Chaps. 51-59.

Chap. 51.—Bitumen, and the Several Varieties of It; Twenty-seven Remedies.

Nearly approaching to the nature of sulphur is that of bitumen, [There are three distinct kinds of bitumen. 1. Naphtha, also known as petroleum, or rock-oil, inflammable, volatile, soluble in alcohol, and found in France and Italy. 2. Asphalt, or bitumen of Judæa, solid, insoluble in alcohol, and found in Lake Asphaltites in Syria, more particularly. 3. Pissasphalt, of a medium consistency between the other substances, of which it appears to be composed. See B. xxiv. c. 25.] which in some places assumes the form of a slime, and in others that of an earth; a slime, thrown up, as already [In B. v. c. 15.] stated, by a certain lake in Judæa, and an earth, found in the vicinity of Sidon, a maritime town of Syria. In both these states, it admits of being thickened and condensed. There is also a liquid [Naphtha, most probably.] bitumen, that of Zacynthus, for example, and the bitumen that is imported from Babylon; which last kind is also white: the bitumen, too, of Apollonia is liquid. All these kinds, in Greek, have the one general name of “pissasphaltos,” [See B. xxiv. c. 25.] from their strong resemblance to a compound of pitch and bitumen. There is also found an unctuous liquid bitumen, resembling oil, in a spring at Agrigentum, in Sicily, the waters of which are tainted by it. The inhabitants of the spot collect it on the panicles of reeds, to which it very readily adheres, and make use of it for burning in lamps, as a substitute for oil, as also for the cure of itch-scab in beasts of burden.

Some authorities include among the bitumens, naphtha, a substance which we have already mentioned in the Second Book; [Chapter 109.] but the burning properties which it possesses, and its susceptibility of igniting, render it quite unfit for use. Bitumen, to be of good quality, should be extremely brilliant, heavy, and massive; it should also be moderately smooth, it being very much the practice to adulterate it with pitch. Its medicinal properties are similar to those of sulphur, it being naturally astringent, dispersive, contractive, and agglutinating: ignited, it drives away serpents by the smell. Babylonian bitumen is very efficacious, it is said, for the cure of cataract and albugo, as also of leprosy, lichens, and pruriginous affections. Bitumen is employed, too, in the form of a liniment, for gout; and every variety of it is useful for making bandolines for eye-lashes that are refractory and impede the sight. Applied topically with nitre, [As to the “nitrum” of Pliny, see B. xxxi. c. 46.] it is curative of tooth-ache, and, taken internally, with wine, it alleviates chronic coughs and difficulty of respiration. It is administered in a similar manner for dysentery, and is very good for arresting looseness of the bowels. Taken internally with vinegar, it dissolves and brings away coagulated blood. It modifies pains also in the loins and joints, and, applied with barley-meal, it forms a peculiar kind of plaster, to which it has given its name. [“Asphalt plaster,” probably.] It stanches blood also, heals wounds, and unites the sinews when severed. Bitumen is administered for quartan fevers, in doses of one drachma to an equal quantity of hedyosmos, [Or mint. See B. xix. c. 47, and B. xx. c. 53.] the whole kneaded up with one obolus of myrrh. The smell of burnt bitumen detects a tendency to epilepsy, and, applied to the nostrils with wine and castoreum, [See B. xxxii. c. 13.] it dispels suffocations of the uterus. Employed as a fumigation, it acts as a check upon procidence of the uterus, and, taken internally with wine, it has the effect of an emmenagogue.

Another use that is made of it, is for coating the inside of copper vessels, it rendering them proof against the action of fire. It has been already [In B. xxxiv. c..] stated that bitumen was formerly employed for staining copper and coating statues. It has been used, too, as a substitute for lime; the walls of Babylon, for instance, which are cemented with it. In the smithies they are in the habit of varnishing iron and heads of nails with it, and of using it for many other purposes as well.

Chap. 52.—Alumen, and the Several Varieties of It; Thirty-eight Remedies.

