Chaps. 29-41.

Chap. 29.—Fifteen Remedies Derived from the Chamæleon.

To these animals we shall annex some others that are equally foreign, and very similar in their properties. To begin then with the chamæleon, which Democritus has considered worthy to be made the subject of an especial work, and each part of which has been consecrated to some particular purpose—This book, in fact, has afforded me no small amusement, revealing as it does, and exposing the lies and frivolities of the Greeks.—In size, the chamæleon resembles the crocodile last mentioned, and only differs from it in having the back-bone arched at a more acute angle, and a larger tail. There is no animal, it is thought, more [It is a timid animal, but Pliny’s authorities have exaggerated its timidity.] timid than this, a fact to which it owes its repeated changes of colour. [This change of colour is in reality owing to change of locality.] It has a peculiar ascendancy over the hawk tribe; for, according to report, it has the power of attracting those birds, when flying above it, and then leaving them a voluntary prey for other animals. Democritus [A. Gellius tells the same story, B. x. c. 12.] asserts that if the head and neck of a chamæleon are burnt in a fire made with logs of oak, it will be productive of a storm attended with rain and thunder; a result equally produced by burning the liver upon the tiles of a house. As to the rest of the magical virtues which he ascribes to this animal, we shall forbear to mention them, although we look upon them as unfounded; [And therefore harmless.] except, indeed, in some few instances where their very ridiculousness sufficiently refutes his assertions.

The right eye, he says, taken from the living animal and applied with goats’ milk, removes diseases of the crystalline humours of the eyes; and the tongue, attached to the body as an amulet, is an effectual preservative against the perils of child-birth. He asserts also that the animal itself will facilitate parturition, if in the house at the moment; but if, on the other hand, it is brought from elsewhere, the consequences, he says, will be most dangerous. The tongue, he tells us, if taken from the animal alive, will ensure a favourable result to suits at law; and the heart, attached to the body with black wool of the first shearing, is a good preservative against the attacks of quartan fever.

He states also that the right fore-paw, attached to the left arm in the skin of the hyæna, is a most effectual preservative against robberies and alarms at night; that the pap on the right side is a preventive of fright and panics; that the left foot is sometimes burnt in a furnace with the plant which also has the name of “chamæleon,” [See B. xxii. c. 21.] and is then made up, with some unguent, into lozenges; and that these lozenges, kept in a wooden vessel, have the effect, if we choose to believe him, of making their owner invisible to others; that the possession, also, of the right shoulder of this animal will ensure victory over all adversaries or enemies, provided always the party throws the sinews of the shoulder upon the ground and treads them under foot. As to the left shoulder of the chamæleon, I should be quite ashamed to say to what monstrous purposes Democritus devotes it; how that dreams may be produced by the agency thereof, and transferred to any person we may think proper; how that these dreams may be dispelled by the employment of the right foot; and how that lethargy, which has been produced by the right foot of this animal, may be removed by the agency of the left side.

So, too, head-ache, he tells us, may be cured by sprinkling wine upon the head, in which either flank of a chamæleon has been macerated. If the feet are rubbed with the ashes of the left thigh or foot, mixed with sow’s milk, gout, he says, will be the result. It is pretty generally believed, however, that cataract and diseases of the crystalline humours of the eyes may be cured by anointing those organs with the gall for three consecutive days; that serpents may be put to flight by dropping some of it into the fire; that weasels may be attracted by water into which it has been thrown; and that, applied to the body, it acts as a depilatory. The liver, they say, applied with the lungs of a bramble-frog, is productive of a similar effect: in addition to which, we are told that the liver counteracts the effects of philtres; that persons are cured of melancholy by drinking from the warm skin of a chamæleon the juice of the plant known by that name; and that if the intestines of the animal and their contents—we should bear in mind that in reality the animal lives without food [See B. viii. c. 51. Flies and gnats are, in reality, its food.] —are mixed with apes’ urine, and the doors of an enemy are besmeared with the mixture, he will, through its agency, become the object of universal hatred.

We are told, too, that by the agency of the tail, the course of rivers and torrents may be stopped, and serpents struck with torpor; that the tail, prepared with cedar and myrrh, and tied to a double branch of the date-palm, will divide waters that are smitten therewith, and so disclose everything that lies at the bottom—and I only wish [One of the few pieces of wit in which Pliny is found to indulge.] that Democritus himself had been touched up with this branch of palm, seeing that, as he tells us, it has the property of putting an end to immoderate garrulity. It is quite evident that this philosopher, a man who has shown himself so sagacious in other respects, and so useful to his fellow-men, has been led away, in this instance, by too earnest a desire to promote the welfare of mankind.

