Chaps. 37-53.

Chap. 37. (9.)—The Willow: Fourteen Remedies. The Willow of Ameria: One Remedy.

The fruit of the willow, [See B. xvi. c. 68.] before it arrives at maturity, is covered with a down like a spider’s web: gathered [Neither this downy substance nor the seeds are now employed for any purpose. The bark of the willow has some strongly-pronounced properties, but all other parts of it are totally inert.] before it is ripe, it arrests discharges of blood from the mouth. The bark of the upper branches, reduced to ashes and mixed with water, is curative of corns and callosities: it removes spots also upon the face, being still more efficacious for that purpose if mixed with, the juices of the tree.

The juices produced by the willow form three different varieties; one [A kind of manna, Fée says. The other juices here mentioned are secreted from the sap.] of which exudes in the shape of a gum from the tree itself, and another distils from an incision some three fingers in width, made in the bark while the tree is in blossom. This last is very useful for dispersing humours which impede the sight, acting also as an inspissative when needed, promoting the discharge of the urine, and bringing abscesses of all kinds to a head. The third kind of juice exudes from the wounds, when the branches are lopt off with the bill. Either of these juices, warmed in a pomegranate rind, is used as an injection for diseases of the ears. The leaves, too, boiled and beaten up with wax, are employed as a liniment for similar purposes, and for gout. The bark and leaves, boiled in wine, form a decoction that is remarkably useful as a fomentation for affections of the sinews. The blossoms, bruised with the leaves, remove scaly eruptions of the face; and the leaves, bruised and taken in drink, check libidinous tendencies, [The leaves have no effect whatever as an antaphrodisiac.] and effectually put an end to them, if habitually employed.

The seed of the black willow of Ameria, [See B. xvi. c. 69.] mixed with litharge in equal proportions, and applied to the body just after the bath, acts as a depilatory.

Chap. 38.—The Vitex: Thirty-three Remedies.

Not much unlike the willow, for the use that is made of it in wicker-work, is the vitex, [The Vitex agnus castus of Linnæus, the tree of chastity.] which also resembles it in the leaves and general appearance, though the smell of it is more agreeable. The Greeks call it “lygos,” or “agnos,” [The “chaste” tree. It is no longer used in medicine; the fruit has somewhat the flavour of spice, Fée says, and taken internally it would have the converse of an antaphrodisiac effect. The other parts of it are quite inert.] from the fact that the matrons of Athens, during the Thesmophoria, [An Attic festival celebrated yearly in honour of Demeter, which lasted four or five days. It was also celebrated in other parts of Greece.] a period when the strictest chastity is observed, are in the habit of strewing their beds with the leaves of this tree.

There are two species of vitex: the larger [The Vitex agnus castus of Lamarck, variety β, Elatior.] one, like the willow, attains the full proportions of a tree; while the other, [The Vitex agnus castus of Linnæus, the type.] which is smaller, is branchy, with a paler, downy leaf. The first kind, generally known as the “white” vitex, bears a white blossom mixed with purple, whereas the black one has a flower that is entirely purple. Both of these trees grow on level spots of a marshy nature.

The seed of these trees, taken in drink, has a sort of vinous flavour, and has the reputation of being a febrifuge. It is said also to act as a sudorific, if the body is rubbed with it mixed with oil, and to have the effect of dispelling extreme lassitude: it acts too as a diuretic [It may possibly, Fée says, have this effect, but the other properties here attributed to it are wholly imaginary.] and emmenagogue. The produce of both trees is trying to the head, like wine, and indeed the odour of them is very similar. They have the effect also of removing flatulence in the lower regions of the body, act astringently upon the bowels, and are remarkably useful for dropsy and affections of the spleen. They promote the secretion of the milk, and neutralize the venom of serpents, when of a cold nature more particularly. The smaller kind, however, is the more efficacious of the two for injuries inflicted by serpents, the seed being taken in doses of one drachma, in wine or oxycrate, or else the more tender leaves in doses of two drachmæ.

