CHAP. 14. (4)—THE TORTOISE: SIXTY-SIX REMEDIES AND OBSERVATIONS.
The tortoise,
1 too, is an animal that is equally amphibious
with the beaver, and possessed of medicinal properties as
strongly developed; in addition to which, it claims an equal
degree of notice for the high price which luxury sets upon its
shell,
2 and the singularity of its conformation. Of tortoises,
there are various kinds, land tortoises,
3 sea tortoises,
4 tortoises
5
which live in muddy waters, and tortoises
6 which live in fresh;
these last being known to some Greek authors by the name of
"emydes." The flesh of the land-tortoise is employed for
fumigations more particularly, and we find it asserted that it
is highly salutary for repelling the malpractices of magic, and for
neutralizing poisons. These tortoises are found in the greatest
numbers in Africa; where the head and feet being first cut off,
it is said, they are given to persons by way of antidote.
Eaten, too, in a broth made from them, they are thought to
disperse scrofula, diminish the volume of the spleen, and effect
the cure of epilepsy. The blood of the land-tortoise improves
the eyesight, and removes cataract: it is kept also, made up
with meal into pills, which are given with wine when necessary,
to neutralize the poison of all kinds of serpents, frogs,
spiders, and similar venomous animals. It is found a useful
plan, too, in cases of glaucoma, to anoint the eyes with gall of
tortoises, mixed with Attic honey, and, for the cure of injuries
inflicted by scorpions, to drop the gall into the wound.
Ashes of tortoiseshell, kneaded up with wine and oil, are
used for the cure of chaps upon the feet, and of ulcerations.
The shavings of the surface of the shell, administered in drink,
act as an antaphrodisiac: a thing that is the more surprising,
from the fact that a powder prepared from the whole of the shell
has the reputation of being a strong aphrodisiac. As to the urine
of the land-tortoise, I do not think that it can be obtained
otherwise than by opening it and taking out the bladder; this
being one of those substances to which the adepts in magic
attribute such marvellous properties. For the sting of the
asp, they say, it is wonderfully effectual; and even more so,
if bugs are mixed with it. The eggs of the tortoise, hardened
by keeping, are applied to scrofulous sores and ulcers arising
from burns or cold: they are taken also for pains in the
stomach.
The flesh of the sea-tortoise,
7 mixed with that of frogs, is
an excellent remedy for injuries caused by the salamander;
8
indeed there is nothing that is a better neutralizer of the secretions
of the salamander than the sea-tortoise. The blood of
this animal reproduces the hair when lost through alopecy,
and is curative of porrigo and all kinds of ulcerations of the
head; the proper method of using it being to let it dry, and
then gently wash it off. For the cure of ear-ache, this blood
is injected with woman's milk, and for epilepsy it is eaten
with fine wheaten flour, three heminæ of the blood being
mixed with one hemina of vinegar. It is prescribed also for
the cure of asthma; but in this case in combination with one
hemina of wine. Sometimes, too, it is taken by asthmatic
patients, with barley-meal and vinegar, in pieces about the
size of a bean; one of these pieces being taken each morning
and evening at first, but after some days, two in the
evening. In cases of epilepsy, the mouth of the patient
is opened and this blood introduced. For spasmodic affections,
when not of a violent nature, it is injected, in combination with
castoreum, as a clyster. If a person rinses his teeth three
times a year with blood of tortoises, he will be always exempt
from tooth-ache. This blood is also a cure for asthmatic
affections, and for the malady called "orthopnœa," being administered
for these purposes in polenta.
The gall of the tortoise improves the eye-sight, effaces scars,
and cures affections of the tonsillary glands, quinsy, and all
kinds of diseases of the mouth, cancers of that part more particularly,
as well as cancer of the testes. Applied to the nostrils
it dispels epilepsy, and sets the patient on his feet:
incorporated in vinegar with the slough of a snake, it is a
sovereign remedy for purulent discharges from the ears. Some
persons add ox-gall and the broth of boiled tortoise-flesh, with
an equal proportion of snake's slough; but in such case, care
must be taken to boil the tortoise in wine. Applied with
honey, this gall is curative of all diseases of the eyes; and
for the cure of cataract, gall of the sea-tortoise is used, in
combination with blood of the river-tortoise and milk. The
hair, too, of females, is dyed
9 with this gall. For the cure of
injuries inflicted by the salamander, it will be quite sufficient
to drink the broth of boiled tortoise-flesh.
There is, again, a third
10 kind of tortoise, which inhabits mud
and swampy localities: the shell on its back is flat and broad,
like that upon the breast, and the callipash is not arched and
rounded, the creature being altogether of a repulsive appearance.
However, there are some remedial medicaments to be
derived even from this animal. Thus, for instance, three of
them are thrown into a fire made with wood cuttings, and the
moment their shells begin to separate they are taken off: the
flesh is then removed, and boiled with a little salt, in one congius
of water. When the water has boiled down to one third,
the broth is used, being taken by persons apprehensive of
paralysis or of diseases of the joints. The gall, too, is found
very useful for carrying off pituitous humours and corrupt
blood: taken in cold water, it has an astringent effect upon
the bowels.
There is a fourth kind of tortoise, which frequents rivers.
When used for its remedial properties, the shell of the animal
is removed, and the fat separated from the flesh and beaten up
with the plant aizoüm,
11 in combination with unguent and lily
seed: a preparation highly effectual, it is said, for the cure of
quartan fevers, the patient being rubbed with it all over, the
head excepted, just before the paroxysms come on, and then
well wrapped up and made to drink hot water. It is stated
also, that to obtain as much fat as possible, the tortoise should
be taken on the fifteenth day of the moon, the patient being
anointed on the sixteenth. The blood of this tortoise, dropt,
by way of embrocation, upon the region of the brain, allays
head-ache; it is curative also of scrofulous sores. Some persons
recommend that the tortoise should be laid
12 upon its back
and its head cut off with a copper knife, the blood being received
in a new earthen vessel; and they assure us that the
blood of any kind of tortoise, when thus obtained, will be an
excellent liniment for the cure of erysipelas, running ulcers
upon the head, and warts. Upon the same authority, too, we
are assured that the dung of any kind of tortoise is good for
the removal of inflammatory tumours. Incredible also as
the statement is, we find it asserted by some, that ships
13 make
way more slowly when they have the right foot of a tortoise
on board.