BOOK XXX.
REMEDIES DERIEVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
CHAP. 1. (1.)—THE ORIGIN OF THE MAGIC ART.
IN former parts of this work, I have had occasion more than.
once, when the subject demanded it, to refute the impostures
of the magic art, and it is now my intention to continue still
further my exposure thereof. Indeed, there are few subjects
on which more might be profitably said, were it only that,
being, as it is, the most deceptive of all known arts, it has
exercised the greatest influence in every country and in nearly
every age. And no one can be surprised at the extent of its
influence and authority, when he reflects that by its own energies it has embraced, and thoroughly amalgamated with itself;
the three other sciences
1 which hold the greatest sway upon
the mind of man.
That it first originated in medicine, no one entertains a
doubt;
2 or that, under the plausible guise of promoting health,
it insinuated itself among mankind, as a higher and more holy
branch of the medical art. Then, in the next place, to promises the most seductive and the most flattering, it has added
all the resources of religion, a subject upon which, at the present day, man is still entirely in the dark. Last of all, to
complete its universal sway, it has incorporated with itself the
astrological art;
3 there being no man who is not desirous to
know his future destiny, or who is not ready to believe that
this knowledge may with the greatest certainty be obtained,
by observing the face of the heavens. The senses of men
being thus enthralled by a three-fold bond, the art of magic
has attained an influence so mighty, that at the present day
even, it holds sway throughout a great part of the world, and
rules the kings
4 of kings in the East.
CHAP. 2.—WHEN AND WHERE THE ART OF MAGIC ORIGINATED:
BY WHAT PERSONS IT WAS FIRST PRACTISED.
There is no doubt that this art originated in Persia,
5 under
Zoroaster,
6 this being a point upon which authors are generally
agreed; but whether there was only one Zoroaster, or whether
in later times there was a second person of that name, is a
matter which still remains undecided. Eudoxus,
7 who has
endeavoured to show that of all branches of philosophy the
magic art is the most illustrious and the most beneficial, informs us that this Zoroaster existed six thousand years before
the death of Plato, an assertion in which he is supported by
Aristotle. Hermippus,
8 again, an author who has written
with the greatest exactness on all particulars connected with
this art, and has commented upon the two millions
9 of verses
left by Zoroaster, besides completing indexes to his several
works, has left a statement, that Agonaces was the name of
the master from whom Zoroaster derived his doctrines, and
that he lived five thousand years before the time of the Trojan
War. The first thing, however, that must strike us with surprise, is the fact that this art, and the traditions connected
with it, should have survived for so many ages, all written
commentaries thereon having perished in the meanwhile; and
this, too, when there was no continuous succession of adepts,
no professors of note, to ensure their transmission.
For how few there are, in fact, who know anything, even
by hearsay, about the only professors of this art whose names
have come down to us, Apusorus
10 and Zaratus of Media,
Marmarus and Arabantiphocus of Babylonia, and Tarmoendas
of Assyria, men who have left not the slightest memorials of
their existence. But the most surprising thing of all is, that
Homer should be totally silent upon this art in his account
11 of
the Trojan War, while in his story of the wanderings of
Ulysses, so much of the work should be taken up with it, that
we may justly conclude that the poem is based upon nothing
else; if, indeed, we are willing to grant that his accounts of
Proteus and of the songs of the Sirens are to be understood in
this sense, and that the stories of Circe and of the summoning
up of the shades below,
12 bear reference solely to the practices
of sorcerers. And then, too, to come to more recent times, no
one has told us how the art of sorcery reached Telmessus,
13 a
city devoted to all the services of religion, or at what period it
came over and reached the matrons of Thessaly; whose name
14
has long passed, in our part of the world, as the appellation of
those who practise an art, originally introduced among themselves even, from foreign lands.
15 For in the days of the Trojan
War, Thessaly was still contented with such remedies
16 as she
owed to the skill of Chiron, and her only
17 lightnings were the
lightnings hurled by Mars.
18 Indeed, for my own part, I am
surprised that the imputation of magical practices should have so
strongly attached to the people once under the sway of Achilles,
that Menander even, a man unrivalled for perception in literary knowledge, has entitled one of his Comedies "The Thessalian Matron," and has therein described the devices practised
by the females of that country in bringing down the moon
from the heavens.
19 I should have been inclined to think
that Orpheus had been the first to introduce into a country so
near his own, certain magical superstitions based upon the
practice of medicine, were it not the fact that Thrace, his
native land, was at that time totally a stranger to the magic
art.
The first person, so far as I can ascertain, who wrote upon
magic, and whose works are still in existence, was Osthanes,
20
who accompanied Xerxes, the Persian king, in his expedition
against Greece. It was he who first
21 disseminated, as it were,
the germs of this monstrous art, and tainted therewith all parts
of the world through which the Persians passed. Authors
who have made diligent enquiries into this subject, make mention of a second Zoroaster, a native of Proconnesus, as living a
little before the time of Osthanes. That it was this same
'Osthanes, more particularly, that inspired the Greeks, not with
a fondness only, but a rage, for the art of magic, is a fact beyond all doubt: though at the same time I would remark,
that in the most ancient times, and indeed almost invariably,
it was in this
22 branch of science, that was sought the highest
point of celebrity and of literary renown. At all events,
Pythagoras, we find, Empedocles, Democritus, and Plato,
crossed the seas, in order to attain a knowledge thereof, submitting, to speak the truth, more to the evils of exile
23 than
to the mere inconveniences of travel. Returning home, it was
upon the praises of this art that they expatiated—it was this
that they held as one of their grandest mysteries. It was
Democritus, too, who first drew attention to Apollobeches
24 of
Coptos, to Dardanus,
25 and to Phœnix: the works of Dardanus
he sought in the tomb of that personage, and his own were
composed in accordance with the doctrines there found. That
these doctrines should have been received by any portion of
mankind, and transmitted to us by the aid of memory, is to
me surprising beyond anything I can conceive.
26 All the particulars there found are so utterly incredible, so utterly re-
volting, that those even who admire Democritus in other
respects, are strong in their denial that these works were really
written by him. Their denial, however, is in vain; for it
was he, beyond all doubt, who had the greatest share in fascinating men's minds with these attractive chimeras.
There is also a marvellous coincidence, in the fact that the
two arts—medicine, I mean, and magic—were developed
simultaneously: medicine by the writings of Hippocrates, and
magic by the works of Democritus, about the period of tile
Peloponnesian War, which was waged in Greece in the year
of the City of Rome 300.
There is another sect, also, of adepts in the magic art, who
derive their origin from Moses,
27 Jannes,
28 and Lotapea,
29 Jews
by birth,
30 but many thousand years posterior to Zoroaster: and
as much more recent, again, is the branch of magic cultivated in Cyprus.
31 In the time, too, of Alexander the Great,
this profession received no small accession to its credit from
the influence of a second Osthanes, who had the honour of
accompanying that prince in his expeditions, and who, evidently, beyond all doubt, travelled
32 over every part of the
world.
CHAP. 3.—WHETHER MAGIC WAS EVER PRACTISED IN ITALY. AT
WHAT PERIOD THE SENATE FIRST FORBADE HUMAN SACRIFICES.
It is clear that there are early traces still existing of the
introduction of magic into Italy; in our laws of the Twelve
Tables for instance; besides other convincing proofs, which I
have already noticed in a preceding Book.
33 At last, in the
year of the City 657, Cneius Cornelius Lentulus and P. Licinius Crassus being consuls, a decree forbidding human sacrifices
34 was passed by the senate; from which period the celebration of these horrid rites ceased in public, and, for some
35
time, altogether.
CHAP. 4.—THE DRUIDS OF THE GALLIC PROVINCES.
The Gallic provinces, too, were pervaded by the magic art,
36
and that even down to a period within memory; for it was
the Emperor Tiberius that put down their Druids,
37 and all that
tribe of wizards and physicians. But why make further mention of these prohibitions, with reference to an art which has
now crossed the very Ocean even, and has penetrated to the
void
38 recesses of Nature? At the present day, struck with
fascination, Britannia still cultivates this art, and that, with
ceremonials so august, that she might almost seem
39 to have
been the first to communicate them to the people of Persia.
40
To such a degree are nations throughout the whole world,
totally different as they are and quite unknown to one another,
in accord upon this one point!
Such being the fact, then, we cannot too highly appreciate
the obligation that is due to the Roman people, for having put
an end to those monstrous rites, in accordance with which, to
murder a man was to do an act of the greatest devoutness, and
to eat
41 his flesh was to secure the highest blessings of health.
CHAP. 5. (2.)—THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF MAGIC.
According to what Osthanes tells us, there are numerous
sorts of magic. It is practised
42 with water, for instance, with
balls, by the aid of the air, of the stars, of lamps, basins, hatchets,
and numerous other appliances; means by which it engages
to grant a foreknowledge of things to come, as well as converse
with ghosts and spirits of the dead. All these practices, however, have been proved by the Emperor Nero, in our own day,
to be so many false and chimærical illusions; entertaining as
he did a passion for the magic art, unsurpassed even by his
enthusiastic love for the music of the lyre, and for the songs of
tragedy; so strangely did his elevation to the highest point
of human fortune act upon the deep-seated vices of his mind!
It was his leading desire to command the gods of heaven, and
no aspiration could he conceive more noble than this. Never
did person lavish more favours upon any one of the arts; and
for the attainment of this, his favourite object, nothing was
wanting to him, neither riches, nor power, nor aptitude at
learning, and what not besides, at the expense of a suffering
world.
It is a boundless, an indubitable proof, I say, of the utter
falsity of this art, that such a man as Nero abandoned it; and
would to heaven that he had consulted the shades below, and
any other spirits as well, in order to be certified in his suspicions, rather than commissioned the denizens of stews and
brothels to make those inquisitions of his [with reference to
the objects of his jealousy]. For assuredly there can be no
superstition, however barbarous and ferocious the rites which
it sanctions, that is not more tolerant than the imaginations
which he conceived, and owing to which, by a series of bloodstained crimes, our abodes were peopled with ghosts.
CHAP. 6.—THE SUBTERFUGES PRACTISED BY THE MAGICIANS.
