Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

COMMENTARY. Dioscorides treats separately of the agrostis, which probably is our couch-grass, or _Triticum repens_, and of the agrostis in Parnasso, which has been very doubtfully referred to the _Parnassia palustris_. (iv, 30.) Our author would appear to have confounded these two articles together, and to have applied to the latter the characters which Dioscorides gives to the other. The modern herbalists agree with the ancients in commending the couch-grass as being diuretic and lithontriptic. None of the commentators or herbalists have given a satisfactory account of the esculent grass of Galen. The Arabians treat of the grasses very confusedly. See in particular Avicenna (ii, 2, 704); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. iii, 50); Serapion (c. 119.) In the modern Greek Pharmacopœia the _Triticum repens_ stands for the ἀ. (p. 72.) Apuleius says “Græci agrostem Latini gramen appellant.”

Ἄνχουσαι,

Anchusæ, _Alkanet_; there are four varieties, all of which are not possessed of the same powers. For that which is called onoclea has a root which is astringent and somewhat bitter; whence it is useful in splenitic and nephritic cases. It is a suitable remedy for erysipelas when applied with polenta. The leaves are less cooling and desiccative than the root, and, therefore, they are also drunk for diarrhœa. The lycapsos being more astringent, agrees in like manner with erysipelas. The onochilos (or alcibiadios) being possessed of stronger medicinal properties than these, is beneficial for the bites of vipers, when applied as a cataplasm, as an amulet, and when eaten. The fourth variety being smaller than the others, has scarcely got a name: but being more bitter than the alcibiadios, it is applicable in cases of the broad lumbricus when taken in a draught to the extent of an acetabulum.

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COMMENTARY. The first species is either the _Anchusa tinctoria L._, or the _Lithospermum tinctorium_; the lycapsos, the _Echium italicum L._; the alcibiadios, the _Echium diffusum_, and the fourth species the _Lithospermum fruticosum_. There is considerable difficulty, however, in determining the alkanets of the ancients. Our author, in his account of them, follows Galen, who, in his turn, copies from Dioscorides. Avicenna, Rhases, and Haly Abbas borrow all they say of them from Dioscorides and Galen. The only one of these substances that is retained in our modern Pharmacopœias is the _Anchusa tinctoria_, and it is used only for colouring. The medicinal virtues of the _Lithospermum_, or of any species of _Echium_, are scarcely recognized. Indeed, as the Anchusa tinctoria is retained in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia, and as it is there stated to be a common plant in Greece, we need have no hesitation in admitting it to be the common anchusa of the ancients.

Ἄδάρκη,

Adarce is a sort of froth of salt water, collecting about rubbish and weeds. It is very acrid, and heating almost to burning when applied externally with other things; for it cannot be taken internally.

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COMMENTARY. The description of this substance given by Dioscorides, Galen, and the other authorities is substantially the same as our author’s, from which all we can gather is that it was a saline concretion formed about reeds and herbs in salt lakes. But even Matthiolus confesses that he never could satisfy himself that he had found the substance in question, and no modern authority on the Materia Medica has treated of it. Dioscorides compares it to the _alcyonium_, from which we think it probable that the adarce may have been applied to some species of this zoophyte. See Alcyonium. Dioscorides recommends it for the cure of lepra and sciatica (v, 136.) The Arabians borrow from him under this head. See in particular Avicenna (ii, 2, 17); Serapion (c. 378.) It is not mentioned by Celsus.

Ἄδίαντον,

Adiantum, _Maiden-hair_, is desiccative, attenuant, and moderately discutient; and with regard to heat and cold, it holds an intermediate place. It, therefore, cures alopecia, discusses swellings, proves lithontriptic when taken in a draught, dries up expectorations from the lungs, and stops defluxions of the belly.

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COMMENTARY. Theophrastus says that it derives its name from its property of not being wet in rain. He adds, that it promotes the growth of the hair. (H. P. vii, 13.) Nicander says the same of it. (Ther. 846.) According to Apuleius, it is the same as the callitrichon, polytrichon, and asplenon. There can be no doubt that it is the _A. Capillus Veneris L._ Dioscorides describes another species by the name of τριχόμανες, which Sprengel and Schneider agree in referring it to the _Asplenium Trichomanes L._ Stackhouse agrees with them respecting both these species. The syrup of capillaire, which still holds its place in the shops as a favorite domestic medicine, is prepared from the _Adiantum_.

Αΐζωον,

Sempervivum, _Wall-pepper_ (or _House-leek_?), of which there are two varieties. It cools in the third degree, is moderately desiccative and astringent, and is applicable for erysipelas, herpes, and inflammations from a defluxion.

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COMMENTARY. Our author, copying from Galen and Aëtius, describes two species which seem to be the _Sempervivum arboreum_ and _Sedum rupestre_. Dr. Lindley, however, refers the latter to _S. ochroleucum_. Dioscorides has a third species, which may be referred to the _Sedum stellatum_. The greater house-leek is praised by Dioscorides as an application for headache, for the bites of venomous spiders, diarrhœa, and dysentery; as an anthelminthic when drunk with wine; for stopping the fluor of women in a pessary, and as an application to the eyes in ophthalmy (iv, 88, 89.) Macer Floridus commends it in menorrhagia. He calls it _acidula_. Serapion, Avicenna, Rhases, and Haly Abbas merely copy from the Greeks. Even Ebn Baithar has nothing original under this head. These plants, although not retained in our Dispensatory, are still allowed to possess medicinal properties. See Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 345.) It is still retained in some of the foreign Dispensatories, and is held to be refrigerant and astringent.

Ἀετώνυχον,

Ætonychon will be treated of under the head of _Stones_.

Ἀθηρά,

Pulticula, _Pap_, is a kind of puls fit for being supped, which is prepared from ground spelt or from any corn, and agrees with children. It answers also for cataplasms.

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COMMENTARY. Dioscorides gives the same account of it. It is the _Puls fritilla_ of Pliny. Matthiolus says it is called _bouillie_ in French, i. e. _pap_. Hesychius speaks of its being prepared from wheat, and Pliny from rice.

Ἀιγίλωψ,

Ægilops, _Cockle_, is possessed of discutient powers, whence it cures indurated inflammations and ægilops (fistula lachrymalis.)

