BOOK XXIII. THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CULTIVATED TREES. (continued 2)

CHAP. 69.—THE LICHEN ON PLUM-TREES: TWO REMEDIES.

Upon the bark of the wild and cultivated plums we find an excrescence3130 growing, known to the Greeks by the name of “lichen:” it is remarkably good for chaps and condylomatous swellings.

CHAP. 70.—MULBERRIES: THIRTY-NINE REMEDIES.

In Egypt and in the Isle of Cyprus there are, as already stated,3131 mulberry-trees of a peculiar kind, being of a nature that is truly marvellous; for, if the outer bark is peeled off, they emit a great abundance of juice; but if a deeper incision is made, they are found to be quite dry.3132 This juice is an antidote to the venom of serpents, is good for dysentery, disperses inflamed tumours and all kinds of gatherings, heals wounds, and allays both head-ache and ear-ache: it is taken in drink for affections of the spleen, and is used as a liniment for the same purpose, as also for fits of shivering. This juice, however, very soon breeds worms.

Among ourselves, too, the juice which exudes from the mulberry-tree is employed for an equal number of purposes: taken in wine, it neutralizes the noxious effects of aconite3133 and the venom of spiders, relaxes the bowels, and expels tapeworm and other animals which breed in the intestines;3134 the bark of the tree, pounded, has also a similar effect. The leaves, boiled in rain-water with the bark of the black fig and the vine, are used for dyeing the hair.

The juice of the fruit has a laxative effect immediately upon the bowels, though the fruit itself, for the moment, acts beneficially upon the stomach, being of a refreshing nature, but productive of thirst. If no other food is taken upon them, mulberries3135 are of a swelling tendency. The juice of unripe mulberries acts astringently upon the bowels. The marvels which are presented by this tree, and of which we have made some mention3136 when describing it, would almost appear to belong to a creature gifted with animation.

CHAP. 71.—THE MEDICAMENT CALLED STOMATICE, ARTERIACE, OR PANCHRESTOS: FOUR REMEDIES.

From the fruit of the mulberry a medicament is prepared, called “panchrestos,”3137 “stomatice,” or “arteriace:” the following is the method employed. Three sextarii of the juice are reduced, at a slow heat, to the consistency of honey; two denarii of dried omphacium3138 or one of myrrh, with one denarius of saffron, are then added, the whole being beaten up together and mixed with the decoction. There is no medicament known that is more soothing than this, for affections of the mouth, the trachea, the uvula, and the stomach. There is also another mode of preparing it: two sextarii of mulberry juice and one of Attic honey are boiled down in the manner above stated.

There are some other marvellous properties, also, which are mentioned in reference to this tree. When the tree is in bud, and before the appearance of the leaves, the germs of the fruit must be gathered with the left hand—the Greeks give them the name of “ricini.”3139 These germs, worn as an amulet before they have touched the ground, have the effect of arresting hæmorrhage, whether proceeding from a wound, from the mouth, from the nostrils, or from piles; for which purposes they are, accordingly, put away and kept. Similar virtues are attributed to a branch just beginning to bear, broken off at full moon, provided also it has not touched the ground: this branch, it is said, attached to the arm, is peculiarly efficacious for the suppression of the catamenia when in excess. The same effect is produced, it is said, when the woman herself pulls it off, whatever time it may happen to be, care being taken not to let it touch the ground, and to wear it attached to the body. The leaves of the mulberry-tree beaten up fresh, or a decoction of them dried, are applied topically for stings inflicted by serpents: an infusion of them, taken in drink, is equally efficacious for that purpose. The juice extracted from the bark of the root, taken in wine or oxycrate, counteracts the venom of the scorpion.

We must also give some account of the method of preparing this medicament employed by the ancients: extracting the juice from the fruit, both ripe and unripe, they mixed it together, and then boiled it down in a copper vessel to the consistency of honey. Some persons were in the habit of adding myrrh and cypress, and then left it to harden in the sun, mixing it with a spatula three times a-day. Such was their receipt for the stomatice, which was also employed by them to promote the cicatrization of wounds. There was another method, also, of dealing with the juice of this fruit: extracting the juice, they used the dried fruit with various articles of food,3140 as tending to heighten the flavour; and they were in the habit of employing it medicinally3141 for corroding ulcers, pituitous expectorations, and all cases in which astringents were required for the viscera. They used it also for the purpose of cleaning3142 the teeth. A third mode of employing the juices of this tree is to boil down the leaves and root, the decoction being used, with oil,3143 as a liniment for the cure of burns. The leaves are also applied by themselves for the same purpose.