The magicians, too, have certain modes of evasion, as, for
instance, that the gods will not obey, or even appear to, persons
who have freckles upon the skin. Was this perchance the
obstacle
43 in Nero's way? As for his limbs, there was
44 nothing
deficient in them. And then, besides, he was at liberty to
make choice of the days prescribed by the magic ritual: it
was an easy thing for him to make choice of sheep whose
colour was no other than perfectly black: and as to sacrificing
human beings, there was nothing in the world that gave him
greater pleasure. The Magian Tiridates
45 was at his court,
having repaired thither, in token of our triumph over Armenia,
accompanied by a train which cost dear to the provinces through
which it passed. For the fact was, that he was unwilling to
travel by water, it being a maxim with the adepts in this art
that it is improper to spit into the sea or to profane that element
by any other of the evacuations that are inseparable from the
infirmities of human nature. He brought with him, too,
several other Magi, and went so far as to initiate the emperor
in the repasts
46 of the craft; and yet the prince, for all he had
bestowed a kingdom upon the stranger, found himself unable
to receive at his hands, in return, this art.
We may rest fully persuaded then, that magic is a thing
detestable in itself. Frivolous and lying as it is, it still bears,
however, some shadow of truth upon it; though reflected, in
reality, by the practices of those who study the arts of secret
poisoning, and not the pursuits of magic. Let any one picture
to himself the lies of the magicians of former days, when he
learns what has been stated by the grammarian Apion,
47 a
person whom I remember seeing myself when young. He
tells us that the plant cynocephalia,
48 known in Egypt as
"osiritis," is useful for divination, and is a preservative against
all the malpractices of magic, but that if a person takes it out
of the ground entire, he will die upon the spot. He asserts,
also, that he himself had raised the spirits
49 of the dead, in
order to make enquiry of Homer in reference to his native
country and his parents; but he does not dare, he tells us,
disclose the answer he received.
CHAP. 7. (3.)—OPINIONS OF THE MAGICIANS RELATIVE TO THE
MOLE. FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT.
Let the following stand as a remarkable proof of the frivolous nature of the magic art. Of all animals it is the mole
that the magicians admire most! a creature that has been
stamped with condemnation by Nature in so many ways;
doomed as it is to perpetual blindness,
50 and adding to this
darkness a life of gloom in the depths of the earth, and a state
more nearly resembling that of the dead and buried. There
is no animal in the entrails of which they put such implicit
faith, no animal, they think, better suited for the rites of religion; so much so, indeed, that if a person swallows the heart of
a mole, fresh from the body and still palpitating, he will receive
the gift of divination, they assure us, and a foreknowledge of
future events. Tooth-ache, they assert, may be cured by
taking the tooth of a live mole, and attaching it to the body.
As to other statements of theirs relative to this animal, we
shall draw attention to them on the fitting occasions, and shall
only add here that one of the most probable of all their assertions is, that the mole neutralizes the bite of the shrew-mouse;
seeing that, as already
51 stated, the very earth even that is
found in the rut of a cart-wheel, acts as a remedy in such a
case.
CHAP. 8.—THE OTHER REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE RESPECTIVE DISEASES. REMEDIES
FOR TOOTH-ACHE.
But to proceed with the remedies for tooth-ache—the magicians tell us, that it may be cured by using the ashes of the
head of a dog that has died in a state of madness. The head,
however, must be burnt without the flesh, and the ashes
injected with oil of cyprus
52 into the ear on the side affected.
For the same purpose also, the left eye-tooth of a dog is used.
the gum of the affected tooth being lanced with it; one of the
vertebræ also of a dragon or of an enhydris, which is a male
white serpent.
53 The eye-tooth, too, of this last, is used for
scarifying the gums; and when the pain affects the teeth of the
upper jaw, they attach to the patient two of the upper teeth of
the serpent, and, similarly, two of the lower ones for tooth-ache
in the lower jaw. Persons who go in pursuit of the crocodile,
anoint themselves with the fat of this animal. The gums are
also scarified with the frontal bones of a lizard, taken from
it at full moon, and not allowed to touch the ground: or else
the mouth is rinsed with a decoction of dogs' teeth in wine,
boiled down to one half.
Ashes of dogs' teeth, mixed with honey, are useful for
difficult dentition in children, and a dentifrice is similarly
prepared from them. Hollow teeth are plugged with ashes of
burnt mouse-dung, or with a lizard's liver, dried. To eat a
snake's heart, or to wear it, attached to the body, is considered
highly efficacious. There are some among the magicians, who
recommend a mouse to be eaten twice a month, as a preventive
of tooth-ache. Earth-worms, boiled in oil and injected into
the ear on the side affected, afford considerable relief: ashes,
too, of burnt earth-worms, introduced into carious teeth, make
them come out easily; and, used as a friction, they allay pains
in such of the teeth as are sound: the proper way of burning
them is in an earthen potsherd. They are useful, too, boiled
with root of the mulberry-tree in squill vinegar, and employed
as a collutory for the teeth. The small worm that is found
in the plant known as Venus'
54 bath, is remarkably useful,
introduced
55 into a hollow tooth; and as to the cabbage caterpillar, it will make hollow teeth come out, by the mere contact
only. The bugs
56 that are found upon mallows, are injected
into the ears, beaten up with oil of roses.
The small grits of sand that are found in the horns of snails,
introduced into hollow teeth, remove the pain instantaneously.
Ashes of empty snail-shells, mixed with myrrh,
57 are good for
the gums; the ashes also of a serpent, burnt with salt in an
earthen pot, and injected, with oil of roses, into the ear opposite
to the side affected; or else the slough of a snake, warmed with
oil and torch-pine resin,
58 and injected into either ear. Some
persons add frankincense and oil of roses, a preparation which,
of itself, introduced into hollow teeth, makes them come out
without pain. It is all a fiction, in my opinion, to say that
white snakes cast this slough about the rising of the Dog-star;
for such a thing has never been seen in Italy, and it is still
more improbable that sloughing should take place at so late
a period in the warmer climates. We find it stated also, that this
slough, even when it has been kept for some time, mixed with
wax, will extract a tooth very expeditiously, if applied thereto: a snake's tooth, also, attached to the body as an amulet,
allays tooth-ache. Some persons think that it is a good remedy
to catch a spider with the left hand, to beat it up with oil of
roses, and then to inject it into the ear on the side affected.
The small bones of poultry, preserved in a hole in a wall,
the medullary channel being left intact, will immediately cure
tooth-ache, they say, if the tooth is touched or the gum
scarified therewith, care being taken to throw away the bone
the moment the operation is performed. A similar result is
obtained by using raven's dung, wrapped in wool and attached
to the body, or else sparrow's dung, warmed with oil and injected into the ear on the side affected. This last remedy,
however, is productive of an intolerable itching, for which
reason it is considered a better plan to rub the part with the
ashes of young sparrows burnt upon twigs, mixed with vinegar
for the purpose.
CHAP. 9. (4.)—REMEDIES FOR OFFENSIVE ODOURS AND SORES OF
THE MOUTH.
To impart sweetness to the breath, it is recommended to
rub the teeth with ashes of burnt mouse-dung and honey:
some persons are in the habit of mixing fennel root. To pick
the teeth with a vulture' s feather, is productive of a sour
breath; but to use a porcupine's quill for that purpose, greatly
strengthens the teeth. Ulcers of the tongue and lips are cured
by taking a decoction of swallows, boiled in honied wine; and
chapped lips are healed by using goose-grease or poultry-grease,
wool-grease mixed with nut-galls, white spiders' webs, or the
fine cobwebs that are found adhering to the beams of roofs.
If the inside of the mouth has been scalded with any hot substance, bitches' milk will afford an immediate cure.
CHAP. 10.—REMEDIES FOR SPOTS UPON THE FACE.
Wool-grease, mixed with Corsican honey-which by the way
is considered the most acrid honey of all-removes spots upon
the face. Applied with oil of roses in wool, it causes scurf upon
the face to disappear: some persons add butter to it. In cases
of morphew, the spots are first pricked with a needle, and then
rubbed with dog's gall. For livid spots and bruises on the
face, the lights of a ram or sheep are cut fine and applied
warm, or else pigeons' dung is used. Goose-grease or poultry-grease is a good preservative of the skin of the face. For
lichens a liniment is used, made of mouse-dung in vinegar, or
of the ashes of a hedge-hog mixed with oil: but, when these
remedies are employed, it is recommended first to foment the
face with nitre dissolved in vinegar. Maladies of the face are also
removed by employing the ashes of the small, broad, snail that
is so commonly found, mixed with honey. Indeed, the ashes
of all snails are of an inspissative nature, and are possessed of
certain calorific and detersive properties: hence it is that they
form an ingredient in caustic applications, and are used in the
form of a liniment for itch-scabs, leprous sores, and freckles on
the face.
I find it stated that a certain kind of ant known by the name
of "Herculanea,"
59 is beaten up, with the addition of a little
salt, and used for the cure of these diseases. The buprestis
60
is an insect but rarely found in Italy, and very similar to a
scarabæus, with long legs. Concealed among the grass, it is
very liable to be swallowed unobserved, by oxen in particular;
and the moment it comes in contact with the gall, it causes
such a degree of inflammation, that the animal bursts asunder;
a circumstance to which the insect owes its name. Applied
topically with he-goat suet, it removes lichens on the face,
owing to its corrosive properties, as previously
61 stated. A
vulture's blood, beaten up with cedar resin and root of white
chamæleon—a plant which we have already
62 mentioned—and
covered with a cabbage leaf, when applied, is good for the cure
of leprosy; the same, too, with the legs of locusts, beaten up
with he-goat suet. Pimples are treated with poultry grease,
beaten up and kneaded with onions. One very useful substance for the face is honey in which the bees have died; but a
sovereign detergent for that part is swans' grease, which has
also the property of effacing wrinkles. Brand-marks
63 are
removed by using pigeons' dung, diluted in vinegar.
CHAP. 11.—REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE THROAT.
I find it stated that catarrhs oppressive to the head may be
cured by the patient kissing a mule's nostrils. Affections of
the uvula and pains in the fauces are alleviated by using the dung
of lambs before they have begun to graze, dried in the shade.
