Chapter IX: Book XXIV (1)

THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE FOREST TREES.

CHAP. 1. (1.)—THE ANTIPATHIES AND SYMPATHIES WHICH EXIST AMONG TREES AND PLANTS.

Not 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 quercus[1] and the olive[2] there exists a hatred so inveterate, that transplanted, either of them, to a site previously occupied by the other, they will die.[3] The quercus too, if planted near the walnut, will perish. There is a mortal feud[4] existing also between the cabbage and the vine; and the cabbage itself, so shunned as it is by the vine, will wither immediately if planted in the vicinity of cyclamen[5] 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, 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 instantly 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 consecrated 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 disengage meat of the brine, when it has been too highly salted, by the agency of fine meal and the inner bark[8] 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 potable[10] in a couple of hours: it is for a similar reason, too, that a layer of polenta is put[11] in our linen wine-strainers. A similar property is possessed also by the chalk[12] of Rhodes, 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 antipathy[13] to water. Gum is most[14] easily removed with vinegar, and ink[15] with water; in addition to which, there 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 first 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 inexplicable nature forthwith have their praises sung, and the productions of Arabia and India are held in unbounded admiration in the very midst[17] 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 foreign[20] 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 REMEDIES

We have already[22] spoken in their appropriate places of the 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 remarkable utility, being taken in doses of one victoriatus,[24] in three cyathi of water.

CHAP. 3. (3.)—ACORNS: THIRTEEN REMEDIES

Acorns,[25] pounded with salted axle-grease,[26] are curative of those indurations known as “cacoethe.”[27] 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 cœliac affections; and it is applied topically in cases of dysentery, as well as the acorns, which are employed 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 bark, boiled in cows’ milk, is used topically for stings inflicted by serpents, and is administered 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 berry[28] of the holm-oak is applied to fresh wounds with vinegar; and in combination with water it is dropt into the 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 “scolecion:”[29] it is held, however, in disesteem. The principal varieties of this berry have been previously[30] described.

CHAP. 5.—GALL-NUTS: TWENTY-THREE REMEDIES.

And no fewer are the varieties of the gall-nut which we have described:[31] 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, however, of Commagene is generally preferred. These substances remove fleshy excrescences on the body, and are serviceable for affections of the gums and uvula,[32] and for ulcerations of the mouth. Burnt, and then quenched in wine, they are applied topically in cases of cœliac affections and dysentery, and with honey, to whitlows, hangnails, malformed nails, running ulcers, condylomatous swellings, and ulcerations of the nature known as phagedænic.[33] 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: ELEVEN REMEDIES.

We have already[34] stated that the best mistletoe is that which grows on the robur,[35] and have described the manner in 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.[36] 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; combined 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 employ 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.[37] Some persons have a sort of superstitious notion that the viscus will be all the more efficacious 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,[38] 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 CERRUS: EIGHT REMEDIES.

The round excrescences[39] 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 cerrus[40] act as a desiccative upon gatherings and suppurations, and arrest fluxes. A decoction[41] of them, used as a fomentation, strengthens such parts of the body as are paralyzed; and it is a very good plan 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,[42] pulverized and taken in warm water, arrests hæmorrhage at the mouth and nostrils;[43] 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 leaves[44] 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 cypress[45] 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 infusion of them is taken in drink.[46] They are applied with wax to swellings of the testes, and mixed with vinegar they stain the hair black.[47] Beaten up with twice the quantity of light bread, and then kneaded with Aminean[48] 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 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,[49] 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.[50] The shavings of the wood, taken in drink, act as an emmenagogue, and neutralize the venom of the scorpion.

CHAP. 11.—THE CEDAR: THIRTEEN REMEDIES.

The larger cedar, known as the “cedrelates,”[51] produces a pitch called “cedria,” which is very useful for tooth-ache, it having the effect of breaking[52] the teeth and extracting them, and so allaying the pain. We have already[53] stated how the juices of cedar are extracted, so remarkably useful for seasoning books,[54] were it not for the head-ache they produce. This extract from the cedar preserves[55] 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 beings, and imparting a sort of life, as it were to the dead! It injures clothing also and destroys[56] 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 just before the sexual congress, it will effectually prevent impregnation.[57]

Still, however, I should not hesitate to employ it as a friction for phthiriasis or porrigo. It is strongly recommended also, in raisin wine, as an antidote to the poison of the sea-hare,[58] but I should be more ready to use it as a liniment for elephantiasis. Some authors have prescribed it as an ointment for foul ulcers and the fleshy excrescences which grow in them, as also for spots and films on the eyes; and have recommended it to be taken, in doses of one cyathus, for ulcerations of the lungs, and for tapeworm.

