REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE AQUATIC PRODUCTIONS.
CHAP. 1. (1.)—REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH WATER.
We have now to speak of the benefits derived, in a medicinal point of
view, from the aquatic productions; for not here even has all-bounteous
Nature reposed from her work. Amid waves and billows, and tides of
rivers for ever on the ebb and flow, she still unceasingly exerts her
powers; and nowhere, if we must confess the truth, does she display
herself in greater might, for it is this among the elements that holds
sway over all the rest. It is water that swallows up dry land, that
extinguishes flame, that ascends aloft, and challenges possession of
the very heavens: it is water that, spreading clouds as it does, far
and wide, intercepts the vital air we breathe; and, through their
collision, gives rise to thunders and lightnings,[2921] as the elements
of the universe meet in conflict.
What can there be more marvellous than waters suspended aloft in the
heavens? And yet, as though it were not enough to reach so high an
elevation as this, they sweep along with them whole shoals of fishes,
and often stones as well, thus lading themselves with ponderous masses
which belong to other elements, and bearing them on high. Falling upon
the earth, these waters become the prime cause of all that is there
produced; a truly wondrous provision of Nature, if we only consider,
that in order to give birth to grain and life to trees and to shrubs,
water must first leave the earth for the heavens, and thence bring
down to vegetation the breath of life! The admission must be surely
extorted from us, that for all our resources the earth is indebted to
the bounteousness of water. It will be only proper, therefore, in the
first place to set forth some instances of the powerful properties
displayed by this element; for as to the whole of them, what living
mortal could describe them?
CHAP. 2. (2.)—THE DIFFERENT PROPERTIES OF WATERS.
On all sides, and in a thousand countries, there are waters bounteously
springing forth from the earth, some of them cold, some hot, and some
possessed of these properties united: those in the territory of the
Tarbelli,[2922] for instance, a people of Aquitania, and those among
the Pyrenæan[2923] Mountains, where hot and cold springs are separated
by only the very smallest distance. Then, again, there are others that
are tepid only, or lukewarm, announcing thereby the resources they
afford for the treatment of diseases, and bursting forth, for the
benefit of man alone, out of so many animated beings.[2924]
Under various names, too, they augment the number of the
divinities,[2925] and give birth to cities; Puteoli,[2926] for
example, in Campania, Statyellæ[2927] in Liguria, and Sextiæ[2928]
in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. But nowhere do they abound in
greater number, or offer a greater variety of medicinal properties
than in the Gulf of Baiæ;[2929] some being impregnated with sulphur,
some with alum, some with salt, some with nitre,[2930] and some with
bitumen, while others are of a mixed quality, partly acid and partly
salt. In other cases, again, it is by their vapours that waters are so
beneficial to man, being so intensely hot as to heat our baths even,
and to make cold water boil in our sitting-baths; such, for instance,
as the springs at Baiæ, now known as “Posidian,” after the name of a
freedman[2931] of the Emperor Claudius; waters which are so hot as to
cook articles of food even. There are others, too,—those, for example,
formerly the property of Licinius Crassus—which send forth their
vapours in the sea[2932] even, thus providing resources for the health
of man in the very midst of the waves!
CHAP. 3.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WATER.
According to their respective kinds, these waters are beneficial for
diseases of the sinews, feet, or hips, for sprains or for fractures;
they act, also, as purgatives upon the bowels, heal wounds,[2933] and
are singularly useful for affections of the head and ears: indeed, the
waters of Cicero are good for the eyes.[2934] The country-seat where
these last are found is worthy of some further mention: travelling
from Lake Avernus towards Puteoli, it is to be seen on the sea-shore,
renowned for its fine portico and its grove. Cicero gave it the name of
Academia,[2935] after the place so called at Athens: it was here that
he composed those treatises[2936] of his that were called after it;
it was here, too, that he raised those monuments[2937] to himself; as
though, indeed, he had not already done so throughout the length and
breadth of the known world.
Shortly after the death of Cicero, and when it had come into the
possession of Antistius Vetus,[2938] certain hot springs burst forth at
the very portals[2939] of this house, which were found to be remarkably
beneficial for diseases of the eyes, and have been celebrated in verse
by Laurea Tullius,[2940] one of the freedmen of Cicero; a fact which
proves to demonstration that his servants even had received inspiration
from that majestic and all-powerful genius of his. I will give the
lines, as they deserve to be read, not there only, but everywhere:
Great prince of Roman eloquence, thy grove,
Where erst thou bad’st it rise, is verdant now:
Thy villa, from fair Academia[2941] nam’d,
From Vetus now its finish’d graces takes.
Here, too, fair streams burst forth, unknown before,
Which with their spray the languid eyes relieve.
The land, I ween, these bounteous springs reveal’d,
To honour Cicero, its ancient lord.
Throughout the world his works by eyes are scann’d;
May eyes unnumber’d by these streams be heal’d.
CHAP. 4.—WATERS PRODUCTIVE OF FECUNDITY. WATERS CURATIVE OF INSANITY.
In Campania, too, are the waters of Sinuessa,[2942] remedial, it is
said, for sterility in females, and curative of insanity in men.
CHAP. 5.—WATERS REMEDIAL FOR URINARY CALCULI.
The waters of the island of Ænaria are curative of urinary
calculi,[2943] it is said; and the same is the case with the cold
spring of Acidula,[2944] four miles distant from Teanum[2945]
Sidicinum, the waters at Stabiæ, known as the Dimidiæ,[2946] and those
in the territory of Venafrum,[2947] which take their rise in the spring
of Acidula. Patients suffering from these complaints may be cured
also by drinking the waters of Lake Velia;[2948] the same effects
being produced by those of a spring in Syria, near Mount Taurus, M.
Varro says, and by those of the river Gallus in Phrygia, as we learn
from Callimachus. In taking the waters, however, of this last, the
greatest moderation is necessary, as they are apt to cause delirium;
an effect equally produced, Ctesias tells us, by the waters of the Red
Fountain[2949] in Æthiopia.
CHAP. 6.—WATERS CURATIVE OF WOUNDS.
The tepid waters of Albula,[2950] near Rome, have a healing effect upon
wounds. Those of Cutilia,[2951] again, in the Sabine territory, are
intensely cold, and by a kind of suction penetrate the body to such a
degree as to have the effect of a mordent almost. They are remarkably
beneficial for affections of the stomach, sinews, and all parts of the
body, in fact.
CHAP. 7.—WATERS PREVENTIVE OF ABORTION.