Diseases of the uvula are cured with the juices of a snail pierced
with a needle; the snail, however, must be then hung up in the
smoke. The same maladies are treated also with ashes of
burnt swallows, mixed with honey; a preparation which is
equally good for affections of the tonsillary glands. Sheep's
milk, used as a gargle, alleviates diseases of the fauces and
tonsillary glands. Millepedes, bruised with pigeons' dung, are
taken as a gargle, with raisin wine; and they are applied, externally, with dried figs and nitre, for the purpose of soothing
roughness of the fauces and catarrhs. For such cases, too,
snails should be boiled unwashed, the earth only being removed, and then pounded and administered to the patient in
raisin wine. Some persons are of opinion that for these pur-
poses the snails of Astypalæa
64 are the most efficacious, and
they give the preference to the detersive preparation
65 made
from them. The parts affected are sometimes rubbed with
a cricket, and affections of the tonsillary glands are alleviated
by being rubbed with the hands of a person who has bruised a
cricket.
CHAP. 12.—REMEDIES FOR QUINZY AND SCROFULA.
For quinzy we have very expeditious remedies in goose-gall,
mixed with elaterium
66 and honey, an owlet's brains, or the
ashes of a burnt swallow, taken in warm water; which last
remedy we owe
67 to the poet Ovid. But of all the remedies
spoken of as furnished by the swallow, one of the most efficacious is that derived from the young of the wild swallow, a
bird which may be easily recognized by the peculiar conformation of its nest.
68 By far the most effectual, however, of them
all, are the young of the bank-swallow,
69 that being the name
given to the kind which builds its nest in holes on the banks of
rivers. Many persons recommend the young of any kind of
swallow as a food, assuring us that the person who takes it
need be in no apprehension of quinzy for the whole of the
ensuing year. The young of this bird are sometimes stifled
and then burnt in a vessel with the blood, the ashes being
administered to the patient with bread or in the drink: some,
however, mix with them the ashes of a burnt weasel, in equal
proportion. The same remedies are recommended also for
scrofula, and they are administered for epilepsy, once a day, in
drink. Swallows preserved in salt are taken for quinzy, in
(loses of one drachma, in drink: the nest,
70 too, of the bird,
taken internally, is said to be a cure for the same disease.
Millepedes,
71 it is thought, used in the form of a liniment, are
peculiarly efficacious for quinzy: some persons, also, administer
eleven of them, bruised in one semi-sextarius of hydromel,
through a reed, they being of no use whatever if once touched
by the teeth. Other remedies mentioned are, the broth of a
mouse boiled with vervain, a thong of dogskin passed three
times round the back, and pigeons' dung mixed with wine and
oil. For the cure of rigidity of the muscles of the neck, and
of opisthotony, a twig of vitex, taken from a kite's nest, is
attached to the body as an amulet.
(5.) For ulcerated scrofula, a weasel's blood is employed, or
the animal itself, boiled in wine; but not in cases where the
tumours have been opened with the knife. It is said, too,
that a weasel, eaten with the food, is productive of a similar
effect; sometimes, also, it is burnt upon twigs, and the ashes
are applied with axle-grease. In some instances, a green lizard
is attached to the body of the patient, a fresh one being substituted at the end of thirty days. Some persons preserve the
heart of this animal in a small silver vessel,
72 as a cure for
scrofula in females. Old snails, those found adhering to shrubs
more particularly, are pounded with the shells on, and applied
as a liniment. Asps, too, are similarly employed, reduced to
ashes and mixed with bull suet; snakes' fat also, diluted with
oil; and the ashes of a burnt snake, applied with oil or wax.
It is a good plan also, in cases of scrofula, to eat the middle
of a snake, the extremities being first removed, or to drink
the ashes of the reptile, similarly prepared and burnt in a
new earthen vessel: they will be found much more efficacious,
however, when the snake has been killed between the ruts
made by wheels. It is recommended also, to dig up a cricket
with the earth about its hole, and to apply it in the form of a
liniment; to use pigeons' dung, either by itself, or with barleymeal, or oatmeal and vinegar; or else to apply the ashes of a
burnt mole, mixed with honey.
Some persons apply the liver of this last animal, crumbled
in the hands, due care being taken not to wash it off for three
days: it is said, too, that a mole's right foot is a remedy for
scrofula. Others, again, cut off the head of a mole, and after
kneading it with earth thrown up by those animals, divide
it into tablets, and keep it in a pewter box, for the treatment
of all kinds of tumours, diseases of the neck, and the affections
known as "apostemes:" in all such cases the use of swine's
flesh is forbidden to the patient. "Taurus"
73 is the name
usually given to an earth-beetle, very similar to a tick in
appearance, and which it derives from the diminutive horns
with which it is furnished: some persons call it the "earth-louse."
74 From the earth thrown up by these insects a liniment is prepared for scrofula and similar diseases, and for gout,
the application not being washed off till the end of three days.
This last remedy is effectual for a whole year, and all those
other properties are attributed to it which we have mentioned
75
when speaking of crickets. There are some, again, who make
a similar use of the earth thrown up by ants; while others
attach to the patient as many earth-worms as there are scrofu-
lous tumours, the sores drying as the worms dry up.
Some persons cut off the head and tail of a viper, as already
mentioned,
76 about the rising of the Dog-star, which done, they
burn the middle, and give a pinch of the ashes in three fingers,
for thrice seven days, in drink-such is the plan they use for
the cure of scrofula. Others, again, pass round the scrofulous
tumours a linen thread, with which a viper has been suspended
by the neck till dead. Millepedes
77 are also used, with one
fourth part of turpentine; a remedy which is equally recommended for the cure of all kinds of apostemes.
CHAP. 13.—REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE SHOULDERS.
The ashes of a burnt weasel, mixed with wax, are a cure
for pains in the shoulders. To prevent the arm-pits of young
persons from becoming hairy, they should be well rubbed with
ants' eggs. Slave-dealers also, to impede the growth of
the hair in young persons near puberty, employ the blood that
flows from the testes of lambs when castrated. This blood,
too, applied to the arm-pits,
78 the hairs being first pulled out,
is a preventive of the rank smell of those parts.
CHAP. 14.—REMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE VISCERA.
We give the one general name of "præcordia" to the
human viscera; for pains in any part of which, a sucking
whelp is applied, being pressed close to the part affected.
79 The
malady, it is said, will in such case pass into the animal; a
fact which may be satisfactorily ascertained; for on disembowelling it, and sprinkling the entrails with wine, that part of the
viscera will be found affected in which the patient himself
was sensible of pain: to bury the animal in such a case is a
point most religiously observed. The dogs,
80 too, which we
call "Melitæi," applied to the stomach every now and then,
allay pains in that region: the malady, it is supposed, passes
into the animal's body, as it gradually loses its health, and
it mostly dies.
(6.) Affections of the lungs are cured by using mice, those of
Africa more particularly, the animal being skinned and boiled
in salt and oil, and then taken with the food. The same preparation is used also, for the cure of purulent or bloody expectorations.
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.
81 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;
82 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,
83 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.
84 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,
85 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,"
86 with a broad shell, and
found in numerous localities: of the uses to which they are
put we shall
87 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.
88 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.
CHAP. 16.—REMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE LIVER, AND FOR SPITTING
OF BLOOD.
For the cure of pains in the liver, a wild weasel is taken
with the food, or the liver only of that animal; a ferret also,
roasted like a sucking-pig. In cases of asthma, millepedes
are used, thrice seven of them being soaked in Attic honey,
and taken internally by the aid of a reed:
89 for all vessels, it
should be remembered, turn black on coming in contact with
them. Some persons grill one sextarius of these insects on a
flat pan, till they become white, and then mix them with
honey. There are some authorities who call this insect a
"centipede," and recommend it to be given in warm water.
Snails are administered to persons subject to fainting fits,
alienation of the senses, and vertigo: for which purposes, a
snail is beaten up, shell and all, with three cyathi of raisin
wine, and the mixture is administered warm with the drink,
for nine days at most. Others, again, give one snail the first
day, two the second, three the third, two the fourth, and one
the fifth; a mode of treatment also adopted for the cure of
asthma and of abscesses.
There is, according to some authorities, an insect resembling the locust in appearance, destitute of wings, and known
by the Greek name of "troxallis," it being without a name in
Latin: a considerable number of writers, however, consider
it as identical with the insect known to us as "gryllus."
90
Twenty of these insects, they say, should be grilled, and taken
in honied wine, by patients troubled with hardness of breathing or spitting of blood. Some persons pour pure grape-juice,
91
or sea-water, upon unwashed snails, and then boil and eat
them for food; or else they bruise the snails, shells and all,
and take them with this grape-juice. A similar method is
also adopted for the cure of cough. Honey in which the bees
have died, is particularly good for the cure of abscesses. For
spitting of blood a vulture's lungs are used, burnt upon vine
logs, and mixed with half the quantity of pomegranate blossoms, or with the same proportion of quince and lily blossom:
the whole being taken morning and evening, in wine, if there
is no fever; but where there are symptoms of fever, instead of
wine, water is used in which quinces have been boiled.
CHAP. 17.—REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE SPLEEN.
According to the prescriptions given by the magicians, a
fresh sheep's milt is the best application for pains in the spleen,
the person who applies it uttering these words: "This I do
for the cure of the spleen." This done, it is enjoined that the
milt should be covered up with mortar in the wall of the
patient's sleeping-room, and sealed with a ring, a charm
92 being
repeated thrice nine times. A dog's milt, removed from the
animal while still alive, taken with the food, is a cure for diseases of the spleen: some, again, attach it fresh to that part
of the patient's body. Others give the patient—without his
knowing it—the milt of a puppy two days old, to eat, in
squill vinegar; the milt, too, of a hedge-hog is similarly
used. Ashes of burnt snails are employed, in combination
with linseed, nettle-seed, and honey, the treatment being persisted in till the patient is thoroughly cured.
A green lizard has a remedial effect, suspended alive in an
earthen vessel, at the entrance of the sleeping-room of the
patient, who, every time he enters or leaves it, must take care
to touch it with his hand: the head, too, of a horned owl, reduced to ashes and incorporated with an unguent; honey, also,
in which the bees have died; and spiders, the one known as
the "lycos"
93 in particular.
CHAP. 18.—REMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE SIDE AND IN THE LOINS.
