Chaps. 20-36.

Chap. 20.—The Chamæpitys: Ten Remedies.

The chamæpitys, [Or “ground-pine.”] called in Latin “abiga,” [From “abigo,” to “drive away,” it would appear.] because it promotes abortion, and known to some as “incense of the earth,” [“Thus terræ.” The Teucrium Iva of Linnæus, Fée says, or Chamæpitys moschata. Fée remarks that Pliny commits a great error in giving to it the blossoms of the pine, and that he assigns larger proportions than really belong to it. The name “incense of the earth,” is very inappropriate; for it has none of the odour of incense, but merely a resinous smell.] has branches a cubit in length, and the odour and blossoms of the pine. Another variety [The Teucrium chamæpitys of Linnæus, the Chamæpitys lutea vulgaris of C. Bauhin, the ground-pine.] of it, which is somewhat shorter, has all the appearance of being bent [The leaves are imbricated, and the branches bend downwards, like those of the pine, whence the name.] downwards; and there is a third, [The Teucrium pseudo-chamæpitys of Linnæus, the bastard ground-pine.] which, though it has a similar smell, and consequently the same name, is altogether smaller, with a stem the thickness of one’s finger, and a diminutive, rough, pale leaf: it is found growing in rocky localities. All these varieties are in reality herbaceous productions; but in consequence of the resemblance of the name, [To the pine or pitch-tree, mentioned in c. 19.] I have thought it as well not to defer the consideration of them.

These plants are good for stings inflicted by scorpions, and are useful as an application, mixed with dates or quinces, for maladies of the liver: a decoction of them with barley-meal is used for the kidneys and the bladder. A decoction of them in water is used also for jaundice and for strangury. The kind last mentioned, in combination with honey, is good for wounds inflicted by serpents, and a pessary is made of it, with honey, as a detergent for the uterus. Taken in drink it brings away coagulated blood, and rubbed upon the body it acts as a sudorific: it is particularly useful also for the kidneys. Pills of a purgative nature are made of it for dropsy, with figs. [They are rich in essential oil, and are of a tonic nature. All that is here stated as to their medicinal uses, and which cannot be based upon that property, is hypothetical, Fée says, and does not deserve to be refuted.] Taken in wine, in doses of one victoriatus, [See Introduction to Vol. III.] it dispels lumbago, and cures coughs that are not of an inveterate description. A decoction of it in vinegar, taken in drink, will instantaneously bring away the dead fœtus, it is said.

Chap. 21.—The Pityusa: Six Remedies.

For a similar [The resemblance of its name to the “pitys” or pitch-tree.] reason, too, we shall accord the same distinction to the pityusa, a plant which some persons reckon among the varieties of the tithymalus. [See B. xxvi. c..] It is a shrub, [An Euphorbia with a ligneous stem, the Euphorbia pityusa of Linnæus. The characteristics of it differ, however, from the description here given by Pliny. It is no longer used in medicine, though, like the other Euphorbiaceæ, it has very active properties.] resembling the pitch-tree in appearance, and with a diminutive purple blossom. A decoction of the root, taken in doses of one hemina, carries off the bilious and pituitous secretions by [This, Fée says, is consistent with truth.] stool, and a spoonful of the seed, used as a suppository, has a similar effect. A decoction of the leaves in vinegar removes scaly eruptions of the skin; and in combination with boiled rue, it effects the cure of diseases of the mamillæ, gripings in the bowels, wounds inflicted by serpents, and incipient gatherings of most kinds.

Chap. 22.—Resins: Twenty-two Remedies.