Chap. 30.—Four Remedies Derived from the Scincus.

Similar in appearance to the preceding animals is the scincus, [See B. viii. c. 38. Probably the Lacerta ouaran of Cuvier.] which by some writers has been called the land crocodile; it is, however, whiter in appearance, and the skin is not so thick. But the main difference between it and the crocodile is in the arrangement of the scales, which run from the tail towards the head. The largest of these animals is the Indian scincus, and next to it that of Arabia; they are brought here salted. The muzzle and fat of the scincus, taken in white wine, act as an aphrodisiac; when used with satyrion [See B. xxvi. c. 62.] and rocket-seed more particularly, in the proportion of one drachma of each, mixed with two drachmæ of pepper; the whole being made up into lozenges of one drachma each, and so taken in drink. The flesh from the flanks, taken internally in a similar manner, in doses of two oboli, with myrrh and pepper, is generally thought to be productive of a similar effect, and to be even more efficacious for the purpose. According to Apelles, the flesh of the scincus is good for wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows, whether taken before or after the wound is inflicted: it is used as an ingredient, also, in the most celebrated antidotes. Sextius tells us, that, taken in doses of more than one drachma, in one semisextarius of wine, the flesh is productive of deadly results: he adds, too, that a broth prepared from it, taken with honey, acts as an antaphrodisiac.

Chap. 31.—Seven Remedies Derived from the Hippopotamus.

Between the crocodile, too, and the hippopotamus there is a certain affinity, frequenting as they do the same river, and being both of them of an amphibious nature. The hippopotamus was the first inventor of the practice of letting blood, a a fact to which we have [In B. viii. c. 40.] made allusion on a previous occasion: it is found, too, in the greatest numbers in the parts above the præfecture of Saïs.

The hide, reduced to ashes and applied with water, is curative of inflamed tumours, and the fat, as well as the dung, used as a fumigation, is employed for the cure of cold agues. With the teeth of the left side of the jaw, the gums are scarified for the cure of tooth-ache. The skin of the left side of the forehead, attached to the groin, acts as an antaphrodisiac; and an application of the ashes of the same part will cause the hair to grow when lost through alopecy. The testes are taken in water, in doses of one drachma, for the cure of injuries inflicted by serpents. The blood is made use of by painters.

Chap. 32.—Five Remedies Derived from the Lynx.

To foreign countries, also, belongs the lynx, which of all quadrupeds is possessed of the most piercing sight. It is said that in the Isle of Carpathus a most powerful medicament is obtained by reducing to ashes the nails of the lynx, together with the hide; that these ashes, taken in drink, have the effect of checking abominable desires in men; and that, if they are sprinkled upon women, all libidinous thoughts will be restrained. They are good too for the removal of itching sensations in any part of the body. The urine of the lynx is a remedy for strangury; for which reason the animal, it is said, is in the habit of rooting up the ground and covering it the moment it is voided. [See B. viii. c. 57.] It is mentioned, too, that this urine is an effectual remedy for pains in the throat. Thus much with reference to foreign animals.

Chap. 33. (9.)—Remedies Furnished in Common by Animals of the Same Class, Whether Wild or Tame. Fifty-four Medicinal Uses of Milk, with Observations Thereon.

We will now return to our own part of the world, speaking, first of all, of certain remedies common to animals in general, but excellent in their nature; such as the use of milk, for example. The most beneficial milk to every creature is the mother’s [Except, of course, when the mother is in a state of disease.] milk. It is highly dangerous for nursing women to conceive: children that are suckled by them are known among us as “colostrati,” [See B. xi. c. 96. Dalechamps remarks that Pliny is in error here: this name being properly given to infants which have been put to the breast too soon after child-birth. And so it would appear from the context.] their milk being thick, like cheese in appearance—the name “colostra,” [The “biestings.”] it should be remembered, is given to the first milk secreted after delivery, which assumes a spongy, coagulated form. The most nutritive milk, in all cases, is woman’s milk, and next to that goats’ milk, to which is owing, probably, the fabulous story that Jupiter was suckled by a goat. [Amalthæa.] The sweetest, next to woman’s milk, is camels’ milk; but the most efficacious, medicinally speaking, is asses’ milk. It is in animals of the largest size and individuals of the greatest bulk, that the milk is secreted with the greatest facility. Goats’ milk agrees the best with the stomach, that animal browsing more than grazing. Cows’ milk is considered more medicinal, while ewes’ milk is sweeter and more nutritive, but not so well adapted to the stomach, it being more oleaginous than any other.