From both trees also a liniment is prepared for the bites of spiders, but it is quite sufficient to rub the wounds with the leaves; and if a fumigation is made from them, or if they are spread beneath the bed, they will repel the attacks of all venomous creatures. They act also as an antaphrodisiac, and it is by this tendency in particular that they neutralize the venom of the phalangium, the bite of which has an exciting effect upon the generative organs. The blossoms and young shoots, mixed with oil of roses, allay head-aches arising from inebriation. A decoction of the seed used as a fomentation cures head-ache, however intense it may be; and employed as a fumigation or as a pessary, the seeds acts as a detergent upon the uterus. Taken in drink with honey and penny-royal, it has a laxative effect; pounded and used with barley-meal, it quickly brings abscesses and hard tumours to a head, and has an emollient effect.

The seed, in combination with saltpetre and vinegar, removes lichens and freckles; mixed with honey, it heals ulcers and eruptions of the mouth; applied with butter and vine-leaves, it reduces swellings of the testes; used with water, as a linment, it cures chaps of the rectum; and employed with salt, nitre, and wax, it is good for sprains. The seed and leaves are used as ingredients also in emollient plasters for diseases of the sinews, and for gout; and a decoction of the seed in oil is employed as a fomentation for the head in cases of phrenitis and lethargy. Persons [Travelling on horseback, probably. A similar superstition is mentioned as to the poplar, in c. 32 of this Book.] who carry a sprig of this plant in the hand, or stuck in the girdle, will be proof, it is said, against chafing between the thighs.

Chap. 39.—The Erica; One Remedy.

The Greeks give the name of “erice,” [Probably the Erica arborea of Linnæus; see B. xiii. c. 35. It has not, however, a leaf similar to that of rosemary, with the sole exception, Fée says, of the Erica cinerea of Linnæus.] to a shrub that is but little different from the myrice. [See B. xiii. c. 37.] It has the colour, and very nearly the leaf, of rosemary. It neutralizes [It has no such effect, in reality.] the venom of serpents, it is said.

Chap. 40.—The Broom; Five Remedies.

The broom is used for making withes; [See B. xvi. c. 69. The kind here alluded to is the Spanish broom, Fée thinks.] the flowers of it are greatly sought by bees. I have my doubts whether this is not the same plant that the Greek writers have called “sparton,” and of which, in those parts of the world, as I have already [In B. xix. c. 2. Vol. IV. p. 135.] stated, they are in the habit of making fishing-nets. I doubt also whether Homer [Iliad, B. ii. l. 135. See B. xix. c. 6, where Pliny states it as his opinion that in this passage Homer is speaking of flax.] has alluded to this plant, when he speaks of the seams of the ships,—“the sparta” coming asunder; for it is certain that in those times the spartum [See B. xix. c. 7. Fée thinks that the plant under consideration in this Chapter is the Spanish broom, Genista juncea of Lamarck, the Spartium junceum of Linnæus, a different plant from the Spartum of B. xix. c. 7, the Stipa tenacissima of Linnæus. He is of opinion also, that Homer in the passage referred to alludes, not to flax, but to the Genista juncea. See this question further discussed, in the additional Note at the end of B..] of Spain or Africa was not as yet in use, and that vessels made of materials sown together, were united by the agency, not of spartum, but of flax.

The seed of the plant to which the Greeks now give the name of “sparton,” grows in pods like those of the kidney-bean. It is as strongly drastic [Fée says that the blossoms and seed of the junciform genista and other kinds are of a purgative nature; indeed, one variety has been called the Genista purgans by Lamarck. None of them, however, are so potent in their effects as Pliny in the present passage would lead us to suppose.] as hellebore, and is usually taken fasting, in doses of one drachma and a half, in four cyathi of hydromel. The branches also, with the foliage, are macerated for several days in vinegar, and are then beaten up, the infusion being recommended for sciatica, in doses of one cyathus. Some persons think it a better plan, however, to make an infusion of them in sea-water, and to inject it as a clyster. The juice of them is used also as a friction for sciatica, with the addition of oil. Some medical men, too, make use of the seed for strangury. Broom, bruised with axle-grease, is a cure for diseases of the knees.

Chap. 41.—The Myrica, Otherwise Called Tamarica, or Tamarix: Three Remedies.