In treating, first of wines, [In B. xiv. c. 25.] and then of trees, [B. xvi. cc. 16, 21, 22, 23.] we have stated that resin is the produce of the trees above-mentioned, and have described the several varieties of it, and the countries in which they are respectively produced. There are two principal kinds of resin, the dry and the liquid. [Or, as they are called at the present day, the resins, and the oleoresins, or terebinthines.] The dry resins are extracted from the pine [Fée thinks that this name extends to the numerous species of resiniferous trees.] and the pitch-tree, [The Abies excelsa of Linnæus.] the liquid from the terebinth, [The Pistacia terebinthus; see B. xiii. c. 12. It yields a valuable turpentine, known in commerce as that of Cyprus or Chios.] the larch, [The so-called Venice turpentine is extracted from the larch.] the lentisk, [It yields mastich solely, a solid resin.] and the cypress; [It yields a terebinthine, and a very diminutive amount of solid resin.] these last producing it in the province of Asia and in Syria. It is an error [Fée says, that if the same methods are employed, the same products may be obtained, though in general the larch yields the better terebinthine.] to suppose that the resin of the pitch-tree is the same as that of the larch; for the pitch-tree yields an unctuous [Fée thinks that he is speaking of a thick resin, or galipot, as the French call it, of the consistency of honey.] resin, and of the same consistency as frankincense, while that of the larch is thin, like honey in colour, and of a powerful odour. It is but very rarely that medical men make use of liquid resin, and when they do, it is mostly that produced by the larch, which is administered in an egg for cough and ulcerations of the viscera. The resin of the pine, too, is far from extensively used, and that of the other kinds is always boiled [Boiled terebinthine, or turpentine, is still used, Fée says, in medicine; that process disengaging the essential oil.] before use: on the various methods of boiling it, we have enlarged at sufficient length already. [In B. xvi. c. 22.]

As to the produce of the various trees, the resin of the terebinth is held in high esteem, as being the most odoriferous and the lightest, the kinds [Fée thinks that in reality these are terebinthines, and not resins.] which come from Cyprus and Syria being looked upon as the best. Both these kinds are the colour of Attic honey; but that of Cyprus has more body, and dries with greater rapidity. In the dry resins the qualities requisite are whiteness, purity, and transparency: but whatever the kind, the produce of mountainous [It has been generally remarked that aromatic plants grown on mountains have a stronger perfume than those of the plains; Fée queries whether this extends to the resins.] districts is always preferred to that of champaign countries, and that of a north-eastern aspect to that of any other quarter. Resins [Though of little importance in modern medicine, resins and terebinthines are still employed as the basis of certain plasters and other preparations.] are dissolved in oil as a liniment and emollient cataplasm for wounds; but when they are used as a potion, bitter almonds [Such a potion as this, Fée says, would but ill agree with a person in robust health even.] are also employed. The curative properties of resins consist in their tendency to close wounds, to act as a detergent upon gatherings and so disperse them, and to cure affections of the chest.

The resin of the terebinth * * * it is used too, warmed, as a liniment for pains in the limbs, the application being removed after the patient has taken a walk in the sun. Among slave-dealers too, there is a practice of rubbing the bodies of the slaves with it, which is done with the greatest care, as a corrective for an emaciated appearance; the resin having the property of relaxing the skin upon all parts of the body, and rendering it more capable of being plumped out by food. [There would be no necessity whatever, Fée says, for such a process, a plentiful supply of food being quite sufficient for the purpose. Galen recommends frictions of terebinthine for the improvement of the health.]

Next after the resin of the terebinth comes that of the lentisk: [Mastich. The medicinal properties here attributed to it, Fée says, do not exist.] it possesses astringent properties, and is the most powerful diuretic of them all. The other resins are laxative to the bowels, promote the digestion of crudities, allay the violence of inveterate coughs, and, employed as a fumigation, disengage the uterus of foreign [“Onera.”] bodies with which it is surcharged: they are particularly useful too as neutralizing the effects of mistletoe; and, mixed with bull suet and honey, they are curative of inflamed tumours and affections of a similar nature. The resin of the lentisk is very convenient as a bandoline for keeping stubborn eyelashes in their place: it is useful also in cases of fractures, suppurations of the ears, and prurigo of the generative organs. The resin of the pine is the best of them all for the cure of wounds in the head.

Chap. 23. (7.)—Pitch: Twenty-three Remedies.

We have also stated on a previous occasion [In B. xiv. c. 25, and B. xvi. cc. 21, 22.] from what tree pitch is extracted, and the methods employed for that purpose. Of this also there are two kinds; thick pitch and liquid pitch. [Tar. See B. xvi. c. 21.] Of the several varieties of thick pitch the most useful for medicinal purposes is that of Bruttium; [The pitch of Calabria, Fée says, is known at the present day as pitch-resin. All that Pliny states as to the medicinal properties of pitch, is destitute, Fée thinks, of the slightest probability.] for being both extremely unctuous and very resinous, it reunites the properties both of resin and of pitch, that of a yellow reddish colour being the most highly esteemed. As to the statement made in addition to this, that the produce of the male tree is the best, I do not believe that any such distinction is at all possible.