The waters of Thespiæ[2952] ensure conception to females; the same,
too, with those of the river Elatus[2953] in Arcadia. The spring
Linus,[2954] also in Arcadia, acts as a preservative of the fœtus and
effectually prevents abortion. The waters of the river Aphrodisius, on
the other hand, in the territory of Pyrrhæa,[2955] are productive of
sterility.
CHAP. 8.—WATERS WHICH REMOVE MORPHEW.
The waters of Lake Alphius remove white morphew,[2956] Varro tells
us; who also mentions the fact that one Titius,[2957] a personage who
had held the prætorship, had a face to all appearance like that of a
marble statue, in consequence of this disease. The waters of the river
Cydnus,[2958] in Cilicia, are curative of gout, as would appear from
a letter addressed by Cassius[2959] of Parma to Marcus Antonius. At
Trœzen, on the contrary, all the inhabitants are subject to diseases of
the feet, owing to the bad quality of the water there. The state of the
Tungri,[2960] in Gaul, has a spring of great renown, which sparkles as
it bursts forth with bubbles innumerable, and has a certain ferruginous
taste, only to be perceived after it has been drunk. This water is
strongly purgative, is curative of tertian fevers, and disperses
urinary calculi: upon the application of fire it assumes a turbid
appearance, and finally turns red. The springs[2961] of Leucogæa,
between Puteoli and Neapolis, are curative of eye diseases and of
wounds. Cicero, in his work entitled “Admiranda,”[2962] has remarked
that it is only by the waters of the marshes of Reate[2963] that the
hoofs of beasts of burden are hardened.
CHAP. 9.—WATERS WHICH COLOUR THE HAIR.
Eudicus informs us that in Hestiæotis[2964] there are two springs;
one of which, Cerona, renders sheep black that drink of it, while the
other, called Neleus, turns them white: if, again, a sheep should
happen to drink their waters mixed, its fleece will be mottled.
According to Theophrastus, the water of the Crathis,[2965] a river of
Thurii, makes sheep and cattle white, while that of the river Sybaris
turns them black.
CHAP. 10.—WATERS WHICH COLOUR THE HUMAN BODY.
And not only this, but human beings even, Theophrastus tells us,
are sensible of this difference: for persons who drink the water of
the Sybaris, he says, become more swarthy and more hardy, the hair
inclining to curl: while those, again, who drink of the Crathis become
fair and more soft-skinned, with the hair growing straight and long.
So, too, in Macedonia, persons who wish the produce to be white, drive
their cattle to the river Haliacmon, while those who desire a black
or tawny colour, take them to water at the Axius. Upon the same
authority, too, we learn that in certain localities, as in the country
of the Messapii, for instance, all the productions, the cereals even,
grow of a tawny colour; and that at Lusi,[2966] in Arcadia, there is a
certain fountain in which land-mice live and dwell. The river Aleos,
which passes through Erythræ, promotes the growth of hair upon the body.
CHAP. 11.—WATERS WHICH AID THE MEMORY, OR ARE PRODUCTIVE OF
FORGETFULNESS.
At the Temple[2967] of the god Trophonius, in Bœotia, near the river
Hercynnus, there are two fountains,[2968] one of which aids the memory,
while the other is productive of forgetfulness: hence the names which
they respectively bear.
CHAP. 12.—WATERS WHICH SHARPEN OR DULL THE SENSES. WATERS WHICH IMPROVE
THE VOICE.
Near the town of Cescum, in Cilicia, runs the river Nus,[2969] the
waters of which, according to Varro, sharpen the intellect; while those
of a certain spring in the island of Cea dull the senses. At Zama, in
Africa, there is a spring, the waters of which render the voice more
musical.[2970]
CHAP. 13.—WATERS WHICH CAUSE A DISTASTE FOR WINE. WATERS WHICH PRODUCE
INEBRIETY.
Eudoxus says that persons who drink the water[2971] of Lake Clitorius
take a distaste for wine, and Theopompus asserts that the waters of the
springs already[2972] named are productive of inebriety. According to
Mucianus,[2973] there is a fountain at Andros, consecrated to Father
Liber, from which wine flows during the seven days appointed for the
yearly festival of that god, the taste of which becomes like that of
water the moment it is taken out of sight of the temple.
CHAP. 14.—WATERS WHICH SERVE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR OIL.
Polyclitus says, that the water[2974] of the river Liparis,[2975] near
Soli, in Cilicia, is used as a substitute for oil, and Theophrastus
mentions a spring of that name in Æthiopia, which is possessed of
similar properties. Lycus says, that at Tasitia[2976] there is a
fountain of it, the water of which emits light: the same is asserted,
too, of a spring at Ecbatana. According to Theopompus, there is a lake
at Scotussa,[2977] the waters of which heal wounds.
CHAP. 15.—SALT AND BITTER WATERS.
Juba says, that in the country of the Troglodytæ there is a lake,
called the “Lake of Insanity,”[2978] from its highly noxious
properties: thrice a day it becomes salt and bitter, and then again
fresh, the same taking place as many times during the night. It
is full, he says, of white serpents, twenty cubits long.[2979] He
mentions, also, a certain spring in Arabia, which rises from the ground
with such remarkable force, as to throw back any object pressed down
upon it, however weighty.
CHAP. 16.—WATERS WHICH THROW UP STONES. WATERS WHICH CAUSE LAUGHTER AND
WEEPING. WATERS WHICH ARE SAID TO BE CURATIVE OF LOVE.
Theophrastus makes mention of the fountain of Marsyas, near the city
of Celænæ, in Phrygia, which throws up masses of stone. Not far from it
are two other springs, called Clæon[2980] and Gelon by the Greeks, from
the effects which they respectively produce. At Cyzicus is a fountain
known as that of Cupido, the waters of which, Mucianus believes,[2981]
cure those who drink thereof of love.
CHAP. 17.—WATERS WHICH PRESERVE THEIR WARMTH FOR THREE DAYS.
At Crannon[2982] there are certain hot springs, though not at boiling
heat, the water of which, mixed with wine, preserves it warm in the
vessels for a period of three days. The same is the case, too, with the
springs of Mattiacum[2983] in Germany, beyond the river Rhenus, the
water of which retains its boiling heat three days. The margin of these
springs is covered with pumice, formed by the action of the water.
CHAP. 18.—OTHER MARVELLOUS FACTS CONNECTED WITH WATER. WATERS IN WHICH
EVERYTHING WILL SINK. WATERS IN WHICH NOTHING WILL SINK.
