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CHAP. 62.
CUNILA GALLINACEA, OR ORIGANUM: FIVE REMEDIES.
There is another variety, again, known to our people as “cunila gallinacea,” and to the Greeks as Heracleotic origanum. Beaten up with salt, this plant is good for the eyes; and it is a remedy for cough and affections of the liver. Mixed with meal, and taken as a broth, with oil and vine- gar, it is good for pains in the side, and the stings of serpents in particular.
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CHAP. 63.
CUNILAGO: EIGHT REMEDIES.
There is a third species, also, known to the Greeks as “male cunila,” and to us as “cunilago.” This plant has a fœtid smell, a ligneous root, and a rough leaf. Of all the varieties of cunila, this one, it is said, is possessed of the most active properties. If a handful of it is thrown anywhere, all the beetles in the house, they say, will be attracted to it; and, taken in vinegar and water, it is good for the stings of scorpions more particularly. It is stated, also, that if a person is rubbed with three leaves of it, steeped in oil, it will have the effect of keeping all serpents at a distance.
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CHAP. 64.
SOFT CUNILA: THREE REMEDIES. LIBANOTIS: THREE REMEDIES.
The variety, on the other hand, known as soft cunila, has a more velvety leaf, and branches covered with thorns; when rubbed it has just the smell of honey, and it adheres to the fingers when touched. There is another kind, again, known to us as “libanotis,” a name which it owes to the resemblance of its smell to that of frankincense. Both of these plants, taken in wine or vinegar, are antidotes for the stings of serpents. Beaten up in water, also, and sprinkled about a place, they kill fleas.
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CHAP. 65.
CULTIVATED CUNILA; THREE REMEDIES. MOUNTAIN CUNILA; SEVEN REMEDIES.
Cultivated cunila has also its medicinal uses. The juice of it, in combination with rose oil, is good for the ears; and the plant itself is taken in drink, to counteract the effects of violent blows.
A variety of this plant is the mountain cunila, similar to wild thyme in appearance, and particularly efficacious for the stings of serpents. This plant is diuretic, and promotes the lochial discharge: it aids the digestion, too, in a marvellous degree. Both varieties have a tendency to sharpen the appetite, even when persons are troubled with indigestion, if taken fasting in drink: they are good, too, for sprains, and, taken with barley-meal, and vinegar and water, they are extremely useful for stings inflicted by wasps and insects of a similar nature.
We shall have occasion to speak of other varieties of libanotis in their appropriate places.
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CHAP. 66. (17.)
PIPERITIS, OR SILIQUASTRUM: FIVE REMEDIES.
Piperitis, which we have already mentioned as being called “siliquastrum,” is taken in drink for epilepsy. Castor used to give a description of it to the following effect: “The stalk of it is long and red, with the knots lying close together; the leaves are similar to those of the laurel, and the seed is white and slender, like pepper in taste.” He described it also as being beneficial to the gums and teeth, imparting sweetness to the breath, and dispelling flatulency.
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CHAP. 67.
ORIGANUM, ONITIS, OR PRASION: SIX REMEDIES.
Origanum, which, as we have already stated, rivals cunila in flavour, includes many varieties employed in medicine. Onitis, or prasion, is the name given to one of these, which is not unlike hyssop in appearance: it is employed more particularly, with warm water, for gnawing pains at the stomach, and for indigestion. Taken in white wine it is good for the stings of spiders and scorpions; and, applied with vinegar and oil, in wool, it is a cure for sprains and bruises.
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CHAP. 68.
TRAGORIGANUM: NINE REMEDIES.
Tragoriganum bears a strong resemblance to wild thyme. It is diuretic, disperses tumours, and taken in drink is extremely efficacious in cases of poisoning by mistletoe and stings by serpents. It is very good for acid eructations from the stomach, and for the thoracic organs. It is given also for a cough, with honey, as well as for pleurisy and peripneumony.
