Chaps. 14-25.

Chap. 14.—The Parsnip: Five Remedies. The Hibiscum, Wild Mallow, or Plistolochia: Eleven Remedies.

The hibiscum, by some persons known as the wild mallow, [“Moloche agria.”] and by others as the “plistolochia,” bears a strong resemblance to the parsnip; [See B. xix. c..] it is good for ulcerations of the cartilages, and is employed for the cure of fractured bones. The leaves of it, taken in water, relax the stomach; they have the effect, also, of keeping away serpents, and, employed as a liniment, are a cure for the stings of bees, wasps, and hornets. The root, pulled up before sunrise, and wrapped in wool of the colour known as “native,” [See B. viii. c. 73.] taken from a sheep which has just dropped a ewe lamb, is employed as a bandage for scrofulous swellings, even after they have suppurated. Some persons are of opinion, that for this purpose the root should be dug up with an implement of gold, and that care should be taken not to let it touch the ground.

Celsus, [De Remed. B. iv. c. 24. The parsnip is a stimulating plant, and it is not without reason, Fée says, that Celsus recommends it for this purpose.] too, recommends this root to be boiled in wine, and applied in cases of gout unattended with swelling.

Chap. 15. (5.)—The Staphylinos, or Wild Parsnip: Twenty-two Remedies.

The staphylinos, or, as some persons call it, “erratic [Or “wild.” See B. xix. c..] parsnip,” is another kind. The seed [This seed, Fée says, is an energetic excitant, and certainly would not be found suitable for any of the purposes here mentioned by Pliny; though equally recommended for them by Galen, Dioscorides, and in Athenæus.] of this plant, pounded and taken in wine, reduces swelling of the abdomen, and alleviates hysterical suffocations and pains, to such a degree as to restore the uterus to its natural condition. Used as a liniment, also, with raisin wine, it is good for pains of the bowels in females; for men, too, beaten up with an equal proportion of bread, and taken in wine, it may be found beneficial for similar pains. It is a diuretic also, and it will arrest the progress of phagedænic ulcers, if applied fresh with honey, or else dried and sprinkled on them with meal.

Dieuches recommends the root of it to be given, with hydromel, for affections of the liver and spleen, as also the sides, loins, and kidneys; and Cleophantus prescribes it for dysentery of long standing. Philistio says that it should be boiled in milk, and for strangury he prescribes four ounces of the root. Taken in water, he recommends it for dropsy, as well as in cases of opisthotony, [Tetanus, or contraction of the muscles, in which the head is twisted round or stretched backwards.] pleurisy, and epilepsy. Persons, it is said, who carry this plant about them, will never be stung by serpents, and those who have just eaten of it will receive no hurt from them. Mixed with axle-grease, [“Axungia;” properly swine’s grease, with which the axle-trees of chariots were rubbed. See B. xxviii. c. 9.] it is applied to parts of the body stung by reptiles; and the leaves of it are eaten as a remedy for indigestion.

Orpheus has stated that the staphylinos acts as a philtre, [Diphilus of Siphnos, as quoted in Athenæus, B. ix. c. 3, states that the ancients employed this plant as a philtre, for which reason it was called by some persons φίλτρον.] most probably because, a very-well-established fact, when employed as a food, it is an aphrodisiac; a circumstance which has led some persons to state that it promotes conception. In other respects the cultivated parsnip has similar properties; though the wild kind is more powerful in its operation, and that which grows in stony soils more particularly. The seed, too, of the cultivated parsnip, taken in wine, or vinegar and water, [“Posca.” This was the ordinary drink of the lower classes at Rome, as also the soldiers when on service, and the slaves. “Oxycrate” is the scientific name sometimes given to vinegar and water.] is salutary for stings inflicted by scorpions. By rubbing the teeth with the root of this plant, tooth-ache is removed.

Chap. 16.—Gingidion: One Remedy.

The Syrians devote themselves particularly to the cultivation of the garden, a circumstance to which we owe the Greek proverb, “There is plenty of vegetables in Syria.” [Πολλὰ Σύρων λάχανα. Similar to our proverb, probably, “There is more corn in Egypt.”]

