REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
CHAP. 1. (1.)—INTRODUCTION.
We should have now concluded our description of the various
things[2085] that are produced between the heavens and the earth, and
it would have only remained for us to speak of the substances that are
dug out of the ground itself; did not our exposition of the remedies
derived from plants and shrubs necessarily lead us into a digression
upon the medicinal properties which have been discovered, to a still
greater extent, in those living creatures themselves which are thus
indebted [to other objects] for the cure of their respective maladies.
For ought we, after describing the plants, the forms of the various
flowers, and so many objects rare and difficult to be found—ought we
to pass in silence the resources which exist in man himself for the
benefit of man, and the other remedies to be derived from the creatures
that live among us—and this more particularly, seeing that life itself
is nothing short of a punishment, unless it is exempt from pains and
maladies? Assuredly not; and even though I may incur the risk of being
tedious, I shall exert all my energies on the subject, it being my
fixed determination to pay less regard to what may be amusing, than to
what may prove practically useful to mankind.
Nay, even more than this, my researches will extend to the usages of
foreign countries, and to the customs of barbarous nations, subjects
upon which I shall have to appeal to the good faith of other authors;
though at the same time I have made it my object to select no[2086]
facts but such as are established by pretty nearly uniform testimony,
and to pay more attention to scrupulous exactness than to copiousness
of diction.
It is highly necessary, however, to advertise the reader, that whereas
I have already described the natures of the various animals, and the
discoveries[2087] due to them respectively—for, in fact, they have
been no less serviceable in former times in discovering remedies,
than they are at the present day in providing us with them—it is my
present intention to confine myself to the remedial properties which
are found in the animal world, a subject which has not been altogether
lost sight of in the former portion of this work. These additional
details therefore, though of a different nature, must still be read in
connexion with those which precede.
CHAP. 2. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MAN.
We will begin then with man, and our first enquires will be into
the resources which he provides for himself—a subject replete with
boundless difficulties at the very outset.[2088]
Epileptic patients are in the habit of drinking the blood even of
gladiators, draughts teeming with life,[2089] as it were; a thing that,
when we see it done by the wild beasts even, upon the same arena,
inspires us with horror at the spectacle! And yet these persons,
forsooth, consider it a most effectual cure for their disease, to quaff
the warm, breathing, blood from man himself, and, as they apply their
mouth to the wound, to draw forth his very life; and this, though it is
regarded as an act of impiety to apply the human lips to the wound even
of a wild beast! Others there are, again, who make the marrow[2090] of
the leg-bones, and the brains of infants, the objects of their research!
Among the Greek writers, too, there are not a few who have enlarged
upon the distinctive flavours of each one of the viscera and members
of the human body, pursuing their researches to the very parings of
the nails! as though, forsooth, it could possibly be accounted the
pursuit of health for man to make himself a wild beast, and so deserve
to contract disease from the very remedies he adopts for avoiding it.
Most righteously, by Hercules! if such attempts are all in vain, is he
disappointed of his cure! To examine human entrails is deemed an act of
impiety;[2091] what then must it be to devour them?
Say, Osthanes,[2092] who was it that first devised these practices;
for it is thee that I accuse, thou uprooter of all human laws, thou
inventor of these monstrosities; devised, no doubt with the view that
mankind might not forget thy name! Who was it that first thought of
devouring each member of the human body? By what conjectural motives
was he induced? What can possibly have been the origin of such a system
of medicine as this? Who was it that thus made the very poisons less
baneful than the antidotes prescribed for them? Granted that barbarous
and outlandish tribes first devised such practices, must the men of
Greece, too, adopt these as arts of their own?
We read, for instance, in the memoirs of Democritus, still extant,
that for some diseases, the skull of a malefactor is most efficacious,
while for the treatment of others, that of one who has been a friend
or guest is required. Apollonius, again, informs us in his writings,
that the most effectual remedy for tooth-ache is to scarify the gums
with the tooth of a man who has died a violent death; and, according to
Miletus, human gall is a cure for cataract.[2093] For epilepsy, Artemon
has prescribed water drawn from a spring in the night, and drunk from
the skull of a man who has been slain, and whose body remains unburnt.
From the skull, too, of a man who had been hanged, Antæus made pills
that were to be an antidote to the bite of a mad dog. Even more than
this, man has resorted to similar remedies for the cure of four-footed
beasts even—for tympanitis in oxen, for instance, the horns have been
perforated, and human bones inserted; and when swine have been found to
be diseased, fine wheat has been given them which has lain for a night
in the spot where a human being has been slain or burnt!
Far from us, far too from our writings, be such prescriptions[2094]
as these! It will be for us to describe remedies only, and not
abominations;[2095] cases, for instance, in which the milk of a nursing
woman may have a curative effect, cases where the human spittle may be
useful, or the contact[2096] of the human body, and other instances of
a similar nature. We do not look upon life as so essentially desirable
that it must be prolonged at any cost, be it what it may—and you, who
are of that opinion, be assured, whoever you may be, that you will
die none the less, even though you shall have lived in the midst of
obscenities or abominations!
Let each then reckon this as one great solace to his mind, that of all
the blessings which Nature has bestowed on man, there is none greater
than the death[2097] which comes at a seasonable hour; and that the
very best feature in connexion with it is, that every person has it in
his own power to procure it for himself.[2098]
CHAP. 3. (2.)—WHETHER WORDS ARE POSSESSED OF ANY HEALING EFFICACY.
In reference to the remedies derived from man, there arises first of
all one question, of the greatest importance and always attended with
the same uncertainty, whether words, charms, and incantations, are of
any efficacy or not?[2099] For if such is the case, it will be only
proper to ascribe this efficacy to man himself;[2100] though the wisest
of our fellow-men, I should remark, taken individually, refuse to
place the slightest faith in these opinions. And yet, in our every-day
life, we practically show, each passing hour, that we do entertain
this belief, though at the moment we are not sensible of it. Thus,
for instance, it is a general belief that without a certain form of
prayer[2101] it would be useless to immolate a victim, and that, with
such an informality, the gods would be consulted to little purpose. And
then besides, there are different forms of address to the deities, one
form for entreating,[2102] another form for averting their ire, and
another for commendation.
We see too, how that our supreme magistrates use certain formulæ for
their prayers: that not a single word may be omitted or pronounced out
of its place, it is the duty of one person to precede the dignitary
by reading the formula before him from a written ritual, of another,
to keep watch upon every word, and of a third to see that[2103]
silence is not ominously broken; while a musician, in the meantime, is
performing on the flute to prevent any other words being heard.[2104]
Indeed, there are memorable instances recorded in our Annals, of cases
where either the sacrifice has been interrupted, and so blemished,
by imprecations, or a mistake has been made in the utterance of the
prayer; the result being that the lobe of the liver or the heart has
disappeared in a moment, or has been doubled,[2105] while the victim
stood before the altar. There is still in existence a most remarkable
testimony,[2106] in the formula which the Decii, father and son,
pronounced on the occasions when they devoted themselves.[2107] There
is also preserved the prayer uttered by the Vestal Tuccia,[2108] when,
upon being accused of incest, she carried water in a sieve—an event
which took place in the year of the City 609. Our own age even has seen
a man and a woman buried alive in the Ox Market,[2109] Greeks by birth,
or else natives of some other[2110] country with which we were at war
at the time. The prayer used upon the occasion of this ceremonial, and
which is usually pronounced first by the Master of the College of the
Quindecimviri,[2111] if read by a person, must assuredly force him to
admit the potency of formulæ; when it is recollected that it has been
proved to be effectual by the experience of eight hundred and thirty
years.
At the present day, too, it is a general belief, that our Vestal
virgins have the power, by uttering a certain prayer, to arrest the
flight of runaway slaves, and to rivet them to the spot, provided they
have not gone beyond the precincts of the City. If then these opinions
be once received as truth, and if it be admitted that the gods do
listen to certain prayers, or are influenced by set forms of words,
we are bound to conclude in the affirmative upon the whole question.
Our ancestors, no doubt, always entertained such a belief, and have
even assured us, a thing by far the most difficult of all, that it
is possible by such means to bring down lightning from heaven, as
already[2112] mentioned on a more appropriate occasion.
CHAP. 4.—THAT PRODIGIES AND PORTENTS MAY BE CONFIRMED, OR MADE OF NO
EFFECT.
L. Piso informs us, in the first Book of his Annals, that King Tullus
Hostilius,[2113] while attempting, in accordance with the books of
Numa, to summon Jupiter from heaven by means of a sacrifice similar
to that employed by him, was struck by lightning in consequence of
his omission to follow certain forms with due exactness. Many other
authors, too, have attested, that by the power of words a change has
been effected in destinies and portents of the greatest importance.
While they were digging on the Tarpeian Hill for the foundations of a
temple, a human head was found; upon which deputies were sent to Olenus
Calenus, the most celebrated diviner of Etruria. He, foreseeing the
glory and success which attached to such a presage as this, attempted,
by putting a question to them, to transfer the benefit of it to his own
nation. First describing, on the ground before him, the outline of the
temple with his staff—“Is it so, Romans, as you say?” said he; “here
then must be the temple[2114] of Jupiter, all good and all powerful;
it is here that we have found the head”—and the constant asseveration
of the Annals is, that the destiny of the Roman empire would have been
assuredly transferred to Etruria, had not the deputies, forewarned by
the son of the diviner, made answer—“No, not here exactly, but at Rome,
we say, the head was found.”
It is related also that the same was the case when a certain four-horse
chariot, made of clay, and intended for the roof of the same temple,
had considerably increased while in the furnace;[2115] and that on this
occasion, in a similar manner, the destinies of Rome were saved. Let
these instances suffice then to show, that the virtues of presages lie
in our own hands, and that they are valuable in each instance according
as they are received.[2116] At all events, it is a principle in the
doctrine of the augurs, that neither imprecations nor auspices of any
kind have any effect upon those who, when entering upon an undertaking,
declare that they will pay no attention whatever to them; a greater
instance than which, of the indulgent disposition of the gods towards
us, cannot be found.
