Chaps. 11-21.

Chap. 11.—Remedies for Affections of the Throat.

I find it stated that catarrhs oppressive to the head may be cured by the patient kissing a mule’s nostrils. Affections of the uvula and pains in the fauces are alleviated by using the dung of lambs before they have begun to graze, dried in the shade. Diseases of the uvula are cured with the juices of a snail pierced with a needle; the snail, however, must be then hung up in the smoke. The same maladies are treated also with ashes of burnt swallows, mixed with honey; a preparation which is equally good for affections of the tonsillary glands. Sheep’s milk, used as a gargle, alleviates diseases of the fauces and tonsillary glands. Millepedes, bruised with pigeons’ dung, are taken as a gargle, with raisin wine; and they are applied, externally, with dried figs and nitre, for the purpose of soothing roughness of the fauces and catarrhs. For such cases, too, snails should be boiled unwashed, the earth only being removed, and then pounded and administered to the patient in raisin wine. Some persons are of opinion, that for these purposes the snails of Astypalæa [See B. iv. c. 23, B. viii. c. 59, and cc. 15 and 43 of the present Book.] are the most efficacious, and they give the preference to the detersive preparation [“Smegma.”] made from them. The parts affected are sometimes rubbed with a cricket, and affections of the tonsillary glands are alleviated by being rubbed with the hands of a person who has bruised a cricket.

Chap. 12.—Remedies for Quinzy and Scrofula.

For quinzy we have very expeditious remedies in goose-gall, mixed with elaterium [See B. xx. c. 2.] and honey, an owlet’s brains, or the ashes of a burnt swallow, taken in warm water; which last remedy we owe [No very great obligation, apparently.] to the poet Ovid. But of all the remedies spoken of as furnished by the swallow, one of the most efficacious is that derived from the young of the wild swallow, a bird which may be easily recognized by the peculiar conformation of its nest. [See B. x. c. 49.] By far the most effectual, however, of them all, are the young of the bank-swallow, [“Riparia.”] that being the name given to the kind which builds its nest in holes on the banks of rivers. Many persons recommend the young of any kind of swallow as a food, assuring us that the person who takes it need be in no apprehension of quinzy for the whole of the ensuing year. The young of this bird are sometimes stifled and then burnt in a vessel with the blood, the ashes being administered to the patient with bread or in the drink: some, however, mix with them the ashes of a burnt weasel, in equal proportion. The same remedies are recommended also for scrofula, and they are administered for epilepsy, once a day, in drink. Swallows preserved in salt are taken for quinzy, in doses of one drachma, in drink: the nest, [The only birds’ nests that are now taken internally are the soutton bourong, or, edible birds’ nests, of the Chinese.] too, of the bird, taken internally, is said to be a cure for the same disease.

Millepedes, [See B. xxix. c. 39.] it is thought, used in the form of a liniment, are peculiarly efficacious for quinzy: some persons, also, administer eleven of them, bruised in one semi-sextarius of hydromel, through a reed, they being of no use whatever if once touched by the teeth. Other remedies mentioned are, the broth of a mouse boiled with vervain, a thong of dogskin passed three times round the back, and pigeons’ dung mixed with wine and oil. For the cure of rigidity of the muscles of the neck, and of opisthotony, a twig of vitex, taken from a kite’s nest, is attached to the body as an amulet.