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CHAP. 69.
THREE VARIETIES OF HERACLEOTIC ORIGANUM: THIRTY REMEDIES.
Heraclium, again, comprehends three varieties; the first, which is the darkest, has broader leaves than the others, and is of a glutinous nature; the second, which has leaves of a more slender form, and not unlike sampsuchum in appearance, is by some persous called “prasion,” in preference: the third is of an intermediate nature between the other two, but is less efficacious for medicinal purposes than either. But the best kind of all is that of Crete, for it has a particularly agreeable smell; the next best being that of Smyrna, which has even a more powerful odour than the last. The Heracleotic origanum, however, known by the name of “onitis,” is the one that is the most esteemed for taking in drink.
Origanum, in general, is employed for repelling serpents; and it is given boiled to persons suffering from wounds. Taken in drink, it is diuretic; and mixed with root of panax, it is given for the cure of ruptures and convulsions. In combination with figs or hyssop, it is prescribed for dropsical patients in doses of one acetabulum, being reduced by boiling to one sixth. It is good also for the itch, prurigo, and leprosy, taken just before the bath. The juice of it is injected into the ears with milk; it being a cure, also, for affections of the tonsils and the uvula, and for ulcers of the head. A decoction of it, taken with the ashes in wine, neutralizes poison by opium or gypsum. Taken in doses of one acetabulum, it relaxes the bowels. It is applied as a liniment for bruises and for tooth-ache; and mixed with honey and nitre, it imparts whiteness to the teeth. It has the effect, also, of stopping bleeding at the nose.
A decoction of this plant, with barley-meal, is employed for imposthumes of the parotid glands; and, beaten up with nutgalls and honey, it is used for roughness of the trachea: the leaves of it, with honey and salt, are good, too, for the spleen. Boiled with vinegar and salt, and taken in small doses, it at- tenuates the phlegm, when very thick and black; and beaten up with oil, it is injected into the nostrils for jaundice. When persons are affected with lassitude, the body is well rubbed with it, care being taken not to touch the abdomen. Used with pitch, it is a cure for epinyctis, and, applied with a roasted fig, it brings boils to a head. Employed with oil and vinegar, and barley-meal, it is good for scrofulous swellings; and applied topically in a fig, it is a cure for pains in the sides. Beaten up, and applied with vinegar, it is employed as a liniment for bloody fluxes of the generative organs, and it accelerates the lochial discharge after child-birth.
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CHAP. 70.
DITTANDER: THREE REMEDIES.
Dittander is generally considered to rank among the caustic plants. It is owing to this property that it clears the skin of the face, not, however, without excoriating it; though, at the same time, the excoriations are easily healed by employing wax and rose oil. It is owing to this property, too, that it always removes, without difficulty, leprous sores and itch-scabs, as well as the scars left by ulcers. It is said, that in cases of toothache, if this plant is attached to the arm on the suffering side, it will have the effect of drawing the pain to it.
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CHAP. 71.
GITH, OR MELANTHION: TWENTY-THREE REMEDIES.
Gith is by some Greek writers called “melanthion,” and by others “melaspermon.” That is looked upon as the best which has the most pungent odour and is the darkest in appearance. It is employed as a remedy for wounds made by serpents and scorpions: I find that for this purpose it is applied topically with vinegar and honey, and that by burning it serpents are kept at a distance. It is taken, also, in doses of one drachma for the bites of spiders. Beaten up, and smelt at in a piece
of linen cloth, it is a cure for running at the nostrils; and, applied as a liniment with vinegar and injected into the nostrils, it dispels head-ache. With oil of iris it is good for defluxions and tumours of the eyes, and a decoction of it with vinegar is a cure for tooth-ache. Beaten up and applied topically, or else chewed, it is used for ulcers of the mouth, and combined with vinegar, it is good for leprous sores and freckles on the skin. Taken in drink, with the addition of nitre, it is good for hardness of breathing, and, employed as a liniment, for indurations, tumours of long standing, and suppurations. Taken several days in succession, it augments the milk in women who are nursing.