An incision made in the root at harvest-time, supplies a juice that is extremely useful for tooth-ache, gatherings, and suppurations; it acts, also, as a purgative upon the bowels. Mulberry-leaves, macerated in urine, remove the hair from hides.

CHAP. 72.—CHERRIES: FIVE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.

Cherries are relaxing to the bowels and unwholesome3144 to the stomach; in a dried state, however, they are astringent and diuretic.3145 I find it stated by some authors, that if cherries are taken early in the morning covered with dew, the kernels being eaten with them, the bowels will be so strongly acted upon as to effect a cure for gout in the feet.

CHAP. 73.—MEDLARS: TWO REMEDIES. SORBS: TWO REMEDIES.

Medlars, the setania3146 excepted, which has pretty nearly the same properties as the apple, act astringently upon the stomach and arrest looseness of the bowels. The same is the case, too, with dried sorbs;3147 but when eaten fresh, they are beneficial to the stomach, and are good for fluxes of the bowels.

CHAP. 74. (8.)—PINE-NUTS: THIRTEEN REMEDIES.

Pine-nuts,3148 with the resin in them, are slightly bruised, and then boiled down in water to one-half, the proportion of water being one sextarius to each nut. This decoction, taken in doses of two cyathi, is used for the cure of spitting of blood. The bark of the tree, boiled in wine, is given for griping pains in the bowels. The kernels of the pine-nut allay thirst, and assuage acridities and gnawing pains in the stomach; they tend also to neutralize vicious humours in that region, recruit the strength, and are salutary to the kidneys and the bladder. They would seem, however, to exercise an irritating effect3149 upon the fauces, and to increase cough. Taken in water, wine, raisin wine, or a decoction of dates, they carry off bile. For gnawing pains in the stomach of extreme violence, they are mixed with cucumber-seed and juice of purslain; they are employed, too, in a similar manner for ulcerations of the bladder and kidneys,3150 having a diuretic effect.

CHAP. 75.—ALMONDS: TWENTY-NINE REMEDIES.

A decoction of the root of the bitter almond3151 clears the complexion, and gives the face a brighter colour.3152 Bitter almonds are provocative of sleep,3153 and sharpen the appetite; they act, also, as a diuretic and as an emmenagogue. They are used topically for head-ache, when there is fever more particularly. Should the head-ache proceed from inebriation,3154 they are applied with vinegar, rose-oil, and one sextarius of water. Used in combination with amylum3155 and mint, they arrest hæmorrhage. They are useful, also, for lethargy and epilepsy, and the head is anointed with them for the cure of epinyctis. In combination with wine, they heal putrid ulcers of an inveterate nature, and, with honey, bites inflicted by dogs.3156 They are employed, also, for the cure of scaly eruptions of the face, the parts affected being fomented first.

Taken in water, or, as is often done, in an electuary, with resin of terebinth,3157 they remove pains in the liver and kidneys; used with raisin wine, they are good for calculus and strangury. Bruised in hydromel, they are useful for cleansing the skin; and taken in an electuary with the addition of a small proportion of elelisphacus,3158 they are good for diseases of the liver, cough, and colic, a piece about the size of a hazel-nut being taken in honey. It is said that if five bitter almonds are taken by a person before sitting down to drink, he will be proof against inebriation;3159 and that foxes, if they eat bitter almonds,3160 will be sure to die immediately, if they cannot find water to lap.

As to sweet almonds, their remedial properties are not3161 so extensive; still, however, they are of a purgative nature, and are diuretic. Eaten fresh, they are difficult3162 of digestion.

CHAP. 76.—GREEK NUTS: ONE REMEDY.

Greek nuts,3163 taken in vinegar with wormwood seed, are said to be a cure for jaundice. Used alone, they are employed topically for the treatment of diseases of the fundament, and condylomata in particular, as also cough and spitting of blood.

CHAP. 77.—WALNUTS: TWENTY-FOUR REMEDIES. THE MITHRIDATIC ANTIDOTE.