For pains in the side, the heart of a hoopoe is highly esteemed; ashes, too, of burnt snails, that have been boiled in
a ptisan, snails being sometimes applied in the form of a liniment, alone. Potions employed for this purpose have a sprinkling in them of the ashes of a mad dog's skull. For the cure
of lumbago, the spotted lizard
94 from beyond seas is used:
the head and intestines being first removed, the body is boiled
in wine, with half a denarius of black poppy, and the decoction is taken in drink. Green lizards, also, are taken with
the food, the feet and head being first removed; or else three
snails are crushed, shells and all, and boiled with fifteen peppercorns in wine. The feet of an eagle are wrenched off in a
contrary direction to the joint, and the right foot is attached
to the right side, the left foot to the left, according as the
pains are situate. The miilepede,
95 which we have spoken of
as being called the "oniscos," is a cure for these pains,
taken, in doses of one denarius, in two cyathi of wine.
The magicians recommend an earth-worm to be put in a
wooden dish, which has been split and mended with iron
wire; which done, some water must be taken up with the dish,
the worm drenched with it and buried in the spot from
which it was taken, and the water drunk from the dish.
They assert, also, that this is a marvellously excellent cure for
sciatica.
CHAP. 19. (7.)—REMEDIES FOR DYSENTERY.
Dysentery is cured by taking the broth of a leg of mutton,
boiled with linseed in water; by eating old ewe-milk cheese;
or by taking mutton suet boiled in astringent wine. This
last is good, too, for the iliac passion, and for inveterate coughs.
Dysentery is removed also, by taking a spotted lizard from
beyond seas, boiled down till the skin only is left, the head,
feet, and intestines, being first removed. A couple of snails
also, and an egg, are beaten up, shells and all, in both cases,
and made lukewarm in a new vessel, with some salt, three
cyathi of water, and two cyathi of raisin-wine or date-juice,
the decoction being taken in drink. Ashes, too, of burnt snails,
are very serviceable, taken in wine with a modicum of resin.
The snails without shells, which we have
96 mentioned as
being mostly found in Africa, are remarkably useful for dysentery, five of them being burnt with half a denarius of gum
acacia, and taken, in doses of two spoonfuls, in myrtle wine or
any other kind of astringent wine, with an equal quantity of
warm water. Some persons employ all kinds of African snails
indiscriminately in this manner; while others, again, make use
of a similar number of African snails or broad-shelled snails,
as an injection, in preference: in cases, too, where the flux is
considerable, they add a piece of gum acacia, about the size of
a bean. For dysentery and tenesmus, the cast-off slough of a
snake is boiled in a pewter vessel with oil of roses: if prepared in any other kind of vessel, it is applied with an instru-
ment made of pewter. Chicken-broth is also used as a remedy
for these affections; but the broth of an old cock, strongly
salted, acts more powerfully as a purgative upon the bowels.
A pullet's craw, grilled and administered with salt and oil, has
a soothing effect upon cœliac affections; but it is absolutely
necessary that neither fowl nor patient should have eaten
corn
97 for some time before. Pigeons' dung, also, is grilled and
taken in drink. The flesh of a ring-dove, boiled in vinegar,
is curative of dysentery and cœliac affections: and for the cure
of the former, a thrush is recommended, roasted with myrtleberries; a blackbird, also; or honey, boiled, in which the bees
have died.
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:"
98 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
99 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
100 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.
101 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,
102 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,
103 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.
CHAP. 21. (8.)—REMEDIES FOR URINARY CALCULI AND
AFFECTIONS OF THE BLADDER.
For the cure of urinary calculi, it is a good plan to rub
the abdomen with mouse-dung. The flesh of a hedge-hog is
agreeable eating, they say, if killed with a single blow upon
the head, before it has had time to discharge its urine
104 upon
its body: [persons
105 who eat this flesh, it is said, will never by
any possibility suffer from strangury.] The flesh of a hedgehog thus killed, is a cure for urinary obstructions of the bladder; and the same, too, with fumigations made therewith. If,
on the other hand, the animal has discharged its urine upon its
body, those who eat the flesh will be sure to be attacked by
strangury, it is said. As a lithontriptic,
106 earth-worms are
recommended, taken in ordinary wine or raisin wine; or else
boiled snails, prepared the same way
107 as for the cure of asthma.
For the cure of urinary obstructions, snails are taken from the
shells, pounded, and administered in one cyathus of wine, three
the first day, two the second, and one the third. For the expulsion of calculi, the empty shells are reduced to ashes and
taken in drink: the liver also of a water-snake, and the ashes
of burnt scorpions are similarly employed, or are taken with
bread or eaten with a locust. For the same purpose, the
small grits that are found in the gizzard of poultry or in the
craw of the ringdove, are beaten up and sprinkled in the
patient's drink; the craw, too, of poultry is taken, dried, or if
fresh, grilled.
For urinary calculi and other obstructions of the bladder,
dung of ring-doves is taken, with beans; ashes also of wild
ring-doves' feathers, mixed with vinegar and honey; the intestines of those birds, reduced to ashes, and administered in
doses of three spoonfuls; a small clod from a swallow's nest,
dissolved in warm water; the dried crop of an ossifrage; the
dung of a turtle-dove, boiled in honied wine; or the broth of
a boiled turtle-dove.
It is very beneficial also for urinary affections to eat thrushes
with myrtle-berries, or grasshoppers grilled on a shallow-pan;
or else to take the millepedes, known as "onisci,"
108 in drink.
For pains in the bladder, a decoction of lambs' feet is used.
Chicken-broth relaxes the bowels and mollifies acridities;
swallows' dung, too, with honey, employed as a suppository,
acts as a purgative.
CHAP. 22.—REMEDIES FOR DISEASES OF THE FUNDAMENT AND OF
THE GENERATIVE ORGANS.
The most efficacious remedies for diseases of the rectum are
wool-grease—to which some add pompholix
109 and oil of roses—a dog's head, reduced to ashes; or a serpent's slough, with
vinegar. In cases where there are chaps and fissures of those
parts, the ashes of the white portion of dogs' dung are used,
mixed with oil of roses; a prescription due, they say, to Æsculapius,
110 and remarkably efficacious also for the removal of
warts. Ashes of burnt mouse-dung, swan's fat, and cow
suet, are also used. Procidence of the rectum is reduced by an
application of the juices discharged by snails when punctured.
For the cure of excoriation of those parts, ashes of burnt woodmice are used, with honey; the gall of a hedge-hog, with a
bat's brains and bitches' milk; goose-grease, with the brains of
the bird, alum, and wool-grease; or else pigeons' dung, mixed
with honey. A spider, the head and legs being first removed,
is remarkably good as a friction for condylomata. To prevent
the acridity of the humours from fretting the flesh, goosegrease is applied, with Punic wax, white lead, and oil of
roses; swan's grease also, which is said to be a cure for piles.
A very good thing, they say, for sciatica, is, to pound raw
snails in Aminean
111 wine, and to take them with pepper; to
eat a green lizard, the feet, head, and intestines being first
removed; or to eat a spotted lizard, with the addition of three
oboli of black poppy. Ruptures and convulsions are treated
with sheep's gall, diluted with woman's milk. The gravy which
escapes from a ram's lights roasted, is used for the cure of
itching pimples and warts upon the generative organs: for
other affections of those parts, the ashes of a ram's wool, unwashed even, are used, applied with water; the suet of a
sheep's caul, and of the kidneys more particularly, mixed with
ashes of pumice-stone and salt; greasy wool, applied with cold
water; sheep's flesh, burnt to ashes, and applied with water;
a mule's hoofs, burnt to ashes; or the powder of pounded
horse teeth, sprinkled upon the parts. In cases of decidence
of either of the testes, an application of the slime discharged
by snails is remedial, they say. For the treatment of sordid
or running ulcers of those parts, the fresh ashes of a burnt
dog's head are found highly useful; the small, broad kind of
snail, beaten up in vinegar; a snake's slough, or the ashes of
it, applied in vinegar; honey in which the bees have died,
mixed with resin; or the kind of snail without a shell, that is
found in Africa, as already
112 mentioned, beaten up with powdered frankincense and white of eggs, the application being
renewed at the end of thirty days; some persons, however,
substitute a bulb for the frankincense.
For the cure of hydrocele, a spotted lizard, they say, is
marvellously good, the head, feet, and intestines being first
removed, and the rest of the body roasted and taken frequently
with the food. For incontinence
113 of urine dogs' fat is used,
mixed with a piece of split alum the size of a bean; ashes,
also, of African snails burnt with the shells, taken in drink;
or else the tongues of three geese roasted and eaten with the
food, a remedy which we owe to Anaxilaiis. Mutton-suet,
114
mixed with parched salt, has an aperient effect upon inflammatory tumours, and mouse-dung, mixed with powdered
frankincense and sandarach, acts upon them as a dispellent:
the ashes, also, of a burnt lizard, or the lizard itself, split
asunder and applied; or else bruised millepedes, mixed with one
third part of turpentine. Some make use of earth of Sinope
115
for this purpose, mixed with a bruised snail. Ashes of
empty snail-shells burnt alone, mixed with wax, possess certain repercussive properties; the same, too, with pigeons' dung,
employed by itself, or applied with oat-meal or barley-meal.
Cantharides, mixed with lime, remove inflammatory tumours
quite as effectually as the lancet; and small snails, applied
topically with honey, have a soothing effect upon tumours in
the groin.
CHAP. 23. (9.)—REMEDIES FOR GOUT AND FOR DISEASES OF THE
FEET.
To prevent varicose veins, the legs of children are rubbed
with a lizard's blood: but both the party who operates and the
patient must be fasting at the time. Wool-grease, mixed with
woman's milk and white lead, has a soothing effect upon gout;
the liquid dung also voided by sheep; a sheep's lights; a
ram's gall, mixed with suet; mice, split asunder and applied;
a weasel's blood, used as a liniment with plantago; the ashes
of a weasel burnt alive, mixed with vinegar and oil of roses,
and applied with a feather, or used in combination with wax
and oil of roses; a dog's gall, due care being taken not to touch
it with the hand, and to apply it with a feather; poultry dung;
or else ashes of burnt earth-worms, applied with honey, and
removed at the end of a couple of days. Some, however, prefer using this last with water, while others, again, apply the
worms themselves, in the proportion of one acetabulum
116 to
three cyathi of honey, the feet of the patient being first anointed
with oil of roses. The broad, flat, kind of snail, taken in drink,
is used for the removal of pains in the feet and joints; two of
them being pounded for the purpose and taken in wine. They
are employed, also, in the form of a liniment, mixed with the
juice of the plant helxine:
117 some, however, are content to
beat up the snails with vinegar. Some say that salt, burnt
in a new earthen vessel with a viper, and taken repeatedly, is
curative of gout, and that it is an excellent plan to rub the
feet with viper's fat. It is asserted, too, that similar results
are produced by keeping a kite till it is dry, and then powdering it and taking it in water, a pinch in three fingers at a
time; by rubbing the feet with the blood of that bird mixed
with nettles; or by bruising the first feathers of a ring-dove
with nettles. The dung of ring-doves is used as a liniment
for pains in the joints; the ashes also of a burnt weasel, or
of burnt snails, mixed with amylum
118 or gum tragacanth.
