Chaps. 22-31.

Chap. 22.—Sea-Weed: Two Remedies.

According to Nicander, sea-weed is also a theriac. [Or antidote.] There are numerous varieties of it, as already [In B. xxvi. c. 66.] stated; one, for instance, with an elongated leaf, another red, another again with a broader leaf, and another crisped. The most esteemed kind of all is that which grows off the shores of Crete, upon the rocks there, close to the ground: it being used also for dyeing wool, as it has the property [Many varieties of sea-weed are now known, Ajasson says, to possess this property, and are still used by savage nations for colouring the body. In Europe, the use of indigo, madder, and other tinctorial plants of a more decided character, has caused them to be entirely neglected for dyeing purposes.] of so fixing the colours as never to allow of their being washed out. Nicander recommends it to be taken with wine.

Chap. 23. (7.)—Remedies for Alopecy, Change of Colour in the Hair, and Ulcerations of the Head. The Sea-mouse: Two Remedies, the Sea-scorpion: Twelve Remedies. The Leech: Seven Remedies. The Murex: Thirteen Remedies. The Conchylium: Five Remedies.

Ashes of the hippocampus, [Probably the Syngnathus hippocampus of Linnæus. See B. ix. c. 1.] mixed with nitre [As to the Nitrum of the ancients, see B. xxxi. c. 46.] and hog’s lard, or else used solely with vinegar, are curative of alopecy; the skin being first prepared for the reception of the necessary medicaments by an application of powdered bone of sæpia. [Or Cuttlefish. See B. ix. c. 44.] Alopecy is cured also with ashes of the sea-mouse, [See B. ix. c. 35.] mixed with oil; ashes of the sea-urchin, burnt, flesh and all together; the gall of the sea-scorpion; [See c. of the present Book.] or else ashes of three frogs burnt alive in an earthen pot, applied with honey, or what is still better, in combination with tar. Leeches left to putrefy for forty days in red wine stain the hair black. Others, again, recommend one sextarius of leeches to be left to putrefy the same number of days in a leaden vessel, with two sextarii of vinegar, the hair to be well rubbed with the mixture in the sun. According to Sornatius, this preparation is naturally so penetrating, that if females, when they apply it, do not take the precaution of keeping some oil in the mouth, the teeth even will become blackened thereby. Ashes of burnt shells of the murex or purple are used as a liniment, with honey, for ulcerations of the head; the shells, too, of other shell-fish, [This seems to be the meaning of “conchyliorum” here, though in most instances Pliny uses it as synonymous with the purple. See B. ix. cc. 60, 61, 64.] powdered merely, and not calcined, are very useful for the same purpose, applied with water. For the cure of head-ache, castoreum is employed, in combination with peucedanum [See B. xxv. c. 70.] and oil of roses.

Chap. 24.—Remedies for Diseases of the Eyes and Eyelids. Two Remedies Derived from the Fat of Fishes. The Callionymus: Three Remedies. The Gall of the Coracinus: One Remedy. The Sæpia: Twenty-four Remedies. Ichthyocolla: Five Remedies.

The fat of all kinds of fish, both fresh-water as well as sea fish, melted in the sun and incorporated with honey, is an excellent improver of the eye-sight; [This assertion reminds us of the healing effects of the fish with which Tobit cured his father’s blindness. See Tobit, c. xi. v. 13.] the same, too, with castoreum, [See c. of this Book.] in combination with honey. The gall of the callionymus [Identified by Ajasson with the white Rascasse of the Mediterranean. Hardouin combats the notion that this was the fish, the gall of which was employed by Tobit for the cure of his father, and is inclined to think that the Silurus was in reality the fish; a notion no better founded than the other, Ajasson thinks.] heals marks upon the eyes and cauterizes fleshy excrescences about those organs: indeed, there is no fish with a larger quantity of gall than this, an opinion expressed too by Menander in his Comedies. [In his “Messenia,” for instance. The fragment has been preserved by Ælian, Hist. Anim. B. xiii. c. 4. Ajasson remarks that the ancients clearly mistook the swimming bladder of the fish for the gall.] This fish is known also as the “uranoscopos,” [Or “heaven-gazer.”] from the eyes being situate in the upper part of the head. [The original has “ab oculo quem,”—but we have adopted the reading suggested by Dalechamps, “Ab oculis quos in superiore capite.” Ajasson says that the white rascasse has the eyes so disposed on the upper part of the head as to have the appearance of gazing upwards at the heavens. Hence it is that at Genoa, the fish is commonly known as the prête or “priest.”] The gall, too, of the coracinus [See B. ix. c. 32.] has the effect of sharpening the eyesight.