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COMMENTARY. There is great difficulty in determining the grasses of the ancients. This may be seen by consulting the ‘Herbal’ of Gerarde on this subject. The present article was probably the _Ægilops ovata_. Dioscorides gives nearly the same account of it as our author, who copies Galen. He further mentions that the juice of it, mixed up with flour and dried, was laid up for use (iv, 136.) The Arabians borrow closely from Dioscorides. See in particular Avicenna (ii, 2, 211), and Serapion (c. 25.)

Ἄιγειρος,

Populus nigra, _the Black Poplar_; it is heating in the first degree, moderately desiccative, and consists of fine particles. Its leaves, when applied with vinegar, remove gouty pains; but the resin of it being hotter than the leaves, is mixed with restorative ointments and emollient plasters. But its fruit, when drunk with vinegar, is beneficial to epileptics.

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COMMENTARY. There can be no doubt that it is the _Populus nigra_. Our author and all the other authorities, both Greek and Arabian, copy closely from Dioscorides (i, 110.) We will have occasion to treat of its gum or resin afterwards. See Karabe. Celsus does not mention the black poplar. The αἴγειρος κρητικὴ of Hippocrates was no doubt a variety of _Populus nigra_. For the Arabians, consult in particular Avicenna (ii, 2, 333, 340, 364); Serapion (c. 266); and Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 165.)

Ἀιδοῖον,

Testiculus, _the testicle_ of a stag, when dried and triturated with wine and drunk, is a remedy to those who have been bitten by vipers. It is also mixed with compound medicines.

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COMMENTARY. Sextus Platonicus in like manner recommends the privy parts of a stag as an antidote for poisons. All copy from Dioscorides (ii, 46.)

Ἀιθάλη and λίγνυς will be treated under Λ.

Ἀιθιοπίς,

Salvia Æthiopis, _Ethiopian Sage_, has leaves like the petty-mullein; and the decoction of its root, when drunk, relieves ischiatic and pleuritic diseases, hæmoptysis, and asperity of the trachea, when taken with honey.

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COMMENTARY. It may be set down as being the _Salvia Æthiopis_, to which our English herbalist Gerarde gives the English name of mullein of Æthiopia. Neither Galen nor Aëtius has treated of it. Our author has borrowed from Dioscorides (iv, 193.) We do not find it in the Materia Medica of the Arabians, with the exception of Ebn Baithar, who merely gives an extract from Dioscorides under this head.

Ἃιμα,

Sanguis, _Blood_; no kind of it is of a cold nature, but that of swine is liquid and less hot, being very like the human in temperament. That of common pigeons, the wood pigeons, and the turtle, being of a moderate temperament, if injected hot, removes extravasated blood about the eyes from a blow; and when poured upon the dura mater, in cases of trephining, it is anti-inflammatory. That of the owl, when drunk with wine or water, relieves dyspnœa. The blood of bats, it is said, is a preservative to the breasts of virgins, and, if rubbed in, it keeps the hair from growing; and in like manner also that of frogs, and the blood of the chamæleon and the dog-tick. But Galen, having made trial of all these remedies, says that they disappointed him. But that of goats, owing to its dryness, if drunk with milk, is beneficial in cases of dropsy, and breaks down stones in the kidneys. That of domestic fowls stops hemorrhages of the membranes of the brain, and that of lambs cures epilepsies. The recently coagulated blood of kids, if drunk with an equal quantity of vinegar, to the amount of half a hemina, cures vomiting of blood from the chest. The blood of bears, of wild goats, of buck goats, and of bulls, is said to ripen apostemes. That of the land crocodile produces acuteness of vision. The blood of stallions is mixed with septic medicines. The antidote from bloods is given for deadly poisons, and contains the blood of the duck, of the stag, and of the goose.

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COMMENTARY. Our author abridges this article from Galen. See also in particular Serapion (De Simpl. ex Animalibus.)

Ἄιρα,

Lolium, _Darnel_, is heating and drying, almost in the third degree, being equal in power to the iris.

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COMMENTARY. This, which is the _Zizanien_ of the Arabians, may be set down as the _Lolium temulentum_. Dioscorides gives the fullest account of its medicinal faculties; he recommends it along with radishes and salt as an application to gangrenous and spreading sores, and with sulphur and vinegar for lichen and lepra; when boiled with pigeon’s dung and linseed in wine for discussing strumous and indolent tumours; for ischiatic disease boiled with mulse and applied as a cataplasm; and used in a fumigation with myrrh, saffron, and frankincense, he says it promotes conception (ii, 122.) Aëtius says, it is more acrid but less attenuant than iris. We have not been able to find it noticed in the works of Hippocrates nor in those of Celsus. The Arabians merely copy Dioscorides and Galen. See Serapion (c. 70); and Avicenna (ii, 2, 658.) Our old English herbalists repeat the ancient characters of this plant.

Ἀκαλλίς

is the fruit of a shrub growing in Egypt, the decoction of which is an ingredient in the Collyria, for promoting acuteness of vision.

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COMMENTARY. Galen and Aëtius have not treated of this article. Our author copies from Dioscorides, who, under the name of ἀκακαλὶς, describes it as an Egyptian plant, resembling the myrica (i, 118.) We may therefore conjecture, with considerable probability, that it is merely some species or variety of the tamarix. It does not appear that it is treated of by the Arabians, nor have we found it in the works of Hippocrates or Celsus.

Ἀκακία,

Acacia is of the third order of desiccants, and of the first of cooling medicines; but if washed, of the second. It is sour and terrene.

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COMMENTARY. Dioscorides describes the acacia as being a thorny tree or shrub, not erect, having a white flower and fruit like lupine, inclosed in pods, from which is expressed the juice that is afterwards dried in the shade (i, 133.) It was much disputed among the older commentators on Dioscorides whether or not this description applies to the _Acacia vera_; but since the time of Prosper Alpinus, it has been generally decided in the affirmative by all scholars, with the exception of Dierbach, who contends in favour of the _A. Senegal_, without any good reason, as far as we can see. This gum was used medicinally by the authors of the Hippocratic collection, who prescribe it as an astringent in hemorrhages, for which purpose it is also recommended by Celsus (v. 1.) Serapion and the others merely copy from Dioscorides and Galen. See in particular Avicenna (ii, 2, 3.)

