Chaps. 54-70.

Chap. 54. (6.)—Remedies Derived Prom the Blossoms, Leaves, Fruit, Branches, Bark, Juices, Wood, Roots, and Ashes of Various Kinds of Trees. Six Observations Upon Apples. Twenty-two Observations Upon Quinces. One Observation Upon Struthea.

We next come to the medicinal properties of the various kinds of apples. The spring fruits, of this nature are sour and unwholesome [In consequence of the malic and tartaric acid which they contain.] to the stomach, disturb the bowels, contract the bladder, and act injuriously upon the nerves; when cooked, however, they are of a more harmless nature. Quinces are more pleasant eating when cooked; still however, eaten raw, provided they are ripe, they are very useful [Quinces are of an astringent nature; and an astringent sirop, Fée says, is still prepared from them.] for spitting of blood, dysentery, cholera, and cœliac affections; indeed, they are not of the same efficacy when cooked, as they then lose the astringent properties which belong to their juice. They are applied also to the breast in the burning attacks of fever, and, in spite of what has been stated above, they are occasionally boiled in rain-water for the various purposes before-mentioned. For pains in the stomach they are applied [They are no longer used for this purpose.] like a cerate, either raw or boiled. The down upon them heals [Fée observes that it has no such effect.] carbuncles.

Boiled in wine, and applied with wax, they restore the hair, when it has been lost by alopecy. A conserve of raw quinces in honey relaxes the bowels: and they add very materially to the sweetness of the honey, and render it more wholesome to the stomach. Boiled quinces preserved in honey are beaten up with a decoction of rose-leaves, and are taken as food by some for the cure of affections of the stomach. The juice of raw quinces is very good, also, for the spleen, hardness of breathing, dropsy, affections of the mamillæ, condylomata, and varicose veins. The blossoms, either fresh or dried, are useful for inflammations of the eyes, spitting of blood, and irregularities of the catamenia. By beating them up with sweet wine, a soothing sirop is prepared, which is very beneficial for cœliac affections and diseases of the liver: with a decoction of them a fomentation is made for procidence of the uterus and intestines.

From quinces an oil is also extracted, which we have spoken of under the name of “melinum:” [B. xiii. c. 2.] in order to make it, the fruit must not have been grown in a damp soil; hence it is that the quinces which come from Sicily are so highly esteemed for the purpose; while, on the other hand, the strutheum, [Or “sparrow-quince.” See B. xv. c. 10.] though of a kindred kind, is not so good.

A circle [He states this so gravely, that he would almost appear to believe it.] is traced round the root of this tree, and the root itself is then pulled up with the left hand, care being taken by the person who does so to state at the same moment the object for which it is so pulled up, and for whom. Worn as an amulet, this root is a cure for scrofula.

Chap. 55.—The Sweet Apples Called Melimela: Six Observations Upon Them. Sour Apples: Four Observations Upon Them.

The apples known as “melimela,” [“Honey apples.” See B. xv. c. 15, where this apple is also called the “musteum.”] and the other sweet apples, relax the stomach and bowels, but are productive of heat and thirst, [A purgative sirop of apples, causing thirst, was made by the ancients, the receipt for which was attributed to King Sapor.] though they do not act injuriously upon the nervous system. The orbiculata [Or “round” apples. See B. xv. c. 15.] arrest diarrhœa and vomiting, and act as a diuretic. Wild apples resemble the sour apples of spring, and act astringently upon the bowels: indeed, for this purpose they should always be used before they are ripe.

Chap. 56.—Citrons: Five Observations Upon Them.

Citrons, [See B. xii. c. 7.] either the pulp of them or the pips, are taken in wine as an antidote to poisons. A decoction of citrons, or the juice extracted from them, is used as a gargle to impart sweetness to the breath. [See B. xi. c. 15, and B. xii. c. 7.] The pips of this fruit are recommended for pregnant women to chew when affected with qualmishness. Citrons are good, also, for a weak stomach, but it is not easy to eat them except with vinegar. [As Fée says, this observation is quite unaccountable. He queries whether a sweet fruit may not possibly be meant, the sweet lime, for instance, the flavour of which is very sickly, and would require to be heightened by the assistance of an acid.]