Walnuts3164 have received their name in Greek from being oppressive3165 to the head; for, in fact, the emanations3166 from the tree itself and the leaves penetrate to the brain. The kernels, also, have a similar effect when eaten, though not in so marked a degree. When fresh gathered, they are most agreeable eating; for when dry, they are more oleaginous, unwholesome to the stomach, difficult of digestion, productive of head-ache, and bad for cough,3167 or for a person when about to take an emetic fasting: they are good in cases of tenesmus only, as they carry off the pituitous humours of the body. Eaten beforehand, they deaden the effects of poison, and, employed with rue and oil, they are a cure for quinsy. They act as a corrective, also, to onions, and modify their flavour. They are applied to inflammations of the ears, with a little honey, and with rue they are used for affections of the mamillæ, and for sprains. With onions, salt, and honey, they are applied to bites inflicted by dogs or human beings. Walnut-shells are used for cauterizing3168 carious teeth; and with these shells, burnt and then beaten up in oil or wine, the heads of infants are anointed, they having a tendency to make the hair grow; hence they are used in a similar manner for alopecy also. These nuts, eaten in considerable numbers, act as an expellent upon tapeworm.3169 Walnuts, when very old, are3170 curative of gangrenous sores and carbuncles, of bruises also. Green walnut-shells3171 are employed for the cure of lichens and dysentery, and the leaves are beaten up with vinegar as an application for ear-ache.3172

After the defeat of that mighty monarch, Mithridates, Cneius Pompeius found in his private cabinet a recipe for an antidote in his own hand-writing; it was to the following effect:3173—Take two dried walnuts, two figs, and twenty leaves of rue; pound them all together, with the addition of a grain of salt; if a person takes this mixture fasting, he will be proof against all poisons for that day.3174 Walnut kernels, chewed by a man fasting, and applied to the wound, effect an instantaneous cure, it is said, of bites inflicted by a mad dog.

CHAP. 78.—HAZEL-NUTS: THREE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. PISTACHIO-NUTS: EIGHT OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. CHESNUTS: FIVE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM.

Hazel-nuts3175 are productive of head-ache, and flatulency of the stomach; they contribute, however, to the increase of flesh more than would be imagined. Parched, they are remedial for catarrhs, and beaten up and taken with hydromel,3176 they are good for an inveterate cough. Some persons add grains of pepper,3177 and others take them in raisin wine.

Pistachio-nuts3178 have the same properties, and are productive of the same effects, as pine-nuts; in addition to which, they are used as an antidote to the venom3179 of serpents, eaten or taken in drink.

Chesnuts3180 have a powerful effect in arresting fluxes of the stomach and intestines, are relaxing to the bowels, are beneficial in cases of spitting of blood, and have a tendency to make flesh.3181

CHAP. 79.—CAROBS: FIVE OBSERVATIONS UPON THEM. THE CORNEL; ONE REMEDY. THE FRUIT OF THE ARBUTUS.

Fresh carobs3182 are unwholesome to the stomach, and relaxing to the bowels;3183 in a dried state, however, they are astringent, and are much more beneficial to the stomach; they are diuretic also. For pains in the stomach, persons boil three Syrian carobs3184 with one sextarius of water, down to one-half, and drink the decoction.

The juices which exude from the branches of the cornel3185 are received on a plate of red-hot iron3186 without it touching the wood; the rust of which is applied for the cure of incipient lichens. The arbutus or unedo3187 bears a fruit that is difficult of digestion, and injurious to the stomach.

CHAP. 80.—THE LAUREL; SIXTY-NINE OBSERVATIONS UPON IT.

All parts of the laurel, both the leaves, bark, and berries, are of a warming3188 nature; and a decoction of them, the leaves in particular, is very useful for affections of the bladder and uterus.3189 The leaves, applied topically, neutralize the poison of wasps, bees, and hornets, as also that of serpents, the seps,3190 dipsas,3191 and viper, in particular. Boiled in oil, they promote the catamenia; and the more tender of the leaves beaten up with polenta, are used for inflammations of the eyes, with rue for inflammations of the testes, and with rose-oil, or oil of iris,3192 for head-ache. Three leaves, chewed and swallowed for three days in succession, are a cure for cough, and beaten up with honey, for asthma. The bark of the root is dangerous to pregnant women; the root itself disperses calculi, and taken in doses of three oboli in aromatic wine, it acts beneficially on the liver. The leaves, taken in drink, act as an emetic;3193 and the berries, pounded and applied as a pessary, or else taken in drink, promote menstruation. Two of the berries with the skin removed, taken in wine, are a cure for inveterate cough and hardness of breathing; if, however, this is accompanied with fever, they are given in water, or else in an electuary with raisin wine, or boiled in hydromel. Employed in a similar manner, they are good for phthisis, and for all defluxions of the chest, as they have the effect of detaching the phlegm and bringing it off.

