, with the insect itself, to the
temples and forehead in a compress covered with resin and wax ;
or the insect itself, attached to the body in a reed, a form in
which it is said to be highly beneficial for other fevers. Trial
may be made also of a green lizard, enclosed alive in a vessel
just large enough to receive it, and worn as an amulet ; a
method, it is said, by which recurrent fevers are often dis-
pelled.
^CHAP. 31. REMEDIES FOR DROPSY.
For the cure of dropsy, wool-grease, a piece about the size
of a hazel-nut, is given in wine, with the addition of a little
myrrh : some add goose-grease, steeped in myrtle wine. The
filth that adheres to the udders of sheep is productive of a
similar effect, as also the dried flesh of a hedge-hog, taken with
the food. Matter vomited by a dog, we are assured, applied
to the abdomen, will draw off the water that has accumulated
there.
CHAP. 32. (12). REMEDIES FOR ERYSIPELAS.
Eor the cure of erysipelas, wool-grease is used, with pom-
pholix41 and oil of roses ; the blood42 also extracted from a tick ;
earth worms, applied in vinegar ; or else a cricket crushed be-
tween the hands — the good effect of this last being that the per-
son who uses this precaution before the malady has made its
appearance, will be preserved therefrom for a whole year. Care
must be taken also that iron is used for the removal of the
cricket, with some of the earth about its hole. Goose-grease
is also employed for this purpose ; a viper's head, dried and
burnt, and applied with vinegar ; or a serpent's slough, applied
to the body, immediately after the bath, with bitumen and
lamb suet.
40 The "wolf" spider. See c. 17 of this Book.
41 SeeB.xxxiv. c. 33.
42 Ajasson remarks that, in reality, this is not blood, but a kind of
TISCOUS liquid.
Chap. 36.] REMEDIES FOE AFFECTIONS OF THE SINEWS. 457
CHAP. 33. BEMEDIES FOK CARBUNCLES.
Carbuncles are removed by an application of pigeons' dung,
either alone or in combination with linseed and oxymel ; or
of bees that have died in the honey. A sprinkling of polenta
upon the sores is also used. For carbuncles and other sores of
the generative organs, wool-grease is used as a remedy, with
refuse of lead ; and for incipient carbuncles, sheep's dung is
employed. Tumours and all other affections that stand in need
of emollients are treated most effectually with goose-grease ;
that of cranes, too, is equally efficacious.
CHAP. 34. REMEDIES FOE BOILS.
For boils the following remedies are prescribed ; a spider,
applied before mentioning the insect by name, care being-
taken tp remove it at the end of two days ; a shrew-mouse,
suspended by the neck till it is dead, care being taken not
to let it touch the earth when dead, and to pass it three
times around the boil, both operator and patient spitting on the
floor each time ; poultry-dung, that of a red colour in particular,
applied fresh with vinegar ; the crop of a stork, boiled in wine ;
flies, an uneven number of them, rubbed upon the patient with
the ring43 finger ; the filth from sheep's ears ; stale mutton
suet, with ashes of women's hair ; ram suet also, with ashes of
burnt pumice and an equal quantity of salt.
CHAP. 35. — EEMEDIES FOE BUENS.
For burns, the ashes of a dog's head are used ; ashes of
burnt dormice, with oil; sheep's dung, with wax; ashes also
of burnt snails, an application so effectual, as not to leave a
scar even. Viper's fat, too, is used, and ashes of burnt pigeons'
dung, applied with oil.
CHAP. 36. EEMEDIES FOE AFFECTIONS OF THE SINEWS.
For nodosities in the sinews, the ashes of a viper's head are
applied, with oil of Cyprus ;44 or else earth-worms, with honey.
Pains in the sinews should be treated with an application of
grease ; the body of a dead amphisbaena, worn as an amulet ;
vulture's grease, dried with the crop of the bird and beaten up
with stale hog's lard ; or else ashes of the head of a horned
43 "Digitus medicus " — "The physician's finger/' properly. Why
the fourth finger, or that next to the little finger, was thus called, it seems
impossible to say. 4i See B. xii. c. 51.
458 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXX.
owl, taken in honied wine with a lily root — that is, if we believe
what the magicians tell us. For contractions of the sinews, the
flesh of ring-doves is very good, dried and taken with the food :
and for spasmodic affections, the ashes of a hedge-hog or weasel
are used. A serpent's slough, attached to the patient's body in
a piece of bull's hide, is a preventive of spasms : and the dried
liver of a kite, taken in doses of three oboli, in three cyathi
of hydromel, is a preservative against opisthotony.
CHAP. 37. REMEDIES FOR MALADIES OF THE NAILS AND FINGEHS.
Agnails and hangnails upon the fingers are removed by
using the ashes of a burnt dog's head, or the uterus of a bitch
boiled in oil, the fingers being first rubbed with a liniment of
ewe-milk butter, mixed with honey. The gall-bladder, too, of
any animal is very useful for this purpose. Malformed nails
are healed with an application of cantharides and pitch, which
is removed at the end of two days ; or else with locusts fried
with he-goat suet ; or with an application of mutton suet. Some
mix mistletoe and purslain with these ingredients; while
others, again, use verdigrease and mistletoe, removing the appli-
cation at the end of two days.
CHAP. 38. (13.) METHODS FOR ARRESTING HAEMORRHAGE.
Bleeding at the nostrils is arrested by mutton suet taken
from the caul, introduced into the nostrils ; by drawing up
rennet, lamb's rennet in particular, mixed with water, into the
nostrils, or by using it as an injection, a remedy which succeeds
even where other remedies have failed ; by making up goose-
grease into a bolus with an equal quantity of butter, and
plugging the nostrils with it; or by using the earth that
adheres to snails, or else the snails themselves, extracted from
the shell. Excessive discharges from the nostrils are arrested
also by applying crushed snails, or cobwebs, to the forehead.
Eor issues of blood from the brain, the blood or brains of
poultry are used, as also pigeons' dung, thickened and kept
for the purpose. In cases where there is an immoderate flow
of blood from a wound, an application of horse-dung, burnt
with egg-shells, is marvellously good for stopping it.
CHAP. 39. — REMEDIES FOR ULCEROUS SORES AND WOUNDS.
Tor the cure of ulcers, wool-grease is used, with ashes of
Chap. CO.'J REMEDIES FOR WOUNDS. 459
burnt barley and verdigrease, in equal quantities ; a prepa-
ration which is good, too, for carcinoraata and spreading sores.
It cauterizes the flesh also around the margins of ulcers, and
reduces and makes level fungous excrescences formed by sores.
Ashes, too, of burnt sheep's dung, mixed with nitre, are of great
efficacy for the cure of carcinomata ; as also those of lambs'
thigh-bones, in cases more particularly where ulcers refuse to
cicatrize. Very considerable, too, is the efficacy of lights,
ram's lights in particular, which are of the greatest utility for
reducing and making level the fleshy excrescences formed by
ulcerous sores. With sheep's dung, warmed beneath an
earthen pan and kneaded, the swellings attendant upon wounds
are reduced, and fistulous sores and epinyctis are cleansed and
made to heal.
But it is in the ashes of a burnt dog's head that the
greatest efficacy is found; as it quite equals spodium45 in
its property of cauterizing all kinds of fleshy excrescences,
and causing sores to heal. Mouse-dung, too, is used as a
cautery, and weasels' dung, burnt to ashes. Pounded mille-
pedes, mixed with turpentine and earth of Sinope,46 are used
for penetrating carcinomata and fleshy indurations in deep-
seated sores ; and the same substances are remarkably useful
for the treatment of ulcers threatened with maggots.
Indeed the several varieties of worms themselves are pos-
sessed of marvellously useful properties. The worms,47 for
instance, that breed in wood are curative of all kinds of ulcers :
reduced to ashes, with an equal quantity of anise, and applied
with oil, they heal cancerous sores. Earthworms are so remark-
ably healing for wounds recently inflicted, that it is a very
general belief that by the end of seven days they will unite
sinews even that have been cut asunder : hence it is that it is re-
commended to keep them preserved in honey. Ashes of burnt
earth-worms, in combination with tar or Simblian honey,48 cau-
terize the indurated margins of ulcerous sores. Some persons dry
earthworms in the sun, and apply them to wounds with vinegar,
the application not being removed till the end of a couple of days.
The earth also that adheres to snails is useful, similarly em-
45 See B. xxxiv. c. 34.
46 See B. xxxv. cc. 12, 13. 4? "Cosses."
*7 Dioscorides speaks of this honey as the produce of Sicily.
460 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
ployed ; snails, too, taken whole from the shell, are pounded
and applied to fresh wounds, to heal them, and they arrest the
progress of cancerous sores.
There is an insect called " herpes"49 by the Greeks, which
is particularly useful for the cure of all kinds of serpiginous50
sores. Snails, beaten up, shells and all, are very good for this
purpose ; and it is said that, with myrrh and frankincense,
they will unite the sinews even when cut asunder. The fat,
too, of a dragon,51 dried in the sun, is remarkably useful, and
so are the brains of a cock or capon for recent wounds. Ey
taking with the food salt in which vipers have been preserved,
ulcers are rendered more easy of treatment, it is said, and are
made to heal all the sooner. Antonius52 the physician, after
operating in vain upon ulcers, that were incurable with the
knife, used to prescribe viper's flesh to be eaten by the patient,
whereby a marvellously speedy cure was effected.
The locust called " troxallis,"53 reduced to ashes and applied
with honey, removes the indurated margins of ulcerous sores :
ashes, also, of burnt pigeons' dung, with arsenic and honey,
are very effectual in all cases where a cautery is required.
The brains of a horned owl, applied with goose-grease, are
marvellously efficacious for uniting wounds, it is said. For
the malignant ulcer known as " eacoethes,"54 the ashes of a
ram's thigh-bones are used, mixed with woman's milk, the sores
being washed with linen cloths well rinsed. For the same
purpose, the bird known as the screech-owl55 is boiled in oil,
ewe-milk butter and honey being added to the preparation,
when properly dissolved. An application of bees that have
died in the honey, acts emolliently upon the indurated margins
of ulcerous sores ; and for the cure of elephantiasis, the blood
and ashes of a weasel are employed. Wounds and weals pro-
duced by blows are effaced by an application of sheep-skins
fresh from the body.
CHAP. 40. REMEDIES FOR BROKEN BONES.
Eor fractures of the joints, ashes of sheep's thigh-bones are
49 The " creeper/' It has not been identified.
60 Which are also called "herpetic" or "creeping."
51 The serpent so called.
62 Antonius Castor, probably. See end of B. xx.
« See c. 16 of this Book. 54 A chronic cancer. 55 "Ulula."
Chap. 42,] EXTRACTION OF FOREIGN SUBSTANCES. 461
particularly useful, applied in combination with wax ; and the
remedy is all the more efficacious, if a sheep's jaw-bones are
burnt with the other ingredient^ together with a deer's antler,
and some wax dissolved in oil of roses. For broken bones, a
dog's brains are used, spread upon a linen cloth, with wool
laid upon the surface and moistened every now and then. The
fractured bone will mostly unite in the course of fourteen
days ; and a cure equally expeditious may be effected by using
the ashes of burnt field-mice, with honey, or of burnt earth-
worms ; a substance which is extremely useful for the ex-
traction of splintered bones.
CHAP. 41. — APPLICATIONS FOR CICATRIZATIONS, AND FOR THE
CURE OF MORPHEW,
Cicatrizations are restored to their original colour by apply-
ing sheep's lights, those of a ram in particular ; mutton-suet,
mixed with nitre ; the ashes of a green lizard ; a snake's slough,
boiled in wine ; or else pigeons' dung, mixed with honey ;
a preparation which, in combination with wine, is good for
the removal of white morphew. For the cure, also, of mor-
phew, cantharides are used, with two-thirds of rue- leaves;
a preparation which the patient must keep applied, in the sun,
till the skin itches and rises in blisters ; after which it must
be fomented and well rubbed with oil, and the application re-
peated. This must be done for several days in succession, due
precautions being taken that the ulcerations do not penetrate
too deep.
For the cure, too, of morphew, a liniment is recommended,
made of flies and root of agrimony ; the white part also of
poultry dung, kept in a horn box with stale oil ; a bat's blood ;
or else the gall of a hedge-hog applied with water. Itch- scab
is cured by using the brains of a horned owl, incorporated with
saltpetre ; but dog's blood is the best thing to keep it in
check. The small, broad, snail that is found, crushed and ap-
plied topically, is an effectual cure for itching sensations.
CHAP. 42. — METHODS OF EXTRACTING FOREIGN SUBSTANCES FROM
THE BODY.
Arrows, pointed weapons, and other foreign substances that,
require to be extracted from the body, are removed by the
462 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
application of a mouse split asunder, or of a lizard more par-
ticularly, similarly divided, or else the head only of the animal,
pounded with salt. The snails, too, that are found in clusters
upon leaves, are pounded and applied with their shells on ; as
also those that are used as food, the shells being first removed,
applied with hare's rennet in particular. The bones of a
snake, applied with the rennet of any four-footed animal, will
produce a similar effect before the end of two days : cantha-
rides, also, bruised and applied with barley-meal, are highly
extolled.
CHAP. 43. (14.) REMEDIES FOR FEMALE COMPLAINTS.
For diseases incident to females, a ewe's placenta is very
useful, as already56 mentioned by us, when speaking of goats :
sheep's dung, too, is equally good. A fumigation of burnt
locusts, applied to the lower parts, affords relief to strangury,
in females more particularly. If, immediately after concep-
tion, a woman eats a cock's testes every now and then, the
child of which she is pregnant will become57 a male, it is said.
The ashes of a burnt porcupine, taken in drink, are a preventive
of abortion : bitches' milk facilitates delivery : and the after-
birth of a bitch, provided it has not touched the ground, will
act as an expellent of the foetus. Milk, taken as a drink,
strengthens the loins of women when in travail. Mouse-dung,
diluted with rain water, reduces the breasts of females, when
swollen after delivery. The ashes of a burnt hedge-hog,
applied with oil, act as a preventive of abortion. Delivery is
facilitated, in cases where the patient has taken, either goose-
dung in two cyathi of water, or the liquid that escapes from
the uterus of a weasel by its genitals.
Earth-worms, applied topically, effectually prevent pains in
the sinews of the neck and shoulders ; taken in raisin wine,
they expel the after-birth, when retarded. Applied by them-
selves, earthworms ripen abscesses of the breasts, open them,
draw the humours, and make them cicatrize : taken in honied
wine, they promote the secretion of the milk. In hay-grass there
are small worms found, which, attached to the neck, act as a
preventive of premature delivery ; they are removed, however,
at the moment of childbirth, as otherwise they would have the
effect of impeding delivery ; care must be taken, also, not to put
56 In B. xxviii. c. 77. 57 "Fieri."
Chap. 44.] METHODS OF FACILITATING DELITERY. 4fi3
them on the ground. To promote conception, five or seven of
them are administered in drink. Snails, taken with the food,
accelerate delivery ; and, applied with saffron, they promote
conception. Used in the form of a liniment, with amylum M
and gum tragacanth, they arrest uterine discharges. Taken
with the food, they promote menstruation ; and, mixed with
deer's marrow, in the proportion of one denarius and the same
quantity of cyprus K to each snail, they reduce the uterus when
displaced. Taken from the shell, and beaten up with oil of
roses, they dispel inflations of the uterus ; the snails of Asty-
palsea being those that are mostly chosen for these purposes.
Those of Africa, again, are employed in a different manner,
two of them being beaten up with a pinch of fenugreek in
' three fingers, and four spoonfuls of honey, and the preparation
applied to the abdomen, after it has been rubbed with juice of
iris.60 There is a kind of small, white, elongated snail,61 that
is found straying here and there : dried upon tiles in the sun,
and reduced to powder, these snails are mixed with bean-meal,
in equal proportions, forming a cosmetic which whitens and
softens the skin. The small, broad, kind of snail, mixed with
polenta, is good for the removal of a tendency to scratch and
rub the skin.
If a pregnant woman steps over a viper, she will be sure to
miscarry ;62 the same, too, in the case of the amphisbaena, but
only when it is dead. If, however, a woman carries about her a
live amphisbaena in a box, she may step over one with impu-
nity, even though it be dead. An amphisbaena, preserved for
the purpose, will ensure an easy delivery, even though it be
dead.63 It is a truly marvellous fact, but if a pregnant woman
steps over one of these serpents that has not been preserved, it
will be perfectly harmless, provided she immediately steps
over another that has been preserved. A fumigation made
with a dried snake, acts powerfully as an emmenagogue.
CHAP. 44. METHODS OF FACILITATING DELIVERY.
The cast-off slough of a snake, attached to the loins, facili-
58 See B. xviii. c. 17. 59 See B. xii. c. 51. so See B. xxi. cc. 19, 83.
(il Varro calls them " albulce," and says that they were found at Keatt.
63 Of course she will be liable to do so, from fright.
63 The whole of this account appears to be in a very confused state, and
is probably corrupt. Sillig's punctuation has not been adopted.
464 PLINY'S KATITKAL HISTORY. [Book XXX,
tates delivery ; care must be taken, however, to remove it
immediately after. It is administered, too, in wine, mixed
with frankincense : taken in any other form, it is productive
of abortion. A staff, by the aid of which a person has parted64
a frog from a snake, will accelerate parturition. Ashes of the
troxallis,65 applied with honey, act as an emmenagogue ; the
same, too, with the spider that descends as it spins its thread
from aloft ; it must be taken, however, in the hollow of the
hand, crushed, and applied accordingly : if, on the contrary,
the spider is taken while ascending, it will arrest menstru-
ation.
The stone aetites,66 that is found in the eagle's nest, preserves
the fostus against all insidious attempts at producing abortion.
A vulture's feather, placed beneath the feet of the woman,
accelerates parturition. It is a well-known fact, that pregnant
women must be on their guard against ravens' eggs, for if a
female in that state should happen to step over one, she will
be sure to miscarry by the mouth.67 A hawk's dung, taken in
honied wine, would appear to render females fruitful. Goose-
grease, or that of the swan, acts emolliently upon indurations
and abscesses of the uterus.
CHAP. 45. METHODS OF PRESERVING THE BREASTS FROM INJURY.
Goose-grease, mixed up with oil of roses and a spider, pro-
tects the breasts after delivery. The people of Phrygia and
Lycaonia have made the discovery, that the grease of the otis68
is good for affections of the breasts, resulting from recent de-
livery : for females affected with suffocations of the uterus,
they employ a liniment made of beetles. The shells of par-
tridges' eggs, burnt to ashes and mixed with cadmia69 and
wax, preserve the firmness 70 of the breasts. It is generally
thought, that if the egg of a partridge or * * * is passed
three times round a woman's breasts, they will never become
flaccid ; and that, if these eggs are swallowed, they will be
productive of fruitfulness, and promote the plentiful secretion
64 Ajasson has wasted ten lines of indignation upon the question where,
sucli a staff is to be found !
