Chapter XXII: Book XXII: The Properties of Plants and Fruits (1)

CHAP. 1.—THE PROPERTIES OF PLANTS.

Nature and the earth might have well filled the measure of our admiration, if we had nothing else to do but to consider the properties enumerated in the preceding Book, and the numerous varieties of plants that we find created for the wants or the enjoyment of mankind. And yet, how much is there still left for us to describe, and how many discoveries of a still more astonishing nature! The greater part, in fact, of the plants there mentioned recommend themselves to us by their taste, their fragrance, or their beauty, and so invite us to make repeated trials of their virtues: but, on the other hand, the properties of those which remain to be described, furnish us with abundant proof that nothing has been created by Nature without some purpose to fulfil, unrevealed to us though it may be.

CHAP. 2. (1.)—PLANTS USED BY NATIONS FOR THE ADORNMENT OF THE PERSON.

I remark, in the first place, that there are some foreign nations which, in obedience to long-established usage, employ certain plants for the embellishment of the person. That, among some barbarous peoples, the females[2452] stain the face by means of various plants, there can be little doubt, and among the Daci and the Sarmatæ we find the men even marking[2453] their bodies. There is a plant in Gaul, similar to the plantago in appearance, and known there by the name of “glastum:”[2454] with it both matrons and girls[2455] among the people of Britain are in the habit of staining the body all over, when taking part in the performance of certain sacred rites; rivalling hereby the swarthy hue of the Æthiopians, they go in a state of nature.

CHAP. 3. (2.)—EMPLOYMENT OF PLANTS FOR DYEING. EXPLANATION OF THE TERMS SAGMEN, VERBENA, AND CLARIGATIO.

We know, too, that from plants are extracted admirable colours for dyeing; and, not to mention the berries[2456] of Galatia,[2457] Africa, and Lusitania, which furnish the coccus, a dye reserved for the military costume[2458] of our generals, the people of Gaul beyond the Alps produce the Tyrian colours, the conchyliated,[2459] and all the other hues, by the agency of plants[2460] alone. They have not there to seek the murex at the bottom of the sea, or to expose themselves to be the prey of the monsters of the deep, while tearing it from their jaws, nor have they to go searching in depths to which no anchor has penetrated—and all this for the purpose of finding the means whereby some mother of a family may appear more charming in the eyes of her paramour, or the seducer may make himself more captivating to the wife of another man. Standing on dry land, the people there gather in their dyes just as we do our crops of corn—though one great fault in them is, that they wash[2461] out; were it not for which, luxury would have the means of bedecking itself with far greater magnificence, or, at all events, at the price of far less danger.

It is not my purpose, however, here to enter further into these details, nor shall I make the attempt, by substituting resources attended with fewer risks, to circumscribe luxury within the limits of frugality; though, at the same time, I shall have to speak on another occasion how that vegetable productions are employed for staining stone and imparting their colours to walls.[2462] Still, however, I should not have omitted to enlarge upon the art of dyeing, had I found that it had ever been looked upon as forming one of our liberal[2463] arts. Meantime, I shall be actuated by higher considerations, and shall proceed to show in what esteem we are bound to hold the mute[2464] plants even, or in other words, the plants of little note. For, indeed, the authors and founders of the Roman sway have derived from these very plants even almost boundless results; as it was these same plants, and no others, that afforded them the “sagmen,”[2465] employed in seasons of public calamity, and the “verbena” of our sacred rites and embassies. These two names, no doubt, originally signified the same thing,—a green turf torn up from the citadel with the earth attached to it; and hence, when envoys were dispatched to the enemy for the purpose of clarigation, or, in other words, with the object of _clearly_[2466] demanding restitution of property that had been carried off, one of these officers was always known as the “verbenarius.”[2467]

CHAP. 4. (3.)—THE GRASS CROWN: HOW RARELY IT HAS BEEN AWARDED.

Of all the crowns with which, in the days of its majesty, the all-sovereign people, the ruler of the earth, recompensed the valour of its citizens, there was none attended with higher glory than the crown of grass.[2468] The crowns[2469] bedecked with gems of gold, the vallar, mural, rostrate, civic, and triumphal crowns, were, all of them, inferior to this: great, indeed, was the difference between them, and far in the background were they thrown by it. As to all the rest, a single individual could confer them, a general or commander on his soldiers for instance, or, as on some occasions, on his colleague: the senate, too, exempt from the cares and anxieties of war, and the people in the enjoyment of repose, could award them, together with the honours of a triumph.

(4.) But as for the crown of grass, it was never conferred except at a crisis of extreme desperation, never voted except by the acclamation of the whole army, and never to any one but to him who had been its preserver. Other crowns were awarded by the generals to the soldiers, this alone by the soldiers, and to the general. This crown is known also as the “obsidional” crown, from the circumstance of a beleaguered army being delivered, and so preserved from fearful disaster. If we are to regard as a glorious and a hallowed reward the civic crown, presented for preserving the life of a single citizen, and him, perhaps, of the very humblest rank, what, pray, ought to be thought of a whole army being saved, and indebted for its preservation to the valour of a single individual?

The crown thus presented was made of green grass,[2470] gathered on the spot where the troops so rescued had been beleaguered. Indeed, in early times, it was the usual token of victory for the vanquished to present to the conqueror a handful of grass; signifying thereby that they surrendered[2471] their native soil, the land that had nurtured them, and the very right even there to be interred—a usage which, to my own knowledge, still exists among the nations of Germany.[2472]

CHAP. 5. (5.)—THE ONLY PERSONS THAT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED WITH THIS CROWN.