The gall of the red sea-scorpion, [See Chapter of the present Book.] used with stale oil or Attic honey, disperses incipient cataract; for which purpose, the application should be made three times, on alternate days. A similar method is also employed for removing indurations [“Albugines.”] of the membrane of the eyes. The surmullet, used as a diet, weakens the eyesight, it is said. The sea-hare is poisonous itself, but the ashes of it are useful as an application for preventing superfluous hairs on the eyelids from growing again, when they have been once pulled out by the roots. For this purpose, however, the smaller the fish is, the better. Small scallops, too, are salted and beaten up with cedar resin for a similar purpose, or else the frogs known as “diopetes” [Meaning, literally, “Fallen from Jupiter,” in reference to their supposed descent from heaven in showers of rain.] and “calamitæ,” are used; the blood of them being applied with vine gum to the eyelids, after the hairs have been removed.

Powdered shell [Cortex.] of sæpia, applied with woman’s milk, allays swellings and inflammations of the eyes; employed by itself it removes eruptions of the eyelids. When this remedy is used, it is the practice to turn up the eyelids, and to leave the medicament there a few moments only; after which, the part is anointed with oil of roses, and the inflammation modified by the application of a bread-poultice. Powdered bone of sæpia is used also for the treatment of nyctalopy, being applied to the eyes with vinegar. Reduced to ashes, this substance removes scales upon the eyes: applied with honey, it effaces marks upon those organs: and used with salt and cadmia, [See B. xxxiv. cc.,.] one drachma of each, it disperses webs which impede the eyesight, as also albugo in the eyes of cattle. They say, too, that if the eyelids are rubbed with the small bone [“Ossiculo.”] taken from this fish, a perfect cure will be experienced.

Sea-urchins, applied with vinegar, cause epinyctis to disappear. According to what the magicians say, they should be burnt with vipers’ skins and frogs, and the ashes sprinkled in the drink; a great improvement of the eyesight being guaranteed as the sure result.

“Ichthyocolla” [Literally, “fish-glue.” We can hardly believe Pliny that any fish was known by this name. Hardouin takes the fish here spoken of to be identical with that mentioned in B. ix. c. 17, as being caught in the Borysthene, and destitute of bones. It is most probable, however, that the “ichthyocolla” of the ancients, or “fish-glue,” was the same as our isinglass, and that it was prepared from the entrails of various fish, the sturgeon more particularly, the Acipenser huso of Linnæus.] is the name given to a fish with a glutinous skin; the glue made from which is also known by the same name, and is highly useful for the removal of epinyctis. Some persons, however, assert that it is from the belly of the fish, and not the skin—as in the case of bull glue—that the ichthyocolla is prepared. That of Pontus [The best isinglass still comes from Russia.] is highly esteemed: it is white, free from veins or scales, and dissolves with the greatest rapidity. The proper way of using it, is to cut it into small pieces, and then to leave it to soak in water or vinegar a night and a day, after which it should be pounded with sea-shore pebbles, to make it melt the more easily. It is generally asserted that this substance is good for pains in the head and for tetanus.

The right eye of a frog, suspended from the neck in a piece of cloth made from wool of the natural colour, [“Nativi coloris.” See B. viii. c. 23. Beckmann says, in reference to the present passage: “We manufacture the wool of our brown sheep in its natural colour, and this was done also by the ancients.”— Hist. Inv. vol. ii. p. 110, Bohn’s Ed.] is a cure for ophthalmia in the right eye; and the left eye of a frog, similarly suspended, for ophthalmia in the left. If the eyes, too, of a frog are taken out at the time of the moon’s conjunction, and similarly worn by the patient, enclosed in an eggshell, they will effectually remove indurations of the membrane of the eyes. The rest of the flesh applied topically, removes all marks resulting from blows. The eyes, too, of a crab, worn attached to the neck, by way of amulet, are a cure for ophthalmia, it is said. There is a small frog [The “calamites” above mentioned, so called from “calamus,” a reed.] which lives in reed-beds and among grass more particularly, never croaks, being quite destitute of voice, is of a green colour, and is apt to cause tympanitis in cattle, if they should happen to swallow it. The slimy moisture on this reptile’s body, scraped off with a spatula and applied to the eyes, greatly improves the sight, they say: the flesh, too, is employed as a topical application for the removal of pains in the eyes.