And then besides, in the laws themselves of the Twelve Tables, do
we not read the following words—“Whosoever shall have enchanted the
harvest,”[2117] and in another place, “Whosoever shall have used
pernicious incantations”?[2118] Verrius Flaccus cites authors whom he
deems worthy of credit, to show that on the occasion of a siege, it
was the usage, the first thing of all, for the Roman priests to summon
forth the tutelary divinity of that particular town, and to promise
him the same rites, or even a more extended worship, at Rome; and at
the present day even, this ritual still forms part of the discipline
of our pontiffs. Hence it is, no doubt, that the name[2119] of the
tutelary deity of Rome has been so strictly kept concealed, lest any of
our enemies should act in a similar manner. There is no one, too, who
does not dread being spell-bound by means of evil imprecations;[2120]
and hence the practice, after eating eggs or snails, of immediately
breaking[2121] the shells, or piercing them with the spoon. Hence, too,
those love-sick imitations of enchantments which we find described
by Theocritus among the Greeks, and by Catullus, and more recently,
Virgil,[2122] among our own writers. Many persons are fully persuaded
that articles of pottery may be broken by a similar agency; and not a
few are of opinion even that serpents can counteract incantations, and
that this is the only kind of intelligence they possess—so much so, in
fact, that by the agency of the magic spells of the Marsi, they may be
attracted to one spot, even when asleep in the middle of the night.
Some people go so far, too, as to write certain words[2123] on the
walls of houses, deprecatory of accident by fire.
But it is not easy to say whether the outlandish and unpronounceable
words that are thus employed, or the Latin expressions that are used
at random, and which must appear ridiculous to our judgment, tend the
most strongly to stagger our belief—seeing that the human imagination
is always conceiving something of the infinite, something deserving
of the notice of the divinity, or indeed, to speak more correctly,
something that must command his intervention perforce. Homer[2124]
tells us that Ulysses arrested the flow of blood from a wound in the
thigh, by repeating a charm; and Theophrastus[2125] says that sciatica
may be cured by similar means. Cato[2126] has preserved a formula
for the cure of sprains, and M. Varro for that of gout. The Dictator
Cæsar, they say, having on one occasion accidentally had a fall in his
chariot,[2127] was always in the habit, immediately upon taking his
seat, of thrice repeating a certain formula, with the view of ensuring
safety upon the journey; a thing that, to my own knowledge, is done by
many persons at the present day.
CHAP. 5.—A DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS USAGES.
I would appeal, too, for confirmation on this subject, to the intimate
experience of each individual. Why, in fact, upon the first day of the
new year, do we accost one another with prayers for good fortune,[2128]
and, for luck’s sake, wish each other a happy new year? Why, too, upon
the occasion of public lustrations, do we select persons with lucky
names, to lead the victims? Why, to counteract fascinations, do we
Romans observe a peculiar form of adoration, in invoking the Nemesis
of the Greeks; whose statue, for this reason, has been placed in the
Capitol at Rome, although the goddess herself possesses no Latin
name?[2129] Why, when we make mention of the dead, do we protest that
we have no wish[2130] to impeach their good name?[2131] Why is it that
we entertain the belief that for every purpose odd numbers are the most
effectual;[2132]—a thing that is particularly observed with reference
to the critical days in fevers? Why is it that, when gathering the
earliest fruit, apples, or pears, as the case may be, we make a point
of saying—“This fruit is old, may other fruit be sent us that is new?”
Why is it that we salute[2133] a person when he sneezes, an observance
which Tiberius Cæsar, they say, the most unsociable of men, as we all
know, used to exact, when riding in his chariot even? Some there are,
too, who think it a point religiously to be observed to mention the
name as well of the person whom they salute.
And then, besides, it is a notion[2134] universally received, that
absent persons have warning that others are speaking of them by the
tingling of the ears. Attalus[2135] assures us, that if a person,
the moment he sees a scorpion, says “Duo,”[2136] the reptile will
stop short, and forbear to sting. And now that I am speaking of the
scorpion, I recall to mind that in Africa no one ever undertakes
any matter without prefacing with the word “Africa;” while in other
countries, before an enterprise is commenced, it is the practice to
adjure the gods that they will manifest their good will.
In addition to this, it is very clear that there are some religious
observances, unaccompanied by speech, which are considered to be
productive of certain effects. Thus,[2137] when we are at table, for
instance, it is the universal practice, we see, to take the ring from
off the finger. Another person, again, will take some spittle from his
mouth and place it with his finger behind the ear, to propitiate and
modify disquietude of mind. When we wish to signify applause, we have
a proverb even which tells us we should press the thumbs.[2138] When
paying adoration, we kiss the right hand, and turn the whole body to
the right: while the people of the Gallic provinces, on the contrary,
turn to the left, and believe that they show mere devoutness by so
doing. To salute summer lightning with clapping of the hands, is the
universal practice with all nations. If, when eating, we happen to make
mention of a fire that has happened, we avert the inauspicious omen by
pouring water beneath the table. To sweep the floor at the moment that
a person is rising from table, or to remove the table or tray,[2139]
as the case may be, while a guest is drinking, is looked upon as a
most unfortunate presage. There is a treatise, written by Servius
Sulpicius, a man of the highest rank, in which reasons are given why
we should never leave the table we are eating at; for in his day it
was not yet[2140] the practice to reckon more tables than guests at
an entertainment. Where a person has sneezed, it is considered highly
ominous for the dish or table to be brought back again, and not a taste
thereof to be taken, after doing so; the same, too, where a person at
table eats nothing at all.
These usages have been established by persons who entertained a belief
that the gods are ever present, in all our affairs and at all hours,
and who have therefore found the means of appeasing them by our vices
even. It has been remarked, too, that there is never a dead silence
on a sudden among the guests at table, except when there is an even
number present; when this happens, too, it is a sign that the good name
and repute of every individual present is in peril. In former times,
when food fell from the hand of a guest, it was the custom to return
it by placing it on the table, and it was forbidden[2141] to blow upon
it, for the purpose of cleansing it. Auguries, too, have been derived
from the words or thoughts of a person at the moment such an accident
befalls him; and it is looked upon as one of the most dreadful of
presages, if this should happen to a pontiff, while celebrating the
feast of Dis.[2142] The proper expiation in such a case is, to have the
morsel replaced on table, and then burnt in honour of the Lar.[2143]
Medicines, it is said, will prove ineffectual, if they happen to have
been placed on a table before they are administered. It is religiously
believed by many, that it is ominous in a pecuniary point of view, for
a person to pare his nails without speaking, on the market days[2144]
at Rome, or to begin at the forefinger[2145] in doing so: it is
thought, too, to be a preventive of baldness and of head-ache, to cut
the hair on the seventeenth and twenty-ninth[2146] days of the moon.
A rural law observed in most of the farms of Italy, forbids[2147] women
to twirl their distaffs, or even to carry them uncovered, while walking
in the public roads; it being a thing so prejudicial to all hopes and
anticipations, those of a good harvest[2148] in particular. It is not
so long ago, that M. Servilius Nonianus, the principal citizen at
Rome,[2149] being apprehensive of ophthalmia, had a paper, with the
two Greek letters P and A[2150] written upon it, wrapped in linen and
attached to his neck, before he would venture to name the malady, and
before any other person had spoken to him about it. Mucianus, too, who
was thrice consul, following a similar observance, carried about him
a living fly, wrapped in a piece of white linen; and it was strongly
asserted, by both of them, that to the use of these expedients they
owed their preservation from ophthalmia. There are in existence, also,
certain charms against hail-storms, diseases of various kinds, and
burns, some of which have been proved, by actual experience, to be
effectual; but so great is the diversity of opinion upon them, that
I am precluded by a feeling of extreme diffidence from entering into
further particulars, and must therefore leave each to form his own
conclusions as he may feel inclined.
CHAP. 6. (3.)—TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX OBSERVATIONS ON REMEDIES
DERIVED FROM MAN. EIGHT REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CHILDREN.
We have already,[2151] when speaking of the singular peculiarities of
various nations, made mention of certain men of a monstrous nature,
whose gaze is endowed with powers of fascination; and we have also
described properties belonging to numerous animals, which it would
be superfluous here to repeat. In some men, the whole of the body is
endowed with remarkable properties, as in those families, for instance,
which are a terror to serpents; it being in their power to cure persons
when stung, either by the touch or by a slight suction of the wound.
To this class belong the Psylli, the Marsi, and the people called
“Ophiogenes”[2152] in the Isle of Cyprus. One Euagon, a member of this
family, while attending upon a deputation at Rome, was thrown by way of
experiment, by order of the consuls, into a large vessel[2153] filled
with serpents; upon which, to the astonishment of all, they licked his
body all over with their tongues. One peculiarity of this family—if
indeed it is still in existence—is the strong offensive smell which
proceeds from their body in the spring; their sweat, too, no less than
their spittle, was possessed of remedial virtues. The people who are
born at Tentyris, an island in the river Nilus, are so formidable[2154]
to the crocodiles there, that their voice even is sufficient to put
them to flight. The presence even, it is well known, of all these
different races, will suffice for the cure of injuries inflicted by
the animals to which they respectively have an antipathy; just in the
same way that wounds are irritated by the approach of persons who have
been stung by a serpent at some former time, or bitten by a dog. Such
persons, too, by their presence, will cause the eggs upon which a hen
is sitting to be addled, and will make pregnant cattle cast their young
and miscarry; for, in fact, so much of the venom remains in their
body, that, from being poisoned themselves, they become poisonous to
other creatures. The proper remedy in such case is first to make them
wash their hands, and then to sprinkle with the water the patient
who is under medical treatment. When, again, persons have been once
stung by a scorpion they will never afterwards be attacked by hornets,
wasps, or bees: a fact at which a person will be the less surprised
when he learns that a garment which has been worn at a funeral will
never be touched by moths;[2155] that it is hardly possible to draw
serpents from their holes except by using the left hand; and that,
of the discoveries made by Pythagoras, one of the most unerring, is
the fact, that in the name given to infants, an odd number of vowels
is portentous of lameness, loss of eyesight, or similar accidents,
on[2156] the right side of the body, and an even number of vowels of
the like infirmities on the left.
(4.) It is said, that if a person takes a stone or other missile which
has slain three living creatures, a man, a boar, and a bear, at three
blows, and throws it over the roof of a house in which there is a
pregnant woman, her delivery, however difficult, will be instantly
accelerated thereby. In such a case, too, a successful result will
be rendered all the more probable, if a light infantry lance[2157]
is used, which has been drawn from a man’s body without touching the
earth; indeed, if it is brought into the house it will be productive
of a similar result. In the same way, too, we find it stated in the
writings of Orpheus and Archelaüs, that arrows, drawn from a human body
without being allowed to touch the ground, and placed beneath the bed,
will have all the effect of a philtre; and, what is even more than
this, that it is a cure for epilepsy if the patient eats the flesh of a
wild beast killed with an iron weapon with which a human being has been
slain.