A very excellent cure for contusions of the joints is a spider's
web; but there are persons who give the preference to ashes
of burnt cobwebs or of burnt pigeons' dung, mixed with
polenta and white wine. For sprains of the joints a sovereign
remedy is mutton suet, mixed with the ashes of a woman's hair;
a good application, too, for chilblains is mutton suet, mixed
with alum, or else ashes of a burnt dog's head or of burnt
mouse-dung. Ulcers, free from discharge, are brought to cicatrize by using the above-named substances in combination with
wax; ashes, also, of burnt dormice, mixed with oil; ashes of
burnt wood-mice, mixed with honey; ashes of burnt earthworms, applied with old oil; or else ashes of the snails without
a shell that are so commonly found. All ulcers on the feet are
cured by the application of ashes of snails, burnt alive; and
for excoriations of the feet, ashes of burnt poultry-dung are
used, or ashes of burnt pigeons' dung, mixed with oil. When
the feet have been galled by the shoes, the ashes of an old shoe-
sole are used, or the lights of a lamb or ram. For gatherings
beneath
119 the nails, a horse's tooth, powdered, is a sovereign
remedy. A light application of a green lizard's blood, will
cure the feet of man or beast when galled beneath.
For the removal of corns upon the feet, the urine of a mule
of either sex is applied, mixed with the mud which it has
formed upon the ground; sheep's dung, also; the liver of a
green lizard, or the blood of that animal, applied in wool;
earth-worms, mixed with oil; the head of a spotted lizard,
pounded with an equal quantity of vitex and mixed with oil;
or pigeons' dung, boiled with vinegar. For the cure of all kinds
of warts, dogs' urine is applied fresh, with the mud which it
has formed upon the ground; dogs' dung, also, reduced to ashes
and mixed with wax; sheep's dung; the blood of mice, ap-
plied fresh, or the body of a mouse, split asunder; the gall of
a hedgehog; a lizard's head or blood, or the ashes of that
animal, burnt entire; the cast-off slough of a snake; or else
poultry dung, applied with oil and nitre. Cantharides, also,
bruised with Taminian
120 grapes, act corrosively upon warts:
but when warts have been thus removed, the remedies should
be employed which we have pointed out for ulcerations on the
skin.
CHAP. 24. (10.)—REMEDIES FOR EVILS WHICH ARE LIABLE TO
AFFECT THE WHOLE BODY.
We will now turn our attention to those evils which are a
cause of apprehension, as affecting the whole body. According
to what the magicians say, the gall of a male black dog is a
counter-charm for the whole of a house; and it will be quite sufficient to make fumigations with it, or to use it as a purification,
to ensure its preservation against all noxious drugs and preparations. They say the same, too, with reference to a dog's
blood, if the walls are sprinkled with it; and the genitals of
that animal, if buried beneath the threshold. This will surprise persons the less who are aware how highly these same
magicians extol that most abominable insect, the tick, and
all because it is the only one that has no
121 passage for the
evacuations, its eating ending only in its death, and it living all
the longer for fasting: in this latter state it has been known
to live so long as seven days, they say, but when it gorges to
satiety it will burst in a much shorter period. According to
these authorities, a tick from a dog's left ear, worn as an
amulet, will allay all kinds of pains. They presage, too, from
it on matters of life and death; for if the patient, they say,
gives an answer to a person who has a tick about him, and,
standing at the foot of the bed, asks how he is, it is an infallible sign that he will survive; while, on the other hand, if he
makes no answer, he will be sure to die. They add, also, that
the dog from whose left ear the tick is taken, must be entirely
black. Nigidius has stated in his writings that dogs will
avoid the presence all day of a person who has taken a tick
from off a hog.
The magicians likewise assure us that patients suffering
from delirium will recover their reason on being sprinkled
with a mole's blood; and that persons who are apt to be
troubled by the gods of the night
122 and by Fauni, will experience relief by rubbing themselves morning and evening with
the tongue, eyes, gall, and intestines of a dragon,
123 boiled in
oil, and cooled in the open air at night.
CHAP. 25.—REMEDIES FOR COLD SHIVERINGS.
A remedy for cold shiverings, according to Nicander, is a
dead amphisbæna,
124 or its skin only, attached to the body: in
addition to which, he informs us that if one of these reptiles
is attached to a tree that is being felled, the persons hewing
it will never feel cold, and will fell it all the more easily. For
so it is, that this is the only one among all the serpents that
faces the cold, making its appearance the first of all, and even
before the cuckoo's note is heard. There is another marvellous
fact also mentioned, with reference to the cuckoo: if, upon the
spot where a person hears this bird for the first time, he traces
round the space occupied by his right foot and then digs
up the earth, it will effectually prevent fleas from breeding,
wherever it is thrown.
CHAP. 26.—REMEDIES FOR PARALYSIS.
For persons apprehensive of paralysis the fat of dormice and
of field-mice, they say, is very useful, boiled: and for patients
threatened with phthisis, millepedes are good, taken in drink,
in manner already
125 mentioned for the cure of quinzy. The
same, too, with a green lizard, boiled down to one cyathus in
three sextarii of wine, and taken in doses of one spoonful
daily, until the patient is perfectly cured; the ashes also of
burnt snails, taken in wine.
CHAP. 27.—REMEDIES FOR EPILEPSY.
For the cure of epilepsy wool-grease is used, with a modicum of myrrh, a piece about the size of a hazel-nut being dissolved and taken after the bath, in two cyathi of wine: a
ram's testes, also, dried and pounded, and taken in doses of
half a denarius, in water, or in a semi-sextarius of asses'
milk; the patient being forbidden wine five days before and
after using the remedy. Sheep's blood, too, is mightily praised,
taken in drink; sheep's gall, also, and lambs' gall in particular,
mixed with honey; the flesh of a sucking puppy, taken with
wine and myrrh, the head and feet being first removed; the
callosities from a mule's legs, taken in three cyathi of oxymel;
the ashes of a spotted lizard from beyond seas, taken in vinegar; the thin coat of a spotted lizard, which it casts like a
snake, taken in drink—indeed some persons recommend the
lizard itself; gutted with a reed and dried and taken in drink;
while others, again, are for roasting it on a wooden spit and
taking it with the food.
It is worth while knowing how the winter slough of this
lizard is obtained when it casts it off, before it has had the opportunity of devouring
126 it; there being no creature, it is said, that
resorts in its spite to more cunning devices for the deception of
man; a circumstance owing to which, the name of "stellio"
127
his been borrowed as a name of reproach. The place to which
it retires in summer is carefully observed, being generally some
spot beneath the projecting parts of doors or windows, or else
in vaults or tombs. In the early days of spring, cages made
of split reeds are placed before these spots; and the narrower
the interstices the more delighted is the animal with them,
it being all the better enabled thereby to disengage itself of
the coat which adheres to its body and impedes its freedom of
action: when, however, it has once quitted it, the construction of the cage prevents its return. There is nothing whatever preferred to this lizard as a remedy for epilepsy. The
brains of a weasel are also considered very good, dried and
taken in drink; the liver, too, of that animal, or the testes,
uterus, or paunch, dried and taken with coriander, in manner
already
128 mentioned; the ashes also of a burnt weasel; or a
wild weasel, eaten whole with the food. All these properties
are equally attributed to the ferret. A green lizard is some-
times eaten, dressed with seasonings to stimulate the appetite,
the feet and head being first removed; the ashes, too, of burnt
snails are used, as an ointment, with linseed, nettle-seed, and
honey.
The magicians think highly of a dragon's tail, attached to
the body, with a deer's sinews, in the skin of a gazelle; as
also the small grits found in the crops of young swallows,
tied to the left arm of the patient; for swallows, it is said, give
small stones to their young the moment they are hatched.
If, at the commencement of the first paroxysm, an epileptic
patient eats the first of a swallow's brood that has been
hatched, he will experience a perfect cure: but at a later
period the disease is treated by using swallow's blood with
frankincense, or by eating the heart of the bird quite fresh.
Nay, even more than this, a small stone taken from a
swallow's nest will relieve the patient the moment it is applied, they say; worn, too, as an amulet, it will always act as
a preservative against the malady. A kite's liver, too, eaten
by the patient, is highly vaunted; the slough also of a serpent; a vulture's liver, beaten up with the blood of the bird,
and taken thrice seven days in drink; or the heart of a young
vulture, worn attached to the body.
And not only this, but the vulture itself is recommended as
a food for the patient, and that, too, when it has been glutted
with human flesh. Some recommend the breast of this bird
to be taken in drink from a cup made of cerrus
129 wood, or the
testes of a dunghill cock to be taken in milk and water; the
patient abstaining from wine the five preceding days, and the
testes being dried for the purpose. There have been authorities found to recommend one-and-twenty red flies-and those
found dead, too!-taken in drink, the number being reduced
where the patient is of a feeble habit.
CHAP. 28. (11.)—REMEDIES FOR JAUNDICE.
Jaundice is combated by administering ear-wax to the patient,
or else the filth that adheres to the udders of sheep, in doses
of one denarius, with a modicum of myrrh, in two cyathi of
wine; the ashes, also, of a dog's head, mixed with honied
wine; a millepede, in one semi-sextarius of wine; earth-
worms, in hydromel with myrrh; wine in which a hen's
feet have been washed, after being first cleansed with water—
the hen must be one with yellow
130 feet—the brains of a partridge
or of an eagle, in three cyathi of wine; the ashes of a ring-
dove's feathers or intestines, in honied wine, in doses of three
spoonfuls; or ashes of sparrows burnt upon twigs, in doses of
two spoonfuls, in hydromel.
There is a bird, known as the "icterus,"
131 from its peculiar
colour: if the patient looks at it, he will be cured of jaun-
dice, they say, and the bird will die. In my opinion this
is the same bird that is known in Latin by the name of
"galgulus."
