CHAP. 45.—REMEDIES FOR POISONS.
In case where persons have swallowed quicksilver,
1 bacon
is the proper remedy to be employed. Poisons are neutralized by
taking asses' milk; henbane more particularly, mistletoe, hemlock, the flesh of the sea-hare, opocarpathon,
2 pharicon,
3 and
dorycnium:
4 the same, too, where coagulated milk
5 has been
productive of bad effects, for the biestings,
6 or first curdled
milk, should be reckoned as nothing short of a poison.
7 We
shall have to mention many other uses to which asses' milk is
applied; but it should be remembered that in all cases it must
be used fresh, or, if not, as new as possible, and warmed, for
there is nothing that more speedily loses its virtue. The
bones, too, of the ass are pounded and boiled, as an antidote to
the poison of the sea-hare. The wild ass
8 is possessed of
similar properties in every respect, but in a much higher
degree.
Of the wild horse
9 the Greek writers have made no mention,
it not being a native of their country; we have every reason to
believe, however, that it has the same properties as the animal
in a tame state, but much more fully developed. Mares' milk
effectually neutralizes the venom of the sea-hare and all
narcotic poisons. Nor had the Greeks any knowledge from
experience of the urns
10 and the bison,
11 although in India the
forests are filled with herds of wild oxen: it is only reasonable,
however, to conclude that all their medicinal properties must
be much more highly developed than in the animal as found
among us. It is asserted also, that cows' milk is a general
counter-poison, in the cases above-mentioned, more particularly,
as also where the poison of ephemeron
12 has settled internally,
or cantharides have been administered; it acting upon the
poison by vomit. Broth, too, made from goats' flesh, neutral-
izes the effects of cantharides, in a similar manner, it is said.
To counteract the corrosive poisons which destroy by ulceration, veal or beef-suet is resorted to; and in cases where a
leech has been swallowed, butter is the usual remedy, with
vinegar heated with a red-hot iron. Indeed, butter employed
by itself is a good remedy for poisons, for where oil is not
to be procured, it is an excellent substitute for it. Used with
honey, butter heals injuries inflicted by millepedes. The
broth of boiled tripe, it is thought, is an effectual repellent of
the above-mentioned poisons, aconite and hemlock more particularly; veal-suet also has a similar repute.
Fresh goats' milk cheese is given to persons who have taken
mistletoe, and goats' milk itself is a remedy for cantharides.
Taken with Taminian
13 grapes, goats' milk is an antidote to the
effects of ephemeron. Goats' blood, boiled down with the marrow, is used as a remedy for the narcotic
14 poisons, and kids' blood
for the other poisons. Kid's rennet is administered where per-
sons have taken mistletoe, the juice of the white chamæleon,
15
or bull's blood: for which last, hare's rennet in vinegar is also
used by way of antidote. For injuries inflicted by the pastinaca,
16 and the stings or bites of all kinds of marine animals,
hare's rennet, kid's rennet, or lamb's rennet is taken, in doses
of one drachma, in wine. Hare's rennet, too, generally forms
an ingredient in the antidotes for poisons.
The moth that is seen fluttering about the flame of a lamp
is generally reckoned in the number of the noxious substances:
its bad effects are neutralized by the agency of goat's liver.
Goat's gall, too, is looked upon as an antidote to venomous
preparations from the field weazel.
17 But we will now return
to the other remedies, classified according to the various diseases.