Chaps. 30-46.

Chap. 30.—The Adiantum, Callitrichos, Trichomanes, Polytrichos, or Saxifragum; Two Varieties of It: Twenty-eight Remedies.

Equally marvellous, too, in other respects, is the adiantum; [Fée identifies it with the Asplenium trichomanes of Linnæus, spleen-wort, or ceterach. The Adiantum of Hippocrates and other Greek writers, he takes to be the Adiantum capillus Veneris of Linnæus, Venus’ hair, or maiden hair. Though Pliny would seem not to have been acquainted with the latter plant, he ascribes to the first one many of its properties and characteristics, deriving his information, probably, from a writer who was acquainted with both. See B. xxi. c..] it is green in summer, never dies in the winter, manifests an aversion to water, and, when sprinkled with water or dipped in it, has all the appearance of having been dried, so great is its antipathy to moisture; a circumstance to which it owes the name of “adiantum,” [From ἀ, “not,” and διαίνω, “to wet.” This is owing, Fée remarks, to the coat of waxen enamel or varnish with which the leaves are provided. The same is the case also with the leaf of the cabbage and other plants.] given to it by the Greeks. In other respects, it is a shrub which might be well employed in ornamental gardening. [The Asplenium trichomanes, Fée says, would not admit of being clipped for ornamental gardening.] Some persons give it the name of “callitrichos,” [“Fine hair,” and “thick hair.” These names originated more probably in the appearance of the plant than in any effects it may have produced as a dye for the hair.] and others of “polytrichos,” both of them bearing reference to its property of imparting colour to the hair. For this purpose, a decoction of it is made in wine with parsley-seed, large quantities of oil being added, if it is desired to make the hair thick and curly as well: it has also the property of preventing the hair from coming off.

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

The adiantum is of singular efficacy in expelling and breaking calculi of the bladder, the dark kind in particular; and it is for this reason, in my opinion, rather than because it grows upon stones, that it has received from the people of our country its name of “saxifragum.” [“Stone-breaking.”] It is taken in wine, the usual dose being a pinch of it in three fingers. Both these plants are diuretics, and act as an antidote to the venom of serpents and spiders: a decoction of them in wine arrests looseness of the bowels. A wreath of them, worn on the head, alleviates head-ache. For the bite of the scolopendra they are applied topically, but they must be removed every now and then, to prevent them from cauterizing the flesh: [Fée is of opinion that they possess no such property.] they are employed in a similar manner also for alopecy. [Loss of the hair.] They disperse scrofulous sores, scurf on the face, and running ulcers of the head. A decoction of them is useful also for asthma, affections of the liver and spleen, enlarged secretions of the gall, and dropsy. In combination with wormwood, they form a liniment for strangury and affections of the kidneys; they have the effect also of bringing away the after-birth, and act as an emmenagogue. Taken with vinegar or juice of bramble-berries, they arrest hæmorrhage. Combined with rose-oil they are employed as a liniment for excoriations on infants, the parts affected being first fomented with wine. The leaves, steeped in the urine of a youth who has not arrived at puberty, and beaten up with saltpetre, compose a liniment which, it is said, prevents wrinkles from forming on the abdomen in females. It is a general belief that partridges and cocks are rendered more pugnacious if this plant is mixed with their food; and it is looked upon as particularly beneficial for cattle.

Chap. 31. (22.)—The Picris; One Remedy. The Thesion; One Remedy.

The picris [See B. xxi. c.. The Picris asplenioides of Linnæus, Fée thinks, though Sprengel identifies it with the Helminthia echioides of Linnæus; but the leaves of that plant are not round.] derives its name from its intense bitterness, as we have previously stated. The leaf of it is round; it is remarkably efficacious for the removal of warts.

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

Chap. 32.—The Asphodel; Fifty-one Remedies.