If any of the above-mentioned facts have the appearance of being
incredible to a person, I would have him know that there is no
department of Nature which presents greater marvels than this,
independently of the numerous peculiarities which have been already
mentioned[2984] in an earlier part of this work. Ctesias informs
us that, in India, there is a lake of standing water, upon which
nothing[2985] will float, every object instantly sinking to the bottom.
Cælius says that in the waters of Lake Avernus,[2986] in our own
part of the world, the very leaves of the trees even will sink; and,
according to Varro, these waters are fatal to such birds as fly towards
them.
On the other hand, again, in the waters of Lake Apuscidamus,[2987] in
Africa, nothing will sink; the same, too, Apion tells us, with the
fountain of Plinthia in Sicily, as also a certain lake in Media, and
the well of Saturn. The spring of Limyra[2988] not unfrequently makes
its way through the neighbouring localities, and when it does so, is
always portentous of some coming event. It is a singular thing too,
that the fish always accompany its waters on these occasions; the
inhabitants of the adjoining districts being in the habit of consulting
them by offering them food. When the fishes seize it with avidity,
the answer is supposed to be favourable; but if, on the other hand,
they reject the food, by flapping it with their tails, the response
is considered to be unfavourable. The river Holcas, in Bithynia, runs
close to Bryazus,[2989] the name of a temple and of a divinity there
worshipped; persons guilty of perjury, it is said, cannot endure
contact with its waters, which burn like flame.[2990]
The sources, too, of the Tamaricus,[2991] a river of Cantabria, are
considered to possess certain powers of presaging future events: they
are three in number, and, separated solely by an interval of eight
feet, unite in one channel, and so form a mighty stream. These springs
are often dry a dozen times in the day, sometimes as many as twenty,
without there being the slightest trace of water there: while, on the
other hand, a spring close at hand is flowing abundantly and without
intermission. It is considered an evil presage when persons who wish
to see these springs find them dry: a circumstance which happened very
recently, for example, to Lartius Licinius,[2992] who held the office
of legatus after his prætorship; for at the end of seven days after his
visit he died.
In Judæa there is a river[2993] that is dry every Sabbath day.
CHAP. 19.—DEADLY WATERS. POISONOUS FISHES.
There are other marvels again, connected with water, but of a more
fatal nature. Ctesias states in his writings, that there is a spring
in Armenia, the fishes in which are black,[2994] and, if used as food,
productive of instantaneous death. I have heard the same, too, with
reference to the waters near the sources of the river Danuvius,[2995]
until a spring is reached which is near its main channel, and beyond
which this poisonous kind of fish is not to be found. Hence it is that
this spot is generally looked upon as the source of the river. The
same, too, is reported of the Lake of the Nymphs, in Lydia. Near the
river Pheneus, in Achaia, there flows from the rocks a spring known as
the Styx, the waters of which, as already[2996] stated, are instantly
fatal. And not only this, but there are also small fish in it,
Theophrastus says, which are as deadly as the water, a thing that is
not the case with the fish of any other poisonous springs. Theopompus
says, that at the town of Cychri, in Thrace, the waters are deadly;
and Lycus states, that at Leontium[2997] there is a spring, the waters
of which are fatal at the end of a couple of days to those who drink
thereof. Varro speaks also of a spring upon Mount Soracte, some four
feet in breadth, the waters of which bubble forth at sunrise, as though
they were boiling; birds, he says, which only taste thereof, fall dead
close by.
And then, besides, we meet with this insidious circumstance, that
in some cases, waters of this nature are inviting even in their
appearance; those at Nonacris, in Arcadia, for example, the water
of which fountain possesses no apparent quality to excite mistrust,
though, owing to its intense coldness, it is generally looked upon
as highly injurious, seeing that it petrifies as it flows. It is
otherwise with the waters of Tempe, in Thessaly, their baneful
properties inspiring universal terror, and possessing the property of
corroding copper even and iron, it is said. This stream runs a short
distance only, as already stated;[2998] and it is truly marvellous
that, according to general report, the banks of its source[2999] are
surrounded with the roots of a wild carob,[3000] always covered with
purple flowers, while the margin is clothed with a green herbaceous
plant of a peculiar species. In Macedonia, not far from the tomb of the
Poet Euripides, is the confluence of two streams, the water of one of
which is extremely wholesome, that of the other fatal.
CHAP. 20.—WATERS WHICH PETRIFY, THEMSELVES, OR CAUSE OTHER OBJECTS TO
PETRIFY.
At Perperena,[3001] there is a spring which petrifies[3002] the ground
wherever it flows, the same being the case also, with the hot waters
at Ædepsus, in Eubœa; for there, wherever the stream falls, the rocks
are continually increasing in height. At Eurymenæ,[3003] chaplets,
when thrown into the waters of a certain fountain there, are turned
to stone. At Colossæ there is a river, into the water of which if
bricks[3004] are thrown, when taken out they are found changed into
stone. In the mines of Scyros, the trees petrify that are watered by
the river, branches and all. In the caverns of Mount Corycus, the
drops of water that trickle down the rocks become hard in the form of
a stone.[3005] At Mieza, too, in Macedonia, the water petrifies as it
hangs from the vaulted roofs of the rocks; but at Corycus it is only
when it has fallen that it becomes hard.
In other caverns, again, the water petrifies both ways,[3006] and so
forms columns; as we find the case in a vast grotto at Phausia, a
town of the Chersonesus[3007] of the Rhodians, the columns of which
are tinted with various colours. These instances will suffice for the
present.
CHAP. 21. (3.)—THE WHOLESOMENESS OF WATERS.
It is a subject of enquiry among medical men, which kind of water is
the most beneficial. They condemn, and with justice, all stagnant,
sluggish, waters, and are of opinion that running water is the best,
being rendered lighter and more salubrious by its current and its
continuous agitation. Hence it is that I am much surprised that persons
should be found to set so high a value as they do, upon cistern water.
These last give as their reason, however, that rain-water must be the
lightest water of all, seeing that it has been able to rise[3008]
aloft and remain suspended in the air. Hence it is, too, that they
prefer snow-water to rain-water, and ice, again, to snow, as being
water subtilized to the highest possible degree; on the ground that
snow-water and ice-water must be lighter than ordinary water, and ice,
of necessity, considerably lighter. It is for the general interest,
however, of mankind, that these notions should be refuted. For, in the
first place, this comparative lightness which they speak of, could
hardly be ascertained in any other way than by the sensation, there
being pretty nearly no difference at all in weight between the kinds
of water. Nor yet, in the case of rain-water, is it any proof of its
lightness that it has made its way upwards into the air, seeing that
stones,[3009] it is quite evident, do the same: and then, besides, this
water, while falling, must of necessity become tainted with the vapours
which rise from the earth; a circumstance owing to which it is, that
such numerous impurities[3010] are to be detected in rain-water, and
that it ferments[3011] with such extreme rapidity.