132
CHAP. 29.—REMEDIES FOR PHRENITIS.
In cases of phrenitis a sheep's lights, attached warm round
the patient's head, would appear to be advantageous. But as
to giving a man suffering from delirium a mouse's brains in
water to drink, the ashes of a burnt weasel, or the dried flesh
even of a hedgehog, who could possibly do it, supposing even
the effects of the remedy were certain? I should be inclined,
too, to rank the ashes of the eyes of a horned owl in the number of those monstrous prescriptions with which the adepts in
the magic art abuse the credulity of mankind.
It is in cases, too, of fever, more particularly, that the acknowledged rules of medicine run counter to the prescriptions
of these men: for they have classified the various modes of
treating the disease in accordance with the twelve signs of the
Zodiac, and relatively to the revolutions of the sun and moon,
a system which deserves to be utterly repudiated, as I shall
prove by a few instances selected from many. They recommend, for example, when the sun is passing through Gemini,
that the patient should be rubbed with ashes of the burnt
combs, ears, and claws of cocks, beaten up and mixed with
oil. If, again, it is the moon that is passing through that
sign, it is the spurs and wattles of cocks that must be similarly employed. When either of these luminaries is passing
through Virgo, grains of barley must be used; and when
through Sagittarius, a bat's wings. When the moon is passing through Leo, it is leaves of tamarisk that must be employed,
and of the cultivated tamarisk, they add: if, again, the sign
is Aquarius, the patient must use an application of box-wood
charcoal, pounded.
Of the remedies, however, that we find recommended by
them, I shall be careful to insert those only the efficacy
of which has been admitted, or, at least, is probable in any
degree; such, for instance, as the use of powerful odours, as
an excitant for patients suffering from lethargy; among which,
perhaps, may be reckoned the dried testes of a weasel, or the
liver of that animal, burnt. They consider it a good plan,
too, to attach a sheep's lights, made warm, round the head of
the patient.
CHAP. 30.—REMEDIES FOR FEVERS.
In the treatment of quartan fevers, clinical medicine is, so to
say, pretty nearly powerless; for which reason we shall insert
a considerable number of remedies recommended by professors
of the magic art, and, first of all, those prescribed to be worn
as amulets: the dust, for instance, in which a hawk has bathed
itself, tied up in a linen cloth, with a red string, and attached
to the body; the longest tooth of a black dog; or the wasp
known by the name of "pseudosphex,"
133 which is always to
be seen flying alone, caught with the left hand and attached
beneath the patient's chin. Some use for this purpose the
first wasp that a person sees in the current year. Other
amulets are, a viper's head, severed from the body and wrapped
in a linen cloth; a viper's heart, removed from the reptile
while still alive; the muzzle
134 of a mouse and the tips of its
ears, wrapped in red cloth, the animal being set at liberty
after they are removed; the right eye plucked from a living
lizard, and enclosed with the head, seperated from the body,
in goat's skin; the scarabænus also that forms pellets
135 and rolls
them along.
It is on account of this kind of scarabæus that the people
of a great part of Egypt worship those insects as divinities;
an usage for which Apion gives a curious reason, asserting, as he
does, by way of justifying the rites of his nation, that the, insect
in its operations pictures the revolution of the sun. There is
also another kind of scarabæus, which the magicians recom-
mend to be worn as an amulet—the one that has small horns
136
thrown backwards; it must be taken up, when used for this
purpose, with the left hand. A third kind also, known by the
name of "fullo,"
137 and covered with white spots, they recom-
mend to be cut asunder and attached to either arm, the other
kinds being worn upon the left arm. Other amulets recom-
mended by them, are, the heart of a snake taken from the
living animal with the left hand; or four joints of a scorpion's
tail. together with the sting,, attached to the body in a piece of
black cloth; due care being taken that the patient does not see
the scorpion, which is set at liberty after the operation, or
the person who has attached the amulet, for the space of
three days: after the recurrence, too, of the third paroxysm,
he must bury the whole in the ground. Some enclose a caterpillar in a piece of linen with a thread passed three times
round it, and tie as many knots, repeating at each knot why it
is that the patient performs that operation. A slug is sometimes wrapped in a piece of skin, or the heads of four slugs,
cut from the body with a reed: a millepede is rolled up in
wool: the small grubs that produce the gadfly,
138 are used
before the wings of the insect are developed; or any other kind
of hairy grub is employed that is found adhering to prickly
shrubs. Some persons attach to the body four of these grubs,
enclosed in an empty walnut shell, or else some of the snails
that are found without a shell.
In other cases, again, it is the practice to enclose a spotted
lizard in a little box, and to place it beneath the pillow, of the
patient, taking care to set it at liberty when the fever abates.
It is recommended also, that the patient should swallow the
heart of a sea-diver, removed from the bird without the aid of
iron, it being first dried and then bruised and taken in warm
water. The heart of a swallow is also recommended, with
honey; and there are persons who say that, just before the
paroxysms come on, the patient should take one drachma of
swallow's dung in three cyathi of goats' milk or ewes' milk,
or of raisin wine: others, again, are of opinion that the birds
themselves should be taken, whole. The nations of Parthia,
as a remedy for quartan fevers, take the skin of the asp, in
doses of one sixth of a denarius, with an equal quantity of
pepper. The philosopher Chrysippus has left a statement to
the effect, that the phryganion,
139 worn as an amulet, is a
remedy for quartan fevers; but what kind of animal this is he
has nowhere informed us, nor have I been able to meet with
any one who knows. Still, however, I felt myself bound to
notice a remedy that was mentioned by an author of such high
repute, in case any other person should happen to be more
successful in his researches. To eat the flesh of a crow, and
to use nitre in the form of a liniment, is considered highly
efficacious for the treatment of chronic diseases.
In cases of tertian fever—so true it is that suffering takes
delight in prolonging hope by trying every remedy—it may be
worth while to make trial whether the web of the spider called
"lycos"
140 is of any use, applied, with the insect itself, to the
temples and forehead in a compress covered with resin and wax;
or the insect itself, attached to the body in a reed, a form in
which it is said to be highly beneficial for other fevers. Trial
may be made also of a green lizard, enclosed alive in a vessel
just large enough to receive it, and worn as an amulet; a
method, it is said, by which recurrent fevers are often dispelled.
CHAP. 31.—REMEDIES FOR DROPSY.
For the cure of dropsy, wool-grease, a piece about the size
of a hazel-nut, is given in wine, with the addition of a little
myrrh: some add goose-grease, steeped in myrtle wine. The
filth that adheres to the udders of sheep is productive of a
similar effect, as also the dried flesh of a hedge-hog, taken with
the food. Matter vomited by a dog, we are assured, applied
to the abdomen, will draw off the water that has accumulated
there.
CHAP. 32. (12).—REMEDIES FOR ERYSIPELAS.
For the cure of erysipelas, wool-grease is used, with pomnpholix
141 and oil of roses; the blood
142 also extracted from a tick;
earth worms, applied in vinegar; or else a cricket crushed between the hands—the good effect of this last being that the person who uses this precaution before the malady has made its
appearance, will be preserved therefrom for a whole year. Care
must be taken also that iron is used for the removal of the
cricket, with some of the earth about its hole. Goose-grease
is also employed for this purpose; a viper's head, dried and
burnt, and applied with vinegar; or a serpent's slough, applied
to the body, immediately after the bath, with bitumen and
lamb suet.
CHAP. 33.—REMEDIES FOR CARBUNCLES.
Carbuncles are removed by an application of pigeons' dung,
either alone or in combination with linseed and oxymel; or
of bees that have died in the honey. A sprinkling of polenta
upon the sores is also used. For carbuncles and other sores of
the generative organs, wool-grease is used as a remedy, with
refuse of lead; and for incipient carbuncles, sheep's dung is
employed.. Tumours and all other affections that stand in need
of emollients are treated most effectually with goose-grease;
that of cranes, too, is equally efficacious.
CHAP. 34.—REMEDIES FOR BOILS.
For boils the following remedies are prescribed; a spider,
applied before mentioning the insect by name, care being
taken to remove it at the end of two days; a shrew-mouse,
suspended by the neck till it is dead, care being taken not
to let it touch the earth when dead, and to pass it three
times around the boil, both operator and patient spitting on the
floor each time; poultry-dung, that of a red colour in particular,
applied fresh with vinegar; the crop of a stork, boiled in wine;
flies, an uneven number of them, rubbed upon the patient with
the ring
143 finger; the filth from sheep's ears; stale mutton
suet, with ashes of women's hair; ram suet also, with ashes of'
burnt pumice and an equal quantity of salt.
CHAP. 35.—REMEDIES FOR BURNS.
For burns, the ashes of a dog's head are used; ashes of
burnt dormice, with oil; sheep's dung, with wax; ashes also
of burnt snails, an application so effectual, as not to leave a
scar even. Viper's fat, too, is used, and ashes of burnt pigeons'
dung, applied with oil.
CHAP. 36.—REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE SINEWS.
For nodosities in the sinews, the ashes of a viper's head are
applied, with oil of cyprus;
144 or else earth-worms, with honey.
Pains in the sinews should be treated with an application of
grease; the body of a dead amphisbæna, worn as an amulet;
vulture's grease, dried with the crop of the bird and beaten up
with stale hog's lard; or else ashes of the head of a horned
owl, taken in honied wine with a lily root-that is, if we believe
what the magicians tell us. For contractions of the sinews, the
flesh of ring-doves is very good, dried and taken with the food:
and for spasmodic affections, the ashes of a hedge-hog or weasel
are used. A serpent's slough, attached to the patient's body in
a piece of bull's hide, is a preventive of spasms: and the dried
liver of a kite, taken in doses of three oboli, in three cyathi
of hydromel, is a preservative against opisthotony.
CHAP. 37.—REMEDIES FOR MALADIES OF THE NAILS AND FINGERS.
Agnails and hangnails upon the fingers are removed by
using the ashes of a burnt dog's head, or the uterus of a bitch
boiled in oil, the fingers being first rubbed with a liniment of
ewe-milk butter, mixed with honey. The gall-bladder, too, of
any animal is very useful for this purpose. Malformed nails
are healed with an application of canthlarides and pitch, which
is removed at the end of two days; or else with locusts friel
with he-goat suet; or with an application of mutton suet. Some
mix mistletoe and purslain with these ingredients; while
others, again, use verligrease and mistletoe, removing the application at the end of two days.