Among other vegetables, that country produces one very similar to the staphylinos, and known to some persons as “gingidion,” [The Daucus visnaga of Linnæus, the Daucus gingidium of Sprengel, the Visnagha, or Bisnagha of other botanists. It is also known as the “wild carrot,” or “French carrot.”] only that it is smaller than the staphylinos and more bitter, though it has just the same properties. Eaten either raw or boiled, it is very beneficial to the stomach, as it entirely absorbs all humours with which it may happen to be surcharged.

Chap. 17.—The Skirret: Eleven Remedies.

The wild [Or “erratic.”] skirret, too, is very similar to the cultivated kind, [See B. xix. c..] and is productive of similar effects. It sharpens [The root and seed, Fée observes, really are stimulants: there is no perceptible difference between the wild and cultivated plants. For silphium, see B. xix. c..] the stomach, and, taken with vinegar flavoured with silphium, or with pepper and hydromel, or else with garum, it promotes the appetite. According to Opion, it is a diuretic, and acts as an aphrodisiac. [Fée thinks that it may be so in a slight degree.] Diocles is also of the same opinion; in addition to which, he says that it possesses cordial virtues for convalescents, and is extremely beneficial after frequent vomitings.

Heraclides has prescribed it against the effects of mercury, [Pliny often speaks of persons having swallowed quicksilver, but never lets us know under what circumstances. As Fée remarks, it could not be accidentally; nor yet, on the other hand, could it have been done purposely, with the object of committing suicide, it not being an active poison. He concludes that it must have been taken medicinally, and that part of it becoming absorbed in the system, other remedies were resorted to, to counteract its noxious effects.] and for occasional impotence, as also generally for patients when convalescent. Hicesius says that skirrets would appear to be prejudicial [“Inutile,” and not “utile,” is evidently the correct reading here.] to the stomach, because no one is able to eat three of them following; still, however, he looks upon them as beneficial to patients who are just resuming the use of wine. The juice of the cultivated skirret, taken in goats’-milk, arrests looseness of the stomach.

Chap. 18.—Sile, or Hartwort: Twelve Remedies.

As the similitude which exists between their Greek names [Σισάρον the “skirret,” and Σέσελι, Σέλι, or Σίλι, “hart-wort.”] has caused most persons to mistake the one for the other, we have thought it as well to give some account here of sile or hartwort, [The Seseli tortuosum of Linnæus.] though it is a plant which is very generally known. The best hartwort is that of Massilia, [Or Marseilles: the Seseli tortuosum. Fée says that there is great confusion relative to the supposed varieties of this plant. The Bupleurum fruticosum, or Seseli of Æthiopia, has leaves smaller than those of ivy, and resembling the leaves of honeysuckle. That of Peloponnesus, the Ligusticum austriacum, has a leaf similar to that of hemlock, but larger and thicker; and the Seseli of Crete, some species of the genus Tordylium, is a small plant which throws out shoots in large quantities. All these, he says, are so far different plants, that it is quite impossible to unite them with any degree of certainty under one concordance. Indeed, he thinks it very possible that they do not all belong to the genus Seseli of modern botanists.] the seed of it being broad and yellow; and the next best is that of Æthiopia, the seed of which is of a darker hue. The Cretan hartwort is the most odoriferous of the several kinds. The root of this plant has a pleasant smell; the seed of it is eaten by vultures, it is said. [It is clear that Pliny hesitates to believe this story, and it is hardly necessary to remark how utterly foreign this is to the habits of carnivorous birds.] Hartwort is useful to man for inveterate coughs, ruptures, and convulsions, being usually taken in white wine; it is employed also in cases of opisthotony, and for diseases of the liver, as well as for griping pains in the bowels and for strangury, in doses of two or three spoonfuls at a time.

