Chaps. 47-59.

Chap. 47. (23.)—Fungi; Signs by Which the Venomous Kinds May Be Recognized: Nine Remedies.

Fungi are of a more humid nature than the last, and are divided into numerous kinds, all of which are derived solely from the pituitous humours [“Ex pituita.” Fée thinks that under the name of “boleti,” Pliny means exclusively agaries or mushrooms of the division Amanites, which contains both the best and the most noxious kinds—the oronge for instance, and the false oronge.] of trees. The safest are those, the flesh of which is red, [The Agaricus campestris of Linnæus, Fée thinks, our common field mushroom, or, possibly, the Agaricus deliciosus of Linnæus.] the colour being more pronounced than that of the mushroom. The next best are the white [The Agaricus procerus of Schœfer, probably, the tall columelle, Fée thinks.] ones, the stems of which have a head very similar to the apex [A cap worn by the Flamen; or chief-priest, of a somewhat conical shape; very similar in form to the Russian helmet of the present day.] worn by the Flamens; and a third kind are the suilli, [“Swine mushrooms.” Fée suggests that this may be the Boletus edulis of Bulliard.] very conveniently adapted for poisoning. Indeed, it is but very recently that they have carried off whole families, and all the guests at a banquet; Annæus Serenus, [A valued friend of the philosopher Seneca, as we learn from Tacitus, and Seneca’s Epistles, Ep. 63.] for instance, the prefect of Nero’s guard, together with all the tribunes and centurions. What great pleasure, then, can there be in partaking of a dish of so doubtful [See Martial’s Epigrams, B. i. Ep. 21.] a character as this? Some persons have classified these fungi according to the trees to which they are indebted for their formation, the fig, for instance, the fennel-giant, and the gummiferous trees; those belonging to the beech, the robur, and the cypress, not being edible, as already mentioned. [In B. xvi. c. 11. In that passage, however, the pine is mentioned, and not the beech.] But who is there to give us a guarantee when they come to market, that these distinctions have been observed?

All the poisonous fungi are of a livid colour; and the degree of similarity borne by the sap of the tree itself to that of the fig will afford an additional indication whether they are venomous or not. We have already mentioned [In B. xx. c. 13, et passim.] various remedies for the poison of fungi, and shall have occasion to make mention of others; but in the mean time, it will be as well to observe that they themselves also have some medicinal [Fée says that the fungi are but little used in modern medicine: the white bolet, he says, or larch bolet, is sometimes employed as a purgative, and some German writers have spoken in praise of the Boletus suaveolens of Bulliard as a remedy for pulmonary phthisis. The agaric known as amadue, or German tinder, is also employed in surgery. Fée remarks that all that Pliny says as to the medicinal properties of mushrooms and fungi is more or less hazardous.] uses. Glaucias is of opinion that mushrooms are good for the stomach. The suilli are dried and strung upon a rush, as we see done with those brought from Bithynia. They are employed as a remedy for the fluxes known as “rheumatismi,” [Rheums, or catarrhs.] and for excrescences of the fundament, which they diminish and gradually consume. They are used, also, for freckles and spots on women’s faces. A wash, too, is made of them, as is done with lead, [See B. xxxiv. c. 50.] for maladies of the eyes. Steeped in water, they are applied topically to foul ulcers, eruptions of the head, and bites inflicted by dogs.

I would here also give some general directions for the cooking of mushrooms, as this is the only article of food that the voluptuaries of the present day are in the habit of dressing with their own hands, and so feeding upon it in anticipation, being provided with amber-handled [“Sucinis novaculis.” This may possibly mean “knives of amber;” and it is not improbable that the use of amber may have been thought a means of detecting the poisonous qualities of fungi.] knives and silver plates and dishes for the purpose. Those fungi may be looked upon as bad which become hard in cooking; while those, on the other hand, are comparatively innoxious, which admit of being thoroughly boiled, with the addition of some nitre. They will be all the safer if they are boiled with some meat or the stalks of pears: it is a very good plan, too, to eat pears directly after them. Vinegar, too, being of a nature diametrically opposed to them, neutralizes [This, as Fée remarks, is the case. All kinds of fungi, too, it is said, may be eaten with impunity, if first boiled in salt water.] their dangerous qualities.

Chap. 48.—Silphium: Seven Remedies.