Some individuals, too, are possessed of medicinal properties in
certain parts of the body; the thumb of King Pyrrhus, for instance,
as already[2158] mentioned. At Elis, there used to be shown one of
the ribs[2159] of Pelops, which, it was generally asserted, was made
of ivory. At the present day even, there are many persons, who from
religious motives will never clip the hair growing upon a mole on the
face.
CHAP. 7.—PROPERTIES OF THE HUMAN SPITTLE.
But it is the fasting spittle of a human being, that is, as
already[2160] stated by us, the sovereign preservative against the
poison of serpents; while, at the same time, our daily experience may
recognize its efficacy and utility,[2161] in many other respects. We
are in the habit of spitting,[2162] for instance, as a preservative
from epilepsy, or in other words, we repel contagion thereby: in a
similar manner, too, we repel fascinations, and the evil presages
attendant upon meeting a person who is lame in the right leg. We ask
pardon of the gods, by spitting in[2163] the lap, for entertaining some
too presumptuous hope or expectation.[2164] On the same principle, it
is the practice in all cases where medicine is employed, to spit three
times on the ground, and to conjure the malady as often; the object
being to aid the operation of the remedy employed. It is usual, too,
to mark a boil when it first makes its appearance, three times with
fasting[2165] spittle. What we are going to say is marvellous, but it
may easily be tested[2166] by experiment: if a person repents of a blow
given to another, either by hand or with a missile, he has nothing to
do but to spit at once into the palm of the hand which has inflicted
the blow, and all feelings[2167] of resentment will be instantly
alleviated in the person struck. This, too, is often verified in the
case of a beast of burden, when brought on its haunches with blows; for
upon this remedy being adopted, the animal will immediately step out
and mend its pace. Some persons, however, before making an effort, spit
into the hand in manner above stated, in order to make the blow more
heavy.[2168]
We may well believe, then, that lichens and leprous spots may be
removed by a constant application of fasting spittle; that ophthalmia
may be cured by anointing, as it were, the eyes every morning with
fasting spittle; that carcinomata may be effectually treated, by
kneading the root of the plant known as “apple of the earth,”[2169]
with human spittle; that crick in the neck may be got rid of by
carrying fasting spittle to the right knee with the right hand, and
to the left knee with the left; and that when an insect has got into
the ear, it is quite sufficient to spit into that organ, to make it
come out. Among the counter-charms too, are reckoned, the practice of
spitting into the urine the moment it is voided, of spitting into the
shoe of the right foot before putting it on, and of spitting while a
person is passing a place in which he has incurred any kind of peril.
Marcion of Smyrna, who has written a work on the virtues of simples,
informs us that the sea scolopendra will burst asunder if spit upon;
and that the same is the case with bramble-frogs,[2170] and other
kinds of frogs. Opilius says that serpents will do the same, if a
person spits into their open mouth; and Salpe tells us, that when any
part of the body is asleep, the numbness may be got rid of by the
person spitting into his lap, or touching the upper eyelid with his
spittle. If we are ready to give faith to such statements as these,
we must believe also in the efficacy of the following practices: upon
the entrance of a stranger, or when a person looks at an infant while
asleep, it is usual for the nurse to spit three times upon the ground;
and this, although infants are under the especial guardianship of the
god Fascinus,[2171] the protector, not of infants only, but of generals
as well, and a divinity whose worship is entrusted to the Vestal
virgins, and forms part of the Roman rites. It is the image of this
divinity that is attached beneath the triumphant car of the victorious
general, protecting him, like some attendant physician, against the
effects of envy;[2172] while, at the same time, equally salutary is the
advice of the tongue, which warns him to be wise in time,[2173] that so
Fortune may be prevailed upon by his prayers, not to follow, as the
destroyer of his glory, close upon his back.
CHAP. 8.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE WAX OF THE HUMAN EAR.
The human bite is also looked upon as one of the most dangerous of all.
The proper remedy for it is human ear-wax; a thing that we must not be
surprised at, seeing that, if applied immediately, it is a cure for the
stings of scorpions even, and serpents. The best, however, for this
purpose, is that taken from the ears of the wounded person. Agnails,
too, it is said, may be cured in a similar manner. A human tooth,
reduced to powder, is a cure, they say, for the sting of a serpent.
CHAP. 9.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HUMAN HAIR, TEETH, ETC.
The first hair, it is said, that is cut from an infant’s head, and, in
fact, the hair of all persons that have not reached the age of puberty,
attached to the limbs, will modify the attacks of gout. A man’s hair,
applied with vinegar, is a cure for the bite of a dog, and, used with
oil or wine, for wounds on the head. It is said, too, if we choose to
believe it, that the hair of a man torn down from the cross, is good
for quartan fevers. Ashes, too, of burnt human hair are curative of
carcinomata. If a woman takes the first tooth that a child has shed,
provided it has not touched the ground, and has it set in a bracelet,
and wears it constantly upon her arm, it will preserve her from all
pains in the uterus and adjacent parts. If the great toe is tied fast
to the one next to it, it will reduce tumours in the groin; and if
the two middle fingers of the right hand are slightly bound together
with a linen thread, it will act as a preservative against catarrhs
and ophthalmia. A stone, it is said, that has been voided by a patient
suffering from calculi, if attached to the body above the pubes, will
alleviate the pains of others similarly afflicted, as well as pains in
the liver; it will have the effect, also, of facilitating delivery.
Granius[2174] adds, however, that for this last purpose, the stone will
be more efficacious if it has been extracted with the knife. Delivery,
when near at hand, will be accelerated, if the man by whom the woman
has conceived, unties his girdle, and, after tying it round her, unties
it, adding at the same time this formula, “I have tied it, and I will
untie it,” and then taking his departure.
CHAP. 10.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HUMAN BLOOD, THE SEXUAL CONGRESS,
ETC.
The blood of the human body, come from what part it may, is most
efficacious, according to Orpheus and Archelaüs, as an application for
quinzy: they say, too, that if it is applied to the mouth of a person
who has fallen down in a fit of epilepsy, he will come to himself
immediately. Some say that, for epilepsy, the great toes should be
pricked, and the drops of blood that exude therefrom applied to the
face; or else, that a virgin should touch the patient with her right
thumb—a circumstance that has led to the belief that persons suffering
from epilepsy should eat the flesh of animals in a virgin state.
Æschines of Athens used to cure quinzy, carcinoma, and affections of
the tonsillary glands and uvula, with the ashes of burnt excrements, a
medicament to which he gave the name of “botryon.”[2175]
There are many kinds of diseases which disappear entirely after the
first sexual congress,[2176] or, in the ease of females, at the first
appearance of menstruation; indeed, if such is not the case, they
are apt to become chronic, epilepsy in particular. Even more than
this—a man, it is said, who has been stung by a serpent or scorpion,
experiences relief from the sexual congress; but the woman, on the
other hand, is sensible of detriment. We are assured, too, that if
persons, when washing their feet, touch the eyes three times with the
water, they will never be subject to ophthalmia or other diseases of
the eyes.
CHAP. 11.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE DEAD.
Scrofula, imposthumes of the parotid glands, and throat diseases, they
say, may be cured by the contact of the hand of a person who has been
carried off by an early death: indeed there are some who assert that
any dead body will produce the same effect, provided it is of the same
sex as the patient, and that the part affected is touched with the
back of the left hand.[2177] To bite off a piece from wood that has
been stuck by lightning, the hands being held behind the back, and then
to apply it to the tooth, is a sure remedy, they say, for tooth-ache.
Some persons recommend the tooth to be fumigated with the smoke of a
burnt tooth, which has belonged to another person of the same sex; or
else to attach to the person a dog-tooth, as it is called, which has
been extracted from a body before burial. Earth, they say, taken from
out of a human skull, acts as a depilatory to the eyelashes; it is
asserted, also, that any plant which may happen to have grown there,
if chewed, will cause the teeth to come out; and that if a circle
is traced round an ulcer with a human bone, it will be effectually
prevented from spreading.
Some persons, again, mix water in equal proportions from three
different wells, and, after making a libation with part of it in a new
earthen vessel, administer the rest to patients suffering from tertian
fever, when the paroxysms come on. So, too, in cases of quartan fever,
they take a fragment of a nail from a cross, or else a piece of a
halter[2178] that has been used for crucifixion, and, after wrapping it
in wool, attach it to the patient’s neck; taking care, the moment he
has recovered, to conceal it in some hole to which the light of the sun
cannot penetrate.
CHAP. 12.—VARIOUS REVERIES AND DEVICES OF THE MAGICIANS.
The following are some of the reveries of magic.[2179] A whetstone
upon which iron tools have been frequently sharpened, if put, without
his being aware of it, beneath the pillow of a person sinking under
the effects of poison, will make him give evidence and declare what
poison has been administered, and at what time and place, though at
the same time he will not disclose the author of the crime. When a
person has been struck by lightning, if the body is turned upon the
side which has sustained the injury, he will instantly recover the
power of speech—that is quite certain.[2180] For the cure of inguinal
tumours, some persons take the thrum of an old web, and after tying
seven or nine knots in it, mentioning at each knot the name of some
widow woman or other, attach it to the part affected. To assuage the
pain of a wound, they recommend the party to take a nail or any other
substance that has been trodden under foot, and to wear it, attached
to the body with the thrum of a web. To get rid of warts, some lie in
a footpath with the face upwards, when the moon is twenty days old at
least, and after fixing their gaze upon it, extend their arms above
the head, and rub themselves with anything within their reach. If a
person is extracting a corn at the moment that a star shoots, he will
experience an immediate cure,[2181] they say. By pouring vinegar upon
the hinges of a door, a thick liniment is formed, which, applied to the
forehead, will alleviate headache: an effect equally produced, we are
told, by binding the temples with a halter with which a man has been
hanged. When a fish-bone happens to stick in the throat, it will go
down immediately, if the person plunges his feet into cold water; but
where the accident has happened with any other kind of bone, the proper
remedy is to apply to the head some fragments of bones taken from the
same dish. In cases where bread has stuck in the throat, the best plan
is to take some of the same bread, and insert it in both ears.
CHAP. 13.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HUMAN EXCRETIONS.
In Greece, where everything is turned to account, the owners of the
gymnasia have introduced the very excretions[2182] even of the human
body among the most efficient remedies; so much so, indeed, that the
scrapings from the bodies of the athletes are looked upon as possessed
of certain properties of an emollient, calorific, resolvent, and
expletive nature, resulting from the compound of human sweat and oil.