For stings inflicted by scorpions, four laurel-berries are taken in wine. Applied with oil, they are a cure for epinyctis, freckles, running sores, ulcers of the mouth, and scaly eruptions. The juice of the berries is curative of porrigo and phthiriasis; and for pains in the ears, or hardness of hearing, it is injected into those organs with old wine and oil of roses. All venomous creatures fly at the approach of persons who have been anointed with this juice: taken in drink, the juice of the small-leaved3194 laurel in particular, it is good for stings inflicted by them. The berries,3195 used with wine, neutralize the venom of serpents, scorpions, and spiders; they are applied also, topically, with oil and vinegar, in diseases of the spleen and liver, and with honey to gangrenous sores. In cases of lassitude and shivering fits, it is a very good plan to rub the body with juice of laurel-berries mixed with nitre. Some persons are of opinion that delivery is accelerated by taking laurel-root to the amount of one acetabulum, in water, and that, used fresh, it is better than dried. It is recommended by some authorities, to take ten of the berries in drink, for the sting of the scorpion; and in cases of relaxation of the uvula, to boil a quarter of a pound of the berries, or leaves, in three sextarii of water, down to one third, the decoction being used warm, as a gargle. For head-ache, also, it is recommended to bruise an uneven number of the berries in oil, the mixture being warmed for use.

The leaves of the Delphic laurel3196 bruised and applied to the nostrils from time to time, are a preservative3197 against contagion in pestilence, and more particularly if they are burnt. The oil of the3198 Delphic laurel is employed in the preparation of cerates and the medicinal composition known as “acopum,”3199 and is used for fits of shivering occasioned by cold, for the relaxation of the sinews, and for the cure of pains in the side and the cold attacks in fevers.3200 Warmed in the rind of a pomegranate, it is applied topically for the cure of ear-ache. A decoction of the leaves boiled down in water to one third, used as a gargle, braces the uvula, and taken in drink allays pains in the bowels and intestines. The more tender leaves, bruised in wine and applied at night, are a cure for pimples and prurigo.

The other varieties of the laurel possess properties which are nearly analogous. The root of the laurel of Alexandria,3201 or of Mount Ida,3202 accelerates delivery, being administered in doses of three denarii to three cyathi of sweet wine; it acts also as an emmenagogue, and brings away the after-birth. Taken in drink in a similar manner, the wild laurel, known as “daphnoides” and by the other names which we have mentioned,3203 is productive of beneficial effects. The leaves of it, either fresh or dried, taken in doses of three drachmæ, in hydromel with salt, act as a purgative3204 upon the bowels. The wood, chewed, brings off phlegm, and the leaves act as an “emetic;” they are unwholesome, however, to the stomach. The berries, too, are sometimes taken, fifteen in number, as a purgative.

CHAP. 81.—MYRTLE; SIXTY OBSERVATIONS UPON IT.

The white3205 cultivated myrtle is employed for fewer medicinal purposes than the black one.3206 The berries3207 of it are good for spitting of blood, and taken in wine, they neutralize the poison of fungi. They impart an agreeable smell3208 to the breath, even when eaten the day before; thus, for instance, in Menander we find the Synaristosæ3209 eating them. They are taken also for dysentery,3210 in doses of one denarius, in wine: and they are employed lukewarm, in wine, for the cure of obstinate ulcers on the extremities. Mixed with polenta, they are employed topically in ophthalmia, and for the cardiac disease3211 they are applied to the left breast. For stings inflicted by scorpions, diseases of the bladder, head-ache, and fistulas of the eye before suppuration, they are similarly employed; and for tumours and pituitous eruptions, the kernels are first removed and the berries are then pounded in old wine. The juice of the berries3212 acts astringently upon the bowels, and is diuretic: mixed with cerate it is applied topically to blisters, pituitous eruptions, and wounds inflicted by the phalangium; it imparts a black tint,3213 also, to the hair.

The oil of this myrtle is of a more soothing nature than the juice, and the wine3214 which is extracted from it, and which possesses the property of never inebriating, is even more so. This wine, used when old, acts astringently upon the stomach and bowels, cures griping pains in those regions, and dispels nausea.

The dried leaves, powdered and sprinkled upon the body, check profuse perspirations, in fever even; they are good, too, used as a fomentation, for cœliac affections, procidence of the uterus, diseases of the fundament, running ulcers, erysipelas, loss of the hair, scaly and other eruptions, and burns. This powder is used as an ingredient, also, in the plasters known as “liparæ;”3215 and for the same reason the oil of the leaves is used for a similar purpose, being extremely efficacious as an application to the humid parts of the body, the mouth and the uterus, for example.