Every kind of milk is more aqueous in spring than in summer, and the same in all cases where the animal has grazed upon a new pasture. The best milk of all is that which adheres to the finger nail, when placed there, and does not run from off it. Milk is most harmless when boiled, more particularly if sea pebbles [Dioscorides says “river pebbles.”] have been boiled with it. Cows’ milk is the most relaxing, and all kinds of milk are less apt to inflate when boiled. Milk is used for all kinds of internal ulcerations, those of the kidneys, bladder, intestines, throat, and lungs in particular; and externally, it is employed for itching sensations upon the skin, and for purulent eruptions, it being taken fasting for the purpose. We have already [In B. xxv. c. 53.] stated, when speaking of the plants, how that in Arcadia cows’ milk is administered for phthisis, consumption, and cachexy. Instances are cited, also, of persons who have been cured of gout in the hands and feet, by drinking asses’ milk.

To these various kinds of milk, medical men have added another, to which they have given the name of “schiston;” [From the Greek σχιστὸν, “divided” milk, or “curds.”] following being the usual method of preparing it. Goats’ milk, which is used in preference for the purpose, is boiled in a new earthen vessel, and stirred with branches of a fig-tree newly gathered, as many cyathi of honied wine being added to it as there are semisextarii of milk. When the mixture boils, care is taken to prevent it running over, by plunging into it a silver cyathus measure filled with cold water, none of the water being allowed to escape. When taken off the fire, the constituent parts of it divide as it cools, and the whey is thus separated from the milk. Some persons, again, take this whey, which is now very strongly impregnated with wine, and, after boiling it down to one third, leave it to cool in the open air. The best way of taking it, is in doses of one semisextarius, at stated intervals, during five consecutive days; after taking it, riding exercise should be used by the patient. This whey is administered in cases of epilepsy, melancholy, paralysis, leprosy, elephantiasis, and diseases of the joints.

Milk is employed as an injection where excoriations have been caused by the use of strong purgatives; in cases also where dysentery is productive of chafing, it is similarly employed, boiled with sea pebbles or a ptisan of barley. Where, however, the intestines are excoriated, cows’ milk or ewes’ milk is the best. New milk is used as an injection for dysentery; and in an unboiled state, it is employed for affections of the colon and uterus, and for injuries inflicted by serpents. It is also taken internally as an antidote to the venom of cantharides, the pine-caterpillar, the buprestis, and the salamander. Cows’ milk is particularly recommended for persons who have taken colchicum, hemlock, dorycnium, [See B. xxi c. 105.] or the flesh of the sea-hare; and asses’ milk, in cases where gypsum, white-lead, sulphur, [He perhaps means a sulphate, and not sulphur, which is harmless.] or quick-silver, have been taken internally. This last is good too for constipation attendant upon fever, and is remarkably useful as a gargle for ulcerations of the throat. It is taken, also, internally, by patients suffering from atrophy, for the purpose of recruiting their exhausted strength; as also in cases of fever unattended with head-ache. The ancients held it as one of their grand secrets, to administer to children, before taking food, a semisextarius of asses’ milk, or for want of that, goats’ milk; a similar dose, too, was given to children troubled with chafing of the rectum at stool. It is considered a sovereign remedy for hardness of breathing, to take cows’ milk whey, mixed with nasturtium. In cases of ophthalmia, too, the eyes are fomented with a mixture of one semisextarius of milk and four drachmæ of pounded sesame.

Goats’ milk is a cure for diseases of the spleen; but in such case the goats must fast a couple of days, and be fed on ivy-leaves the third; the patient, too, must drink the milk for three consecutive days, without taking any other nutriment. Milk, under other circumstances, is detrimental to persons suffering from head-ache, liver complaints, diseases of the spleen, and affections of the sinews; it is bad for fevers, also, vertigo—except, indeed, where it is required as a purgative—oppression of the head, coughs, and ophthalmia. Sows’ milk is extremely useful in cases of tenesmus, dysentery, and phthisis; authors have been found too, to assert that it is very wholesome for females.