(5.) For ulcerated scrofula, a weasel’s blood is employed, or the animal itself, boiled in wine; but not in cases where the tumours have been opened with the knife. It is said, too, that a weasel, eaten with the food, is productive of a similar effect; sometimes, also, it is burnt upon twigs, and the ashes are applied with axle-grease. In some instances, a green lizard is attached to the body of the patient, a fresh one being substituted at the end of thirty days. Some persons preserve the heart of this animal in a small silver vessel, [Marcus Empiricus says that the heart must be enclosed in a silver lupine and worn suspended from the neck, being efficacious for scrofula both in males and females. The silver lupine was probably what we should call a “locket.”] as a cure for scrofula in females. Old snails, those found adhering to shrubs more particularly, are pounded with the shells on, and applied as a liniment. Asps, too, are similarly employed, reduced to ashes and mixed with bull suet; snakes’ fat also, diluted with oil; and the ashes of a burnt snake, applied with oil or wax. It is a good plan also, in cases of scrofula, to eat the middle of a snake, the extremities being first removed, or to drink the ashes of the reptile, similarly prepared and burnt in a new earthen vessel: they will be found much more efficacious, however, when the snake has been killed between the ruts made by wheels. It is recommended also, to dig up a cricket with the earth about its hole, and to apply it in the form of a liniment; to use pigeons’ dung, either by itself, or with barley-meal, or oatmeal and vinegar; or else to apply the ashes of a burnt mole, mixed with honey.

Some persons apply the liver of this last animal, crumbled in the hands, due care being taken not to wash it off for three days: it is said, too, that a mole’s right foot is a remedy for scrofula. Others, again, cut off the head of a mole, and after kneading it with earth thrown up by those animals, divide it into tablets, and keep it in a pewter box, for the treatment of all kinds of tumours, diseases of the neck, and the affections known as “apostemes:” in all such cases the use of swine ’s flesh is forbidden to the patient. “Taurus” [“The bull.” Dalechamps takes this to be the stag-beetle or bull-fly; but that, as Ajasson remarks, has four horns, two antennæ, and two large mandibules; in addition to which, from its size, it would hardly be called the “earth-louse.” He concludes that a lamellicorn is meant; but whether belonging to the Lucanidæ or the Scarabæidæ, it is impossible to say.] is the name usually given to an earth-beetle, very similar to a tick in appearance, and which it derives from the diminutive horns with which it is furnished: some persons call it the “earth-louse.” [“Pediculus terræ.”] From the earth thrown up by these insects a liniment is prepared for scrofula and similar diseases, and for gout the application not being washed off till the end of three days. This last remedy is effectual for a whole year, and all those other properties are attributed to it which we have mentioned [In B. xxix. c. 33.] when speaking of crickets. There are some, again, who make a similar use of the earth thrown up by ants; while others attach to the patient as many earth-worms as there are scrofulous tumours, the sores drying as the worms dry up.

Some persons cut off the head and tail of a viper, as already mentioned, [In B. xxix. c. 21.] about the rising of the Dog-star, which done, they burn the middle, and give a pinch of the ashes in three fingers, for thrice seven days, in drink—such is the plan they use for the cure of scrofula. Others, again, pass round the scrofulous tumours a linen thread, with which a viper has been suspended by the neck till dead. Millepedes [He probably speaks of woodlice here. Ettmuller asserts their utility in this form for scrofula. Valisnieri says the same; Spielmann prescribes them for arthrosis; Riviere considers them as a detergent for ulcers, and a resolvent for tumours of the mamillæ; and Baglivi maintains that they are a first-rate diuretic, and unequalled as a lithontriptic. They contain muriate of lime and of potash, which may possibly, in some small degree, give them an aperitive virtue.] are also used, with one fourth part of turpentine; a remedy which is equally recommended for the cure of all kinds of apostemes.

Chap. 13.—Remedies for Diseases of the Shoulders.

The ashes of a burnt weasel, mixed with wax, are a cure for pains in the shoulders. To prevent the arm-pits of young persons from becoming hairy, they should be well rubbed with ants’ eggs. Slave-dealers also, to impede the growth of the hair in young persons near puberty, employ the blood that flows from the testes of lambs when castrated. This blood, too, applied to the arm-pits, [See Horace, Epode xii. l. 5.] the hairs being first pulled out, is a preventive of the rank smell of those parts.

Chap. 14.—Remedies for Pains in the Viscera.