Lenæus says, that the myrice, [See B. xiii. c. 37, and Note 968; where it is stated that, in Fée’s opinion, several plants were united by the ancients under this one collective name—brooms for instance, heaths, and tamarisks. He thinks, however, that under the name “Myrica,” Pliny may possibly have intended to comprehend the larger heaths and the Tamarix Gallica of Linnæus. M. Fraäs, as Littré states, gives the Tamarix Africana as the probable synonym of the Myrica of Pliny.] otherwise known as the “erica,” is a similar plant to that of which brooms are made at Ameria. [Of this broom-plant of Ameria nothing is known.] He states also that, boiled in wine and then beaten up and applied with honey, it heals carcinomatous sores. I would here remark, parenthetically, that some persons identify it with the tamarice. Be this as it may, it is particularly useful for affections of the spleen, the juice of it being extracted for the purpose, and taken in wine; indeed so marvellous, they say, is its antipathy to this part of the viscera, and this only, that if swine drink from troughs made of this wood, [This cannot apply to any of the heaths of Europe. The tamarisk grows to a much larger size, and barrels and drinking-vessels are made of the wood.] they will be found to lose the spleen. Hence it is that in maladies of the spleen victuals and drink are given to the patient in vessels made of this wood.

A medical author too, of high repute, [“Gravis.” He does not, however, show his gravity in the present instance.] has asserted that a sprig broken from off this tree, without being allowed to touch the earth or iron, will allay pains in the bowels, if applied to the body, and kept close to it by the clothes and girdle. The common people, as already [In B. xvi. c. 45.] stated, look upon this tree as ill-omened, because it bears no fruit, and is never propagated from seed.

Chap. 42.—The Brya: Twenty-nine Remedies.

At Corinth, and in the vicinity of that city, the Greeks give the name of “brya” [See B. xiii. c. 37.] to a plant of which there are two varieties; the wild brya, [Identified by Fée with the Tamarix Gallica.] which is altogether barren, and the cultivated one. [The “brya,” spoken of in B. xiii. c. 37, as growing in Achaia also, the Tamarix orientalis of Delille. But there he implies that it does not produce any fruit when it grows in Egypt.] This last, when found in Syria and Egypt, produces a ligneous fruit, somewhat larger than a gall-nut, in great abundance, and of an acrid flavour; medical men employ it as a substitute for galls in the compositions known as “antheræ.” [“Flower compositions.”] The wood also, with the blossoms, leaves, and bark of the tree, is used for similar purposes, but their properties are not so strongly developed. The bark is pounded also, and given for [It may possibly be of some use for this purpose, being of an astringent nature.] discharges of blood from the mouth, irregularities of the catamenia, and cœliac affections: beaten up and applied to the part affected, it checks the increase of all kinds of abscesses.

The juice too is extracted from the leaves for similar purposes, and a decoction is made of them in wine; they are applied also to gangrenes, in combination with honey. A decoction of them taken in wine, or the leaves themselves applied with oil of roses and wax, has a sedative effect: it is in this form that they are used for the cure of epinyctis. This decoction is useful also for tooth-ache or ear-ache, and the root is employed for similar purposes. The leaves too have this additional use—they are applied with polenta to serpiginous sores. The seed, in doses of one drachma, is administered in drink for injuries inflicted by spiders or the phalangium; and mixed with the grease of poultry, it is applied to boils. It is very efficacious also for stings inflicted by all kinds of serpents, the asp excepted. The decoction used as a fomentation, is curative of jaundice, phthiriasis, and lice; it also arrests the catamenia when in excess. The ashes of the tree are employed for all these purposes; there is a story told, too, that mixed with the urine of an ox, and taken in the food or drink they will act most effectually as an antaphrodisiac. The charcoal too of this wood is quenched in urine of a similar nature, and kept in a shady spot. When it is the intention of the party to rekindle the flames [This seems to be the meaning of “Idem cum libeat accendere resolvitur,” though in the French translations it is rendered, “It crumbles into ashes when an attempt is made to kindle it.” Holland seems to have rightly understood the passage, which probably bears reference to some current superstition.] of desire, it is set on fire again. The magicians say, [“Magi.” He probably alludes in this passage to the Magi of the East.] that the urine of an eunuch, will have a similar effect.

Chap. 43.—The Blood-red Shrub: One Remedy.

Nor is the blood-red [See B. xvi. cc. 30, 43.] shrub looked upon as a less ill-omened [The cornel, probably. It was looked upon as “infelix,” or ill-omened, because it was sacred to the Deities of the infernal regions.] plant than the last. The inner bark of it is used to re-open ulcers which have healed too rapidly.