65 See c. 16 of this Book. 66 See B. xxxvi. c. 39.
67 An impossibility. See B. x. c. 15, for the stories about the raven on
which this notion was based.
68 See B, x. cc. 29, 50. «9 See B. xxxiv. cc. 22, 23.
™ See B. xxviii. c. 77-
Chap. 47.] REMEDIES FOB THE DISEASES OF INFANTS. 465
of the milk. It is believed, too, that by anointing a woman's
breasts with goose-grease, pains therein may be allayed ; that
moles formed in the uterus may be dispersed thereby; and
that itch 71 of the uterus may be dispelled by the application of
a liniment made of crushed bugs.
CHAP. 46. — VARIOUS KINDS OF DEPILATORIES.
Eats' blood has all the virtues of a depilatory : but if applied
to the cheeks of youths, it will not be found sufficiently effica-
cious, unless it is immediately followed up by an application
of verdigrease or hemlock-seed ; this method having the effect
of entirely removing the hair, or at least reducing it to the
state of a fine down. It is generally thought, too, that bats'
brains are productive of a similar effect ; there being two kinds
of these brains, the red and the white. Some persons mix
with the brains the blood and liver of the same animal: others,
again, boil down a viper in three semisextarii of oil, and, after
boning it, use it as a depilatory, first pulling out the hairs
that are wanted not to grow. The gall of a hedgehog is a
depilatory, more particularly if mixed with bats' brains and
goats' milk : the ashes, too, of a burnt hedgehog are used for a
similar purpose. If, after plucking out the hairs that are
wanted not to grow, or if, before they make their appearance,
the parts are well rubbed with the milk of a bitch with her
first litter, no hairs will grow there. The same result is en-
sured, it is said, by using the blood of a tick taken from off a
dog, or else the blood or gall of a swallow.
(15.) Ants' eggs, they say, beaten up with flies, impart a
black colour 72 to the eyebrows. If it is considered desirable
that the colour of the infant's eyes should be black, the preg-
nant woman must eat a rat.73 Ashes of burnt earth-worms,
applied with oil, prevent the hair from turning white.
CHAP. 47. REMEDIES FOR THE DISEASES OF INFANTS.
For infants that are troubled with coagulation of the milk,
a grand preservative is lamb's rennet, taken in water ; and in
cases where the milk has so coagulated, it may be remedied
by administering rennet in vinegar. For the pains incident
71 " Scabiem vulvarum."
72 Ajasson queries whether ;* denigrare " may not mean here " to render
pale."
™ "Sorex."
VOL. v. n ii
466 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
to dentition, sheep's brains are a very useful remedy. The
inflammation called " siriasis,"73* to which infants are liable, is
cured by attaching to them the bones that are found in the
dung of dogs. Hernia in infants is cured by letting a green
lizard bite the child's body while asleep, after which the lizard
is attached to a reed, and hung up in the smoke ; by the time
the animal dies, the child will be perfectly cured, it is said.
The slime of snails, applied to the eyes of children, straightens
the eyelashes, and makes them grow. Ashes of burnt snails,
applied with frankincense and juice of white grapes, are a cure
for hernia [in infants], if applied for thirty days consecutively.
Within the horns 74 of snails, 'there are certain hard substances
found, like grits of sand : attached to infants, they facilitate
dentition.
Ashes of empty snail-shells, mixed with wax, are a pre-
ventive of procidence of the rectum ; but they must be used
in combination with the matter that exudes from a viper's
brains, on the head being pricked. Yipers' brains, attached to
the infant's body in a piece of skin, facilitate dentition, a simi-
lar effect being produced by using the larger teeth of serpents.
Havens' dung, attached to an infant with -wool, is curative of
cough.
It is hardly possible to preserve one's seriousness in describing
some of these remedies, but as they have been transmitted to
us, I must not pass them in silence. For the treatment of
hernia in infants, a lizard is recommended ; but it must be a
male lizard, a thing that may be ascertained by its having but
one orifice beneath the tail. The method of proceeding, is for
the lizard to bite the part affected through cloth of gold, cloth
of silver, and cloth dyed purple ; after which it is tied fast in a
cup that has never been used, and smoked. Incontinence of
urine in infants is checked by giving them boiled mice 75 with
their food. The large indented horns of the scarabseus, attached
to the bodies of infants, have all the virtues of an amulet. In
the head of the boa TO there is a small stone, they say, which
the serpent spits out, when it is in fear of death : if the reptile
is taken by surprise, and the head cut off, and this stone ex-
73* Supposed to be an inflammation of the membranes of the brain.
74 See c. 8 of this Book.
75 A remedy stilll used, Ajasson says, in the 'French provinces.
7* See B. viii. c. 14, and B. xxix. c. 38.
Chap. 49.] APHRODISIACS AND ANTAPHRODISIACS. 467
tracted, it will aid dentition to a marvellous degree, attached
to the neck of infants. The brains, too, of the same serpent
are recommended to be attached to the body for a similar pur-
pose, as also the small stone or bone that is found in the back
of the slug.
An admirable promoter of dentition is found in sheep's
brains, applied to the gums ; and equally good for diseases of
the ears, is an application of goose-grease, with juice of ocimum.
Upon prickly plants there is found a kind of rough, hairy,
grub: attached to the neck of infants, these insects give instant
relief, it is said, when any of the food has stuck in the throat.
CHAP. 48. PROVOCATIVES OF SLEEP.
As a soporific, wool-grease is employed, diluted in two
cyathi of wine with a modicum of myrrh, or else mixed with
goose-grease and myrtle wine. For a similar purpose also, a
cuckoo is attached to the body in a hare's skin, or a young
heron's bill to the forehead in an ass's skin : it is thought, too,
that the beak alone, steeped in wine, is equally efficacious. On
the other hand, a bat's head, dried and worn as an amulet, acts
as a preventive of sleep.
CHAP. 49. APHRODISIACS AND ANTAPHRODISIACS.
A lizard drowned in a man's urine has the effect of an ant-
aphrodisiac upon the person whose urine it is ; for this animal
is to be reckoned among the philtres, the magicians say. The
same property is attributed to the excrements of snails, and to
pigeons' dung, taken with oil and wine. The right lobe of a
vulture's lungs, attached to the body in the skin of a crane,
acts powerfully as a stimulant upon males : an effect equally
produced by taking the yolks of five pigeons' eggs, in honey,
mixed with one denarius of hog's lard ; sparrows, or eggs of
sparrows, with the food ; or by wearing the right testicle of a
cock, attached to the body in a ram's skin. The ashes of a
burnt ibis, it is said, employed as a friction with goose-grease
and oil of iris, will prevent abortion when a female has once
conceived ; while the testes of a game-cock, on the other hand,
rubbed with goose-grease and attached to the body in a ram's
skin, have all the effect of an antaphrodisiac : the same, too,
with the testes of any kind of dunghill cock, placed, together
with the blood of a cock, beneath the bed. Hairs taken from
H H 2
468 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
the tail of a she-mule while being covered by the stallion, will
make a woman conceive, against her will even, if knotted
together at the moment of the sexual congress.77 If a man
makes water upon a dog's urine, he will become disinclined to
copulation, they say.
A singular thing, too, is what is told about the ashes of a
spotted lizard — if indeed it is true — to the effect that, wrapped
in linen and held in the left hand, they act as an aphrodisiac,
while, on the contrary, if they are transferred to the right, they
will take eifect as an antaphrodisiac, A bat's blood, too, they
say, received on a flock of wool and placed beneath a woman's
head, will promote sexual desire ; the same being the case also
with a goose's tongue, taken with the food or drink.
CHAP. 50. REMEDIES FOR PHTHIR1ASIS, AND FOR VARIOUS OTHER
AFFECTIONS.
In phthiriasis, all the vermin upon the body may be killed in
the course of three days, by taking the cast-off slough of a ser-
pent, in drink, or else whey of milk after the cheese is removed,
with a little salt, Cheese, it is said, will never become rotten
with age or be touched by mice, if a weasel's brains have been
mixed with the rennet. It is asserted, too, that if the ashes of
a burnt weasel are mixed with the cramming for chickens or
young pigeons, they will be safe from the attacks of weasels.
Beasts of burden, when troubled with pains in staling; find
immediate relief, if a bat is attached to the body ; and they are
effectually cured of bots by passing a ring-dove three times
round their generative parts — a truly marvellous thing to relate,
the ring-dove, on being set at liberty, dies, and the beast is in-
stantly relieved from pain.
CHAP. 51. REMEDIES FOR INTOXICATION.
The eggs of an owlet, administered to drunkards three days
in wine, are productive of a distaste for that liquor. A sheep's
lights roasted, eaten before drinking,78 act as a preventive of
inebriety. The ashes of a swallow's beak, bruised with myrrh
and sprinkled in the wine, act as a preservative against intoxica-
tion : Horus,79 king of Assyria, was the first to discover this.8J
77 "Inter se conligatse in coitu."
78 See B. xxviii. c. 80. 79 See end of B, xsk,
80 He has hardly immortalized his name hy it.
Chap. 53.] MARVELLOUS FACTS CONNECTED WITH ANIMALS. 469
CHAP. 52. PECULIARITIES RELATIVE TO CERTAIN ANIMALS.
In addition to these, there are some other peculiar properties
attributed to certain animals, which require to be mentioned in
the present Book. Some authors state that there is a bird in
Sardinia, resembling the crane and called the " gromphena ;"81
but it is no longer known even by the people of that country,
in my opinion. In the same province, too, there is the ophion,
an animal which resembles the deer in the hair only, and to be
found52 nowhere else. The same authors have spoken also of
the " subjugus,"83 but have omitted to state what animal it is,
or where it is to be found. That it did formerly exist, however,
I have no doubt, as certain remedies are described as being
derived from it. M. Cicero speaks of animals called "biuri,"84
which gnaw the vines in Campania.
CHAP. 53. (16.) OTHER MARVELLOUS FACTS CONNECTED WITH
ANIMALS.
There are still vsome other marvellous facts related, with
reference to the animals which we have mentioned. A dog
will not bark at a person who has any part of the secundines
of a bitch about him, or a hare's duDg or fur. The kind of
gnats called " muliones,"85 do not live more than a single day.
Persons when taking honey from the hives, will never be
touched by the bees if they carry the beak of a wood-pecker86
about them. Swine will be sure to follow the person who has
given them a raven's brains, made up into a bolus. The dust
in which a she-mule has wallowed, sprinkled upon the body,|
will allay the flames of desire. Eats may be put to flight byl
castrating a male rat, and setting it at liberty. If a snake's
slough is beaten up with some spelt, salt, and wild thyme, and
introduced into the throat of oxen, with wine, at the time
that grapes are ripening, they will be in perfect health for a
whole year to come : the same, too, if three young swallows are
given to them, made up into three boluses. The dust gathered
from the track of a snake, sprinkled among bees, will make
81 Possibly a kind of crane.
82 See B, viii. c. 75, and B. xxviii. c. 42.
83 It has not been identified.
84 Hardouin thinks that the worm called c£ by the Greeks is meant.
Ovid speaks in his Fasti, B. i. 11. 354- — 360, of the goat, as being very fond
of gnawing the vine. B5 See B. xi. c. 19. «6 See B. x. c. 20.
470 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX.
them return to the hive. If the right testicle of a ram87 is
tied up, he will generate females only. Persons who have
about them the sinews taken from the wings or legs of a crane,
will never be fatigued with any kind of laborious exertion.
Mules will never kick when they have drunk wine.
Of all known substances, it is a mule's88 hoofs only that are
not corroded by the poisonous waters of the fountain Styx : a
memorable discovery made by Aristotle,89 to his great infamy,
on the occasion when Antipater sent some of this water to
Alexander the Great, for the purpose of poisoning him.
We will now pass on to the aquatic productions.
SUMMARY. — Remedies, narratives, and observations, eight
hundred and fifty-four.
BOMAN AUTHORS QUOTED. — M. Yarro,90 ISTigidius,91 M. Cicero,92
Sextius Niger93 who wrote in Greek, Licinius Macer.94
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Eudoxus,95 Aristotle,96 Hermip-
pus,97 Homer, A.pion,98 Orpheus,99 Democritus,1 Anaxilaus.2
MEDICAL AUTHORS QUOTED. — Eotrys,3 Horus,4 Apollodorus,5
Menander,6 Archidemus,7 Aristogenes,8 Xenocrates,9 Diodorus,10
Chrysippus,11 Nicander,12 Apollonius13 of Pitanse.
87 See B. viii. c. 72.
88 Some authorities say the ass, and others the Onager, or wild ass.
89 This story is generally regarded as an absurdity, and is rejected by
Arrian and Plutarch. 90 See end of B. ii.
91 See end of B. vi. 92 See end of B. vii. 93 See end of B. xii.
94 See end of B. xix. 95 See end of B. ii. 96 See end of B. ii.
97 An eminent philosopher, a native of Smyrna, and disciple of Calli-
machus. He flourished about the middle of the third century B.C., and
left numerous works, the principal of which was a Biography of the Phi-
losophers, Poets, and Historians, which seems to have been highly esteemed.
It is thought, too, that he wrote a work on Magic and Astrology ; but there
are some doubts about the writer's identity.
95 A native of Oasis in Egypt, who taught rhetoric at Rome in the reigns
of Tiberius and Claudius. Some curious particulars are given respecting
him in c. 6 of the present Book. His ostentation, vanity, and insolent
pretensions fully merited the title " Cymbalum mundi," which Tiberius
bestowed on him. He was a man, however, of considerable learning and
great eloquence, and was distinguished for his hatred to the Jews. Of his
numerous works only some fragments remain.
99 See end of B. xx. l See end of B. ii. 2 See end of B. xxi.
3 See end of B. xiii. 4 See end of B. xxix. 5 See end of B. xi.
6 See end of B. xix. 7 See end of B. xii. 8 See end of B. xxix.
9 See end of B. xx. 10 See end of B. xxix. n See end of B. xx.
12 See end of B. viii. 13 See end of B. xxix.
471
BOOK XXXI.
REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE AQUATIC PRODUCTIONS.
CHAP. 1. (1.) — REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH WATER.
WE have now to speak of the benefits derived, in a medicinal
point of view, from the aquatic productions ; for not here even
has all- bounteous Nature reposed from her work. Amid waves
and billows, and tides of rivers for ever on the ehb and flow,
she still unceasingly exerts her powers ; and nowhere, if we
must confess the truth, does she display herself in greater
might, for it is this among the elements that holds sway over-
all the rest. It is water that swallows up dry land, that
extinguishes flame, that ascends aloft, and challenges posses-
sion of the very heavens : it is water that, spreading clouds as
it does, far and wide, intercepts the vital air we breathe ; and,
through their collision, gives rise to thunders and lightnings,1
as the elements of the universe meet in conflict.
What can there be more marvellous than waters suspended
aloft in the heavens ? And yet, as though it were not enough to
reach so high an elevation as this, they sweep along with them
whole shoals of fishes, and often stones as well, thus lading
themselves with ponderous masses which belong to other
elements, and bearing them on high. Falling upon the earth,
these waters become the prime cause of all that is there pro-
duced ; a truly wondrous provision of Nature, if we only con-
sider, that in order to give birth to grain and life to trees and
to shrubs, water must first leave the earth for the heavens, and
thence hring down to vegetation the breath of life ! The
admission must be surely extorted from us, that for all our
resources the earth is indebted to the bounteousness of water.
1 See B. ii. c. 43. Ajasson remarks, that the electric fluid, forming
lightning, escapes from the clouds through causes totally independent of
water. Still, Pliny would appear to be right in one sense ; for if there
were no water, there would be no clouds ; and without clouds the electric
fluid would probably take some other form than that of lightning.
472 FLINT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
It will be only proper, therefore, in the first place to set forth
some instances of the powerful properties displayed by this
element ; for as to the whole of them, what living mortal could
describe them ?
CHAP. 2. (2.) THE DIFFERENT PROPERTIES OF WATERS.
On all sides, and in a thousand countries, there are waters
bounteously springing forth from the earth, some of them cold,
some hot, and some possessed of these properties united : those
in the territory of the Tarbelli,2 for instance, a people of Aqui-
tania, and those among the Pyrensean3 Mountains, where hot
and cold springs are separated by only the very smallest dis-
tance. Then, again, there are others that are tepid only, or
lukewarm, announcing thereby the resources they afford for
the treatment of diseases, and bursting forth, for the benefit of
man alone, out of so many animated beings.4
Under various names, too, they augment the number of the
divinities,5 and give birth to cities ; Puteoli,6 for example, in
Campania, Statyellae7 in Liguria, and Sextiee8 in the province
of Gallia Narbonensis. But nowhere do they abound in greater
number, or offer a greater variety of medicinal properties than
in the Gulf of Eaiae ;9 some being impregnated with sulphur,
some with alum, some with salt, some with nitre,10 and some
with bitumen, while others are of a mixed quality, partly acid
and partly salt. In other cases, again, it is by their vapours
that waters are so beneficial to man, being so intensely hot as
to heat our baths even, and to make cold water boil in our
sitting-baths ; such, for instance, as the springs at Baise, now
known as "Posidian," after the name of a freedman11 of the
Emperor Claudius ; waters which are so hot as to cook articles
2 He alludes to the mineral waters of Acqs or Dax on the Adour, in the
French department of the Ariege. They are still highly esteemed.
3 The principal of which are those of Aigues-Chaudes, Aigues-Bonnes,
Bagneres- Adores, Cambo, Bagneres, Bareges, Saint- Sauveur, and Cauteret,
4 Ajasson remarks that animals in all cases refuse to drink mineral waters.
5 He alludes to Neptune, Amphitrite, the Oceanides, Nereides, Tritons,
Crenides, Limnades, Potamides, and numerous other minor divinities.
6 See B. iii. c. 9. 7 See B. iii. c. 7. 8 See B. iii. c. 5.
9 The mineral waters of Baiae are still held in high esteem.
10 As to the identity of the "nitrura " of Pliny, see c. 4'6 of this Book.
11 Posides, a eunuch who belonged to the Emperor Claudius, according
to Suetonius, c. 28.
Chap. 3.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WATER. 473
of food even. There are others, too, — those, for example,
formerly the property of Licinius Crassus — which send forth
their vapours in the sea12 even, thus providing resources for the
health of man in. the very midst of the waves !
CHAP. 3. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WATER.
According to their respective kinds, these waters are bene-
ficial for diseases of the sinews, feet, or hips, for sprains or for
fractures ; they act, also, as purgatives upon the bowels, heal
wounds,13 and are singularly useful for affections of the head
and ears : indeed, the waters of Cicero are good for the eyes.14
The country-seat where these last are found is worthy of some
further mention : travelling from Lake Avernus towards
Puteoli, it is to be seen on the sea-shore, renowned for its fine
portico and its grove. Cicero gave it the name of Academia,15
after the place so called at Athens : it was here that he com-
posed those treatises16 of his that were called after it ; it was
here, too, that he raised those monuments17 to himself; as
though, indeed, he had not already done so throughout the
length and breadth of the known world.