We give the one general name of “præcordia” to the human viscera; for pains in any part of which, a sucking whelp is applied, being pressed close to the part affected. [Hence, perhaps, the practice of nursing lap-dogs.] The malady, it is said, will in such case pass into the animal; a fact which may be satisfactorily ascertained; for on disembowelling it, and sprinkling the entrails with wine, that part of the viscera will be found affected in which the patient himself was sensible of pain: to bury the animal in such a case is a point most religiously observed. The dogs, [See B. iii. c. 30, and Note 2, p. 267.] too, which we call “Melitæi,” applied to the stomach every now and then, allay pains in that region: the malady, it is supposed, passes into the animal’s body, as it gradually loses its health, and it mostly dies.

(6.) Affections of the lungs are cured by using mice, those of Africa more particularly, the animal being skinned and boiled, in salt and oil, and then taken with the food. The same preparation is used also, for the cure of purulent or bloody expectorations.

Chap. 15.—Remedies for Pains in the Stomach.

One of the very best remedies for affections of the stomach, is to use a snail diet. [In France and Italy, snails are considered a delicacy by some. Snail milk is sometimes used medicinally in England for consumptive patients: it is doubtful with what effect.] They must first be left to simmer in water for some time, without touching the contents of the shell, after which, without any other addition, they must be grilled upon hot coals, and eaten with wine and garum; [Or fish-sauce. See B. xxxi. c. 43.] the snails of Africa being the best of all for the purpose. The efficacy of this remedy has been proved in numerous instances of late. Another point, too, to be observed, is to take an uneven number of them. Snails, however, have a juice, it should be remembered, which imparts to the breath an offensive smell. For patients troubled with spitting of blood, they are remarkably good, the shell being first removed, and the contents bruised and administered in water. The most esteemed kinds of all are those of Africa—those which come from Iol, [See B. v. c. 20.], in particular—of Astypalæa, and, after them, those of Ætna, in Sicily, those I mean of moderate size, for the large ones are hard, and destitute of juice. The Balearic snails, called “cavaticæ,” from being found in caverns, are much esteemed; and so, too, are those from the islands of Capreæ. [See B. iii. c. 12.] Those of Greece, on the other hand, are never used for food, either old or fresh.

River snails, and those with a white shell, have a strong, rank, juice, and forest snails are by no means good for the stomach, having a laxative effect upon the bowels; the same too, with all kinds of small snails. Sea-snails, [Our periwinkles.] on the other hand, are more beneficial to the stomach; but it is for pains in that region that they are found the most efficacious: the best plan, it is said, is to eat them alive, of whatever kind they may happen to be, with vinegar. In addition to these, there are the snails called “aceratæ,” [Dalechamps takes this to mean “without horns:” and Hardouin is of opinion that it means “genuine” or “unmixed.” In either sense, the word is derived from the Greek.] with a broad shell, and found in numerous localities: of the uses to which they are put we shall [He has omitted to do so.] speak further on the appropriate occasions. The craw of poultry, dried and sprinkled in the drink, or else used fresh and grilled, has a soothing effect upon pectoral catarrhs and coughs attended with phlegm. [“Humida tussis.”] Snails, beaten up raw and taken in three cyathi of warm water, allay cough. A piece of dog’s skin, wrapped round any one of the fingers, affords relief to patients suffering from catarrh. A broth made of boiled partridges is strengthening for the stomach.

Chap. 16.—Remedies for Pains in the Liver, and for Spitting of Blood.

For the cure of pains in the liver, a wild weasel is taken with the food, or the liver only of that animal; a ferret also, roasted like a sucking-pig. In cases of asthma, millepedes are used, thrice seven of them being soaked in Attic honey, and taken internally by the aid of a reed: [See c. 12 of this Book.] for all vessels, it should be remembered, turn black on coming in contact with them. Some persons grill one sextarius of these insects on a flat pan, till they become white, and then mix them with honey. There are some authorities who call this insect a “centipede,” and recommend it to be given in warm water. Snails are administered to persons subject to fainting fits, alienation of the senses, and vertigo: for which purposes, a snail is beaten up, shell and all, with three cyathi of raisin wine, and the mixture is administered warm with the drink, for nine days at most. Others, again, give one snail the first day, two the second, three the third, two the fourth, and one the fifth; a mode of treatment also adopted for the cure of asthma and of abscesses.