Ἀκαλύφη,

Urtica, _the Nettle_; the fruit and leaves are composed of fine particles, and are desiccative without pungency; they dispel and cleanse swellings, loosen the bowels, are moderately flatulent, and therefore incite to venery.

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COMMENTARY. This article is either the _Urtica dioica_, or the _pilulifera_; or both species were comprehended under it. In the modern Greek Pharmacopœia, the _pilulifera_ stands first (p. 164.) Galen, like our author, calls it aphrodisiacal. Macer Floridus recommends it strongly as being calefacient and stimulant. Both Dioscorides and Galen agree in commending it as an expectorant when the chest is loaded with thick humours. The Arabians treat of it at considerable length. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 714); Serapion (c. 150); Rhases (Cont. l. ult.; 152.)

Ἄκανθος,

Acanthus, _Bears-breech_ (called also Melamphyllon and Pæderos), has discutient and desiccative powers.

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COMMENTARY. It is the plant which our English herbalists describe by the name of Bears-breech, now called the _Acanthus mollis_ by botanists. Dioscorides recommends it as being diuretic, and astringent of the bowels (iii, 17.) Our author follows Galen. Whether “gummi acanthinum” of Celsus (v, 2) belong to this place, or not rather to the acacia, as Milligan suggests, we cannot determine for certain. Modern authorities have confirmed the characters which the ancients ascribed to it. (See Rutty, M. M. p. 70); Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. p. 45.)

Ακάνθιον,

Acanthium, is composed of fine particles, and has heating powers, therefore it is a remedy for convulsions.

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COMMENTARY. Gerarde and our other herbalists delineate and describe this plant under the name of the cotton-thistle, meaning either the _Onopordon acanthium_ or _O. Illyricum_, cotton-thistle. Dioscorides affirms that it is of service to persons affected with tetanus, and upon his authority all the others, both ancient and modern, ascribe virtues to it in this case. The reader may be amused by comparing what Gerarde and Culpeper have written of it with the ancient descriptions of Dioscorides and Pliny. The cotton-thistle was long used as a potherb. See Beckmann (History of Inventions, under ARTICHOKE); and Loudon (Encycl. of Garden, p. 736.)

Ἄκανθα λευκή,

Spina alba, _the White-thorn_. Its root is desiccative and moderately astringent, therefore it relieves stomachic complaints, hæmoptysis, and toothache; but its seed, consisting of fine particles, and being of a hot nature, when drunk relieves convulsions. Acantha Ægyptia, or Arabica, _the Egyptian or Arabic thorn_, is possessed of very astringent and desiccative powers. Whence it restrains a flow of blood and other discharges.

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COMMENTARY. Respecting the two thistles here described, we may refer the former, with Sibthorp, to the _Cirsium Acarna_, and the latter, or Arabian, to the _Onopordon acanthium_. All the authorities follow Dioscorides in giving its characters. (iii, 12.) See Avicenna (ii, 2, 671-3); Serapion (c. 130); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 670.)

Ἄκινος,

Acinus; it resembles basil, and is moderately astringent, therefore it restrains alvine and uterine discharges, when taken in a draught; and when applied as a cataplasm, is of use for erysipelas and phygethlon.

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COMMENTARY. Our old herbalists describe it under the name of wild basil, meaning perhaps the _Ocimum pilosum_, and there seems little reason to question their authority in this instance. Neither Galen nor Serapion has described it. Indeed we are not aware that any of the Arabians has described it except Ebn Baithar (ii, 254); neither have we found it in the Hippocratic collection, nor in the works of Celsus.

Ακόνιτον or Παρδαλιαγχὲς,

Aconitum, _Wolfsbane_, is possessed of septic and deleterious properties; it is, therefore, not to be taken internally, but externally it may be applied to flesh requiring erosion. The lycoctonon, being possessed of the same properties as the former, is particularly fatal to wolves, as the other is to panthers.

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COMMENTARY. The two species of aconite described by Dioscorides (iv, 77), and the other authorities, are generally supposed to be the _Doronicum Pardalianches_ and the _Aconitum Napellus_. In the modern Greek Pharmacopœia, the _Neomontanum_ is substituted for the former of these. The κάμμαρον of Hippocrates would seem to be the latter. It has been already treated of among the poisonous substances in the Fifth Book (§ 45.) It was used only as an anodyne, and principally in complaints of the eyes. Avicenna in treating of the aconites, borrows closely from Dioscorides (ii, 2, 361, 676.) He says of the lycoctonon, that it is not administered either internally or externally. Rhases says of the aconite, that it was used to relieve pains of the eyes. (Cont. l. ult. i, 20.)

Ἄκορον,

Acorum, _Sweet Flag_, heats and dries in the third degree. We use its root for a diuretic, and for scirrhus of the spleen. It also attenuates a thickened cornea.

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COMMENTARY. It appears indisputably to be the _Acorus pseudacorus_, as even Gerarde the old herbalist has clearly stated, and not the _Acorus verus_, as Dr. Hill and others have maintained. All the ancient authorities ascribe much the same virtues to it as our author. See particularly Dioscorides (i, 2); Avicenna (ii, 2, 45); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 21); Serapion (c. 269.) In the modern Greek Pharmacopœia it is identified with the κάλαμος ἁρωματικός (p. 32.)

Ἀκρίδες,

Locustæ, _Grasshoppers_, in fumigations relieve dysuria, especially of women. The wingless grasshopper, when drunk in wine, relieves the bite of scorpions.

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COMMENTARY. It is quite certain that the Ἀκρὶς of the Greeks, and the _Locusta_ of the Romans was a species of locust or grasshopper. See Harduin (ad Plin. H. N. xi, 35.) Without doubt, then, it was the _Gryllus migratorius L._ The wingless locusta mentioned by our author is the insect in its larvous state. Our author copies from, and abridges, Dioscorides (ii, 56); and Avicenna does the same (ii, 2, 388.) Celsus treats of the locusta only as an article of food (ii, 28.) In this way, as is well known, the locusts were much used by the ancients. They are not noticed, however, either as an article of food or of medicine in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia.