Shortly after the death of Cicero, and when it had come
into the possession of Antistius Vetus,18 certain hot springs
burst forth at the very portals19 of this house, which were
found to be remarkably beneficial for diseases of the eyes, and
have been celebrated in verse by Laurea Tullius,20 one of the
freedmen of Cicero ; a fact which proves to demonstration that
his servants even had received inspiration from that majestic
and all-powerful genius of his. I will give the lines, as they
deserve to be read, not there only, but everywhere :
12 There are still submarine volcanoes in the vicinity of Sicily, but the
spot here referred to is now unknown.
13 The Eaux Bonnes in the Basses Pyrenees are good for wounds. After
the battle of Pavia they received from the soldiers of Jean d'Albret, king
of Navarre, the name of Eaux d 'arquebusade.
14 Only, Ajasson remarks, where the ophthalmia is caused by inflam-
mation of the conjunctive. 15 He also called it his Puteolan villa.
16 The " Qua3stioues Academicae."
17 "Monumenta." Ajasson queries what monuments they were, thus
raised by the "parvenu of Arpinum." He suggests that the erection may
have been a chapel, temple-library, or possibly funeral monument.
18 C. Antistius Vetus probably, a supporter of Julius Caesar, Consul
Suffectus, B.C. 30. 19 " In parte prima."
20 There are three Epigrams, probably by this author, in the Greek An-
thology.
474 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
Great prince of Roman eloquence, thy grove,
Where erst thou bad'st it rise, is verdant now :
Thy villa, from fair Academia21 nam'd,
Prom Vetus now its finish'd graces takes.
Here, too, fair streams burst forth, unknown before,
Which with their spray the languid eyes relieve.
The land, I ween, these bounteous springs reveal'd,
To honour Cicero, its ancient lord.
Throughout the world his works by eyes are scanned ;
May eyes unnumber'd by these streams be heal'd.
CHAP. 4. — WATERS PRODUCTIVE OF FECUNDITY. WATERS CURATIVE
OF INSANITY.
In Campania, too, are the waters of Sinuessa,22 remedial, it
is said, for sterility in females, and curative of insanity in men.
CHAP. 5. WATERS REMEDIAL FOR URINARY CALCULI.
The waters of the island of -dilnaria are curative of urinary
calculi,23 it is said ; and the same is the case with the cold
spring of Acidula,24 four miles distant from Teanum25 Sidici-
num, the waters at Stabise, known as the Dimidise,26 and those
in the territory of Yenafrum,27 which take their rise in the
spring of Acidula. Patients suffering from these complaints
may he cured also by drinking the waters of Lake Velia ;28 the
same effects being produced by those of a spring in Syria, near
Mount Taurus, M. Varro says, and by those of the river Gallus
in Phrygia, as we learn from Callimachus. In taking the waters,
however, of this last, the greatest moderation is necessary, as
they are apt to cause delirium ; an effect equally produced,
Ctesias tells us, by the waters of the Bed Fountain29 in
-^Ethiopia.
21 We are sensible that, in thus shortening the penultimate, we shall
incur the censure of solecizing, which Hardouin has cast upon the poet
Claudian for doing the same.
22 At the Torre de' Bagni, Hardouin says, near the church of Santa
Maria a Caudara.
23 Saline and gaseous waters are good for this purpose. See B. iii. c. 12.
24 It has still the same reputation, Hardouin says, and is situate near
the castle of Francolici. 25 See B. iii. c. 9.
26 Or " half-strength " waters, apparently. See B. iii. c. 9.
27 See B. iii. c. 9
28 See B. ii. cc. 62, 106, and B. iii. c. 17.
29 Alluded to, probably, by Ovid, Met. xv. 319, et seq.
Chap. 8.] WATERS WHICH REMOVE MORPHEW. 475
CHAP. 6. — WATERS CURATIVE OF WOUNDS.
The tepid waters of Albula,30 near Rome, have a healing
effect upon wounds. Those of Cutilia,31 again, in the Sabine
territory, are intensely cold, and by a kind of suction penetrate
the body to such a degree as to hare the effect of a mordent
almost. They are remarkably beneficial for affections of the
stomach, sinews, and all parts of the body, in fact.
CHAP. 7. WATERS PREVENTIVE OF ABORTION.
The waters of Thespise32 ensure conception to females ; the
same, too, with those of the river Elatus33 in Arcadia. The
spring Linus,34 also in Arcadia, acts as a preservative of the
foBtus, and effectually prevents abortion. The waters of the
river Aphrodisius, on the other hand, in the territory of
Pyrrhaea,35 are productive of sterility.
CHAP. 8. WATERS WHICH REMOVE MORPHEW.
The waters of Lake Alphius remove white morphew,36 Varro
tells us ; who also mentions the fact that one Titius,37 a person-
age who had held the prsetorship, had a face to all appearance
like that of a marble statue, in consequence of this disease.
The waters of the river Cydnus,38 in Cilicia, are curative of
gout, as would appear from a letter addressed by Cassius39 of
Parma to Marcus Antonius. At Trcezen, on the contrary, all
the inhabitants are subject to diseases of the feet, owing to the
bad quality of the water there. The state of the Tungri,40 in
30 The present Bagni di Tivoli. They have other sanitary properties
as well, a fact known to Strabo. Martial and Yitnivius also mention them.
31 See B. iii. c. 17. Called Cotiscoliae by Strabo. They were of a salt
and aluminous nature. 3- See B. iv. c. 2.
33 Pausanias calls it the " Elaphus."
34 Isidorus, in his " Origines," calls it the " Lechnus."
35 In Thessaly, probably, according to Stephamis Byzantinus.
36 "A\00£ ; from which the lake probably derived its name. It has
been suggested that the source of the river Anigrus in Elis is meant. Its
waters had an offensive smell, and its fish were not eatable ; and near it
were caverns sacred to the Nymphs Anigrides, where persons with cutaneous
diseases were cured. The water of these caverns is impregnated with
sulphur.
37 Possibly the M. Titius who was proscribed by the Triumvirs, B.C. 43,
and escaped to Sex. Pompeius in Sicily. a See B. v. c. 22.
39 " Cassius Parmensis." See the end of this Book.
40 According to some authorities, he alludes to the still famous waters of
476 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXXL
Gaul, has a spring of great renown, which sparkles as it
bursts . forth with bubbles innumerable, and has a certain
ferruginous taste, only to be perceived after it has been
drunk. This water is strongly purgative, is curative of tertian
fevers, and disperses urinary calculi : upon the application of
fire it assumes a turbid appearance, and finally turns red. The
springs41 of Leucogaea, between Puteoli and ^eapolis, are
curative of eye diseases and of wounds. Cicero, in his work
entitled " Admiranda/'43 has remarked that it is only by the
waters of the marshes of Reate43 that the hoofs of beasts of
burden are hardened.
CHAP. 9. WATERS WHICH COLOUR THE HAIR.
Eudicus informs us that in Hestiseotis 44 there are two
springs ; one of which, Cerona, renders sheep black that drink
of it, while the other, called INeleus, turns them white : if,
again, a sheep should happen to drink their waters mixed, its
fleece will be mottled. According to Theophrastus, the water
of the Crathis,45 a river of Thurii, makes sheep and cattle
white, while that of the river Sybaris turns them black.
CHAP. 10. WATERS WHICH COLOUR THE HUMAN BODY.
And not only this, but human beings even, Theophrastus
tells us, are sensible of this difference : for persons who drink
the water of the Sybaris, he says, become more swarthy and
more hardy, the hair inclining to curl : while those, again,
who drink of the Crathis become fair and more soft-skinned,
with the hair growing straight and long. So, too, in Mace-
donia, persons who wish the produce to be white, drive their
cattle to the river Haliacmon, while those who desire a black
or tawny colour, take them to water at the Axius. Upon the
Spa ; but it is more probable that he alludes to the spring still in existence
at the adjacent town of Tongres, which was evidently well known to the
Romans, and is still called the " Fountain of Pliny."
41 The springs on the present Monte Posilippo.
42 This work is lost. Chifflet suggests that "Varro" should be read.
See, however, B. vii. c. 2, B. xxix. c. 16 and c. 28 of this Book. It was
a common-place book, probably, of curious facts.
43 See B. ii. c. 106, where a growing rock in the marsh of Reate is
mentioned.
44 In Thessaly. A mere fable, no doubt.
45 Ovid, Met. xv. 315, et seq., tells very nearly the same fabulous story
about the rivers Crathis and Sybaris.
Chap. 13.] WATEHS WHICH PRODUCE INEBRIETY. 477
Barae authority, too, we learn that in certain localities, as in
the country of the Messapii, for instance, all the productions,
the cereals even, grow of a tawny colour ; and that at Lusi,46
in Arcadia, there is a certain fountain in which land-mice
live and dwell. The river Aleos, which passes through Ery-
thrse, promotes the growth of hair upon the body.
CHAP. 1 1 . WATERS WHICH AID THE MEMORY, OR ARE PRODUCTIVE
OF FORGETFULNESS.
At the Temple47 of the god Trophonius, in Bosotia, near the
river Hercynnus, there are two fountains,48 one of which aids
the memory, while the other is productive of forgetfulness :
hence the names which they respectively bear.
CHAP. 12. WATERS WHICH SHARPEN OR DULL THE SENSES.
WATERS WHICH IMPROVE THE VOICE.
Near the town of Cescum, in Cilicia, runs the river !N"us,49
the waters of which, according to Yarro, sharpen the intellect ;
while those of a certain spring in the island of Cea dull the
senses. At Zania, in Africa, there is a spring, the waters of
which render the voice more musical.50
CHAP. 13. WATERS WHICH CAUSE A DISTASTE FOR WINE. WATERS
WHICH PRODUCE INEBRIETY.
Eudoxus says that persons who drink the water51 of Lake
Clitorius take a distaste for wine, and Theopompus asserts that
the waters of the springs already52 named are productive of
inebriety. According to Mucianus,53 there is a fountain at
46 This marvellous story appears to have been derived from the works of
Aristotle.
47 Near the town of Lebadea, now Livadhia.
48 One called "Mnemosyne," or Memory, and the other "Lethe," or
Forgetfulness.
49 From the Greek vovf, " spirit," "mind," or "intelligence." Ajas-
son thinks it possible that its water may have assuaged vertigo, or ac-
celerated the circulation of the blood, arid that thence its reputation.
50 A fable invented by the priests, Ajasson thinks.
51 See Ovid, Met. xv. 322. It sems to be uncertain whether it was at
this lake or the adjoining spring of Lnsi above-mentioned, that the
daughters of Prcetus were purified by Melampus. See the " Eliaca " of
Pausanias. 52 In B. ii. c. 106.
53 See B. ii. c. 106. As Ajasson remarks, Mucianus should have had
the sense to see that it was only a juggle of the priests of Bacchus. He
478 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
Andros, consecrated to Father Liber, from which wine flows
during the seven days appointed for the yearly festival of that
god, the taste of which becomes like that of water the mo-
ment it is taken out of sight of the temple.
CHAP. 14. WATERS WHICH SEEVE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOE OIL.
Polyclitus says, that the water54 of the river Liparis,55 near
Soli, in Cilicia, is used as a substitute for oil, and Theophrastus
mentions a spring of that name in ^Ethiopia, which is possessed
of similar properties. Lycus says, that at Tasitia56 there is a
fountain of it, the water of which emits light : the same is
asserted, too, of a spring at Ecbatana. According to Theo-
pompus, there is a lake at Scotussa,57 the waters of which
heal wounds.
CHAP. 15.— SALT AND BITTEE WATEES.
Juba says, that in the country of the Troglodytae there is a
lake, called the " Lake of Insanity/'58 from its highly noxious
properties : thrice a day it becomes salt and bitter, and then
again fresh, the same taking place as many times during the
night. It is full, he says, of white serpents, twenty cubits
long.59 He mentions, also, a certain spring in Arabia, which
rises from the ground with such remarkable force, as to throw
back any object pressed down upon it, however weighty.
CHAP. 16.— WATEES WHICH THEOW UP STONES. WATEES WHICH
CAUSE LAUGHTEE AND WEEPING. WATEES WHICH AEE SAID
TO BE CUEATIVE OF LOVE.
Theophrastus makes mention of the fountain of Marsyas,
compares it to the miracle of the blood of St. Januarius at Naples. The
contrivance of the priests of Bel was not very dissimilar ; but in their
case, they themselves were the real recipients of what the god was supposed
to devour.
54 He no doubt alludes to " petroleum," rock-oil, or Barbadoes tar.
55 So called from the Greek XnrapoQj " unctuous."
56 A new reading given hy Sillig in place of " India," the former one.
Tasitia is the name of a district mentioned by Ptolemy, iv. 7, 15, as being
in Ethiopia. He alludes to a burning spring, probably, of naphtha or of
petroleum. The burning springs of Bakou in the East are well known.
Genoa is lighted with naphtha from the village of Amiano, in Parma.
57 In Macedonia. 68 " Lacum irisanum."
59 Juba has been deceived, Ajasson remarks, by the tales of travellers,
there being no serpents of this length in Africa, except boas. He thinks
that large congers, and other similar fishes, may be the animals really
alluded to.
Chap. J8.] FACTS CONNECTED WITH WATER. 479
near the city of Celaenae, in Phrygia, which throws up masses
of stone. Not far from it are two other springs, called Claeon60
and Gelon by the Greeks, from the effects which they re-
spectively produce. At Cyzicus is a fountain known as that
of Cupido, the waters of which, Mucianus believes,61 cure those
who drink thereof of love.
CHAP. 17. — WATEKS WHICH PEESERVE THEIR WARMTH FOR THREE
DAYS.
At Crannon62 there are certain hot springs, though not at
boiling heat, the water of which, mixed with wine, preserves
it warm in the vessels for a period of three days. The same is
the case, too, with the springs of Mattiacum63 in Germany,
beyond the river Ehenus, the water of which retains its boil-
ing heat three days. The margin of these springs is covered
with pumice, formed by the action of the water.
CHAP. 18. — OTHER MARVELLOUS FACTS CONNECTED WITH WATER.
WATERS IN WHICH EVERYTHING WILL SINK. WATERS IN WHICH
NOTHING WILL SINK.
If any of the above-mentioned facts have the appearance
of being incredible to a person, I would have him know that
there is no department of Nature which presents greater mar-
vels than this, independently of the numerous peculiarities
which have been already mentioned64 in an earlier part of this
work. Ctesias informs us that, in India, there is a lake of
standing water, upon which nothing65 will float, every object
instantly sinking to the bottom. Caelius says that in the
waters of Lake Avernus,66 in our own part of the world, the
very leaves of the trees even will sink ; and, according to
Varro, these waters are fatal to such birds as fly towards them.
On the other hand, again, in the waters of Lake Apuscida-
mus,67 in Africa, nothing will sink ; the same, too, Apion tells
60 From K\atav, " to weep," and yeXpv, " to laugh."
61 His credulity, we have seen already, was pretty extensive.
62 In Thessaly.
63 At the town called " Aquae Mattiacte," the modern Wiesbaden.
64 In B. ii. c. 106.
65 Sotion, professing to quote from Ctesias, says that it rejected everything
placed on its waters, and hurled it back upon dry land.
66 Whence, as it was said, its name, aopi/o£, 4k Without birds." Strabo
ridicules this story.
67 M. Douville says that in the interior of Africa there is a lake called
480 mm's NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXXI.
us, with the fountain of Plinthia in Sicily, as also a certain
lake in Media, and the well of Saturn. The spring of Li-
myra68 not unfrequently makes its way through the neigh-
bouring localities, and when it does so, is always portentous of
some coming event. It is a singular thing too, that the fish
always accompany its waters on these occasions ; the inha-
bitants of the adjoining districts being in the habit of consult-
ing them by offering them food. When the fishes seize it with
avidity, the answer is supposed to be favourable ; but if, on the
other hand, they reject the food, by flapping it with their tails,
the response is considered to be unfavourable. The river
Holcas, in Bithynia, runs close to Bryazus,69 the name of a
temple and of a divinity there worshipped ; persons guilty of
perjury, it is said, cannot endure contact with its waters,
which burn like flame.70
The sources, too, of the Tamaricus,71 a river of Cantabria,
are considered to possess certain powers of presaging future
events : they are three in number, and, separated solely by an
interval of eight feet, unite in one channel, and so form a mighty
stream. These springs are often dry a dozen times in the day,
sometimes as many as twenty, without there being the slight-
est trace of water there : while, on the other hand, a spring
close at hand is flowing abundantly and without intermission.
It is considered an evil presage when persons who wish to see
these springs find them dry : a circumstance which happened
very recently, for example, to Lartius Licinius,72 who held the
office of legatus after his pra3torship ; for at the end of seven
days after his visit he died.
In Judaea there is a river73 that is dry every Sabbath day.
CHAP. 19. DEADLY WATERS. POISONOUS FISHES.
There are other marvels again, connected with water, but of
Kalouga Kouffoua, or the Dead Lake, the surface of which is covered with
bitumen and naphtha, which contains no fish, has oleaginous waters, and
presents all the phenomena of the Dead -Sea.
68 In Lycia.
69 Hardouin is of opinion that a river also was so called. See B. v.
c. 43. Of the divinity of this name, nothing further is known.
70 A story evidently connected with a kind of ordeal.
71 See B. iv. c. 34. Intermittent springs are not uncommon. See B.
ii. c. 106. 72 gee g, x{x c> n.
73 According to Elias of Thishe this river was the Goza ; but Holsteuius
says that it was the Eleutherus, or one of its tributaries. Josephus says
that it flowed on the Sabbath day, and was dry the other six.
Chap. 19.] DEADLY WATEES. 481
a more fatal nature. Ctesias states in his writings, that there
is a spring in Armenia, the fishes in which, are black,74 and, if
used as food, productive of instantaneous death. I have heard
the same, too, with reference to the waters near the sources
of the river Danuvius,75 until a spring is reached which is
near its main channel, and beyond which this poisonous kind
of fish is not to be found. Hence it is that this spot is gene-
rally looked upon as the source of the river. The same, too, is
reported of the Lake of the Nymphs, in Lydia. Near the river
Pheneus, in Achaia, there flows from the rocks a spring known
as the Styx, the waters of which, as already76 stated, are in-
stantly fatal. And not only this, but there are also small fish
in it, Theophrastus says, which are as deadly as the water,
a thing that is not the case with the fish of any other poison-
ous springs. Theopompus says, that at the town of Cychri,
in Thrace, the waters are deadly ; and Lycus states, that at
Leontium77 there is a spring, the waters of which are fatal at
the end of a couple of days to those who drink thereof. Varro
speaks also of a spring upon Mount Soracte, some four feet in
breadth, the waters of which bubble forth at sunrise, as though
they were boiling ; birds, he says, which only taste thereof,
fall dead close by.
