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CHAP. 10.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HUMAN BLOOD, THE SEXUAL CONGRESS, ETC.

The blood of the human body, come from what part it may, is most efficacious, according to Orpheus and Archelaiis, as an application for quinzy: they say, too, that if it is applied to the mouth of a person who has fallen down in a fit of epilepsy, he will come to himself immediately. Some say that, for epilepsy, the great toes should be pricked, and the drops of blood that exude therefrom applied to the face; or else, that a virgin should touch the patient with her right thumb—a cir- cumstance that has led to the belief that persons suffering from epilepsy should eat the flesh of animals in a virgin state. Æschines of Athens used to cure quinzy, carcinoma, and affec- tions of the tonsillary glands and uvula, with the ashes of burnt excrements, a medicament to which he gave the name of "botryon."1 There are many kinds of diseases which disappear entirely after the first sexual congress,2 or, in the case of females, at the first appearance of menstruation; indeed, if such is not the case, they are apt to become chronic, epilepsy in particular. Even more than this-a man, it is said, who has been stung by a serpent or scorpion, experiences relief from the sexual congress; but the woman, on the other hand, is sensible of detriment. We are assured, too, that if persons, when washing their feet, touch the eyes three times with the water, they will never be subject to ophthalmia or other diseases of the eyes.

1 Properly meaning "a cluster of grapes."

2 Ajasson remarks that there is a considerable degree of truth in this assertion. He gives a long list of French works on the subject.

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