Chap. 57.—Punic Apples or Pomegranates: Twenty-six Remedies.

It would be a mere loss of time to recapitulate the nine [See B. xiii. c. 34; where, however, he has only distinguished them according to their flavour, sweet, vinous, &c.] different varieties of the pomegranate. The sweet pomegranates, or, in other words, those known by the name of “apyrena,” [“Without pips.” See B. xiii. c. 34.] are generally considered to be injurious to the stomach; they are productive, also, of flatulency, and are bad for the teeth and gums. The kind which closely resembles the last in flavour, and which we have spoken of as the “vinous” pomegranate, has very diminutive pips, and is thought to be somewhat more wholesome than the others. They have an astringent effect upon the stomach and bowels, provided they are taken in moderation, and not to satiety; but even these, or, indeed, any other kind, should never be given in fevers, as neither the substance nor the juice of the fruit acts otherwise than injuriously under those circumstances. They should, also, be equally [This and the previous precaution given, Fée considers to be mere puerilities.] abstained from in cases of vomiting and bilious evacuations.

In this fruit Nature has revealed to us a grape, and, so to say, not must, but a wine ready made, both grape and wine being enclosed in a tougher skin. [Than that of the ordinary grape, probably.] The rind of the sour pomegranate is employed for many purposes. It is in very common use with curriers for tanning [See B. xiii. c. 34.] leather, from which circumstance it has received the name of “malicorium.” [The “leather apple,” apparently. It is more probable, as Hardouin says, that it was so called from the toughness of the rind.] Medical men assure us that the rind is diuretic, and that, boiled with nut-galls in vinegar, it strengthens loose teeth in the sockets. It is prescribed also for pregnant women when suffering from qualmishness, the flavour of it quickening the fœtus. A pomegranate is cut, and left to soak in rain-water for some three days; after which the infusion is given cold to persons suffering from cœliac affections and spitting of blood.

Chap. 58.—The Composition Called Stomatice: Fourteen Remedies.

With the sour pomegranate a medicament is made, which is known as “stomatice,” and is extremely good for affections of the mouth, nostrils, and ears, dimness of sight, films upon the eyes, [“Pterygiis.”] diseases of the generative organs, corrosive sores called “nomæ,” and fleshy excrescences in ulcers; it is useful, also, as an antidote to the venom of the sea-hare. [See B. ix. c. 72, and B. xxxii. c. 3.] The following is the method of making it: the rind is taken off the fruit, and the pips are pounded, after which the juice is boiled down to one-third, and then mixed with saffron, split alum, [“Alumen scissum.” See B. xxxi. c. 39, and B. xxxv. c. 52.] myrrh, and Attic honey, the proportions being half a pound of each.

Some persons have another way of making it: a number of sour pomegranates are pounded, after which the juice is boiled down in a new cauldron to the consistency of honey. This composition is used for various affections of the generative organs and fundament, and, indeed, all those diseases which are treated with lycium. [See B. xii. c. 15, and B. xxiv. c. 77.] It is employed, also, for the cure of purulent discharges from the ears, incipient defluxions of the eyes, and red spots upon the hands. Branches of the pomegranate have the effect of repelling the attacks of serpents. [An absurd notion, without any apparent foundation.] Pomegranate rind, boiled in wine and applied, is a cure for chilblains. A pomegranate, boiled down to one-third in three heminæ of wine, is a cure for griping pains in the bowels and for tape-worm. [All vegetable productions rich in tannin are thought to possess the property of acting as a vermifuge.] A pomegranate, put in a new earthen pot tightly covered and burnt in a furnace, and then pounded and taken in wine, arrests looseness of the bowels, and dispels griping pains in the stomach.

Chap. 59.—Cytinus: Eight Remedies.

