itself; hence it is, that, beaten up with oil, it is used as a cure for the sting of the asp. CHAP. 106.-SIX MEDICINES DERIVED FEOM THE COR 40 CHORUS. The corchorus is a plant which is used at Alexandria as an article of food: the leaves of it are rolled up, one upon the other, like those of the mulberry, and it is wholesome, it is said, for the viscera, and in cases of alopecy, being good also for the removal of freckles. I find it stated also, that it cures the scab in cattle very rapidly: and, according to Nicander,1 it is a remedy for the stings of serpents, if gathered before it blossoms. chap. 107.—three remedies derived from the cnecos. There would be no necessity to speak at any length of the cnecos or atractylis," an Egyptian plant, were it not for the fact that it offers a most efficacious remedy for the stings of venomous animals, as also in cases of poisoning by fungi. It is a well-known fact, that persons, when stung by the scorpion, are not sensible of any painful effects so long as they hold this plant in their hand. chap. 108. (33.)-ONE REMEDY DERIVED FROM THE PESOLUTA. 43 The Egyptians also cultivate the pesoluta 3 in their gardens, for chaplets. There are two kinds of this plant, the male and the female either of them, it is said, placed beneath the person, when in bed, acts as an antaphrodisiac, upon the male sex more particularly. chap. 109. (34.)—AN EXPLANATION OF GREEK TERMS RE LATIVE TO WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. As we have occasion to make use of Greek names very frequently when speaking of weights and measures,44 I shall here subjoin, once for all, some explanation of them. The Attic drachma—for it is generally the Attic reckoning 40 The Corchorus olitorius of Linnæus. See B. xxv. c. 92. 41 Theriaca, p. 44. 42 See c. 53 of this Book. 43 It has not been identified. Dalechamps, without any proof, identifies it with the Tussilago petasites of modern botany. 44 See the Introduction to Vol. III. that medical men employ—is much the same in weight as the silver denarius, and is equivalent to six oboli, the obolus being ten chalci; the cyathus is equal in weight to ten drachmæ. When the measure of an acetabulum is spoken of, it is the same as one fourth part of a hemina, or fifteen drachmæ in weight. The Greek mna, or, as we more generally call it, "mina," equals one hundred Attic drachmæ in weight. SUMMARY.-Remedies, narratives, and observations, seven hundred and thirty. 47 52 48 54 51 ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.-Cato the Censor," M. Varro,46 Antias, Cæpio, Vestinus, 49 Vibius Rufus,50 Hyginus, Pomponius Mela, Pompeius Lenæus, Cornelius Celsus, Calpurnius Bassus, 55 C. Valgius," Licinius Macer," Sextius Niger 58 who wrote in Greek, Julius Bassus 59 who wrote in Greek, Antonius Castor.60 63 64 FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.-Theophrastus, Democritus,62 Orpheus, Pythagoras, Mago,65 Menander" who wrote the Biochresta, Nicander, Homer, Hesiod," Musæus," Sophocles," Anaxilaüs." 45 See end of B. iii. 67 48 A writer on flowers and chaplets, in the time of Tiberius. Nothing whatever beyond this seems to be known of him. 49 C. Julius Atticus Vestinus, or, according to some authorities, M. Atticus Vestinus. He was consul a.d. 65; and, though innocent, was put to death by Nero's order, for alleged participation in the conspiracy of Piso. 50 See end of B. xiv. 51 See end of B. iii. 52 See end of B. iii. 53 See end of B. xx. 54 See end of B. vii. 55 See end of B. xx. 61 See end of B. iii. 63 See end of B. xx. 65 See end of B. viii. 59 See end of B. viii. 60 See end of B. iii. 62 See end of B. xii. See also B. xxv. c. 5. 65 See end of B. ii. 66 See end of B. xi. 69 An alleged disciple of Orpheus, and probably as fabulous a personage. Many works, now lost, passed under his name. 70 One of the most celebrated of the Greek tragic writers; born b.c. 495. Of his 127 tragedies, only seven have come down to us. 71 A Pythagorean philosopher, a native of one of the cities e 76 85 83 MEDICAL AUTHORS QUOTED.-Mnesitheus 72 who wrote on Chaplets, Callimachus 73 who wrote on Chaplets, PhaniasTM the physician, Simus,75 Timaristus, Hippocrates," Chrysippus, Diocles,79 Ophelion,80 Heraclides,1 Hicesius,82 Dionysius, Apollodorus of Citium, Apollodorus 5 of Tarentum, Praxagoras, 86 Plistonicus, 87 Medius, Dieuches, 89 Cleophantus,90 Philistio," Asclepiades, Crateuas, 93 Petronius Diodotus, Iollas,95 Erasistratus," Diagoras, 97 Andreas,98 Mnesides," Epicharmus,1 Damion, Dalion,3 Sosimenes, Tlepolemus,5 Metrodorus, Solo,7 Lycus, Olympias of Thebes, Philinus,10 Petrichus," Microns 12 Glaucias, 13 Xenocrates.14 2 92 94 6 91 rissa. Being accused of magical practices, he was banished from the city of Rome by the Emperor Augustus. The explanation of these charges is, that he probably possessed a superior knowledge of natural philosophy. See B. xxv. c. 95. B. xxviii. c. 49. B. xxxii. c. 52, and B. xxxv. c. 50. 