The leaves of this plant are useful also, and have the effect of aiding parturition—in animals even: indeed, it is generally said that roes, [See B. viii. c. 50. An absurd story.] when about to bring forth, are in the habit of eating these leaves in particular. They are topically applied, also, in erysipelas; and either the leaves or the seed, taken fasting in the morning, are very beneficial to the digestion. Hartwort has the effect, too, of arresting looseness in cattle, either bruised and put into their drink, or else eaten by them after it has been chewed with salt. When oxen are in a diseased state, it is beaten up and poured into their food.

Chap. 19.—Elecampane: Eleven Remedies.

Elecampane, [The Inula Helenium of botanists. See B. xix. c..] too, chewed fasting, has the effect of strengthening the teeth, if, from the moment that it is plucked, it is not allowed to touch the ground: a confection of it is a cure for cough. The juice of the root boiled is an expellent of intestinal tapeworm; and dried in the shade and reduced to powder, the root [Modern notions, Fée says, do not agree with those of the ancients on the subject of elecampane. The root owes the energy of its action to the camphor which it contains.] is curative in cases of cough, convulsions, flatulency, and affections of the trachea. It is useful too, for the bites of venomous animals; and the leaves steeped in wine are applied topically for pains in the loins.

Chap. 20.—Onions: Twenty-seven Remedies.

There are no such things in existence as wild onions. The cultivated onion is employed for the cure of dimness [This notion of the virtues of the onion is quite erroneous, though it still prevails to a considerable degree. Hippocrates, however, Dioscorides, and Galen, like Pliny, attribute this property to the onion.] of sight, the patient being made to smell at it till tears come into the eyes: it is still better even if the eyes are rubbed with the juice. It is said, too, that onions are soporific, [This, Fée says, is not the fact.] and that they are a cure for ulcerations of the mouth, if chewed with bread. Fresh onions in vinegar, applied topically, or dried onions with wine and honey, are good for the bites of dogs, care being taken not to remove the bandage till the end of a couple of days. Applied, too, in the same way, they are good for healing excoriations. Roasted in hot ashes, many persons have applied them topically, with barley meal, for defluxions of the eyes and ulcerations of the genitals. The juice, too, is employed as an ointment for sores of the eyes, albugo, [A disease of the eye, by which the cornea contracts a whiteness.] and argema. [A white speck within the black of the eye.] Mixed with honey, it is used as a liniment for the stings [It is of no use whatever for such a purpose.] of serpents and all kinds of ulcerous sores. In combination with woman’s milk, it is employed for affections of the ears; and in cases of singing in the ears and hardness of hearing, it is injected into those organs with goose-grease or honey. In cases where persons have been suddenly struck dumb, it has been administered to them to drink, mixed with water. In cases, too, of toothache, it is sometimes introduced into the mouth as a gargle for the teeth; it is an excellent remedy also for all kinds of wounds made by animals, scorpions more particularly.

In cases of alopecy [Fox evil, or scurf, or scaldhead: a disease which causes the hair to fall off the body. It derives its name from the Greek ἀλώπηξ, a “fox,” from the circumstance that they were supposed to be peculiarly affected with a similar disease.] and itch-scab, bruised onions are rubbed on the parts affected: they are also given boiled to persons afflicted with dysentery or lumbago. Onion peelings, burnt to ashes and mixed with vinegar, are employed topically for stings of serpents and multipedes. [Or millepedes. See c. of this Book.]

In other respects, there are remarkable differences of opinion among medical men. The more modern writers have stated that onions are good for the thoracic organs and the digestion, but that they are productive of flatulency and thirst. The school of Asclepiades maintains that, used as an aliment, onions impart a florid [So the school of Salerno says— Non modicum sanas Asclepius asserit illas, Præsertim stomacho, pulchrumque creare colorem.] colour to the complexion, and that, taken fasting every day, they are promoters of robustness and health; that as a diet, too, they are good for the stomach by acting upon the spirits, and have the effect of relaxing the bowels. He says, too, that, employed as a suppository, onions disperse piles, and that the juice of them, taken in combination with juice of fennel, is wonderfully beneficial in cases of incipient dropsy. It is said, too, that the juice, taken with rue and honey, is good for quinsy, and has the effect of dispelling lethargy. [This is not the case.] Varro assures us that onions, pounded with salt and vinegar and then dried, will never be attacked by worms. [“Vermiculis.” Small worms or maggots.]

