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CHAP. 43. (14.)—REMEDIES FOR FEMALE COMPLAINTS.

For diseases incident to females, a ewe's placenta is very useful, as already1 mentioned by us, when speaking of goats: sheep's dung, too, is equally good. A fumigation of' burnt locusts, applied to the lower parts, affords relief to strangury, in females more particularly. It; immediately after conception, a woman eats a cock's testes every now and then, the child of which she is pregnant will become2 a male, it is said. The ashes of a burnt poricupinel taken in drink, are a preventive of abortion: bitches' milk facilitates delivery: and the after- birth of a bitch, provided it has not touched the ground, will act as an expellent of the fœtus. Milk, taken as a drink, strengthens the loins of women when in travail. Mouse-dung, diluted with rain water, reduces the breasts of females, when swollen after delivery. The ashes of a burnt hedge-hog, applied with oil, act as a preventive of abortion. Delivery is facilitated, in cases where the patient has taken, either goose- dung in two cyathi of water, or the liquid that escapes from the uterus of a weasel by its genitals.

Earth-wormrs, applied topically, effectually prevent pains in the sinews of the neck and shoulders; taken in raisin wine, they expel the after-birth, when retarded. Applied by themselves, earthworms ripen abscesses of the breasts, open them, draw the humours, and make them cicatrize: taken in honied wine, they promote the secretion of the milk. In hay-grass there are small worms found, which, attached to the neck, act as a preventive of premature delivery; they are removed, however, at the moment of childbirth, as otherwise they would have the effect of impeding delivery; care must be taken, also, not to put them on the ground. To promote conception, five or seven of them are administered in drink. Snails, taken with the food, accelerate delivery; and, applied with saffron, they promote conception. Used in the form of a liniment, with amylum3 and gum tragacanth, they arrest uterine discharges. Taken with the food, they promote menstruation; and, mixed with deer's marrow, in the proportion of one denarius and the same quantity of cyprus4 to each snail, they reduce the uterus when displaced. Taken from the shell, and beaten up with oil of roses, they dispel inflations of the uterus; the snails of Astypalæa being those that are mostly chosen for these purposes.

Those of Africa, again, are employed in a different manner, two of them being beaten up with a pinch of fenulgreek in three fingers, and four spoonfuls of honey, and the preparation applied to the abdomen, after it has been rubbed with juice of iris.5 There is a kind of small, white, elongated snail,6 that is found straying here and there: dried upon tiles in the sun, and reduced to powder, these snails are mixed with bean-meal, in equal proportions, forming a cosmetic which whitens and softens the skin. The small, broad, kind of snail, mixed with polenta, is good for the removal of a tendency to scratch and rub the skin.

If a pregnant woman steps over a viper, she will be sure to miscarry;7 the same, too, in the case of the anphisbæna, but only when it is dead. If, however, a woman carries about her a live amphlisbæna in a box, she may step over one with impunity, even though it be dead. An amphisbæna, preserved for the purpose, will ensure an easy delivery, even though it be dead.8 It is a truly marvellous fact, but if a pregnant woman steps over one of these serpents that has not been preserved, it will be perfectly harmless, provided she immediately steps over another that has been preserved. A fumigation made with a dried snake, acts powerfully as an emmenagogue.

1 In B. xxvi. c. 77.

2 "Fieri."

3 See B. xviii. c. 17.

4 See B. xii. c. 51.

5 See B. xxi. cc. 19, 83.

6 Varro calls them "albulæ," and says that they were found at Reate.

7 Of course she will be liable to do so, from fright.

8 The whole of this account appears to be in a very confused state; and is probably corrupt. Sillig's punctuation has not been adopted.

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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