Some persons take fifteen frogs, and after spitting them upon as many bulrushes, put them into a new earthen vessel: they then mix the juices which flow from them, with gum of the white vine, [The Bryonia Cretica of Linnæus; see B. xxiii. c. 16.] and use it as an application for the eye-lids; first pulling out such eye-lashes as are in the way, and then dropping the preparation with the point of a needle into the places from which the hairs have been removed. Meges [An eminent surgeon, born at Sidon in Phœnicia, who practised at Rome, probably in the first century B.C.] used to prepare a depilatory for the eyelids, by killing frogs in vinegar, and leaving them to putrefy; for which purpose he employed the spotted frogs which make their appearance in vast numbers [“Mutis,” “silent,” or “voiceless” frogs, as suggested by Gessner, Hist. Anim. B. ii., would almost seem to be a preferable reading here to “multis,” “many.”] during the rains of autumn. Ashes of burnt leeches, it is thought, applied in vinegar, are productive of a similar effect; care must be taken, however, to burn them in a new earthen vessel. Dried liver, too, of the tunny, [Another reading is “tænia,” a fish mentioned by Epicharmus, Athenæus informs us, and considered by Ajasson to be probably identical with the Cepola rubescens, or Cepola tænia of Linnæus.] made up into an ointment, in the proportion of four denarii, with oil of cedar, and applied as a depilatory for nine months together, is considered to be highly effectual for this purpose.

Chap. 25.—Remedies for Diseases of the Ears. The Batia: One Remedy. The Bacchus or Myxon: Two Remedies. The Sea-louse: Two Remedies.

For diseases of the ears, fresh gall of the fish called “batia” [The same as the Batis of the Greeks, Hardouin thinks, the Raia batis, a kind of skate.] is remarkably good; the same, too, when it has been kept in wine. The gall, also, of the bacchus, [See B. ix. c. 28.] by some known as the “myxon,” is equally good; as also that of the callionymus, [See the preceding.] injected into the ears with oil of roses, or else castoreum, [See c. of the present Book.] used with poppy-juice. There are certain animals too, known as “sea-lice,” [See B. ix. c. 71.] which are recommended as an injection for the ears, beaten up with vinegar. Wool, too, that has been dyed with the juice of the murex, employed by itself, is highly useful for this purpose; some persons, however moisten it with vinegar and nitre. [As to “nitrum,” see B. xxxi. c. 46.]

Others, again, more particularly recommend for all affections of the ears one cyathus of the best garum, [See B. xxxi. c. 43.] with one cyathus and a half of honey, and one cyathus of vinegar, the whole gently boiled in a new pot over a slow fire, and skimmed with a feather every now and then: when it has become wholly free from scum, it is injected lukewarm into the ears. In cases where the ears are swollen, the same authorities recommend that the swellings should be first reduced with juice of coriander. The fat of frogs, injected into the ears, instantly removes all pains in these organs. The juice of river-crabs, kneaded up with barley-meal, is a most effectual remedy for wounds in the ears. Shells of the murex, reduced to ashes, and applied with honey, or the burnt shells of other shell-fish, [See Note to Chapter 23 of this Book.] used with honied wine, are curative of imposthumes of the parotid glands.

Chap. 26.—Remedies for Tooth-ache. The Dog-fish: Four Remedies. Whale’s Flesh.

Tooth-ache is alleviated by scarifying the gums with bones of the sea-dragon, or by rubbing the teeth once a year with the brains of a dog-fish [“Canicula.” See B. ix. cc. 11, 70.] boiled in oil, and kept for the purpose. It is a very good plan too, for the cure of tooth-ache, to lance the gums with the sting of the pastinaca [Or sting-ray.] in some cases. This sting, too, is pounded, and applied to the teeth with white hellebore, having the effect of extracting them without the slightest difficulty. Another of these remedies is, ashes of salted fish calcined in an earthen vessel, mixed with powdered marble. Stale cybium, [Tunny cut in slices. See B. ix. c. 18.] rinsed in a new earthen vessel, and then pounded, is very useful for the cure of tooth-ache. Equally good, it is said, are the back-bones of all kinds of salt fish, pounded and applied in a liniment. A decoction is made of a single frog boiled in one hemina of vinegar, and the teeth are rinsed with it, the decoction being retained in the mouth. In cases where a repugnance existed to making use of this remedy, Sallustius Dionysius [See end of B. xxxi.] used to suspend frogs over boiling vinegar by the hind legs, so as to make them discharge their humours into the vinegar by the mouth, using considerable numbers of frogs for the purpose: to those, however, who had a stronger stomach, he prescribed the frogs themselves, eaten with their broth. It is generally thought, too, that this recipe applies more particularly to the double teeth, and that the vinegar prepared as above-mentioned, is remarkably useful for strengthening them when loose.