L. Siccius Dentatus[2473] was presented with this crown but once, though he gained as many as fourteen civic crowns, and fought one hundred and twenty battles, in all of which he was victorious—so rarely is it that an army has to thank a single individual only for its preservation! Some generals, however, have been presented with more than one of these crowns, P. Decius Mus,[2474] the military tribune, for example, who received one from his own army, and another from the troops which he had rescued[2475] when surrounded. He testified by an act of devoutness in what high esteem he held such an honour as this, for, adorned with these insignia, he sacrificed a white ox to Mars, together with one hundred red oxen, which had been presented to him by the beleaguered troops as the recompense of his valour: it was this same Decius, who afterwards, when consul, with Imperiosus[2476] for his colleague, devoted his life to secure victory to his fellow-citizens.

This crown was presented also by the senate and people of Rome—a distinction than which I know of nothing in existence more glorious—to that same Fabius[2477] who restored the fortunes of Rome by avoiding a battle; not, however, on the occasion when he preserved the master of the horse[2478] and his army; for then it was deemed preferable by those who were indebted to him for their preservation to present him with a crown under a new title, that of “father.” The crown of grass was, however, awarded to him, with that unanimity which I have mentioned, after Hannibal had been expelled from Italy; being the only crown, in fact, that has hitherto been placed upon the head of a citizen by the hands of the state itself, and, another remarkable distinction, the only one that has ever been conferred by the whole of Italy united.

CHAP. 6. (6.)—THE ONLY CENTURION THAT HAS BEEN THUS HONOURED.

In addition to the persons already mentioned, the honour of this crown has been awarded to M. Calpurnius Flamma,[2479] then a military tribune in Sicily; but up to the present time it has been given to a single centurion only, Cneius Petreius Atinas, during the war with the Cimbri. This soldier, while acting as primipilus[2480] under Catulus, on finding all retreat for his legion cut off by the enemy, harangued the troops, and after slaying his tribune who hesitated to cut a way through the encampment of the enemy, brought away the legion in safety. I find it stated also by some authors, that, in addition to this honour, this same Petreius, clad in the prætexta, offered sacrifice at the altar, to the sound of the pipe,[2481] in presence of the then consuls,[2482] Marius and Catulus.

The Dictator Sylla has also stated in his memoirs, that when legatus in the Marsic War he was presented with this crown by the army, at Nola; an event which he caused to be commemorated in a painting at his Tusculan villa, which afterwards became the property of Cicero. If there is any truth in this statement, I can only say that it renders his memory all the more execrable, and that, by his proscriptions, with his own hand he tore this crown from his brow, for few indeed were the citizens whom he thus preserved, in comparison with those he slaughtered at a later period. And let him even add to this high honour his proud surname of “Felix,”[2483] if he will; all the glories of this crown he surrendered to Sertorius, from the moment that he put his proscribed fellow-citizens in a stage of siege throughout the whole world.

Varro, too, relates that Scipio Æmilianus was awarded the obsidional crown in Africa, under the consul Manilius,[2484] for the preservation of three cohorts, by bringing as many to their rescue; an event commemorated by an inscription upon the base of the statue erected in honour of him by the now deified Emperor Augustus, in the Forum which bears his name. Augustus himself was also presented by the senate with the obsidional crown, upon the ides[2485] of September, in the consulship[2486] of M. Cicero the Younger, the civic crown being looked upon as not commensurate with his deserts. Beyond these, I do not find any one mentioned as having been rewarded with this honour.

CHAP. 7.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM OTHER CHAPLET PLANTS.

No plant[2487] in particular was employed in the composition of this crown, such only being used as were found growing on the spot so imperilled; and thus did they become the means, however humble and unnoted themselves, of conferring high honour and renown. All this, however, is but little known among us at the present day; a fact which I am the less surprised at, when I reflect that those plants even are treated with the same indifference, the purpose of which it is to preserve our health, to allay our bodily pains, and to repel the advances of death! And who is there that would not visit with censure, and justly visit, the manners of the present day? Luxury and effeminacy have augmented the price at which we live, and never was life more hankered after, or worse cared[2488] for, than it is at present. This, however, we look upon as the business of others, forsooth; other persons must see to it, without our troubling ourselves to request them, and the physicians must exercise the necessary providence in our behalves.[2489] As for ourselves, we go on enjoying our pleasures, and are content to live—a thing that in my opinion reflects the highest possible disgrace—by putting faith in others.[2490]

Nay, even more than this, we ourselves are held in derision by many, for undertaking these researches, and are charged with busying ourselves with mere frivolities! It is some solace, however, in the prosecution of these our boundless labours, to have Nature as our sharer in this contempt: Nature who, as we will prove beyond a doubt, has never failed in coming to the assistance of man, and has implanted[2491] remedies for our use in the most despised even of the vegetable productions, medicaments in plants which repel us with their thorns.

It is of these, in fact, that it remains for us now to speak, as next in succession to those which we have mentioned in the preceding Book; and here we cannot sufficiently admire, and, indeed, adore,[2492] the wondrous providence displayed by Nature. She had given us, as already[2493] shewn, plants soft to the touch, and agreeable to the palate; in the flowers she had painted the remedies for our diseases with her varied tints, and, while commingling the useful with the delicious, had attracted our attention by means of the pleasures of the eye. Here, however, she has devised another class of plants, bristling and repulsive to the sight, and dangerous to the touch; so much so, indeed, that we fancy we all but hear the voice of her who made them as she reveals to us her motives for so doing. It is her wish, she says, that no ravening cattle may browse upon them, that no wanton hand may tear them up, that no heedless footstep may tread them down, that no bird, perching there, may break them: and in thus fortifying them with thorns, and arming them with weapons, it has been her grand object to save and protect the remedies which they afford to man. Thus we see, the very qualities even which we hold in such aversion, have been devised by Nature for the benefit and advantage of mankind.