The asphodel [See B. xxi. c..] is one of the most celebrated of all the plants, so much so, indeed, that by some persons it has been called “heroum.” [“Plant of the heroes.”] Hesiod has mentioned the fact of its growing in rivers, and Dionysius distinguishes it into male and female. [Mere varieties of the plant, so called with reference, probably, to the relative energy of their properties.] It has been observed that the bulbs of it, boiled with a ptisan, are remarkably good for consumption and phthisis, [Regarded in a medicinal point of view the bulb of the asphodel possesses some emollient properties, and nothing more. As an application to sores and abscesses it may reduce the inflammation, and being rich in mucilage, the pulp may form a nourishing food. All the other statements as to its medicinal properties are, as Fée remarks, quite fabulous.] and that bread in which they have been kneaded up with the meal, is extremely wholesome. Nicander [Theriaca, p. 39.] recommends also, for the stings of serpents and scorpions, either the stalk, which we have already [In B. xxi. c. 68.] spoken of under the name of “anthericus,” or else the seed or bulbs, to be taken in wine, in doses of three drachmæ; and he says that these should be strewed beneath the bed, if there is any apprehension of their presence. The asphodel is prescribed also for wounds inflicted by marine animals of a venomous nature, and the bite of the land scolopendra. It is quite wonderful how the snails, in Campania, seek the stalk of this plant, and dry it by extracting the inside. The leaves, too, are applied with wine to wounds made by venomous animals, and the bulbs are beaten up with polenta and similarly used for affections of the sinews and joints. It is also a very good plan to rub lichens with them chopped up and mixed with vinegar, and to apply them in water to putrid sores, as also to inflammations of the testes or mamillæ. Boiled in lees of wine, and applied in a linen pledget, they are used for the cure of defluxions of the eyes.

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

Chrysermus used to employ a decoction of the root, in wine, for imposthumes of the parotid glands; and he has prescribed it, in combination with cachrys, [See B. xvi. c. 11.] in wine, for the cure of scrofulous sores. Some persons say that if, after applying the root to the sores, a part of it is hung up in the smoke to dry, and not taken down till the end of four days, the sores will gradually dry up with this portion of the root. Sophocles [Other readings are Diocles, Socles, and Socrates. If “Sophocles” is the correct reading, all memorials of this physician have perished, beyond the mention made of him by Cælius Aurelianus, Chron. c. i.] used to employ it both ways, boiled and raw, for the cure of gout; and he prescribes it, boiled in oil, for chilblains, and, in vinegar, for jaundice and dropsy. It has been stated, also, that, used as a friction with wine and honey, or taken in drink, it acts as an aphrodisiac. Xenocrates assures us, too, that a decoction of the root in vinegar removes lichens, itch-scabs, and leprous sores; and that a decoction of it, with henbane and tar, has a similar effect, and is good also for the removal of bad odours [“Vitia.”] of the armpits and thighs: he states, also, that if the head is well rubbed with the root, being first shaved, the hair will curl all the better for it. Simus prescribes a decoction of it, in wine, to be taken for calculi in the kidneys; and Hippocrates recommends the seed for obstructions of the spleen. The root, or else a decoction of it, applied topically, restores the hair in beasts of burden, where it has been lost by ulcerations or scab. It has the effect, too, of driving away rats and mice, and of exterminating them, if placed before their holes.

Chap. 33.—The Halimon: Fourteen Remedies.