These scrapings are used, in the form of a pessary, for inflammations
and contractions of the uterus: similarly employed, they act as an
emmenagogue, and are useful for reducing condylomata and inflammations
of the rectum, as also for assuaging pains in the sinews, sprains, and
nodosities of the joints. The scrapings obtained from the baths are
still more efficacious for these purposes, and hence it is that they
form an ingredient in maturative preparations. Such scrapings as are
impregnated with wrestlers’ oil,[2183] used in combination with mud,
have a mollifying effect upon the joints, and are more particularly
efficacious as a calorific and resolvent; but in other respects their
properties are not so strongly developed.
The shameless and disgusting researches that have been made will quite
transcend all belief, when we find authors of the very highest repute
proclaiming aloud that the male seminal fluid is a sovereign remedy
for the sting of the scorpion! In the case too, of women afflicted
with sterility, they recommend the application of a pessary, made
of the first excrement that is voided by an infant at the moment of
its birth; the name they give it is “meconium.”[2184] They have even
gone so far, too, as to scrape the very filth from off the walls of
the gymnasia, and to assert that this is also possessed of certain
calorific properties. These scrapings are used as a resolvent for
inflamed tumours, and are applied topically to ulcers upon aged people
and children, and to excoriations and burns.
CHAP. 14.—REMEDIES DEPENDING UPON THE HUMAN WILL.
It would be the less becoming then for me to omit all mention of the
remedies which depend upon the human will. Total abstinence from
food or drink, or from wine only, from flesh, or from the use of the
bath, in cases where the health requires any of these expedients, is
looked upon as one of the most effectual modes of treating diseases.
To this class of remedies must be added bodily exercise, exertion of
the voice,[2185] anointings, and frictions according to a prescribed
method: for powerful friction, it should be remembered, has a binding
effect upon the body, while gentle friction, on the other hand, acts
as a laxative; so too, repeated friction reduces the body, while used
in moderation it has a tendency to make flesh. But the most beneficial
practice of all is to take walking or carriage[2186] exercise;
this last being performed in various ways. Exercise on horseback is
extremely good for affections of the stomach and hips, a voyage for
phthisis,[2187] and a change of locality[2188] for diseases of long
standing. So, too, a cure may sometimes be effected by sleep, by a
recumbent position in bed, or by the use of emetics in moderation. To
lie upon the back is beneficial to the sight, to lie with the face
downwards is good for a cough, and to lie on the side is recommended
for patients suffering from catarrh.
According to Aristotle and Fabianus, it is towards spring and autumn
that we are most apt to dream; and they tell us that persons are most
liable to do so when lying on the back, but never when lying with
the face downwards. Theophrastus assures us that the digestion is
accelerated by lying on the right side; while, on the other hand, it is
retarded by lying with the face upwards. The most powerful, however,
of all remedies, and one which is always at a person’s own command,
is the sun: violent friction, too, is useful by the agency of linen
towels and body-scrapers.[2189] To pour warm water on the head before
taking the vapour-bath, and cold water after it, is looked upon as a
most beneficial practice; so, too, is the habit of taking cold water
before food, of drinking it every now and then while eating, of taking
it just before going to sleep, and, if practicable, of waking every
now and then, and taking a draught. It is worthy also of remark, that
there is no living creature but man[2190] that is fond of hot drinks,
a proof that they are contrary to nature. It has been ascertained by
experiment, that it is a good plan to rinse the mouth with undiluted
wine, before going to sleep, for the purpose of sweetening the breath;
to rinse the mouth with cold water an odd number of times every
morning, as a preservative against tooth-ache; and to wash the eyes
with oxycrate, as a preventive of ophthalmia. It has been remarked
also, that the general health is improved by a varying regimen, subject
to no fixed rules.
(5.) Hippocrates informs us that the viscera of persons who do not
take the morning meal[2191] become prematurely aged and feeble; but
then he has pronounced this aphorism, it must be remembered, by way
of suggesting a healthful regimen, and not to promote gluttony; for
moderation in diet is, after all, the thing most conducive to health.
L. Lucullus gave charge to one of his slaves to overlook him in this
respect; and, a thing that reflected the highest discredit on him,
when, now an aged man and laden with triumphs, he was feasting in the
Capitol even his hand had to be removed from the dish to which he
was about to help himself. Surely it was a disgrace for a man to be
governed by his own slave[2192] more easily than by himself!
CHAP. 15. (6.)—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SNEEZING.
Sneezing, provoked by a feather, relieves heaviness in the head; it
is said too, that to touch the nostrils of a mule with the lips, will
arrest sneezing and hiccup. For this last purpose, Varro recommends
us to scratch the palm, first of one hand and then of the other;
while many say that it is a good plan to shift the ring from off the
left hand to the longest finger of the right, and then to plunge the
hands into hot water. Theophrastus says, that aged persons sneeze with
greater difficulty than others.
CHAP. 16.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SEXUAL CONGRESS.
Democritus spoke in condemnation of the sexual congress, as[2193] being
merely an act through which one human being springs from another; and
really, by Hercules! the more rarely it is used the better. Still
however, athletes, we find, when they become dull and heavy, are
re-established by it: the voice, too, is restored by it, when from
being perfectly clear, it has degenerated into hoarseness. The congress
of the sexes is a cure also for pains in the loins, dimness of the
eyesight,[2194] alienation of the mental difficulties, and melancholy.
CHAP. 17.—VARIOUS OTHER REMEDIES.
To sit by a pregnant woman, or by a person to whom any remedy is being
administered, with the fingers of one hand inserted between those of
the other, acts as a magic spell; a discovery that was made, it is
said, when Alcmena[2195] was delivered of Hercules. If the fingers
are thus joined, clasping one or both knees, or if the ham of one leg
is first put upon the knee of the other, and then changed about, the
omen is of still worse signification. Hence it is, that in councils
held by generals and persons in authority, our ancestors forbade these
postures, as being an impediment to all business.[2196] They have
given a similar prohibition also with reference to sacrifices and the
offering of public vows; but as to the usage of uncovering the head
in presence of the magistrates, that has been enjoined, Varro says,
not as a mark of respect, but with a view to health, the head being
strengthened[2197] by the practice of keeping it uncovered.
When anything has got into the eye, it is a good plan to close the
other; and when water has got into the right ear, the person should
hop about on the left foot, with the head reclining upon the right
shoulder, the reverse being done when the same has happened to the
left ear. If the secretion of the phlegm produces coughing, the best
way of stopping it is for another person to blow in the party’s face.
When the uvula is relaxed, another person should take the patient with
his teeth by the crown,[2198] and lift him from the ground; while for
pains in the neck, the hams should be rubbed, and for pains in the hams
the neck. If a person is seized in bed with cramp in the sinews of the
legs or thighs, he should set his feet upon the ground: so, too, if he
has cramp on the left side, he should take hold of the great toe of
the left foot with the right hand, and if on the right side, the great
toe of the right foot with the left hand. For cold shiverings or for
excessive bleeding at the nostrils, the extremities of the body should
be well rubbed with sheep’s wool. To arrest incontinence of urine, the
extremities of the generative organs should be tied with a thread of
linen or papyrus, and a binding passed round the middle of the thigh.
For derangement of the stomach, it is a good plan to press the feet
together, or to plunge the hands into hot water.
In addition to all this, in many cases it is found highly beneficial
to speak but little; thus, for instance, Mæcenas Melissus,[2199] we
are told, enjoined silence on himself for three years, in consequence
of spitting blood after a convulsive fit. When a person is thrown from
a carriage, or when, while mounting an elevation or lying extended at
full length, he is menaced with any accident, or if he receives a blow,
it is singularly beneficial to hold the breath; a discovery for which
we are indebted to an animal, as already[2200] stated.
To thrust an iron nail into the spot where a person’s head lay at the
moment he was seized with a fit of epilepsy, is said to have the effect
of curing him of that disease. For pains in the kidneys, loins, or
bladder, it is considered highly soothing to void the urine lying on
the face at full length in a reclining bath. It is quite surprising how
much more speedily wounds will heal if they are bound up and tied with
a Hercules’ knot:[2201] indeed, it is said, that if the girdle which
we wear every day is tied with a knot of this description, it will be
productive of certain beneficial effects, Hercules having been the
first to discover the fact.
Demetrius, in the treatise which he has compiled upon the number Four,
alleges certain reasons why drink should never be taken in proportions
of four cyathi or sextarii. As a preventive of ophthalmia, it is a good
plan to rub the parts behind the ears, and, as a cure for watery eyes,
to rub the forehead. As to the presages which are derived from man
himself, there is one to the effect that so long as a person is able to
see himself reflected in the pupil of the patient’s eye, there need be
no apprehension of a fatal termination to the malady.
CHAP. 18.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE URINE.
The urine,[2202] too, has been the subject not only of numerous
theories with authors, but of various religious observances as well,
its properties being classified under several distinctive heads: thus,
for instance, the urine of eunuchs, they say, is highly beneficial as
a promoter of fruitfulness in females. But to turn to those remedies
which we may be allowed to name without impropriety—the urine of
children who have not arrived at puberty is a sovereign remedy for
the poisonous secretions of the asp known as the “ptyas,”[2203] from
the fact that it spits its venom into the eyes of human beings. It
is good, too, for the cure of albugo, films and marks upon the eyes,
white specks[2204] upon the pupils, and maladies of the eyelids. In
combination with meal of fitches, it is used for the cure of burns,
and, with a head of bulbed leek, it is boiled down to one half, in a
new earthen vessel, for the treatment of suppurations of the ears,
or the extermination of worms breeding in those organs: the vapour,
too, of this decoction acts as an emmenagogue. Salpe recommends that
the eyes should be fomented with it, as a means of strengthening the
sight; and that it should be used as a liniment for sun scorches, in
combination with white of egg, that of the ostrich being the most
effectual, the application being kept on for a couple of hours.
Urine is also used for taking out ink spots. Male urine cures gout,
witness the fullers for instance,[2205] who, for this reason, it is
said, are never troubled with that disease. With stale urine some mix
ashes of calcined oyster-shells, for the cure of eruptions on the
bodies of infants, and all kinds of running ulcers: it is used, too, as
a liniment for corrosive sores, burns, diseases of the rectum, chaps
upon the body, and stings inflicted by scorpions. The most celebrated
midwives have pronounced that there is no lotion which removes itching
sensations more effectually; and, with the addition of nitre,[2206]
they prescribe it for the cure of ulcers of the head, porrigo, and
cancerous sores, those of the generative organs in particular. But the
fact is, and there is no impropriety in saying so, that every person’s
own urine is the best for his own case, due care being taken to apply
it immediately, and unmixed with anything else; in such cases as the
bite of a dog, for instance, or the quill of a hedge-hog entering the
flesh, a sponge or some wool being the vehicle in which it is applied.