Ἄκτη μεγάλη,

Sambucus, _the Elder-tree_, and Χαμαιάκτη, Sambucus humilis _vel_ Ebulus, _Dwarf-elder_, are possessed of desiccative, moderately discutient and agglutinative powers. When eaten or drunk they occasion a discharge of water from the bowels.

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COMMENTARY. The two species of elder, namely, the _Sambucus nigra_ and _Ebulus_, are much commended by the ancients for the cure of dropsy. As Dioscorides states, the elder is hydragogue, but disagrees with the stomach. He further recommends a hip-bath made of water in which elder has been boiled, for obstructions and hardness of the uterus (iv, 161.) Galen and the other Greek authorities treat of it in general terms like Paulus. The Arabians in treating of it generally borrow from Dioscorides and Galen. See particularly Serapion (c. 284.) It appears to be the _acte_ of Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 23); and is the _aktha_ of Ebn Baithar, according to his German translator, Dr. Sontheimer, in which opinion we fully agree with him. The Sambucus of Avicenna (ii, 2, 611) is not the elder, but the jasmine. We have not been able to detect the other in his Book on the Mat. Med., but can scarcely suppose that he has entirely overlooked it.

Ἅλες,

Sales, _Salts_, have desiccant and astringent powers. Wherefore they consume whatever humours are in the body, and also contract by their astringency. Whence they form pickles, and preserve substances from putrefaction. Roasted salts are more discutient.

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COMMENTARY. For an account of the factitious salts of the ancients, see in particular Pliny (H. N. xxxi, 39.) Sprengel remarks that the ἅλος ἄχνη, or _spuma maris_, is merely the skum or down of salt, which sticks to rocks in such situations as salt is usually formed in. The ἅλος ἂνθος, or _flos salis_, he adds, is a very different substance, being a native, impure carbonate of soda; containing also magnesia, lime, and some terrene admixture, to which it owes its colour. When deprived of its carbonic acid it becomes caustic, and was then called ἄφρος νίτρου by the ancients (v. ἀφρόνιτρον.) The _sal ammoniac_ of the Greeks was a native fossil salt, and considerably different from ours. Geoffroy seems to agree with Salmasius, that it was the _sal gem_. Dr. Hill also maintains that it was only a peculiar form of the sal gem. See also Jameson’s ‘Mineral.’ (iii, 15.) In fact, from Dioscorides’ description of the ammoniac salt, nobody can avoid seeing that it was merely a variety of the common fossil salt. He treats of the medicinal faculties of the salts at so great length that we dare not venture to copy his account of them. It is literally translated by Pliny (xxxi, 45.) He recommends them internally by the mouth and in clysters, and externally in fomentations, baths, and fumigations. Serapion quotes the whole of Dioscorides’ chapter on Salts without supplying much additional information of his own. He describes minutely the process of roasting salts in an earthen vessel, and covering them up with coals, and thus applying heat to them. The _sal ammoniac_ he describes, from Arabian authorities, as being a white red salt, extracted from hard clear stones, and being saltish, with much pungency (c. 409.) We never could altogether satisfy ourselves whether or not this be the same as the sal ammoniac of the Greeks. Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 600) and Avicenna (ii, 2, 608) are brief and indistinct in describing the sal ammoniac, but probably refer to the true sal ammoniac. Ebn Baithar minutely describes several kinds of it. Pliny also has a description of a factitious salt, which it would appear could be nothing else than our sal ammoniac. (N. H. xxxvi, 45.) Still, however, we need have no hesitation in setting down the ammoniac salt of the Greek medical authors as being a variety of the sal gem. This is the conclusion which Beckmann arrives at regarding it: he holds, however, that Geber and Avicenna were certainly acquainted with our ammoniac salt. (History of Inventions.)

Ἀλθάια ἢ Ἐβίσκος,

Althæa or Ebiscus, _Marsh-mallows_, is a species of wild mallows. It is discutient, relaxant, anti-inflammatory, soothing, and ripens tumours (phymata). But the root and seed have all the other properties in a more intense degree, and are also detergent of alphos. The seed is lithontriptic.

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COMMENTARY. This must either be the _Lavatera arborea_ or _Althæa officinalis_. Dioscorides is much fuller than our author in enumerating its properties, but upon the whole they agree very well as to its general character. Besides the cases in which our author recommends it, Dioscorides speaks highly of the decoction of it when drunk with wine in dysuria, the grievous pains of calculus, dysentery, and other acute affections. He also advises the mouth to be rinsed with it in cases of toothache (iii, 153.) It would be useless to go over the other authorities, who supply no new views. Even our modern herbalists all agree in repeating the praises of the marsh-mallow as delivered by Dioscorides. For the Arabians, see Avicenna (ii, 2, 72); Serapion (c. 76); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 26); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42.) This genus of the _Malvaceæ_ does not seem to be noticed either by Hippocrates or Celsus. The _Althæa officinalis_ occurs in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia, published at Athens in 1837.

Ἅλιμον,

Halimon consists of heterogeneous particles, being saltish and sub-astringent. But the greater part of it is of a hot temperament, with an undigested sap. It therefore promotes the formation of milk and semen.

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COMMENTARY. Our author abridges the characters of this substance, which probably is the _Atriplex Halimus_, from Galen or Dioscorides (i, 126.) It is the sea-purslane of our English herbalists. For the Arabians, see particularly Avicenna (ii, 2, 470.)

Ἁλκάια,

Alcæa, _Vervain-mallow_, is a species of wild mallows. When drunk with wine it removes dysenteries and gnawing pains of the belly, more particularly its root.

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COMMENTARY. All the authorities agree in giving this article, which evidently is the _Malva Alcæa_, Vervain-mallow, the general characters of the mallow. See particularly Dioscorides (iii, 154.) It does not occur in the works either of Hippocrates or Celsus, nor, as far as we know, in those of the Arabians.

Ἁλκυονία,

Alcyonia; they are detergent and discutient of all matters, being possessed of an acrid quality; but the kind called milesium (it is vermiform and purple) is the best: wherefore, when burnt, it cures alopecia, and cleanses lichen and alphos. That which has a smooth surface is most acrid, proving not only detergent, but likewise excoriating; but that which resembles unwashed wool is the weakest of all.