Chap. 34.—Twelve Remedies Derived from Cheese.

We have already [In B. xi. c. 97.] spoken of the different kinds of cheese when treating of the mamillæ and other parts of animals. Sextius attributes the same properties to mares’ milk cheese that he does to cheese made of cows’ milk: to the former he gives the names of “hippace.” Cheese is best for the stomach when not salted, or, in other words, when new cheese is used. Old [salted] cheese has a binding effect upon the bowels, and reduces the flesh, but is more wholesome to the stomach [than new salted cheese]. Indeed, we may pronounce of aliments in general, that salt meats reduce the system, while fresh food has a tendency to make flesh. Fresh cheese, applied with honey, effaces the marks of bruises. It acts, also, emolliently upon the bowels; and, taken in the form of tablets, boiled in astringent wine and then toasted with honey on a platter, it modifies and alleviates griping pains in the bowels.

The cheese known as “saprum,” [From the Greek σαπρὸν, “rotten” cheese.] is beaten up, in wine, with salt and dried sorb apples, and taken, in drink, for the cure of cœliac affections. Goats’ milk cheese, pounded and applied to the part affected, is a cure for carbuncle of the generative organs; sour cheese, [Like our cream cheese, or new milk cheese, probably.] also, with oxymel, is productive of a similar effect. In the bath it is used as a friction, alternately with oil, for the removal of spots.

Chap. 35.—Twenty-Five Remedies Derived from Butter.

From milk, too, butter is produced; held as the most delicate food among barbarous [The people of Germany and Scythia, for instance.] nations, and one which distinguishes [In this passage also it is generally supposed that he refers to the nomadic life of barbarous nations, in which multitudes of sheep and cattle constituted the chief wealth. It is, however, not improbable that he means to say that among the Romans it was only the wealthy who could afford to use it.] the wealthy from the multitude at large. It is mostly made from cows’ milk, and hence its name; [Βούτυρον, “cow cheese.”] but the richest butter is that made from ewes’ milk. There is a butter made also from goats’ milk; but previously to making it, the milk should first be warmed, in winter. In summer it is extracted from the milk by merely shaking it to and fro in a tall vessel, with a small orifice at the mouth to admit the air, but otherwise closely stopped, a little water [Qy. whether for “aquæ,” “water,” we should not read “acidi” here, “sour milk,” as at the beginning of the next Chapter? Beckmann suggests “aceti,” “vinegar.”— Hist. Inv. I. 505, Bohn’s Ed.] being added to make it curdle the sooner. The milk that curdles the most, floats upon the surface; this they remove, and, adding salt to it, give it the name of “oxygala.” [Beckmann says on this passage, “What Pliny says respecting oxygala is attended with difficulties: and I am fully persuaded that his words are corrupted, though I find no variations marked in MSS. by which this conjecture can be supported.”— Hist. Inv. I. 505. He suggests another arrangement of the whole passage, but without improving it, for the difficulty would appear to be totally imaginary; as it is quite clear that by “oxygala,” or “sour milk,” Pliny means the thickest part of the curd, which is first removed and then salted, forming probably a sort of cream cheese. Though his meaning is clear, he may very possibly give an erroneous description of the process.] They then take the remaining part and boil it down in pots, and that portion of it which floats on the surface is butter, a substance of an oily nature. The more [The remark of Holland on this passage is curious—“Some would amend this place, and for ‘magis,’ ‘more,’ put ‘minus,’ ‘less,’ in a contrary sense; but I suppose he writeth in regard of barbarous people, who make more account of such ranke butyr; like as the uncivile Irish in these daies.”] rank it is in smell, the more highly it is esteemed. When old, it forms an ingredient in numerous compositions. It is of an astringent, emollient, repletive, and purgative nature.

Chap. 36.—Oxygala: One Remedy.

Oxygala, too, is prepared another way, sour milk being added to the fresh milk which is wanted to curdle. This preparation is extremely wholesome to the stomach: of its properties we shall have occasion [He has forgotten to do so, however.] to speak in another place.

Chap. 37.—The Various Uses of Fat and Observations Upon It, Fifty-two in Number.