The Greeks have given the name of cytinus [The calyx of the blossom of the pomegranate. Its properties are remarkably astringent.] to the first germs of this tree when it is just beginning to blossom. These germs have a singular property, which has been remarked by many. If a person, after taking off everything that is fastened upon the body, his girdle, for instance, shoes, and even his ring, plucks one of them with two fingers of the left hand, the thumb, namely, and the fourth finger, and, after rubbing it gently round his eyes, puts it into his mouth and swallows [This would be nearly an impossibility, as the calyx is hard and coriaceous, and of considerable size. Nothing, however, is allowed to stand in the way of superstition.] it without letting it touch his teeth, he will experience, it is said, no malady of the eyes throughout all the year. These germs, dried and pounded, check the growth of fleshy excrescences; they are good also for the gums and teeth; and if the teeth are loose a decoction of the germs will strengthen them.

The young pomegranates [“Ipsa corpuscula.” The exact meaning of this expression is somewhat doubtful: Hardouin takes it to be the lower part of the cytinus.] themselves are beaten up and applied as a liniment to spreading or putrid sores; they are used also for inflammations of the eyes and intestines, and nearly all the purposes for which pomegranate-rind is used. They are remedial also for the stings of scorpions.

Chap. 60.—Balaustium: Twelve Remedies.

We cannot sufficiently admire the care and diligence displayed by the ancients, who, in their enquiries into every subject, have left nothing untried. Within the cytinus, before the pomegranate itself makes its appearance, there are diminutive flowers, the name given to which, as already [In B. xiii. c. 34.] stated, is “balaustium.” [The corolla of the flower. Dioscorides, B. i. c. 152, makes the “balaustium” to be the blossom of the wild pomegranate, and the “cytinus” to be that of the cultivated fruit. Theophrastus, however, and Galen, give the same account of the cytinus as Pliny. Holland has this quaint marginal Note on the passage: “Here is Pliny out of the way;” not improbably in reference to the statement of Dioscorides.] These blossoms, even, have not escaped their enquiries; it having been ascertained by them that they are an excellent remedy for stings inflicted by the scorpion. Taken in drink, they arrest the catamenia, and are curative of ulcers of the mouth, tonsillary glands, and uvula, as also of spitting of blood, derangement of the stomach and bowels, diseases of the generative organs, and running sores in all parts of the body.

The ancients also dried these blossoms, to try their efficacy in that state, and made the discovery that, pulverized, they cure patients suffering from dysentery when at the very point of death even, and that they arrest looseness of the bowels. They have not disdained, too, to make trial of the pips of the pomegranate: parched and then pounded, these pips are good for the stomach, sprinkled in the food or drink. To arrest looseness of the bowels, they are taken in rain-water. A decoction of the juices of the root, in doses of one victoriatus, [Or Quinarius. See Introduction to Vol. III.] exterminates tape-worm; [These statements, Fée says, are quite unfounded.] and the root itself, boiled down in water to a thick consistency, is employed for the same purposes as lycium. [See B. xii. c. 15, and B. xxiv. c. 77.]

Chap. 61.—The Wild Pomegranate.

There is a tree, also, which is called the wild pomegranate, [Fée thinks that there is no doubt that this was really the pomegranate, left to grow wild. Dalechamps and Fée suggest that, misled by the resemblance of the Greek names, Pliny has here attributed to the wild pomegranate the properties attributed to the red poppy, or corn poppy. Hardouin, however, is not of that opinion, and thinks that the mention of the roots of the plant proves that Pliny has not committed any error here; as in B. xx. c. 77, he has attributed the narcotic effects of the poppy to the head only.] on account of its strong resemblance to the cultivated pomegranate. The roots of it have a red bark, which taken in wine in doses of one denarius, promotes sleep. The seed of it taken in drink is curative of dropsy. Gnats are kept at a distance by the smoke of burnt pomegranate rind.

Chap. 62. (7.)—Pears: Twelve Observations Upon Them.