For this last purpose, some persons cut off the legs of two frogs, and then macerate the bodies in two heminæ of wine, recommending this preparation as a collutory for strengthening loose teeth. Others attach the frogs, whole, to the exterior of the jaws: [For the purpose, probably, of assuaging the pain of tooth-ache by their coolness.] and with some it is the practice to boil ten frogs, in three sextarii of vinegar, down to one-third, and to use the decoction as a strengthener of loose teeth. By certain authorities, too, it has been recommended to boil the hearts of six-and-thirty frogs beneath a copper vessel, in one sextarius of old oil, and then to inject the decoction into the ear on the same side of the jaw as the part affected: while others again have used, as an application for the teeth, a frog’s liver, boiled, and beaten up with honey. All the preparations above described will be found still more efficacious if made from the sea-frog. [See B. ix. cc. 40, 67.] In cases where the teeth are carious and emit an offensive smell, it is recommended to dry some whale’s [“Cetum.” See B. ix. cc. 40, 74.] flesh in an oven for a night, and then to add an equal quantity of salt, and use the mixture as a dentifrice. “Enhydris” [Ajasson is of opinion that here and in c. 19 Pliny has mistaken the otter for a serpent, the mammiferæ only having eye or canine teeth. Aristotle, Hist. Anim. B. i. c. i., calls the otter by the name of “Enhydris.” See B. xxx. c. 8, where Pliny speaks of the “Enhydris” as a “male white serpent.”] is the name given by the Greeks to a snake that lives in the water. With the four upper teeth of this reptile, it is the practice, for the cure of aching in the upper teeth, to lance the upper gums, and with the four lower teeth, for aching in the lower. Some persons, however, content themselves with using an eyetooth only. Ashes, too, of burnt crabs are used for this purpose; and the murex, reduced to ashes, makes an excellent dentifrice.

Chap. 27.—Remedies for Lichens, and for Spots Upon the Face. The Dolphin: Nine Remedies. Coluthia or Coryphia: Three Remedies. Halcyoneum: Seven Remedies. The Tunny: Five Remedies.

Lichens and leprous spots are removed by applying the fat of the sea-calf, [Or seal. See B. ix. c. 15.] ashes of the mæna [See B. ix. c. 42. Holland calls the mæna the “cackerel.”] in combination with three oboli of honey, liver of the pastinaca [Or sting-ray.] boiled in oil, or ashes of the dolphin or hippocampus [See B. ix. c. 1.] mixed with water. After the parts have been duly excoriated, a cicatrizing treatment ought to be pursued. Some persons bake dolphin’s liver in an earthen vessel, till a grease flows therefrom like oil [Much like the cod-liver oil, held in such high repute at the present day.] in appearance: this they use by way of ointment for these diseases.

Burnt shells of the murex or purple, applied with honey, have a detergent effect upon spots on the face in females: used as an application for seven consecutive days, a fomentation made of white of eggs being substituted on the eighth, they efface wrinkles, and plump out the skin. To the genus “murex” belong the shell-fish known by the Greeks as “coluthia” or “coryphia,” equally turbinated, but considerably smaller: for all the above purposes they are still more efficacious, and the use of them tends to preserve the sweetness of the breath. Fish-glue [“Icthyocolla.” See Chapter of the present Book.] effaces wrinkles and plumps out the skin; being boiled for the purpose in water some four hours, and then pounded and kneaded up till it attains a thin consistency, like that of honey. After being thus prepared, it is put by in a new vessel for keeping; and, when wanted for use, is mixed, in the proportion of four drachmæ, with two drachmæ of sulphur, two of alkanet, and eight of litharge; the whole being sprinkled with water and beaten up together. The preparation is then applied to the face, and is washed off at the end of four hours. For the cure of freckles and other affections of the face, calcined bones of cuttle-fish are also used; an application which is equally good for the removal of fleshy excrescences and the dispersion of running sores.

