CHAP. 20.—REMEDES FOR THE ILIAC PASSION, AND FOR OTHER
MALADIES OF THE BOWELS.
One of the most dangerous of maladies is that known by the
name of "ileos:"
1 it may be combatted, they say, by tearing
a bat asunder, and taking the blood, or by rubbing the abdo.
men with it. Diarrhœa is arrested more particularly by taking
snails, prepared in manner already
2 mentioned for cases of
asthma; the ashes, also, of snails burnt alive, administered in
astringent wine; the liver of poultry grilled; the dried craw
of poultry, a part that is usually thrown away, mixed with
poppy-juice—in some cases it is used fresh, grilled, and taken
in wine—partridge broth; the craw of partridges beaten up by
itself in red wine; a wild ringdove boiled in oxycrate; a sheep's
milt, grilled and beaten up in wine; or else pigeons' dung,
applied with honey. The crop of an ossifrage, dried and taken
in drink, is remarkably useful for patients whose digestion is
impaired-indeed, its good effects may be felt if they only hold
it in the hand while eating. Hence it is that some persons
wear it attached to the body as an amulet; a practice which
must not be too long continued, it being apt to cause a wasting
of the flesh. The blood, too, of a drake has an astringent
effect.
Flatulency is dispelled by eating snails; and griping pains
in the bowels, by taking a sheep's milt grilled, with wine; a
wild ringdove boiled in oxycrate; the fat of an otis
3 in wine; or
the ashes of an ibis, burnt without the feathers, administered in
drink. Another prescription mentioned for griping pains in
the bowels is of a very marvellous nature: if a duck, they say,
is applied to the abdomen, the malady will pass into the bird,
and it will die.
4 Gripings of the bowels are treated also with
boiled honey in which the bees have died.
Colic is most effectually cured by taking a roasted lark with
the food. Some recommend, however, that it should be burnt
to ashes in a new vessel, feathers and all, and then pounded
and taken for four consecutive days, in doses of three spoonfuls,
in water. Some say that the heart of this bird should be
attached to the thigh, and, according to others, the heart should
be swallowed fresh, quite warm, in fact. There is a family
of consular dignity, known as the Asprenates,
5 two brothers,
members of which, were cured of colic; the one by eating a
lark and wearing its heart in a golden bracelet; the other, by
performing a certain sacrifice in a chapel built of raw bricks,
in form of a furnace, and then blocking up the edifice the moment the sacrifice was concluded. The ossifrage has a single
intestine only, which has the marvellous property of digesting
all that the bird has swallowed: the extremity of this intestine, it is well known, worn as an amulet, is an excellent
remedy for colic.
There are certain concealed maladies incident to the intestines, in relation to which there are some marvellous statements
made. If to the stomach and chest, more particularly, blind
puppies are applied, and suckled with milk from the patient's
mouth,
6 the virulence of the malady, it is said, will be transferred to them, and in the end they will die: on opening
them, too, the causes of the malady will be sure to be discovered. In all such cases, however, the puppies must be
allowed to die, and must be buried in the earth. According
to what the magicians say, if the abdomen is touched with a
bat's blood, the person will be proof against colic for a whole
year: when a patient, too, is attacked with the pains of colic,
if he can bring himself to drink the water in which he has
washed his feet, he will experience a cure.