Some authors have thought that it is the asphodel that is called “halimon” by Hesiod, an opinion which appears to me ill-founded; halimon [The Atriplex halimus of Linnæus, sea orach. Belon says that it is found in great abundance in Candia, the ancient Crete, where it is known as “halimatia,” and the tops of the stalks are used as food.] being the name of a distinct plant, which has been the occasion of no few mistakes committed by writers. According to some, it is a tufted shrub, white, destitute of thorns, and with leaves like those of the olive, only softer; which eaten boiled, are an agreeable food. The root, they say, taken in doses of one drachma in hydromel, allays gripings of the bowels, and is a cure for ruptures and convulsions. Others, again, pronounce it to be a vegetable growing near the sea-shore, [Hence its name, ἅλιμον, from ἅλς, the “sea,” and not, as Pliny says, from its salt taste.] of a salt taste—to which, in fact, it owes its name—with leaves somewhat round but elongated, and much esteemed as an article of food. They say, too, that there are two species of it, the wild and the cultivated, [“Mitius.” Fée says that if this word means “cultivated,” the plant mentioned cannot be the Atriplex halimus; in which case he is inclined to identify it with the Atriplex portulacoides of Linnæus; the leaves and young stalks of which, preserved in vinegar, have an agreeable taste.] and that, mixed with bread, they are good, both of them, for dysentery, even if ulceration should have supervened, and are useful for stomachic affections, in combination with vinegar. They state, also, that this plant is applied raw to ulcers of long standing, and that it modifies the inflammation of recent wounds, and the pain attendant upon sprains of the feet and affections of the bladder. The wild halimon, they tell us, has thinner leaves than the other, but is more effectual as a medicament in all the above cases, as also for the cure of itch, whether in man or beast. The root, too, according to them, employed as a friction, renders the skin more clear, and the teeth whiter; and they assert that if the seed of it is put beneath the tongue, no thirst will be experienced. They state, also, that this kind is eaten as well as the other, and that they are, both of them, preserved.

Crateuas has spoken of a third [Some other plant, probably, Fée thinks.] kind also, with longer leaves than the others, and more hairy: it has the smell of the cypress, he says, and grows beneath the ivy more particularly. He states that this plant is extremely good for opisthotony and contractions of the sinews, taken in doses of three oboli to one sextarius of water.

Chap. 34.—The Acanthus, Pæderos, or Melamphyllos: Five Remedies.

The acanthus [As to the Acanthus or thorn, in a more general sense, see B. xxiv. c. 66, and the Notes.] is a plant that grows in cities, and is used in ornamental gardening. It has a broad, long leaf, and is used as a covering for the margins of ornamental waters and of parterres in gardens. [Pliny the Younger speaks of the Acanthus being used for a similar purpose, Epist. B. v. Ep. 6.] There are two varieties of it; the one that is thorny [The Acanthus spinosus of Linnæus.] and crisped is the shorter of the two; the other, which is smooth, [The Acanthus mollis of Linnæus; the brankursine.] is by some persons called “pæderos,” [“Lad’s love.”] and by others “melamphyllos.” [“Black-leafed.” Fée thinks it probable that this name may have been given to the variety “niger,” of Miller, which grows in great abundance in Sicily and Italy.] The root of this last is remarkably good for burns and sprains; and, boiled with the food, a ptisan more particularly, it is equally good for ruptures, spasms, and patients who are in apprehension of phthisis. The root is also beaten up and applied warm for hot gout.

Chap. 35.—The Bupleuron: Five Remedies.

The bupleuron [“Bull’s side,” apparently. Fée says that the identification of this plant is quite uncertain; the Buplevrum rigidum of Linnæus, the Buplevrum Baldense of Willdenow, and the Ammi majus of Linnæus, having been suggested. The first, he thinks, could never have been used as a vegetable, and the second is only found on Mount Baldo in Carniola, and in Croatia. Though the Ammi majus is more than a cubit in height, and could never have been used as a vegetable, he looks upon it as the most likely of the three. The seeds of it were formerly used as a carminative.] is reckoned by the Greeks in the number of the leguminous plants which grow spontaneously. The stem of it is a cubit in height, the leaves are long and numerous, and the head resembles that of dill. It has been extolled as an aliment by Hippocrates, and for its medicinal properties by Glaucon and Nicander. The seed of it is good for the stings of serpents; and the leaves, or else the juice, applied as a liniment with wine, bring away the after-birth. The leaves, also, in combination with salt and wine, are applied to scrofulous sores. The root is prescribed in wine for the stings of serpents, and as a diuretic.

Chap. 36.—The Buprestis: One Remedy.