Chap. 44.—The Siler: Three Remedies.

The leaves, of the siler, [See B. xvi. c. 31. If this is the Salix vitellina. Fée says, all that Pliny here states as to its medicinal properties does not merit the slightest attention.] applied to the forehead, allay head-ache; and the seed of it, beaten up with oil, is curative of phthiriasis. Serpents also are greatly in dread of this tree, and it is for this reason that the country-people are in the habit of carrying a walking-stick made of it.

Chap. 45.—The Privet: Eight Remedies.

The ligustrum, or privet, if it is the same tree as the cyprus [See B. xii. c. 51. The botanical characteristics, Fée says, and the medicinal properties of the privet, differ essentially from those of the Cypros or Lawsonia inermis. The leaves of the privet are bitter and astringent.] of the East, has also its own medicinal uses in Europe. The juice of it is used for affections of the sinews and joints, and for sudden chills; and the leaves are universally employed, with a sprinkling of salt, for the cure of inveterate sores and of ulcerations of the mouth. The berries are curative of phthiriasis and chafings between the thighs, for which last purpose the leaves also are employed. The berries are made use of for the cure of pip in poultry. [Fée says, that on reading this passage it is impossible to preserve one’s gravity.]

Chap. 46.—The Alder: One Remedy.

The leaves of the alder, steeped in boiling water, are an undoubted remedy for tumours.

Chap. 47.—The Several Varieties of the Ivy: Thirty-nine Remedies.

We have already [In B. xvi. c. 62. The ivy is but little used for any of the purposes of modern medicine. It is said by some authorities that a decoction of the leaves will kill vermin, and that the berries are purgative and emetic.] enumerated some twenty varieties of the ivy. The medicinal properties of them all are of a doubtful nature; taken in considerable quantities they disturb the mental faculties and purge the brain. Taken internally they are injurious to the sinews, [“Nervis.”] but applied topically they are beneficial to those parts of the body. Ivy possesses properties similar [Fée states that in reality no such similarity exists; but that acetic acid is sometimes developed by the rapid fermentation of the juices of a great number of vegetable substances.] to those of vinegar. All the varieties of the ivy are of a refrigerative nature, and taken in drink they are diuretic. The softer leaves, applied to the head, allay head-ache, acting more particularly upon the brain and the membrane which envelopes that organ. For this purpose the leaves are bruised with vinegar and oil of roses and then boiled, after which some more rose-oil is added. The leaves too are applied to the forehead and the mouth is fomented with a decoction of them, with which the head is rubbed as well. They are useful also for the spleen, the leaves being applied topically, or an infusion of them taken in drink. A decoction of them is used for cold shiverings in fevers, and for pituitous eruptions; or else they are beaten up in wine for the purpose. The umbels too taken in drink or applied externally, are good for affections of the spleen, and an application of them is useful for the liver; employed as a pessary, they act as an emmenagogue.

The juice of the ivy, the white cultivated kind more particularly, cures diseases of the nostrils and removes habitually offensive smells. Injected into the nostrils it purges the head, and with the addition of nitre it is still more efficacious for that purpose. In combination with oil, the juice is injected for suppurations or pains in the ears. It is a corrective also of the deformities of scars. The juice of white ivy, heated with the aid of iron, is still more efficacious for affections of the spleen; it will be found sufficient, however, to take six of the berries in two cyathi of wine. Three berries of the white ivy, taken in oxymel, expel tape-worm, and in the treatment of such cases it is a good plan to apply them to the abdomen as well. Erasistratus prescribes twenty of the golden-coloured berries of the ivy which we have mentioned as the “chrysocarpos,” [“Golden fruit.” See B. xvi. c. 62.] to be beaten up in one sextarius of wine, and he says that if three cyathi of this preparation are taken for dropsy, it will carry off by urine the water that has been secreted beneath the skin. For cases of tooth-ache he recommends five berries of the chrysocarpos to be beaten up in oil of roses, and warmed in a pomegranate-rind, and then injected into the ear opposite the side affected. The berries which yield a juice of a saffron, colour, taken beforehand in drink, are a preservative against crapulence; they are curative also of spitting of blood and of griping pains in the bowels. The whiter umbels of the black ivy, taken in drink, are productive of sterility, in males even. A decoction in wine of any kind of ivy is useful as a liniment for all sorts of ulcers, those even of the malignant kind known as “cacoethes.” The tears [The same substance which he speaks of at the end of this Chapter as the gum of ivy, called “hederine,” Fée says, in modern chemistry. It is a gum resin, mixed with ligneous particles.] which distil from the ivy are used as a depilatory, and for the cure of phthiriasis. The blossoms too, of all the varieties, taken twice a day in astringent wine, a pinch in three fingers at a time, are curative of dysentery and looseness of the bowels: they are very useful also, applied to burns with wax. The umbels stain the hair black. The juice extracted from the root is taken in vinegar for the cure of wounds inflicted by the phalangium. I find it stated too, that patients suffering from affections of the spleen are cured by drinking from vessels made of the wood of the ivy. The berries are bruised also, and then burnt, and a liniment is prepared from them for burns, the parts being fomented with warm water first.