The juice of this plant is collected in the same manner as that of henbane; and, like it, if taken in too large doses, it acts as a poison, a surprising fact, seeing that the seed is held in esteem as a most agreeable seasoning for bread. The seed cleanses the eyes also, acts as a diuretic, and promotes the menstrual discharge; and not only this, but I find it stated also, that it thirty grains only are attached to the body, in a linen cloth, it will have the effect of accelerating the after-birth. It is stated, also, that beaten up in urine, it is a cure for corns on the feet; and that when burnt it kills gnats and flies with the smell.
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CHAP. 72.
ANISE: SIXTY-ONE REMEDIES.
Anise, too, one of the comparatively small number of plants that have been commended by Pythagoras, is taken in wine, either raw or boiled, for the stings of scorpions. Both green and dried, it is held in high repute, as an ingredient in all seasonings and sauces, and we find it placed beneath the under-crust of bread. Pat with bitter-almonds into the cloth strainers for filtering wine, it imparts an agreeable flavour to the wine: it has the effect, also, of sweetening the breath, and removing all bad odours from the mouth, it chewed in the morning with smyrnion and a little honey, the mouth being then rinsed with wine.
This plant imparts a youthful look to the features; and if suspended to the pillow, so as to be smelt by a person when asleep, it will prevent all disagreeable dreams. It has the effect of promoting the appetite, also — for this, too, has been made by luxury one of the objects of art, ever since labour has ceased to stimulate it. It is for these various reasons that it has received the name of “anicetum,” given to it by some.
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CHAP. 73.
WHERE THE BEST ANISE IS FOUND: VARIOUS REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THIS PLANT.
The most esteemed anise is that of Crete, and, next to it, that of Egypt. This plant is employed in seasonings to supply the place of lovage; and the perfume of it, when burnt and inhaled, alleviates headache. Evenor prescribes an application of the root, pounded, for defluxions of the eyes; and lollas employs it in a similar manner, in combination with saffron and wine, or else beaten up by itself and mixed with polenta, for violent defluxions and the extraction of such ob- jects as have got into the eyes: applied, too, as a liniment in water, it arrests cancer of the nose. Mixed with hyssop and oxymel, and employed as a gargle, it is a cure for quinsy; and, in combination with rose oil, it is used as an injection for the ears. Parched anise purges off phlegm from the chest, and, if taken with honey, it is better still.
For a cough, beat up fifty bitter almonds, shelled, in honey, with one acetabulum of anise. Another very easy remedy, too, is to mix three drachmæ of anise with two of poppies and some honey, a piece the size of a bean being taken three times a-day. Its main excellence, however, is as a carminative; hence it is that it is so good for flatulency of the stomach, griping pains of the intestines, and cœliac affections. A decoction of it, smelt at and drunk, arrests hiccup, and a decoction of the leaves removes indigestion. A decoction of it with parsley, if applied to the nostrils, will arrest sneezing. Taken in drink, anise promotes sleep, disperses calculi of the bladder, arrests vomiting and swelling of the viscera, and acts as an excellent pectoral for affections of the chest, and of the dia- phragm, where the body is tightly laced. It is beneficial, also, to pour a decoction of it, in oil, upon the head for head-ache.
