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CHAP. 4.—OMPHACIUM EXTRACTED FROM THE VINE: FOURTEEN REMEDIES.

We have already1 mentioned, when speaking of the composition of unguents, how omphacium is made from the grape, when it is just beginning to form: we shall now proceed to speak of its medicinal properties. Omphacium heals ulcerations of the humid parts of the body, such as the mouth, tonsillary glands, and generative organs, for example; it is very good, too, for the sight, for rough spots upon the eyelids, ulcers at the corners of the eyes, films upon the eyes, running sores on all parts of the body, cicatrizations2 slow in forming, and purulent discharges from the ears. The powerful action of omphacium is modified by the admixture of honey or raisin wine. It is very useful, too, for dysentery, spitting of blood, and quinsy.

1 In B. xii. c. 60.

2 Saracenus, upon Dioscorides, B. v. c. 6, thinks that Pliny, in copying from the Greek, has made a mistake here, and that he has taken οὺλον, the "gums," for οὐλὴ, a "cicatrix;" the corresponding passage in Dioscorides being οὺλα πλαδαρὰ, "flaccidity," or "humidity of the gums."

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