There is an oil extracted from this pitch, known as “pisselæon,”[59] 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 berries[60] bruised in oil.

CHAP. 12.—CEDRIDES: TEN REMEDIES.

Cedrides, or in other words, the fruit of the cedar,[61] 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 venom of the sea-hare,[62] and for the cure of the various affections above-mentioned, as also of gatherings and inflammations.

CHAP. 13.—GALBANUM: TWENTY-THREE REMEDIES.

We have already[63] 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.[64] 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,[65] 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 oil of roses or with nard, it is used as an injection for suppurations of the ears; and the odour of it is useful for epilepsy, hysterical suffocations, and faintness at the stomach. Employed as a pessary or as a fumigation, it brings away the fœtus in cases of miscarriage; branches too of hellebore covered with it and laid beneath the patient, have a similar effect.

We have already[66] 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 fœtus. In combination with myrrh and wine too, it neutralizes poisons—those which come under the denomination of “toxica”[67] in particular. The very touch of it, mixed with oil and spondylium,[68] is sufficient to kill a serpent.[69] It is generally thought to be productive of strangury.

CHAP. 14 (6.)—HAMMONIACUM: TWENTY-FOUR REMEDIES.

Of a similar nature to galbanum is hammoniacum, a tearlike gum, the qualities of which are tested in manner already[70] stated. It is of an emollient, warming, resolvent, and dispellent 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 indurations. 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.—STORAX: TEN REMEDIES.

In speaking too of the exotic trees, we have made mention[71] 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 employed 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 neutralizes poisons of a cold nature, and consequently, hemlock.[72]

CHAP. 16.—SPONDYLIUM: SEVENTEEN REMEDIES.

At the same time we have also spoken[73] 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 sometimes 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.[74]

CHAP. 17.—SPHAGNOS, SPHACOS, OR BRYON: FIVE REMEDIES.

Sphagnos, sphacos, or bryon, grows, as we have already[75] 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 terebinth[76] are used as applications 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: EIGHT REMEDIES.

The leaves of the pitch-tree[77] and the larch,[78] 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 diarrhœa, 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,[79] or who are unable 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,[80] 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 CHAMÆPITYS: TEN REMEDIES.

The chamæpitys,[81] called in Latin “abiga,”[82] because it promotes abortion, and known to some as “incense of the earth,”[83] has branches a cubit in length, and the odour and blossoms of the pine. Another variety[84] of it, which is somewhat shorter, has all the appearance of being bent[85] downwards; and there is a third,[86] 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,[87] I 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.[88] Taken in wine, in doses of one victoriatus,[89] 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 fœtus, it is said.

CHAP. 21.—THE PITYUSA: SIX REMEDIES.

For a similar[90] reason, too, we shall accord the same distinction to the pityusa, a plant which some persons reckon among the varieties of the tithymalus.[91] It is a shrub,[92] resembling 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 by[93] 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 mamillæ, gripings in the bowels, wounds inflicted by serpents, and incipient gatherings of most kinds.

CHAP. 22.—RESINS: TWENTY-TWO REMEDIES.

In treating, first of wines,[94] and then of trees,[95] 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.[96] The dry resins are extracted from the pine[97] and the pitch-tree,[98] the liquid from the terebinth,[99] the larch,[100] the lentisk,[101] and the cypress;[102] these last producing it in the province of Asia and in Syria. It is an error[103] to suppose that the resin of the pitch-tree is the same as that of the larch; for the pitch-tree yields an unctuous[104] resin, and of the same consistency as frankincense, 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 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 boiled[105] before use: on the various methods of boiling it, we have enlarged at sufficient length already.[106]