CHAP. 8. (7.)—THE ERYNGE OR ERYNGIUM.

In the first rank of the plants armed with prickles, the erynge[2494] or eryngion stands pre-eminent, a vegetable production held in high esteem as an antidote formed for the poison of serpents and all venomous substances. For stings and bites of this nature, the root is taken in wine in doses of one drachma, or if, as generally is the case, the wound is attended with fever, in water. It is employed also, in the form of a liniment, for wounds, and is found to be particularly efficacious for those inflicted by water-snakes or frogs. The physician Heraclides states it as his opinion that, boiled in goose-broth, it is a more valuable remedy than any other known, for aconite[2495] and other poisons.[2496] Apollodorus recommends that, in cases of poisoning, it should be boiled with a frog, and other authorities, in water only. It is a hardy plant, having much the appearance of a shrub, with prickly leaves and a jointed stem; it grows a cubit or more in height. Sometimes it is found of a whitish colour, and sometimes black,[2497] the root of it being odoriferous. It is cultivated in gardens, but it is frequently to be found growing[2498] spontaneously in rugged and craggy localities. It grows, too, on the sea-shore, in which case it is tougher and darker than usual, the leaf resembling that of parsley.[2499]

CHAP. 9. (8.)—THE ERYNGIUM, CALLED CENTUM CAPITA: THIRTY REMEDIES.

The white variety of the eryngium is known in our language as the “centum capita.”[2500] It has all the properties above-mentioned, and the Greeks employ both the stalk and the root as an article of food,[2501] either boiled or raw. There are some marvellous facts related in connexion with this plant; the root[2502] of it, it is said, bears a strong resemblance to the organs of either sex; it is but rarely found, but if a root resembling the male organs should happen to fall in the way of a man, it will ensure him woman’s love; hence it is that Phaon the Lesbian was so passionately beloved[2503] by Sappho. Upon this subject, too, there have been numerous other reveries, not only on the part of the Magi, but of Pythagorean philosophers even as well.

So far as its medicinal properties are concerned, in addition to those already mentioned, this plant, taken in hydromel, is good for flatulency, gripings of the bowels, diseases of the heart, stomach, liver, and thoracic organs, and, taken in oxycrate, for affections of the spleen. Mixed with hydromel, it is recommended also for diseases of the kidneys, strangury, opisthotony, spasms, lumbago, dropsy, epilepsy, suppression or excess of the catamenia, and all maladies of the uterus. Applied with honey, it extracts foreign substances from the body, and, with salted axle-grease and cerate, it disperses scrofulous sores, imposthumes of the parotid glands, inflamed tumours, denudations of the bones, and fractures. Taken before drinking, it prevents the fumes of wine from rising to the head, and it arrests looseness of the bowels. Some of our authors have recommended that this plant should be gathered at the period of the summer solstice, and that it should be applied, in combination with rain water, for all kinds of maladies of the neck. They say too, that, attached as an amulet to the person, it is a cure for albugo.[2504]

CHAP. 10. (9.)—THE ACANOS; ONE REMEDY.

There are some authors, too, who make the acanos[2505] to be a species of eryngium. It is a thorny plant, stunted, and spreading, with prickles of a considerable size. Applied topically, they say, it arrests hæmorrhage in a most remarkable degree.

CHAP. 11.—THE GLYCYRRHIZA OR ADIPSOS: FIFTEEN REMEDIES.

Other authors, again, have erroneously taken the glycyrrhiza[2506] to be a kind of eryngium: it will, therefore, be as well to take this opportunity of making some further mention of it. There can be no doubt, however, that this is one of the thorny plants, the leaves of it being covered with prickles,[2507] substantial, and viscous and gummy to the touch: it has much the appearance of a shrub, is a couple of cubits in height, and bears a flower like that of the hyacinth, and a fruit the size of the little round balls[2508] of the plane. The best kind is that grown in Cilicia, and the next best that of Pontus; the root of it is sweet, and this is the only part that is used. It is gathered at the setting of the Vergiliæ,[2509] the root of it being long, like that of the vine.[2510] That which is yellow, the colour of boxwood in fact, is superior to the darker kind, and the flexible is better than the brittle. Boiled down to one-third, it is employed for pessaries; but, for general purposes, a decoction is made of it of the consistency of honey. Sometimes, also, it is used pounded, and it is in this form that it is applied as a liniment for wounds and all affections of the throat. The juice[2511] of it is also very good for the voice, for which purpose it is thickened and then placed beneath the tongue: it is good, too, for the chest and liver.

We have already stated[2512] that this plant has the effect of allaying hunger and thirst: hence it is that some authors have given it the name of “adipsos,”[2513] and have prescribed it for dropsical patients, to allay thirst. It is for this reason, too, that it is chewed as a stomatic,[2514] and that the powder of it is often sprinkled on ulcerous sores of the mouth and films[2515] on the eyes: it heals, too, excrescences[2516] of the bladder, pains in the kidneys, condylomata,[2517] and ulcerous sores of the genitals. Some persons have given it in potions for quartan fevers, the doses being two drachmæ, mixed with pepper in one hemina of water. Chewed, and applied to wounds, it arrests hæmorrhage:[2518] some authors have asserted, also, that it expels calculi of the bladder.

CHAP. 12. (10.)—TWO VARIETIES OF THE TRIBULUS; TWELVE REMEDIES.