The leaves themselves, beaten up with wine, neutralize3216 the bad effects of fungi; and they are employed, in combination with wax, for diseases of the joints, and gatherings. A decoction of them, in wine, is taken for dysentery and dropsy. Dried and reduced to powder, they are sprinkled upon ulcers and hæmorrhages. They are useful, also, for the removal of freckles, and for the cure of hang-nails,3217 whitlows, condylomata, affections of the testes, and sordid ulcers. In combination with cerate, they are used for burns.

For purulent discharges from the ears, the ashes of the leaves are employed, as well as the juice and the decoction: the ashes are also used in the composition of antidotes. For a similar purpose the blossoms are stripped from off the young branches, which are burnt in a furnace, and then pounded in wine. The ashes of the leaves, too, are used for the cure of burns. To prevent ulcerations from causing swellings in the inguinal glands, it will suffice for the patient to carry3218 a sprig of myrtle about him which has never touched the ground or any implement of iron.

CHAP. 82.—MYRTIDANUM: THIRTEEN REMEDIES.

We have already described the manner in which myrtidanum3219 is made. Applied in a pessary, or as a fomentation or liniment, it is good for affections of the uterus, being much more efficacious than the bark of the tree, or the leaves and seed. There is a juice also extracted from the more tender leaves, which are pounded in a mortar for the purpose, astringent wine, or, according to one method, rain-water, being poured upon them a little at a time. This extract is used for the cure of ulcers of the mouth, the fundament, the uterus, and the abdomen. It is employed, also, for dyeing the hair black, the suppression of exudations at the arm-pits,3220 the removal of freckles, and other purposes in which astringents are required.

CHAP. 83.—THE WILD MYRTLE, OTHERWISE CALLED OXYMYRSINE, OR CHAMÆMYRSINE, AND THE RUSCUS: SIX REMEDIES.

The wild myrtle, oxymyrsine,3221 or chamæmyrsine, differs from the cultivated myrtle in the redness of its berries and its diminutive height. The root of it is held in high esteem; a decoction of it, in wine, is taken for pains in the kidneys and strangury, more particularly when the urine is thick and fetid. Pounded in wine, it is employed for the cure of jaundice, and as a purgative for the uterus. The same method is adopted, also, with the young shoots, which are sometimes roasted in hot ashes and eaten as a substitute for asparagus.3222

The berries, taken with wine, or oil and vinegar, break calculi3223 of the bladder: beaten up with rose-oil and vinegar, they allay head-ache. Taken in drink, they are curative of jaundice. Castor calls the wild myrtle with prickly leaves, or oxymyrsine, from which brooms are made, by the name of “ruscus”3224—the medicinal properties of it are just the same.

Thus much, then, with reference to the medicinal properties of the cultivated trees; let us now pass on to the wild ones.

Summary.—Remedies, narratives, and observations, nine hundred and eighteen.

Roman authors quoted.—C. Valgius,3225 Pompeius Lenæus,3226 Sextius Niger3227 who wrote in Greek, Julius Bassus3228 who wrote in Greek, Antonius Castor,3229 M. Varro,3230 Cornelius Celsus,3231 Fabianus.3232

Foreign authors quoted.—Theophrastus,3233 Democritus,3234 Orpheus,3235 Pythagoras,3236 Mago,3237 Menander3238 who wrote the “Biochresta,” Nicander,3239 Homer, Hesiod,3240 Musæus,3241 Sophocles,3242 Anaxilaüs.3243

Medical authors quoted.—Mnesitheus,3244 Callimachus,3245 Phanias3246 the physician, Timaristus,3247 Simus,3248 Hippocrates,3249 Chrysippus,3250 Diocles,3251 Ophelion,3252 Heraclides,3253 Hicesius,3254 Dionysius,3255 Apollodorus3256 of Citium, Apollodorus3257 of Tarentum, Plistonicus,3258 Medius,3259 Dieuches,3260 Cleophantus,3261 Philistion,3262 Asclepiades,3263 Crateuas,3264 Petronius Diodotus,3265 Iollas,3266 Erasistratus,3267 Diagoras,3268 Andreas,3269 Mnesides,3270 Epicharmus,3271 Damion,3272 Dalion,3273 Sosimenes,3274 Tlepolemus,3275 Metrodorus,3276 Solo,3277 Lycus,3278 Olympias3279 of Thebes, Philinus,3280 Petrichus,3281 Micton,3282 Glaucias,3283 Xenocrates.3284