All these productions owe their origin to rain, [In reality, rain only facilitates their developement.] and by rain is silphium produced. It originally came from Cyrenæ, as already [In B. xix. c. 15.] stated: at the present day, it is mostly imported from Syria, the produce of which country, though better than that of Media, is inferior to the Parthian kind. As already observed, [In B. xix. c. 15.] the silphium of Cyrenæ no longer exists. It is of considerable use in medicine, the leaves of it being employed to purge the uterus, and as an expellent of the dead fœtus; for which purposes a decoction of them is made in white aromatic wine, and taken in doses of one acetabulum, immediately after the bath. The root of it is good for irritations of the trachea, and is employed topically for extravasated blood; but, used as an aliment, it is difficult of digestion, being productive of flatulency and eructations: it is injurious, also, to the urinary secretions. Combined with wine and oil, it is extremely good for bruises, and, with wax, for the cure of scrofulous sores. Repeated fumigations with the root cause excrescences of the anus to subside.

Chap. 49.—Laser: Thirty-nine Remedies.

Laser, a juice which distils from silphium, as we have already [In B. xix. c. 15. Asafœtida, Fée says, if it bears any relation to the laser of the ancients, had till very recently the reputation of being an emmenagogue, a hydragogue, a vermifuge, and a purgative. Applied topically, too, it is emollient, and is used for the cure of corns and tumours. Whatever Laser may have been, there is little doubt that much that is here stated by Pliny is either fabulous or erroneous.] stated, and reckoned among the most precious gifts presented to us by Nature, is made use of in numerous medicinal preparations. Employed by itself, it warms and revives persons benumbed with cold, and, taken in drink, it alleviates affections of the sinews. It is given to females in wine, and is used with soft wool as a pessary to promote the menstrual discharge. Mixed with wax, it extracts corns on the feet, after they have been first loosened with the knife: a piece of it, the size of a chick-pea, melted in water, acts as a diuretic. Andreas assures us that, taken in considerable doses even, it is never productive of flatulency, and that it greatly promotes the digestion, both in aged people and females; he says, too, that it is better used in winter than in summer, and that even then, it is best suited for those whose beverage is water: but due care must be taken that there is no internal ulceration. Taken with the food, it is very refreshing for patients just recovering from an illness; indeed, if it is used at the proper time, it has all the virtues of a desiccatory, [“Cauterium.”] though it is more wholesome for persons who are in the habit of using it than for those who do not ordinarily employ it.

As to external maladies, the undoubted virtues of this medicament are universally acknowledged: taken in drink, it has the effect, also, of neutralizing the venom of serpents and of poisoned weapons, and, applied with water, it is in general use for the cure of wounds. In combination with oil, it is only used as a liniment for the stings of scorpions, and with barley-meal or dried figs, for the cure of ulcers that have not come to a head. It is applied topically, also, to carbuncles, with rue or honey, or else by itself, with some viscous substance to make it adhere; for the bites of dogs, also, it is similarly employed. A decoction of it in vinegar, with pomegranate rind, is used for excrescences [What Pliny here says of Laser, Dioscorides, B. iii. c. 94, says of the root of Silphium.] of the fundament, and, mixed with nitre, for the corns commonly known as “morticini.” [“Dead” corns.] In cases of alopecy which have been first treated with nitre, it makes the hair grow again, applied with wine and saffron, or else pepper or mouse-dung and vinegar. For chilblains, fomentations are made of it with wine, or liniments with oil; as also for callosities and indurations. For corns on the feet, if pared first, it is particularly useful, as also as a preservative against the effects of bad water, and of unhealthy climates or weather. It is prescribed for cough, too, affections of the uvula, jaundice of long standing, dropsy, and hoarseness, having the effect of instantly clearing the throat and restoring the voice. Diluted in oxycrate, and applied with a sponge, it assuages the pains in gout.

It is given also in broth [Or pottage—“In sorbitione.”] to patients suffering from pleurisy, when about to take wine; and it is prescribed for convulsions and opisthotony, in pills about as large as a chick-pea, coated with wax. For quinsy, it is used as a gargle, and to patients troubled with asthma or inveterate cough, it is given with leeks in vinegar; it is prescribed, also, with vinegar, after drinking butter-milk. [Probably to prevent it turning sour on the stomach.] It is recommended with wine for consumptive affections of the viscera and epilepsy, and with hydromel for paralysis of the tongue; with a decoction of honey, it forms a liniment for sciatica and lumbago.