And then, besides, we meet with this insidious circumstance,
that in some cases, waters of this nature are inviting even in
their appearance; those at Nonacris, in Arcadia, for example,
the water of which fountain possesses no apparent quality to
excite mistrust, though, owing to its intense coldness, it is
generally looked upon as highly injurious, seeing that it petri-
fies as it flows. It is otherwise with the waters of Tempe,
in Thessaly, their baneful properties inspiring universal terror,
and possessing the property of corroding copper even and
iron, it is said. This stream runs a short distance only, as
already stated ; 78 and it is truly marvellous that, according
to general report, the banks of its source79 are surrounded with
the roots of a wild carob,80 always covered with purple flowers,
74 Ajasson thinks that he means, grey. He remarks also, that it is a
matter of doubt whether there are any fishes that are poisonous.
75 The Danuhe. 76 In B. ii. c. 106, see also B. xxx. c. 53.
77 See B. in. c. 14, and B. xviii. c. 21.
~8 In B. iv. c. 15.
79 He alludes, according to Dalechamps, to the Eurotas, a tributary, and
not the source, of the Peneus. See B. iv. c. 8. *> " Siliqua."
VOL. V. II
482 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXXI.
while the margin is clothed with a green herbaceous plant of
a peculiar species. In Macedonia, not far from the tomb of
the Poet Euripides, is the confluence of two streams, the water
of one of which is extremely wholesome, that of the other
fatal,
CHAP. 20. — WATERS WHICH PETRIFY, THEMSELVES, OE CAUSE OTHER
OBJECTS TO PETRIFY.
At Perperena,81 there is a spring which petrifies82 the ground
wherever it flows, the same being the case also, with the hot
waters at ^Edepsus, in Eubcea ; for there, wherever the stream
falls, the rocks are continually increasing in height. At Eury-
mense,83 chaplets, when thrown into the waters of a certain foun-
tain there, are turned to stone. At Colossas there is a river, into
the water of which if bricks84 are thrown, when taken out they
are found changed into stone. In the mines of Scyros, the trees
petrify that are watered by the river, branches and all. In
the caverns of Mount Corycus, the drops of water that trickle
down the rocks become hard in the form of a stone.85 At
Mieza, too, in Macedonia, the water petrifies as it hangs from
the vaulted roofs of the rocks ; but at Corycus it is only when
it has fallen that it becomes hard.
In other caverns, again, the water petrifies both ways,86 and
so forms columns ; as we find the case in a vast grotto at Phau-
sia, a town of the Chersonesus87 of the Rhodians, the columns
of which are tinted with various colours. These instances will
suffice for the present.
CHAP. 21. (3.) THE WHOLESOMENESS OF WATERS.
It is a subject of enquiry among medical men, which kind
of water is the most beneficial. They condemn, and with
justice, all stagnant, sluggish, waters, and are of opinion that
running water is the best, being rendered lighter and more
81 A town of Mysia, south of Adramyttiura.
iVa As Ajasson remarks, numerous instances are known of this at the
present day. Pliny, however, does not distinguish the intrusting springs
from the petrifying springs.
83 In Thessaly, according to Hecataeus.
84 "Lateres." He means unburnt bricks, probably,
*5 He alludes to stalactites and stalagmites.
S6 Both on the roof and on the floor.
87 In Caria, opposite Rhodes.
Chap. 21.] WHOLESOMENESS OF WATEKS. 483
salubrious by its current and its continuous agitation. Hence it
is that I am much surprised that persons should be found to
set so high a value as they do, upon cistern water. These last
give as their reason, however, that rain-water must be the
lightest water of all, seeing that it has been able to rise85 aloft
and remain suspended in the air. Hence it is, too, that they
prefer snow-water to rain-water, and ice, again, to snow, as
being water subtilized to the highest possible degree ; on the
ground that snow-water and ice- water must be lighter than
ordinary water, and ice, of necessity, considerably lighter. It
is for the general interest, however, of mankind, that these
notions should be refuted. For, in the first place, this com-
parative lightness which they speak of, could hardly be ascer-
tained in any other way than by the sensation, there being
pretty nearly no difference at all in weight between the kinds of
water. !Nor yet, in the case of rain-water, is it any proof of
its lightness that it has made its way upwards into the air,
seeing that stones,89 it is quite evident, do the same : and then,
besides, this water, while falling, must of necessity become
tainted with the vapours which rise from the earth ; a circum-
stance owing to which it is, that such numerous impurities90
are to be detected in rain-water, and that it ferments91 with
such extreme rapidity.
I am, surprised, too, that snow92 and ice should be regarded
as the most subtilized states of this element, in juxtaposition
with the proofs supplied us by hail, the water of which, it is
generally agreed, is the most pernicious of all to drink. And
then, besides, there are not a few among the medical men
themselves, who assert that the use of ice-water and snow-
water is highly injurious, from the circumstance that all the
more refined parts thereof have been expelled by congelation.
At all events, it is a well-ascertained fact that the volume of
every liquid is diminished by congelation ; as also that exces-
88 Rain-water really is the lightest, but the reason here given is frivolous,
for it does not ascend as water, but as vapour.
89 See B. ii. c. 38. Before venturing on this argument, he should have
been certain as to the circumstances under which aerolites are generated, a
question which still remains hidden in mystery.
*° Ajasson remarks that this is only the case in the water of heavy falls
of rain after long drought. 91 " Calefiat."
32 Snow-water is pernicious in a very high degree, being the fruitful
source of goitre and cretinism.
II 2
484 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
sive dews92* a reproductive of blight in corn, and that hoar-
frosts result in blast ; of a kindred nature, both of them, to »
snow. It is generally agreed, too, that rain-water putrefies
with the greatest rapidity, and that it keeps but very badly on
a voyage. Epigenes, however, assures us that water which
has putrefied seven times and as often purified93 itself, will no
longer be liable to putrefaction. As to cistern- water, medical
men assure us that, owing to its harshness, it is bad for the
bowels and throat ;94 and it is generally admitted by them that
there is no kind of water that contains more slime or more
numerous insects of a disgusting nature. Eut it does not,
therefore, follow that river water is the best of all, or that, in
fact, of any running stream, the water of many lakes being
found to be wholesome in the very highest degree.
What water, then, out of all these various kinds, are we to
look upon as best adapted for the human constitution ? Dif-
ferent kinds in different localities, is my answer. The kings
of Parthia drink no water but that of the Choaspes95 or of the
Eulseus, and, however long their journies, they always have
this water carried in their suite. And yet it is very evident
that it is not merely because this water is river- water that it
is thus pleasing to them, seeing that they decline to drink the
water of the Tigris, Euphrates, and so many other streams.
CHAP. 22. THE IMPURITIES OF WATER.
Slime96 is one great impurity of water : still, however, if a
river of this description is full of eels, it is generally looked
upon as a proof97 of the salubrity of its water ; just as it is
regarded as a sign of its freshness when long worms98 breed in
the water of a spring. But it is bitter water, more particu-
larly, that is held in disesteem, as also the water which swells
the stomach the moment it is drunk, a property which belongs
92' See P>. xvii. c. 44, and B. xviii. c. 68.
93 This is somewhat similar to what is said of the putrefaction and
purification of Thames water, on a voyage,
94 " Inutilis alvo duritia faucibusque." The passage is probably corrupt.
95 See B. vi. c. 27.
96 Or " mud " — " limus." All rivers of necessity have it, in a greater or
less degree.
97 On the contrary, the more the mud and slime, the more numerous the
eels, " "Taenias."
Chap. 23.] MODES OF TESTING WATER. 485
to the water at Troezen. As to the nitrous" and salso-acid1
waters which are found in the deserts, persons travelling across
towards the Eed Sea render them potable in a couple of hours
by the addition of polenta, which they use also as food.
Those springs are more particularly condemned which secrete
mud,2 or which give a bad complexion to persons who drink
thereof. It is a good plan, too, to observe if water leaves
stains upon copper vessels ; if leguminous vegetables boil with
difficulty in it ; if, when gently decanted, it leaves an earthy
deposit ; or if, when boiled, it covers the vessel with a thick
crust.3
It is a fault also in water,3* not only to have a bad smell,4
but to have any flavour5 at all, even though it be a flavour
pleasant and agreeable in itself, or closely approaching, as we
often find the case, the taste of milk. Water, to be truly
wholesome, ought to resemble air6 as much as possible. There
is only one7 spring of water in the whole universe, it is said,
that has an agreeable smell, that of Chabura, namely, in Me-
sopotamia : the people give a fabulous reason for it, and say
that it is because Juno8 bathed there. Speaking in general
terms, water, to be wholesome, should have neither taste nor
smell.
CHAP. 23. THE MODES OF TESTING WATER.
Some persons judge of the wholesomeness of water through
the agency of a balance :9 their pains, however, are expended
to little purpose, it being but very rarely that one water is
99 Waters, probably, impregnated with mineral alkali. As to the " ni-
trum" of Pliny, see c. 46 of this Book,
1 " Salmacidas." 2 "Caenum."
3 Also, Ajasson says, to observe whether soap will melt in it. If it will
not, it is indicative of the presence of selenite.
3* As drinking water,
4 As Plautus says of women, Mostell, A. i. S. 3 — " They smell best,
when they smell of nothing at all." 5 See B. xv. c. 32.
6 In purity and tastelessness. As Ajasson observes, Pliny could hardly
appreciate the correctness of this remark, composed as water is of two
gases, oxygen and hydrogen.
1 Pausanias and Athenseus mention also the well of Mothone in Pelopon-
nesus, the water of which exhaled the odour of the perfumes of Cyzicus.
Such water, however, must of necessity be impure.
8 More probably Astarte, Fee thinks, Juno being unknown in Mesopo-
tamia. .
9 " Statera." Ajasson remarks that it does not require an instrument
very nicely adjusted to indicate the difference in weight between pure and
486 FLINT'S NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book XXXI.
lighter than another. There is, however, a more certain mode
of ascertaining the difference in quality, that water being the
better of the two which becomes hot and cold with the greatest
rapidity : in addition to which, not to keep poising a balance,10
after water has been drawn up in vessels, if it is good, it should
gradually become warmer, they say, when placed upon the
ground. Which water, then, of the several kinds will be
most likely to be good and wholesome ? "Well-water, no doubt,
if we are to judge from the general use made of it in cities :
but only in the case of wells in which it is kept in continual
agitation by repeated drawing, and is refined by the earth acting
as a filter. These conditions are sufficient to ensure salubrity
in water : in regard to coolness, the well must be in a shaded
spot, and the water kept exposed to the air. There is, however,
one thing above all to be observed, a point, too, of considerable
importance with reference to the continuance of the flow — the
spring must issue from the bed of the well, and not from the
sides. To make water cold to the touch may be effected arti-
ficially even, either by forcing it to rise aloft or by making it
fall from a height, and so come in collision with the air, and be-
come incorporated11 therewith : for in swimming,12 we find,
when we hold our breath, the water is felt to be all the colder.
It was the Emperor Nero's invention13 to boil water, and
then enclose it in glass vessels and cool it in snow ; a method
which ensures all the enjoyment of a cold beverage, without any
of the inconveniences resulting from the use of snow. Indeed, it
is generally admitted that all water is more14 wholesome when
very impure water. Synesius, Ep. xv., gives an account of the " hydros-
copium " used by the ancients for ascertaining the weight of water. Beck-
mann enters into a lengthy examination of it, as also an enquiry into the
question whether the ancients, and among them Pliny, were acquainted
with the hydrometer. See his Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 163—169. Bohris Ed.
18 " Ne manus pendeant." These words, which Hardouin pronounces
to be full of obscurity, have caused considerable discussion. The passage
appears to be imperfect, but it is not improbable that he alludes to the use
of the balance or scales for ascertaining the comparative wholesomeness of
water. n " Corripiat."
12 -The thread of his reasoning is not very perceptible ; but he seems to
mean that the more air there is in a body the colder it is. If the air is
inhaled by a person when eating peppermint, he will be sensible of a cold
feeling in the mouth.
13 Galen believes this method to have been known to Hippocrates, and
Aristotle was undoubtedly acquainted with it. See Beckmann's Hist. Inv.
Vol. II. pp. 143-4. Bohn's Ed.
14 This is not at all the opinion at the present day.
Chap. 24.] THE MAECIAN WATEE3. 487
it has been boiled ; as also, that water when it has once been
heated, will become more intensely15 cold than before — a most
ingenious discovery.16 The best corrective of unwholesome
water is to boil it down to one half. Cold water, taken inter-
nally, arrests hemorrhage. By keeping cold water in his
mouth, a person may render himself proof against the intense
heat of the bath. Many a person knows by his own every-day
experience, that water which is the coldest to drink is not of
necessity the coldest to the touch, this delightful property being
subject to considerable fluctuations.17
CHAP. 24. THE MAKCIAN WATEES.
The most celebrated water throughout the whole world, and
the one to which our city gives the palm for coolness and salu-
brity, is that of the Marcian18 Spring, accorded to Eome among
the other bounties of the gods : the name formerly given to
the stream was the " Aufeian," the spring itself being known
as " Pitonia." It rises19 at the extremity of the mountains of
the Peligni, passes through the territory of the Marsi and through
Lake Fucinus, and then, without deviating, makes directly for
Rome : shortly after this, it loses itself in certain caverns, and
only reappears in the territory of Tibur, from which it is
brought to the City by an arched aqueduct nine miles in
length. Ancus Marcius, one of the Roman kings, was the
first20 who thought of introducing this water into the City.
At a later period, the works were repaired by Quintus Mar-
cius Rex; and, more recently, in his praetorship, by M.
Agrippa.21
15 " Magis refrigerari." The experiments made by Mariotte, Perrault,
the Academy del Cimento, Mariana, and others, showed no perceptible differ-
ence in the time of freezing, between boiled and unboiled water ; but the
former produced ice harder and clearer, the latter ice more full of blisters.
In later times, Dr. Black, of Edinburgh, has from his experiments asserted
the contrary. " Boiled water," he says, " becomes ice sooner than unboiled,
if the latter be left at perfect rest." Beckmann's Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 145.
Jlohn's Ed. 16 " Subtilissimo invento."
17 Or perhaps, as we say, " to the touch, and vice versa." The original
is " Alternante hoc bono."
18 A considerable number of its arches are yet standing, and it still in
part supplies Rome with water.
19 At Sublaqueum, now Subiaco.
20 « Primus auspicatus est." In obedience to the "auspices," probably.
21 In A.U.C. 720. See B. xxxvi. c. 24.
488 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOBY. [Book XXXI.
CHAP. 25. — THE VIRGIN WATERS.
It was he, too, who brought the Virgin22 Waters from the
bye-road situate at the eighth milestone from the City, which
runs for two miles along the Praenestine Way. !Near these
waters is the stream of Hercules, which the former shun, to
all appearance, and have thence obtained23 the name of "Virgin
Waters." On instituting a comparison between the waters of
these streams, the difference above-mentioned24 may be imme-
diately detected, the Virgin water being as much cooler to
the touch, as tlie Marcian water is in taste. And yet, for this
long time past, the pleasure of drinking these waters has been
lost to the City, owing to the ambition and avarice of certain
persons who have turned25 them out of theTr course for the
supply of their country- seats and of various places in the suburbs,
to the great detriment of the public health.
CHAP. 26. THE METHOD OF SEARCHING FOR WATER.
It will not be out of place to append here an account of the
method employed in searching for water. Water is mostly to
be found in valleys, whether formed by the intersection of de-
clivities or lying at the lower part of mountains. Many per-
sons have been of opinion that all places with a northern26
aspect are naturally provided with water : a point upon which
it will not be amiss to explain the diversities presented to us
by Nature. On the south side of the mountains of Hyrcania
it never rains ; and hence it is that it is only on the north-
east side that they are wooded. As for Olympus, Ossa, Par-
nassus, the Apennines, and the Alps, they are covered with
wood on every side, and abundantly watered with streams.
Some mountains, again, are wooded on the south side, the
White27 Mountains in Crete, for example. On this point,
therefore, we may come to the conclusion that there is no rule
which in all cases holds good,
22 " Aqua Virgo." This aqueduct, erected A.U.C. 735, still exists, and
bears the name of "Aqua Vergine."
23 Another story was, that it had this name from the circumstance that
the spring was first pointed out by a girl to some soldiers in search of water.
24 In c. 23 of this Book.
25 This was only temporarily, in all probability^
26 There seems, as he says below, to be no general rule as to this point*
27 So called from the snow on their summit.
Chap. 28.] DIFFEBENCES IN WATERS. 489
CHAP. 27. SIGNS INDICATIVE OF THE PRESENCE OF WATEB.
The following are indications of the presence of water : — -
rushes, reeds, the plant mentioned with reference to this point
already,28 or frogs sitting squatted on a spot for a long time
together. As (o the wild29 willow, alder, vitex, reed, and ivy,
all of which grow spontaneously on low grounds in which
there is a settling of rain water from higher localities, con-
sidered as indications of the presence of water, they are all80 of
them of a deceptive nature. A sign much more to be depended
upon, is a certain misty exhalation, visible from a distance
before sunrise. The better to observe this, some persons ascend
an eminence, and lie flat at full length upon the ground, with
the chin touching the earth. There is also another peculiar
method of judging ' upon this point, known only to men of
experience in these matters : in the very middle of the heats
of summer they select the hottest hours of the day, and observe
how the sun's rays are reflected in each spot; and if, notwith-
standing the general dryness of the earth, a locality is observed
to present a moist appearance, they make no doubt of finding
water there.
But so intense is the stress upon the eyes in doing this, that
it is very apt to make them ache ; to avoid which inconveni-
ence, they have recourse to other modes of testing. They dig
a hole, for instance, some five feet in depth, and cover it with
vessels of unbaked pottery, or with a copper basin well-oiled ;
they then place a burning lamp on the spot, with an arch- work
over it of leaves, and covered with earth on the top. If, after a
time, they find the pots wet or broken, the copper covered with
moisture, or the lamp extinguished, but not from want of oil, or
if a lock of wool that has been left there is found to be moist,
it is a sign of the presence of water, beyond all doubt. With
some persons it is the practice to light a fire on the spot before
they dig the hole, a method which renders the experiment with
the vessels still more conclusive.
CHAP. 28. DIFFERENCES IN WATERS, ACCORDING TO THE NATURE
OF THE SOIL.
The soil itself, too, gives indications of the presence of
28 In B. xxvi. c. 16. 29 " Salix erratica."
30 Surely not the reed, as he has mentioned it above as one of the in-
dications to be depended upon. In one MS. it appears to be omitted, and
with justice, probably.'
490 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXXI.
water, by presenting white spots, or an uniformly green appear-
ance : for where the stratum is black the springs are mostly
not of a permanent nature. The presence of potter's clay
always puts an end to all hopes of finding water, and the ex-
cavation is immediately abandoned; an eye being carefully
kept to the strata31 of the earth, to see whether, beginning
witb black mould, it successively presents the appearances
above-mentioned. The water is always fresh that is found
in argillaceous soils, but in a stratum of tufa it is colder than
elsewhere ; this, indeed, being a soil which is highly approved
of, as having a tendency to make the water pure and extremely
light to the stomach, and, by its action as a filter, to withhold
all impurities. The presence of sand33 gives indications of
springs of but limited extent, and of water impregnated with
slime ; while that of gravel announces the presence of water of
excellent flavour, but not to be depended upon for permanence.