72 A physician, a native of Athens in the fourth century b.c. supposed to have belonged to the sect of the Dogmatici, and was greatly celebrated for his classification of diseases. He wrote on diet and drink, among other subjects. He is 73 Probably the same writer that is mentioned at the end of B. iv.; or, possibly, a physician of that name, who was a disciple of Herophilus, and lived about the second century b.c. 74 A distinguished Peripatetic philosopher of Eresos in Lesbos, a disciple of Aristotle, and a contemporary of Theophrastus. 75 Of this writer, nothing whatever is known, beyond the mention made of him in c. 88 of this Book, and in B. xxii. c. 32. 76 Nothing whatever is known relative to this writer. 77 See end of B. vii. 78 See end of B. xx. 79 See end of B. xx. 80 See end of B. xx. 389 BOOK XXII. THE PROPERTIES OF PLANTS AND FRUITS. chap. 1.—the properties of plants. Nature and the earth might have well filled the measure of our admiration, if we had nothing else to do but to consider the properties enumerated in the preceding Book, and the numerous varieties of plants that we find created for the wants or the enjoyment of mankind. And yet, how much is there still left for us to describe, and how many discoveries of a still more astonishing nature! The greater part, in fact, of the plants there mentioned recommend themselves to us by their taste, their fragrance, or their beauty, and so invite us to make repeated trials of their virtues: but, on the other hand, the properties of those which remain to be described, furnish us with abundant proof that nothing has been created by Nature without some purpose to fulfil, unrevealed to us though it may be. chap. 2. (1.)—plants used by nations for the adornment of the person. I remark, in the first place, that there are some foreign nations which, in obedience to long-established usage, employ certain plants for the embellishment of the person. That, among some barbarous peoples, the females1 stain the face by means of various plants, there can be little doubt, and among the Daci and the Sarmatæ we find the men even marking2 their bodies. There is a plant in Gaul, similar to the plantago in appearance, and known there by the name of "glastum :" 1 Fée remarks, that at the present day, in all savage nations in which tatooing is practised, the men display more taste and care in the operation than is shewn by the females. There is little doubt that it is the art of tatooing the body, or in other words, first puncturing it and then rubbing in various colours, that is here spoken of by Pliny. 2 46 'Inscribunt." "Writing upon," or "tatooing," evidently. 3 Our "woad," the Isatis tinctoria of Linnæus, which imparts a blue with it both matrons and girls among the people of Britain are in the habit of staining the body all over, when taking part in the performance of certain sacred rites; rivalling hereby the swarthy hue of the Ethiopians, they go in a state of nature. CHAP. 3. (2.)-EMPLOYMENT OF PLANTS FOR DYEING. EXPLANATION OF THE TERMS SAGMEN, VERBENA, AND CLARIGATIO. We know, too, that from plants are extracted admirable colours for dyeing; and, not to mention the berries of Galatia, Africa, and Lusitania, which furnish the coccus, a dye reserved for the military costume7 of our generals, the people of Gaul beyond the Alps produce the Tyrian colours, the conchyliated, and all the other hues, by the agency of plants alone. They have not there to seek the murex at the bottom of the sea, or to expose themselves to be the prey of the monsters of the deep, while tearing it from their jaws, nor have they to go searching in depths to which no anchor has penetrated—and all this for the purpose of finding the means whereby some mother of a family may appear more charming in the eyes of her paramour, or the seducer may make himself more captivating to the wife of another man. Standing on dry land, the people there gather in their dyes just as we do our crops of colour. The reat of this Celtic wood is probably "glas," "blue," whence also our word "glass ;" and it is not improbable that the name of glass was given to it from the blue tints which it presented. Julius Cæsar and Pomponius Mela translate this word "glastum," by the Latin "vitrum," glass. 66 "Conjuges nurusque." Cæsar says that all the people in Britain were in the habit of staining the body with woad, to add to the horror of their appearance in battle. Pomponius Mela expresses himself as uncertain for what purpose it was done, whether it was to add to their beauty, or for some other reasons to him unknown. 5 "Granis." What the ancients took to be a vegetable substance, is now known to be an insect, the kermes of the Quercus coccifera. 6 See B. ii. c. 63. 7 "Paludamentis." The "paludamentum" was the cloak worn by a Roman general when in command, his principal officers, and personal attendants. It was open in front, reached to the knees or thereabout, and hung over the shoulders, being fastened across the chest by a clasp. It was commonly white or purple. 8 For an account of all these colours see B. ix. cc. 60—65. 9 The vaccinium for instance. See B. xvi. c. 31. |