Of the two[2519] kinds of tribulus, the one is a garden plant, the other grows in rivers only. There is a juice extracted from them which is employed for diseases of the eyes, it being of a cool and refreshing nature, and, consequently, useful for inflammations and abscesses. Used with honey, this juice is curative of spontaneous ulcerations, those of the mouth in particular; it is good also for affections of the tonsils. Taken in a potion, it breaks calculi of the bladder.

The Thracians who dwell on the banks of the river Strymon feed their horses[2520] on the leaves of the tribulus, and employ the kernels as an article of food, making of them a very agreeable kind of bread, which acts astringently[2521] upon the bowels. The root, if gathered by persons in a state of chastity and purity,[2522] disperses scrofulous sores: and the seed, used as an amulet, allays the pains attendant upon varicose veins: pounded and mixed with water, it destroys fleas.

CHAP. 13. (11.)—THE STŒBE OR PHEOS.

The stœbe,[2523] by some persons known as the “pheos,” boiled in wine, is particularly good for the cure of suppurations of the ears, and for extravasations of blood in the eyes from the effects of a blow. It is employed also in injections for hæmorrhage and dysentery.

CHAP. 14. (12.)—TWO VARIETIES OF THE HIPPOPHAES: TWO REMEDIES.

The hippophaes[2524] grows in sandy soils, and on the sea-shore. It is a plant with white thorns, and covered with clusters, like the ivy, the berries being white, and partly red. The root of it is full of a juice which is either used by itself, or else is made up into lozenges with meal of fitches: taken in doses of one obolus, it carries off bile, and it is extremely beneficial if used with honied wine. There is another[2525] hippophaes, without either stalk or flowers, and consisting only of diminutive leaves: the juice of this also is wonderfully useful for dropsy.

These plants would appear, too, to be remarkably well adapted to the constitution of the horse, as it can be for no other reason than this that they have received their name.[2526] For, in fact, there are certain plants which have been created as remedies for the diseases of animals, the Divinity being bounteously lavish of his succours and resources; so much so, indeed, that we cannot sufficiently admire the wisdom with which he has arranged them according to the classes of animated beings which they are to serve, the causes which give rise to their various maladies, and the times at which they are likely to be in requisition: hence it is that there is no class of beings, no season, and, so to speak, no day, that is without its remedy.

CHAP. 15. (13.)—THE NETTLE: SIXTY-ONE REMEDIES.

What plant can there possibly be that is more an object of our aversion than the nettle?[2527] And yet, in addition to the oil which we have already mentioned[2528] as being extracted from it in Egypt, it abounds in medicinal properties. The seed of it, according to Nicander, is an antidote to the poison of hemlock,[2529] of fungi, and of quicksilver.[2530] Apollodorus prescribes it, too, taken in the broth of a boiled tortoise,[2531] for the bite of the salamander,[2532] and as an antidote for the poison of henbane, serpents, and scorpions. The stinging pungency even of the nettle has its uses; for, by its contact, it braces the uvula, and effects the cure of prolapsus of the uterus, and of procidence of the anus in infants. By touching the legs of persons in a lethargy, and the forehead more particularly, with nettles, they are awakened.[2533] Applied with salt, the nettle is used to heal the bites of dogs, and beaten up and applied topically, it arrests bleeding[2534] at the nostrils, the root in particular. Mixed with salt, also, it is employed for the cure of cancers and foul ulcers; and, applied in a similar manner, it cures sprains and inflamed tumours, as well as imposthumes of the parotid glands and denudations of the bones. The seed of it, taken with boiled must, dispels hysterical suffocations, and, applied topically, it arrests mucous discharges of the nostrils. Taken with hydromel, after dinner, in doses of two oboli, the seed produces a gentle vomit;[2535] and a dose of one obolus, taken in wine, has the effect of dispelling lassitude. The seed is prescribed also, parched, and in doses of one acetabulum, for affections of the uterus; and, taken in boiled[2536] must, it is a remedy for flatulency of the stomach. Taken in an electuary, with honey, it gives relief in hardness of breathing, and clears the chest by expectoration: applied with linseed, it is a cure for pains in the side, with the addition of some hyssop and a little pepper. The seed is employed also in the form of a liniment for affections of the spleen, and, parched and taken with the food, it acts as a laxative in constipation of the bowels. Hippocrates[2537] says that the seed, taken in drink, acts as a purgative upon the uterus; and that taken, parched, with sweet wine, in doses of one acetabulum, or applied externally with juice of mallows, it alleviates pains in that organ. He states also that, used with hydromel and salt, it expels intestinal worms, and that a liniment made of the seed will restore the hair when falling off. Many persons, too, employ the seed topically, with old oil, for diseases of the joints, and for gout, or else the leaves beaten up with bears’-grease: the root, too, pounded in vinegar, is no less useful for the same purposes, as also for affections of the spleen. Boiled in wine, and applied with stale axle-grease and salt, the root disperses inflamed tumours, and, dried, it is used as a depilatory.

Phanias, the physician, has enlarged upon the praises of the nettle, and he assures us that, taken with the food, either boiled or preserved, it is extremely beneficial for affections of the trachea, cough, fluxes of the bowels, stomachic complaints, inflamed tumours, imposthumes of the parotid glands, and chilblains; that, taken with oil, it acts as a sudorific; and that, boiled with shell-fish, it relaxes the bowels. He says, too, that taken with a ptisan,[2538] it facilitates expectoration and acts as an emmenagogue, and that, applied with salt, it prevents ulcers from spreading. The juice of the nettle is also used: applied to the forehead, it arrests bleeding at the nose, taken in drink it acts as a diuretic and breaks calculi in the bladder, and, used as a gargle, it braces the uvula when relaxed.