Male33 sand, fine sea34- sand, and charcoal35 earth, yield a con-
stant supply of water of a highly wholesome quality ; but it
is the presence of red stones that is the most to be depended
upon, and the water found there is of the very finest quality.
Craggy localities at the foot of mountains, and silicious soils,
are equally good ; in addition to which, the water found there
is cooler than elsewhere.
In boring for water, the soil should always become more
and more humid, and, the deeper the descent, with the greater
facility the implements should penetrate. In deep- sunk wells,
the presence of sulphureous36 or aluminous substances is fatal
to the sinkers ; a danger that may be guarded against by letting
down a lighted lamp, and ascertaining whether the flame is
extinguished. When such is found to be the case, it is the
practice to sink vent-holes on each side of the well, both right
and left, in order to receive and carry off the noxious exhala-
tions. Independently of these evils, the air becomes heavier,
from the great depth merely of the excavation, an inconvenience
which is remedied by keeping up a continual circulation with
ventilators of linen cloth. As soon as water is reached, walls
31 "Com." 32 "Sabulum."
33 " Sabulum masculum." Coarse, reddish sand, Dalechamps says.
34 "Arena." 35 See B. xvii. c. 3.
36 An inconvenience neutralized in a considerable degree by Davy's in-
vention of the safety-lamp.
Chap. 29.] QUALITIES OF WATEB. 491
are constructed at the bottom, but without cement,37 in order
that the springs may not be intercepted.
Some waters, the sources of which do not lie on elevated
ground, are coldest at the beginning of spring, being main-
tained by the winter rains in fact. Others, again, are coldest at
the rising of the Dog-star — peculiarities, both of them, to be
witnessed at Pella in Macedonia ; for in front of that city there
is a marsh-spring, which at the beginning of summer is cold,
while in the more elevatefl parts of the city the water is ice-
cold38 in the hottest days of summer. The same is the case,
too, at Chios, the water-supply of the harbour and of the
city occupying the same relative positions. At Athens, the
water of the Fountain Enneacrunos39 is colder in a cloudy
summer than the well there in the garden of Jupiter ; while
on the other hand, this last is ice-cold during the drought of a
hot summer. For the most part, however, wells are coldest
about the rising of Arcturus.40
(4.) The water-supply of wells never fails in summer, but
in all cases it falls low during four days at the rising of the
constellation above-mentioned. Throughout the whole winter,
on the other hand, many wells entirely fail ; as in the neigh-
bourhood of Olynthus, for example, where the water returns
in the early days of spring. In Sicily too, in the vicinity of
Messana and Mylae, the springs are entirely dry throughout
the winter, while in summer they overflow and form quite a
river. At Apollonia in Pontus there is to be seen, near the
sea- shore, a fountain which overflows in summer only, and
mostly about the rising of the Dog- star ; should the summer,
however, not be so hot as usual, its water is less abundant.
Certain soils become drier in consequence of rain, that in the
territory of Narnia for example : a fact which M. Cicero has
mentioned in his " Admiranda," with a statement that drought
is there productive of mud, and rain of dust.41
CHAP. 29. THE QUALITIES OF WATEK AT THE DIFFERENT SEASONS
OF THE TEAK.
Every kind of water is freshest in winter, not so fresh in
37 " Arenatum." Properly a inortar, which consisted of one part lime
and two parts sand. 38 " Riget."
39 See B. iv. c. 11. At Bisley, in Surrey, there is a spring, Aubrey says,
that is cold in summer and warm in winter. 40 See B. xviii. c. 7.
41 The sandy soil being dried in hot weather into masses of mud or clay,
which become loosened when rainfalls.
492 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXXI.
summer, still less so in autumn, and least of all in times of drought.
River-water, too, is by no means always the same in taste, the
state of the bed over which it runs making a considerable
difference. For the quality of water, in fact, depends upon the
nature of the soil through which it flows, and the juices42 of
the vegetation watered by it ; hence it is that the water of the
same river is found in some spots to be comparatively un-
wholesome. The confluents, too, of rivers, are apt to change the
flavour of the water, impregnating the stream in which they
are lost and absorbed ; as in the case of the Borysthenes, for
example. In some instances, again, the taste of river- water is
changed by the fall of heavy rains. It has happened three
times in the Bosporus that there has been a fall of salt rain, a
phenomenon which proved fatal to the crops. On three occa-
sions, also, the rains have imparted a bitterness to the over-
flowing streams of the Mlus, which was productive of great
pestilence throughout Egypt.
CHAP. 30. HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS UPON WATERS WHICH HAVE
SUDDENLY MADE THEIR APPEARANCE OR SUDDENLY CEASED.
It frequently happens that in spots where forests have been
felled, springs of water make43 their appearance, the supply of
which was previously expended in the nutriment of the trees.
This was the case upon Mount Hsemus for example, when,
during the siege by Cassander,44 the Gauls cut down a forest
for the purpose of making a rampart. Very often too, after
removing the wood which has covered an elevated spot and
so served to attract and consume the rains, devastating torrents
are formed by the concentration of the waters. It is very im-
portant also, for the maintenance of a constant supply of
water, to till the ground and keep it constantly in motion,
taking care to break and loosen the callosities of the surface
crust : at all events, we find it stated, that upon a city of
Crete, Arcadia by name, being razed to the ground, the springs
and water-courses, which before were very numerous in that
locality, all at once dried up ; but that, six years after, when
42 See B. ii. c. 106.
43 Ajasson remarks, that just the converse of this has been proved by
modern experience to be the case.
44 The son of Antipater, then acting for Alexander during his absence
in the East.
Chap. 30.] WATERS WHICH HAVE SUDDENLY APPEARED. 493
the city was rebuilt, the water again made its appearance, just
as each spot was again brought into cultivation.
(5.) Earthquakes also are apt to discover or swallow45 up
springs of water ; a thing that has happened, it is well known,
on five different occasions in the vicinity of Pheneus, a town of
Arcadia. So too, upon Mount Corycus,46 a river burst forth ;
after which, the soil was subjected to cultivation. These
changes are very surprising where there is no apparent cause
for them ; such as the occurrence at Magnesia,47 for instance,
where the warm waters became cold, but without losing their
brackish flavour ; and at the Temple48 of Neptune in Caria,
where the water of the river, from being fresh, became salt.
Here, too, is another fact, replete with the marvellous — the
fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse has a smell of dung, they say,
during the celebration of the games at Olympia,49 a thing that
is rendered not improbable by the circumstance,50 that the river
Alpheus makes its way to that island beneath the bed of the
sea. There is a spring in the Chersonesus of the Ilhodians50*
which discharges its accumulated impurities every nine years.
Waters, too, sometimes change their colour ; as at Babylon,
for example, where the water of a certain lake for eleven days
in summer is red. In the summer season, too, the current of
the Borysthenes51 is blue, it is said, and this, although its
waters are the most rarefied in existence, and hence float upon
the surface of those of the Hypanis ;52 — though at the same time
there is this marvellous fact, that when south winds prevail, the
waters of the Hypanis assume the upper place. Another proof,
too, of the surpassing lightness of the water of the Borysthenes,
is the fact that it emits no exhalations, nor, indeed, the slightest
vapour even. Authors that would have the credit of diligent
research in these enquiries, assure us that water becomes
heavier after the winter- solstice.
45 See B. ii. c. 84. 4G In Cilicia.
47 Whether he means the district of Thessaly so called, or one of the
two cities of that name in Lydia, does not appear to be known.
48 Its locality is unknown, but it was probably near the sea-shore.
49 In Elis in Peloponnesus.
50 His credulity is influenced by the popular story that the river Alpheus
in Peloponnesus, in its love for the Fountain Nymph Arethusa, penetrated
beneath the bed of the sea, and reappeared in Sicily. See B. iii. c. 14.
60* See c. 20.
51 The modern Dnieper. 52 The Bong.
494 PLUTO'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XXXI,
CHAP. 31. (6.) — THE METHOD OF CONVEYING WATER.
The most convenient method of making a watercourse from
the spring is by employing earthen pipes, two fingers in thick-
ness, inserted in one another at the points of junction — the one
that has the higher inclination fitting into the lower one — and
coated with quick-lime macerated in oil. The inclination, to
ensure the free flow of the water, ought to be at least one-fourth
of an inch to every hundred feet ; and if the water is conveyed
through a subterraneous passage, there should be air-holes lei ift
at intervals of every two53 actus. Where the water is wanted
to ascend54 aloft, it should be conveyed in pipes of lead :
water, it should be remembered, always rises to the level of its
source. If, again, it is conveyed from a considerable distance,
it should be made to rise and fall every now and then, so as
not to lose its motive power. The proper length for each
leaden pipe is ten feet ; and if 55 the pipe is five fingers in cir-
cumference its weight should be sixty pounds ; if eight feet,
one hundred ; if ten, one hundred and twenty ; and so on in the
same proportion.
A pipe is called " a ten-finger"56 pipe when the sheet of
metal is ten fingers in breadth before it is rolled up ; a sheet
one half that breadth giving a pipe " of five fingers."57 In all
sudden changes of inclination in elevated localities, pipes of
five fingers should be employed, in order to break the impetu-
osity of the fall : reservoirs,58 too, for branches should be made
as circumstances may demand.
CHAP. 32 — HOW MINERAL WATERS SHOULD BE USED.
I am surprised that Homer has made no59 mention of hot
springs, when, on the other hand, he has so frequently intro-
duced the mention of warm baths : a circumstance from which
we may safely conclude that recourse was not had in his time
to mineral waters for their medicinal properties, a thing so
universally the case at the present day. Waters impregnated
53 See B. xviii. c. 3, and the Introduction to Vol. III.
54 In jets, he means. 55 " Si quinarise erunt."
56 " Denaria." 57 " Quinaria."
55 The name given to these reservoirs was " castellum " or " dividicu-
jm :" in French the name is " regard'' Vitruvius i
lum :" in French the name is " regard'' Vitruvius describes them, B. vii. c. 7.
59 Pliny appears to have forgotten the warm springs of the Scaraander,
mentioned by Homer in the Iliad, B. xxii. 1. 147, et seq.
Chap. 32.] HOW MINERAL WATEES SHOULD BE USED. 495
with sulphur are good for the sinews,60 and aluminous waters
are useful for paralysis and similar relaxations of the system.
Those, again, which are impregnated with bitumen or nitre, the
waters of Cutilia,61 for example, are drunk as a purgative.63
Many persons quite pride themselves on enduring the heat
of mineral waters for many hours together ; a most pernicious
practice, however, as they should be used but very little longer
than the ordinary bath, after which the bather should be
shampooed63 with cold water, and not leave the bath without
being rubbed with oil. This last operation, however, is com-
monly regarded as altogether foreign to the use of mineral baths ;
and hence it is, that there is no situation in which men's
bodies are more exposed to the chances of disease, the head
becoming saturated with the intensity of the odours exhaled,
and left exposed, perspiring as it is, to the coldness of the
atmosphere, while all the rest of the body is immersed in the
water.64
There is another mistake, also, of a similar description, made
by those who pride themselves upon drinking enormous
quantities of these waters ;M and I myself have seen persons,
before now, so swollen with drinking it that the very rings on
their fingers were entirely concealed by the skin, owing to
their inability to discharge the vast quantities of water which
they had swallowed. It is for this reason, too, that these
waters should never be drunk without taking a taste, of salt
every now and then. The very mud,66 too, of mineral springs
may be employed to good purpose ; but, to be effectual, after
being applied to the body, it must be left to dry in the sun.
It must not be supposed, however, that all hot waters are
60 Or rather, as Ajasson says, for cutaneous diseases,
ei See B. iii. c. 17.
62 In conformity with Sillig's suggestion, we reject " atque " as an in-
terpolation. 63 "Mulceri."
64 In spite of what Pliny says, in some cases the use of a mineral bath
-is recommended for a long period of time together. At Leuk or Laech,
for instance, in the Valais, the patients, Ajasson says, remain in the hath
as much as eight hours together.
65 To promote expectoration Dalechamps says ; or rather vomiting,
according to Holland.
66 This substance, Ajasson says, is still used in medicine ; that of the
waters of Silvanez, for example, in the department of Aveyron, is highly
celebrated for the cure of inveterate ulcers and sciatica. The mud baths,
too, of Saint Amand, enjoy an European reputation.
496 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOBY. [Book XXXI.
of necessity medicated, those of Segesta in Sicily, for example,
of Larissa, Troas, Magnesia, Melos, and Lipara. Nor is the
very general supposition a correct one, that waters, to be medi-
cinal, must of necessity discolour copper or silver ; no such
effect being produced by those of Patavium,67 or there being
the slightest difference perceptible in the smell.
CHAP. 33. THE USES OF SEA-WATEB. THE ADVANTAGES OF
A SEA-VOYAGE.
Sea- water also is employed in a similar manner for the cure
of diseases. It is used, made hot, for the cure of pains in the
sinews, for reuniting fractured bones, and for its desiccative
action upon the body : for which last purpose, it is also used
cold. There are numerous other medicinal resources derived
from the sea ; the benefit of a sea- voyage, more particularly,
in cases of phthisis, as already68 mentioned, and where patients
are suffering from hsemoptosis, as lately experienced, in our
own memory, by Annaeus Gallic,69 at the close of his consul-
ship :70 for it is not for the purpose of visiting the country, that
people so often travel to Egypt, but in order to secure the
beneficial results arising from a long sea- voyage. Indeed, the
very sea-sickness that is caused by the rocking of the vessel
to and fro, is good for many affections of the head, eyes, and
chest, all those cases, in fact, in which the patient is recom-
mended to drink an infusion of hellebore. Medical men con-
sider sea- water, employed by itself, highly efficacious for the
dispersion of tumours, and, boiled with barley-meal, for the
successful treatment of imposthumes of the parotid glands : it
is used also as an ingredient in plasters, white plasters more
particularly, and for emollient71 poultices. Sea-water is very
good, too, employed as a shower-bath ; and it is taken inter-
nally, though not without72 injury to the stomach, both as a
67 See B. ii c. 106.
68 In B. xxiv. c. 19, and B. xxviii. c, 14.
69 An elder brother of the philosopher Seneca. His original name was
M. Annseus Noratus ; but upon being adopted by the rhetorician Junius
Gallio, he changed his name into L. Junius Annasus — or Annseanus —
Gallic. He destroyed himself, A.D. 65.
70 He was " Consul subrogatus " only.
11 " Malagmatis."
72 It acts in most cases as an emetic, and is highly dangerous if taken
in considerable quantities.
Cfcap. 33.] USES OF SEA- WATER. 497
purgative and as an expellent, by vomit and by alvine evacu-
ation, of black bile73 or coagulated blood, as the case may be.
Some authorities prescribe it, taken internally, for quartan
fevers, as also for tenesmus and diseases of the joints ; pur-
poses for which it is kept a considerable time, to mellow with
age, and so lose its noxious74 properties. Some, again, are for
boiling it, but in all cases it is recommended to be taken from
out at sea, and untainted with the mixture of fresh water, an
emetic also being taken before using it. When used in this
manner, vinegar or wine is generally mixed with the water.
Those who give it unmixed, recommend radishes with oxymel
to be eaten upon it, in order to provoke vomiting. Sea- water,
made hot, is used also as an injection ; and there is nothing in
existence preferred to it as a fomentation for swellings of the
testes, or for chilblains before they ulcerate. It is similarly
employed, also, for the cure of prurigo, itch-scab, and lichens.
Lice and other foul vermin of the head, are removed by the
application of sea-water, and lividities of the skin are restored
to their natural colour; it being a remarkably good plan, in
such cases, after applying the sea- water, to foment the parts
with hot vinegar.
It is generally considered, too, that sea- water is highly
efficacious for the stings of venomous insects, those of the pha-
langium and scorpion, for example, and as an antidote to the
poisonous secretions of the asp, known as the " ptyas ;"75 in all
which cases it is employed hot. Fumigations are also made of
it, with vinegar, for the cure of head-ache ; and, used warm as
an injection, it allays griping pains in the bowels and cholera.
Things that have been heated in sea-water are longer than
ordinary in cooling. A sea-water bath is an excellent cor-
rective for swelling76 of the bosoms in females, affections of
the thoracic organs, and emaciation of the body. The steam
also of sea-water boiled with vinegar, is used for the removal
of hardness of hearing and head-ache. An application of
sea-water very expeditiously removes rust upon iron; it is
73 It is still considered useful, Ajasson says, for the treatment of lym-
phatic diseases.
74 "Virus." 75 Or "spitter." See B. xxviii. c. 18.
76 " Mammas sororiantes." A malady, according to Dalechamps, in
which the mamillse are so distended with milk that they kiss, like sisters
— "sorores."
VOL. V. K K
498 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
curative also of scab in sheep, and imparts additional softness
to the wool.
CHAP. 34. HOW ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER MAY BE MADE IN PLACES
AT A DISTANCE FROM THE SEA.
I am by no means unaware that these details may very
possibly appear superfluous to persons who live at a distance
from the sea ; but scientific research has made provision against
this objection, by discovering a method of enabling every one
to make sea-water77 for himself. It is a singular fact in con-
nexion with this discovery, that if more than one sextarius of
salt is put into four sextarii of water, the liquefying proper-
ties of the water will be overpowered, and the salt will no
longer melt. On the other hand, again, a mixture of one sex-
tarius of salt with four sextarii of water, acts as a good substi-
tute for the efficacy and properties of the very saltest sea- water.
The most reasonable proportion, however, is generally thought
to be eight cyathi of salt, diluted in the quantity of water
above mentioned; a preparation which has been found to
have a warming effect upon the sinews, without in any degree
chafing the body.
CHAP. 35. HOW THALASSOMELI IS MADE.
There is also a composition made to ripen for use, known as
" thalassomeli,"78 and prepared with equal parts of sea- water,
honey, and rain-water. For this purpose, also, the water is
brought from out at sea, and the preparation is kept in an
earthen vessel well pitched. It acts most efficiently as a pur-
gative, and without in the least fatiguing the stomach ; the
taste, too, and smell of it, are very agreeable.
CHAP. 36. HOW HYDROMELI IS MADE.
Hydromeli,79 also, was a mixture formerly made with pure
rain-water and honey, and was prescribed for patients who
were anxious for wine, as being a more harmless drink. For
these many years past, however, it has been condemned, as
having in reality all the inconveniences of wine, without the
advantages.
77 The ancients being unable to analyze sea- water, could only imitate it
very clumsily. 78 " Sea-water hon-ey."
79 See B. xiv. c. 20, and B. xxii. c. 51. He is speaking, probably, of
fermented hydromel, a sort of mead.
Chap. 38.] REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MOSS. 499
CHAP. 37. METHODS OF PROVIDING AGAINST THE INCONVENIENCE
OF DRINKING SUSPECTED WATER.