There is, according to some authorities, an insect resembling the locust in appearance, destitute of wings, and known by the Greek name of “troxallis,” it being without a name in Latin: a considerable number of writers, however, consider it as identical with the insect known to us as “gryllus.” [Our “cricket.” The troxallis was probably a kind of locust, still known to naturalists by that name.] Twenty of these insects, they say, should be grilled, and taken in honied wine, by patients troubled with hardness of breathing or spitting of blood. Some persons pour pure grape-juice, [“Protropum.” Wine of the first running.] or sea-water, upon unwashed snails, and then boil and eat them for food; or else they bruise the snails, shells and all, and take them with this grape-juice. A similar method is also adopted for the cure of cough. Honey in which the bees have died, is particularly good for the cure of abscesses. For spitting of blood a vulture’s lungs are used, burnt upon vine logs, and mixed with half the quantity of pomegranate blossoms, or with the same proportion of quince and lily blossom: the whole being taken morning and evening, in wine, if there is no fever; but where there are symptoms of fever, instead of wine, water is used in which quinces have been boiled.

Chap. 17.—Remedies for Affections of the Spleen.

According to the prescriptions given by the magicians, a fresh sheep’s milt is the best application for pains in the spleen, the person who applies it uttering these words: “This I do for the cure of the spleen.” This done, it is enjoined that the milt should be covered up with mortar in the wall of the patient’s sleeping-room, and sealed with a ring, a charm [“Carmen.” Holland says “the aforesaid charm:” but this does not appear from the context. From the account, however, given by Marcus Empiricus, we learn that the charm, thus repeated twenty-seven times, is the same as that already given.] being repeated thrice nine times. A dog’s milt, removed from the animal while still alive, taken with the food, is a cure for diseases of the spleen: some, again, attach it fresh to that part of the patient’s body. Others give the patient—without his knowing it—the milt of a puppy two days old, to eat, in squill vinegar; the milt, too, of a hedge-hog is similarly used. Ashes of burnt snails are employed, in combination with linseed, nettle-seed, and honey, the treatment being persisted in till the patient is thoroughly cured.

A green lizard has a remedial effect, suspended alive in an earthen vessel, at the entrance of the sleeping-room of the patient, who, every time he enters or leaves it, must take care to touch it with his hand: the head, too, of a horned owl, reduced to ashes and incorporated with an unguent; honey, also, in which the bees have died; and spiders, the one known as the “lycos” [Or “wolf.” See B. xi. c. 28.] in particular.

Chap. 18.—Remedies for Pains in the Side and in the Loins.

For pains in the side, the heart of a hoopoe is highly esteemed; ashes, too, of burnt snails, that have been boiled in a ptisan, snails being sometimes applied in the form of a liniment, alone. Potions employed for this purpose have a sprinkling in them of the ashes of a mad dog’s skull. For the cure of lumbago, the spotted lizard [See B. xxix. c. 28] from beyond seas is used: the head and intestines being first removed, the body is boiled in wine, with half a denarius of black poppy, and the decoction is taken in drink. Green lizards, also, are taken with the food, the feet and head being first removed; or else three snails are crushed, shells and all, and boiled with fifteen peppercorns in wine. The feet of an eagle are wrenched off in a contrary direction to the joint, and the right foot is attached to the right side, the left foot to the left, according as the pains are situate. The millepede, [Or woodlouse. See B. xxix. c. 39.] which we have spoken of as being called the “oniscos,” is a cure for these pains, taken, in doses of one denarius, in two cyathi of wine. The magicians recommend an earth-worm to be put in a wooden dish, which has been split and mended with iron wire; which done, some water must be taken up with the dish, the worm drenched with it and buried in the spot from which it was taken, and the water drunk from the dish. They assert, also, that this is a marvellously excellent cure for sciatica.

Chap. 19. (7.)—Remedies for Dysentery.