All kinds of pears, as an aliment, are indigestible, [This depends considerably, as Fée says, upon the kind of pear.] to persons in robust health, even; but to invalids they are forbidden as rigidly as wine. Boiled, however, they are remarkably agreeable and wholesome, those of Crustumium [See B. xv. c. 16.] in particular. All kinds of pears, too, boiled with honey, are wholesome to the stomach. Cataplasms of a resolvent nature are made with pears, and a decoction of them is used to disperse indurations. They are efficacious, also, in cases of poisoning [There is no truth whatever in this statement.] by mushrooms and fungi, as much by reason of their heaviness, as by the neutralizing effects of their juice.

The wild pear ripens but very slowly. Cut in slices and hung in the air to dry, it arrests looseness of the bowels, an effect which is equally produced by a decoction of it taken in drink; in which case the leaves also are boiled up together with the fruit. The ashes of pear-tree wood are even more efficacious [They are equally inefficacious for the purpose,] as an antidote to the poison of fungi.

A load of apples or pears, however small, is singularly fatiguing [See B. xxiv. c. 1. An absurdity, upon which Fée has uselessly expended a dozen lines of indignation.] to beasts of burden; the best plan to counteract this, they say, is to give the animals some to eat, or at least to shew them the fruit before starting.

Chap. 63.—Figs: One Hundred and Eleven Observations Upon Them.

The milky juice of the fig-tree possesses kindred properties with vinegar; [In reality it has no affinity with vinegar or any other acid, and the fact that it curdles milk is no proof whatever that such is the case.] hence it is, that, like rennet, it curdles milk. This juice is collected before the fruit ripens, and dried in the shade; being used with yolk of egg as a liniment, or else in drink, with amylum, [See B. xviii. c..] to bring ulcers to a head and break them, and for the purposes of an emmenagogue. With meal of fenugreek and vinegar, it is applied topically for gout; it acts also as a depilatory, [Being of a caustic nature, it might have this effect, Fée thinks. It is, however, no longer employed in medicine. He is also of opinion that the juice of the fig-tree might be useful in making cheese.] heals eruptions of the eyelids, lichens and itch-scabs, and relaxes the bowels. The milk of the fig-tree is naturally curative of the stings of hornets, wasps, and similar insects, and is remarkably useful for wounds inflicted by scorpions. Mixed with axle-grease it removes warts. With the leaves and figs still green an application is made for scrofulous [Here, also, the caustic nature of their juices might render them useful.] and other sores of a nature which requires emollients or resolvents. The leaves, too, used by themselves, are productive of a similar effect. In addition to this, they are employed for other purposes, as a friction for lichens, for example, for alopecy, and other diseases which require caustic applications. The young shoots of the branches are used as an application to the skin in cases of bites inflicted by dogs. With honey they are applied to the ulcers known as honeycomb ulcers; [“Ceria:” now known in surgery as “favus.”] mixed with the leaves of wild poppies they extract [This and the next statement are equally untrue.] splinters of bones; and the leaves beaten up in vinegar are a cure for bites inflicted by dogs. The young white shoots of the black [See B. xv. c. 19.] fig are applied topically, with wax, to boils, and bites inflicted by the shrew-mouse: and the ashes of their leaves are used for the cure of gangrenes and the reduction of fleshy excrescences.

Ripe figs are diuretic and laxative; they promote the perspiration, and bring out pimples; hence it is that they are unwholesome in autumn, the perspirations which they excite being always attended with shivering. They are injurious also to the stomach, though for a short time only; and it is generally thought that they spoil the voice. The figs which are the last to ripen are more wholesome than the first, but those which are drugged [“Medicatæ.” See B. xvi. c. 51.] for the purpose of ripening them are never wholesome. This fruit invigorates the young, and improves the health of the aged and retards the formation of wrinkles; it allays thirst, and is of a cooling nature, for which reason it should never be declined in those fevers of an astringent tendency which are known as “stegnæ.”