For my own part, I should not recommend, [Dioscorides, however, gives this advice, B. iii. c. 94.] what some authors advise, to insert a pill of laser, covered with wax, in a hollow tooth, for tooth-ache; being warned to the contrary by a remarkable case of a man, who, after doing so, threw himself headlong from the top of a house. Besides, it is a well-known fact, that if it is rubbed on the muzzle of a bull, it irritates him to an extraordinary degree; and that if it is mixed with wine, it will cause serpents to burst—those reptiles being extremely fond of wine. In addition to this, I should not advise any one to rub the gums with Attic honey, although that practice is recommended by some.

It would be an endless task to enumerate all the uses to which laser is put, in combination with other substances; and the more so, as it is only our object to treat of simple remedies, it being these in which Nature displays her resources. In the compound remedies, too, we often find our judgment deceived, and quite at fault, from our comparative inattention to the sympathy or antipathy which naturally exists between the ingredients employed—on this subject, however, we shall have to enlarge on a future occasion. [In c. 56 of this Book.]

Chap. 50. (24.)—Propolis: Five Remedies.

Honey would be held in no less esteem than laser, were it not for the fact that nearly every country produces it. [It is this, in fact, combined with its utility, that ought to cause it to be so highly esteemed.] Laser is the production of Nature herself; but, for the formation of honey, she has created an insect, as already described. [In B. xi. c. 4, et seq.] The uses to which honey is put are quite innumerable, if we only consider the vast number of compositions in which it forms an ingredient. First of all, there is the propolis, [Bee-bread, or bee-glue.] which we find in the hives, as already [In B. xi. c. 6. It is a vegetable substance, Fée says, not elaborated by the bees. It is still employed in medicine, he says, for resolutive fumigations.] mentioned. This substance has the property of extracting stings and all foreign bodies from the flesh, dispersing tumours, ripening indurations, allaying pains of the sinews, and cicatrizing ulcers of the most obstinate nature.

As to honey itself, it is of so peculiar a nature, that it prevents putrefaction [The Babylonians employed it for the purpose of embalming.] from supervening, by reason of its sweetness solely, and not any inherent acridity, its natural properties being altogether different from those of salt. It is employed with the greatest success for affections [It is of an emollient nature, and is preferred to sugar for sweetening liquids, in a multitude of instances.] of the throat and tonsils, for quinsy and all ailments of the mouth, as also in fever, when the tongue is parched. Decoctions of it are used also for peripneumony and pleurisy, for wounds inflicted by serpents, and for the poison of fungi. For paralysis, it is prescribed in honied wine, though that liquor also has its own peculiar virtues. Honey is used with rose-oil, as an injection for the ears; it has the effect also of exterminating nits and foul vermin of the head. It is the best plan always to skim it before using it.

Still, however, honey has a tendency to inflate [Fée denies this; but there is no doubt that honey has this tendency with some persons.] the stomach; it increases the bilious secretions also, produces qualmishness, and, according to some, if employed by itself, is injurious [Fée says that this is not the case.] to the sight: though, on the other hand, there are persons who recommend ulcerations at the corners of the eyes to be touched with honey.

As to the elementary principles of honey, the different varieties of it, the countries where it is found, and its characteristic features, we have enlarged upon them on previous occasions: first, [In B. xi. c. 13.] when treating of the nature of bees, and secondly, when speaking [In B. xxi. c. 44.] of that of flowers; the plan of this work compelling us to separate subjects which ought properly to be united, if we would arrive at a thorough knowledge of the operations of Nature.

Chap. 51.—The Various Influences of Different Aliments Upon the Disposition.

While speaking of the uses of honey, we ought also to treat of the properties of hydromel. [“Aqua mulsa.” See B. xiv. c. 20, where it is described as Hydromeli, or Melicraton.] There are two kinds of hydromel, one of which is prepared at the moment, and taken while fresh, [Fée says that this must have been a wholesome beverage, but that it would cease to be so after undergoing fermentation. In the description of its uses there are some errors, Fée says, combined with some rational observations.] the other being kept to ripen. The first, which is made of skimmed honey, is an extremely wholesome beverage for invalids who take nothing but a light diet, such as strained alica for instance: it reinvigorates the body, is soothing to the mouth and stomach, and by its refreshing properties allays feverish heats. I find it stated, [See B. xviii. c.; also c. of this Book.] too, by some authors, that to relax the bowels it should be taken cold, and that it is particularly well-suited for persons of a chilly temperament, or of a weak and pusillanimous [This seems to be the meaning of “præparci” here, though it generally signifies “niggardly,” or “sordid.”] constitution, such as the Greeks, for instance, call “micropsychi.”