Kneaded up with ashes, it is good for the bite of a mad dog, and
for the cure of stings inflicted by serpents. As to the bite of the
scolopendra, the effects of urine are said to be quite marvellous—the
person who has been injured has only to touch the crown of his head
with a drop of his own urine, and he will experience an instantaneous
cure.
CHAP. 19.—INDICATIONS OF HEALTH DERIVED FROM THE URINE.
Certain indications of the health are furnished by the urine. Thus,
for example, if it is white at first in the morning and afterwards
high-coloured, the first signifies that the digestion is going on, the
last that it is completed. When the urine is red, it is a bad sign; but
when it is swarthy, it is the worst sign of all. So, too, when it is
thick or full of bubbles, it is a bad sign; and when a white sediment
forms, it is a symptom of pains in the region of the viscera or in the
joints. A green-coloured urine is indicative of disease of the viscera,
a pale urine of biliousness, and a red urine of some distemper in the
blood. The urine is in a bad state, too, when certain objects form
in it, like bran or fine clouds in appearance. A thin, white, urine
also is in a diseased state; but when it is thick and possessed of an
offensive smell, it is significant of approaching death: so, too, when
with children it is thin and watery.
The adepts in magic expressly forbid a person, when about to make
water, to uncover the body in the face of the sun[2207] or moon,
or to sprinkle with his urine the shadow of any object whatsoever.
Hesiod[2208] gives a precept, recommending persons to make water
against an object standing full before them, that no divinity may be
offended by their nakedness being uncovered. Osthanes maintains that
every one who drops some urine upon his foot in the morning will be
proof against all noxious medicaments.
CHAP. 20. (7.)—FORTY-ONE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE FEMALE SEX.
The remedies said to be derived from the bodies of females closely
approach the marvellous nature of prodigies; to say nothing of
still-born infants cut up limb by limb for the most abominable
practices, expiations made with the menstrual discharge, and other
devices which have been mentioned, not only by midwives but by
harlots[2209] even as well! The smell of a woman’s hair, burnt, will
drive away serpents, and hysterical suffocations, it is said, may be
dispelled thereby. The ashes of a woman’s hair, burnt in an earthen
vessel, or used in combination with litharge, will cure eruptions
and prurigo of the eyes: used in combination with honey they will
remove warts and ulcers upon infants; with the addition of honey and
frankincense, they will heal wounds upon the head, and fill up all
concavities left by corrosive ulcers; used with hogs’ lard, they will
cure inflammatory tumours and gout; and applied topically to the part
affected, they will arrest erysipelas and hæmorrhage, and remove
itching pimples on the body which resemble the stings of ants.
CHAP. 21.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WOMAN’S MILK.
As to the uses to which woman’s milk has been applied, it is
generally agreed that it is the sweetest and the most delicate of
all, and that it is the best[2210] of remedies for chronic fevers
and cœliac affections, when the woman has just weaned her infant
more particularly. In cases, too, of sickness at stomach, fevers,
and gnawing sensations, it has been found by experience to be highly
beneficial; as also, in combination with frankincense, for abscesses of
the mamillæ. When the eyes are bloodshot from the effects of a blow,
or affected with pain or defluxion, it is a very good plan to inject
woman’s milk into them, more particularly in combination with honey
and juice of daffodil, or else powdered frankincense. In all cases,
however, the milk of a woman who has been delivered of a male child
is the most efficacious, and still more so if she has had male twins;
provided always she abstains from wine and food of an acrid nature.
Mixed with the white of an egg in a liquid state, and applied to the
forehead in wool, it arrests defluxions of the eyes. If a frog[2211]
has spirted its secretions[2212] into the eye, woman’s milk is a most
excellent remedy; and for the bite of that reptile it is used both
internally and externally.
It is asserted that if a person is rubbed at the same moment with
the milk of both mother and daughter, he will be proof for the rest
of his life against all affections of the eyes. Mixed with a small
quantity of oil, woman’s milk is a cure for diseases of the ears; and
if they are in pain from the effects of a blow, it is applied warm
with goose-grease. If the ears emit an offensive smell, a thing that
is mostly the case in diseases of long standing, wool is introduced
into those organs, steeped in woman’s milk and honey. While symptoms of
jaundice are still visible in the eyes, woman’s milk is injected, in
combination with elaterium.[2213] Taken as a drink, it is productive
of singularly good effects, where the poison of the sea-hare, the
buprestis,[2214] or, as Aristotle tells us, the plant doryenium[2215]
has been administered; as a preventive also of the madness produced by
taking henbane. Woman’s milk also, mixed with hemlock, is recommended
as a liniment for gout; while some there are who employ it for that
purpose in combination with wool-grease[2216] or goose-grease; a form
in which it is used as an application for pains in the uterus. Taken
as a drink, it arrests diarrhœa, Rabirius[2217] says, and acts as an
emmenagogue; but where the woman has been delivered of a female child,
her milk is of use only for the cure of face diseases.
Woman’s milk is also a cure for affections of the lungs; and, mixed
with the urine of a youth who has not arrived at puberty, and Attic
honey, in the proportion of one spoonful of each, it removes singing in
the ears, I find. Dogs which have once tasted the milk of a woman who
has been delivered of a male child, will never become mad, they say.
CHAP. 22.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SPITTLE OF FEMALES.
A woman’s fasting spittle is generally considered highly efficacious
for bloodshot eyes: it is good also for defluxions of those organs,
the inflamed corners of the eyes being moistened with it every now
and then; the result, too, is still more successful, if the woman has
abstained from food and wine the day before.
I find it stated that head-ache may be alleviated by tying a woman’s
fillet[2218] round the head.
CHAP. 23.—FACTS CONNECTED WITH THE MENSTRUAL DISCHARGE.
Over and above these particulars, there is no limit to the marvellous
powers attributed to females. For, in the first place, hailstorms,
they say, whirlwinds, and lightning[2219] even, will be scared away by
a woman uncovering her body while her monthly courses are upon her.
The same, too, with all other kinds of tempestuous weather; and out
at sea, a storm may be lulled by a woman uncovering her body merely,
even though not menstruating at the time. As to the menstrual discharge
itself, a thing that in other respects, as[2220] already stated on a
more appropriate occasion, is productive of the most monstrous effects,
there are some ravings about it of a most dreadful and unutterable
nature. Of these particulars, however, I do not feel so much shocked
at mentioning the following. If the menstrual discharge coincides
with an eclipse of the moon or sun, the evils resulting from it are
irremediable; and no less so, when it happens while the moon is in
conjunction with the sun; the congress with a woman at such a period
being noxious, and attended with fatal effects to the man. At this
period also, the lustre of purple is tarnished by the touch of a woman:
so much more baneful is her influence at this time than at any other.
At any other time, also, if a woman strips herself naked while she
is menstruating, and walks round a field of wheat, the caterpillars,
worms, beetles, and other vermin, will fall from off the ears of corn.
Metrodorus of Scepsos tells us that this discovery was first made in
Cappadocia; and that, in consequence of such multitudes of cantharides
being found to breed there, it is the practice for women to walk
through the middle of the fields with their garments tucked up above
the thighs.[2221] In other places, again, it is the usage for women
to go barefoot, with the hair dishevelled and the girdle loose: due
precaution must be taken, however, that this is not done at sun-rise,
for if so, the crop will wither and dry up. Young vines, too, it is
said, are injured irremediably by the touch of a woman in this state;
and both rue and ivy, plants possessed of highly medicinal virtues,
will die instantly upon being touched by her.
Much as I have already stated on the virulent effects of this
discharge, I have to state, in addition, that bees, it is a well-known
fact, will forsake their hives if touched by a menstruous woman; that
linen boiling in the cauldron will turn black, that the edge of a
razor will become blunted, and that copper vessels will contract a
fetid smell and become covered with verdigrease, on coming in contact
with her. A mare big with foal, if touched by a woman in this state,
will be sure to miscarry; nay, even more than this, at the very sight
of a woman, though seen at a distance even, should she happen to be
menstruating for the first time after the loss of her virginity, or for
the first time, while in a state of virginity. The bitumen[2222] that
is found in Judæa, will yield to nothing but the menstrual discharge;
its tenacity being overcome, as already stated, by the agency of a
thread from a garment which has been brought in contact with this
fluid. Fire itself even, an element which triumphs over every other
substance, is unable to conquer this; for if reduced to ashes and then
sprinkled upon garments when about to be scoured, it will change their
purple tint, and tarnish the brightness of the colours. Indeed so
pernicious are its properties, that women themselves, the source from
which it is derived, are far from being proof against its effects; a
pregnant woman, for instance, if touched with it, or indeed if she so
much as steps over it, will be liable to miscarry.
Laïs and Elephantis[2223] have given statements quite at variance, on
the subject of abortives; they mention the efficacy for that purpose
of charcoal of cabbage root, myrtle root, or tamarisk root, quenched
in the menstrual discharge; they say that she-asses will be barren for
as many years as they have eaten barley-corns steeped in this fluid;
and they have enumerated various other monstrous and irreconcileable
properties, the one telling us, for instance, that fruitfulness may be
ensured by the very same methods, which, according to the statement of
the other, are productive of barrenness; to all which stories it is the
best plan to refuse credit altogether. Bithus of Dyrrhachium informs
us that a mirror,[2224] which has been tarnished by the gaze of a
menstruous female, will recover its brightness if the same woman looks
steadily upon the back of it; he states, also, that all evil influences
of this nature will be entirely neutralized, if the woman carries the
fish known as the sur mullet about her person.
On the other hand, again, many writers say that, baneful as it is,
there are certain remedial properties in this fluid; that it is a good
plan, for instance, to use it as a topical application for gout, and
that women, while menstruating, can give relief by touching scrofulous
sores and imposthumes of the parotid glands, inflamed tumours,
erysipelas, boils, and defluxions of the eyes. According to Laïs and
Salpe, the bite of a mad dog, as well as tertian or quartan fevers,
may be cured by putting some menstruous blood in the wool of a black
ram and enclosing it in a silver bracelet; and we learn from Diotimus
of Thebes that the smallest portion will suffice of any kind of cloth
that has been stained therewith, a thread even, if inserted and worn in
a bracelet. The midwife Sotira informs us that the most efficient cure
for tertian and quartan fevers is to rub the soles of the patient’s
feet therewith, the result being still more successful if the operation
is performed by the woman herself, without the patient being aware
of it; she says, too, that this is an excellent method for reviving
persons when attacked with epilepsy.