Not less important, or indeed very dissimilar, are the uses that are made of alumen; [Beckmann is of opinion that our alum was not known to the Greeks or Romans, and that what the latter called “alumen” was green vitriol, or sulphate of the protoxide of iron, in an impure state. Hist. Inv. Vol. I. p. 180. Bohn’s Edition. Dr. Pereira remarks, however, that “there can be little doubt that Pliny was acquainted with our alum, but did not distinguish it from sulphate of iron, for he informs us that one kind of alum was white, and was used for dyeing wool of bright colours.” Materia Medica, Vol. I, Delafosse identifies the “alumen” of Pliny with double sulphate of alum and iron.] by which name is understood a sort of brine [“Salsugo terræ.”] which exudes from the earth. Of this, too, there are several kinds. In Cyprus there is a white alumen, and another kind of a darker colour. The difference, however, in their colour is but trifling in reality, though the uses made of them are very dissimilar; the white liquid alumen being employed for dyeing [See Note above.] wool of bright colours, and the black, on the other hand, for giving wool a tawny or a sombre tint. Gold, too, is purified [For gilding, Hardouin says.] by the agency of black alumen. Every kind of alumen is a compound of slime and water, or in other words, is a liquid product exuding from the earth; the concretion of it commencing in winter, and being completed by the action of the summer sun. That portion of it which is the first matured, is the whitest in appearance.

The countries which produce this substance, are Spain, Ægypt, Armenia, Macedonia, Pontus, Africa, [The Roman provinces in Africa, other than Egypt.] and the islands of Sardinia, Melos, Lipara, and Strongyle: [Now Strombolo. See B. iii. c. 14.] the most esteemed, however, is that of Egypt, [Herodotus, B. ii., mentions the fact that King Amasis sent the people of Delphi a thousand talents of this substance, as his contribution towards rebuilding their temple.] the next best being the produce of Melos. Of this last kind there are also two varieties, the liquid alumen, and the solid. Liquid alumen, to be good, should be of a limpid, milky, appearance: when rubbed between the fingers it should be free from grit, and productive of a slight sensation of heat. The name given to it is “phorimon.” [“Fruitful,” or “useful.”] The mode of detecting whether or not it has been adulterated, is by the application of pomegranate-juice; for if genuine, it will turn black on combining with the juice. The other, or solid alumen, is pale and rough in appearance, and turns black on the application of nut-galls; for which reason it is known by the name of “paraphoron.” [“Adulterated.”]

Liquid alumen is naturally astringent, indurative, and corrosive: used in combination with honey, it heals ulcerations of the mouth, pimples, and pruriginous eruptions. The remedy, when thus used, is employed in the bath, the proportions being two parts of honey to one of alumen. It has the effect, also, of checking and dispersing perspiration, and of neutralizing offensive odours of the arm-pits. It is taken too, in the form of pills, for affections of the spleen, and for the purpose of carrying off blood by the urine: incorporated with nitre and melanthium, [See B. xx. c. 71.] it is curative of itch-scab.

There is one kind of solid alumen, known to the Greeks as “schiston,” [“Split” alum. Probably iron alum, the French alum de plume; of a flaky, silky appearance.] which splits into filaments of a whitish colour; for which reason some have preferred giving it the name of “trichitis.” [“Hairy alum.”] It is produced from the mineral ore known to us as “chalcitis,” [See B. xxxiv. cc.,.] from which copper is also produced, it being a sort of exudation from that mineral, coagulated into the form of scum. This kind of alumen is less desiccative than the others, and is not so useful as a check upon bad humours of the body. Used, however, either in the form of a liniment or of an injection, it is highly beneficial to the ears; as also for ulcerations of the mouth, and for tooth-ache, if retained with the saliva in the mouth. It is employed also as a serviceable ingredient in compositions for the eyes, and for the generative organs in either sex. The mode of preparing it is to roast it in crucibles, until it has quite lost its liquid form.