Chap. 21. (6.)—Cutleek: Thirty-two Remedies.

Cutleek [“Porrum sectivum.” See B. xix. c..] has the effect of stanching bleeding at the nose, the nostrils being plugged with the plant, pounded, or else mixed with nut-galls or mint. The juice of it, taken with woman’s milk, arrests floodings after a miscarriage; and it is remedial in cases even of inveterate cough, and of affections of the chest [Fée thinks that boiled leeks may possibly, with some justice, be ranked among the pectorals.] and lungs. The leaves, applied topically, are employed for the cure of pimples, burns, and epinyctis [This, as Pliny himself here remarks, is a different disease from that previously mentioned in c. 6 of this Book.] —this last being the name given to an ulcer, known also as “syce,” [From the Greek συκὴ, “a fig.”] situate in the corner of the eye, from which there is a continual running: some persons, however, give this name to livid pustules, which cause great restlessness in the night. Other kinds of ulcers, too, are treated with leeks beaten up with honey: used with vinegar, they are extensively employed also for the bites of wild beasts, as well as of serpents and other venomous creatures. Mixed with goats’ gall, or else honied wine in equal proportions, they are used for affections of the ears, and, combined with woman’s milk, for singing in the ears. In cases of head-ache, the juice is injected into the nostrils, or else into the ear at bed-time, two spoonfuls of juice to one of honey.

This juice is taken too with pure wine, [“Merum.”] for the stings of serpents and scorpions, and, mixed with a semi-sextarius of wine, for lumbago. The juice, or the leek itself, eaten as a food, is very beneficial to persons troubled with spitting of blood, phthisis, or inveterate catarrhs; in cases also of jaundice or dropsy, and for nephretic pains, it is taken in barley-water, in doses of one acetabulum of juice. The same dose, too, mixed with honey, effectually purges the uterus. Leeks are eaten, too, in cases of poisoning by fungi, [They would be of no utility whatever.] and are applied topically to wounds: they act also as an aphrodisiac, [This is an unfounded statement, Fée says.] allay thirst, and dispel the effects of drunkenness; but they have the effect of weakening the sight and causing flatulency, it is said, though, at the same time, they are not injurious to the stomach, and act as an aperient. Leeks impart a remarkable clearness to the voice. [See B. xix. c.. Aristotle, Sotion, and Dioscorides state to the same effect.]

Chap. 22.—Bulbed Leek: Thirty-nine Remedies.

Bulbed leek [“Porrum capitatum.”] produces the same effects as cut-leek, [There is no difference now recognized between these two kinds of leeks, so far as their medicinal effects are concerned.] but in a more powerful degree. To persons troubled with spitting of blood, the juice of it is given, with powdered nut-galls [See B. xvi. c. 9.] or frankincense, or else gum acacia. [I. e. gum arabic. For an account of the Acacia Nilotica, see B. xiii. c. 19.] Hippocrates, [De Morb. Mul. B. ii. c. 89, and De Steril. c. 13.] however, prescribes it without being mixed with anything else, and expressed himself of opinion that it has the property of opening the uterus when contracted, and that taken as an aliment by females, it is a great promoter of fecundity. Beaten up and mixed with honey, it cleanses ulcerous sores. It is good for the cure of coughs, catarrhs, and all affections of the lungs and of the trachea, whether given in the form of a ptisan, or eaten raw, the head excepted: it must be taken, however, without bread, and upon alternate days, and this even if there should be purulent expectorations.

Taken in this form, it greatly improves the voice, and acts as an aphrodisiac, and as a promoter of sleep. The heads, boiled in a couple of waters, arrest looseness of the bowels, and fluxes of long standing; and a decoction of the outer coat acts as a dye upon grey hair. [This is not the fact.]

Chap. 23.—Garlic: Sixty-one Remedies.