Pitch is of a warming, cicatrizing tendency: mixed with polenta it is particularly useful as a neutralizer of the venom of the cerastes, [Or horned serpent.] and in combination with honey it is used for quinzy, catarrhs, and fits of sneezing caused by phlegm. With oil of roses it is used as an injection for the ears, and employed as a liniment with wax it heals lichens. It relaxes [Taken internally, of course.] the bowels, also, and used as an electuary, or applied with honey to the tonsillary glands, it facilitates expectoration. Applied topically, it acts as a detergent upon ulcers, and makes new flesh. Mixed with raisins and axle-grease, it forms a detergent plaster for carbuncles and putrid ulcers, and, with pine-bark or sulphur, for serpiginous sores. Pitch has been administered too by some, in doses of one cyathus, for phthisis and inveterate coughs. It heals chaps of the feet and rectum, inflamed tumours, and malformed nails; and used as a fumigation, it is curative of indurations and derangements of the uterus, and of lethargy. Boiled with barley-meal and the urine of a youth, who has not arrived at puberty, it causes scrofulous sores to suppurate. Dry pitch is used also for the cure of alopecy. For affections of the mamillæ, Bruttian pitch is warmed in wine with fine spelt meal, and applied as hot as can be borne.

Chap. 24.—Pisselæon and Palimpissa: Sixteen Remedies.

We have already [In B. xvi. c. 22, and B. xv. c. 7.] described the way in which liquid pitch and the oil known as pisselæon are made. Some persons boil the pitch over again, and give it the name of “palimpissa.” [“Pitch boiled over again.”] For quinzy [Fée says, that this statement is quite beyond all belief. Indeed there is little doubt that tar taken internally for quinzy, would only tend to aggravate the complaint. He states that a solution of tar in water is sometimes used internally with success for pulmonary phthisis. Bishop Berkeley wrote his Siris, on the virtues of Tar-water as a medicament, having been indebted to it for his recovery from an attack of colic.] and affections of the uvula, liquid pitch is employed internally. It is used also for the cure of ear-ache, for the improvement of the sight, and as a salve for the lips; and is employed for hysterical suffocations, inveterate coughs, profuse expectorations, spasms, nervousness, opisthotony, paralysis, and pains in the sinews. It is a very excellent remedy too for itch in dogs and beasts of burden.

Chap. 25.—Pissasphaltos: Two Remedies.

There is pissasphaltos too, a natural production of the territory of the Apolloniates, [See B. xvi. c. 23. His description here is faulty, it being solely a natural pitch or mineral bitumen, without any admixture of vegetable pitch. Vitruvius calls this pissasphalt, pitch; but Ælian, more correctly, bitumen. The names now given to it are mineral pitch, and malthe or pitch of Malta.] and consisting of pitch mixed with bitumen. Some persons, however, make this mixture artificially, and employ it for the cure of itch in cattle, and of injuries done by the young sucklings to the mamillæ. The most esteemed portion of it is that which floats on the surface when boiled.

Chap. 26.—Zopissa: One Remedy.

We have already [In B. xvi. c. 23. Fée thinks that the use of it is more likely to have been injurious than beneficial.] stated that zopissa is the pitch, macerated with salt-water and wax, that has been scraped from off the bottoms of ships. The best kind is that taken from ships which have been to sea for the first time. It is used as an ingredient in plasters of an emollient nature, employed to disperse gatherings.

Chap. 27.—The Torch-tree: One Remedy.

A decoction in vinegar of the wood of the torch-tree [Or tæda. See B. xvi. c. 19.] makes a most efficacious gargle for tooth-ache.

Chap. 28.—The Lentisk: Twenty-two Remedies.