Among the remedies common to living creatures, fat is the substance held in the next highest esteem, that of swine in particular, which was employed by the ancients for certain religious purposes even: at all events, it is still the usage for the newly-wedded bride, when entering her husband’s house, to touch the door-posts with it. There are two methods of keeping hogs’ lard, either salted or fresh; indeed, the older it is, the better. The Greek writers have now given it the name of “axungia,” [From the Latin “axis,” an “axle,” and “ungo,” “to anoint.”] or axle-grease, in their works. Nor, in fact, is it any secret, why swine’s fat should be possessed of such marked properties, seeing that the animal feeds to such a great extent upon the roots of plants—owing too, to which, its dung is applied to such a vast number of purposes. It will be as well, therefore, to promise, that I shall here speak only of the hog that feeds in the open field, and no other; of which kind it is the female that is much the most useful—if she has never farrowed, more particularly. But it is the fat of the wild boar that is held in by far the highest esteem of all.

The distinguishing properties, then, of swine’s-grease, are emollient, calorific, resolvent, and detergent. Some physicians recommend it as an ointment for the gout, mixed with goose-grease, bull-suet, and wool-grease: in cases, however, where the pain is persistent, it should be used in combination with wax, myrtle, resin, and pitch. Hogs’ lard is used fresh for the cure of burns, and of blains, too, caused by snow: with ashes of burnt barley and nutgalls, in equal proportions, it is employed for the cure of chilblains. It is good also for excoriations of the limbs, and for dispelling weariness and lassitude arising from long journeys. For the cure of chronic cough, new lard is boiled down, in the proportion of three ounces to three cyathi of wine, some honey being added to the mixture. Old lard too, if it has been kept without salt, made up into pills and taken internally, is a cure for phthisis: but it is a general rule not to use it salted in any cases except where detergents are required, or where there are no symptoms of ulceration. For the cure of phthisis, some persons boil down three ounces of hogs’ lard and honied wine, in three cyathi of ordinary wine; and after swathing the sides, chest, and shoulders of the patient with compresses steeped in the preparation, administer to him, every four days, some tar with an egg: indeed, so potent is this composition, that if it is only attached to the knees even, the flavour of it will ascend to the mouth, and the patient will appear to spit it out, [Hence it was a notion in the sixteenth century, that pitch and hogs’ lard is a cure for syphilis by promoting salivation.] as it were.

The grease of a sow that has never farrowed, is the most useful of all cosmetics for the skin of females; but in all cases, hogs’ lard is good for the cure of itch-scab, mixed with pitch and beef-suet in the proportion of one-third, the whole being made lukewarm for the purpose. Fresh hogs’ lard, applied as a pessary, imparts nutriment to the infant in the womb, and prevents abortion. Mixed with white lead or litharge, it restores scars to their natural colour; and, in combination with sulphur, it rectifies malformed nails. It prevents the hair also from falling off; and, applied with a quarter of a nutgall, it heals ulcers upon the head in females. When well smoked, it strengthens the eyelashes. Lard is recommended also for phthisis, boiled down with old wine, in the proportion of one ounce to a semisextarius, till only three ounces are left; some persons add a little honey to the composition. Mixed with lime, it is used as a liniment for inflamed tumours, boils, and indurations of the mamillæ: it is curative also of ruptures, convulsions, cramps, and sprains. Used with white hellebore, it is good for corns, chaps, and callosities; and, with pounded earthenware [“Farina salsamentariæ testæ.”] which has held salted provisions, for imposthumes of the parotid glands and scrofulous sores. Employed as a friction in the bath, it removes itching sensations and pimples: but for the treatment of gout there is another method of preparing it, by mixing it with old oil, and adding pounded sarcophagus [See B. xxxvi. c. 27.] stone and cinquefoil bruised in wine, or else with lime or ashes. A peculiar kind of plaster is also made of it for the cure of inflammatory ulcers, seventy-five denarii of hogs’ lard being mixed with one hundred of litharge.

It is reckoned a very good plan also to anoint ulcers with boars’ grease, and, if they are of a serpiginous nature, to add resin to the liniment. The ancients used to employ hogs’ lard in particular for greasing the axles of their vehicles, that the wheels might revolve the more easily, and to this, in fact, it owes its name of “axungia.” When hogs’ lard has been used for this purpose, incorporated as it is with the rust of the iron upon the wheels, it is remarkably useful as an application for diseases of the rectum and of the generative organs. The ancient physicians, too, set a high value upon the medicinal properties of hogs’ lard in an unmixed state: separating it from the kidneys, and carefully removing the veins, they used to wash and rub it well in rain water, after which they boiled it several times in a new earthen vessel, and then put it by for keeping. It is generally agreed that it is more emollient, calorific, and resolvent, when salted; and that it is still more useful when it has been rinsed in wine.