Dried figs are injurious to the stomach, [They produce heart-burn and flatulency.] but are beneficial in a marvellous degree to the throat and fauces. They are of a warming nature, are productive of thirst, and relax the bowels, but are unwholesome in stomachic complaints and fluxes of the bowels. In all cases they are beneficial for the bladder, hardness of breathing, and asthma, as also for diseases of the liver, kidneys, and spleen. They are nourishing and invigorating, for which reason, the athletes in former times used them as food: Pythagoras, the gymnast, being the first who introduced among them a flesh diet. [“Ad carnes eos transtulit.” Dalechamps takes this to mean “showed them that the flesh was increased by eating figs.” This Pythagoras was probably the Samian pugilist who gained a victory in Ol. 48.] Figs are extremely useful for patients recovering from a long illness, and for persons suffering from epilepsy or dropsy. They are applied topically also in all cases where sores require to be brought to a head, or dispersed; and they are still more efficacious when mixed with lime or nitre. Boiled with hyssop they act as a purgative on the pectoral organs, carry off the phlegm, and cure inveterate coughs: boiled with wine they heal maladies of the fundament, and tumours of the jaws. A decoction of them is applied also to boils, inflamed tumours, and imposthumes of the parotid glands. This decoction, too, is found very useful as a fomentation for disorders incident to females.

Boiled with fenugreek, [This herb is rich in mucilage, and of a soothing nature.] figs are very useful in cases of pleurisy and peripneumony. A decoction of them with rue is good for griping pains in the bowels; in combination with verdigris, [“Æris flore.”] they are used for ulcers of the legs and imposthumes of the parotid glands; with pomegranates, for hang-nails; [“Pterygiis.”] and with wax, for burns and chilblains. Boiled in wine, with wormwood and barley-meal, they are employed for dropsy. Eaten with nitre, they relax the bowels; and beaten up with salt they are applied to stings inflicted by scorpions. Boiled in wine, and applied topically, they bring carbuncles to a head. In cases of carcinoma, unattended with ulceration, it is a singularly good plan to apply to the part the pulpiest fig that can be procured; the same, too, with phagedænic sores.

As to the ashes of the fig, those of no tree known are of a more acrid character, [This is the case, as they are remarkably rich in alkaline salts. The assertion, however, as to their properties, is, as Fée says, hypothetical.] being of a detergent and astringent nature, and tending to make new flesh and to promote the cicatrization of wounds. They are also taken in drink, for the purpose of dissolving coagulated blood, as also for bruises, falls with violence, ruptures, convulsions * * * * in one cyathus respectively of water and oil. They are administered also for tetanus and spasms, and are used either in a potion, or as an injection for cœliac affections and dysentery. Employed as a liniment with oil, they have a warming effect; and kneaded into a paste with wax and rose-oil, they heal burns, leaving the slightest scar only. Applied in oil, as a liniment, they are a cure for weakness of sight, and are used as a dentifrice in diseases of the teeth.

It is said, too, that if a patient draws downward a branch of a fig-tree, and turns up his head and bites off some knot or other of it, without being seen by any one, and then wears it in a leather bag suspended by a string from his neck, it is a certain cure for scrofulous sores and imposthumes of the parotid glands. The bark of this tree, beaten up with oil, cures ulcerations of the abdomen. Green figs, applied raw, with the addition of nitre and meal, remove warts and wens. [“Thymos.”]

The ashes of the suckers which spring from the roots are used as a substitute for spodium. [Metallic ashes, or dross. See B. xxxiv. c. 52.] Burnt over a second time and incorporated with white lead, they are divided into cakes which are used for the cure of ulcerations of the eyes and eruptions.

Chap. 64.—The Wild Fig: Forty-two Observations Upon It.