The seed, bark, and tear-like juices of the lentisk are diuretics, and act astringently upon the bowels: [Fée says, that within the last century, the wood of the lentisk or mastich, and the oil of its berries, figured in the Pharmacopœias. Their medicinal properties are far from energetic, but the essential oil may probably be of some utility as an excitant.] a decoction of them, used as a fomentation, is curative of serpiginous sores, and is applied topically for humid ulcerations and erysipelas; it is employed also as a collutory for the gums. The teeth are rubbed with the leaves in cases of tooth-ache, and they are rinsed with a decoction of the leaves when loose: [This property is still attributed in the East to the leaves and resin of the lentisk. We learn from Martial, B. xiv. Epig. 22, that the wood of the lentisk, as well as quills, was used for tooth-picks.] this decoction has the effect also of staining [this, Fée says, is not the fact.] the hair. The gum of this tree is useful for diseases of the rectum, and all cases in which desiccatives and calorifics are needed; a decoction too of the gum is good for the stomach, acting as a carminative and diuretic; it is applied also to the head, in cases of headache, with polenta. The more tender of the leaves are used as an application for inflammations of the eyes.

The mastich [See B. xii. c. 36, and B. xiv. c. 25.] produced by the lentisk is used as a bandoline for the hairs of the eye-lids, in compositions for giving a plumpness to the face, and in cosmetics for smoothing [“Smegmata.”] the skin. It is employed for spitting of blood and for inveterate coughs, as well as all those purposes for which gum acacia is in request. It is used also for the cure of excoriations; which are fomented either with the oil extracted from the seed, mixed with wax, or else with a decoction of the leaves in oil. Fomentations too are made of a decoction of it in water for diseases of the male organs. [Littré thus reads the whole passage, “Sive cum aquâ, ut ita foveantur,”—“A decoction of it is made with water for the purpose of fomentation.”] I know for a fact, that in the illness of Considia, the daughter of M. Servilius, a personage of consular rank, her malady, which had long resisted all the more severe methods of treatment, was at last successfully treated with the milk of goats that had been fed upon the leaves of the lentisk.

Chap. 29. (8.)—The Plane-tree: Twenty-five Remedies.

The plane-tree [See B. xii. c. 3.] neutralizes the bad effects of bites inflicted by the bat. [“Adversantur vespertilionibus.” Fée sees difficulties in this passage, which really do not seem to exist.] The excrescences of this tree, taken in doses [The produce of the plane is no longer employed in medicine.] of four denarii, in wine, act as an antidote to the venom of serpents of all kinds and of scorpions, and are curative of burns. Pounded with strong vinegar, squill vinegar in particular, they arrest hæmorrhage of every kind; and with the addition of honey, they remove freckles, carcinomatous sores, and black spots of long standing on the skin.

The leaves again, and the bark of this tree, are used in the form of liniments for gatherings and suppurations, and a decoction of them is employed for a similar purpose. A decoction of the bark in vinegar is remedial for affections of the teeth, and the more tender of the leaves boiled in white wine are good for the eyes. The down which grows upon the leaves [The young leaves probably, or else the fruit.] is injurious to both the ears and eyes. The ashes of the excrescences of this tree heal such parts of the body as have been burnt or frost-bitten. The bark, taken in wine, reduces the inflammation caused by the stings of scorpions.

Chap. 30.—The Ash: Five Remedies.

We have already [In B. xvi. c. 24. There are still some traces of this notion existing, Fée says, among the French peasantry. All the statements here made relative to its medicinal properties, are utterly unfounded.] made some mention of the virtues possessed by the ash as an antidote to the venom of serpents. The seed of it is enclosed in follicules, which are good for diseases of the liver, and, in combination with wine, for pains in the sides: they are employed also for drawing off the water in dropsy. They have the property, too, of diminishing obesity, and of gradually reducing the body to a state of comparative emaciation, [In reality they have no such effect.] the follicules being pounded in wine and administered in proportion to the bodily strength; thus, for instance, to a child, five of them are given in three cyathi of wine, but for persons in more robust health, seven are prescribed, in five cyathi of wine.

We must not omit to state that the shavings and saw-dust of this wood are of a highly dangerous nature, according to some.

Chap. 31.—The Maple: One Remedy.