Massurius informs us, that the ancients set the highest value of all upon the fat of the wolf: and that it was for this reason that the newly-wedded bride used to anoint the door-posts of her husband’s house with it, in order that no noxious spells might find admittance.

Chap. 38.—Suet.

Corresponding with the grease of the swine, is the suet [“Sebum”—Suet or tallow.] that is found in the ruminating animals, a substance employed in other ways, but no less efficacious in its properties. The proper mode of preparing it, in all cases, is to take out the veins and to rinse it in sea or salt-water, after which it is beaten up in a mortar, with a sprinkling of sea-water in it. This done, it is boiled in several waters, until, in fact, it has lost all smell, and is then bleached by continual exposure to the sun; that of the most esteemed quality being the fat which grows about the kidneys. In case stale suet is required for any medicinal purpose, it is recommended to melt it first, and then to wash it in cold water several times; after which, it must again be melted with a sprinkling of the most aromatic wine that can be procured, it being then boiled again and again, until the rank smell has totally disappeared.

Many persons recommend that the fat of bulls, lions, panthers, and camels, in particular, should be thus prepared. As to the various uses to which these substances are applied, we shall mention them on the appropriate occasions.

Chap. 39.—Marrow.

Common too, to all these animals, is marrow; a substance which in all cases is possessed of certain emollient, expletive, desiccative, and calorific properties. The most highly esteemed of all is deer’s marrow, the next best being that of the calf, and then that of the goat, both male and female. These substances are prepared before autumn, by washing them in a fresh state, and drying them in the shade; after which they are passed through a sieve, and then strained through linen, and put by in earthen pots for keeping, in a cool spot.

Chap. 40.—Gall.

But among the substances which are furnished in common by the various animals, it is the gall, we may say, that is the most efficacious of all. The properties of this substance are of a calorific, pungent, resolvent, extractive, and dispersive nature. The gall of the smaller animals is looked upon as the most penetrating; for which reason it is that it is generally considered the most efficacious for the composition of eye-salves. Bull’s gall is possessed of a remarkable degree of potency, having the effect of imparting a golden tint to the surface of copper even and to vessels made of other metals. Gall in every case is prepared in the following manner: it is taken fresh, and the orifice of the vesicle in which it is contained being tied fast with a strong linen thread, it is left to steep for half an hour in boiling water; after which it is dried in the shade, and then put away for keeping, in honey.

That of the horse is condemned, being reckoned among the poisons only. Hence it is that the Flamen [Or Flamen Dialis. Festus gives another reason: lest the Flamen should travel to a distance, and so neglect his duties.] of the Sacrifices is not allowed to touch a horse, notwithstanding that it is the custom to immolate one [The “Equus October,” sacrificed to Mars on the Campus Martius in October. This sacrifice was attended with some very ridiculous ceremonies.] of these animals at the public sacrifices at Rome.

Chap. 41.—Blood.

The blood, also, of the horse is possessed of certain corrosive properties; and so, too, is mare’s blood—except, indeed, where the animal has not been covered—it having the effect of cauterizing the margins of ulcers, and so enlarging them. Bull’s blood too, taken fresh, is reckoned [This, as already observed, was probably a fallacy.] among the poisons; except, indeed, at Ægira, [See B. iv. c. 6.] at which place the priestess of the Earth, when about to foretell coming events, takes a draught of bull’s blood before she descends into the cavern: so powerful, in fact, is the agency of that sympathy so generally spoken of, that it may occasionally originate, we find, in feelings of religious awe, [His meaning is, that the excitement produced by religious feeling neutralizes that antipathy which, under ordinary circumstances, is manifested towards the system by bull’s blood.] or in the peculiar nature of the locality.

Drusus, [See B. xxxiii. c. 6.] the tribune of the people, drank goats’ blood, it is said; it being his object by his pallid looks to suggest that his enemy, Q. Cæpio, had given him poison, and so expose him to public hatred. So remarkably powerful is the blood of the he-goat, that there is nothing better in existence for sharpening iron implements, the rust produced by this blood giving them a better edge even than a file. Considering, however, that the blood of all animals cannot be reckoned as a remedy in common, will it not be advisable, in preference, to speak of the effects that are produced by that of each kind?