I am, surprised, too, that snow[3012] and ice should be regarded as
the most subtilized states of this element, in juxtaposition with
the proofs supplied us by hail, the water of which, it is generally
agreed, is the most pernicious of all to drink. And then, besides,
there are not a few among the medical men themselves, who assert
that the use of ice-water and snow-water is highly injurious, from
the circumstance that all the more refined parts thereof have been
expelled by congelation. At all events, it is a well-ascertained fact
that the volume of every liquid is diminished by congelation; as also
that excessive dews[3013] a reproductive of blight in corn, and that
hoar-frosts result in blast; of a kindred nature, both of them, to
snow. It is generally agreed, too, that rain-water putrefies with
the greatest rapidity, and that it keeps but very badly on a voyage.
Epigenes, however, assures us that water which has putrefied seven
times and as often purified[3014] itself, will no longer be liable to
putrefaction. As to cistern-water, medical men assure us that, owing
to its harshness, it is bad for the bowels and throat;[3015] and it is
generally admitted by them that there is no kind of water that contains
more slime or more numerous insects of a disgusting nature. But it does
not, therefore, follow that river water is the best of all, or that, in
fact, of any running stream, the water of many lakes being found to be
wholesome in the very highest degree.
What water, then, out of all these various kinds, are we to look
upon as best adapted for the human constitution? Different kinds in
different localities, is my answer. The kings of Parthia drink no water
but that of the Choaspes[3016] or of the Eulæus, and, however long
their journies, they always have this water carried in their suite.
And yet it is very evident that it is not merely because this water is
river-water that it is thus pleasing to them, seeing that they decline
to drink the water of the Tigris, Euphrates, and so many other streams.
CHAP. 22.—THE IMPURITIES OF WATER.
Slime[3017] is one great impurity of water: still, however, if a river
of this description is full of eels, it is generally looked upon as
a proof[3018] of the salubrity of its water; just as it is regarded
as a sign of its freshness when long worms[3019] breed in the water
of a spring. But it is bitter water, more particularly, that is held
in disesteem, as also the water which swells the stomach the moment
it is drunk, a property which belongs to the water at Trœzen. As to
the nitrous[3020] and salso-acid[3021] waters which are found in the
deserts, persons travelling across towards the Red Sea render them
potable in a couple of hours by the addition of polenta, which they
use also as food. Those springs are more particularly condemned which
secrete mud,[3022] or which give a bad complexion to persons who drink
thereof. It is a good plan, too, to observe if water leaves stains
upon copper vessels; if leguminous vegetables boil with difficulty in
it; if, when gently decanted, it leaves an earthy deposit; or if, when
boiled, it covers the vessel with a thick crust.[3023]
It is a fault also in water,[3024] not only to have a bad smell,[3025]
but to have any flavour[3026] at all, even though it be a flavour
pleasant and agreeable in itself, or closely approaching, as we often
find the case, the taste of milk. Water, to be truly wholesome, ought
to resemble air[3027] as much as possible. There is only one[3028]
spring of water in the whole universe, it is said, that has an
agreeable smell, that of Chabura, namely, in Mesopotamia: the people
give a fabulous reason for it, and say that it is because Juno[3029]
bathed there. Speaking in general terms, water, to be wholesome, should
have neither taste nor smell.
CHAP. 23.—THE MODES OF TESTING WATER.
Some persons judge of the wholesomeness of water through the agency
of a balance:[3030] their pains, however, are expended to little
purpose, it being but very rarely that one water is lighter than
another. There is, however, a more certain mode of ascertaining the
difference in quality, that water being the better of the two which
becomes hot and cold with the greatest rapidity: in addition to which,
not to keep poising a balance,[3031] after water has been drawn up in
vessels, if it is good, it should gradually become warmer, they say,
when placed upon the ground. Which water, then, of the several kinds
will be most likely to be good and wholesome? Well-water, no doubt if
we are to judge from the general use made of it in cities: but only
in the case of wells in which it is kept in continual agitation by
repeated drawing, and is refined by the earth acting as a filter. These
conditions are sufficient to ensure salubrity in water: in regard to
coolness, the well must be in a shaded spot, and the water kept exposed
to the air. There is, however one thing above all to be observed,
a point, too, of considerable importance with reference to the
continuance of the flow—the spring must issue from the bed of the well,
and not from the sides. To make water cold to the touch may be effected
artificially even, either by forcing it to rise aloft or by making it
fall from a height, and so come in collision with the air, and become
incorporated[3032] therewith: for in swimming,[3033] we find, when we
hold our breath, the water is felt to be all the colder.
It was the Emperor Nero’s invention[3034] to boil water, and then
enclose it in glass vessels and cool it in snow; a method which ensures
all the enjoyment of a cold beverage, without any of the inconveniences
resulting from the use of snow. Indeed, it is generally admitted
that all water is more[3035] wholesome when it has been boiled;
as also, that water when it has once been heated, will become more
intensely[3036] cold than before—a most ingenious discovery.[3037] The
best corrective of unwholesome water is to boil it down to one half.
Cold water, taken internally, arrests hæmorrhage. By keeping cold water
in his mouth, a person may render himself proof against the intense
heat of the bath. Many a person knows by his own every-day experience,
that water which is the coldest to drink is not of necessity the
coldest to the touch, this delightful property being subject to
considerable fluctuations.[3038]
CHAP. 24.—THE MARCIAN WATERS.
The most celebrated water throughout the whole world, and the one to
which our city gives the palm for coolness and salubrity, is that of
the Marcian[3039] Spring, accorded to Rome among the other bounties of
the gods: the name formerly given to the stream was the “Aufeian,” the
spring itself being known as “Pitonia.” It rises[3040] at the extremity
of the mountains of the Peligni, passes through the territory of the
Marsi and through Lake Fucinus, and then, without deviating, makes
directly for Rome: shortly after this, it loses itself in certain
caverns, and only reappears in the territory of Tibur, from which it is
brought to the City by an arched aqueduct nine miles in length. Ancus
Marcius, one of the Roman kings, was the first[3041] who thought of
introducing this water into the City. At a later period, the works were
repaired by Quintus Marcius Rex: and, more recently, in his prætorship,
by M. Agrippa.[3042]
CHAP. 25.—THE VIRGIN WATERS.