The root of the maple, [See B. xvi. c. 26. The root of the maple, Fée says, has no marked qualities whatever.] beaten up in wine, is extremely efficacious as a topical application for pains in the liver.

Chap. 32.—The Poplar: Eight Remedies.

We have already [In B xii. c. 61. The buds of the poplar, Fée says, are still used in medicine in the composition of an unguent known as “populeum.” The bark is astringent, and the wood destitute of taste.] mentioned, when speaking of the unguents, the use that is made of the berries [“Uvarum.” Fée thinks that by these berries, or grapes, the blossoms or buds are meant. See Note 608 to B. xii. c. 61.] of the white poplar. A potion prepared from the bark is good for sciatica and strangury, and the juice of the leaves is taken warm for ear-ache. So long [See also c. 38, as to the Vitex.] as a person holds a sprig of poplar in his hand, there is no fear of [This superstition probably applies to persons riding on horseback.] chafing between the thighs.

The black poplar which grows in Crete is looked upon as the most efficacious of them all. The seed of it, taken in vinegar, is good for epilepsy. This tree produces a resin also to a small extent, which is made use of for emollient plasters. The leaves, boiled in vinegar, are applied topically for gout. A moisture that exudes from the clefts of the black poplar removes warts, and pimples caused by friction. Poplars produce also on the leaves a kind of sticky [“Guttam.” This is the substance known to us as “honey-dew.” It is either secreted by the plant itself, or deposited on the leaves by an aphis. It is found more particularly on the leaves of the rose, the plane, the lime, and the maple. Bees and ants are particularly fond of it.] juice, from which bees prepare their propolis: [Bee-glue. See B. xi. c. 6, and B. xxii. c. 50.] indeed this juice, mixed with water, has the same virtues as propolis.

Chap. 33.—The Elm: Sixteen Remedies.

The leaves, bark, and branches of the elm [See B. xvi. c. 29. The bark of the elm, like that of most other trees, has certain astringent properties.] have the property of filling up wounds and knitting the flesh together: the inner membrane [Fée says that it is only some few years since the inner bark of the elm was sometimes prescribed medicinally, but that it has now completely fallen into disuse. All that Pliny says here of the virtues of the elm is entirely suppositious.] too, of the bark, and the leaves, steeped in vinegar, are applied topically for leprosy. The bark, in doses of one denarius, taken in one hemina of cold water, acts as a purgative upon the bowels, and is particularly useful for carrying off pituitous and aqueous humours. The gum also which this tree produces is applied topically to gatherings, wounds, and burns, which it would be as well to foment with the decoction also. The moisture [A kind of honey-dew, no doubt.] which is secreted on the follicules of the tree gives a finer colour to the skin, and improves the looks. The foot-stalks of the leaves that first appear, [“Cauliculi foliorum primi.”] boiled in wine, are curative of tumours, and bring them to a head: [“Extrahuntque per fistulas.”] the same, too, is the effect produced by the inner bark.

Many persons are of opinion that the bark of this tree, chewed, is a very useful application for wounds, and that the leaves, bruised and moistened with water are good for gout. The moisture too that exudes from the pith of the tree, as already [In B. xvi. c. 74.] stated, on an incision being made, applied to the head, causes the hair to grow and prevents it from falling off.

Chap. 34.—The Linden-tree: Five Remedies.

The linden-tree [See B. xvi. c. 25. The blossoms of the linden-tree are the only part of it employed in modern medicine. Fée thinks, with Hardouin, that Pliny has here attributed to the linden, or Philyra of the Greeks, the properties which in reality were supposed to belong to the Phillyrea latifolia, a shrub resembling the wild olive. Dioscorides, in his description of its properties, has not fallen into the same error.] is useful, though in a less marked degree, for nearly all the same purposes as the wild olive. The leaves, however, are the only part that is made use of for ulcers upon infants; chewed, too, or employed in the form of a decoction, they are diuretic. Used as a liniment they arrest menstruation when in excess, and an infusion of them, taken, in drink, carries off superfluous blood.

Chap. 35.—The Elder: Fifteen Remedies.