Icetidas the physician pledges his word that quartan fever may be
cured by sexual intercourse, provided the woman is just beginning to
menstruate. It is universally agreed, too, that when a person has
been bitten by a dog and manifests a dread of water and of all kinds
of drink, it will be quite sufficient to put under his cup a strip
of cloth that has been dipped in this fluid; the result being that
the hydrophobia will immediately disappear. This arises, no doubt,
from that powerful sympathy which has been so much spoken of by the
Greeks, and the existence of which is proved by the fact,[2225] already
mentioned, that dogs become mad upon tasting this fluid. It is a
well-known fact, too, that the menstruous discharge, reduced to ashes,
and applied with furnace soot and wax, is a cure for ulcers upon all
kinds of beasts of burden; and that stains made upon a garment with
it can only be removed by the agency of the urine of the same female.
Equally certain it is, too, that this fluid, reduced to ashes and
mixed with oil of roses, is very useful, applied to the forehead, for
allaying head-ache, in women more particularly; as also that the nature
of the discharge is most virulent in females whose virginity has been
destroyed solely by the lapse of time.
Another thing universally acknowledged and one which I am ready to
believe with the greatest pleasure, is the fact, that if the door-posts
are only touched with the menstruous fluid all spells of the magicians
will be neutralized—a set of men the most lying in existence, as
any one may ascertain. I will give an example of one of the most
reasonable of their prescriptions—Take the parings of the toe-nails
and finger-nails of a sick person, and mix them up with wax, the party
saying that he is seeking a remedy for a tertian, quartan, or quotidian
fever, as the case may be; then stick this wax, before sunrise, upon
the door of another person—such is the prescription they give for
these diseases! What deceitful persons they must be if there is no
truth in it! And how highly criminal, if they really do thus transfer
diseases from one person to another! Some, of them, again, whose
practices are of a less guilty nature, recommend that the parings of
all the finger-nails should be thrown at the entrance of ant-holes, the
first ant to be taken which attempts to draw one into the hole; this,
they say, must be attached to the neck of the patient, and he will
experience a speedy cure.
CHAP. 24. (8.)—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM FOREIGN ANIMALS: THE ELEPHANT,
EIGHT REMEDIES.
Such then are the remedies from human beings which may with any degree
of propriety be described, and many of those with the leave and
good-will of the reader. The rest are of a most execrable and infamous
nature, such, in fact, as to make me hasten to close my description
of the remedies derived from man: we will therefore proceed to speak
of the more remarkable animals, and the effects produced by them.
The blood of the elephant, the male in particular, arrests all those
defluxions known by the name of “rheumatismi.” Ivory shavings, it is
said, in combination with Attic honey, are good for the removal of
spots upon the face: with the sawdust, too, of ivory, hangnails are
removed. By the touch of an elephant’s trunk head-ache is alleviated,
if the animal happens to sneeze at the time more particularly. The
right side of the trunk attached to the body with red earth of Lemnos,
acts powerfully as an aphrodisiac. Elephant’s blood is good for
consumption and the liver for epilepsy.
CHAP. 25.—TEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE LION.
Lion’s fat, mixed with oil of roses, protects the skin of the face from
all kinds of spots, and preserves the whiteness of the complexion;
it is remedial also for such parts of the body as have been frozen
by snow, and for swellings in the joints. The frivolous lies of the
magicians assert that persons who are anointed with lion’s fat, will
more readily win favour with kings and peoples; more particularly when
the fat has been used that lies between the eyebrows of the animal—a
place, in fact, where there is no fat to be found! The like effects
they promise also from the possession of a lion’s tooth, one from the
right side in particular, as also the shaggy hairs that are found upon
the lower jaw. The gall, used as an ointment in combination with water,
improves the eyesight, and, employed with the fat of the same animal,
is a cure for epilepsy; but a slight taste only must be taken of it,
and the patient must run immediately after swallowing it, in order to
digest it. A lion’s heart, used as food, is curative of quartan fevers,
and the fat, taken with oil of roses, of quotidian fevers. Wild beasts
will fly from persons anointed with lion’s fat, and it is thought to be
a preservative even against treacherous practices.
CHAP. 26.—TEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CAMEL.
A camel’s[2226] brains, dried and taken in vinegar, are a cure, they
say, for epilepsy: the same, too, with the gall, taken with honey;
which is a remedy also for quinzy. A camel’s tail dried it is said,
is productive of diarrhœa, and ashes of burnt camel’s dung, mixed
with oil, make the hair curl. These ashes applied topically, are very
useful for dysentery, as also taken in drink, the proper dose being a
pinch in three fingers at a time; they are curative also of epilepsy.
Camel’s urine it is said, is very useful to fullers, and is good for
the cure of running sores. Barbarous nations, we are told, are in the
habit of keeping it till it is five years old, and then taking it as
a purgative, in doses of one semisextarius. The hairs of the tail, it
is said, plaited and attached to the left arm, are a cure for quartan
fevers.
CHAP. 27.—SEVENTY-NINE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HYÆNA.
But of all animals, it is the hyæna that has been held in the highest
admiration by the magicians, who have gone so far as to attribute to
it certain magical virtues even, and the power of alluring[2227] human
beings and depriving them of their senses. Of its change of sex each
year, and other monstrous peculiarities[2228] in its nature, we have
spoken already;[2229] we will now proceed to describe the medicinal
virtues that are ascribed to it.
The hyæna, it is said, is particularly terrible to panthers; so much
so, indeed, that they will not attempt to make the slightest resistance
to it, and will never attack a man who has any portion of a hyæna’s
skin about him. A thing truly marvellous to tell of, if the hides of
these two animals are hung up facing one another, the hair will fall
from off the panther’s skin! When the hyæna flies before the hunter, it
turns off on the right, and letting the man get before it, follows in
his track; should it succeed in doing which, the man is sure to lose
his senses and fall from his horse even. But if, on the other hand, it
turns off to the left, it is a sign that the animal is losing strength,
and that it will soon be taken. The easiest method, however, of taking
it, they say, is for the hunter to tie his girdle with seven knots,
and to make as many knots in the whip with which he guides his horse.
In addition to all this, so full of quirks and subtleties are the vain
conceits of the magicians, they recommend the hyæna to be captured
while the moon is passing through the sign of Gemini, and every hair
of it to be preserved, if possible. They say, too, that the skin of
the head is highly efficacious, if attached to a person suffering
from head-ache; that the gall, applied to the forehead, is curative
of ophthalmia; and that if the gall is boiled down with three cyathi
of Attic honey and one ounce of saffron, it will be a most effectual
preservative against that disease, the same preparation being equally
good for the dispersion of films on the eyes and cataract. If, again,
this preparation is kept till it is old, it will be all the better
for improving the sight, due care being taken to preserve it in a box
of Cyprian copper: they assert also, that it is good for the cure of
argema, eruptions and excrescences of the eyes, and marks upon those
organs. For diseases[2230] of the crystalline humours of the eyes, it
is recommended to anoint them with the gravy of hyæna’s liver roasted
fresh, incorporated with clarified honey.
We learn also, from the same sources, that the teeth of the hyæna are
useful for the cure of tooth-ache, the diseased tooth being either
touched with them, or the animal’s teeth being arranged in their
regular order, and attached to the patient; that the shoulders of this
animal are good for the cure of pains in the arms and shoulders; that
the teeth, extracted from the left side of the jaw, and wrapped in the
skin, of a sheep or he-goat, are an effectual cure for pains in the
stomach; that the lights of the animal, taken with the food, are good
for cœliac affections; that the lights, reduced to ashes and applied
with oil, are also soothing to the stomach; that the marrow of the
back-bone, used with old oil and gall, is strengthening to the sinews;
that the liver, tasted thrice just before the paroxysms, is good for
quartan fevers; that the ashes of the vertebræ, applied in hyæna’s
skin with the tongue and right foot of a sea-calf and a bull’s gall,
the whole boiled up together, are soothing for gout; that for the same
disease hyæna’s gall is advantageously employed in combination with
stone of Assos;[2231] that for cold shiverings, spasms, sudden fits of
starting, and palpitations of the heart, it is a good plan to eat some
portion of a hyæna’s heart cooked, care being taken to reduce the rest
to ashes, and to apply it with the brains of the animal to the part
affected; that this last composition, or the gall applied alone, acts
as a depilatory, the hairs being first plucked out which are wanted not
to grow again; that by this method superfluous hairs of the eyelids may
be removed; that the flesh of the loins, eaten and applied with oil,
is a cure for pains in the loins; and that sterility in females may be
removed by giving them the eye of this animal to eat, in combination
with liquorice and dill, conception within three days being warranted
as the result.
Persons afflicted with night-mare and dread of spectres, will
experience relief, they say, by attaching one of the large teeth of a
hyæna to the body, with a linen thread. In fits of delirium too, it
is recommended to fumigate the patient with the smoke of one of these
teeth, and to attach one in front of his chest, with the fat of the
kidneys, or else the liver or skin. They assert also that a pregnant
woman will never miscarry, if she wears suspended from her neck, the
white flesh from a hyæna’s breast, with seven hairs and the genitals of
a stag, the whole tied up in the skin of a gazelle. The genitals, they
say, eaten with honey, act as a stimulant upon a person, according to
the sex, and this even though it should be the case of a man who has
manifested an aversion to all intercourse with females.
Nay, even more than all this, we are assured that if the genitals and
a certain joint of the vertebræ are preserved in a house with the
hide adhering to them, they will ensure peace and concord between all
members of the family; hence it is that this part is known as the
“joint of the spine,”[2232] or “Atlantian[2233] knot.” This joint,
which is the first, is reckoned among the remedies for epilepsy.