Nettle-seed should be gathered at harvest-time: that of Alexandria is the most highly esteemed. For all these different purposes the milder and more tender plants are the best, the wild nettle[2539] in particular: this last, taken in wine, has the additional property of removing leprous spots on the face. When animals refuse to couple, it is recommended to rub the sexual organs with nettles.[2540]

CHAP. 16. (14.)—THE LAMIUM: SEVEN REMEDIES.

The variety of nettle, too, which we have already[2541] spoken of under the name of “lamium,”[2542] the most innoxious of them all, the leaves not having the property of stinging, is used for the cure of bruises and contusions, with a sprinkling[2543] of salt, as also for burns and scrofulous sores, tumours, gout, and wounds. The middle of the leaf is white, and is used for the cure of erysipelas. Some of our authors have distinguished the various species of this plant according to their respective seasons; thus, for instance, the root of the autumn nettle, they say, carried on the person as an amulet, is a cure for tertian fevers, if due care is taken, when pulling up the root, to mention the patient’s name, and to state who he is and who are his parents. They say, too, that this plant is productive of similar results in quartan fever: and they pretend that the root of the nettle, with the addition of salt, will extract foreign substances from the body; and that the leaves, mixed with stale axle-grease, will disperse scrofulous sores, or if they suppurate, cauterize them and cause them to fill up with new flesh.

CHAP. 17. (15.)—THE SCORPIO, TWO KINDS OF IT: ONE REMEDY.

The scorpio[2544] has received its appellation from the animal of that name, in consequence of the resemblance of its seeds to a scorpion’s tail. The leaves of it are few in number, and it is efficacious for the sting[2545] of the animal from which it derives its name. There is also another plant[2546] known by the same name, and possessed of similar properties; it is destitute of leaves, has a stem like that of asparagus,[2547] and a sharp point at the top, to which it owes its appellation.

CHAP. 18. (16.)—THE LEUCACANTHA, PHYLLOS, ISCHIAS, OR POLYGONATOS: FOUR REMEDIES.

The leucacantha,[2548] known also as the phyllos, ischias, or polygonatos,[2549] has a root like that of the cypirus, which, when chewed, has the effect of curing[2550] tooth-ache; as also pains in the sides and loins, according to Hicesius, the seed or juice being taken in drink, in doses of eight drachmæ.—This plant is employed also for the cure of ruptures and convulsions.

CHAP. 19. (17).—THE HELXINE: TWELVE REMEDIES.

The helxine[2551] is called by some, “perdicium,” from the circumstance of its forming the principal food of partridges.[2552] Other persons, however, give it the name of “sideritis,” and to some it is known as “parthenium.” It has leaves, the shape of which is a mixture of those of the plantago and the marrubium;[2553] the stalks are slight and closely packed, and are of a light red colour. The seeds, enclosed in heads resembling those of the lappa,[2554] adhere to the clothes, a circumstance, it is said, to which it owes its name[2555] of “helxine.” We have already stated in the preceding Book[2556] what are the characteristics of the plant properly so called.

The one of which we are now speaking is used for dyeing[2557] wool, and is employed for the cure of erysipelas, tumours, all kinds of abscesses, and burns. The juice of it, taken in doses of one cyathus with white lead, is a cure for inflamed tumours, incipient swellings of the throat, and inveterate coughs.[2558] It is good, too, for all maladies of the humid parts of the body, the tonsillary glands, for instance; and, in combination with rose oil, it is useful for varicose veins. It is employed topically for the gout, with goat suet and Cyprian wax.

CHAP. 20.—THE PERDICIUM, PARTHENIUM, URCEOLARIS, OR ASTERCUM: ELEVEN REMEDIES.

The perdicium or parthenium[2559]—for[2560] the sideritis is, in reality, a different plant—is known to the people of our country as the herb urceolaris,[2561] and to some persons as the “astercum.” The leaf of it is similar to that of ocimum, but darker, and it is found growing on tiled roofs and walls. Beaten up with a sprinkling of salt, it has all the medicinal properties of the lamium,[2562] and is used in a similar manner. The juice of it, taken warm, is good, too, for suppurated abscesses; but for the cure of convulsions, ruptures, bruises, and the effects of falls from a height, or of the overturning of vehicles, it is possessed of singular virtues.

A slave, who was held in high esteem by Pericles,[2563] the ruler of the Athenians, being engaged upon the buildings of a temple in the citadel, while creeping along the top of the roof, happened to fall; from the effects of which he was relieved, it is said, by this plant, the virtues whereof had been disclosed to Pericles by Minerva in a dream. Hence it is that it was first called “parthenium,”[2564] and was consecrated to that goddess. It is this slave of whom there is a famous statue in molten bronze, well known as the Splanchnoptes.[2565]

CHAP. 21. (18.)—THE CHAMÆLEON, IXIAS, ULOPHONON, OR CYNOZOLON; TWO VARIETIES OF IT: TWELVE REMEDIES.

The chamæleon[2566] is spoken of as the “ixias,” by some authors. There are two species of this plant; the white kind has a rougher leaf than the other, and creeps along the ground, erecting its prickles like the quills of a hedgehog; the root of it is sweet, and the odour very powerful. In some places it secretes, just as they say incense[2567] is produced, a white viscous substance beneath the axils of the leaves, about the rising of the Dog-star more particularly. To this viscous nature it owes its name of “ixias;”[2568] females[2569] make use of it as a substitute for mastich. As to its name of “chamæleon,”[2570] that is given to it from the varying tints of the leaves; for it changes its colours, in fact, just according to the soil, being black in one place, green in another, blue in a third, yellow elsewhere, and of various other colours as well.