Dysentery is cured by taking the broth of a leg of mutton, boiled with linseed in water; by eating old ewe-milk cheese; or by taking mutton suet boiled in astringent wine. This last is good, too, for the iliac passion, and for inveterate coughs. Dysentery is removed also, by taking a spotted lizard from beyond seas, boiled down till the skin only is left, the head, feet, and intestines, being first removed. A couple of snails also, and an egg, are beaten up, shells and all, in both cases, and made lukewarm in a new vessel, with some salt, three cyathi of water, and two cyathi of raisin-wine or date-juice, the decoction being taken in drink. Ashes, too, of burnt snails, are very serviceable, taken in wine with a modicum of resin.

The snails without shells, which we have [In B. xxix. c. 36.] mentioned as being mostly found in Africa, are remarkably useful for dysentery, five of them being burnt with half a denarius of gum acacia, and taken, in doses of two spoonfuls, in myrtle wine or any other kind of astringent wine, with an equal quantity of warm water. Some persons employ all kinds of African snails indiscriminately in this manner; while others, again, make use of a similar number of African snails or broad-shelled snails, as an injection, in preference: in cases, too, where the flux is considerable, they add a piece of gum acacia, about the size of a bean. For dysentery and tenesmus, the cast-off slough of a snake is boiled in a pewter vessel with oil of roses: if prepared in any other kind of vessel, it is applied with an instrument made of pewter. Chicken-broth is also used as a remedy for these affections; but the broth of an old cock, strongly salted, acts more powerfully as a purgative upon the bowels. A pullet’s craw, grilled and administered with salt and oil, has a soothing effect upon cœliac affections; but it is absolutely necessary that neither fowl nor patient should have eaten corn [See B. xxix. c. 36.] for some time before. Pigeons’ dung, also, is grilled and taken in drink. The flesh of a ring-dove, boiled in vinegar, is curative of dysentery and cœliac affections: and for the cure of the former, a thrush is recommended, roasted with myrtle-berries; a blackbird, also; or honey, boiled, in which the bees have died.

Chap. 20.—Remedies for the Iliac Passion, and for Other Maladies of the Bowels.

One of the most dangerous of maladies is that known by the name of “ileos:” [The iliac passion, or ileus volvulus.] it may be combatted, they say, by tearing a bat asunder, and taking the blood, or by rubbing the abdomen with it. Diarrhœa is arrested more particularly by taking snails, prepared in manner already [In c. 16 of this Book.] mentioned for cases of asthma; the ashes, also, of snails burnt alive, administered in astringent wine; the liver of poultry grilled; the dried craw of poultry, a part that is usually thrown away, mixed with poppy-juice—in some cases it is used fresh, grilled, and taken in wine—partridge broth; the craw of partridges beaten up by itself in red wine; a wild ringdove boiled in oxycrate; a sheep’s milt, grilled and beaten up in wine; or else pigeons’ dung, applied with honey. The crop of an ossifrage, dried and taken in drink, is remarkably useful for patients whose digestion is impaired—indeed, its good effects may be felt if they only hold it in the hand while eating. Hence it is that some persons wear it attached to the body as an amulet; a practice which must not be too long continued, it being apt to cause a wasting of the flesh. The blood, too, of a drake has an astringent effect.

Flatulency is dispelled by eating snails; and griping pains in the bowels, by taking a sheep’s milt grilled, with wine; a wild ringdove boiled in oxycrate; the fat of an otis [A kind of bustard. See B. x. cc. 29, 50, and c. 45 of this Book.] in wine; or the ashes of an ibis, burnt without the feathers, administered in drink. Another prescription mentioned for griping pains in the bowels is of a very marvellous nature: if a duck, they say, is applied to the abdomen, the malady will pass into the bird, and it will die. [See c. 14 of this Book, where a similar notion is mentioned.] Gripings of the bowels are treated also with boiled honey in which the bees have died.