Garlic [See B. xix. c..] has very powerful [Fée says that the action of garlic is so powerful, that it is one of the most energetic vermifuges known; but at the same time it is so strong an excitant, that it is very liable to cause worse evils than the presence even of worms.] properties, and is of great utility to persons on changes of water or locality. The very smell of it drives away serpents and scorpions, and, according to what some persons say, it is a cure for wounds made by every kind of wild beast, whether taken with the drink or food, or applied topically. Taken in wine, it is a remedy for the sting of the hæmorrhoïs [This serpent is described by Lucan, in the “Pharsalia,” B. ix. l. 708, et seq., where a fearful account is given of the effects of its sting. Nicander, in his “Theriaca,” informs us that those bitten by the hæmorrhoïs die with the blood flowing from the nose and ears, whence its name.] more particularly, acting as an emetic. We shall not be surprised too, that it acts as a powerful remedy for the bite of the shrew-mouse, when we find that it has the property of neutralizing aconite, otherwise known as “pardalianches.” [Pard or panther-strangle. See B. xxvii. c. 2. The juice of garlic has no such effect as here stated.] It neutralizes henbane, also, and cures the bites of dogs, when applied with honey to the wound. It is taken in drink also for the stings of serpents; and of its leaves, mixed with oil, a most valuable liniment is made for bruises on the body, even when they have swelled and formed blisters.

Hippocrates [De Morb. Mul. B. i. c. 74.] is of opinion also, that fumigations made with garlic have the effect of bringing away the after-birth; and he used to employ the ashes of garlic, mixed with oil, for the cure of running ulcers of the head. Some persons have prescribed boiled garlic for asthmatic patients; while others, again, have given it raw. Diocles prescribes it, in combination with centaury, for dropsy, and to be taken in a split fig, to promote the alvine evacuations: taken fresh, however, in unmixed wine, with coriander, it is still more efficacious for that purpose. Some persons have given it, beaten up in milk, for asthma. Praxagoras used to prescribe garlic, mixed with wine, for jaundice, and with oil and pottage for the iliac passion: he employed it also in a similar form, as a liniment for scrofulous swellings of the neck.

The ancients used to give raw garlic in cases of madness, and Diocles administered it boiled for phrenitis. Beaten up, and taken in vinegar and water, it is very useful as a gargle for quinsy. Three heads of garlic, beaten up in vinegar, give relief in toothache: and a similar result is obtained by rinsing the mouth with a decoction of garlic, and inserting pieces of it in the hollow teeth. Juice of garlic is sometimes injected into the ears with goose-grease, [See B. xxix. c. 39.] and, taken in drink, or similarly injected, in combination with vinegar and nitre, it arrests phthiriasis [The Morbus pedicularis. From the frequent mention of it, Fée says, it would seem to have been very prevalent in ancient times; whereas now, it is but rarely known.] and porrigo. [A disease of the skin; supposed by some to be the same as ringworm. The word is employed in modern medicine to signify skin diseases in general, such as itch, lichen, scaldhead, ringworm, &c.] Boiled with milk, or else beaten up and mixed with soft cheese, it is a cure for catarrhs. Employed in a similar manner, and taken with pease or beans, it is good for hoarseness, but in general it is found to be more serviceable cooked than raw, and boiled than roasted: in this last state, however, it is more beneficial to the voice. Boiled in oxymel, it has the effect of expelling tape-worm and other intestinal worms; and a pottage made of it is a cure for tenesmus. A decoction of garlic is applied topically for pains in the temples; and first boiled and then beaten up with honey, it is good for blisters. A decoction of it, with stale grease, or milk, is excellent for a cough; and where persons are troubled with spitting of blood or purulent matter, it may be roasted in hot ashes, and taken with honey in equal proportions. For convulsions and ruptures it is administered in combination with salt and oil; and, mixed with grease, it is employed for the cure of suspected tumours.