As to the produce of the various trees, the resin of the terebinth is held in high esteem, as being the most odoriferous and the lightest, the kinds[107] 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 whatever the kind, the produce of mountainous[108] districts is always preferred to that of champaign countries, and that of a north-eastern aspect to that of any other quarter. Resins[109] are dissolved in oil as a liniment and emollient cataplasm for wounds; but when they are used as a potion, bitter almonds[110] 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 removed 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.[111]

Next after the resin of the terebinth comes that of the lentisk:[112] it possesses astringent properties, and is the most powerful diuretic of them all. The other resins are laxative to the bowels, promote the digestion of crudities, allay the violence of inveterate coughs, and, employed as a fumigation, disengage the uterus of foreign[113] bodies with which it is surcharged: 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 bandoline 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 occasion[114] 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.[115] Of the several varieties of thick pitch the most useful for medicinal purposes is that of Bruttium;[116] 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 distinction 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,[117] 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 relaxes[118] the bowels, also, and used as an electuary, or applied with 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 mamillæ, Bruttian pitch is warmed in wine with fine spelt meal, and applied as hot as can be borne.

CHAP. 24.—PISSELÆON AND PALIMPISSA: SIXTEEN REMEDIES.

We have already[119] described the way in which liquid pitch and the oil known as pisselæon are made. Some persons boil the pitch over again, and give it the name of “palimpissa.”[120] For quinzy[121] 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.—PISSASPHALTOS: TWO REMEDIES.

There is pissasphaltos too, a natural production of the territory of the Apolloniates,[122] and consisting of pitch mixed 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 mamillæ. The most esteemed portion of it is that which floats on the surface when boiled.

CHAP. 26.—ZOPISSA: ONE REMEDY.

We have already[123] 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 ingredient in plasters of an emollient nature, employed to disperse gatherings.

CHAP. 27.—THE TORCH-TREE: ONE REMEDY.

A decoction in vinegar of the wood of the torch-tree[124] makes a most efficacious gargle for tooth-ache.

CHAP. 28.—THE LENTISK: TWENTY-TWO REMEDIES.

The seed, bark, and tear-like juices of the lentisk are diuretics, and act astringently upon the bowels:[125] 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:[126] this decoction has the effect also of staining[127] 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 and diuretic; it is applied also to the head, in cases of headache, with polenta. The more tender of the leaves are used as an application for inflammations of the eyes.

The mastich[128] produced by the lentisk is used as a bandoline for the hairs of the eye-lids, in compositions for giving a plumpness to the face, and in cosmetics for smoothing[129] 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.[130] I know for a fact, that in the illness of Considia, the daughter of M. Servilius, a personage of consular rank, her malady, which had long resisted all the more severe methods of treatment, was at last successfully treated with the milk of goats that had been fed upon the leaves of the lentisk.

CHAP. 29. (8.)—THE PLANE-TREE: TWENTY-FIVE REMEDIES.

The plane-tree[131] neutralizes the bad effects of bites inflicted by the bat.[132] The excrescences of this tree, taken in doses[133] of four denarii, in wine, act as an antidote to the venom of serpents of all kinds and of scorpions, and are curative of burns. Pounded with strong vinegar, squill vinegar in particular, they arrest hæmorrhage of every kind; and with the addition of honey, they remove freckles, carcinomatous 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 decoction 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 leaves[134] 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: FIVE REMEDIES.

We have already[135] made some mention of the virtues possessed 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 diminishing obesity, and of gradually reducing the body to a state of comparative emaciation,[136] 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: ONE REMEDY.

The root of the maple,[137] beaten up in wine, is extremely efficacious as a topical application for pains in the liver.

CHAP. 32.—THE POPLAR: EIGHT REMEDIES.

We have already[138] mentioned, when speaking of the unguents, the use that is made of the berries[139] of the white poplar. A potion prepared from the bark is good for sciatica and strangury, and the juice of the leaves is taken warm for ear-ache. So long[140] as a person holds a sprig of poplar in his hand, there is no fear of[141] 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 sticky[142] juice, from which bees prepare their propolis:[143] indeed this juice, mixed with water, has the same virtues as propolis.

CHAP. 33.—THE ELM: SIXTEEN REMEDIES.

The leaves, bark, and branches of the elm[144] have the property of filling up wounds and knitting the flesh together: the inner membrane[145] 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 moisture[146] 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,[147] boiled in wine, are curative of tumours, and bring them to a head:[148] 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 already[149] 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: FIVE REMEDIES.