The wild fig, again, is even more efficacious in its properties than the cultivated one. It has not so large a proportion of milky juice as the other: a slip of it put into milk has the effect of curdling it and turning it into cheese. This juice, collected and indurated by being subjected to pressure, imparts a fine flavor [“Suavitatem.” Fée is justly at a loss to understand how this could be. It is doubtful whether Pliny does not mean that by the use of this substance meat was kept fresh.] to meat, being steeped in vinegar for the purpose, and then rubbed upon it. It is used also as an ingredient in blisters, and taken internally it relaxes the bowels. Used with amylum, [See B. xviii. c..] it opens the passages of the uterus, and combined with the yolk of an egg it acts as an emmenagogue. Mixed with meal of fenugreek it is applied topically for gout, and is used for the dispersion of leprous sores, itch-scabs, lichens, and freckles: it is an antidote also to the stings of venomous animals, and to the bites of dogs. Applied to the teeth in wool, or introduced into the cavity of a carious tooth, this juice cures tooth-ache. [Fée thinks that, owing to its acridity, it may possibly have this effect.] The young shoots and the leaves, mixed with meal of fitches, act as an antidote to the poison of marine animals, wine being added to the preparation. In boiling beef a great saving of fire-wood may be effected, by putting some of these shoots in the pot. [There is probably no foundation for this statement.]

The figs in a green state, applied topically, soften and disperse scrofulous sores and all kinds of gatherings, and the leaves, to a certain extent, have a similar effect. The softer leaves are applied with vinegar for the cure of running ulcers, epinyctis, and scaly eruptions. With the leaves, mixed with honey, honeycomb ulcers [Favus.] are treated, and wounds inflicted by dogs; the leaves are applied, too, fresh, with wine, to phagedænic sores. In combination with poppy-leaves, they extract splintered bones. Wild figs, in a green state, employed as a fumigation, dispel flatulency; and an infusion of them, used as a potion, combats the deleterious effects of bullocks’ blood, white-lead, and coagulated milk, taken internally. Boiled in water, and employed as a cataplasm, they cure imposthumes of the parotid glands. The shoots, or the green figs, gathered as young as possible, are taken in wine for stings inflicted by scorpions. The milky juice is also poured into the wound, and the leaves are applied to it: the bite of the shrew-mouse is treated in a similar manner. The ashes of the young branches are curative of relaxations of the uvula; and the ashes of the tree itself, mixed with honey, have the effect of healing chaps. A decoction of the root, boiled in wine, is good for tooth-ache. The winter wild fig, boiled in vinegar and pounded, is a cure for impetigo: the branches are first barked for the purpose and then scraped; these scrapings, which are as fine as sawdust, being applied topically to the parts affected.

There is also one medicinal property of a marvellous nature attributed to the wild fig: if a youth who has not arrived at puberty breaks off a branch, and then with his teeth tears off the bark swelling with the sap, the pith of this branch, we are assured, attached as an amulet to the person before sunrise, will prevent the formation of scrofulous sores. A branch of this tree, attached to the neck of a bull, however furious, exercises such a marvellous effect upon him as to restrain his ferocity, [Plutarch, Sympos. ii. 7, tells the same absurd story.] and render him quite immoveable.

Chap. 65.—The Herb Erineon: Three Remedies.

It will be as well to speak here, in consequence of the similarity of name, [To “erineon,” the Greek for wild fig.] of the herb which is known to the Greeks as the “erineon.” This plant [Supposed to be the Campanula rapunculus of Linnæus, the rampion; though Fée expresses some doubts. Guilandin has suggested the Hieracium Sabaudum of Linnæus, an opinion which Fée thinks not altogether destitute of probability.] is a palm in height, and has mostly five small stems: in appearance it resembles ocimum, and bears a white flower, with a small, black, seed. Beaten up with Attic honey, it is a cure for defluxions of the eyes. In whatever way it is gathered, it yields a considerable abundance of sweet, milky, juice. With the addition of a little nitre, this plant is extremely useful for pains in the ears. The leaves of it have the property of neutralizing poisons.

Chap. 66.—Plums: Four Observations Upon Them.