There are two kinds of elder, one of which grows wild and is much smaller than the other; by the Greeks it is known as the “chamæacte,” or “helion.” [“Ground elder” or “marsh elder;” the Sambucus ebulus of Linnæus, or dwarf elder. The other kind mentioned by Pliny is the Sambucus nigra of Linnæus, or black elder.] A decoction of the leaves, [Fée says that though some of the assertions as to its medicinal properties made by Pliny are unfounded, it is still an opinion among the moderns that the leaves of the elder are purgative, the inner bark an emetic and hydragogue, the berries laxative, and the flowers emollient.] seed, or root of either kind, taken in doses of two cyathi, in old wine, though bad for the upper regions of the stomach, carries off all aqueous humours by stool. This decoction is very cooling too for inflammations, those attendant upon recent burns in particular. A poultice is made also of the more tender leaves, mixed with polenta, for bites inflicted by dogs. The juice of the elder, used as a fomentation, reduces abscesses of the brain, and more particularly of the membrane which envelopes that organ. The berries, which have not so powerful an action as the other parts of the tree, stain the hair. Taken in doses of one acetabulum, in drink, they are diuretic. The softer leaves are eaten with oil and salt, to carry off pituitous and bilious secretions.

The smaller kind is for all these purposes the more efficacious of the two. A decoction of the root in wine, taken in doses of two cyathi, brings away the water in dropsy, and acts emolliently upon the uterus: the same effects are produced also by a sitting-bath made of a decoction of the leaves. The tender shoots of the cultivated kind, boiled in a saucepan and eaten as food, have a purgative effect: the leaves taken in wine, neutralize the venom of serpents. An application of the young shoots, mixed with he-goat suet, is remarkably good for gout; and if they are macerated in water, the infusion will destroy fleas. If a decoction of the leaves is sprinkled about a place, it will exterminate flies. “Boa” [According to Hardouin, this would appear to be the measles; but according to Festus, swellings on the legs were so called. The shingles is probably the malady meant.] is the name given to a malady which appears in the form of red pimples upon the body; for its cure the patient is scourged with a branch of elder. The inner bark, [Fée speaks of a decoction of the inner bark as having been recently in vogue for the cure of dropsy.] pounded and taken with white wine, relaxes the bowels.

Chap. 36.—The Juniper: Twenty-one Remedies.

The juniper is of a warming and resolvent nature beyond all other plants: in other respects, it resembles the cedar. [This so-called cedar, Fée says, is in reality itself a juniper. The medicinal properties of all the varieties of the juniper are not identical. The essential oil of the leaves acts with a formidable energy upon the human system.] There are two species of this tree, also, one of which is larger [This is identified by Fée with the Juniperus communis of Lamarck, variety α, the Juniperus communis of Linnæus.] than the other: [Identified by Fée with the Juniperus nana of Willdenow, the Juniperus communis of Lamarck, variety β. The Spanish juniper, mentioned in B. xvi. c. 76, he identifies with the Juniperus thurifera of Linnæus.] the odour of either, burnt, repels the approach of serpents. [Virgil says this of the fumes of the cedar, Georg. III. 414; an additional proof, Fée says, that under the name of “cedrus,” the juniper was really meant. The smoke of the juniper is not known to have the effect upon serpents here described.] The seed [The berries of the juniper contain sugar, mucilage, and a small proportion of essential oil; a rob is prepared from them, Fée says, under the line of “extract of juniper.”] is good for pains in the stomach, chest, and sides; it dispels flatulency and sudden chills, soothes cough, and brings indurations to a head. Applied topically, it checks the growth of tumours; and the berries, taken in red wine, act astringently upon the bowels: they are applied also to tumours of the abdomen. The seed is used as an ingredient in antidotes of an aperient nature, and is diuretic [It is a well-known fact, that juniper berries are diuretic; they impart also to the urine the odour of the violet, a property which is equally possessed by turpentine. All the other properties here attributed to the juniper, are, in Fée’s opinion, either hypothetical or absurd.] in its effects. It is used as a liniment for defluxions of the eyes, and is prescribed for convulsions, ruptures griping pains in the bowels, affections of the uterus, and sciatica, either in a dose of four berries in white wine, or in the form of a decoction of twenty berries in wine.

There are persons who rub the body with juniper berries as a preventive of the attacks of serpents.