There is another variety of alumen also, of a less active nature, and known as “strongyle;” [So called, according to Dioscorides, from the “round” form of the pieces.] which is again subdivided into two kinds; the fungous, which easily dissolves in any liquid, and is looked upon as altogether worthless; and the porous, which is full of small holes like a sponge, and in pieces of a globular form, more nearly approaching white alumen in appearance. It has a certain degree, too, of unctuousness, is free from grit, friable, and not apt to blacken the fingers. This last kind is calcined by itself upon hot coals, unmixed with any other substance, until it is entirely reduced to ashes.

The best kind of all, however, is that called “molinum,” [He has previously said that the most esteemed kind was the Egyptian, that of Melos being the next best.] as coming from the Isle of Melos, as already mentioned; none being more effectual for acting as an astringent, staining black, and indurating, and none assuming a closer consistency. It removes granulations of the eye-lids, and, in a calcined state, is still more efficacious for checking defluxions of the eyes: in this last form, too, it is employed for the cure of pruriginous eruptions on the body. Whether taken internally, or employed externally, it arrests discharges of blood; and if it is applied with vinegar to a part from which the hair has been first removed, it will change into a soft down the hair which replaces it. The leading property of every kind of alumen is its remarkable astringency, to which, in fact, it is indebted for its name [Στυπτηρία, the “styptic.”] with the Greeks. It is for this property that the various kinds are, all of them, so remarkably good for the eyes. In combination with grease, they arrest discharges of blood; and they are employed in a similar manner for checking the spread of putrid ulcers, and for removing sores upon the bodies of infants.

Alumen has a desiccative effect upon dropsical eruptions; and, in combination with pomegranate juice, it removes diseases of the ears, malformed nails, indurations resulting from cicatrization, hangnails, and chilblains. Calcined, with vinegar or nut-galls, in equal proportions, it is curative of phagedænic ulcers; and, in combination with extracted juice of cabbage, of leprosy. Used in the proportion of one part of alumen to two of salt, it arrests the progress of serpiginous eruptions; and an infusion of it in water destroys lice and other parasitical insects that infest the hair. Employed in a similar manner, it is good for burns; and, in combination with the serous [“Sero picis.” Hardouin is of opinion that under this name pisselæon is intended. See B. xv. c. 7, B. xxiv. cc. 11, 24, and B. xxv. c. 22.] part of pitch, for furfuraceous eruptions on the body. It is used also as an injection for dysentery, and, employed in the form of a gargle, it braces the uvula and tonsillary glands. For all those maladies which we have mentioned as being treated with the other kinds of alumen, that imported from Melos, be it understood, is still more efficacious. As to the other uses that are made of it for industrial purposes, such as preparing hides and wool, for example, they have been mentioned already. [At the beginning of this Chapter in part.]

Chap. 53. (16.)—Samian Earth: Three Remedies.

In succession to these, we shall now have to speak of various other kinds of earth [Aluminous silicates, as Delafosse remarks, more or less combined with other minerals. Though employed for various purposes in the arts, they are now but little used in medicine.] which are made use of in medicine.

Of Samian earth there are two varieties; one known as “collyrium,” [Probably because it was the more extensively employed of the two, in “collyria,” or compositions for the eyes.] the other by the name of “aster.” [“Star” earth, apparently.] To be in perfection, the first kind should be fresh, remarkably smooth, and glutinous to the tongue; the second being of a more solid consistency, and white. They are both prepared for use by being calcined and then rinsed in water, some persons giving the preference to the first. They are both of them useful for discharges of blood from the mouth, and are employed as an ingredient in plasters of a desiccative nature. They are used also in the preparation of ophthalmic compositions.

Chap. 54.—The Various Kinds of Eretria.

Of eretria, or Eretrian [From Eretria, in Eubœa. See B. iv. c. 21.] earth, there are also the same number of varieties; one white, and the other of an ashy colour, this last being preferred in medicine. To be good, this earth should be of a soft consistency, and when rubbed upon copper it should leave a violet tint. The virtues of eretria in a medicinal point of view, and the methods of using it, have been already mentioned [In Chapter of this Book.] in our description of the pigments.