(8.) For the cure of itch-scab, a frog is boiled in five semisextarii of sea-water, the decoction being reduced to the consistency of honey. There is a sea production called “halcyoneum,” composed, as some think, of the nests [Of course this assertion as to the nest of the kingfisher is altogether fabulous, and the sea-productions here described by Pliny were long considered, though destitute of leaves, flowers, and fruit, to belong to the vegetable kingdom. Peyssonnel, however, made the discovery that they belong to the animal kingdom, and that they owe their origin to a species of polyp.] of the birds known as the “halcyon” [Or kingfisher. See B. x. c. 47.] and “ceyx,” or, according to others, of the concretion of sea-foam, or of some slime of the sea, or a certain lanuginous inflorescence thrown up by it. Of this halcyoneum there are four different kinds; the first, of an ashy colour, of a compact substance, and possessed of a pungent odour; the second, soft, of a milder nature, and with a smell almost identical with that of sea-weed; the third, whiter, and with a variegated surface; the fourth, more like pumice in appearance, and closely resembling rotten sponge. The best of all is that which nearly borders upon a purple hue, and is known as the “Milesian” kind: the whiter it is, the less highly it is esteemed.

The properties of halcyoneum are ulcerative and detergent: when required for use, it is parched and applied without oil. It is quite marvellous how efficiently it removes leprous sores, lichens, and freckles, used in combination with lupines and two oboli of sulphur. It is employed, also, for the removal of marks upon the eyes. [“Oculorum cicatrices.”] Andreas [See end of B. xx.] has recommended for the cure of leprosy ashes of burnt crabs, with oil; and Attalus, [See end of B. viii.] fresh fat of tunny.

Chap. 28.—Remedies for Scrofula, Imposthumes of the Parotid Glands, Quinsy, and Diseases of the Fauces. The Mæna: Thirteen Remedies. The Sea-scolopendra: Two Remedies. The Saurus: One Remedy. Shell-fish: One Remedy. The Silurus: Fifteen Remedies.

Ulcerations of the mouth are cured by an application of brine in which mænæ [See B. ix. c. 42.] have been pickled, in combination with calcined heads of the fish, and honey. For the cure of scrofula, it is a good plan to prick the sores with the small bone that is found in the tail of the fish known as the sea-frog; [See B. ix. cc. 40, 67. The Bamberg MS. has here “rhine,” (the fish again mentioned in Chapter of this Book) instead of “rana;” a reading which Sillig rejects. Hardouin conjectures that “raia” is the correct reading, the sea-frog having no sting or stickle in the tail.] care being taken to avoid making a wound, and to repeat the operation daily, until a perfect cure is effected. The same property, too, belongs to the sting of the pastinaca, and to the sea-hare, applied topically to the sores: but in both cases due care must be taken to remove them in an instant. Shells of sea-urchins are bruised, also, and applied with vinegar; shells also of sea-scolopendræ, [See B. ix. c. 67.] applied with honey; and river-crabs pounded or calcined, and applied with honey. Bones, too, of the sæpia, triturated and applied with stale axle-grease, are marvellously useful for this purpose.

This last preparation is used, also, for the cure of imposthumes of the parotid glands; a purpose for which the liver of the sea-fish known as the “saurus” [Or sea-lizard, a fish again mentioned in Chapter of this Book. Ælian also speaks of it, Hist. Nat. B. xii. c. 25; but it has not been hitherto identified.] is employed. Nay, even more than this, fragments of earthen vessels in which salt fish have been kept are pounded with stale axle-grease, and applied to scrofulous sores and imposthumes of the parotid glands; as also calcined murex, incorporated with oil. Stiffness in the neck is allayed by taking what are known as sea-lice, [See c. of this Book.] in doses of one drachma in drink, taking castoreum [See c. of this Book.] mixed with pepper in honied wine, or making a decoction of frogs in oil and salt, and taking the liquor.

Opisthotony, too, and tetanus are treated in a similar manner; and spasms, with the addition of pepper. Ashes of burnt heads of salted mænæ are applied externally, with honey, for the cure of quinsy; as also a decoction of frogs, boiled in vinegar, a preparation which is equally good for affections of the tonsillary glands. River-crabs, pounded, one to each hemina of water, are used as a gargle for the cure of quinsy; or else they are taken with wine and hot water. Garum, [See B. xxxi. c. 43.] put beneath the uvula with a spoon, effectually cures diseases of that part. The silurus, [See B. ix. cc. 17, 25, 75.] used as food, either fresh or salted, improves the voice.