The leaves [The leaves of this tree contain a large proportion of tannin, to which they owe their astringent properties.] of the plum, boiled in wine, are useful for the tonsillary glands, the gums, and the uvula, the mouth being rinsed with the decoction every now and then. As for the fruit itself, it is relaxing [Prunes, the produce of the plum-tree, called the plum of Saint Julien, are still used as a purgative.] to the bowels; but it is not very wholesome to the stomach, though its bad effects are little more than momentary.

Chap. 67.—Peaches: Two Remedies.

Peaches, again, are more wholesome than plums; and the same is the case with the juice of the fruit, extracted, and taken in either wine or vinegar. Indeed, what known fruit is there that is more wholesome as an aliment than this? There is none, in fact, that has a less powerful smell, [A most singular assertion, as Fée says, and one that universal experience proves to be unfounded.] or a greater abundance of juice, though it has a tendency to create thirst. [On the contrary, it quenches thirst.] The leaves of it, beaten up and applied topically, arrest hæmorrhage: the kernels, mixed with oil and vinegar, are used as a liniment for head-ache. [Fée thinks that, owing to the hydro-cyanic acid which the kernels contain, there may possibly be some foundation for this statement of their curative effects.]

Chap. 68.—Wild Plums: Two Remedies.

The fruit of the wild plum, or the bark of the root, [Both the root and the fruit are of an astringent nature. From this fruit an extract is prepared, Fée says, rich in tannin, and called in France Acacia nostras, from its resemblance to the juice of the Egyptian Acacia.] boiled down to one-third in one hemina of astringent wine, arrests looseness of the bowels and griping pains in the stomach: the proper dose of the decoction is one cyathus.

Chap. 69.—The Lichen on Plum-trees: Two Remedies.

Upon the bark of the wild and cultivated plums we find an excrescence [“Limus.” Fée thinks that this may possibly be the Evernia prunastri of modern botany. It has been suggested, however, that Pliny has committed an error here, and that in copying from the Greek source he has mistaken the author’s mention of the cure of lichens by the gum of the plum-tree, for an account of a lichen which grows on the tree. Such, in fact, is the statement of Dioscorides in B. i. c. 174, though he does not mention chaps and condylomata.] growing, known to the Greeks by the name of “lichen:” it is remarkably good for chaps and condylomatous swellings.

Chap. 70.—Mulberries: Thirty-nine Remedies.

In Egypt and in the Isle of Cyprus there are, as already stated, [In B. xiii. cc, 14, 15, where he calls it a fig-tree. He alludes to the sycamore.] mulberry-trees of a peculiar kind, being of a nature that is truly marvellous; for, if the outer bark is peeled off, they emit a great abundance of juice; but if a deeper incision is made, they are found to be quite dry. [See B. xvi. c. 72.] This juice is an antidote to the venom of serpents, is good for dysentery, disperses inflamed tumours and all kinds of gatherings, heals wounds, and allays both head-ache and ear-ache: it is taken in drink for affections of the spleen, and is used as a liniment for the same purpose, as also for fits of shivering. This juice, however, very soon breeds worms.

Among ourselves, too, the juice which exudes from the mulberry-tree is employed for an equal number of purposes: taken in wine, it neutralizes the noxious effects of aconite [This statement is entirely unfounded.] and the venom of spiders, relaxes the bowels, and expels tapeworm and other animals which breed in the intestines; [Considering that the leaves and bark are rich in tannin and gallic acid, it might be worth while to ascertain if there is any truth in this assertion.] the bark of the tree, pounded, has also a similar effect. The leaves, boiled in rain-water with the bark of the black fig and the vine, are used for dyeing the hair.

The juice of the fruit has a laxative effect immediately upon the bowels, though the fruit itself, for the moment, acts beneficially upon the stomach, being of a refreshing nature, but productive of thirst. If no other food is taken upon them, mulberries [But Horace says, Sat. B. ii. s. 4, l. 22, that mulberries are remarkably wholesome as a dessert.] are of a swelling tendency. The juice of unripe mulberries acts astringently upon the bowels. The marvels which are presented by this tree, and of which we have made some mention [In B. xvi. c. 41.] when describing it, would almost appear to belong to a creature gifted with animation.