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COMMENTARY. For an account of the alcyonia, see Aristot. (Hist. Anim. ix, 15); Pliny (N. H. x, 47, and xxxii, 27.) According to Sprengel, the A. consisted of the bones of fishes which the kingfishers had swallowed and vomited up. The term, however, was also applied to a kind of zoophytes, five species of which are described by Dioscorides and Pliny. The 1st species is the _Alcyonium cotoneum_, Pall.; the 2d, the _A. papillosum_; the 3d, the _A. palmatum_; the 4th, the _Spongia stuposa_, Ellis, or _Spongia panicea_, Pall.; and the 5th, the _A. aurantium_, Pall. (Mat. Med. v, 135.) Geoffroy says that the alcyonia “are of a substance much like gum tragacanth, and when mixed in broth of warm milk they swell and make a rich soup.” The zoophytes called alcyonia are a kind of spongy substances, containing a sort of living jelly in their interior. Our author abridges Dioscorides’ account of the _alcyonia_, as likewise do Avicenna (ii, 2, 605) and Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 1, 677.) Celsus prescribes it several times as a corrosive, caustic, and cleansing medicine. (v, 6, 7, 18.) We believe it does not occur in the Hippocratic treatises.

Ἅλμη,

Muria, _Brine_; that which is unmixed with other matter has properties like salts, only weaker from the mixture with water. But the brine of pickled fish and of pickled olives is possessed of very detergent powers, and therefore is injected in ischiatic and dysenteric complaints.

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COMMENTARY. Regarding the nature of this article, there can be no doubt. Galen recommends the brine from pickled fish as a wash for putrid ulcers both of the mouth and rectum. Dioscorides, in addition, recommends it for such cases as sea-water is useful in, when poured upon the part. (v, 126.)

Ἀλόη,

Aloe, _Aloes_, is heating in the first degree, and desiccative in the third. It is stomachic, detergent, discutient, and eccoprotic. When washed it is less detergent, but more stomachic; it is anti-inflammatory, and promotes the cicatrization of ulcers, especially those about the anus and pudendum.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Dioscorides is the first author who gives a distinct account of this important article. He describes two varieties of the juice (gum-resin), namely, the arenaceous and the hepatic. He says that it closes up the mouths of veins in hemorrhoids; but, according to Avicenna and Mesue, it produces the contrary effect. Hence, says Mesue, it is hurtful in hemorrhoids and affections of the fundament. (De Simpl. i.) Galen properly remarks that it is at the same time stomachic and eccoprotic. Didymus mentions the hepatic aloe (Geopon. vi, 6), as do several of the medical authorities. It is marked by Dr. Pereira as being the _Aloe hepatica vera_ and _Aloe indica_ (Ph. Ed.), being the liver-coloured socotorine aloe. That is to say, the hepatic is merely a variety of the socotorine aloe. See also Dr. Royle (M. M. 598.) Isidorus says of aloes: “In India et Arabia gignitur, arbor odoris suavissimi et summi.” (Orig.) Averrhoes says it is an excellent purgative which evacuates the stomach and liver. He commends it as an application to apostemes. (Collig. v, 42.) Aloe was used in stimulant applications to ill-conditioned sores. See Aëtius. Avicenna forbids us to administer it during the prevalence of severe cold. (ii, 2, 64.) It was used in eye-washes (Cels. vi), as it is by the native doctors in India to this day. (Ainslie’s Mat. Ind. i, 10.) The aloe is not found in the Materia Medica of Hippocrates.

Ἁλὸς ἄνθος,

Flos salis, _the Flower of Salt_, is a humid medicine, consisting of more subtile particles than burnt salts, and is moderately acrid and discutient.

Ἁλὸς ἄχνη,

Spuma maris; this is a frothy efflorescence of salts, but consists of more subtile particles than salts, and discusses more, but contracts less.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. (Ἁλὸς ἄνθος and Ἁλὸς ἄχνη, see Ἃλες.)

Ἀλσίνη, or μυὸς ὂυς,

Alsine, or Auricula muris, _Chickweed_, has powers like the pellitory of the wall, namely, cold and diluent. Wherefore it is applicable to hot inflammations.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. This has been generally set down as the _Stellaria media_, but doubtfully. Dioscorides describes it as a _Myosotis_. (ii, 214.) See also Pliny (H. N. xxvii, 8), and Avicenna (ii, 2, 18.)

Our old herbalists give a confused account of the chickweed. In fact, this is one of the articles in the Materia Medica of the ancients which we must set down as _lost_, from our inability to determine what it was. It seems to have been looked upon by the Arabians as an important article. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 18); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. i, 99.) Like our author, they copy closely from Dioscorides. We have not detected it in the works either of Hippocrates or Celsus. It does not occur in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia.

Ἄλυπον,

Alypon; the seed of it purges black bile downwards when taken in the same quantity as dodder of thyme, with salts and vinegar; but it occasions slight ulceration of the intestines.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Many of the older commentators supposed this to be the plant which produces turbit, but we shall have occasion to discuss this question when treating of the additions to the Materia Medica made by the Arabians. What this article really was is very uncertain. Pliny and all the medical authorities mention its purgative powers. See in particular Dioscorides (iv, 177), from whom our author evidently copies.

Ἄλυσσον,

Alysson, _Madwort_, is so called because it is of use to those who have been bitten by mad dogs. Being possessed of discutient, detergent, and desiccative powers, it removes obstructions of the kidneys, and cleanses ephelis.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It was supposed by the earlier herbalists and commentators that the A. of Galen is a different substance from that of Dioscorides. The former (which is also our author’s) is a species of horehound, to which the herbalists give the distinctive name of Galen’s madwort. It is the _Marrubium Alyssum_. That of Dioscorides has been conjectured to have been some species of _Veronica_, but, in fact, there is no certainty on this point, and we must own our inability to perceive the difference between it and the A. of Galen. Dioscorides recommends his plant in ephelis and hydrophobia, (iii, 95.) See also Avicenna (ii, 2, 26.)

Ἀλώπηξ,

Vulpes, _the Fox_; the whole animal, if boiled alive or dead, renders the oil discutient, when it attracts the deep-seated fluids to the surface. Wherefore, when arthritic patients are put into a hip-bath of this oil for a considerable time it removes the complaint entirely, if at its commencement, and moderates it if protracted.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Galen and Serapion give nearly the same account of the medicinal properties of the _Canis vulpes_ as our author.