It was he, too, who brought the Virgin[3043] Waters from the bye-road
situate at the eighth milestone from the City, which runs for two
miles along the Prænestine Way. Near these waters is the stream
of Hercules, which the former shun, to all appearance, and have
thence obtained[3044] the name of “Virgin Waters.” On instituting
a comparison between the waters of these streams, the difference
above-mentioned[3045] may be immediately detected, the Virgin water
being as much cooler to the touch, as the Marcian water is in taste.
And yet, for this long time past, the pleasure of drinking these waters
has been lost to the City, owing to the ambition and avarice of certain
persons who have turned[3046] them out of their course for the supply
of their country-seats and of various places in the suburbs, to the
great detriment of the public health.
CHAP. 26.—THE METHOD OF SEARCHING FOR WATER.
It will not be out of place to append here an account of the method
employed in searching for water. Water is mostly to be found in
valleys, whether formed by the intersection of declivities or lying at
the lower part of mountains. Many persons have been of opinion that all
places with a northern[3047] aspect are naturally provided with water:
a point upon which it will not be amiss to explain the diversities
presented to us by Nature. On the south side of the mountains of
Hyrcania it never rains; and hence it is that it is only on the
north-east side that they are wooded. As for Olympus, Ossa, Parnassus,
the Apennines, and the Alps, they are covered with wood on every side,
and abundantly watered with streams. Some mountains, again, are wooded
on the south side, the White[3048] Mountains in Crete, for example. On
this point, therefore, we may come to the conclusion that there is no
rule which in all cases holds good.
CHAP. 27.—SIGNS INDICATIVE OF THE PRESENCE OF WATER.
The following are indications of the presence of water:—rushes, reeds,
the plant mentioned with reference to this point already,[3049] or
frogs sitting squatted on a spot for a long time together. As to the
wild[3050] willow, alder, vitex, reed, and ivy, all of which grow
spontaneously on low grounds in which there is a settling of rain water
from higher localities, considered as indications of the presence of
water, they are all[3051] of them of a deceptive nature. A sign much
more to be depended upon, is a certain misty exhalation, visible from
a distance before sunrise. The better to observe this, some persons
ascend an eminence, and lie flat at full length upon the ground, with
the chin touching the earth. There is also another peculiar method
of judging upon this point, known only to men of experience in these
matters: in the very middle of the heats of summer they select the
hottest hours of the day, and observe how the sun’s rays are reflected
in each spot; and if, notwithstanding the general dryness of the earth,
a locality is observed to present a moist appearance, they make no
doubt of finding water there.
But so intense is the stress upon the eyes in doing this, that it is
very apt to make them ache; to avoid which inconvenience, they have
recourse to other modes of testing. They dig a hole, for instance, some
five feet in depth, and cover it with vessels of unbaked pottery, or
with a copper basin well-oiled; they then place a burning lamp on the
spot, with an arch-work over it of leaves, and covered with earth on
the top. If, after a time, they find the pots wet or broken, the copper
covered with moisture, or the lamp extinguished, but not from want
of oil, or if a lock of wool that has been left there is found to be
moist, it is a sign of the presence of water, beyond all doubt. With
some persons it is the practice to light a fire on the spot before they
dig the hole, a method which renders the experiment with the vessels
still more conclusive.
CHAP. 28.—DIFFERENCES IN WATERS, ACCORDING TO THE NATURE OF THE SOIL.
The soil itself, too, gives indications of the presence of water,
by presenting white spots, or an uniformly green appearance: for
where the stratum is black the springs are mostly not of a permanent
nature. The presence of potter’s clay always puts an end to all hopes
of finding water, and the excavation is immediately abandoned; an
eye being carefully kept to the strata[3052] of the earth, to see
whether, beginning with black mould, it successively presents the
appearances above-mentioned. The water is always fresh that is found
in argillaceous soils, but in a stratum of tufa it is colder than
elsewhere; this, indeed, being a soil which is highly approved of, as
having a tendency to make the water pure and extremely light to the
stomach, and, by its action as a filter, to withhold all impurities.
The presence of sand[3053] gives indications of springs of but limited
extent, and of water impregnated with slime; while that of gravel
announces the presence of water of excellent flavour, but not to be
depended upon for permanence. Male[3054] sand, fine sea[3055]-sand,
and charcoal[3056] earth, yield a constant supply of water of a
highly wholesome quality; but it is the presence of red stones that
is the most to be depended upon, and the water found there is of the
very finest quality. Craggy localities at the foot of mountains, and
silicious soils, are equally good; in addition to which, the water
found there is cooler than elsewhere.
In boring for water, the soil should always become more and more humid,
and, the deeper the descent, with the greater facility the implements
should penetrate. In deep-sunk wells, the presence of sulphureous[3057]
or aluminous substances is fatal to the sinkers; a danger that may
be guarded against by letting down a lighted lamp, and ascertaining
whether the flame is extinguished. When such is found to be the case,
it is the practice to sink vent-holes on each side of the well,
both right and left, in order to receive and carry off the noxious
exhalations. Independently of these evils, the air becomes heavier,
from the great depth merely of the excavation, an inconvenience which
is remedied by keeping up a continual circulation with ventilators of
linen cloth. As soon as water is reached, walls are constructed at the
bottom, but without cement,[3058] in order that the springs may not be
intercepted.
Some waters, the sources of which do not lie on elevated ground, are
coldest at the beginning of spring, being maintained by the winter
rains in fact. Others, again, are coldest at the rising of the
Dog-star—peculiarities, both of them, to be witnessed at Pella in
Macedonia; for in front of that city there is a marsh-spring, which at
the beginning of summer is cold, while in the more elevated parts of
the city the water is ice-cold[3059] in the hottest days of summer. The
same is the case, too, at Chios, the water-supply of the harbour and of
the city occupying the same relative positions. At Athens, the water
of the Fountain Enneacrunos[3060] is colder in a cloudy summer than
the well there in the garden of Jupiter; while on the other hand, this
last is ice-cold during the drought of a hot summer. For the most part,
however, wells are coldest about the rising of Arcturus.[3061]
(4.) The water-supply of wells never fails in summer, but in all cases
it falls low during four days at the rising of the constellation
above-mentioned. Throughout the whole winter, on the other hand, many
wells entirely fail; as in the neighbourhood of Olynthus, for example,
where the water returns in the early days of spring. In Sicily too,
in the vicinity of Messana and Mylæ, the springs are entirely dry
throughout the winter, while in summer they overflow and form quite a
river. At Apollonia in Pontus there is to be seen, near the sea-shore,
a fountain which overflows in summer only, and mostly about the rising
of the Dog-star; should the summer, however, not be so hot as usual,
its water is less abundant. Certain soils become drier in consequence
of rain, that in the territory of Narnia for example: a fact which M.