Incisions are sometimes made in the ivy to obtain the juice, which is used for carious teeth, it having the effect of breaking them, it is said; the adjoining teeth being fortified with wax against the powerful action of the juice. A kind of gum even is said to be found in the ivy, which, it is asserted, is extremely useful, mixed with vinegar, for the teeth.

Chap. 48.—The Cisthos: Five Remedies.

The Greeks give the name of “cisthos”—a word very similar to “cissos,” the Greek name of the ivy—to a plant which is somewhat larger than thyme, and has a leaf like that of ocimum. There are two varieties of this plant; the male, [The Cistus pilosus of Linnæus, the wild eglantine, or rock-rose.] which has a rose-coloured blossom, and the female, [The Cistus salvifolius of Linnæus.] with a white one. The blossom of either kind, taken in astringent wine, a pinch in three fingers at a time, is good for dysentery and looseness of the bowels. Taken in a similar manner twice a day, it is curative of inveterate ulcers: used with wax, it heals burns, and employed by itself it cures ulcerations of the mouth. It is beneath these plants more particularly that the hypocisthis grows, of which we shall have occasion [In B. xxvii cc.,,, and.] to speak when treating of the herbs.

Chap. 49.—The Cissos Erythranos: Two Remedies. The Chamæcissos: Two Remedies. The Smilax: Three Remedies. The Clematis: Eighteen Remedies.

The plant called “cissos erythranos” [“Red-berried” or “red-leaved ivy.” See B. xvi. c. 62. This kind, Fée says, appears not to have been identified.] by the Greeks, is similar to the ivy: taken in wine, it is good for sciatica and lumbago. The berries, it is said, are of so powerful a nature as to produce bloody urine. “Chamæcissos” [“Ground-ivy.” See B. xvi. c. 62; Note 2601. M. Fraäs adopts Sprengel’s opinion that it is the Antirrhinum Azarina, the bastard asarum.] also is a name given by them to a creeping ivy which never rises from the surface of the ground: bruised in wine, in doses of one acetabulum, it is curative of affections of the spleen, the leaves of it being applied topically with axle-grease to burns.

The smilax [See B. xvi. c. 63.] also, otherwise known as the “anthophoros,” [“Flower-bearer.”] has a strong resemblance to ivy, but the leaves of it are smaller. A chaplet, they say, made of an uneven number of the leaves, is an effectual cure for head-ache. Some writers mention two kinds of smilax, one of which is all but perennial, and is found climbing the trees in umbrageous valleys, the berries hanging in clusters. These berries, they say, are remarkably efficacious for all kinds of poisons; so much so indeed, that infants to whom the juice of them has been habitually administered, are rendered proof against all poisons for the rest of their life. The other kind, it is said, manifests a predilection for cultivated localities, and is often found growing there; but as for medicinal properties, it has none. The former kind, they say, is the smilax, the wood of which we have mentioned [In B. xvi. c. 63.] as emitting a sound, if held close to the ear.

Another plant, similar to this, they call by the name of “clematis:” [Sprengel thinks that this is the Clematis viticella, but Fée identifies it with the Clematis vitalba of Linnæus, the climber, or traveller’s joy.] it is found adhering to trees, and has a jointed stem. The leaves of it cleanse leprous [The leaves of it, Fée says, are of a caustic nature, and have been employed before now by impostors for producing sores on the skin of a frightful appearance, but easily healed.] sores, and the seed acts as an aperient, taken in doses of one acetabulum, in one hemina of water, or in hydromel. A decoction of it is prescribed also for a similar purpose.