With a remarkable degree of inconsistency, the Greek writers, while praising the buprestis [Sprengel and Desfontaines consider it to be the Buplevrum rotundifolium: but Fée is of a contrary opinion, and thinks that it is impossible to identify it.] as an aliment, point out certain antidotes [Though Hardouin attempts to defend him, it is more than probable that it is Pliny himself who is in error here; and that he has confounded the plant Buprestis with the insect of that name, which belongs to the class of Cantharides, and received its name (burn-cow) from its fatal effects when eaten by cattle.] to it, as though it were a poison. The very name, however, proves to a certainty that it is poisonous to cattle, and it is generally admitted that, on tasting it, they burst [See B. xxx. c. 10.] asunder: we shall, therefore, say no more about it. Is there any reason, in fact, why, when we are speaking of the materials employed in making our grass crowns, we should describe a poison? or really ought we to enlarge upon it only to please the libidinous fancies of those who imagine that there is not a more powerful aphrodisiac in existence than this, when taken in drink?

Chap. 37.—The Elaphoboscon: Nine Remedies.

The elaphoboscon [“Stag’s food.” Fée adopts the opinion of Sprengel and Sibthorpe, that this is the Pastinaca sativa of Linnæus, the cultivated parsnip. Desfontaines identifies it with the Sium sisarum; but, as Fée says, that plant is but rarely found in Greece.] is a ferulaceous plant, articulated, and about a finger in thickness. The seed of it is like that of dill, hanging in umbels resembling those of hart-wort in appearance, but not bitter. The leaves are very like those of olusatrum. [See B. xx. c.. For the olusatrum, see B. xx. c..] This plant, too, is highly spoken of as an article of food; in addition to which, it is preserved and kept as a diuretic [The parsnip is no longer employed for its medicinal properties; but for a long time, the seed was looked upon as a diuretic and febrifuge. The root contains a considerable quantity of saccharine matter.] and for the purpose of assuaging pains in the sides, curing ruptures and convulsions, and dispelling flatulency and colic. It is used, too, for the cure of wounds inflicted by serpents and all kinds of animals that sting; so much so, indeed, that, as the story goes, stags, by eating of it, fortify themselves against the attacks of serpents. The root, too, applied topically, with the addition of nitre, is a cure for fistula, but, when wanted for this purpose, it must be dried first, so as to retain none of the juice; though, on the other hand, this juice does not at all impair its efficacy as an antidote to the poison of serpents.

Chap. 38.—The Scandix: Nine Remedies. The Anthriscum: Two Remedies.

The scandix, [Sprengel identifies it with the Chærophyllum sativum of Linnæus, the scandix cerifolium, our common chervil; but Fée considers it to be the same as the Scandix pecten Veneris of Linnæus, the Venus’ comb chervil. Pliny has mentioned a “scandix” also in B. xxi. c. 52, but erroneously, Fée thinks.] too, is reckoned by the Greeks in the number of the wild vegetables, as we learn from Opion and Erasistratus. Boiled, it arrests [It is not used for any medicinal purposes at the present day.] looseness of the bowels; and the seed of it, administered with vinegar, immediately stops hiccup. It is employed topically for burns, and acts as a diuretic; a decoction of it is good, too, for affections of the stomach, liver, kidneys, and bladder. It is this plant that furnished Aristophanes with his joke [Acharn. A. ii. sc. 4: “Get some scandix from your mother, and give it me.” The same joke also appears in the “Equites;” and A. Gellius, B. xv. c. 20, says that Theopompus speaks of the mother of Euripides as having been a greengrocer.] against the poet Euripides, that his mother used to sell not real vegetables, but only scandix.

The anthriscum [Fée identifies it with the Anthriscus odoratus of Linnæus, the cultivated chervil. See B. xxi. c..] would be exactly the same plant as the scandix, if its leaves were somewhat thinner and more odoriferous. Its principal virtue is that it reinvigorates the body when exhausted by sexual excesses, and acts as a stimulant upon the enfeebled powers of old age. It arrests leucorrhœa in females.

Chap. 39.—The Iasione: Four Remedies.