CHAP. 38. (13.)—METHODS FOR ARRESTING HÆMORRHAGE.
Bleeding at the nostrils is arrested by mutton suet taken
from the caul, introduced into the nostrils; by draing up
rennet, lamb's rennet in particular, mixed with water, into the
nostrils, or by using it as an injection, a remedy which succeeds
even where other remedies; have failed: by making up goosegrease into a bolus with an equall quantity of butter, and
plugging the nostrils with it; or by using the earth that
adheres to snails, or else the snails themselves, extracted from
the shell. Excessive discharges from the nostrils are arrested
also by applying crushed snails, or cobwebs, to the forehead.
For issues of blood from the brain, the blood or brains of
poultry are used, as also pigeons' dung, thickened and kept
for the purpose. In cases where there is and immoderate flow
of blood from a wound, an application of horse-dung, burnt
with egg-shells, is marvellously good for stopping it.
CHAP. 39.—REMEDIES FOR ULCEROUS SORES AND WOUNDS.
For the cure of ulcers, wool-grease is used, with ashes of
burnt barley and verdigrease, in equal quantities; a preparation which is good, too, for carcinomata and spreading sores.
It cauterizes the flesh also around the margins of ulcers, and
reduces and makes level fungous excrescences formed by sores.
Ashes, too, of burnt sheep's dung, mixed with nitre, are of great
efficacy for the cure of carcinomata; as also those of lambs'
thigh-bones, in cases more particularly where ulcers refuse to
cicatrize. Very considerable, too, is the efficacy of lights,
ram's lights in particular, which are of the greatest utility for
reducing and making level the fleshy excrescences formed by
ulcerous sores. With sheep's dung, warmed beneath an
earthen pan and kneaded, the swellings attendant upon wounds
are reduced, and fistulous sores and epinyctis are cleansed and
made to heal.
But it is in the ashes of a burnt dog's head that the
greatest efficacy is found; as it quite equals spodium
145 in
its property of cauterizing all kinds of fleshy excrescences,
and causing sores to heal. Mouse-dung, too, is used as a
cautery, and weasels' dung, burnt to ashes. Pounded millepedes, mixed with turpentine and earth of Sinope,
146 are used
for penetrating carcinomata and fleshy indurations in deep-
seated sores; and the same substances are remarkably useful
for the treatment of ulcers threatened with maggots.
Indeed the several varieties of worms themselves are possessed of marvellously useful properties. The worms,
147 for
instance, that breed in wood are curative of all kinds of ulcers:
reduced to ashes, with an equal quantity of anise, and applied
with oil, they heal cancerous sores. Earthworms are so remark-
ably healing for wounds recently inflicted, that it is a very
general belief that by the end of seven days they will unite
sinews even that have been cut as under: hence it is that it is re-
commended to keep them preserved in honey. Ashes of burnt
earth-worms, in combination with tar or Simblian honey,
148 cau-
terize the indurated margins of ulcerous sores. Some persons dry
earthworms in the sun, and apply them to wounds with vinegar,
the application not being removed till the end of acouple of days.
The earth also that adheres to snails is useful, similarly em-
ployed; snails, too, taken whole from the shell, are pounded
and applied to fresh wounds, to heal them, and they arrest the
progress of cancerous sores.
There is an insect called "herpes"
149 by the Greeks, which
is particularly useful for the cure of all kinds of serpiginous
150
sores. Snails, beaten up, shells and all, are very good for this
purpose; and it is said that, with myrrh and frankincense,
they will unite the sinews even when cut asunder. The fat,
too, of a dragon,
151 dried in the sun, is remarkably usefull, and
so are the brains of a cock or capon for recent wounds. By
taking with the food salt in which vipers have been preserved,
ulcers are rendered more easy of treatment, it is said, and are
made to heal all the sooner. Antonius
152 the physician, after
operating in vain upon ulcers, that were incurable with the
knife, used to prescribe viper's flesh to be eaten by the patient,
whereby a marvellously speedy cure was effected.
The locust called "troxallis,"
153 reduced to ashes and applied
with honey, removes the indurated margins of ulcerous sores:
ashes, also, of burnt pigeons' dung, with arsenic and honey,
are very effectual in all cases where a cautery is required.
The brains of a horned owl, applied with goose-grease, are
marvellously efficacious for uniting wounds, it is said. For
the malignant ulcer known as "cacoëthes,"
154 the ashes of a
ram's thigh-bones are used, mixed with woman's milk, the sores
being washed with linen cloths well rinsed. For the same
purpose, the bird known as the screech-owl
155 is boiled in oil,
ewe-milk butter and honey being added to the preparation,
when properly dissolved. An application of bees that have
died in the honey, acts emolliently upon the indurated margins
of ulcerous sores; and for the cure of elephantiasis, the blood
and ashes of a weasel are employed. Wounds and weals pro-
duced by blows are effaced by an application of sheep-skins
fresh from the body.
CHAP. 40.—REMEDIES FOR BROKEN BONES.
For fractures of the joints, ashes of sheep's thigh-bones are
particularly useful, applied in combination with wax; and the
remedy is all the more efficacious, if a sheep's jaw-bones are
burnt with the other ingredients, together with a deer's antler,
and some wax dissolved in oil of roses. For broken bones, a
dog's brains are used, spread upon a linen cloth, with wool
laid upon the surface and moistened every now and then. The
fractured bone will mostly unite in the course of fourteen
days; and a cure equally expeditious may be effected by using
the ashes of burnt field-mice, with honey, or of burnt earthworms; a substance which is extremely useful for the extraction of splintered bones.
CHAP. 41.—APPLICATIONS FOR CICATRIZATIONS, AND FOR, THE
CURE OF MORPHEW.
Cicatrizations are restored to their original colour by applying sheep's lights, those of a ram in particular; mutton-suet,
mixed with nitre; the ashes of a green lizard; a snake's slough,
boiled in wine; or else pigeons' dung, mixed with honey;
a preparation which, in combination with wine, is good for
the removal of white morphew. For the cure, also, of mor-
phew, cantharides are used, with two-thirds of rue-leaves;
a preparation which the patient must keep applied, in the sun,
till the skin itches and rises in blisters; after which it must
be fomented and well rubbed with oil, and the application repeated. This must be done for several days in succession, due
precautions being taken that the ulcerations do not penetrate
too deep.
For the cure, too, of morphew, a liniment is recommended,
made of flies and root of agrimony; the white part also of
poultry dung, kept in a horn box with stale oil; a bat's blood;
or else the gall of a hedge-hog applied with water. Itch-scab
is cured by using the brains of a horned owl, incorporated with
saltpetre; but dog's blood is the best thing to keep it in
check. The small, broad, snail that is found, crushed and ap-
plied topically, is an effectual cure for itching sensations.
CHAP. 42.—METHODS OF EXTRICTXING FOREIGN SUBSTANCES FROM
THE BODY.
Arrows, pointed weapons, and other foreign substances that
require to be extracted from the body, are removed by the
application of a mouse split asunder, or of a lizard more particularly, similarly divided, or else the head only of the animal,
pounded with salt. The snails, too, that are found in clusters
upon leaves, are pounded and applied with their shells on; as
also those that are used as food, the shells being first removed,
applied with hare's rennet in particular. The bones of a
snake, applied with the rennet of any four-footed animal, will
produce a similar effect before the end of two days: cantha-
rides, also, bruised applied with barley-meal, are highly
extolled.
CHAP. 43. (14.)—REMEDIES FOR FEMALE COMPLAINTS.
For diseases incident to females, a ewe's placenta is very
useful, as already
156 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 become
157 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 amylum
158
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 cyprus
159 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.
160 There is a kind of small, white, elongated snail,
161 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;
162 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.
163 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.
CHAP. 44.—METHODS OF FACILITATING DELIVERY.
The cast-off slough of a snake, attached to the loins, facili-
tates delivery: care must be taken, however, to remove it
immediately after. It is administered, too, in wine, mixed
with frankincense: taken in any other form, it is productive
of abortion. A staff, by the aid of which a person has parted
164
a frog from a snake, will accelerate parturition. Ashes of the
troxallis,
165 applied with honey, act as an emmenagogue; the
same, too, with the spider that descends as it spins its thread
from aloft; it must be taken, however, in the hollow of the
hand, crushed, and applied accordingly: if, on the contrary,
the spider is taken while ascending, it will arrest menstruation.
The stone aëtites,
166 that is found in the eagle's nest, preserves
the fœtus against all insidious attempts at producing abortion.
A vulture's feather, placed beneath the feet of the woman,
accelerates parturition. It is a well-known fact, that pregnant
women must be on their guard against ravens' eggs, for if a
female in that state should happen to step over one, she will
be sure to miscarry by the mouth.
167 A hawk's dung, taken in
honied: wine, would appear to render females fruitful. Goose-
grease, or that of the swan, acts emolliently upon indurations
and abscesses of the uterus.
CHAP. 45.—METHODS OF PRESERVING
THE BREASTS FROM INJURY.
Goose-grease, mixed up with oil of roses and a spider, protects the breasts after delivery. The people of Phrygia and
Lycaonia have made the discovery, that the grease of the otis
168
is good for affections of the breasts, resulting from recent de-
livery: for females affected with suffocations of the uterus,
they employ a liniment made of beetles. The shells of par-
tridges' eggs, burnt to ashes and mixed with cadmia
169 and
wax, preserve the firmness
170 of the breasts. It is generally
thought, that if the egg of a partridge or * * * * is passed
three times round a woman's breasts, they will never become
flaccid; and that, if these eggs are swallowed, they will be
productive of fruitfulness, and promote the plentiful secretion
of the milk. It is believed, too, that by anointing a woman's
breasts with goose-grease, pains therein may be allayed; that
moles formed in the uterus may be dispersed thereby; and
that itch
171 of the uterus may be dispelled by the application of
a liniment made of crushed bugs.
CHAP. 46.—VARIOUS KINDS OF DEPILATORIES.
