Note 138 — ARRIAN ON COURSING.
William Dansey translation
Against this havock from frost, Natalis Comes suggests a guard in the use of shoes, so formed according to Ruscellius (Schol. in Nat. Com. L. i.) as to let the nails pass through the calceamenta coriacea:
De Venat. L. i.
Ast ubi jam Boreas invadit frigidus arva, Et glacialis hyems currentia flumina sistit, Arcendæ à plantis concretæ frigore crustæ, Atque armandus erit pes, ne mala frigora lædant, Et tellus concreta gelu, spinæque rigentes.
But should this guard be insufficient, or inapplicable, and the loss of a nail ensue, the poetical physician of Verona supplies a simple restorative:
Fracastorii Alcon.
Quid? taceam nimio cum decidit ungula cursu? Frangere namque juvat pallentis grana cumini Dentibus, admotâque pedem lenire salivâ: Incipientque novi subcrescere protinùs ungues.”
The Cynosophium of Demetrius gives its earlier sanction to the efficacy of this remedy; and yet it is probable that any of the gum-resins dissolved in spirit of wine will be found more curative.