Chap. 29.—Remedies for Cough and Diseases of the Chest.

Surmullets act as an emetic, dried and pounded, and taken in drink. Castoreum, taken fasting, with a small quantity of hammoniacum [It is not clear whether he means the gum ammoniac of B. xii. c. 49, and B. xxiv. c. 14, or the sal ammoniac of B. xxxi. c. 39.] in oxymel, is extremely good for asthma: spasms, too, in the stomach are assuaged by taking a similar potion with warm oxymel. Frogs stewed in their own liquor in the saucepan, the same way in fact that fish are dressed, are good for a cough, it is said. In some cases, also, frogs are suspended by the legs, and after their juices [“Saliva.” See the recipe of Sallustius Dionysius in Chapter of this Book.] have been received in a platter, it is recommended to gut them, and the entrails being first carefully removed, to preserve them for the above purpose. There is a small frog, [The Dryophites of Rondelet, Dalechamps says.] also, which ascends trees, and croaks aloud there: if a person suffering from cough spits into its mouth and then lets it go, he will experience a cure, it is said. For cough attended with spitting of blood, it is recommended to beat up the raw flesh of a snail, and to drink it in hot water.

Chap. 30. (9.)—Remedies for Pains in the Liver and Side. The Elongated Conch: Six Remedies. The Tethea: Five Remedies.

For pains in the liver, a sea-scorpion is killed in wine, and the liquid is taken. The meat, too, of the elongated conch [Identical with the Strombus of cc.,, and of this Book.] is taken with honied wine and water, in equal quantities, or, if there are symptoms of fever, with hydromel. Pains in the side are assuaged by taking the flesh of the hippocampus, [See B. ix. c. 1.] grilled, or else the tethea, [Littré remarks that Pliny here seems to speak of the “Tethea” as a mollusk; whereas in c. 31, from his expression “Fungorum verius generis quam piscium,” he would appear to be describing a zoophyte.] very similar to the oyster, with the ordinary food. For sciatica, the pickle of the silurus is injected, by way of clyster. The flesh of conchs, too, is prescribed, for fifteen days, in doses of three oboli soaked in two sextarii of wine.

Chap. 31.—Remedies for Diseases of the Bowels. Sea-wort: One Remedy. The Myax: Twenty-five Remedies. The Mitulus: Eight Remedies. Pelorides: One Remedy. Seriphum: Two Remedies. The Erythinus: Two Remedies.

The silurus, [See B. ix. cc. 17, 25, 75.] taken in its broth, or the torpedo, [See B. ix. cc. 24, 48, 67, 74, 75.] used as food, acts as a laxative upon the bowels. There is a sea-wort, [See B. xx. c. 38.] also, similar in appearance to the cultivated cabbage: it is injurious to the stomach, but acts most efficiently as a purgative, requiring to be cooked with fat meat for the purpose, in consequence of its extreme acridity. The broth, too, of all boiled fish is good for this purpose; it acting, also, as a strong diuretic, taken with wine more particularly. The best kind of all is that prepared from the sea-scorpion, the iulis, [A rock fish, according to Athenæus, B. vii. Rondelet, B. vi. c. 7, identifies it with the fish called girello by the people of Liguria, the donzella of other districts.] and rock-fish in general, as they are destitute of all rankness and are free from fat. The proper way of cooking them is with dill, parsley, coriander, and leeks, with the addition of oil and salt. Stale cybium, [Sliced tunny. See B. ix. c. 18.] too, acts as a purgative, and is particularly useful for carrying off crudities, pituitous humours, and bile.