Ἀμάρακος,

Amaracus, _Marjoram_; it is calefacient in the third degree, and desiccative in the second.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. That it was some species of marjoram appears quite certain from the ancient descriptions of it; but, otherwise, it cannot be satisfactorily determined. Most probably, it was the same as the sampsuchus, namely, the _Origanum Marjorana_. Dioscorides strongly recommends the ointment as an emmenagogue, and for various other purposes. (i, 78.) For the Arabians, see Avicenna (ii, 2, 466); Serapion (c. 286); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 439.)

Ἀμάραντον,

Amarantum, _Amaranth_, is attenuant and incisive, and therefore when taken with wine it promotes the menstrual discharge, and dissolves coagulated blood when taken with wine and honey. It dries up all defluxions, and is bad for the stomach.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. The old herbalists describe a plant under the English name of Flower-gentle, which they represent to be this article, but it cannot be satisfactorily determined. Our author borrows from Galen and Aëtius his account of its medicinal properties, which certainly appears rather contradictory. How a plant, which they represent as being of a drying nature, should at the same time act as an emmenagogue, does not well appear. Our English herbalist Gerarde sagaciously remarks that it has probably got the character of stopping bleeding solely from its ears being red, as if, forsooth, all red things must act in this way; although, as he adds, Galen had laid it down as a rule (Simpl. 2, 4) that no inference with regard to the virtues of substances can be drawn from their colours. But see under _helicrysus_, which Dioscorides holds to be the same plant.

Ἀμβροσία,

Ambrosia; when applied as a cataplasm it has astringent and repellent powers.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Ambrosia, as Pliny remarks (H. N. xxvii, 11), is a vague name which has been applied to various plants. Our old herbalists describe a plant under the English name of Oak of Cappadocia, which they represent as the A. of Dioscorides. He gives it the same medicinal character as our author (iii.) Galen and Aëtius do the same. It probably is the _Ambrosia maritima_, a plant not yet wholly unknown to the shops. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. p. 70.) We have not found it described by any of the Arabians except Ebn Baithar (i, 80.)

Ἄμμι,

Ammi, _Bishop’s Weed_, is of the third order of calefacients and desiccants, being composed of subtile particles, discutient and diuretic; but the seed of it is particularly useful.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. The _Ammi copticum_, or Bishop’s weed, has long held a place in the Materia Medica, and yet it is now scarcely recognized. See Dioscorides (iii, 63); Galen (De Simpl. v); Avicenna (ii, 2, 60); Serapion (c. 297.) It is now ranked as one of the four lesser hot seeds, and is held to be attenuant, aperient, and carminative. In a word, all the authorities, ancient and modern, agree in giving it the characters bestowed upon it by Dioscorides and Galen.

Ἀμΐαντον,

Lapis Amiantus, is formed in Cyprus, being like stone-alum, and is so called because when put into the fire it is not burnt. Some use it in desiccative depilatories.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. This is generally confounded with the _Alumen plumosum_, with which it is compared by Dioscorides, but it is in fact a different substance, being a variety of asbestus. Dioscorides does not mention any medicinal properties of which it is possessed, but states that garments were made out of it, which resisted the force of fire. (M. M. v, 155.) See also Pliny (H. N. xix, 4.)

Ἄμμος,

Arena, _Sand_; that on the sea-shore is sufficiently desiccative. Wherefore when heated by the sun it dries up all humid bodies which have been buried in it; and when roasted it forms a dry fomentation instead of millet or salts.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. _The Sand of the Sea-shore._ We have often had occasion, in the course of this work, to mention the use of heated sand as a dry fomentation.

Ἀμμωνιακὸν θυμίαμα,

Ammoniacum thymiama, _Ammoniac Perfume_, is a juice of intense emollient powers, so as to dissolve scirrhous tumours and tofi.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Dioscorides describes the ammoniac as being the juice of a Ferula growing near Cyrene, and mentions afterwards that an inferior kind is also obtained from a tree of the reed tribe in Lybia, near Ammon. The reed which produces the better kind is now called the _Ferula tingitana_. Whether the inferior kind be the commercial ammoniacum of the present day, which is procured from the _Dorema ammoniacum_, does not appear certain. Dr. Hill holds that the ancients were acquainted with the two kinds which we have. In the modern Greek Pharmacopœia it is questioned whether it is the product of the _Heracleum gummiferum_, or _Ferula orientalis_. The _thymiama_, or _suffimentum_, was the finest kind of ammoniac, and was so called from being used in religious rites. Dioscorides recommends ammoniac for many medicinal purposes, both internally and externally; as for loosening the bowels when taken in a draught; for asthma and other affections of the chest when given as a linctus with honey; for indurations of the spleen and liver when applied in the form of a cataplasm; and for nebulæ of the cornea. (iii, 88.) Galen gives nearly the same characters of it. Serapion quotes Dioscorides and Galen, and adds a few other particulars of not much importance from Arabian authorities, such as that it is diuretic and emmenagogue, and expels humours from the body. (c. 268.) Rhases, Avicenna, Ebn Baithar, and Haly Abbas supply no additional information of any interest under this head. Averrhoes commends it as a medicine which softens and dissolves hard tumours. (Collig. v, 42.)

Ἀμόργη,

Amurca, _the Lees of Oil_, is of the second order of intensely calefacient, and desiccative medicines. By these means it cures ulcers in dry bodies, but increases and exasperates those in others.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. The _amurca_, as Dioscorides states, is the sediment of strained oil. Celsus mentions it often as a strong external application, in which form it is greatly commended by Dioscorides in various affections. He says it is an article in collyria and plasters. He also speaks of its being used as an injection into the rectum, the urethra, and the vagina, in diseases of these parts.

Ἀμπελόπρασον,

Ampeloprasum, _Vine-leek_, being a species of wild leek, is most acrid and hot according to the last degree: hence it proves deleterious. It is incisive, deobstruent, and hurtful to the stomach.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. The _Allium Ampeloprasum_ L. is recommended by Dioscorides as being more powerfully calefacient and emmenagogue than the leek (_Allium Porrum_); and when given in food, beneficial to persons stung by venomous animals. Our author follows Galen.