The fumes of the burnt fat of this animal will put serpents to flight,
they say; and the jawbone, pounded with anise and taken with the
food, is a cure for shivering fits. A fumigation made therewith has
the effect of an emmenagogue; and such are the frivolous and absurd
conceits of the professors of the magic art, that they boldly assert
that if a man attaches to his arm a tooth from the right side of the
upper jaw, he will never miss any object he may happen to aim at with
a dart. The palate, dried and warmed with Egyptian alum,[2234] is
curative of bad odours and ulcers of the mouth, care being taken to
renew the application three times. Dogs, they say, will never bark at
persons who have a hyæna’s tongue in the shoe beneath the sole of the
foot. The left side of the brain, applied to the nostrils, is said to
have a soothing effect upon all dangerous maladies either in men or
beasts. They say, too, that the skin of the forehead is a preservative
against all fascinations; that the flesh of the neck, whether eaten
or dried and taken in drink, is good for pains in the loins; that the
sinews of the back and shoulders, used as a fumigation, are good for
pains in the sinews; that the bristles of the snout, applied to a
woman’s lips, have all the effect of a philtre; and that the liver,
administered in drink, is curative of griping pains and urinary calculi.
The heart, it is said, taken with the food or drink, is remedial for
all kinds of pains in the body; the milt for pains in the spleen; the
caul, in combination with oil, for inflammatory ulcers; and the marrow
for pains in the spine and weakness in the sinews. The strings of the
kidneys, they say, if taken with wine and frankincense, will restore
fruitfulness, in cases where it has been banished through the agency
of noxious spells; the uterus, taken in drink with the rind of a sweet
pomegranate, is highly beneficial for diseases of the uterus; and
the fat of the loins, used as a fumigation, removes all impediments
to delivery, and accelerates parturition. The marrow of the back,
attached to the body as an amulet, is an effectual remedy for fantastic
illusions,[2235] and the genitals of the male animal, used as a
fumigation, are good for the cure of spasms. For ophthalmia, ruptures,
and inflammations, the feet, which are kept for the purpose, are
touched; the left feet for affections on the right side of the body,
and the right feet for affections on the left. The left foot, if laid
upon the body of a woman in travail, will be productive, they say, of
fatal effects; but the right foot, similarly employed, will facilitate
delivery. The vesicle which has contained the gall, taken in wine or
with the food, is beneficial for the cardiac disease; and the bladder,
taken in wine, is a good preservative against incontinence of urine.
The urine, too, which is found in the bladder, taken with oil, sesame,
and honey, is said to be useful for diseases of long standing.
The first rib and the eighth, used as a fumigation, are said to be
useful for ruptures; the vertebræ for women in travail; and the blood,
in combination with polenta,[2236] for griping pains in the bowels. If
the door-posts are touched with this blood, the various arts of the
magicians will be rendered of no effect; they will neither be able to
summon the gods into their presence nor to converse with them, whatever
the method to which they have recourse, whether lamps or basin, water
or globe,[2237] or any other method.
The flesh of the hyæna, taken as food, is said to be efficacious for
the bite of a mad dog, and the liver still more so. The flesh or bones
of a human being which have been found in the belly of a slain hyæna,
used as a fumigation, are said to be remedial for gout: but if among
these remains the nails are found, it is looked upon as a presage of
death to some one among those who have captured it. The excrements or
bones which have been voided by the animal at the moment when killed,
are looked upon as counter-charms to magic spells. The dung found in
the intestines is dried and administered in drink for dysentery; and it
is applied to all parts of the body with goose-grease, in the form of
a liniment, in the case of persons who have received injury from some
noxious medicament. By rubbing themselves with the grease, and lying
upon the skin, of a hyæna, persons who have been bitten by dogs are
cured.
On the other hand, the ashes of the left pastern-bone, they say,
boiled with weasel’s blood, and applied to a person’s body, will
ensure universal hatred; a similar effect being equally produced by
the eye when boiled. But the most extraordinary thing of all is,
their assertion that the extremity of the rectum of this animal is
a preservative against all oppression on the part of chiefs and
potentates, and an assurance of success in all petitions, judgments,
and lawsuits, and this, if a person only carries it about him. The
anus, according to them, has so powerful an effect as a philtre, that
if it is worn on the left arm, a woman will be sure to follow the
wearer the moment he looks at her. The hairs, too, of this part,
reduced to ashes, and applied with oil to the body of a man who is
living a life of disgraceful effeminacy, will render him not only
modest, they assure us, but of scrupulous morals even.
CHAP. 28.—NINETEEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CROCODILE.
For fabulous stories connected with it the crocodile may challenge
the next place; and, indeed for cunning, the one[2238] which lives
both upon land and in the water is fully its equal: for I would here
remark, that there are two varieties of this animal. The teeth of the
right jaw of the amphibious crocodile, attached to the right arm as
an amulet, acts as an aphrodisiac, that is, if we choose to believe
it. The eye-teeth of the animal, filled with frankincense—for they are
hollow—are a cure for periodical fevers, care being taken to let the
patient remain five days without seeing the person who has attached
them to his body. A similar virtue is attributed to the small stones
which are found in the belly of this animal, as being a check to the
cold shiverings in fevers, when about to come on; and with the same
object the Ægyptians are in the habit of anointing their sick with the
fat of the crocodile.
The other kind of crocodile[2239] resembles it, but is much inferior in
size: it lives upon land only, and among the most odoriferous flowers;
hence it is that its intestines are so greatly in request, being
filled as they are with a mass of agreeable perfumes. This substance
is called “crocodilea,” and it is looked upon as extremely beneficial
for diseases of the eyes, and for the treatment of films and cataract,
being applied with leek-juice in the form of an ointment. Applied with
oil of cyprus,[2240] it removes blemishes growing upon the face; and,
employed with water, it is a cure for all those diseases, the nature of
which it is to spread upon the face, while at the same time it restores
the natural tints of the skin. An application of it makes freckles
disappear, as well as all kinds of spots and pimples; and it is taken
for epilepsy, in doses of two oboli, in oxymel. Used in the form of a
pessary it acts as an emmenagogue. The best kind of crocodilea, is that
which is the whitest, friable, and the lightest in weight: when rubbed
between the fingers it should ferment like leaven. The usual method is
to wash it, as they do white lead. It is sometimes adulterated with
amylum[2241] or with Cimolian earth, but the most common method of
sophistication is to catch the crocodiles and feed them upon nothing
but rice. It is recommended as one of the most efficient remedies for
cataract to anoint the eyes with crocodile’s gall, incorporated with
honey. We are assured also that it is highly beneficial for affections
of the uterus to make fumigations with the intestines and rest of the
body, or else to envelope the patient with wool impregnated with the
smoke.
The ashes of the skin of either crocodile, applied with vinegar to such
parts of the body as are about to undergo an incision, or indeed the
very smell of the skin when burning, will render the patient insensible
to the knife. The blood of either crocodile, applied to the eyes,
effaces marks upon those organs and improves the sight. The body, with
the exception of the head and feet, is eaten, boiled, for the cure of
sciatica, and is found very useful for chronic coughs, in children more
particularly: it is equally good, too, for the cure of lumbago. These
animals have a certain fat also, which, applied to the hair, makes it
fall off; persons anointed with this fat are effectually protected
against crocodiles, and it is the practice to drop it into wounds
inflicted by them. A crocodile’s heart, attached to the body in the
wool of a black sheep without a speck of any other colour, due care too
being taken that the sheep was the first lamb yeaned by its dam, will
effectually cure a quartan fever, it is said.
CHAP. 29.—FIFTEEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CHAMÆLEON.
To these animals we shall annex some others that are equally foreign,
and very similar in their properties. To begin then with the chamæleon,
which Democritus has considered worthy to be made the subject of an
especial work, and each part of which has been consecrated to some
particular purpose—This book, in fact, has afforded me no small
amusement, revealing as it does, and exposing the lies and frivolities
of the Greeks.—In size, the chamæleon resembles the crocodile last
mentioned, and only differs from it in having the back-bone arched at a
more acute angle, and a larger tail. There is no animal, it is thought,
more[2242] timid than this, a fact to which it owes its repeated
changes of colour.[2243] It has a peculiar ascendancy over the hawk
tribe; for, according to report, it has the power of attracting those
birds, when flying above it, and then leaving them a voluntary prey
for other animals. Democritus[2244] asserts that if the head and neck
of a chamæleon are burnt in a fire made with logs of oak, it will be
productive of a storm attended with rain and thunder; a result equally
produced by burning the liver upon the tiles of a house. As to the
rest of the magical virtues which he ascribes to this animal, we shall
forbear to mention them, although we look upon them as unfounded;[2245]
except, indeed, in some few instances where their very ridiculousness
sufficiently refutes his assertions.
The right eye, he says, taken from the living animal and applied with
goats’ milk, removes diseases of the crystalline humours of the eyes;
and the tongue, attached to the body as an amulet, is an effectual
preservative against the perils of child-birth. He asserts also that
the animal itself will facilitate parturition, if in the house at the
moment; but if, on the other hand, it is brought from elsewhere, the
consequences, he says, will be most dangerous. The tongue, he tells
us, if taken from the animal alive, will ensure a favourable result
to suits at law; and the heart, attached to the body with black wool
of the first shearing, is a good preservative against the attacks of
quartan fever.
He states also that the right fore-paw, attached to the left arm in the
skin of the hyæna, is a most effectual preservative against robberies
and alarms at night; that the pap on the right side is a preventive
of fright and panics; that the left foot is sometimes burnt in a
furnace with the plant which also has the name of “chamæleon,”[2246]
and is then made up, with some unguent, into lozenges; and that these
lozenges, kept in a wooden vessel, have the effect, if we choose
to believe him, of making their owner invisible to others; that the
possession, also, of the right shoulder of this animal will ensure
victory over all adversaries or enemies, provided always the party
throws the sinews of the shoulder upon the ground and treads them under
foot. As to the left shoulder of the chamæleon, I should be quite
ashamed to say to what monstrous purposes Democritus devotes it; how
that dreams may be produced by the agency thereof, and transferred to
any person we may think proper; how that these dreams may be dispelled
by the employment of the right foot; and how that lethargy, which has
been produced by the right foot of this animal, may be removed by the
agency of the left side.
So, too, head-ache, he tells us, may be cured by sprinkling wine upon
the head, in which either flank of a chamæleon has been macerated.
If the feet are rubbed with the ashes of the left thigh or foot,
mixed with sow’s milk, gout, he says, will be the result. It is
pretty generally believed, however, that cataract and diseases of the
crystalline humours of the eyes may be cured by anointing those organs
with the gall for three consecutive days; that serpents may be put
to flight by dropping some of it into the fire; that weasels may be
attracted by water into which it has been thrown; and that, applied to
the body, it acts as a depilatory. The liver, they say, applied with
the lungs of a bramble-frog, is productive of a similar effect: in
addition to which, we are told that the liver counteracts the effects
of philtres; that persons are cured of melancholy by drinking from the
warm skin of a chamæleon the juice of the plant known by that name; and
that if the intestines of the animal and their contents—we should bear
in mind that in reality the animal lives without food[2247]—are mixed
with apes’ urine, and the doors of an enemy are besmeared with the
mixture, he will, through its agency, become the object of universal
hatred.