Cicero has mentioned in his “Admiranda,” with a statement that drought
is there productive of mud, and rain of dust.[3062]
CHAP. 29.—THE QUALITIES OF WATER AT THE DIFFERENT SEASONS OF THE YEAR.
Every kind of water is freshest in winter, not so fresh in summer,
still less so in autumn, and least of all in times of drought.
River-water, too, is by no means always the same in taste, the state
of the bed over which it runs making a considerable difference. For
the quality of water, in fact, depends upon the nature of the soil
through which it flows, and the juices[3063] of the vegetation watered
by it; hence it is that the water of the same river is found in some
spots to be comparatively unwholesome. The confluents, too, of rivers,
are apt to change the flavour of the water, impregnating the stream in
which they are lost and absorbed; as in the case of the Borysthenes,
for example. In some instances, again, the taste of river-water is
changed by the fall of heavy rains. It has happened three times in the
Bosporus that there has been a fall of salt rain, a phænomenon which
proved fatal to the crops. On three occasions, also, the rains have
imparted a bitterness to the overflowing streams of the Nilus, which
was productive of great pestilence throughout Egypt.
CHAP. 30.—HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS UPON WATERS WHICH HAVE SUDDENLY MADE
THEIR APPEARANCE OR SUDDENLY CEASED.
It frequently happens that in spots where forests have been felled,
springs of water make[3064] their appearance, the supply of which
was previously expended in the nutriment of the trees. This was
the case upon Mount Hæmus for example, when, during the siege by
Cassander,[3065] the Gauls cut down a forest for the purpose of making
a rampart. Very often too, after removing the wood which has covered
an elevated spot and so served to attract and consume the rains,
devastating torrents are formed by the concentration of the waters.
It is very important also, for the maintenance of a constant supply
of water, to till the ground and keep it constantly in motion, taking
care to break and loosen the callosities of the surface crust: at all
events, we find it stated, that upon a city of Crete, Arcadia by name,
being razed to the ground, the springs and water-courses, which before
were very numerous in that locality, all at once dried up; but that,
six years after, when the city was rebuilt, the water again made its
appearance, just as each spot was again brought into cultivation.
(5.) Earthquakes also are apt to discover or swallow[3066] up springs
of water; a thing that has happened, it is well known, on five
different occasions in the vicinity of Pheneus, a town of Arcadia. So
too, upon Mount Coryeus,[3067] a river burst forth; after which, the
soil was subjected to cultivation. These changes are very surprising
where there is no apparent cause for them; such as the occurrence
at Magnesia,[3068] for instance, where the warm waters became cold,
but without losing their brackish flavour; and at the Temple[3069]
of Neptune in Caria, where the water of the river, from being
fresh, became salt. Here, too, is another fact, replete with the
marvellous—the fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse has a smell of dung,
they say, during the celebration of the games at Olympia,[3070] a
thing that is rendered not improbable by the circumstance,[3071] that
the river Alpheus makes its way to that island beneath the bed of the
sea. There is a spring in the Chersonesus of the Rhodians[3072] which
discharges its accumulated impurities every nine years.
Waters, too, sometimes change their colour; as at Babylon, for example,
where the water of a certain lake for eleven days in summer is red.
In the summer season, too, the current of the Borysthenes[3073] is
blue, it is said, and this, although its waters are the most rarefied
in existence, and hence float upon the surface of those of the
Hypanis;[3074]—though at the same time there is this marvellous fact,
that when south winds prevail, the waters of the Hypanis assume the
upper place. Another proof, too, of the surpassing lightness of the
water of the Borysthenes, is the fact that it emits no exhalations,
nor, indeed, the slightest vapour even. Authors that would have the
credit of diligent research in these enquiries, assure us that water
becomes heavier after the winter-solstice.
CHAP. 31. (6.)—THE METHOD OF CONVEYING WATER.
The most convenient method of making a watercourse from the spring
is by employing earthen pipes, two fingers in thickness, inserted in
one another at the points of junction—the one that has the higher
inclination fitting into the lower one—and coated with quick-lime
macerated in oil. The inclination, to ensure the free flow of the
water, ought to be at least one-fourth of an inch to every hundred
feet; and if the water is conveyed through a subterraneous passage,
there should be air-holes let in at intervals of every two[3075] actus.
Where the water is wanted to ascend[3076] aloft, it should be conveyed
in pipes of lead: water, it should be remembered, always rises to the
level of its source. If, again, it is conveyed from a considerable
distance, it should be made to rise and fall every now and then, so as
not to lose its motive power. The proper length for each leaden pipe is
ten feet; and if[3077] the pipe is five fingers in circumference its
weight should be sixty pounds; if eight feet, one hundred; if ten, one
hundred and twenty; and so on in the same proportion.
A pipe is called “a ten-finger”[3078] pipe when the sheet of metal
is ten fingers in breadth before it is rolled up; a sheet one half
that breadth giving a pipe “of five fingers.”[3079] In all sudden
changes of inclination in elevated localities, pipes of five fingers
should be employed, in order to break the impetuosity of the fall:
reservoirs,[3080] too, for branches should be made as circumstances may
demand.
CHAP. 32.—HOW MINERAL WATERS SHOULD BE USED.
I am surprised that Homer has made no[3081] mention of hot springs,
when, on the other hand, he has so frequently introduced the mention
of warm baths: a circumstance from which we may safely conclude that
recourse was not had in his time to mineral waters for their medicinal
properties, a thing so universally the case at the present day. Waters
impregnated with sulphur are good for the sinews,[3082] and aluminous
waters are useful for paralysis and similar relaxations of the system.
Those, again, which are impregnated with bitumen or nitre, the waters
of Cutilia,[3083] for example, are drunk as a purgative.[3084]
Many persons quite pride themselves on enduring the heat of mineral
waters for many hours together; a most pernicious practice, however,
as they should be used but very little longer than the ordinary bath,
after which the bather should be shampooed[3085] with cold water, and
not leave the bath without being rubbed with oil. This last operation,
however, is commonly regarded as altogether foreign to the use of
mineral baths; and hence it is, that there is no situation in which
men’s bodies are more exposed to the chances of disease, the head
becoming saturated with the intensity of the odours exhaled, and left
exposed, perspiring as it is, to the coldness of the atmosphere, while
all the rest of the body is immersed in the water.[3086]
There is another mistake, also, of a similar description, made by
those who pride themselves upon drinking enormous quantities of these
waters;[3087] and I myself have seen persons, before now, so swollen
with drinking it that the very rings on their fingers were entirely
concealed by the skin, owing to their inability to discharge the vast
quantities of water which they had swallowed. It is for this reason,
too, that these waters should never be drunk without taking a taste of
salt every now and then. The very mud,[3088] too, of mineral springs
may be employed to good purpose; but, to be effectual, after being
applied to the body, it must be left to dry in the sun.