A decoction of the root of the white chamæleon is employed for the cure[2571] of dropsy, being taken in doses of one drachma in raisin wine. This decoction, taken in doses of one acetabulum, in astringent wine, with some sprigs of origanum in it, has the effect of expelling intestinal worms: it is good, too, as a diuretic. Mixed with polenta, the juice of it will kill dogs and swine; with the addition of water and oil, it will attract mice to it and destroy[2572] them, unless they immediately drink water to counteract its effects. Some persons recommend the root of it to be kept, cut in small pieces, and suspended from the ceiling; when wanted, it must be boiled and taken with the food, for the cure of those fluxes to which the Greeks have given the name of “rheumatismi.”[2573]

In reference to the dark kind, some writers say that the one which bears a purple flower is the male, and that with a violet flower, the female. They grow together, upon a stem, a cubit in length, and a finger in thickness. The root of these plants, boiled with sulphur and bitumen, is employed for the cure of lichens; and they are chewed, or a decoction of them made in vinegar, to fasten loose teeth. The juice of them is employed for the cure of scab in animals, and it has the property of killing ticks upon dogs. Upon steers it takes effect like a sort of quinsy; from which circumstance it has received the name of “ulophonon”[2574] from some, as also that of cynozolon[2575] from its offensive smell. These plants produce also a viscus, which is a most excellent remedy for ulcers. The roots of all the different kinds are an antidote to the sting of the scorpion.

CHAP. 22. (19.)—THE CORONOPUS.

The coronopus[2576] is an elongated plant, with fissures in the leaves. It is sometimes cultivated, as the root, roasted in hot ashes, is found to be an excellent remedy for cœliac complaints.

CHAP. 23. (20.)—THE ANCHUSA: FOURTEEN REMEDIES.

The root of the anchusa,[2577] too, is made use of, a plant a finger in thickness. It is split into leaves like the papyrus, and when touched it stains the hands the colour of blood; it is used for imparting rich colours to wool. Applied with cerate it heals ulcerous sores, those of aged people in particular: it is employed also for the cure of burns. It is insoluble in water, but dissolves in oil, this being, in fact, the test of its genuineness. It is administered also, in doses of one drachma, in wine, for nephretic pains, or else, if there is fever, in a decoction of balanus;[2578] it is employed in a similar manner, also, for affections of the liver and spleen, and for enlarged secretions of the bile. Applied with vinegar, it is used for the cure of leprosy and the removal of freckles. The leaves, beaten up with honey and meal, are applied topically for sprains; and taken in honied wine, in doses of two drachmæ, they arrest looseness of the bowels.[2579] A decoction of the root in water, it is said, kills fleas.

CHAP. 24.—THE PSEUDOANCHUSA, ECHIS, OR DORIS: THREE REMEDIES.

There is another plant, similar to the preceding one, and hence known as the “pseudoanchusa,”[2580] though by some it is called “echis,”[2581] or “doris,” as well as by many other names. It is more downy than the other plant, however, and not so substantial; the leaves, too, are thinner, and more drooping. The root of it, treated with oil, does not give out any red juice, a sign by which it is distinguished from the genuine anchusa. The leaves of this plant, or the seed, taken in drink, are extremely efficacious for the stings of serpents; the leaves, too, are applied topically to the wound; and the powerful smell of them will keep serpents at a distance. A preparation of this plant is taken, also, as a potion, for affections of the vertebræ. The Magi recommend that the leaves of it should be plucked with the left hand, it being mentioned at the same time for whom they are being gathered: after which, they are to be worn as an amulet, attached to the person, for the cure of tertian fevers.[2582]

CHAP. 25. (21.)—THE ONOCHILON, ARCHEBION, ONOCHELIS, RHEXIA, OR ENCHRYSA: THIRTY REMEDIES.

There is another plant, too, the proper name of which is “onochilon,”[2583] but which some people call “anchusa,” others “archebion,” and others, again, “onochelis,” or “rhexia,” and, more universally, “enchrysa.” This plant has a diminutive stem, a purple flower, rough leaves and branches, and a root the colour of blood at harvest-time, though dark and swarthy at other times. It grows in sandy soils, and is extremely efficacious for the stings of serpents, vipers in particular, the roots or leaves of it being taken indifferently with the food, or in the drink. It developes its virtues at harvest-time, more especially: the leaves of it, when bruised, have just the smell of a cucumber. This plant is prescribed, in doses of three cyathi, for prolapsus of the uterus, and, taken with hyssop, it expels tape-worms. For pains in the liver or kidneys, it is taken in hydromel, if the patient shows symptoms of fever, but if not, in wine. With the root of it a liniment is made, for the removal of freckles and leprous sores; and it is asserted that persons who carry this root about them will never be attacked by serpents.

There is another[2584] plant, again, very similar to this, with a red flower, and somewhat smaller. It is applied to the same uses as the other; it is asserted, too, that if it is chewed, and then spit out upon a serpent, it will cause its instantaneous death.

CHAP. 26.—THE ANTHEMIS, LEUCANTHEMIS, LEUCANTHEMUM, CHAMÆMELUM, OR MELANTHIUM; THREE VARIETIES OF IT: ELEVEN REMEDIES.

The anthemis has been highly extolled by Asclepiades. Some persons call it “leucanthemis,”[2585] some leucanthemum, others, again, “eranthemis,”[2586] from its flowering in spring, and others “chamæmelon,”[2587] because it has a smell like that of an apple: sometimes, too, it is called “melanthion.”[2588] There are three varieties of this plant, which only differ from one another in the flower; they do not exceed a palm in height, and they bear small blossoms like those of rue, white, yellow,[2589] or purple.