Colic is most effectually cured by taking a roasted lark with the food. Some recommend, however, that it should be burnt to ashes in a new vessel, feathers and all, and then pounded and taken for four consecutive days, in doses of three spoonfuls, in water. Some say that the heart of this bird should be attached to the thigh, and, according to others, the heart should be swallowed fresh, quite warm, in fact. There is a family of consular dignity, known as the Asprenates, [There were three consuls of this name, L. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 7; L. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 29; and P. Nonius Asprenas, A.D. 38. They are mentioned also by Suetonius, Tacitus, Dion Cassius, Frontinus, and Seneca.] two brothers, members of which, were cured of colic; the one by eating a lark and wearing its heart in a golden bracelet; the other, by performing a certain sacrifice in a chapel built of raw bricks, in form of a furnace, and then blocking up the edifice the moment the sacrifice was concluded. The ossifrage has a single intestine only, which has the marvellous property of digesting all that the bird has swallowed: the extremity of this intestine, it is well known, worn as an amulet, is an excellent remedy for colic.

There are certain concealed maladies incident to the intestines, in relation to which there are some marvellous statements made. If to the stomach and chest, more particularly, blind puppies are applied, and suckled with milk from the patient’s mouth, [See c. 14 of this Book.] the virulence of the malady, it is said, will be transferred to them, and in the end they will die: on opening them, too, the causes of the malady will be sure to be discovered. In all such cases, however, the puppies must be allowed to die, and must be buried in the earth. According to what the magicians say, if the abdomen is touched with a bat’s blood, the person will be proof against colic for a whole year: when a patient, too, is attacked with the pains of colic, if he can bring himself to drink the water in which he has washed his feet, he will experience a cure.

Chap. 21. (8.)—Remedies for Urinary Calculi and Affections of the Bladder.

For the cure of urinary calculi, it is a good plan to rub the abdomen with mouse-dung. The flesh of a hedge-hog is agreeable eating, they say, if killed with a single blow upon the head, before it has had time to discharge its urine [See B. viii. c. 56.] upon its body: [persons [This passage is omitted by Sillig as an evident interpolation from the context a couple of lines below.] who eat this flesh, it is said, will never by any possibility suffer from strangury.] The flesh of a hedge-hog thus killed, is a cure for urinary obstructions of the bladder; and the same, too, with fumigations made therewith. If, on the other hand, the animal has discharged its urine upon its body, those who eat the flesh will be sure to be attacked by strangury, it is said. As a lithontriptic, [The belief in lithontriptics can hardly be said to exist at the present day. Ajasson refers to the grant made by the British Parliament of £5000 to Mrs. Stephens for her lithontriptic!!] earth-worms are recommended, taken in ordinary wine or raisin wine; or else boiled snails, prepared the same way [In c. 16 of this Book.] as for the cure of asthma. For the cure of urinary obstructions, snails are taken from the shells, pounded, and administered in one cyathus of wine, three the first day, two the second, and one the third. For the expulsion of calculi, the empty shells are reduced to ashes and taken in drink: the liver also of a water-snake, and the ashes of burnt scorpions are similarly employed, or are taken with bread or eaten with a locust. For the same purpose, the small grits that are found in the gizzard of poultry or in the craw of the ringdove, are beaten up and sprinkled in the patient’s drink; the craw, too, of poultry is taken, dried, or if fresh, grilled.

For urinary calculi and other obstructions of the bladder, dung of ring-doves is taken, with beans; ashes also of wild ring-doves’ feathers, mixed with vinegar and honey; the intestines of those birds, reduced to ashes, and administered in doses of three spoonfuls; a small clod from a swallow’s nest, dissolved in warm water; the dried crop of an ossifrage; the dung of a turtle-dove, boiled in honied wine; or the broth of a boiled turtle-dove.

It is very beneficial also for urinary affections to eat thrushes with myrtle-berries, or grasshoppers grilled on a shallow-pan; or else to take the millepedes, known as “onisci,” [See B. xxix. c. 39.] in drink. For pains in the bladder, a decoction of lambs’ feet is used. Chicken-broth relaxes the bowels and mollifies acridities; swallows’ dung, too, with honey, employed as a suppository, acts as a purgative.