It must not be supposed, however, that all hot waters are of necessity
medicated, those of Segesta in Sicily, for example, of Larissa, Troas,
Magnesia, Melos, and Lipara. Nor is the very general supposition
a correct one, that waters, to be medicinal, must of necessity
discolour copper or silver; no such effect being produced by those of
Patavium,[3089] or there being the slightest difference perceptible in
the smell.
CHAP. 33.—THE USES OF SEA-WATER. THE ADVANTAGES OF A SEA-VOYAGE.
Sea-water also is employed in a similar manner for the cure of
diseases. It is used, made hot, for the cure of pains in the sinews,
for reuniting fractured bones, and for its desiccative action upon the
body: for which last purpose, it is also used cold. There are numerous
other medicinal resources derived from the sea; the benefit of a
sea-voyage, more particularly, in cases of phthisis, as already[3090]
mentioned, and where patients are suffering from hæmoptosis, as lately
experienced, in our own memory, by Annæus Gallio,[3091] at the close
of his consulship:[3092] for it is not for the purpose of visiting the
country, that people so often travel to Egypt, but in order to secure
the beneficial results arising from a long sea-voyage. Indeed, the
very sea-sickness that is caused by the rocking of the vessel to and
fro, is good for many affections of the head, eyes, and chest, all
those cases, in fact, in which the patient is recommended to drink
an infusion of hellebore. Medical men consider sea-water, employed
by itself, highly efficacious for the dispersion of tumours, and,
boiled with barley-meal, for the successful treatment of imposthumes
of the parotid glands: it is used also as an ingredient in plasters,
white plasters more particularly, and for emollient[3093] poultices.
Sea-water is very good, too, employed as a shower-bath; and it is taken
internally, though not without[3094] injury to the stomach, both as a
purgative and as an expellent, by vomit and by alvine evacuation, of
black bile[3095] or coagulated blood, as the case may be.
Some authorities prescribe it, taken internally, for quartan fevers,
as also for tenesmus and diseases of the joints; purposes for which
it is kept a considerable time, to mellow with age, and so lose its
noxious[3096] properties. Some, again, are for boiling it, but in all
cases it is recommended to be taken from out at sea, and untainted with
the mixture of fresh water, an emetic also being taken before using it.
When used in this manner, vinegar or wine is generally mixed with the
water. Those who give it unmixed, recommend radishes with oxymel to be
eaten upon it, in order to provoke vomiting. Sea-water, made hot, is
used also as an injection; and there is nothing in existence preferred
to it as a fomentation for swellings of the testes, or for chilblains
before they ulcerate. It is similarly employed, also, for the cure of
prurigo, itch-scab, and lichens. Lice and other foul vermin of the
head, are removed by the application of sea-water, and lividities of
the skin are restored to their natural colour; it being a remarkably
good plan, in such cases, after applying the sea-water, to foment the
parts with hot vinegar.
It is generally considered, too, that sea-water is highly efficacious
for the stings of venomous insects, those of the phalangium and
scorpion, for example, and as an antidote to the poisonous secretions
of the asp, known as the “ptyas;”[3097] in all which cases it is
employed hot. Fumigations are also made of it, with vinegar, for the
cure of head-ache; and, used warm as an injection, it allays griping
pains in the bowels and cholera. Things that have been heated in
sea-water are longer than ordinary in cooling. A sea-water bath is
an excellent corrective for swelling[3098] of the bosoms in females,
affections of the thoracic organs, and emaciation of the body. The
steam also of sea-water boiled with vinegar, is used for the removal
of hardness of hearing and head-ache. An application of sea-water very
expeditiously removes rust upon iron; it is curative also of scab in
sheep, and imparts additional softness to the wool.
CHAP. 34.—HOW ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER MAY BE MADE IN PLACES AT A DISTANCE
FROM THE SEA.
I am by no means unaware that these details may very possibly appear
superfluous to persons who live at a distance from the sea; but
scientific research has made provision against this objection, by
discovering a method of enabling every one to make sea-water[3099]
for himself. It is a singular fact in connexion with this discovery,
that if more than one sextarius of salt is put into four sextarii of
water, the liquefying properties of the water will be overpowered,
and the salt will no longer melt. On the other hand, again, a mixture
of one sextarius of salt with four sextarii of water, acts as a
good substitute for the efficacy and properties of the very saltest
sea-water. The most reasonable proportion, however, is generally
thought to be eight cyathi of salt, diluted in the quantity of water
above mentioned; a preparation which has been found to have a warming
effect upon the sinews, without in any degree chafing the body.
CHAP. 35.—HOW THALASSOMELI IS MADE.
There is also a composition made to ripen for use, known as
“thalassomeli,”[3100] and prepared with equal parts of sea-water,
honey, and rain-water. For this purpose, also, the water is brought
from out at sea, and the preparation is kept in an earthen vessel well
pitched. It acts most efficiently as a purgative, and without in the
least fatiguing the stomach; the taste, too, and smell of it, are very
agreeable.
CHAP. 36.—HOW HYDROMELI IS MADE.
Hydromeli,[3101] also, was a mixture formerly made with pure rain-water
and honey, and was prescribed for patients who were anxious for wine,
as being a more harmless drink. For these many years past, however,
it has been condemned, as having in reality all the inconveniences of
wine, without the advantages.
CHAP. 37.—METHODS OF PROVIDING AGAINST THE INCONVENIENCE OF DRINKING
SUSPECTED WATER.
As persons out at sea often suffer great inconvenience from the want
of fresh water, we will here describe some methods of obviating it.
Fleeces are spread round the ship, and on becoming moistened with the
exhalations arising from the sea, the water is wrung from them, and
found to be quite fresh. Hollow balls of wax, also, or empty vessels
sealed at the mouth, upon being let down into the sea in a net, become
filled with water that is fresh and potable. On shore, too, sea-water
may be made fresh, by filtering it through argillaceous earth.
By swimming in water of any kind, sprains of the limbs in man or beast
are reduced[3102] with the greatest facility. Persons when travelling,
are sometimes apprehensive that the use of water, the quality of
which is unknown to them, may prove injurious to their health: as a
precaution against this, they should drink the suspected water cold,
immediately after leaving the bath.