The linden-tree[150] is useful, though 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 “chamæacte,” or “helion.”[151] A decoction of the leaves,[152] 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 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 powerful 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”[153] 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,[154] pounded and taken with white wine, relaxes the bowels.

CHAP. 36.—THE JUNIPER: TWENTY-ONE REMEDIES.

The juniper is of a warming and resolvent nature beyond all other plants: in other respects, it resembles the cedar.[155] There are two species of this tree, also, one of which is larger[156] than the other:[157] the odour of either, burnt, repels the approach of serpents.[158] The seed[159] is good for pains in the stomach, chest, and sides; it dispels flatulency and sudden chills, soothes cough, and brings indurations to a head. Applied 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 is diuretic[160] in its effects. It is used as a liniment for defluxions of the eyes, and is prescribed for convulsions, ruptures 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. THE WILLOW OF AMERIA: ONE REMEDY.

The fruit of the willow,[161] before it arrives at maturity, is covered with a down like a spider’s web: gathered[162] 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 juices of the tree.

The juices produced by the willow form three different varieties; one[163] of which exudes in the shape of a gum from 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 affections 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,[164] and effectually put an end to them, if habitually employed.

The seed of the black willow of Ameria,[165] 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,[166] 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,”[167] from the fact that the matrons of Athens, during the Thesmophoria,[168] 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 larger[169] one, like the willow, attains the full proportions of a tree; while the other,[170] which is smaller, is branchy, with a paler, downy leaf. The first kind, generally known as the “white” vitex, bears a 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 diuretic[171] 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 drachmæ.

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 linment, 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. Persons[172] 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; ONE REMEDY.

The Greeks give the name of “erice,”[173] to a shrub that is but little different from the myrice.[174] It has the colour, and very nearly the leaf, of rosemary. It neutralizes[175] the venom of serpents, it is said.

CHAP. 40.—THE BROOM; FIVE REMEDIES.

The broom is used for making withes;[176] 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 already[177] stated, they are in the habit of making fishing-nets. I doubt also whether Homer[178] 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 spartum[179] 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.

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 drastic[180] as hellebore, and is usually taken fasting, in doses of one drachma and a half, in four cyathi of hydromel. 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 MYRICA, OTHERWISE CALLED TAMARICA, OR TAMARIX: THREE REMEDIES.

Lenæus says, that the myrice,[181] otherwise known as the “erica,” is a similar plant to that of which brooms are made at Ameria.[182] 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 tamarice. Be this as it may, it is particularly useful for affections of the spleen, the juice of it being extracted 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,[183] they will be found to lose the spleen. Hence it is that 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,[184] 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 already[185] stated, look upon this tree as ill-omened, because it bears no fruit, and is never propagated from seed.

CHAP. 42.—THE BRYA: TWENTY-NINE REMEDIES.

At Corinth, and in the vicinity of that city, the Greeks give the name of “brya”[186] to a plant of which there are two varieties; the wild brya,[187] which is altogether barren, and the cultivated one.[188] 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 “antheræ.”[189] The wood also, with the blossoms, leaves, and bark of the tree, is used for similar purposes, but their properties are not so strongly developed. The bark is pounded also, and given for[190] discharges of blood from the mouth, irregularities of the catamenia, and cœliac 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 purposes, and a decoction is made of them in wine; they are applied also to gangrenes, in combination with honey. A decoction of them taken in wine, or the leaves themselves applied 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 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 serpents, 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 flames[191] of desire, it is set on fire again. The magicians say,[192] that the urine of an eunuch, will have a similar effect.

CHAP. 43.—THE BLOOD-RED SHRUB: ONE REMEDY.

Nor is the blood-red[193] shrub looked upon as a less ill-omened[194] plant than the last. The inner bark of it is used to re-open ulcers which have healed too rapidly.

CHAP. 44.—THE SILER: THREE REMEDIES.

The leaves, of the siler,[195] 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.

CHAP. 45.—THE PRIVET: EIGHT REMEDIES.

The ligustrum, or privet, if it is the same tree as the cyprus[196] 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.[197]

CHAP. 46.—THE ALDER: ONE REMEDY.

The leaves of the alder, steeped in boiling water, are an undoubted remedy for tumours.