The iasione, [See B. xxi. c..] which is also looked upon as a wild vegetable, is a creeping plant, full of a milky juice: it bears a white flower, the name given to which is “concilium.” The chief recommendation of this plant, too, is that it acts as an aphrodisiac. Eaten with the food, raw, in vinegar, it promotes the secretion of the milk in nursing women. It is salutary also for patients who are apprehensive of phthisis; and, applied to the head of infants, it makes the hair grow, and renders the scalp more firm.

Chap. 40.—The Caucalis: Twelve Remedies.

The caucalis, [See B. xxi. c..] too, is an edible plant. It resembles fennel in appearance, and has a short stem with a white flower; [This is the Caucalis grandiflora of Linnæus, Fée thinks.] it is usually considered a good cordial. [“Medicine for the heart.” All these statements as to its medicinal properties, are quite erroneous, Fée says.] The juice, too, of this plant is taken as a potion, being particularly recommended as a stomachic, a diuretic, an expellent of calculi and gravel, and for the cure of irritations of the bladder. It has the effect, also, of attenuating morbid secretions [“Pituitas.”] of the spleen, liver, and kidneys. The seed of it acts as an emmenagogue, and dispels the bilious secretions after child-birth: it is prescribed also, for males, in cases of seminal weakness. Chrysippus is of opinion that this plant promotes conception; for which purpose it is taken by women in wine, fasting. It is employed in the form of a liniment, for wounds inflicted by marine animals of a venomous nature, at least we find it so stated by Petrichus in his poem. [On Antidotes for the stings of serpents. See end of B..]

Chap. 41.—The Sium: Eleven Remedies.

Among these plants there is reckoned also the sium: [The Sium angustifolium has been named, but Fée prefers identifying it with the Sium latifolium of Linnæus, water-parsley.] it grows in the water, has a leaf broader than that of parsley, thicker, and of a more swarthy colour, bears a considerable quantity of seed, and has the taste of nasturtium. It is an active diuretic, is very good for the kidneys and spleen, and acts as an emmenagogue, either eaten by itself as an aliment, [Fée says that at the present day it is held in suspicion as an article of food, and that it is said to produce madness in ruminating animals. He thinks it not improbable that Pliny here attributes to it some of the properties which in reality belong to cresses.] or taken in the form of a decoction; the seed of it is taken in wine, in doses of two drachmæ. It disperses calculi in the bladder, and neutralizes the action of water which tends to their formation. Used in the form of an injection, it is good for dysentery, and applied topically, for the removal of freckles. It is applied by females, at night, for the removal of spots on the face, a result which it produces almost instantaneously. It has the effect also of assuaging hernia, and is good for the scab in horses.

Chap. 42.—The Sillybum.

The sillybum [See B. xxvi. c. 25. Sprengel identifies it with the Carduus marianus of Linnæus. Fée inclines, however, to the belief that it is the Sonchus palustris of Linnæus; the marsh sow-thistle.] resembles the white chamæleon, and is a plant quite as prickly. In Cilicia, Syria, and Phœnicia, the countries where it grows, it is not thought worth while to boil it, the cooking of it being so extremely troublesome, it is said. It is of no use whatever in medicine.

Chap. 43.—The Scolymos or Limonia: Five Remedies.

The scolymos, [Sprengel identifies it with the Scolymus maculatus of Linnæus, but Fée prefers the Scolymus Hispanicus of Linnæus, the Spanish thistle.] too, is used as an aliment [Fée says that the Scolymus grandiflorus is still eaten in Barbary.] in the East, where it has also the name of “limonia.” [The “meadow-plant.”] This is a shrub-like plant, which never exceeds a cubit in height, with tufted leaves and a black root, but sweet. Eratosthenes speaks highly of it as a diet used by the poor. It is said to possess diuretic properties in a very high degree, and to heal lichens and leprous sores, applied with vinegar. Taken in wine it acts as an aphrodisiac, according to the testimony of Hesiod [Works and Days, l. 582.] and Alcæus; who have stated in their writings, that while it is in blossom, the song of the grasshopper is louder than at other times, women more inflamed with desire, and men less inclined to amorous intercourse; and that it is by a kind of foresight on the part of Nature that this powerful stimulant is then in its greatest perfection. The root, too, used without the pith, corrects the noisome odour of the armpits, in doses of one ounce to two heminæ of Falernian wine; the mixture being boiled down to one third, and taken fasting after the bath, as also after meals, a cyathus at a time. It is a remarkable thing, but Xenocrates assures us that he has ascertained it experimentally, that these bad odours are carried off by the urine.