Chap. 55.—The Method of Washing Earths for Medicinal Purposes.

All these earths—for we will take the present opportunity of mentioning it—are well washed in water, and then dried in the sun; after which, they are again triturated in water, and left to settle: this done, they are divided into tablets. They are usually boiled in earthen vessels, which are well shaken every now and then.

Chap. 56.—Chian Earth; Three Remedies. Selinusian Earth; Three Remedies. Pnigitis; Nine Remedies. Ampelitis; Four Remedies.

Among the medicinal substances, there is the white earth of Chios also, the properties of which are the same as those of Samian earth. It is used more particularly as a cosmetic for the skin of females; the Selinusian [It appears to be a matter of doubt whether it was found at Selinus, in Sicily, or the place of that name in Cilicia. See B. iii. c. 14, and B. v. c. 22.] earth being also employed for a similar purpose. This last is of a milk-white colour, and melts very rapidly in water: dissolved in milk, it is employed for whitening the plaster coats on walls. Pnigitis [Agricola is of opinion that this earth had its name from the place called Pnigeum, in the Libyan Mareotis. Other commentators would have it to be derived from πνίγω, “to suffocate,” such being its effect if taken internally.] is very similar to Eretrian earth, only that it is found in larger masses, and is of a glutinous consistency. Its effects are similar to those produced by Cimolian [See the next Chapter.] earth, but are not so energetic.

Ampelitis [So called from ἀμπέλος, a “vine;” either because it was applied to vines to kill the insects, or because its admixture with the soil was favourable to the cultivation of the vine.] is an earth which bears a strong resemblance to bitumen. The test of its goodness is its dissolving in oil, like wax, and preserving its black colour when submitted to the action of fire. Its properties are emollient and repercussive; for which reason, it is used in medicinal compositions, those known as “calliblephara,” [“Washes for beautifying the eye-brows.” See B. xxi. c. 73, B. xxiii. c. 51, and B. xxxiii. c..] more particularly, and in preparations for dyeing the hair.

Chap. 57. (17.)—Cretaceous Earths User for Scouring Cloth. Cimolian Earth; Nine Remedies. Sardinian Earth. Umbrian Earth. Saxum.

Of cretaceous [Cimolian earth, known in modern chemistry as Cimolite, is not a cretaceous earth, but an aluminous silicate, still found in the island of Kimoli, or Argentiera, one of the Cyclades; See B. iv. c. 23. Tournefort describes it as a white chalk, very heavy, tasteless, and dissolving in water. It is found also at Alexandrowsk in Russia.] earths there are several varieties; and among them, two kinds of Cimolian earth, employed in medicine, the one white and the other inclining to the tint of purpurissum. [See Chapter of this Book.] Both kinds, moistened with vinegar, have the effect of dispersing tumours and arresting defluxions. They are curative also of inflammatory swellings and imposthumes of the parotid glands; and, applied topically, they are good for affections of the spleen and pustules on the body. With the addition of aphronitrum, [See B. xxxi. c. 46.] oil of cypros, [See B. xii. c. 51.] and vinegar, they reduce swellings of the feet, care being taken to apply the lotion in the sun, and at the end of six hours to wash it off with salt and water. In combination with wax and oil of cypros, Cimolian earth is good for swellings of the testes.

Cretaceous earths, too, are of a cooling tendency, and, applied to the body in the form of a liniment, they act as a check upon excessive perspiration: taken with wine, in the bath, they remove pimples on the body. The most esteemed of all these earths is that of Thessaly: it is found also in the vicinity of Bubon [See B. v. c. 28.] in Lycia.