For there is a theory, [Fée combats this theory at considerable length; but there can be little doubt that the same substance has not the same taste to all individuals.] remarkable for its extreme ingenuity, first established by Plato, according to which the primary atoms of bodies, as they happen to be smooth or rough, angular or round, are more or less adapted to the various temperaments of individuals: and hence it is, that the same substances are not universally sweet or bitter to all. So, when affected with lassitude or thirst, we are more prone to anger than at other times. [Seneca makes a similar observation, De Irâ, B. iii. c. 10.] These asperities, however, of the disposition, or rather I should say of the mind, [“Animi seu potius animæ.”] are capable of being modified by the sweeter beverages; as they tend to lubricate the passages for the respiration, and to mollify the channels, the work of inhalation and exhalation being thereby unimpeded by any rigidities. Every person must be sensible of this experimentally, in his own case: there is no one in whom anger, affliction, sadness, and all the emotions of the mind may not, in some degree, be modified by diet. It will therefore be worth our while to observe what aliments they are which exercise a physical effect, not only upon the body, but the disposition as well.

Chap. 52.—Hydromel: Eighteen Remedies.

Hydromel is recommended, too, as very good for a cough: taken warm, it promotes vomiting. With the addition of oil it counteracts the poison of white lead; [It is the oil, Fée says, and not the hydromel, that combats the effects of the white lead, a subcarbonate of lead.] of henbane, also, and of the halicacabum, as already stated, [In B. xxi. c. 105.] if taken in milk, asses’ milk in particular. It is used as an injection for diseases of the ears, and in cases of fistula of the generative organs. With crumb of bread it is applied as a poultice to the uterus, as also to tumours suddenly formed, sprains, and all affections which require soothing applications. The more recent writers have condemned the use of fermented hydromel, as being not so harmless as water, and less strengthening than wine. After it has been kept a considerable time, it becomes transformed into a wine, [Mead, or metheglin.] which, it is universally agreed, is extremely prejudicial to the stomach, and injurious to the nerves. [This is, perhaps, the meaning of “nervis” here, but it is very doubtful. See Note, in p. 77 of Vol. III.]

Chap. 53.—Honied Wine: Six Remedies.

As to honied [“Mulsum.”] wine, that is always the best which has been made with old wine: honey, too, incorporates with it very readily, which is never the case with sweet [“Dulci.” Fée thinks, but erroneously, that by this word he means “must,” or grape-juice, and combats the assertion. Honied wine, he says, is used at the present day (in France, of course,) as a popular cure for recent wounds and inveterate ulcers. As a beverage, it was very highly esteemed by the ancients. See B. vii. c. 54.] wine. When made with astringent wine, it does not clog the stomach, nor has it that effect when the honey has been boiled: in this last case, too, it causes less flatulency, an inconvenience generally incidental to this beverage. It acts as a stimulant also upon a failing appetite; taken cold it relaxes the bowels, but used warm it acts astringently, in most cases, at least. It has a tendency also to make flesh. Many persons have attained an extreme old age, by taking bread soaked in honied wine, and no other diet—the famous instance of Pollio Romilius, for example. This man was more than one hundred years old when the late Emperor Augustus, who was then his host, [“Hospes.” It may possibly mean his “guest,” but the other is more probable.] asked him by what means in particular he had retained such remarkable vigour of mind and body.—“Honied wine within, oil without,” [“Intus mulso, foris oleo.” The people of Corsica were famous for being long-lived, which was attributed to their extensive use of honey.] was his answer. According to Varro, the jaundice has the name of “royal disease” [“Regius morbus.”] given to it, because its cure is effected with honied wine. [Honied wine being considered so noble a beverage, Celsus says, that “during its cure, the patient must be kept to his chamber, and the mind must be kept cheerful, with gaiety and pastimes, for which reason it is called the ‘royal disease,’” B. iii. c. 24. In the text Pliny calls it “arquatorum morbus,” the “disease of the bow-like,” if we may be allowed the term. The origin of this term, according to Scribonius Largus, is the word “arcus,” the rainbow, from a fancied resemblance of the colour of the skin, when affected with jaundice, to the green tints of the rainbow.]

