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CHAP. 15.—REMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE STOMACH.

One of the very best remedies for affections of the stomach, is to use a snail diet.1 They must first be left to simmer in water for some time, without touching the contents of the shell, after which, without any other addition, they must be grilled upon hot coals, and eaten with wine and garum;2 the snails of Africa being the best of all for the purpose. The efficacy of this remedy has been proved in numerous instances of late. Another point, too, to be observed, is to take an uneven number of them. Snails, however, have a juice, it should be remembered, which imparts to the breath an offensive smell. For patients troubled with spitting of blood, they are remarkably good, the shell being first removed, and the contents bruised and administered in water. The most esteemed kinds of all are those of Africa—those which come from Iol,3 in particular—of Astypalæa, and, after them, those of Ætna, in Sicily, those I mean of moderate size, for the large ones are hard, and destitute of juice. The Balearic snails, called "cavaticæ," from being found in caverns, are much esteemed; and so, too, are those from the islands of Capreæ.4 Those of Greece, on the other hand, are never used for food, either old or fresh.

River snails, and those with a white shell, have a strong, rank, juice, and forest snails are by no means good for the stomach, having a laxative effect upon the bowels; the same, too, with all kinds of small snails. Sea-snails,5 on the other hand, are more beneficial to the stomach; but it is for pains in that region that they are found the most efficacious: the best plan, it is said, is to eat them alive, of whatever kind they may happen to be, with vinegar. In addition to these, there are the snails called "aceratæ,"6 with a broad shell, and found in numerous localities: of the uses to which they are put we shall7 speak further on the appropriate occasions. The craw of poultry, dried and sprinkled in the drink, or else used fresh and grilled, has a soothing effect upon pectoral catarrhs and coughs attended with phlegm.8 Snails, beaten up raw and taken in three cyathi of warm water, allay cough. A piece of dog's skin, wrapped round any one of the fingers, affords relief to patients suffering from catarrh. A broth made of boiled partridges is strengthening for the stomach.

1 In France and Italy, snails are considered a delicacy by some. Snail milk is sometimes used medicinally in England for consumptive patients: it is doubtful with what effect.

2 Or fish-sauce. See B. xxxi. c. 43.

3 See B. v. c. 20.

4 See B. iii. c. 12.

5 Our periwinkles.

6 Dalechamps takes this to mean "without horns:" and Hardouin is of opinion that it means "genuine" or "unmixed." In either sense, the word is derived from the Greek.

7 He has omitted to do so.

8 "Humida tussis."

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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