Ἄμπελος ἀγρία,

Vitis sylvestris, _the Wild Vine_; its grapes and tops are possessed of detergent powers, but have also some astringency. The powers of the _cultivated vine_ are like those of the wild, but weaker. The shoots of the _white vine_ (called also bryonia and psilothrum) are eaten as stomachics, and prove diuretic. The root is detergent, attenuant, and moderately hot. Wherefore it melts down the spleen when drunk or applied externally as a cataplasm with figs; and it cures itch and leprosy. The black vine, also called bryony, is like the aforementioned, only weaker.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. The wild vine is evidently the _Tamus communis_; the white the _Bryonia dioica_; and the black the _Bryonia alba_. Gerarde, our old herbalist, says that the reason why the bryony and the wild vine are confounded together, is that Pliny could not sufficiently expound them (xxiii, 1), and made them all one, in which error are all the Arabians. Dioscorides treats of them at considerable length, and more especially of the white, which he commends in the strongest terms, as an application to malignant and ill-conditioned sores. (iv, 180.) He and Oribasius take notice of its purgative powers. Our modern herbalists and older writers on the Materia Medica, all treat of the bryonies in the same terms as the ancient authorities. See _Bryonia_.

Ἀμὐγδαλα,

Amygdalæ, _Almonds_; the bitter are possessed of powers which are attenuant and deobstruent of deep-seated viscid and thick humours, and detergent of those lodged in the skin. The wood has the same powers. The sweet are moderately hot.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Respecting this article there can be no difference of opinion. Plutarch and many of the ancient authorities take notice of the powers of almonds in resisting intoxication. Dioscorides states that a cataplasm formed from almonds, with vinegar or rose oil, and applied to the forehead or temples relieves headache. Taken internally, he says, they are laxative, soporific, and diuretic. (i, 186.) Serapion gives nearly the same account of them. (c. 82.) Dioscorides greatly commends almond oil as a demulcent in various complaints, such as pains, inflammation, and displacement of the uterus, also in headache and earache, in nephritic, calculous, and other diseases. (i, 38.) Avicenna gives it the same character, and otherwise enlarges very fully in recapitulating the virtues of almonds. As an article of food, he says, bitter almonds are stomachic, and sweet almonds are fattening. He recommends them as an application to herpes and other diseases of the skin. Bitter almonds he speaks highly of in obstructions of the kidneys. Altogether the account which he gives of this article is most interesting. (ii, 257.) See also Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 45); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42.) The latter recommends them as powerful deobstruents of the liver.

Ἄμυλον,

Amylum, _Starch_, is formed from clean wheat moistened with water during the heat of the dog-days, which water is to be poured off five times in the day. When it becomes very soft, it is to be strained and the water poured off, and the bran separated; and it is to be dried quickly in the sun before it become sour. Its powers are moderately cooling, desiccant, and emollient of acrid humours.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Our author’s account of the mode of preparing starch is mostly taken from Dioscorides (ii, 123.) Pliny describes the process in nearly the same terms. He says, it may be prepared from wheat or spelt. (H. N. xxviii, 17.) He calls it astringent, and recommends it in hæmoptysis. Serapion also recommends it in this complaint. (c. 29.) Celsus ranks it among the “res boni succi.” (ii, 20.) It is mentioned by Hippocrates, who recommends it as an application to the mouth of the womb. (De Mulieb. ii.)

Ἄμωμον,

Amomum; its powers are like those of the sweet-flag; but the former is the drier, and the latter more digestive.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. For the general literature of this subject, we would beg to refer to what we have said in the Appendix to the Greek Lexicon. Notwithstanding all the illustration which it has received, it must be admitted that now we have no practical acquaintance with the article in question, unless we agree with Dr. Pereira in setting it down as the _Amomum Cardamomum_. This opinion, however, which had been previously stated by Feæus (Flor. Virg. xvi, 199), is controverted by the learned Sprengel. (ad Dioscor. i, 14.) But still if the cardamom be not exactly the amomum of the ancients, there can be no doubt that these two substances must have been very similar to one another. Dioscorides treats more fully of this article than Galen, Aëtius, Oribasius, or our author, describing it as being calefacient, astringent, desiccative, soporific, and anodyne when applied in a plaster to the forehead, and stating that it ripens and discusses boils and meliceris, proves useful to persons stung by scorpions, in a cataplasm with basil; relieves gouty persons, soothes inflammations of the eyes, and those in the bowels, with raisins; that it is useful in female complaints, in the form of a hip-bath, and that the decoction of it is fitting in cases of nephritis, hepatitis, and gout. (i, 14.) Serapion quotes the descriptions of it given by Dioscorides and Galen, and adds, upon the authority of Humaim, the son of Isaac, that it is possessed of inebriating and soporific powers. (c. 279.) Avicenna’s account of it is made up from Dioscorides, Galen, and Serapion (ii, 251.) Haly Abbas recommends the decoction of it (_hamama_) in diseases of the liver and kidneys. Celsus includes both the amomum and cardamomum (which, by the way, seems decidedly to prove that they were not _exactly_ the same thing) among the ingredients of an emollient plaster (_malagma_) which he describes, and which he recommends as an excellent application to abscesses, and various schirrous tumours. (v, 18, 7.) It does not occur, we believe, in the Materia Medica of Hippocrates; at least we have failed to detect it while writing this article.

Ἀναγαλλὶς,

Anagallis, _Pimpernel_; both kinds are of sufficiently detergent powers, having some hottish and attractive properties, so that they extract thorns; and the juice of it purges by the nose.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. These two well-known plants, namely, the _Anagallis arvensis_ and _cærulea_, are included in all the ancient lists of medicinal herbs, and were only of late excluded from our British Pharmacopœias. All the authorities, ancient and modern, give them the same characters as Dioscorides, to whom our author is principally indebted. (ii, 209.) He says they are useful in diseases of the kidneys and liver. (l. c.) The anagallis does not occur in the works of Celsus. For the Arabians, see Serapion (c. 155); Avicenna (ii, 2, 32.) They all copy from Dioscorides and Galen. Even Ebn Baithar supplies nothing of much consequence. (i, 90.)