The myax [A genus which comprises the “myes,” mentioned in B. ix. c. 56, according to Dalechamps.] is of a purgative nature, a shell-fish of which we shall take this opportunity of giving the natural history at length. These fish collect together in masses, like the murex, [See B. ix. c. 60.] and are found in spots covered with sea-weed. They are the finest eating in autumn, and are found in the greatest perfection in places where fresh-water streams discharge themselves into the sea; for which reason it is that those of Egypt are held in such high esteem. As the winter advances, they contract a bitter flavour, and assume a reddish hue. The liquor of these fish, it is said, acts as a purgative upon the bowels and bladder, has a detergent effect upon the intestines, acts aperiently upon all the passages, purges the kidneys, and diminishes the blood and adipose secretions. Hence it is that these shell-fish are found of the greatest use for the treatment of dropsy, for the regulation of the catamenia, and for the removal of jaundice, all diseases of the joints, and flatulency. They are very good, also, for the reduction of obesity, for diseases of the bile and of the pituitous secretions, for affections of the lungs, liver, and spleen, and for rheumatic defluxions. The only inconvenience resulting from them is, that they irritate the throat and impede the articulation. They have, also, a healing effect upon ulcers of a serpiginous nature, or which stand in need of detergents, as also upon carcinomatous sores. Calcined, the same way as the murex, and employed with honey, they are curative of bites inflicted either by dogs or human beings, and of leprous spots or freckles. The ashes of them, rinsed, are good for the removal of films upon the eyes, granulations of those organs and indurations of the membrane, as also for diseases of the gums and teeth, and for pituitous eruptions. They serve, also, as an antidote to dorycnium [See B. xxi. c. 105.] and to opocarpathon. [See B. xxviii. c. 45, and Chapter of the present Book.]

There are two species of this shell-fish, of a degenerate kind: the mitulus, [Identical with our mussel, probably.] which has a strong flavour, and a saltish taste; and the myisca, [Holland identifies this with the cockle, but it is probably a smaller kind of mussel.] which differs from the former in the roundness of its shell, is somewhat smaller, and is covered with filaments, the shell being thinner, and the meat of a sweeter flavour. The ashes, also, of the mitulus, like those of the murex, are possessed of certain caustic properties, and are very useful for the removal of leprous spots, freckles, and blemishes of the skin. They are rinsed, too, in the same manner as lead, [See B. xxxiv. c..] for the removal of swellings of the eyelids, of indurations of the membranes, and of films upon the eyes, as also of sordid ulcers upon other parts of the body, and of pustules upon the head. The meat of them, also, is employed as an application for bites inflicted by dogs.

As to pelorides, [We learn from Chapter of this Book, that one class of the “Chamæ,” or gaping cockles, was known as “Pelorides.” Horace also mentions them.] they act as a gentle laxative upon the bowels, an effect equally produced by castoreum, taken in doses of two drachmæ, in hydromel: where, however, a more drastic purgative is required, one drachma of dried garden-cucumber root is added, and two drachmæ of aphronitrum. [See B. xxxi. c. 46.] The tethea [See Note above. Sillig would here read “tetheum,” apparently, in the singular.] is good for griping pains in the bowels and for attacks of flatulency: they are generally found adhering to the leaves of marine plants, sucking their nutriment therefrom, and may be rather looked upon as a sort of fungus than as a fish. They are useful, also, for the removal of tenesmus and of diseases of the kidneys.

There grows also in the sea a kind of absinthium, known by some persons as “seriphum,” [Described in B. xxvii. c. 29.] and found in the vicinity of Taposiris, [A city not far from the Canopic branch of the Nile.] in Egypt, more particularly. It is of a more slender form than the land absinthium, acts as a purgative upon the bowels, and effectually removes intestinal worms. The sæpia, too, is a laxative; for which purpose these fish are administered [“Dantur” seems a preferable reading to “datur.”] with the food, boiled with a mixture of oil, salt, and meal. Salted mænæ, [See B. ix c. 42.] applied with bull’s gall to the navel, acts as a purgative upon the bowels.

The liquor of fish, boiled in the saucepan with lettuces, dispels tenesmus. River-crabs, [Our crawfish, the Astacus potamobios of Leach.] beaten up and taken with water, act astringently upon the bowels, and they have a diuretic effect, if taken with white wine. Deprived of the legs, and taken in doses of three oboli with myrrh and iris, one drachma of each, they disperse urinary calculi. For the cure of the iliac passion and of attacks of flatulency, castoreum [See Chapter of this Book.] should be taken, with seed of daucus [See B. xix. c. 27, and B, xxv. c. 64.] and of parsley, a pinch in three fingers of each, the whole being mixed with four cyathi of warm honied wine. Griping pains in the bowels should be treated with castoreum and a mixture of dill and wine. The fish called “erythinus,” [See B. ix. cc. 23, 77.] used as food, acts astringently upon the bowels. Dysentery is cured by taking frogs boiled with squills, and prepared in the form of boluses, or else hearts of frogs beaten up with honey, as Niceratus [See end of B. xxxi.] recommends. For the cure of jaundice, salt fish should be taken with pepper, the patient abstaining from all other kinds of meat.