This plant is mostly found in thin, poor soils, or growing near foot-paths. It is usually gathered in spring, and put by for the purpose of making chaplets. At the same season, too, medical men pound the leaves, and make them up into lozenges, the same being done with the flowers also, and the root. All the parts of this plant are administered together, in doses of one drachma, for the stings of serpents of all kinds. Taken in drink, too, they bring away the dead fœtus, act as an emmenagogue and diuretic, and disperse calculi of the bladder. The anthemis is employed, also, for the cure of flatulency, affections of the liver, excessive secretions of the bile, and fistulas of the eye; chewed, it heals running sores. Of all the different varieties, the one that is most efficacious for the treatment of calculi is that with the purple flower,[2590] the leaves and stem[2591] of which are somewhat larger than those of the other kinds. Some persons, and with strict propriety, give to this last the name of “eranthemis.”

CHAP. 27.—THE LOTUS PLANT: FOUR REMEDIES.

Those who think that the lotus is nothing but a tree only, can easily be refuted, if upon the authority of Homer[2592] only; for that poet names the lotus first of all among the herbs which grow to administer to the pleasures of the gods. The leaves of this plant,[2593] mixed with honey, disperse the marks of sores, argema,[2594] and films upon the eyes.

CHAP. 28.—THE LOTOMETRA: TWO REMEDIES.

The lotometra[2595] is a cultivated lotus; with the seed of it, which resembles millet, the shepherds in Egypt make a coarse bread, which they mostly knead with water or milk. It is said, however, that there is nothing lighter or more wholesome than this bread, so long as it is eaten warm; but that when it gets cold, it becomes heavy and more difficult of digestion. It is a well-known fact, that persons who use it as a diet are never attacked by dysentery, tenesmus, or other affections of the bowels; hence it is, that this plant is reckoned among the remedies for that class of diseases.

CHAP. 29.—THE HELIOTROPIUM, HELIOSCOPIUM, OR VERRUCARIA: TWELVE REMEDIES. THE HELIOTROPIUM, TRICOCCUM, OR SCORPIURON: FOURTEEN REMEDIES.

We have spoken more than once[2596] of the marvels of the heliotropium, which turns[2597] with the sun, in cloudy weather even, so great is its sympathy with that luminary. At night, as though in regret, it closes its blue flower.

There are two species of heliotropium, the tricoccum[2598] and the helioscopium,[2599] the latter being the taller of the two, though they neither of them exceed half[2600] a foot in height. The helioscopium throws out branches from the root, and the seed of it, enclosed in follicules,[2601] is gathered at harvest-time. It grows nowhere but in a rich soil, a highly-cultivated one more particularly; the tricoccum, on the other hand, is to be found growing everywhere. I find it stated, that the helioscopium, boiled, is considered an agreeable food, and that taken in milk, it is gently laxative[2602] to the bowels; while, again, a decoction of it, taken as a potion, acts as a most effectual purgative. The juice of this plant is collected in summer, at the sixth[2603] hour of the day; it is usually mixed with wine, which makes[2604] it keep all the better. Combined with rose-oil, it alleviates head-ache. The juice extracted from the leaves, combined with salt, removes warts; from which circumstance our people have given this plant the name of “verrucaria,”[2605] although, from its various properties, it fully merits a better name. For, taken in wine or hydromel, it is an antidote to the venom of serpents and scorpions,[2606] as Apollophanes and Apollodorus state. The leaves, too, employed topically, are a cure for the cerebral affections of infants, known as “siriasis,”[2607] as also for convulsions, even when they are epileptic. It is very wholesome, too, to gargle the mouth with a decoction of this plant. Taken in drink, it expels tapeworm and gravel, and, with the addition of cummin, it will disperse calculi. A decoction of the plant with the root, mixed with the leaves and some suet of a he-goat, is applied topically for the cure of gout.

The other kind, which we have spoken[2608] of as being called the “tricoccum,” and which also bears the name of “scorpiuron,”[2609] has leaves that are not only smaller than those of the other kind, but droop downwards towards the ground: the seed of it resembles a scorpion’s tail, to which, in fact, it owes its latter appellation. It is of great efficacy for injuries received from all kinds of venomous insects and the spider known as the “phalangium,” but more particularly for the stings of scorpions, if applied topically.[2610] Those who carry it about their person are never stung by a scorpion, and it is said that if a circle is traced on the ground around a scorpion with a sprig of this plant, the animal will never move out of it, and that if a scorpion is covered with it, or even sprinkled with the water in which it has been steeped, it will die that instant. Four grains of the seed, taken in drink, are said to be a cure for the quartan fever, and three for the tertian; a similar effect being produced by carrying the plant three times round the patient, and then laying it under his head. The seed, too, acts as an aphrodisiac, and, applied with honey, it disperses inflamed tumours. This kind of heliotropium, as well as the other, extracts warts radically,[2611] and excrescences of the anus. Applied topically, the seed draws off corrupt blood from the vertebræ and loins; and a similar effect is produced by taking a decoction of it in chicken broth, or with beet and lentils. The husks[2612] of the seed restore the natural colour to lividities of the skin. According to the Magi, the patient himself should make four knots in the heliotropium for a quartan, and three for a tertian fever, at the same time offering a prayer that he may recover to untie them, the plant being left in the ground meanwhile.

CHAP. 30.—THE ADIANTUM, CALLITRICHOS, TRICHOMANES, POLYTRICHOS, OR SAXIFRAGUM; TWO VARIETIES OF IT: TWENTY-EIGHT REMEDIES.