Chap. 54.—Melitites: Three Remedies.

We have already described how melitites [In B. xiv. c. 11.] is prepared, of must and honey, when speaking on the subject of wines. It is, I think, some ages, however, since this kind of beverage was made, so extremely productive as it was found to be of flatulency. It used, however, to be given in fever, to relieve inveterate costiveness of the bowels, as also for gout and affections of the sinews. It was prescribed also for females who were not in the habit of taking wine.

Chap. 55.—Wax: Eight Remedies.

To an account of honey, that of wax is naturally appended, of the origin, qualities, and different kinds of which, we have previously made mention [In B. xi. c. 8, and B. xxi. c. 49.] on the appropriate occasions. Every kind of wax is emollient and warming, and tends to the formation of new flesh; fresh wax is, however, the best. It is given in broth to persons troubled with dysentery, and the combs themselves are sometimes used in a pottage made of parched alica. Wax counteracts the bad effects [When it curdles on the stomach.] of milk; and ten pills of wax, the size of a grain of millet, will prevent milk from coagulating in the stomach. For swellings in the groin, it is found beneficial to apply a plaster of white wax to the pubes.

Chap. 56.—Remarks in Disparagement of Medicinal Compositions.

As to the different uses to which wax is applied, in combination with other substances in medicine, we could no more make an enumeration of them than we could of all the other ingredients which form part of our medicinal compositions. These preparations, as we have already [In c. 49 of this Book.] observed, are the results of human invention. Cerates, poultices, [“Malagmata.”] plasters, eye-salves, antidotes,—none of these have been formed by Nature, that parent and divine framer of the universe; they are merely the inventions of the laboratory, or rather, to say the truth, of human avarice. [Fée, at some length, and with considerable justice, combats this assertion; though at the same time he remarks that Pliny is right in calling the attention of the medical world to the use of simple substances.] The works of Nature are brought into existence complete and perfect in every respect, her ingredients being but few in number, selected as they are from a due appreciation of cause and effect, and not from mere guesswork; thus, for instance, if a dry substance is wanted to assume a liquefied form, a liquid, of course, must be employed as a vehicle, while liquids, on the other hand, must be united with a dry substance to render them consistent. But as for man, when he pretends, with balance in [“Scripulatim”—“By scruples.”] hand, to unite and combine the various elementary substances, he employs himself not merely upon guesswork, but proves himself guilty of downright impudence.

It is not my intention to touch upon the medicaments afforded by the drugs of India, or Arabia and other foreign climates: I have no liking for drugs that come from so great a distance; [He forgets that many of them could only be produced by the agency of an Eastern sun.] they are not produced for us, no, nor yet for the natives of those countries, or else they would not be so ready to sell them to us. Let people buy them if they please, as ingredients in perfumes, unguents, and other appliances of luxury; let them buy them as adjuncts to their superstitions even, if incense and costus we must have to propitiate the gods; but as to health, we can enjoy that blessing without their assistance, as we can easily prove—the greater reason then has luxury to blush at its excesses.

Chap. 57.—Remedies Derived from Grain. Siligo: One Remedy. Wheat: One Remedy. Chaff: Two Remedies. Spelt: One Remedy. Bran: One Remedy. Olyra, or Arinca: Two Remedies.

Having now described the remedies derived from flowers, both those which enter into the composition of garlands, and the ordinary garden ones, as well as from the vegetable productions, how could we possibly omit those which are derived from the cereals?

(25.) It will be only proper then, to make some mention of these as well. In the first place, however, let us remark that it is a fact universally acknowledged, that it is the most intelligent of the animated beings that derive their subsistence from grain. The grain of siligo [See B. xviii. c..] highly roasted and pounded in Aminean [See B. xiv. c. 5.] wine, applied to the eyes, heals defluxions of those organs; [Fée says that it can have no such effect.] and the grain of wheat, parched on a plate of iron, is an instantaneous remedy for frost-bite in various parts of the body. Wheat-meal, boiled in vinegar, is good for contractions of the sinews, and bran, [The bran of wheat, Fée says, is of a soothing nature, and that of barley slightly astringent.] mixed with rose-oil, dried figs, and myxa [See B. xv. c. 12, and B. xvii. c. 14.] plums boiled down together, forms an excellent gargle [The only truth in this statement, Fée says, is, that wheat bran makes a good gargle.] for the tonsillary glands and throat.