Ἀνάγυρος,

Anagyrus, _Stinking-bean Trefoil_; is a strong-scented and acrid shrub of hot and discutient powers, but the seed consists of more subtile particles, and is emetic.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Dioscorides and Pliny recommend the _Anagyris fœtida_ for promoting the pains of labour, and the expulsion of the placenta after delivery. It is curious to remark that our old herbalists ascribe the same virtues to it. It was therefore to our forefathers in the profession what the ergot of rye is to the present generation; being, according to Galen, an acrid, diaphoretic, and heating substance, its action must, in many respects, have resembled the ergot. With the exception of Oribasius, who merely copies Dioscorides, we are not aware of any ancient writer that treats of it, with the exception of Ebn Baithar, and he also merely copies the descriptions of it given by Dioscorides and Galen. Though excluded from our Dispensatory, this article is not wholly unknown to the shops. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharm. 93.)

Ἀνδράχνη,

Portulaca, _Purslain_, is cooling in the third degree, but humectates in the second; and by these powers it relieves heat of the stomach when applied to the abdomen, and dispels defluxions. By its viscidity it smooths the teeth when set on edge by acids; and by its astringency it relieves dysentery and hemorrhages.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Aëtius, like our author, describes the purslane (_Portulaca oleracea_) as a cooling and sub-astringent herb. Both he and our author copy from Galen, who writes earnestly in commendation of this plant, which retained its place in our English Dispensatories down to a late date. Dioscorides likewise writes fully on its virtues, recommending it as a cooling and astringent medicine, externally, in pains of the head, inflammations of the eyes &c., and internally, for inflammations of the bowels, intestinal worms, hæmoptysis, hemorrhoids, and various other cases. (ii, 150.) Celsus also calls it an astringent and cooling herb. (ii.) For the Arabians, see Serapion (c. 349); Avicenna (ii, 2, 534); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 563); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42.) They treat of it in nearly the same terms as the Greeks.

Ἀνδρόσαιμον,

Androsæmum, _Tutsan_, or _Park-leaves_, (or St. John’s wort?); there are two varieties of it, the one of which is called ascyrron and ascyrroides, being a species of hypericon, but the other is named dionysias. Their fruit is purgative, but their leaves more desiccant.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Our Tutsan or Park-leaves has been generally set down as this plant, but Sibthorp, who viewed the plants of classic lands on the spot, inclines to the _Hypericum ciliatum_. The truth of the matter we believe to be that as the _Hypericum_ is a numerous genus, and the species have a close resemblance to one another, they were often confounded together by the older authorities. Both Culpeper the herbalist and Rutty have expressed their wonder that so important an article as the _androsæmum_ should have been lost sight of in recent times. Pliny, and all the medical authorities, recommend it strongly as an application to burns and ulcers, and ascribe cholagogue powers to it when administered internally. See Dioscorides (iii, 163); Galen (De Simpl. v); Aëtius (i); Oribasius (Med. Coll. xiii); Ebn Baithar (ii, 579); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 59.) The last two merely give extracts from Dioscorides and Galen.

Ἀνδρόσακες,

Androsaces, is a bitter and acrid herb, discutient and desiccative. It and its fruit, when drunk, are diuretic.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. This is a Syrian plant, which, although both Matthiolus and Gerarde pretend to give figures of it, has never been satisfactorily determined. Serapion and Avicenna have completely omitted treating of it, and Rhases merely says of the _androsafes_, by which he probably meant the _androsaces_, that it is decidedly heating with moderate astringency. (Cont. l. ult.) Our author seems to copy from Dioscorides (iii, 140.)

Ἀνεμώνη,

Anemone, _Wind-flower_; all the varieties of it have powers which are acrid, detergent, epispastic, and open the mouths of vessels: whence they increase phlegm, remove leprosy when applied, and attract milk.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. The wind-flowers, so celebrated in ancient poetry, being a numerous genus, there has been some difficulty in determining exactly the species described by Dioscorides. He mentions two, the cultivated and the wild, and divides each into two varieties, according to the difference of colour in their flowers. The former may be set down as the _A. coronaria_, and the other as the _A. nemorosa_. The latter only is indigenous in this country, but the other is commonly cultivated in gardens. He recommends them principally as external applications, as for foul ulcers, in collyria for inflammation of the eyes, and in pessaries to promote menstruation. (ii, 207.) Galen and the succeeding authorities follow him. The anemone is not to be found in Celsus. For the Arabians, see Avicenna (ii, 2, 655); Serapion (c. 72); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. iii, 48); Ebn Baithar (ii, 100.) They do little more than copy from Dioscorides. The _A. pratensis_ occurs in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia (132.)

Ἄνηθον,

Anethum, _Dill_; it warms in the second degree intensely, and dries in nearly the same degree. When boiled in oil it is diaphoretic, anodyne, and soporific; and concocts crude swellings. But when burnt it becomes of the third order of heating and drying medicines, and is useful when sprinkled upon foul ulcers. But the green is more humid, and less hot and digestive.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Our author condenses and abridges the account of the dill (_Anethum graveolens_) given by Galen. Dioscorides, in his usual empirical style, recommends it for various purposes, such as promoting the flow of milk, stopping slight vomiting, opening the bowels, increasing the urine, proving useful to hysterical women in a hip-bath, and so forth. (iii, 60.) The Arabians as usual copy from both. See Avicenna. (ii, 2, 69.)

Ἄνθυλλις,

Anthyllis; there are two varieties, both of which are desiccant applications to ulcers; but that resembling the ground-pine consists of more subtile particles, so as to be beneficial in epileptic cases. It is also more detergent.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. The former species, which Dioscorides describes and recommends for the cure of wounds, we would willingly refer to the _Anthyllis vulneraria_, but the predominance of authority is against it, and in favour of the _Cressa cretica_. The other is probably the _Ajuga Iva_. Avicenna joins Dioscorides in commending it as a vulnerary herb (ii, 2, 744), for which virtue the anthyllis was long celebrated, as its scientific name implies.

Ἄνησον,

Anisum, _Anise_; the seed is particularly acrid, eating, and drying in the third degree. Hence it is diuretic and dispels flatus.

* * * * *