Equally marvellous, too, in other respects, is the adiantum;[2613] it is green in summer, never dies in the winter, manifests an aversion to water, and, when sprinkled with water or dipped in it, has all the appearance of having been dried, so great is its antipathy to moisture; a circumstance to which it owes the name of “adiantum,”[2614] given to it by the Greeks. In other respects, it is a shrub which might be well employed in ornamental gardening.[2615] Some persons give it the name of “callitrichos,”[2616] and others of “polytrichos,” both of them bearing reference to its property of imparting colour to the hair. For this purpose, a decoction of it is made in wine with parsley-seed, large quantities of oil being added, if it is desired to make the hair thick and curly as well: it has also the property of preventing the hair from coming off.

There are two kinds of this plant, one being whiter than the other, which last is swarthy and more stunted. It is the larger kind that is known as the “polytrichos,” or, as some call it, the “trichomanes.” Both plants have tiny branches of a bright black colour, and leaves like those of fern, the lower ones being rough and tawny, and all of them lying close together and attached to footstalks arranged on either side of the stem: of root, so to say, there is nothing.[2617] This plant frequents umbrageous rocks, walls sprinkled with the spray of running water, grottoes of fountains more particularly, and crags surrounded with streamlets, a fact that is all the more remarkable in a plant which derives no benefit from water.

The adiantum is of singular efficacy in expelling and breaking calculi of the bladder, the dark kind in particular; and it is for this reason, in my opinion, rather than because it grows upon stones, that it has received from the people of our country its name of “saxifragum.”[2618] It is taken in wine, the usual dose being a pinch of it in three fingers. Both these plants are diuretics, and act as an antidote to the venom of serpents and spiders: a decoction of them in wine arrests looseness of the bowels. A wreath of them, worn on the head, alleviates head-ache. For the bite of the scolopendra they are applied topically, but they must be removed every now and then, to prevent them from cauterizing the flesh:[2619] they are employed in a similar manner also for alopecy.[2620] They disperse scrofulous sores, scurf on the face, and running ulcers of the head. A decoction of them is useful also for asthma, affections of the liver and spleen, enlarged secretions of the gall, and dropsy. In combination with wormwood, they form a liniment for strangury and affections of the kidneys; they have the effect also of bringing away the after-birth, and act as an emmenagogue. Taken with vinegar or juice of bramble-berries, they arrest hæmorrhage. Combined with rose-oil they are employed as a liniment for excoriations on infants, the parts affected being first fomented with wine. The leaves, steeped in the urine of a youth who has not arrived at puberty, and beaten up with saltpetre, compose a liniment which, it is said, prevents wrinkles from forming on the abdomen in females. It is a general belief that partridges and cocks are rendered more pugnacious if this plant is mixed with their food; and it is looked upon as particularly beneficial for cattle.

CHAP. 31. (22.)—THE PICRIS; ONE REMEDY. THE THESION; ONE REMEDY.

The picris[2621] derives its name from its intense bitterness, as we have previously stated. The leaf of it is round; it is remarkably efficacious for the removal of warts.

The thesium,[2622] too, has a bitterness not unlike it: it is a powerful purgative, for which purpose it is employed bruised in water.

CHAP. 32.—THE ASPHODEL; FIFTY-ONE REMEDIES.

The asphodel[2623] is one of the most celebrated of all the plants, so much so, indeed, that by some persons it has been called “heroum.”[2624] Hesiod has mentioned the fact of its growing in rivers, and Dionysius distinguishes it into male and female.[2625] It has been observed that the bulbs of it, boiled with a ptisan, are remarkably good for consumption and phthisis,[2626] and that bread in which they have been kneaded up with the meal, is extremely wholesome. Nicander[2627] recommends also, for the stings of serpents and scorpions, either the stalk, which we have already[2628] spoken of under the name of “anthericus,” or else the seed or bulbs, to be taken in wine, in doses of three drachmæ; and he says that these should be strewed beneath the bed, if there is any apprehension of their presence. The asphodel is prescribed also for wounds inflicted by marine animals of a venomous nature, and the bite of the land scolopendra. It is quite wonderful how the snails, in Campania, seek the stalk of this plant, and dry it by extracting the inside. The leaves, too, are applied with wine to wounds made by venomous animals, and the bulbs are beaten up with polenta and similarly used for affections of the sinews and joints. It is also a very good plan to rub lichens with them chopped up and mixed with vinegar, and to apply them in water to putrid sores, as also to inflammations of the testes or mamillæ. Boiled in lees of wine, and applied in a linen pledget, they are used for the cure of defluxions of the eyes.

Whatever the malady may happen to be, it is generally in a boiled[2629] state that the bulbs are employed; but for foul ulcers of the legs and for chaps upon any part of the body, they are dried and reduced to powder. The bulbs are usually gathered in autumn,[2630] a period when their medicinal properties are most fully developed. The juice extracted from them pounded, or else a decoction of them, is good, mixed with honey, for pains in the body: it is employed also with dried iris and a little salt by those who wish to impart an agreeable odour to the person. The leaves are used for the cure of the various maladies above mentioned, as also, boiled in wine, for scrofulous sores, inflamed tumours, and ulcers of the face. The ashes of the root are a remedy for alopecy and chaps on the feet; and an extract of the root, boiled in oil, is good for burns and chilblains. It is injected also into the ears for deafness, and, for tooth-ache, it is poured into the ear opposite to the part affected. A moderate dose of the root, taken in drink, acts as a diuretic and emmenagogue; it is good also for pains in the sides, ruptures, convulsions, and coughs, in doses of one drachma, taken in wine. Chewed, the root promotes vomiting, but the seed, taken internally, disorders the bowels.