Sextus Pomponius, who had a son prætor, and who was himself the first citizen of Nearer Spain, was on one occasion attacked with gout, while superintending the winnowing in his granaries; upon which, he immediately thrust his legs, to above the knees, in a heap of wheat. He found himself relieved, the swelling in the legs subsided in a most surprising degree, and from that time he always employed this remedy: indeed, the action of grain in masses is so extremely powerful as to cause the entire evaporation of the liquor in a cask. Men of experience in these matters recommend warm chaff of wheat or barley, as an application for hernia, and fomentations with the water in which it has been boiled. In the grain known [See B. xviii. c..] as spelt, there is a small worm found, similar in appearance to the teredo: [See B. xvi. c. 80. This insect, or weevil, Fée says, is the Calandra granaria. It strongly resembles the worm or maggot found in nuts. It can be of no efficacy whatever for the removal of carious teeth.] if this is put with wax into the hollow of carious teeth, they will come out, it is said, or, indeed, if the teeth are only rubbed with it. Another name given to olyra, as already [In B. xviii. c. 20.] mentioned, is “arinca:” with a decoction of it a medicament is made, known in Egypt as “athera,” and extremely good for infants. For adult persons it is employed in the form of a liniment.

Chap. 58.—The Various Kinds of Meal: Twenty-eight Remedies.

Barley [See B. xviii. c..] -meal, raw or boiled, disperses, softens, or ripens gatherings and inflammatory tumours; and for other purposes a decoction of it is made in hydromel, or with dried figs. If required for pains in the liver, it must be boiled with oxycrate in wine. When it is a matter of doubt whether an abscess should be made to suppurate or be dispersed, it is a better plan to boil the meal in vinegar, or lees of vinegar, or else with a decoction of quinces or pears. For the bite of the millepede, [Or multipede. For these purposes, as Fée says, it is of no use whatever.] it is employed with honey, and for the stings of serpents, and to prevent suppurations, with vinegar. To promote suppuration, it should be used with oxycrate, with the addition of Gallic resin. For gatherings, also, that have come to a head, and ulcers of long standing, it must be employed in combination with resin, and for indurations, with pigeons’ dung, dried figs, or ashes. For inflammation of the tendons, or of the intestines and sides, or for pains in the male organs and denudations of the bones, it is used with poppies, or melilote; and for scrofulous sores, it is used with pitch and oil, mixed with the urine of a youth who has not reached the years of puberty. It is employed also with fenugreek for tumours of the thoracic organs, and in fevers, with honey, or stale grease.

For suppurations, however, wheat-meal is much more soothing; [It is no better, Fée says, than rye or barley-meal.] it is applied topically also for affections of the sinews, mixed with the juice of henbane, and for the cure of freckles, with vinegar and honey. The meal of zea, [See B. xviii. cc.,.] from which, as already [In B. xviii. c. 29.] stated, an alica is made, appears to be more efficacious than that of barley even; but that of the three month [“Trimestris.” See B. xviii. c..] kind is the most emollient. It is applied warm, in red wine, to the stings of scorpions, as also for affections of the trachea, and spitting of blood: for coughs, it is employed in combination with goat suet or butter.

The meal of fenugreek, [Fée remarks, that this meal is still valued for its maturative properties.] however, is the most soothing of them all: boiled with wine and nitre, it heals running ulcers, eruptions on the body, and diseases of the feet and mamillæ. The meal of æra [Hair-grass, probably, or darnel. See B. xviii. c..] is more detergent than the other kinds, for inveterate ulcers and gangrenes: in combination with radishes, salt, and vinegar, it heals lichens, and with virgin sulphur, leprosy: for head-ache, it is applied to the forehead with goose-grease. Boiled in wine, with pigeons’ dung and linseed, it ripens inflamed tumours and scrofulous sores.

Chap. 59.—Polenta: Eight Remedies.

Of the various kinds of polenta we have already treated sufficiently [In B. xviii. c. 14. Injections of meal are still employed, Fée says, for diarrhœa.] at length, when speaking of the places where it is made. It differs from barley meal, in being parched, a process which renders it more wholesome for the stomach. It arrests looseness of the bowels, and heals inflammatory eruptions; and it is employed as a liniment for the eyes, and for head-ache, combined with mint or some other refreshing herb. It is used in a similar manner also for chilblains and wounds inflicted by serpents; and with wine, for burns. It has the effect also of checking pustular eruptions.