As persons out at sea often suffer great inconvenience from
the want of fresh water, we will here describe some methods
of obviating it. Fleeces are spread round the ship, and on
becoming moistened with the exhalations arising from the sea,
the water is wrung from them, and found to be quite fresh.
Hollow balls of wax, also, or empty vessels sealed at the mouth,
upon being let down into the sea in a net, become filled with
water that is fresh and potable. On shore, too, sea-water may
be made fresh, by filtering it through argillaceous earth.
By swimming in water of any kind, sprains of the limbs in
man or beast are reduced80 with the greatest facility. Persons
when travelling, are sometimes apprehensive that the use of
water, the quality of which is unknown to them, may prove
injurious to their health: as a precaution against this, they
should drink the suspected water cold, immediately after leaving
the bath.
CHAP. 38. SIX REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MOSS. REMEDIES
DERIVED FROM SAND.
Moss which has grown in water81 is excellent as a topical
application for gout ; and, in combination with oil, it is good
for pains and swellings in the ankles. The foam that floats82
upon the surface of the water, used as a friction, causes warts
to disappear. The sand,83 too, of the sea-shore, that more
particularly which is very fine and burnt white by the heat of
the sun, is used remedially for its desiccative properties, the
bodies of dropsical or rheumatic patients being entirely covered
with it.
Thus much with reference to water itself; we will now
turn to the aquatic productions, beginning, as in all other
instances, with the principal of them, namely, salt and sponge.
80 The joints being rendered more supple thereby.
81 He probably means sea-water, alluding to certain kinds of sea-weed.
Dioscorides speaks of it, in B. iv. c. 99, as being good for gout. It is, in
reality, of some small utility in such cases.
82 He most probably means sea- water.
63 The Greeks used sand-baths for the purpose of promoting the per-
spiration; the names given to them were TrapoTrr^Ttg and $o
K K 2
500 PLINTHS ffATimAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
CHIP. 39. (7.) THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SALT ; THE METHODS OF
PREPARING IT, AND THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT. TWO
HUNDRED AND FOUR OBSERVATIONS THEREUPON.
All salt is either native or artificial ;84 both kinds being
formed in various ways, but produced from one of these two
causes, the condensation or the desiccation, of a liquid.85 The
Lake of Tarentum is dried up by the heat of the summer sun,
and the whole of its waters, which are at no time very deep,
not higher than the knee in fact, are changed into one mass
of salt. The same, too, with a lake in Sicily, Cocanicus by
name, and another in the vicinity of Gela. But in the case of
these two last, it is only the sides86 that are thus dried up ;
whereas in Phrygia, in Cappadocia, and at Aspendus, where
the same phenomena are observable, the water is dried up to
a much larger extent, to the very middle of the lake, in fact.
There is also another marvellous87 circumstance connected with
this last — -however much salt is taken out of it in the day, its
place is supplied again during the night. Every kind of lake-
salt is found in grains, and not in the form of blocks.88
Sea- water, again, spontaneously produces another kind of
salt, from the foam which it leaves on shore at high-water
mark, or adhering to rocks; this being, in all cases, condensed
by the action of the sun, and that89 salt being the most pun-
gent of the two which is found upon the rocks.
There are also three diiferent kinds of native salt. In Bac-
triana there are two vast lakes ; 80 one of them situate on the side
84 " Sal fit." This expression is not correct, there being no such thing
as made salt. It is only collected from a state of suspension or dissolution.
Pliny, however, includes under the name ktsal" many substances, which
in reality are not salt. His " hammoniacum," for instance, if identical
with hydrocblorate of ammonia, can with justice be said to be made, being
formed artificially from other substances.
85 " Coacto humore vel siccato." These two terms in reality imply the
same process, by the medium of evaporation ; the former perfect, the latter
imperfect.
h6 The evaporation not being sufficiently strong to dry up the deeper parts.
87 There is in reality nothing wonderful in this, considering that most
lakes are constantly fed with the streams of rivers, which carry mineral salts
along with them, and that the work of evaporation is always going on.
S8 " Glsebas."
89 Because it is necessarily purer than that found upon the sand.
90 The description is not sufficiently clear to enable us to identify these
lakes with certainty. Ajasson thinks that one of them may be the Lake
Chap. 39.] THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SALT. 501
of Scythia, the other on that of Ariana, both of which throw
up vast quantities of salt.91 So, too, at Citium, in Cyprus ; and,
in the vicinity of Memphis, they extract salt from the lake
and dry it in the sun. The surface-waters of some rivers, also,
condense92 in the form of salt, the rest of the stream flowing
beneath, as though under a crust of ice ; such as the running
waters near the Caspian Gates93 for instance, which are known
as the " Rivers of Salt/' The same is the case, too, in the vici-
nity of the Mardi and of the people of Armenia. In Bactriana,
also, the rivers Ochus94 and Oxus carry down from the moun-
tains on their banks, fragments of salt. There are also in
Africa some lakes, the waters of which are turbid, that are
productive of salt. Some hot springs, too, produce salt — those
at PagasaB for example. Such, then, are the various kinds of
salt produced spontaneously by water.
There are certain mountains, also, formed of native salt ; that
of Oromenus, in India, for example, where it is cut out like
blocks from a quarry, and is continually reproduced, bringing
in a larger revenue to the sovereigns of those countries than
that arising from their gold and pearls. In some instances
it is dug out of the earth, being formed there, evidently, by
the condensation of the moisture, as in Cappadocia for example,
where it is cut in sheets, like those of mirror-stone.95 The
blocks of it are very heavy, the name commonly given to them
being " mica."96 At Gerrhae,97 a city of Arabia, the ramparts
and houses are constructed of blocks of salt, which are sol-
dered together by being moistened with water. King Ptole*-
mseus discovered salt also in the vicinity of Pelusium, when
he encamped there ; a circumstance which induced other per-
sons to seek and discover it in the scorched tracts that lie
between Egypt and Arabia, beneath the sand. In the same
of Badakandir in the Khanat of Bokhara ; and the other the lake that lies
between Ankhio and Akeha, in the west of the territory of Balkh, and near
the Usbek Tartars. 9I " Sale exsestuant."
92 In consequence of the intense heat.
93 All these regions, Ajasson remarks, are covered with salt. An im-
mense desert of salt extends to the north-east of Irak-Adjemi, and to the
north of Herman, between Tabaristan, western Khoracan, and Khohistan.
94 Identified by Ajasson with the Herat and the Djihoun. He thinks
that it is of some of the small affluents oi' this last that Pliny speaks,
95 " Lapis specularjs."
s6 A " crumb" properly, in the Latin language,
w See 33. vi, c. 32,
502 PLINY'S KATUBAL HISTOKY. [Book XXXI.
manner, too, it has been found in the thirsting deserts of
Africa, as far as the oracle of Hammon,98 a locality in which
the salt increases at night with the increase of the moon.
The districts of Cyrenaica are ennobled, too, by the production
of hammoniacum," a salt so called from the fact of its being
found beneath the sands1 there. It is similar in colour to the
alum known as " schiston,"2 and consists of long pieces, by no
means transparent, and of an unpleasant flavour, but highly
useful in medicine ; that being held in the highest esteem,
which is the clearest and divides into straight3 flakes. There
is one remarkable fact mentioned in connexion with it : so long
as it lies under ground in its bed4 it is extremely light, but the
moment it is exposed to the light, it is hardly credible to what
an extent its weight is increased. The reason for this is evi-
dent :5 the humid vapours of the excavations bear the masses
upwards, as water does, and so aid the workmen. It is adulte-
rated with the Sicilian salt which we have mentioned as being
found in Lake Cocanicus, as also with that of Cyprus, which
is marvellously like it. At Egelasta,6 in Nearer Spain, there
is a salt, hewn from the bed in almost transparent blocks, and
to which for this long time past most medical men, it is said,
have given the preference over all other salt. Every spot in
98 More commonly known as Jupiter Hammon.
99 See B. xii. c. 49, and B. xxiv. c. 28, for an account of gum resin am-
moniac, a produce of the same locality. The substance here spoken of is
considered by Beckmann to be nothing but common salt in an impure state.
See his Hist. Inv. Vol. II. pp. 398-9, where this passage is discussed at
considerable length. Ajasson, on the other hand, considers it to be Hydro-
chlorate of ammonia, the Sal ammoniac of commerce. According to some
accounts, it was originally made in the vicinity of the Temple of Jupiter
Hammon, by burning camels' dung.
1 Called a/jLfjLOQ, in Greek. 2 See B. xxxv. c. 52.
3 Sal ammoniac crystallizes in octahedrons.
4 " Intra specus suos." On this passage, Beckmann says, " From what
is said by Pliny it may with certainty be concluded that this salt was dug
up from pits or mines in Africa. Many kinds of rock-salt, taken from
the mines of Wieliczka, experience the same change in the air ; so that
blocks which a labourer can easily carry in the mine, can scarcely be lifted
by him after being for some time exposed to the air. The cause here is
undoubtedly the same as that which makes many kinds of artificial salt to
become moist and to acquire more weight." — Vol. II. p. 399, Bohn's Ed.
5 According to modern notions, his reason is anything but evident.
6 In Celtiberia. He alludes to the mountain of salt at Cardona, near
Montserrat in Catalonia.
Chap. 40.] MUiiTA. 503
which salt7 is found is naturally barren, and produces nothing.
Such are the particulars, in general, which have been ascer-
tained with reference to native salt.
Of artificial salt there are' several kinds ; the common salt,
and the most abundant, being made from sea-water drained
into salt-pans, and accompanied with streams of fresh water ;
but it is rain more particularly, and, above all things, the sun,
that aids in its formation ; indeed without this last it would
never dry. In the neighbourhood of Utica, in Africa, they build
up masses of salt, like hills in appearance ; and when these have
been hardened by the action of the sun and moon, no moisture
will ever melt them, and iron can hardly divide them. In
Crete, however, salt is made without the aid of fresh water,
and merely by introducing sea- water into the salt-pans. On
the shores of Egypt, salt is formed by the overflow of the sea
upon the land, already prepared for its reception, in my opinion,
by the emanations of the river Nilus. It is made here, also,
from the water8 of certain wells, discharged into salt-pans. At
Eabylon, the result of the first condensation is a bituminous9
liquid, like oil, which is used for burning in lamps ; when this
is skimmed off, the salt is found beneath. In Cappadocia,
also, both well and spring- water are introduced into the salt-
pans. In Chaonia there is a spring, from the water of which,
when boiled10 and left to cool, there is an inert salt obtained,
not so white as ordinary salt. In the Gallic provinces and
in Germany, it is the practice to pour salt-water upon burning
wood.11
CHAP. 40. — MURIA.
In one part of Spain, they draw a brine for this purpose
from deep-sunk pits, to which they give the name of "muria;"
being of opinion, also, that it makes a considerable difference
upon what kind of wood it is poured. That of the quercus
they look upon as the best, as the ashes of it, unmixed, have
7 Speaking generally, this is true ; but soils which contain it in small
quantities are fruitful.
8 A similar method is still employed, Ajasson says, at the salt-mines near
] nnspruck in the Tyrol.
9 Native bitumen ; always to be found in greater or less quantities, in
K;iliferous earths.
10 The process of artificial evaporation.
11 This would produce an impure alkaline salt. According to Townson,
this practice still prevails in Transylvania and Moldavia.
504 PLINY'S STATUKAL HISTOEY. [Book XXXI.
the pungency of salt.12 In other places, again, the wood of
the hazel is held in high esteem ; and thus, we see, by pouring
brine upon it, charcoal even is converted into salt. All salt
that is thus prepared with burning wood is black. I find it
stated by Theophrastus, that the Umbri13 are in the habit of
boiling ashes of reeds and bulrushes in water, till there remains
but little moisture unconsumed. The brine, too, of salted
provisions is sometimes boiled over again, and, as soon as all
the moisture h as-evaporated, the salt resumes its original form.
That prepared from the pickle of the msena 14 has the finest
flavour.
CHAP. 41. THE VAKIOTJS PROPERTIES OF SALT: ONE HUNDRED
AND TWENTY HISTORICAL REMARKS RELATIVE THERETO.
Of the various kinds of sea-salt, the most esteemed is that of
Salamis, in Cyprus ; and of the lake-salts, that of Tarentum,
and the salt known as Tattsean salt, which comes from Phrygia:
these last two are also good for the eyes. That of Cappadocia,
which is imported in small cubes,15 imparts a fine colour, it is
said, to the skin ; but, for effacing wrinkles, that which we
have 1G already spoken of as the salt of Citium is the best :
hence it is that, in combination with gith,17 it is used by fe-
males as a liniment for the abdomen after childbirth. The
drier the salt, the stronger it is in taste ; but the most agree-
able of all, and the whitest known, is that of Tarentum. In
addition to these particulars, we would remark also, that the
whiter salt is, the more friable it is. Rain-water deadens
every kind of salt, but dew-water makes it more delicate in
flavour. North-easterly winds render the formation of salt
more abundant, but, while south winds prevail, it never in-
creases. It is only while north-easterly winds prevail, that
flower of salt 1S is formed. Neither the salt of Tragasa, nor
12 " The water, evaporating, would leave the salt behind, but mixed with
charcoal, ashes, earth, and alkaline salts; consequently it must have been
moist, or at any rate nauseous, if not refined by a new solution/' — Beck-
inann's Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 493. John's Ed.
13 Not improbably a people of India so called, and mentioned in B. vi.
c. 20. i4 gee B. ix. c. 42.
15 " In laterculis." Hardouin considers this to mean small earthen
vessels or pipes.
16 In c. 39 of this Book. 17 u Melanthiura." See B. xx. c. 17-
18 " Flos sails." Further mentioned in c. 42.
Chap. 41.] VARIOUS PROPERTIES OF SALT. 505
the Acanthian salt — so called from the town19 where it is
found — will decrepitate or crackle in the fire ; nor will the
froth of salt do so, or the outside scrapings, or refined salt.
The salt of Agrigentum 20 resists fire, but decrepitates in
water.
There are differences, too, in the colour of salt : at Memphis
it is deep red, russet- coloured in the vicinity of the Oxus,
purple at Centuripa, and so remarkably bright at Gela, situate
also 21 in Sicily, as to reflect the image of objects. In Cappa-
docia there is a saffron- coloured fossil salt, transparent and
remarkably odoriferous. For medicinal purposes, the ancients
esteemed the salt of Tarentum in particular, and next to that
all the marine salts, those collected from sea-foam more espe-
cially. For maladies of the eyes in cattle and beasts of burden,
the salt of Tragasa and that of Bsetica are employed. For
made dishes22 and ordinary food, the more easily a salt liquefies
and the moister it is, the more highly it is esteemed ; there
being less bitterness in salt of this description, that of Attica
and of Euboea, for example. For keeping meat, a pungent,
dry, salt, like that of Megara, is best. A conserve of salt is also
made, with the addition of various odoriferous substances,
which answers all the purpose of a choice sauce,23 sharpening
the appetite, and imparting a relish to all kinds of food : in-
deed, among the innumerable condiments which we use, the
flavour of salt is always distinctly perceptible ; and when
we take garum 24 with our food, it is its salt flavour that is
considered so exquisite. And not only this, but sheep even,
cattle, and beasts of burden, are induced to graze all the bet-
ter 25 by giving them salt ; it having the effect, also, of con-
siderably augmenting the milk, and imparting a superior flavour
to the cheese.
We may conclude, then, by Hercules ! that the higher en-
joyments of life could not exist without the use of salt : indeed,
so highly necessary is this substance to mankind, that the
pleasures of the mind, even, can be expressed by no better
term than the word " salt,"26 such being the name given to
19 See B. iv. c. 17.
20 St. Augustin mentions this marvellous kind of salt. Do Civit. Dei,
B. xxi. cc. 5, 7.
21 As well as Centuripa. 22 " Opsonium."
23 " Pulmentarii." 2i See c. 43 of this Book.
25 This is consistent with modern experience. *6 u Sales."
506 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
all effusions of wit. All the amenities, in fact, of life, supreme
hilarity, and relaxation from toil, can find no word in our lan-
guage to characterize them better than this. Even in the
very honours, too, that are bestowed upon successful warfare,
salt plays its part, and from it, our word " salariuin"27 is derived.
That salt was held in high esteem by the ancients, is evident
from the Salarian 28 Way, so named from the fact that, by
agreement, the Sabini carried all their salt by that road. King
Ancus Martius gave six hundred modii of salt as a largess 29
to the people, and was the first to establish salt-works. Yarro
also informs us, that the ancients used salt by way of a relish-
ing sauce ; and we know, from an old proverb,30 that it was
the practice with them to eat salt with their bread. But it is
in our sacred rites more particularly, that its high importance
is to be recognized, no offering ever being made unaccompanied
by the salted cake.31
CHAP. 42. — FLOWER OF SALT I TWENTY REMEDIES. SALSTJGO :
TWO REMEDIES.
That which mainly distinguishes the produce of salt-works,
in respect of its purity, is a sort of efflorescence,32 which forms
the lightest and whitest part of salt. The name " flower of
salt "33 is given, also, to a substance of an entirely different
character, more humid by nature, and of a red or saffron co-
lour ; a kind of "rust of salt," as it were, with an unpleasant
smell like that of garum, and differing therein not only from
froth of salt,34 but from salt itself. This substance is found
27 Literally, " salt money" — " argentum " being understood. The term
was originally applied to the pay of the generals and military tribunes.
Hence our word " salary."
28 Beginning at the Colline Gate. 29 " In coiigiario."
30 Most probably '* He cannot earn salt to his bread," or something
similar, like our saying, " He cannot earn salt to his porridge.'* The two
Greek proverbs given by Dalechamps do not appear to the purpose.
31 " Mola salsa." aa "Favillam."
33 " Schroder thinks that in what Pliny says of Flos Salis, he can find
the martial sal-ammoniac flowers of our chemists, [the double chloride of
ammonium and iron], or the so-called fares sales ammoniaci martiales. —
It is certain that what Dioscorides and Pliny call flos sails, has never yet
been defined. The most ingenious conjecture was that of Cordus, who
thought that it might be Sperma ceti ; but though I should prefer this
opinion to that of Schroder, I must confess that, on the grounds adduced
by Matthioli and Conrad Gesner, it has too much against it to be admitted
as truth,"— Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 493. Bohris Ed.
34 Salt collected from the foam on the sea-shore.
Chap. 43.] OARUM. 507
in Egypt, and, as it would appear, is conveyed thither by the
waters of the Nilus ; though it is to be found floating upon
the surface of certain springs as well. The best kind is that
which yields a certain fatty 3d substance, like oil — for salt even,
a thing that is quite marvellous to think of, is not without a
degree of unctuousness.
This substance is sophisticated, and coloured with red earth,
or, in most instances, with powdered potsherds ; an adultera-
tion to be detected by the agency of water, which washes off
the fictitious colour, the natural colour being only removeable
by the agency of oil. Indeed, it is for its colour that per-
fumers more particularly make such extensive use of this drug.