Chap. 50. (11.)—The Reed: Nineteen Remedies.

We have already [In B. xvi. c. 34.] treated of twenty-nine varieties of the reed, and there is none of her productions in which that mighty power of Nature, [Sympathies and antipathies existing in plants. See c. 1 of this Book.] which in our successive Books we have described, is more fully displayed than in this. The root of the reed, pounded and applied to the part affected, extracts the prickles of fern from the body, the root of the fern having a similar effect upon splinters of the reed. Among the numerous varieties which we have described, the scented reed [Not a reed, Fée thinks, but some other monocotyledon that has not been identified. See B. xii. c. 48.] which is grown in Judæa and Syria as an ingredient in our unguents, boiled with hay-grass or parsley-seed, has a diuretic effect: employed as a pessary, it acts as an emmenagogue. Taken in drink, in doses of two oboli, it is curative of convulsions, diseases of the liver and kidneys, and dropsy. Used as a fumigation, and with resin, more particularly, it is good for coughs, and a decoction of it with myrrh is useful for scaly eruptions and running ulcers. A juice, too, is collected from it which has similar properties to those of elaterium. [See B. xx. c. 3.]

In every kind of reed the part that is the most efficacious is that which lies nearest the root; the joints also are efficacious in a high degree. The ashes of the Cyprian reed known as the “donax,” [See B. xvi. c. 66.] are curative of alopecy and putrid ulcers. The leaves of it are also used for the extraction [Celsus also speaks of the root of the reed as being efficacious for this purpose, B. v. c. 26.] of pointed bodies from the flesh, and for erysipelas and all kinds of gatherings. The common reed, beaten up quite fresh, has also considerable extractive powers, and not in the root only, for the stem, it is said, has a similar property. The root is used also in vinegar as a topical application for sprains and for pains in the spine; and beaten up fresh and taken in wine it acts as an aphrodisiac. The down that grows on reeds, put into the ears, deadens the hearing. [Fée says that neither of these last assertions is true.]

Chap. 51.—The Papyrus, and the Paper Made from It: Three Remedies.

Of a kindred nature with the reed is the papyrus [See B. xiii. c. 21. It is no longer used in medicine.] of Egypt; a plant that is remarkably useful, in a dried state, for dilating and drying up fistulas, and, by its expansive powers, opening an entrance for the necessary medicaments. The ashes [These statements as to the virtues of the ashes of papyrus, Fée says are absurd.] of paper prepared from the papyrus are reckoned among the caustics: those of the plant, taken in wine, have a narcotic effect. The plant, applied topically in water, removes callosities of the skin.

Chap. 52.—The Ebony: Five Remedies.

The ebony-tree [See B. xii. c. 8. Desfontaines is inclined to identify the tree here spoken of with the Diospyros ebenaster of Kœnig.] does not grow in Egypt even, as we have already stated, and it is not our intention to speak here of the medicinal properties of the vegetable productions of foreign climates. Still, however, the ebony must not be omitted, on account of the marvels related of it. The saw-dust of this wood, it is said, is a sovereign remedy for diseases of the eyes, and the pulp of the wood, rubbed upon a whetstone moistened with raisin wine, dispels all films which impede the sight. The root too, they say, applied with water, is curative of white specks in the eyes, and, with the addition of root of dracunculus, [See c. 91 of this Book; the Artemisia dracunculus of Linnæus.] in equal proportions, and of honey, of cough. Medical men reckon ebony also in the number of the caustics. [“Erodentia.” Fée remarks upon the singularity, that with this property attributed to it, it should be recommended for diseases of the eyes.]

Chap. 53.—The Rhododendron: One Remedy.

The rhododendron [The “rose-tree.” Our rose-bay or oleander.] has not so much as found a Latin name among us, its other names being “rhododaphne” [“Rose-laurel.”] and “nerium.” It is a marvellous fact, but the leaves [See B. xvi. c. 33. It is, Fée says, an energetic poison, but as injurious to man as it is to animals.] of this plant are poisonous to quadrupeds; while for man, if taken in wine with rue, they are an effectual preservative against the venom of serpents. Sheep too, and goats, it is said, if they drink water in which the leaves have been steeped, will die immediately.