It is generally thought that there is nothing in existence more beneficial to the abdomen and intestines than anise; for which reason it is given, parched, for dysentery and tenesmus. Some persons add opium to these ingredients, and prescribe three pills a-day, the size of a bean, with one cyathus of wine. Dieuches has employed the juice of this plant for lumbago, and prescribes the seed of it, pounded with mint, for dropsy and cœliac affections: Evenor recommends the root, also, for affections of the kidneys. Dalion, the herbalist, employed it, with parsley, as a cataplasm for women in labour, as also for pains of the uterus; and, for women in labour, he prescribes a decoction of anise and dill to be taken in drink. It is used as a liniment also in cases of phrenitis, or else applied fresh gathered and mixed with polenta; in which form it is used also for infants attacked with epilepsy or convulsions. Pythagoras, indeed, assures us that persons, so long as they hold this plant in the hand, will never be attacked with epilepsy, for which reason, as much of it as possible should be planted near the house; he says, too, that women who inhale the odour of it have a more easy delivery, it being his advice also, that, immediately after they are delivered, it should be given them to drink, with a sprinkling of polenta.
Sosimenes employed this plant, in combination with vinegar, for all kinds of indurations, and for lassitude he prescribes a decoction of it in oil, with the addition of nitre. The same writer pledges his word to all wayfarers, that, if they take aniseed in their drink, they will be comparatively exempt from fatigue on their journey. Heraclides prescribes a pinch of aniseed with three fingers, for inflations of the stomach, to be taken with two oboli of castoreum in honied wine; and he recommends a similar preparation for inflations of the abdomen and intestines. In cases of orthopnœa, he recommends a pinch of aniseed with three fingers, and the same quantity of henbane, to be mixed in asses’-milk. It is the advice of many to those who are liable to vomit, to take, at dinner, one ace- tabulum of aniseed and ten laurel-leaves, the whole to be beaten up and drunk in water.
Anise, chewed and applied warm, or else taken with castoreum in oxymel, allays suffocations of the uterus. It also dispels vertigo after child-birth, taken with a pinch of cucumber seed in three fingers and the same quantity of linseed, in three cyathi of white wine. Tlepolemus has employed a pinch of aniseed and fennel in three fingers, mixed with vinegar and one cyathus of honey, for the cure of quartan fever. Applied topically with bitter almonds, aniseed is beneficial for maladies of the joints. There are some persons who look upon it as, by nature, an antidote to the venom of the asp. It is a diuretic, assuages thirst, and acts as an aphrodisiac. Taken in wine, it promotes a gentle perspiration, and it has the property of protecting cloth from the ravages of moths. The more recently it has been gathered, and the darker its colour, the greater are its virtues: still, however, it is injurious to the stomach, except when suffering from flatulency.
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CHAP. 74. (18.)
DILL: NINE REMEDIES.
Dill acts also as a carminative, allays gripings of the stomach, and arrests looseness of the bowels. The roots of this plant are applied topically in water, or else in wine, for defluxions of the eyes. The seed of it, if smelt at while boiling, will arrest hiccup; and, taken in water, it dispels indi- gestion. The ashes of it are a remedy for swellings of the uvula; but the plant itself weakens the eyesight and the generative powers.
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CHAP. 75.
SACOPENIUM, OR SAGAPENON: THIRTEEN REMEDIES.
The sacopenium which grows in Italy is totally different from that which comes from beyond sea. This last, in fact, is similar to gum ammoniac, and is known as “sagapenon.”
Sacopenium is good for pains of the sides and chest, for convulsions, coughs of long standing, expectorations, and swellings of the thoracic organs: it is a cure also for vertigo, palsy, opisthotony, affections of the spleen and loins, and for shivering fits. Fo
r suffocations of the uterus, this plant is given in vinegar to smell at; in addition to which, it is sometimes administered in drink, or employed as a friction with oil. It is a good antidote, also, for medicaments of a noxious nature.
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CHAP. 76.
THE WHITE POPPY: THREE REMEDIES. THE BLACK POPPY: EIGHT REMEDIES. REMARKS ON SLEEP. OPIUM. REMARKS IN DISFAVOUR OF THE POTIONS KNOWN AS “ANODYNES, FEBRIFUGES, DIGESTIVES, AND CŒLIACS.” IN WHAT WAY THE JUICES OF THESE PLANTS ARE TO BE COLLECTED.
Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder Page 147