When seen in the vessels, the surface of it is white, but that
which lies in the middle is moister, as already stated. It is
of an acrid nature, calorific, and bad for the stomach. It acts
also as a sudorific, and, taken with wine and water, has a pur-
gative effect upon the bowels. It is very useful, also, as an
ingredient in acopa36 and in detersive37 compositions, and is re-
markably efficacious for the removal of hairs from the eye-lids,
It is the practice to shake up the sediment, in order to re-
novate the saffron colour of the drug.
In addition to these substances, there is another, known in
the salt-works by the name of "salsugo," or "salsilago :" it is
quite liquid, salter in taste than sea- water, but inferior to it in
its properties.
CHAP. 43. GARTJM : FIFTEEN KEMED1ES.
Another liquid, too, of a very exquisite nature, is that
known as "garum :"38 it is prepared from the intestines of fish
and various parts which would otherwise be thrown away,
macerated in salt ; so that it is, in fact, the result of their pu-
trefaction. Garum was formerly prepared from a fish, called
"garos"39 by the Greeks ; who assert, also, that a fumigation
made with its head has the effect of bringing away the after-
birth.
(8.) At the present day, however, the most esteemed kind
35 A sort of bitumen, probably.
36 Medicines for relieving weariness. See B. xxiii. c. 45, and B. xxix.
c. 13. 37 " Smegmatis."
38 It was, probably, of an intermediate nature, between caviar and an-
chovy sauce.
39 See B. xxxii. c. 53. It does not appear to have been identified.
508 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
of garum is that prepared from the scomber,40 in the fisheries
of Carthago Spartaria :41 it is known as " garum of42 the allies/'
and for a couple of congii we have to pay but little less than
one thousand sesterces. Indeed, there is no liquid hardly,
with the exception of the unguents, that has sold at higher
prices of late ; so much so, that the nations which produce it
have become quite ennobled thereby. There are fisheries,
too, of the scomber on the coasts of Mauretania, and at Carteia
in Baetica, near the Straits 43 which lie at the entrance to the
Ocean ; this being the only use that is made of the fish. For
the production of garum, Clazomenae is also famed, Pompeii,
too, and Leptis ; while for their muria, Antipolis,44 Thurii, and
of late, Dahnatia,45 enjoy a high reputation.
CHAP. 44. ALEX : EIGHT KEMEDIES.
Alex, which is the refuse of garum, properly consists of the
dregs of it, when imperfectly strained : but of late they have
begun to prepare it separately, from a small fish that is other-
wise good for nothing, the apua 46 of the Latins, or aphua of
the Greeks, so called from the fact of its being engendered
from rain.47 The people of Forum Julii 48 make their garum
from a fish to which they give the name of " lupus."49 In
process of time, alex has become quite an object of luxury, and
the various kinds that are now made are infinite in number.
The same, too, with garum, whic'h is now prepared in imitation
of the colour of old honied wine, and so pleasantly flavoured
as to admit of being taken as a drink. Another kind, again,
is dedicated to those superstitious observances50 which enjoin
strict chastity, and that prepared from fish without51 scales, to
40 As to the identity of the Scomber, see B. ix. c. 19.
41 See B. xix. c. 7. 42 u Garum sociorum."
13 The present Straits of Gibraltar. 44 In Gallia Narbonensis,
45 Sillig reads " Delmatia " here.
46 See B. ix. c. 74. The fry of larger fish, Cuvier says.
47 Ajasson considers this to be an absurd derivation ; and thinks it
much more probable, that the name is from a privative, and Qvu, "to
beget ;" it being a not uncommon notion that these small fish were pro-
duced spontaneously from mud and slime.
48 The present Frejus, in the south of France.
49 «\Volf." Not the fish of that name, Hardouin says, mentioned in
B. ix. c. 28.
50 The festivals of Ceres. The devotees, though obliged to abstain from
meat, were allowed the use of this garum, it would appear.
51 Gesner proposes to read "non carentibus," "with scales" — fishes
Chap. 45.] tTlIE KATtJEE OF SALT* 509
the sacregl rites of the Jews. In the same way, too, alex has
corne to be manufactured from oysters, sea-urchins, sea-nettles,
cammari,52 and the liver of the surmullet ; and a thousand
different methods have heen devised of late for ensuring the
putrefaction of salt in such a way as to secure the flavours
most relished by the palate.
Thus much, by the way, with reference to the tastes of the
present day ; though at the same time, it must be remembered,
these substances are by no means without their uses in medi-
cine. Alex, for instance, is curative of scab in sheep, incisions
being made in the skin, and the liquor poured therein. It is
useful, also, for the cure of wounds inflicted by dogs or by
the sea-dragon, the application being made with lint. Eecent
burns, too, are healed by the agency of garum, due care being
taken to apply it without mentioning it by name. It is useful,
too, for bites inflicted by dogs, and for that of the crocodile in
particular ; as also for the treatment of serpiginous or sordid
ulcers. For ulcerations, and painful affections of the mouth
and ears, it is a marvellously useful remedy.
Muria, also, as well as the salsugo which we have mentioned,63
has certain astringent, mordent, and discussive properties, and is
highly useful for the cure of dysentery, even when ulceration
has attacked the intestines. Injections are also made of it
for sciatica, and for coaliac fluxes of an inveterate nature. In
spots which lie at a distance in the interior, it is used as a fo-
mentation, by way of substitute for sea- water.
CHAP. 45. (9.) THE NATURE OF SALT.
Salt, regarded by itself, is naturally igneous, and yet it
manifests an antipathy to fire, and flies51 from it. It consumes
everything, and yet upon living bodies it has an astringent,
desiccative, and binding effect, while the dead it preserves
from putrefaction,55 and makes them last for ages even. In
respect, however, of its medicinal properties, it is of a mordent,
burning, detergent, attenuating, and resolvent nature ; it is, how-
ever, inj urious to the stomach, except that it acts as a stimulant
without scales being forbidden to the Jews by the Levitical Law. See Lev.
c. xi. ver. 10. It is, most probably, Pliny's own mistake.
62 See B. xxvii. c. 2. 53 At the end of c. 42.
54 He alludes to its decrepitation in flame.
55 Pharnaces caused the body of his father Mithridates to. be deposited
in brine, in order to transmit it to Pompey,
510 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
to the appetite, For the cure of injuries inflicted by serpents, it
is used with origanum, honey, and hyssop ; and for the sting of
the cerastes, with origanum, cedar-resin, pitch, or honey. Taken
internally with vinegar, it is good for injuries caused by the
scolopendra ; and, applied topically, with an equal proportion
of linseed, in oil or vinegar, for stings inflicted by scorpions. For
stings of hornets, wasps, and insects of a similar description,
it is applied with vinegar ; and, for the cure of hemicrania,
ulcers on the head, blisters, pimples, and incipient warts, with
veal-suet. It is used also among the remedies for the eyes,
and for the removal of fleshy excrescences upon those organs,
as also of hangnails66 upon the fingers or toes. For webs that
form upon the eyes it is peculiarly useful, and hence it is that
it is so commonly employed as an ingredient in eye- salves, as
well as plasters. For all these last-mentioned purposes, the
salt of Tatta or of Caunus is more particularly in request.
In cases where there is ecchymosis of the eyes, or a bruise
from the effects of a blow, salt is applied, with an equal quan-
tity of myrrh and honey, or with hyssop in warm water, the
eyes being also fomented with salsugo. For this last-mentioned
purpose, the Spanish salt is preferred ; and when wanted for
the treatment of cataract, it is ground upon small whet-
stones, with milk. For bruises it is particularly useful,
wrapped in a linen pledget and renewed from time to time,
being first dipped in boiling water. For the cure of running
ulcers of the mouth, it is applied with lint ; gum-boils are also
rubbed with it ; and, broken to pieces and powdered fine, it
removes granulations on the tongue. The teeth, it is said,
will never become carious or corroded, if a person every morn-
ing puts some salt beneath his tongue, fasting, and leaves it
there till it has melted. Salt effects the cure also of leprosy,
boils, lichens, and itch-scabs ; for all which purposes it is ap-
plied with raisins — the stones being first removed — beef-suet,
origanum, and leaven, or else bread. In such cases it is the
salt from Thebai's that is mostly used ; the same salt being
considered preferable for the treatment of prurigo, and being
highly esteemed for affections of the uvula and tonsillary glands,
in combination with honey.
56 He uses the word "pterygia" here, as applied to the whole of the
body — " totius corporis " — in its two distinct senses, a hangnail or ex-
crescence on. the fingers, and a web or film on the eyes.
Chap. 45.] THE NATURE OF SALT. 511
Every kind of salt is useful for the cure of quinzy ; but, in
addition to this, it is necessary to make external applications
simultaneously with oil, vinegar, and tar. Mixed with
wine, it is a gentle aperient to the bowels, and, taken in a
similar manner, it acts as an expellent of all kinds of intestinal
worms. Placed beneath the tongue, it enables convalescents
to support the heat57 of the bath. Burnt more than once upon
a plate at a white heat, and then enclosed in a bag, it alleviates
pains in the sinews, about the shoulders and kidneys more
particularly. Taken internally, and similarly burnt at a white
heat and applied in bags, it is curative of colic, griping pains
in the bowels, and sciatica. Beaten up in wine and honey,
with meal, it is a remedy for gout ; a malady for the especial
behoof of which the observation should be borne in mind,
that there is nothing better for all parts of the body than sun
and salt :58 hence59 it is that we see the bodies of fishermen as
hard as horn — gout, however, is the principal disease for the
benefit of which this maxim should be remembered.
Salt is useful for the removal of corns upon the feet, and of
chilblains : for the cure of burns also, it is applied with oil, or
else chewed. It acts as a check also upon blisters, and, in cases
of erysipelas and serpiginous ulcers, it is applied topically with
vinegar or with hyssop. For the cure of carcinoma it is
employed in combination with Taminian60 grapes; and for
phagedasnic ulcers it is used parched with barley-meal, a
linen pledget steeped in wine being laid upon it. In cases of
jaundice, it is employed as a friction before the fire, with oil
and vinegar, till the patient is made to perspire, for the purpose
of preventing the itching sensations attendant upon that dis-
ease. When persons are exhausted with fatigue, it is usual to
rub them with salt and oil. Many have treated dropsy with
salt, have used external applications of salt and oil for the
burning heats of fever, and have cured chronic coughs by laying
salt upon the patient's tongue. Salt has been used, also, as
an injection for sciatica, and has been applied to ulcers of a
fungous or putrid nature.
To bites inflicted by the crocodile, salt is applied, the sores
57 In c. 23, he has said much the same of cold water.
58 " Sale et sole."
59 This passage would come more naturally after the succeeding one.
60 See B. xxiii, c. 13.
512 PLnrr's KATUEAL HISTOKT. [Book XXXI*
being tightly bandaged with linen cloths, first dipped61 in
vinegar. It is taken internally, with hydromel, to neutralize
the effects of opium, and is applied topically, with meal and
honey, to sprains and fleshy excrescences. In cases of tooth-
ache, it is used as a collutory with vinegar, and is very useful,
applied externally, with resin. For all these purposes, however,
froth of salt62 is found to be more agreeable and still more
efficacious. Still, however, every kind of salt is good as an
ingredient in acopa,63 when warming properties are required :
the same, too, in the case of detersive applications, when re-
quired for plumping out and giving a smooth surface to the
skin. Employed topically, salt is curative of itch- scab in sheep
and cattle, for which disease it is given them to lick. It is
injected, also, with the spittle, into the eyes of beasts of burden.
Thus much with reference to salt.
CHAP. 46. (10.) THE VARIOUS KINDS OF NITRT7M, THE METHODS
OF PREPARING IT, AND THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT : TWO
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE OBSERVATIONS THEREON.
And here we must no longer defer giving an account of
nitrum ;64 which in its properties does not greatly differ from
salt, and deserves all the more to be attentively considered,
from the evident fact that the medical men who have written
upon it were ignorant of its nature ; of all which authors
Theophrastus is the one that has given the greatest attention to
the point. It is found in small quantities in Media, in certain
valleys there that are white with heat and drought ; the name
given to it being " halmyrax."65 In Thracia, too, near Philippi,
61 "Ita ut batuerentur ante." From the corresponding passage in
Dioscorides, where the expression RcnrrofjLrvoi ii£ 6£o£ is used, it would
appear that the proper word here is " baptizarentur ;" or possibly, a lost
Grzeco-Latin word, u bapterentur." Littre' suggests " hebetarentur," "the
part being first numbed " by the aid of a bandage.
62 " Spuma salis." Collected from the foam on the sea-shore.
63 See Note 36, above, p. 507.
64 Beckmann, who devotes several pages to a consideration of the " ni-
trum" of the ancients, considers it not to be our " nitre," or " saltpetre,"
but a general name for impure alkaline salts. See his Hist. Inv. Vol. II.
pp. 490 — 503, Bohris Ed. Ajasson, without hesitation, pronounces it to
be nitrate of potash, neither more or less than our saltpetre, and quotes a
statement from Andreossy, that it is still to be found in great quantities
at Mount Ptou-Ampihosem, near the city of Pihosem, called Nitria by
St. Jerome. 65 "Salt bursting from the earth."
Chap. 46.] VARIOUS KINDS OF NTTBUM. 513
it is found, but in smaller quantities, and deteriorated with
earthy substances, being known there as " agrion."66 As to
that prepared from the burnt wood of the quercus,67 it never
was made to any very great extent, and the manufacture of it
lias been long since totally abandoned. Nitrous68 waters are also
found in numerous places, but not sufficiently impregnated to
admit of condensation.69
The best and most abundant supply is found at Lita3, in
Macedonia, where it is known as " Chalastricum :"70 it is white
and pure, and closely resembles salt. In the middle of a cer-
tain nitrous lake there, a spring of fresh water issues forth. In
this lake the nitrum71 forms for nine days, about the rising of
the Dog-star, and then ceases for the same period, after which
it again floats upon the surface, and then again ceases : facts
which abundantly prove that it is the peculiar nature of the soil
which generates the nitrum, it being very evident that, when
the formation is there interrupted, neither the heat of the sun
nor the fall of rain is productive of the slightest effect. It
is also a truly marvellous fact, that though the spring of fresh
water is always uninterruptedly flowing, the waters of the lake
never increase or overflow. If it happens to rain on the days
during which the nitrum is forming, the result is, that it is
rendered additionally salt thereby : the prevalence of north-
east winds, too, still more deteriorates its quality, as they have
a tendency to stir up the mud at the bottom. Such is the
formation of native nitrum.
In Egypt, again, it is made artificially, and in much greater
abundance, but of inferior quality, being tawny and full of
66 "Wild."
67 See c. 40 of this Book. He is evidently speaking of a vegetable al-
kali here. See Beckmann, Vol. II. pp. 492-3, John's Ed.
68 Beckmann thinks that these kinds of water were in reality only im-
pure and not potable, from their nauseous taste, and that hence they were
considered as nitrous. Nitrous water, he remarks, or water containing
saltpetre, in all probability, does not exist. Vol. II. pp. 498-9. Bohris
Edition.
69 Or in other words, crystallization. Beckmann remarks that, in re-
ference to alkaline water, this is undoubtedly true. Vol. II. p. 499.
70 From the adjacent town of Chalastra, on the Thermaean Gulf. The
site is probably occupied by the modern Kulakia.
71 Carbonate of soda is found in the mineral waters of Seltzer and
Carlsbad, and in the volcanic springs of Iceland, the Geysers, more parti-
cularly.
VOL. V. L L
514 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
stones. It is prepared in pretty nearly the same manner73 as
salt, except that in the salt-pans it is sea- water that is intro-
duced, whereas in the nitre-beds it is the water of the river
Mlus ; a water which, upon the subsidence of the river, is
impregnated with nitrum for forty days together, and not, as in
Macedonia, at intermittent periods only. On occasions when
there has been a fall of rain, a smaller proportion of river-
water is employed. As soon, too, as any quantity of nitrum
has formed, it is immediately removed, in order that it may not
melt in the beds. This substance, also, contains a certain
proportion of oil,73 which is very useful for the cure of scab in
animals. Piled up in large heaps, it keeps for a very con-
siderable time. It is a marvellous fact, that, in Lake Ascanius74
and in certain springs in the vicinity of Chalcis, the water is
fresh and potable on the surface, and nitrous below. The
lightest part of nitrum is always considered the best, and hence
it is that the froth of it is so much preferred. Still, however,
when in an impure state, it is very useful for some purposes,
colouring purple75 cloth, for instance, and, indeed, all kinds of
dyeing. It is employed, also, very extensively in the manu-
facture of glass, as we shall more fully mention on the appro-
priate occasion.76
The only nitre-works in Egypt were formerly those in the
vicinity of Naucratis and Memphis ; those near Memphis being
inferior to the others, the piles of nitrum there prepared
being as hard as stone, and many of the heaps having
become changed into rocks. When in this state, vessels are
made of it, and very frequently they melt it with sulphur77 on
72 Ajasson remarks, that from this we may conclude that the fabrication
of nitrate of potash, or saltpetre, was in its infancy. It is by no means
improbable that the artificial nitrum, here mentioned by Pliny, really was
artificial saltpetre, more or less impure ; the native nitrum, on the other
hand, being, as Beckmann suggests, a general term for impure alkaline
mineral salts, in common with native saltpetre. Pliny's account, however,
is confused in the highest degree, and in some passages far from intel-
ligible.
73 Of a bituminous nature, probably. See c. 42 of this Book.
74 See B. v. c. 40. An alkaline water, Beckmaun thinks. See Vol. II.
pp. 96-7. Bohn's Ed.
75 He may possibly mean bleaching the material before dyeing.
76 See B. xxxvi. c. 65. This certainly goes far towards proving that
under the name " nitrum," alkaline salts were included.
41 " Faciunt ex his vasa; necnon frequenter liquatum cum sulphure, co-
Chap. 46.] VARIOUS KINDS OF NITEUM. 515
a charcoal fire.'8 When substances79 are wanted to keep, they
employ this last kind of nitrum. In Egypt there are also nitre-
beds, the produce of which is red, owing to the colour of the
earth in the same locality. Froth of nitrum,80 a substance
held in very high esteem, could only be made, according to the
ancients, when dews had fallen ; the pits being at the moment
saturated with nitrum, but not having arrived at the point of
yielding it. On the other hand, again, when the pits were in
full activity, no froth would form, it was said, even though
dews should fall. Others, again, have attributed the formation
of this last substance to the fermentation of the heaps of
nitrum. In a succeeding age, the medical men, speaking of it
under the name of " aphronitrum,"81 have stated that it was
collected in Asia, where it was to be found oozing from the
soft sides of certain mines — the name given to which was
" colyces"82 — and that it was then dried in the sun. The very
best is thought to be that which comes from Lydia ; the test of
its genuineness being its extreme lightness, its friability, and
its colour, which should be almost a full purple. This last is
imported in tablets, while that of Egypt comes enclosed in
quentes in carbonibus." This passage Beckmann pronounces to be one of
the darkest parts in the history of nitrum. See Vol. II. p. 502. lie is of
opinion that not improbably the result here obtained would be, liver of
sulphur, which when it cools is hard, but soon becomes moist when ex-
posed to the air. Dalechamps, it would appear, explains the whole of this
passage as applicable to glazing ; but in such case, as Beckmann observes,
the nitrum could serve only as a flux. Michaelis suggests that the vessels
here mentioned, were cut, not for real use, but merely for ornament, in the
same manner as they are still made, occasionally, from rock-salt.