Chap. 44.—The Sonchos; Two Varieties: Fifteen Remedies.

The sonchos, [The Sonchus oleraceus of Linnæus, the common sow-thistle.] too, is edible—at least, it was this that, according to Callimachus, Hecale [A poor old woman, who hospitably entertained Theseus when on his expedition for the purpose of slaying the Marathonian bull. Theseus instituted a sacrifice at Athens in honour of her. See Ovid, Remed. Am. l. 747, and Callim. Fragm. 40.] set before Theseus. There are two kinds, the white [The Sonchus arvensis of Linnæus, the field sow-thistle.] and the black: [The Sonchus oleraceus asper of Linnæus, the prickly-leafed sow-thistle. These plants are eaten as a salad in some countries. They possess but little energy in a medicinal point of view, but they are cooling and slightly laxative. The marvels here related by Pliny, Fée says, are entirely fabulous.] they are, both of them, similar to the lettuce, except that they are prickly, with a stem a cubit in height, angular, and hollow within; when broken, the stem gives out an abundance of milky juice. The white kind, which derives its colour from the milk it contains, is good for hardness of breathing, if eaten dressed with seasoning like the lettuce. Erasistratus says that it carries off calculi by the urine, and that, chewed, it is a corrective of bad breath. The juice of it, taken warm in doses of three cyathi, with white wine and oil, facilitates delivery, but the patient must be careful to walk about immediately after drinking it: it is also given in broth.

A decoction of the stalk renders the milk more abundant in nursing women, and improves the complexion of the infants suckled by them; it is also remarkably beneficial for females when the milk coagulates. The juice of it is used as an injection for the ears, and is taken warm in doses of one cyathus, for strangury, as also for gnawing pains of the stomach, with cucumber seed and pine nuts. It is employed topically for abscesses of the rectum, and is taken in drink for the stings of serpents and scorpions, the root also being applied to the wounds. The root, boiled in oil, with the rind of a pomegranate, is a remedy for diseases of the ears—all these remedies, however, be it remembered, are derived from the white kind.

As to the black sonchos, Cleemporus forbids it to be eaten, as being productive of diseases, but at the same time he approves of the use of the white. Agathocles, however, goes so far as to assert that the juice of the black kind is an antidote for poisoning by bulls’ blood; and, indeed, it is generally agreed that the black sonchos has certain refreshing properties; for which reason cataplasms of it may be advantageously applied with polenta. Zeno recommends the root of the white kind for strangury.

Chap. 45.—The Condrion or Chondrylla: Six Remedies.

The condrion, [Sibthorpe thinks that this is the Chondrilla ramosissima of Linnæus; but Fée identifies it with the Chondrilla juncea of Linnæus. The Lactuca perennis has also been suggested. See B. xxi. cc. and.] or chondrylla, has leaves, eaten away, as it were, at the edges, and similar to those of endive, a stalk less than a foot in length and full of a bitter juice, and a root resembling that of the bean, and occasionally very ramified. It produces, near the surface of the earth, a sort of mastich, [In the Isle of Lemnos, at the present day, a milky juice is extracted from the root of the Chondrilla juncea.] in a tubercular form, the size of a bean; this mastich, it is said, employed as a pessary, promotes the menstrual discharge. This plant, pounded whole with the roots, is divided into lozenges, which are employed for the stings of serpents, and probably with good effect; for field mice, it is said, when injured by those reptiles, are in the habit of eating this plant. A decoction of it in wine arrests looseness of the bowels, and makes a most excellent substitute for gum, as a bandoline for the eye-lashes, [To keep the hairs in their proper place.] even when the hairs are most stubborn. Dorotheus says, in his poems, that it is extremely good for the stomach and the digestive organs. Some persons, however, have been of opinion that it is unwholesome for females, bad for the eyesight, and productive of impotence in the male sex.

