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CHAP. 11.—THE CEDAR: THIRTEEN REMEDIES.

The larger cedar, known as the "cedrelates,"1 produces a pitch called "cedria," which is very useful for tooth-ache, it having the effect of breaking2 the teeth and extracting them, and so allaying the pain. We have already3 stated how the juices of cedar are extracted, so remarkably useful for seasoning books,4 were it not for the head-ache they produce. This extract from the cedar preserves5 the bodies of the dead uncorrupted for ages, but exercises a noxious effect upon the bodies of the living-singular that there should be such a diversity in its properties, taking away life from animated beings, and imparting a sort of life, as it were, to the dead! It injures clothing also and destroys6 animal life. It is for this reason that I cannot recommend it to be taken internally for the cure of quinzy and indigestion, though there are some who advise it: I should be greatly in dread too, to rinse the teeth with it, in combination with vinegar, for tooth-ache, or to use it as an injection for the ears in cases of hardness of hearing, or for worms in those organs. There is one very marvellous story told about it—if the male organs, they say, are rubbed with it just before the sexual congress, it will effectually prevent impregnation.7

Still, however, I should not hesitate to employ it as a friction for phthiriasis or porrigo. It is strongly recommended also, in raisin wine, as an antidote to the poison of the sea- share,8 but I should be more ready to use it as a liniment for elephantiasis. Some authors have prescribed it as an ointment for foul ulcers and the fleshy excrescences which grow in them, as also for spots and films on the eyes; and have recommended it to be taken, in doses of one cyathus, for. ulcerations of the lungs, and for tapeworm.

There is an oil extracted from this pitch, known as "pisselæpon,"9 the properties of which are of increased activity for all the purposes before-mentioned. It is a well-known fact that the saw-dust of cedar will put serpents to flight, and that a similar effect is produced by anointing the body with the berries10 bruised in oil.

1 See B. xiii. c. 11.

2 Fée remarks, that many of the moderns attribute to frankincense the properties here ascribed to cedria; a most unfounded notion, he thinks.

3 In B. xiv. c, 25, and B. xvi. cc. 21, 22.

4 Sillig reads "volumina;" in which case it is not improbable that the allusion is to the practice of seasoning the paper of manuscripts with a preparation of cedar, as a preservative against mildew and worms. Another reading is "lumina," and it is not impossible that it is the right one, meaning that pitch of cedar is useful for making lamps or candles. Fée reminds us that we are not to confound the "cedria" with the "cedrium" of B. xvi. c. 21, though Pliny seems here to confound the two. See Note 38 to that Chapter.

5 As in B. xvi. c. 21, he has said the same of "cedrium," a red tar charged with empyreumatic oil, it is clear that he erroneously identifies it with "cedria," or pitch of cedar. It is with this last, in reality, that the Egyptians embalmed the dead, or rather preserved them, by dipping that in the boiling liquid.

6 If he implies that it is poisonous, such in reality is not the case.

7 A mere absurdity, of course.

8 It would be of no use whatever for the cure of injuries inflicted by the Aplysia vulgaris or Aplysia depilans of Linnæus. See B. ix. c. 72, and B. xxxii. c. 3.

9 See B. xv. c. 7, and B. xxv. c. 22. "Pitch oil," a volatile oil.

10 This mention of the berries clearly proves, Fée thinks, that the Cedrelates of Pliny belongs in reality to the genus Juniperus.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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