755 The mention of nitrum, sulphur, and charcoal, probably the three
ingredients of gunpowder, in such close proximity, is somewhat curious.
79 " Quae " seems a preferable reading to " quos."
80 " Spuma nitri." An accidental property, Beckmann says, of the
same salt that has been previously called " Chalastricum," " Halmyrax,"
" Aphronitrum," and " Agrion." In his opinion, " the ancients were ac-
quainted with no other than native nitrum, which they called artificial,
only when it required a little more trouble and art to obtain it." — Hist.
Inv. Vol. II. p. 502. Bohrfs Ed.
81 " Froth of nitre." Ajasson identifies this with hydro-carbonate of
soda.
82 Supposed by Hardouin to be derived from the Greek jeoAiKac, "round
cakes;" owing to the peculiar form of the pieces of rock by which the
aphronitrum was produced. The reading, however, is very doubtful.
Sillig, from Photius, suggests that it should be " scolecas."
L L 2
516 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
vessels pitched within, to prevent its melting,83 the vessels
being previously prepared by being thoroughly dried in the
sun.84
To be good, nitrum should be very fine, and extremely
spongy and porous. In Egypt, it is sophisticated with lime,
an adulteration easily detected85 by tasting it ; for when pure,
it liquefies immediately, while that which has been adulte-
rated, remains undissolved sufficiently long to leave a pungent
taste86 in the mouth. It is burnt in a close earthen vessel, as
otherwise it would decrepitate :87 except in this last case, how-
ever, the action of fire does not cause it to decrepitate. This
substance neither produces nor nourishes anything ; while, in
the salt-pans, on the other hand, we see plants growing, and
the sea, we know, produces immense numbers of animated
beings, though, as to plants, sea-weed only. It is evident, too,
that the acridity88 of nitrum must be much greater than that
of salt, not only from the fact last mentioned, but from the
circumstance also, that at the nitre-beds the shoes wear out
with the greatest rapidity ; localities which are otherwise very
healthy, and remarkably beneficial for the eye-sight. At the
nitre- works ophthalmia is a thing unknown : persons, too,
that come there with ulcers upon them experience a rapid
cure ; though ulcerations formed upon the spot are but slow
in healing. Used as a friction with oil, nitrum is a sudorific,
and acts emolliently upon the body. That of Chalastra is
used as a substitute for salt, in making bread,89 and the Egyp-
83 One proof, Beckmann thinks, that Soda is meant. See Vol. II. p.
491.
84 " Whether Pliny means that the vessels were not burnt, hut only
baked in the sun, or that before they were filled, they were completely
dried in the sun, has been determined by no commentator. To me the
latter is probable." — Beckmann, Hist. Inv. Vol. II. p. 491.
85 Beckmann thinks that this mode of adulteration, with lime, is an
additional proof that the " nitrum " of our author was only soda. See
Vol. II. p. 492.
86 That, namely, of the lime. Quick-lime, certainly, would have a pun-
gent taste, in comparison with that of soda, but not in comparison with
that of saltpetre.
87 Another proof, Beekmann thinks, that it was native soda, impregnated
with common salt. Vol. II. p. 492.
18 This would hardly apply to soda.
89 Probably to promote its rising, as Beckmann observes, Vol. II. p.
496 ; a circumstance which goes a great way towards proving that " Soda"
Chap. 46.] YABIOUS KINDS OF NITETJM. 517
tian nitrum is eaten90 with radishes,91 it having the effect of
making them more tender ; though as to other edibles it turns
them white and spoils them. To vegetables it imparts an ad-
ditional greenness.92
Viewed medicinally, nitrum is calorific, attenuant, mordent,
astringent, desiccative, and ulcerating : it is good, too, in all
cases where certain humours require to be drawn out or dis-
persed, or where gentle mordents or attenuants are required,
as in the case of pustules and pimples, for example. Some
persons ignite it for this purpose, and, after quenching it in
astringent wine, bruise and use it, without oil, at the bath.
Applied with dried iris powdered, and green olive oil, it checks
immoderate perspiration. Applied topically with a fig, or boiled
down to one half in raisin wine, it removes marks upon the
eyes and granulations of the eyelids. It is used, also, for the
removal of argema, boiled in a pomegranate rind with raisin
wine. Used as an ointment, in combination with honey, it
improves the eye- sight. It is very useful, also, for tooth-ache,
taken as a collutory with wine and pepper, or boiled with a
leek. Burnt, and employed as a dentifrice, it restores teeth93
to their original colour that have turned black ; and an appli-
cation of it, with Samian earth and oil, kills nits and other
vermin of the head. Dissolved in wine, it is used as an in-
jection for suppurations of the ears, and, applied with vinegar,
it consumes filth that has accumulated there. Introduced
dry into the ears, it disperses singings and tinglings in those
organs.
Applied topically, in the sun, with an equal quantity of
Cimolian94 chalk dissolved in vinegar, it removes white mor-
phew ; and a mixture of it with resin, or with white raisins —
the stones being beaten up as well — is an excellent cure for
was included, at least, under the name of " nitrum." Carbonate of soda is
extensively used for this purpose at the present day.
90 And to correct the acridity of the radishes, possibly. A somewhat
analogous fact is mentioned by Drury, in his " Journal in Madagascar."
He says that the sourest tamarinds, " mixed with wood ashes, become
sweet and eatable." See p. 316. — We are not unaware that many look
upon this work and its statements as a work of fiction.
91 See B. xix. c. 26.
92 Carbonate of soda is added to pickles and boiling vegetables for this
purpose.
9a Vegetable ashes, and tobacco-ashes in particular, have the same effect.
94 See B. xxxv. c. 57.
L L 3
518 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book XXXI.
boils. It is useful, also, for inflammations of the testes ; and,
in combination with axle-grease, for pituitous eruptions on all
parts of the body. For the cure of bites inflicted by dogs, it
is used with resin, the application being made at first with vine-
gar. With lime and vinegar, it is used as a liniment for stings
inflicted by serpents, as, also, for ulcerations, whether phage-
daenic, putrid, or serpiginous; in cases, too, of dropsy, it is
employed both internally and externally, beaten up with figs.
Taken internally as a decoction, in doses of one drachma, with
rue, dill, or cummin, it effectually removes griping pains in
the bowels. An external application of it, with oil and vine-
gar, is highly refreshing to persons exhausted with fatigue ;
and it is equally beneficial for shudderings and cold shiverings,
the feet and hands of the patient being well rubbed with it,
mixed with oil. It allays the itching sensations attendant
upon jaundice, more particularly when it is administered to
the patient while perspiring, with vinegar. Taken internally
in oxycrate, it is an antidote to the poison of fungi ; and, taken
with water, it acts beneficially, as an emetic, in cases where the
buprestis has been swallowed.
To persons who have taken bull's blood,95 nitrum is admi-
nistered, in combination with laser.96 Mixed with honey and
cow's milk, it is curative of ulcers upon the face. For the cure
of burns, it is applied pounded, being first parched till it turns
black. For pains in the bowels and kidneys, and for rigidities
of the limbs and pains in the sinews, it is used in the form of
an injection. For the cure of paralysis of the tongue, it is
applied to that organ with bread, and to asthmatic patients it is
administered in a ptisan. Flower of nitrum, used in combi-
nation with equal proportions of galbanum and turpentine
respectively, is curative of chronic coughs ; the mixture being
taken in pieces the size of a bean. Nitrum97 itself, boiled and
melted with tar, is given to patients to swallow, for quinzy.
Flower of nitrum, mixed with oil of Cyprus,98 and applied
in the sun, is a soothing liniment for pains in the joints. Taken
internally witji wine, it is curative of jaundice. It acts as
a carminative also ; and it arrests bleeding at the nose, the
95 Viewed by the ancients as a poison, when taken warm ; but errone-
ously, as we have more than once remarked.
96 See B. xix. c. 15.
97 Nitre balls are still given to the patient to suck, in cases of sore
throat, *8 See B. xii. c. 51.
Chap. 47.] SPONGES. 519
vapour of it in boiling water being inhaled by the patient.
Mixed with alum, it removes porrigo ; and, used daily with
water, as a fomentation, it removes offensive odours of the
armpits. Used in combination with wax, it heals ulcers pro-
duced by pituitous secretions, and, similarly employed, it is
very useful for affections of the sinews. For the cure of the
cceliac flux, it is used in the form of an injection. Many
authorities recommend the use of it, with oil, as a friction
when cold shiverings are just coming on; as also, for the re-
moval of leprous spots and freckles. It is a good plan also,
to use a sitting-bath made with an infusion of nitrum, for the
cure of gout, atrophy, opisthotony, and tetanus.
Both salt and nitre, boiled with sulphur," become petrified.
CHAP. 47. (11,) SPONGES, AND THE EEMEDIES DEKIVBD FROM
THEM I NINETY-TWO OBSERVATIONS THEEEON.
We have already,1 when speaking of the marine productions,
described the various kinds of sponge. Some authorities make
the following distinctions : they regard as males2 those sponges
which are pierced with more diminutive holes, are more com-
pact in form and more ready to imbibe, and are stained, to
satisfy luxurious tastes, in various colours, sometimes purple
even : those, on the other hand, which have holes, larger and
running into one another, they consider to be females. Among
the male sponges, too, there is one kind, harder than the others,
the name given to which is " tragi,"3 and the holes of which
are extremely small and numerous. Sponges are made white
artificially ; the softest being chosen for the purpose, and after
they have been steeped the whole summer through with the
foam of the sea. They are then exposed to the action of the
moon and hoar-frosts, being turned upside down, or, in other
words, with that part upwards by which they formerly ad-
hered to the rocks, the object being that they may become
white throughout.
That sponges are animated beings, we have already stated ;
9& Beckmann considers that this statement throws some light on the
ohscure passage, commented on in Note 77, p. 514. See Hist. Inv. Vol.
II. p. 503. John's Ed. l In B. ix. c. 69.
3 No such distinction, of course, really exists ; sponge being in reality
a fibrous tissue formed by minute animals.
3 " Goats," literally.
520 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKY. [Book XXXI.
and not only this, but they have a coat of blood4 even, adhering
to them. Some say that they regulate their movements by
the sense of hearing, and that at the slightest noise they con-
tract themselves, and emit an abundant moisture : when such
is the case, it is said, it is impossible to tear them away from
the rocks, and consequently they must be cut, an operation
during which they emit a sanious secretion. Those sponges,
too, are preferred to all others, which are grown on spots with
a north-east aspect, the physicians assuring us that these re-
tain the breath of life the longest of all ; a circumstance which
renders them additionally useful to the human body, from the
union which is thereby effected of their vital principle with
our own.5 It is for this reason, too, that they are preferred as
fresh as possible, and in a moist state rather than dry. They
are not so useful, however, if applied with hot water,6 and
still less so if they are oiled, or applied to the body when just
anointed. The compact sponges, it is thought, have less adhe-
sive power than the others.
The softest kind of sponge are those employed for tents.7
Applied with honied wine, sponges reduce swellings of the eyes,
and are extremely useful for the removal of rheum from those
organs, the very finest and softest being of necessity selected
for the purpose. Sponges are applied, also, with oxycrate, to
defiuxions of the eyes, and, with warm vinegar, for head- ache.
In addition to these properties, fresh sponges are resolvent,
emollient, and soothing ; but when old, they lose their
healing properties for wounds. They are employed, also, in
medicine, for cleansing sores, and for either fomenting or cover-
ing the parts fomented, till some other application is made.
Applied topically, they have a healing effect upon running
ulcers, and upon sores on the bodies of aged persons. Fractures,
too, and wounds are most effectually fomented with sponge ;
and when surgical operations are performed, it instantly ab-
sorbs the blood, so as to allow the incision to be seen. Sponges
are applied, also, as a bandage, to inflamed wounds, sometimes
4 See B. ix. c. 69. He probably alludes to the semifluid thin coat of
animal jelly which covers the sponge in its recent state, and is susceptible
of a slight contraction on being touched.
5 A fanciful notion, certainly.
6 Hot water renders them greasy, so to say ; an inconvenience which
may be remedied by steeping them in an alkaline solution, or in urine.
7 " Penicilli."
Chap. 47.] SPONGES. 521
dry, and, in some cases, moistened with vinegar, wine, or cold
water. Soaked in rain-water, and applied to the incision,
they prevent cuts recently inflicted from swelling. They are
used as an application for such parts of the body, though appa-
rently uninjured, as are threatened with occult humours which
require to be dispersed; as also for reducing the tumours
known to us as "apostemes," the parts being first fomented with
a decoction of honey. Sponges are employed, also, for affections
of the joints, steeped in vinegar and salt, or in oxycrate : in
cases, however, where the attack is attended with fever, water
alone is used with the sponge. Soaked in salt and water,
sponges are applied to callosities ; and, with vinegar, they are
used for stings inflicted by scorpions.
In the treatment of wounds, sponges are sometimes used as
a substitute for greasy wool, either with wine and oil, or with
salt and water ; the only difference being, that wool acts emol-
liently upon sores, whereas sponge has an astringent action,
and absorbs the vitiated humours. To dropsical patients, ban-
dages of sponge are applied, either dry or steeped in warm
water or oxycrate, according as there is a necessity for soothing
the skin, or for covering it up and drying it. Sponges are
applied, also, in all those diseases where warmth is required,
being first soaked in boiling water and then squeezed out
between a couple of boards. Employed in this manner, too, they
are very useful for affections of the stomach and for the excessive
heats attendant upon fever. Steeped in oxycrate, they are
good for diseases of the spleen, and in vinegar for erysipelas ;
nothing, in fact, being equally efficacious. Sponge, when thus
used, should always be so applied as amply to cover the adja-
cent parts that are not affected.
Employed with vinegar or cold water, sponge arrests haemor-
rhage ; soaked in warm salt and water, and frequently renewed,
it, removes the lividity which results from a recent blow.
Used with oxycrate, it disperses pains and swellings in the
testes. To bites inflicted by dogs, it is a good plan to apply
sponge, from time to time, cut fine, and moistened with
vinegar, cold water, or honey. Ashes of African8 sponge,
with juice of cut-leek and a mixture of salt and cold water,
are good, taken internally, for patients suffering from dis-
charges of blood : applied topically to the forehead, with oil or
s See B. ix. c. 69.
522 PLIKT'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXXI.
vinegar, they are curative of tertian fevers. The sponge of
Africa, more particularly, soaked in oxycrate, disperses tu-
mours. Ashes of any kind of sponge burnt with pitch, arrest
the discharge of blood from wounds ; though some recommend,
for this purpose, the sponge with large pores only, burnt with
pitch. For affections of the eyes, sponge is burnt in vessels of
unbaked earthenware ; the ashes being found highly efficacious
for granulations of the eyelids, fleshy excrescences, and all
diseases of those parts which require detergents, astringents,
or expletives. For all these purposes, however, it is the best
plan first to rinse the ashes. When the body is in a diseased
state, sponge acts as a substitute for body- scrapers and linen
towels, and it protects the head most efficiently against the
action of the sun.
Medical men, in their ignorance, comprehend all sponges
under two names ; African sponge, the substance of which is
tougher and firmer ; and Ehodian sponge, which is softer and
better adapted for fomentations. At the present day, however,
the softest sponges of all are those found about the walls of the
city of Antiphellos.9 Trogus informs us that the softest tent
sponges are found out at sea, off the coast of Lycia, upon spots
from which the sponge has been previously removed : we
learn, too, from Polybius, tbat these fine sponges, suspended
over a patient's bed, will ensure him additional repose at
night.10
We will now turn to the remedies derived from the marine
and aquatic animals.
SUMMARY. — Remedies, narratives, and observations, nine
hundred and twenty-four.
BOM AN AUTHORS QUOTED. — M. Yarro,11 Cassius12 of Parma,
Cicero,13 Mucianus,14 Caelius,13 Celsus,16 Trogus,17 Ovid,18 Poly-
bius,19 Sornatius.20
9 See B. v. c. 28. 10 An absurdity, of course. n See end of B. ii.
12 Called C. Cassius Severus Parmensis, according to some authorities.
He was one of the murderers of Caesar, and perished, the last of them
by a violent end, about B.C. 30. He is supposed to have written tragedies,
epigrams, and other works. See Horace, Epist. B. i. Ep. 4, 1. 3.
" See end of B. vii. 14 See end of B. ii.
15 Caelius Antipater. See end of B. ii. 16 See end of B. vii.
17 See end of B. vii. 18 See end of B. xviii. 19 See end of B. iv.
20 This personage is entirely unknown. It may possibly be a corruption
SUMMARY. 523
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED. — Callimachus,21 Ctesias,22 Eudi-
cus,23 Theophrastus,24 Eudoxus,25 Theopompus,26 Polycritus,27
Juba,28 Lycus,29 Apion,30 Epigenes,31 Pelops,32 Apelles,33 De-
mocritus,34 Thrasyllus,35 Nicander,36 Menander37 the Comic
writer, Attains,38 Sallustius Dionysius,39 Andreas,40 Niceratus,41
Hippocrates,42 Anaxilaiis.48
for Soranus, a poet of that name (Q. Valerius Soranus) who flourished
about 100 B.C. See also 13. xxxii. c. 23.
21 See end of B. iv. 22 See end of B. ii.
23 Beyond the mention made of him in c. 9 of this Book, nothing what-
ever is known of him. 24 See end of B. iii.
25 See end of B. ii., and end of B. vi. 26 See end of B. ii.
27 See end of B. xii. 28 See end of B. v. 29 See end of B. xii.
30 See end of B. xxx. 31 See end of B. ii.
32 He is also mentioned in B. xxxii. c. 16, hut beyond that, nothing
whatever appears to be known of him. He must not be confounded with
Pelops of Smyrna, one of Galen's preceptors, who flourished in the second
century after Christ. 33 See end of B. xxviii. 34 See end of B. ii.
35 See end of B. ii. 36 See end of B. viii.
37 A celebrated Comic poet, a disciple of Theophrastus, and the inventor
of the New Comedy at Athens. Only a few fragments of his works
survive. 38 See end of B. viii.
39 A physician, of whom, beyond the mention made of him in B. xxxii. /
c. 26, no further particulars appear to be known. 40 See end of B. xx. /
41 A Greek writer on plants, and a follower of Asclepiades of Bithynia. /
He is supposed to have flourished in the latter half of the first century
B.C. His medical formulae are several times quoted by Galen. See c. 31
of the succeeding Book.
42 See end of B. vii. « See end of B. xxi.
END OF VOL. T.
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