Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXXII.<a id="note-link1" href="#note1">1</a> REMEDIES DERIVED FROM AQUATIC ANIMALS., CHAP. 17.—REMEDIES FOR THE STINGS OF SERPENTS, FOR THE BITES OF DOGS, AND FOR INJURIES INFLICTED BY VENOMOUS ANIMALS, THE SEA-DRAGON: THREE REMEDIES. TWENTY-FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SALTED FISH. THE SARDA: ONE REMEDY. ELEVEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CYBIUM. <a href="#note-link1">1</a> It is in the last six Books of Pliny, and those only, we regret to say, that we are enabled to avail ourselves of the new readings of the Bamberg MS., which has been so admirably collated by M. Ian. In a vast number of passages previously looked upon as hopelessly corrupt, or else not at all suspected of being in a mutilated state, this MS. supplies words and clauses, the existence of which in the original was hitherto unknown; indeed by its aid the indefatigable Sillig has been enabled, if we may be allowed the term, almost to rewrite the last six Books of Pliny. From a perusal of these new readings, as Dr. Smith has justly remarked, we have reason to infer "that the text of the earlier Books is still in a very defective state, and that much of the obscurity of Pliny may be traced to this cause."</p>

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CHAP. 17.—REMEDIES FOR THE STINGS OF SERPENTS, FOR THE BITES OF DOGS, AND FOR INJURIES INFLICTED BY VENOMOUS ANIMALS, THE SEA-DRAGON: THREE REMEDIES. TWENTY-FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SALTED FISH. THE SARDA: ONE REMEDY. ELEVEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CYBIUM.

Stings inflicted by the sea-dragon¹ or by the sea-scorpion, are cured by an application² of the flesh of those animals to the wound; the bites, too, of spiders are healed by the same means. In fine, as an antidote to every kind of poison, whether taken internally or acting through the agency of a sting or bite, there is considered to be nothing in existence more effectual than a decoction of the sea-dragon and sea-scorpion.

There are also certain remedies of this nature derived from preserved fish. Persons, for instance, who have received injuries from serpents, or have been bitten by other venomous animals, are recommended to eat salt fish, and to drink undiluted wine every now and then, so as, through its agency, to bring up the whole of the food again by vomit: this method being particularly good in cases where injuries have been received from the lizard called "chalcis,"³ the cerastes,⁴ the reptile known as the "seps,"⁵ the elops,⁶ or the dipsas.⁷ For the sting of the scorpion, salted fish should be taken in larger quantities, but not brought up again, the patient submitting to any amount of thirst it may create: salt fish, too, should be applied, by way of plaster, to the wound. For the bite of the crocodile there is no more efficient remedy known. For the sting of the serpent called "prester," the sarda⁸ is particularly good. Salt fish is employed also as a topical application for the bite of the mad dog; and even in cases where the wound has not been cauterized with hot iron, this is found to be sufficiently effectual as a remedy. For injuries, also, inflicted by the sea-dragon,⁹ an application is made of salt fish steeped in vinegar. Cybium,¹⁰ too, is productive of similar effects. As a cure for the venomous sting inflicted with its stickle by the sea-dragon, the fish itself is applied topically to the wound, or else its brain, extracted whole.

1 See Note 16 above.

2 Rondelet asserts, B. vi. c. 19, that he himself had cured the sting of the sea-dragon by an application of the liver of that fish.

3 See B. xxix. c. 32.

4 See B. viii. c. 35, B. xi. c. 43, and B, xvi. c. 80.

5 See B. xxiii. c. 29.

6 Nicander, in his Theriaca, classes the Elops among the innocuous serpents. In B. ix. c. 27, we are informed that one name given to the Acipenser was "Elops." But see the remark made in c. 54 of this Book.

7 See B. xxiii. c. 80.

8 From c. 53 of the present Book, we learn that the Sarda was a kind of Pelamis, or young tunny, which was pickled, like our Anchovy.

9 See Note 16 above.

10 Tunny cut into slices, and pickled. See B. ix. c. 18.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 17.—REMEDIES FOR THE STINGS OF SERPENTS, FOR THE BITES OF DOGS, AND FOR INJURIES INFLICTED BY VENOMOUS ANIMALS, THE SEA-DRAGON: THREE REMEDIES. TWENTY-FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SALTED FISH. THE SARDA: ONE REMEDY. ELEVEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CYBIUM.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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Table of Contents:

CHAP. 17.—REMEDIES FOR THE STINGS OF SERPENTS, FOR THE BITES OF DOGS, AND FOR INJURIES INFLICTED BY VENOMOUS ANIMALS, THE SEA-DRAGON: THREE REMEDIES. TWENTY-FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SALTED FISH. THE SARDA: ONE REMEDY. ELEVEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CYBIUM.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.