Chap. 46.—Mushrooms: Peculiarities of Their Growth.

Among those vegetable productions which are eaten with risk, I shall, with good reason, include mushrooms; [“Boleti.”] a very dainty food, it is true, but deservedly held in disesteem since the notorious crime committed by Agrippina, who, through their agency, poisoned her husband, the Emperor Claudius, and at the same moment, in the person of his son Nero, inflicted another poisonous curse upon the whole world, herself [She having been put to death by him.] in particular.

Some of the poisonous mushrooms are easily known, being of a rank, unwholesome look, light red without and livid within, with the clefts [“Rimosa stria.”] considerably enlarged, and a pale, sickly margin to the head. [This description would apply to many of the fungi known as toadstools at the present day.] These characteristics, however, are not presented by others of the poisonous kinds; but being dry to all appearance and strongly resembling the genuine ones, they present white spots upon the head, on the surface of the outer coat. The earth, in fact, first produces the uterus [A true description, Fée says, of the agaric oronge, or the laseras mushroom.] or receptacle for the mushroom, and then the mushroom within, like the yolk in the egg. Nor is this envelope less conducive to the nutrition of the young mushroom [than is the albumen of the egg to that of the chicken.] Bursting forth from the envelope at the moment of its first appearance, as it gradually increases it becomes transformed into a substantial stalk; it is but very rarely, too, that we find two growing from a single foot-stalk. The generative [The true origin of fungi has not been discovered till a comparatively recent period, since the days of Linnæus even. It is now known that they are propagated by microscopic granules which are lodged in particular receptacles, or else by a dissolution and dispersion of their filamentous tissues.] principle of the mushroom is in the slime and the fermenting juices of the damp earth, or of the roots of most of the glandiferous trees. It appears at first in the shape of a sort of viscous foam, and then assumes a more substantial but membranous form, after which, as already stated, the young mushroom appears.

In general, these plants are of a pernicious nature, and the use of them should be altogether rejected; for if by chance they should happen to grow near a hob-nail, [“Clavus caligaris.” A nail of a caliga, or military boot. See B. vii. c. 44, and B. ix. c. 33.] a piece of rusty iron, or a bit of rotten cloth, they will immediately imbibe all these foreign emanations and flavours, and transform them into poison. Who, in fact, is able to distinguish them, except those who dwell in the country, or the persons [The peasants, Fée says, who are in the habit of gathering them, may probably be better trusted than the most learned authors that have written on the subject. He thinks it the best plan, however, to avoid all risks, by confining ourselves to the use of the common field mushroom, the morel, and one or two other well-known kinds.] that are in the habit of gathering them? There are other circumstances, too, which render them noxious; if they grow near the hole of a serpent, [A prejudice entirely without foundation, Fée remarks.] for instance, or if they should happen to have been breathed upon by one when just beginning to open; being all the more disposed to imbibe the venom from their natural affinity to poisonous substances.

It will therefore be as well to be on our guard during the season at which the serpents have not as yet retired to their holes for the winter. The best sign to know this by is a multitude of herbs, of trees, and of shrubs, which remain green from the time that these reptiles leave their holes till their return; indeed, the ash alone will be quite sufficient for the purpose, the leaves of it never coming out after the serpents have made their appearance, or beginning to fall before they have retired to their holes. The entire existence of the mushroom, from its birth to its death, is never more than seven days. [Fée says that from this it is evident that Pliny understands only the stalk mushrooms under the name of “boleti;” the fungi which adhere to trees living more years, many of them, than Pliny mentions days.]