Cimolian earth is used also for another purpose, that of scouring cloth. As to the kind which is brought from Sardinia, and is known as “sarda,” it is used for white tissues only, and is never employed for coloured cloths. Indeed, this last is held in the lowest estimation of all the Cimolian earths; whereas, that of Umbria is more highly esteemed, as also the kind generally known as “saxum.” [Beckmann thinks that this may have been our common chalk. Vol. II. p. 105.] It is a property of this last to increase in weight [This seems to be the meaning of “crescit in macerando.”] by maceration, and it is by weight that it is usually sold, Sardinian earth being sold by measure. Umbrian earth is only used for giving lustre to cloths.

It will not be deemed out of place to give some further account here of this process, there being still in existence the Metilian Law, relative to fullers; an enactment which C. Flaminius and L. Æmilius, in their censorship, [A.U.C. 535, it is supposed.] had passed by the people, [As a plebiscitum.] so attentive to everything were our ancestors. The following then is the method employed in preparing cloth: it is first washed in an infusion of Sardinian earth, and is then exposed to a fumigation with sulphur. This done, it is scoured [“Desquamatur.” This is most probably the meaning of the word, though Beckmann observes “that it was undoubtedly a term of art, which cannot be further explained, because we are unacquainted with the operation to which it alludes.”—Vol II. p. 104. Bohn’s Edition.] with Cimolian earth, when the cloth has been found to be of a genuine colour; it being very soon detected when it has been coloured with spurious materials, by its turning black and the colours becoming dispersed [“Funditur sulphure.” The meaning of these words is very doubtful. Beckmann proposes to read “offenditur,” but he is not supported by any of the MSS. He has evidently mistaken the meaning of the whole passage.] by the action of the sulphur. Where the colours are genuine and rich, they are softened by the application of Cimolian earth; which brightens and freshens them also when they have been rendered sombre by the action of the sulphur. Saxum is better for white tissues, after the application of sulphur, but to coloured cloths it is highly injurious. [Probably because it was too calcareous, Beckmann thinks.] In Greece they use Tymphæan [See B. iv. c. 3, and B. xxxvi. c..] gypsum in place of Cimolian earth.

Chap. 58.—Argentaria. Names of Freedmen Who Have Either Risen to Power Themselves, or Have Belonged to Men of Influence.

There is another cretaceous earth, known as “argentaria,” [Plate powder; from “argentum,” “silver.” See B. xvii. c. 4.] from the brightness [Whitening, or chalk washed and prepared, is still used for this purpose.] which it imparts to silver. There is also the most inferior kind of chalk; which was used by the ancients for tracing the line of victory [The goal for the chariots.] in the Circus, and for marking the feet of slaves on sale, that were brought from beyond sea. Such, for instance, were Publilius [This reading is restored by Sillig from the Bamberg MS., but no particulars are known relative to the person alluded to; unless, indeed, as Sillig suspects to be the case, he is identical with Publius Syrus, the writer of mimes, mentioned in B. viii. c. 77.] Lochius, the founder of our mimic scenes; his cousin, Manilius Antiochus, [Supposed by some to have been the Manilius who was author of the poem called “Astronomica,” still in existence. It is more probable, however, that he was the father of the poet, or perhaps the grandfather; as it is clear from a passage in Suetonius, that Staberius Eros taught at Rome during the civil wars of Sylla, while the poem must have been written, in part at least, after the death of Augustus.] the first cultivator of astronomy; and Staberius Eros, our first grammarian; all three of whom our ancestors saw brought over in the same ship. [Being afterwards manumitted. Sillig thinks that they may have arrived in Rome about B.C. 90.]

(18.) But why mention these names, recommended as they are by the literary honours which they acquired? Other instances too, Rome has beheld of persons rising to high positions from the slave-market; [“Catasta.” A raised platform of wood on which the slaves were exposed for sale.] Chrysogonus, for example, the freedman of Sylla; Amphion, the freedman of Q. Catulus; the man who was the keeper [“Rectorem.” For an explanation of this allusion, see B. xxviii. c. 14.] of Lucullus; Demetrius, the freedman of Pompeius, and Auge, the freedwoman of Demetrius, [A native of Gadara in Syria, according to Josephus. Seneca speaks of him as being more wealthy than his master.] or else of Pompeius himself, as some have supposed; Hipparchus, the freedman of M. Antonius; as also, Menas [Or Menodorus, who deserted Sextus Pompeius and went over to Octavianus.] and Menecrates, [Who remained faithful to Pompeius, and died in his cause.] freedmen of Sextus Pompeius, and many others as well, whom it would be superfluous to enumerate, and who have enriched themselves at the cost of Roman blood, and the licence that results from proscription.