Bats' blood has all the virtues of a depilatory: but if applied
to the cheeks of youths, it will not be found sufficiently efficacious, unless it is immediately followed up by an application
of verdigrease or hemlock-seed; this method having the effect
of entirely removing the hair, or at least reducing it to the
state of a fine down. It is generally thought, too, that bats'
brains are productive of a similar effect; there being two kinds
of these brains, the red and the white. Some persons mix
with the brains the blood and liver of the same animal: others,
again, boil down a viper in three semisextarii of oil, and, after
boning it, use it as a depilatory, first pulling out the hairs
that are wanted not to grow. The gall of a hedgehog is a
depilatory, more particularly if mixed with bats' brains and
goats' milk: the ashes, too, of a burnt hedgehog are used for a
similar purpose. If, after plucking out the hairs that arc
wanted not to grow, or if, before they make their appearance,
the parts are well rubbed with the milk of a bitch with her
first litter, no hairs will grow there. The same result is ensured, it is said, by using the blood of a tick taken from off a
dog, or else the blood or gall of a swallow.
(15.) Ants' eggs, they say, beaten up with flies, impart a
black colour
172 to the eyebrows. If it is considered desirable
that the colour of the infant's eyes should be black, the preg-
nant woman must eat a rat.
173 Ashes of burnt earth-worms,
applied with oil, prevent the hair from turning white.
CHAP. 47.—REMEDIES FOR THE DISEASES OF INFANTS.
For infants that are troubled with coagulation of the milk,
a grand preservative is lamb's rennet, taken in water; and in
cases where the milk has so coagulated, it may be remedied
by administering rennet in vinegar. For the pains incident
to dentition, sheep's brains are a very useful remedy. The
inflammation called "siriasis,"
174 to which infants are liable, is
cured by attaching to them the bones that are found in the
dung of dogs. Hernia in infants is cured by letting a green
lizard bite the child's body while asleep, after which the lizard
is attached to a reed, and hung up in the smoke; by the time
the animal dies, the child will be perfectly cured, it is said.
The slime of snails, applied to the eyes of children, straightens
the eyelashes, and makes them grow. Ashes of burnt snails,
applied with frankincense and juice of white grapes, are a cure
for hernia [in infants], if applied for thirty days consecutively.
Within the horns
175 of snails, there are certain hard substances
found, like grits of sand: attached to infants, they facilitate
dentition.
Ashes of empty snail-shells, mixed with wax, are a preventive of procidence of the rectum; but they must be used
in combination with the matter that exudes from a viper's
brains, on the head being pricked. Vipers' brains, attached to
the infant's body in a piece of skin, facilitate dentition, a similar effect being produced by using the larger teeth of serpents.
Ravens' dung, attached to an infant with wool, is curative of
cough.
It is hardly possible to preserve one's seriousness in describing
some of these remedies, but as they have been transmitted to
us, I must not pass them in silence. For the treatment of
hernia in infants, a lizard is recommended; but it must be a
male lizard, a thing that may be ascertained by its having but
one orifice beneath the tail. The method of proceeding, is for
the lizard to bite the part affected through cloth of gold, cloth
of silver, and cloth dyed purple; after which it is tied fast in a
cup that has never been used, and smoked. Incontinence of
urine in infants is checked by giving them boiled mice
176 with
their food. The large indented horns of the scarabmus, attached
to the bodies of infants, have all the virtues of an amulet. In
the head of the boa;
177 there is a small stone, they say, which
the serpent spits out, when it is in fear of death: if the reptile
is taken by surprise, and the head cut off, and this stone ex-
tracted, it will aid dentition to a marvellous degree, attached
to the neck of infants. The brains, too, of the same serpent
are recommended to be attached to the body for a similar purpose, as also the small stone or bone that is found in the back
of the slug.
An admirable promoter of dentition is found in sheep's
brains, applied to the gums; and equally good for diseases of
the ears, is an application of goose-grease, with juice of ocimum.
Upon prickly plants there is found a kind of rough, hairy,
grub: attached to the neck of infants, these insects give instant
relief, it is said, when any of the food has stuck in the throat.
CHAP. 48.—PROVOCATIYES OF SLEEP.
As a soporific, wool-grease is employed, diluted in two
cyathi of wine with a modicum of myrrh, or else mixed with
goose-grease and myrtle wine. For a similar purpose also, a
cuckoo is attached to the body in a hare's skin, or a young
heron's bill to the forehead in an ass's skin: it is thought, too,
that the beak alone, steeped in wine, is equally efficacious. On
the other hand, a bat's head, dried and worn as an amulet, acts
as a preventive of sleep.
CHAP. 49.—APHRODISIACS AND ANTAPHRODISIACS.
A lizard drowned in a man's urine has the effect of an antaphrodisiac upon the person whose urine it is; for this animal
is to be reckoned among the philtres, the magicians say. The
same property is attributed to the excrements of snails, and to
pigeons' dung, taken with oil and wine. The right lobe of a
vulture's lungs, attached to the body in the skin of a crane,
acts powerfully as a stimulant upon males: an effect equally
produced by taking the yolks of five pigeons' eggs, in honey,
mixed with one denarius of hog's lard; sparrows, or eggs of
sparrows, with the food; or by wearing the right testicle of a
cock, attached to the body in a ram's skin. The ashes of a
burnt ibis, it is said, employed as a friction with goose-grease
and oil of iris, will prevent abortion when a female has once,
conceived; while the testes of a game-cock, on the other hand,
rubbed with goose-grease and attached to the body in a ram's
skin, have all the effect of an antaphrodisiac: the same, too,
with the testes of any kind of dunghill cock, placed, together
with the blood of a cock, beneath the bed. Hairs taken from
the tail of a she-mule while being covered by the stallion, will
make a woman conceive, against her will even, if knotted
together at the moment of the sexual congress.
178 If a man
makes water upon a dog's urine, he will become disinclined to
copulation, they say.
A singular thing, too, is what is told about the ashes of a
spotted lizard—if indeed it is true—to the effect that, wrapped
in linen and held in the left hand, they act as an aphrodisiac,
while, on the contrary, if they are transferred to the right, they
will take effect as an antaphrodisiac. A bat's blood, too, they
say, received on a flock of wool and placed beneath a woman's
head, will promote sexual desire; the same being the case also
with a goose's tongue, taken with the food or drink.
CHAP. 50.—REMEDIES FOR PHTHIRIASIS, AND FOR VARIOUS OTHER
AFFECTIONS.
In phthiriasis, all the vermin upon the body may be killed in
the course of three days, by taking the cast-off slough of a serpent, in drink, or else whey of milk after the cheese is removed,
with a little salt, Cheese, it is said, will never become rotten
with age or be touched by mice, if a weasel's brains have been
mixed with the rennet. It is asserted, too, that if the ashes, of
a burnt weasel are mixed with the cramming for chickens or
young pigeons, they will be safe from the attacks of weasels.
Beasts of burden, when troubled with pains in staling, find
immediate relief, if a bat is attached to the body; and they are
effectually cured of bots by passing a ring-dove three times
round their generative parts—a truly marvellous thing to relate,
the ring-dove, on being set at liberty, dies, and the beast is in-
stantly relieved from pain.
CHAP. 51.—REMEDIES FOR INTOXICATION.
The eggs of an owlet, administered to drunkards three days
in wine, are productive of a distaste for that liquor. A sheep's
lights roasted, eaten before drinking,
179 act as a preventive of
inebriety. The ashes of a swallow's beak, bruised with myrrh
and sprinkled in the wine, act as a preservative against intoxica-
tion: Horus,
180 king of Assyria, was the first to discover this.
181
CHAP. 52.—PECULIARITIES RELATIVE TO CERTAIN ANIMALS.
In addition to these, there are some other peculiar properties
attributed to certain animals, which require to be mentioned in
the present Book. Some authors state that there is a bird in
Sardinia, resembling the crane and called the "gromphena;"
182
but it is no longer known even by the people of that country,
in my opinion. In the same province, too, there is the ophion,
an animal which resembles the deer in the hair only, and to be
found
183 nowhere else. The same authors have spoken also of
the "subjugus,"
184 but have omitted to state what animal it is,
or where it is to be found. That it did formerly exist, however,
I have no doubt, as certain remedies are described as being
derived from it. M. Cicero speaks of animals called "biuri,"
185
which gnaw the vines in Campania.
CHAP. 53. (16.)—OTHER MARVELLOUS FACTS CONNECTED WITH
ANIMALS.
There are still some other marvellous facts related, with
reference to the animals which we have mentioned. A dog
will not bark at a person who has any part of the secundines
of a bitch about him, or a hare's dung or fur. The kind of
gnats called "muliones,"
186 do not live more than a single day.
Persons when taking honey from the hives, will never be
touched by the bees if they carry the beak of a wood-pecker
187
about them. Swine will be sure to follow the person who has
given them a raven's brains, made up into a bolus. The dust
in which a she-mule has wallowed, sprinkled upon the body,
will allay the flames of desire. Rats may be put to flight by
castrating a male rat, and setting it at liberty. If a snake's
slough is beaten up with some spelt, salt, and wild thyme, and
introduced into the throat of oxen, with wine, at the time
that grapes are ripening, they will be in perfect health for a
whole year to come: the same, too, if three young swallows are
given to them, made up into three boluses. The dust gathered
from the track of a snake, sprinkled among bees, will make
them return to the hive. If the right testicle of a ram
188 is
tied up, he will generate females only. Persons who have
about them the sinews taken from the wings or legs of a crane,
will never be fatigued with any kind of laborious exertion.
Mules will never kick when they have drunk wine.
Of all known substances, it is a mule's
189 hoofs only that are
not corroded by the poisonous waters of the fountain Styx: a
memorable discovery made by Aristotle,
190 to his great infamy,
on the occasion when Antipater sent some of this water to
Alexander the Great, for the purpose of poisoning him.
We will now pass on to the aquatic productions.
SUMMARY.—Remedies, narratives, and observations, eight
hundred and fifty-four.
ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—M. Varro,
191 Nigidius,
192 M. Cicero,
193
Sextius Niger
194 who wrote in Greek, Licinius Macer.
195
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Eudoxus,
196 Aristotle,
197 Hermippus,
198 Homer, Apion,
199 Orpheus,
200 Democritus,
201 Anaxilaiis.
202
MEDICAL AUTHORS QUOTED.—Botrys,
203 Horus,
204 Apollodorus,
205
Menander,
206 Archidemus,
207 Aristogenes,
208 Xenocrates,
209 Diodorus,
210
Chrysippus,
211 Nicander,
212 Apollonius
213 of Pitanæ.
BOOK VII.
MAN, HIS BIRTH, HIS ORGANIZATION, AND THE INVENTION OF THE ARTS.