We are told, too, that by the agency of the tail, the course of rivers
and torrents may be stopped, and serpents struck with torpor; that
the tail, prepared with cedar and myrrh, and tied to a double branch
of the date-palm, will divide waters that are smitten therewith, and
so disclose everything that lies at the bottom—and I only wish[2248]
that Democritus himself had been touched up with this branch of palm,
seeing that, as he tells us, it has the property of putting an end to
immoderate garrulity. It is quite evident that this philosopher, a man
who has shown himself so sagacious in other respects, and so useful to
his fellow-men, has been led away, in this instance, by too earnest a
desire to promote the welfare of mankind.
CHAP. 30.—FOUR REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SCINCUS.
Similar in appearance to the preceding animals is the scincus,[2249]
which by some writers has been called the land crocodile; it is,
however, whiter in appearance, and the skin is not so thick. But the
main difference between it and the crocodile is in the arrangement of
the scales, which run from the tail towards the head. The largest of
these animals is the Indian scincus, and next to it that of Arabia;
they are brought here salted. The muzzle and fat of the scincus, taken
in white wine, act as an aphrodisiac; when used with satyrion[2250]
and rocket-seed more particularly, in the proportion of one drachma
of each, mixed with two drachmæ of pepper; the whole being made up
into lozenges of one drachma each, and so taken in drink. The flesh
from the flanks, taken internally in a similar manner, in doses of two
oboli, with myrrh and pepper, is generally thought to be productive
of a similar effect, and to be even more efficacious for the purpose.
According to Apelles, the flesh of the scincus is good for wounds
inflicted by poisoned arrows, whether taken before or after the wound
is inflicted: it is used as an ingredient, also, in the most celebrated
antidotes. Sextius tells us, that, taken in doses of more than one
drachma, in one semisextarius of wine, the flesh is productive of
deadly results: he adds, too, that a broth prepared from it, taken with
honey, acts as an antaphrodisiac.
CHAP. 31.—SEVEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.
Between the crocodile, too, and the hippopotamus there is a certain
affinity, frequenting as they do the same river, and being both of them
of an amphibious nature. The hippopotamus was the first inventor of
the practice of letting blood, a a fact to which we have[2251] made
allusion on a previous occasion: it is found, too, in the greatest
numbers in the parts above the præfecture of Saïs.
The hide, reduced to ashes and applied with water, is curative
of inflamed tumours, and the fat, as well as the dung, used as a
fumigation, is employed for the cure of cold agues. With the teeth
of the left side of the jaw, the gums are scarified for the cure of
tooth-ache. The skin of the left side of the forehead, attached to the
groin, acts as an antaphrodisiac; and an application of the ashes of
the same part will cause the hair to grow when lost through alopecy.
The testes are taken in water, in doses of one drachma, for the cure of
injuries inflicted by serpents. The blood is made use of by painters.
CHAP. 32.—FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE LYNX.
To foreign countries, also, belongs the lynx, which of all quadrupeds
is possessed of the most piercing sight. It is said that in the Isle of
Carpathus a most powerful medicament is obtained by reducing to ashes
the nails of the lynx, together with the hide; that these ashes, taken
in drink, have the effect of checking abominable desires in men; and
that, if they are sprinkled upon women, all libidinous thoughts will be
restrained. They are good too for the removal of itching sensations in
any part of the body. The urine of the lynx is a remedy for strangury;
for which reason the animal, it is said, is in the habit of rooting
up the ground and covering it the moment it is voided.[2252] It is
mentioned, too, that this urine is an effectual remedy for pains in the
throat. Thus much with reference to foreign animals.
CHAP. 33. (9.)—REMEDIES FURNISHED IN COMMON BY ANIMALS OF THE SAME
CLASS, WHETHER WILD OR TAME. FIFTY-FOUR MEDICINAL USES OF MILK, WITH
OBSERVATIONS THEREON.
We will now return to our own part of the world, speaking, first of
all, of certain remedies common to animals in general, but excellent in
their nature; such as the use of milk, for example. The most beneficial
milk to every creature is the mother’s[2253] milk. It is highly
dangerous for nursing women to conceive: children that are suckled
by them are known among us as “colostrati,”[2254] their milk being
thick, like cheese in appearance—the name “colostra,”[2255] it should
be remembered, is given to the first milk secreted after delivery,
which assumes a spongy, coagulated form. The most nutritive milk, in
all cases, is woman’s milk, and next to that goats’ milk, to which
is owing, probably, the fabulous story that Jupiter was suckled by a
goat.[2256] The sweetest, next to woman’s milk, is camels’ milk; but
the most efficacious, medicinally speaking, is asses’ milk. It is in
animals of the largest size and individuals of the greatest bulk, that
the milk is secreted with the greatest facility. Goats’ milk agrees
the best with the stomach, that animal browsing more than grazing.
Cows’ milk is considered more medicinal, while ewes’ milk is sweeter and
more nutritive, but not so well adapted to the stomach, it being more
oleaginous than any other.
Every kind of milk is more aqueous in spring than in summer, and the
same in all cases where the animal has grazed upon a new pasture.
The best milk of all is that which adheres to the finger nail, when
placed there, and does not run from off it. Milk is most harmless when
boiled, more particularly if sea pebbles[2257] have been boiled with
it. Cows’ milk is the most relaxing, and all kinds of milk are less
apt to inflate when boiled. Milk is used for all kinds of internal
ulcerations, those of the kidneys, bladder, intestines, throat, and
lungs in particular; and externally, it is employed for itching
sensations upon the skin, and for purulent eruptions, it being taken
fasting for the purpose. We have already[2258] stated, when speaking
of the plants, how that in Arcadia cows’ milk is administered for
phthisis, consumption, and cachexy. Instances are cited, also, of
persons who have been cured of gout in the hands and feet, by drinking
asses’ milk.
To these various kinds of milk, medical men have added another, to
which they have given the name of “schiston;”[2259] following being
the usual method of preparing it. Goats’ milk, which is used in
preference for the purpose, is boiled in a new earthen vessel, and
stirred with branches of a fig-tree newly gathered, as many cyathi
of honied wine being added to it as there are semisextarii of milk.
When the mixture boils, care is taken to prevent it running over, by
plunging into it a silver cyathus measure filled with cold water,
none of the water being allowed to escape. When taken off the fire,
the constituent parts of it divide as it cools, and the whey is thus
separated from the milk. Some persons, again, take this whey, which is
now very strongly impregnated with wine, and, after boiling it down to
one third, leave it to cool in the open air. The best way of taking
it, is in doses of one semisextarius, at stated intervals, during
five consecutive days; after taking it, riding exercise should be
used by the patient. This whey is administered in cases of epilepsy,
melancholy, paralysis, leprosy, elephantiasis, and diseases of the
joints.
Milk is employed as an injection where excoriations have been caused
by the use of strong purgatives; in cases also where dysentery is
productive of chafing, it is similarly employed, boiled with sea
pebbles or a ptisan of barley. Where, however, the intestines are
excoriated, cows’ milk or ewes’ milk is the best. New milk is used as
an injection for dysentery; and in an unboiled state, it is employed
for affections of the colon and uterus, and for injuries inflicted by
serpents. It is also taken internally as an antidote to the venom of
cantharides, the pine-caterpillar, the buprestis, and the salamander.
Cows’ milk is particularly recommended for persons who have taken
colchicum, hemlock, dorycnium,[2260] or the flesh of the sea-hare;
and asses’ milk, in cases where gypsum, white-lead, sulphur,[2261]
or quick-silver, have been taken internally. This last is good too
for constipation attendant upon fever, and is remarkably useful as a
gargle for ulcerations of the throat. It is taken, also, internally,
by patients suffering from atrophy, for the purpose of recruiting
their exhausted strength; as also in cases of fever unattended with
head-ache. The ancients held it as one of their grand secrets, to
administer to children, before taking food, a semisextarius of asses’
milk, or for want of that, goats’ milk; a similar dose, too, was given
to children troubled with chafing of the rectum at stool. It is
considered a sovereign remedy for hardness of breathing, to take cows’
milk whey, mixed with nasturtium. In cases of ophthalmia, too, the
eyes are fomented with a mixture of one semisextarius of milk and four
drachmæ of pounded sesame.
Goats’ milk is a cure for diseases of the spleen; but in such case the
goats must fast a couple of days, and be fed on ivy-leaves the third;
the patient, too, must drink the milk for three consecutive days,
without taking any other nutriment. Milk, under other circumstances,
is detrimental to persons suffering from head-ache, liver complaints,
diseases of the spleen, and affections of the sinews; it is bad for
fevers, also, vertigo—except, indeed, where it is required as a
purgative—oppression of the head, coughs, and ophthalmia. Sows’ milk is
extremely useful in cases of tenesmus, dysentery, and phthisis; authors
have been found too, to assert that it is very wholesome for females.
CHAP. 34.—TWELVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CHEESE.
We have already[2262] spoken of the different kinds of cheese when
treating of the mamillæ and other parts of animals. Sextius attributes
the same properties to mares’ milk cheese that he does to cheese made
of cows’ milk: to the former he gives the names of “hippace.” Cheese
is best for the stomach when not salted, or, in other words, when new
cheese is used. Old [salted] cheese has a binding effect upon the
bowels, and reduces the flesh, but is more wholesome to the stomach
[than new salted cheese]. Indeed, we may pronounce of aliments in
general, that salt meats reduce the system, while fresh food has a
tendency to make flesh. Fresh cheese, applied with honey, effaces
the marks of bruises. It acts, also, emolliently upon the bowels;
and, taken in the form of tablets, boiled in astringent wine and then
toasted with honey on a platter, it modifies and alleviates griping
pains in the bowels.
The cheese known as “saprum,”[2263] is beaten up, in wine, with salt
and dried sorb apples, and taken, in drink, for the cure of cœliac
affections. Goats’ milk cheese, pounded and applied to the part
affected, is a cure for carbuncle of the generative organs; sour
cheese,[2264] also, with oxymel, is productive of a similar effect.
In the bath it is used as a friction, alternately with oil, for the
removal of spots.
CHAP. 35.—TWENTY-FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM BUTTER.