Mixed with sulphur and resin, garlic draws out the humours from fistulous sores, and employed with pitch, it will extract an arrow even [Pintianus suggests “hirudines,” “leeches,” and not “arundines,” arrows. The latter reading is supported, however, by Plinius Valerianus and M. Empiricus.] from the wound. In cases of leprosy, lichen, and eruptions of the skin, it acts as a detergent, and effects a cure, in combination with wild marjoram, or else reduced to ashes, and applied as a liniment with oil and garum. [An expensive kind of fish-sauce: for some further account of it see B. ix. c. 30.] It is employed in a similar manner, too, for erysipelas; and, reduced to ashes, and mixed with honey, it restores contused or livid spots on the skin to their proper colour. It is generally believed, too, that taken in the food and drink, garlic is a cure for epilepsy, and that a clove of it, taken in astringent wine, with an obolus’ weight of silphium, [See B. xix. c..] will have the effect of dispelling quartan fever. Garlic cures coughs also, and suppurations of the chest, however violent they may be; to obtain which result, another method is followed, it being boiled with broken beans, and employed as a diet till the cure is fully effected. It is a soporific also, and in general imparts to the body an additional ruddiness of colour.

Garlic acts as an aphrodisiac, beaten up with fresh coriander, and taken in pure wine. The inconveniences which result from the use of it, are dimness of the sight and flatulency; and if taken in too large quantities, it does injury to the stomach, and creates thirst. In addition to these particulars, mixed with spelt flour, and given to poultry in their food, it preserves them from attacks of the pip. [See B. x. c. 78.] Beasts of burden, it is said, will void their urine all the more easily, and without any pain, if the genitals are rubbed with garlic.

Chap. 24.—The Lettuce: Forty-two Remedies. The Goat-lettuce: Four Remedies.

The first kind of lettuce which grows spontaneously, is the one that is generally known as “goat [“Caprina.” See B. xxvi. c. 39.] -lettuce;” thrown into the sea, this vegetable has the property of instantaneously killing all the fish that come into its vicinity. The milky juice of this lettuce, [Fée is of opinion that this in reality is not a lettuce, but that Pliny has been led, by the milky juice which it contains, to that conclusion. In B. xxvi. c. 39, he calls it “tithymalum.” Hardouin conjectures it to have been the spurge, or Euphorbia lathyris of Linnæus, the juice of which is a violent drastic; and Fée is of opinion that it must have been one of the Euphorbiaceæ. At the same time, he says, powerful as their properties are, we cannot believe that they exercise the destructive effects on fish here stated.] left to thicken and then put into vinegar, is given in doses of two oboli, with the addition of one cyathus of water, to patients for dropsy. The stalk and leaves, bruised and sprinkled with salt, are used for the cure of wounds of the sinews. Pounded with vinegar, and employed as a gargle in the morning twice a month, they act as a preventive of tooth-ache.

Chap. 25.—Cæsapon: One Remedy. Isatis: One Remedy. The Wild Lettuce: Seven Remedies.

There is a second kind of wild lettuce, known by the Greeks is “cæsapon.” [Fée thinks that this plant may be looked for among the varieties of the Sonchus or the Hieracium, which belong to the same family as the lettuce.] The leaves of this lettuce, applied as a liniment with polenta, [See B. xviii. c..] are used for the cure of ulcerous sores. This plant is found growing in the fields. A third kind, again, grows in the woods; the name given to it is “isatis.” [Fée thinks that this is the Isatis tinctoria of Linnæus in a wild state, and Littré suggests that the one next mentioned is the same plant, cultivated. Fée says, however, that this plant, employed in dyeing wool, does not contain any milky juice, a fact which should have cautioned Pliny against classing it among the Lactucæ.] The leaves of this last, beaten up and applied with polenta, are very useful for the cure of wounds. A fourth kind is used by dyers of wool; in the leaves it would resemble wild lapathum, were it not that they are more numerous and darker. This lettuce has the property of stanching blood, and of healing phagedænic sores and putrid spreading ulcers, as well as tumours before suppuration. Both the root as well as the leaves are good, too, for erysipelas; and a decoction of it is drunk for affections of the spleen. Such are the properties peculiar to each of these varieties.