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CHAP. 33.—MELITINUS; SIX REMEDIES.

The stone called "melitinus"1 yields a liquid that is sweet, like honey. Bruised and incorporated with wax, it is curative of pituitous eruptions, spots upon the skin, and ulcerations of the fauces. It removes epinyctis2 also, and, applied as a pessary, in wool, it alleviates pains in the uterus.

1 It was, probably, a yellow, argillaceous earth, and it is more proba- ble that it derived its name from μελὶ, "honey," in consequence of its colour than by reason of its supposed sweet juices. The Mellite, Mellitite, or Honey-stone of modern Mineralogy, also known as Mellate of Alumina, has its name from its honey-yellow colour. It is found in Thuringia, Moravia, and Bohemia; but most probably was unknown in the days of Pliny.

2 See B. xx. cc. 6, 21.

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