Such is the mark that is set upon those droves of slaves which we see on sale, such the opprobrium thrown upon them by a capricious fortune! And yet, some of these very men have we beheld in the enjoyment of such power and influence, that the senate itself has decreed them—at the command of Agrippina, [He is probably speaking in reference to her paramour, the freedman Pallas. See B. xxxiii. c..] wife of the Emperor Claudius—the decorations even of the prætorship: all but honoured with the fasces and their laurels, in fact, and sent back in state to the very place from which they originally came, with their feet whitened with the slave-dealer’s chalk!

Chap. 59. (19.)—The Earth of Galata; of Clypea; of the Baleares; and of Ebusus.

In addition to these, there are various other kinds of earth, endowed with peculiar properties of their own, and which have been already mentioned on former occasions. [As to the earths of Galata and Clypea, see B. v. c. 7. The others are mentioned in B. iii. c. 11.] We may, however, take the present opportunity of again remarking the following properties. The earth of the island of Galata and of the vicinity of Clypea, in Africa, is fatal to scorpions; and that of the Balearic Islands and of Ebusus kills serpents.

Summary. —Remedies, narratives, and observations, nine hundred and fifty-six.

Roman Authors quoted. —Messala [See end of B. ix.] the Orator, the Elder Messala, [See end of B..] Fenestella, [See end of B. viii.] Atticus, [See end of Books vii. and xiv.] M. Varro, [See end of B. ii.] Verrius, [See end of B. iii.] Cornelius Nepos, [See end of B. ii.] Deculo, [See end of B. x.] Mucianus, [See end of B. ii.] Melissus, [See end of B. vii.] Vitruvius, [See end of B. xvi.] Cassius Severus Longulanus, [A native of Longula in Latium. Though of dissolute character, he was famous as an orator and satirical writer. It was he who accused Nonius Asprenas of poisoning, as mentioned in Chapter 46 of this Book. He died in exile at the island of Seriphos, about A.D. 33. His works were at first proscribed, but were afterwards permitted by Caligula to be read.] Fabius Vestalis, [See end of B. vii.] who wrote on Painting.

Foreign Authors quoted. —Pasiteles, [See end of B..] Apelles, [The painter, mentioned at great length in Chapter of this Book, and elsewhere.] Melanthius, [A painter of Sicyon, mentioned in Chapters and of this Book.] Asclepiodorus, [Probably the painter of that name, mentioned in Chapter of this Book.] Euphranor, [The artist mentioned in B. xxxiv. c., and in Chapter of the present Book.] Heliodorus, [See end of B..] who wrote on the Votive Offerings of the Athenians, Metrodorus, [Possibly the painter of that name, mentioned in Chapter of this Book.] who wrote on Architecture, Democritus, [See end of B. ii.] Theophrastus, [See end of B. iii.] Apion [See end of B. xxx.] the grammarian, who wrote on the Medicines derived from Metals, Nymphodorus, [See end of B. iii.] Iollas, [See end of B. xii.] Apollodorus, [See end of Books iv., viii., xi., and xx.] Andreas, [See end of B. xx.] Heraclides, [See end of Books iv. and xii.] Diagoras, [See end of B. xii.] Botrys, [See end of B. xiii.] Archidemus, [See end of B. xii.] Dionysius, [See end of B. xii.] Aristogenes, [See end of B. xxix.] Democles, [See end of B. xii.] Mnesides, [See end of B. xii.] Xenocrates [See end of B..] the son of Zeno, Theomnestus. [See end of B..]