CHAP. 38.—SIX REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MOSS. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SAND.
Moss which has grown in water[3103] is excellent as a topical
application for gout; and, in combination with oil, it is good for
pains and swellings in the ankles. The foam that floats[3104] upon the
surface of the water, used as a friction, causes warts to disappear.
The sand,[3105] too, of the sea-shore, that more particularly which is
very fine and burnt white by the heat of the sun, is used remedially
for its desiccative properties, the bodies of dropsical or rheumatic
patients being entirely covered with it.
Thus much with reference to water itself; we will now turn to the
aquatic productions, beginning, as in all other instances, with the
principal of them, namely, salt and sponge.
CHAP. 39. (7.)—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SALT; THE METHODS OF PREPARING IT,
AND THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT. TWO HUNDRED AND FOUR OBSERVATIONS
THEREUPON.
All salt is either native or artificial;[3106] both kinds being
formed in various ways, but produced from one of these two causes,
the condensation or the desiccation, of a liquid.[3107] The Lake of
Tarentum is dried up by the heat of the summer sun, and the whole of
its waters, which are at no time very deep, not higher than the knee in
fact, are changed into one mass of salt. The same, too, with a lake in
Sicily, Cocanicus by name, and another in the vicinity of Gela. But in
the case of these two last, it is only the sides[3108] that are thus
dried up; whereas in Phrygia, in Cappadocia, and at Aspendus, where the
same phænomena are observable, the water is dried up to a much larger
extent, to the very middle of the lake, in fact. There is also another
marvellous[3109] circumstance connected with this last—however much
salt is taken out of it in the day, its place is supplied again during
the night. Every kind of lake-salt is found in grains, and not in the
form of blocks.[3110]
Sea-water, again, spontaneously produces another kind of salt, from the
foam which it leaves on shore at high-water mark, or adhering to rocks;
this being, in all cases, condensed by the action of the sun, and
that[3111] salt being the most pungent of the two which is found upon
the rocks.
There are also three different kinds of native salt. In Bactriana there
are two vast lakes;[3112] one of them situate on the side of Scythia,
the other on that of Ariana, both of which throw up vast quantities
of salt.[3113] So, too, at Citium, in Cyprus; and, in the vicinity of
Memphis, they extract salt from the lake and dry it in the sun. The
surface-waters of some rivers, also, condense[3114] in the form of
salt, the rest of the stream flowing beneath, as though under a crust
of ice; such as the running waters near the Caspian Gates[3115] for
instance, which are known as the “Rivers of Salt.” The same is the
case, too, in the vicinity of the Mardi and of the people of Armenia.
In Bactriana, also, the rivers Ochus[3116] and Oxus carry down from the
mountains on their banks, fragments of salt. There are also in Africa
some lakes, the waters of which are turbid, that are productive of
salt. Some hot springs, too, produce salt—those at Pagasæ for example.
Such, then, are the various kinds of salt produced spontaneously by
water.
There are certain mountains, also, formed of native salt; that of
Oromenus, in India, for example, where it is cut out like blocks
from a quarry, and is continually reproduced, bringing in a larger
revenue to the sovereigns of those countries than that arising from
their gold and pearls. In some instances it is dug out of the earth,
being formed there, evidently, by the condensation of the moisture, as
in Cappadocia for example, where it is cut in sheets, like those of
mirror-stone.[3117] The blocks of it are very heavy, the name commonly
given to them being “mica.”[3118] At Gerrhæ,[3119] a city of Arabia,
the ramparts and houses are constructed of blocks of salt, which
are soldered together by being moistened with water. King Ptolemæus
discovered salt also in the vicinity of Pelusium, when he encamped
there; a circumstance which induced other persons to seek and discover
it in the scorched tracts that lie between Egypt and Arabia, beneath
the sand. In the same manner, too, it has been found in the thirsting
deserts of Africa, as far as the oracle of Hammon,[3120] a locality in
which the salt increases at night with the increase of the moon.
The districts of Cyrenaica are ennobled, too, by the production of
hammoniacum,[3121] a salt so called from the fact of its being found
beneath the sands[3122] there. It is similar in colour to the alum
known as “schiston,”[3123] and consists of long pieces, by no means
transparent, and of an unpleasant flavour, but highly useful in
medicine; that being held in the highest esteem, which is the clearest
and divides into straight[3124] flakes. There is one remarkable fact
mentioned in connexion with it: so long as it lies under ground in
its bed[3125] it is extremely light, but the moment it is exposed
to the light, it is hardly credible to what an extent its weight is
increased. The reason for this is evident:[3126] the humid vapours
of the excavations bear the masses upwards, as water does, and so
aid the workmen. It is adulterated with the Sicilian salt which we
have mentioned as being found in Lake Cocanicus, as also with that of
Cyprus, which is marvellously like it. At Egelasta,[3127] in Nearer
Spain, there is a salt, hewn from the bed in almost transparent blocks,
and to which for this long time past most medical men, it is said,
have given the preference over all other salt. Every spot in which
salt[3128] is found is naturally barren, and produces nothing. Such are
the particulars, in general, which have been ascertained with reference
to native salt.
Of artificial salt there are several kinds; the common salt, and the
most abundant, being made from sea-water drained into salt-pans,
and accompanied with streams of fresh water; but it is rain more
particularly, and, above all things, the sun, that aids in its
formation; indeed without this last it would never dry. In the
neighbourhood of Utica, in Africa, they build up masses of salt, like
hills in appearance; and when these have been hardened by the action
of the sun and moon, no moisture will ever melt them, and iron can
hardly divide them. In Crete, however, salt is made without the aid of
fresh water, and merely by introducing sea-water into the salt-pans.
On the shores of Egypt, salt is formed by the overflow of the sea
upon the land, already prepared for its reception, in my opinion, by
the emanations of the river Nilus. It is made here, also, from the
water[3129] of certain wells, discharged into salt-pans. At Babylon,
the result of the first condensation is a bituminous[3130] liquid, like
oil, which is used for burning in lamps; when this is skimmed off, the
salt is found beneath. In Cappadocia, also, both well and spring-water
are introduced into the salt-pans. In Chaonia there is a spring, from
the water of which, when boiled[3131] and left to cool, there is an
inert salt obtained, not so white as ordinary salt. In the Gallic
provinces and in Germany, it is the practice to pour salt-water upon
burning wood.[3132]
CHAP. 40.—MURIA.
In one part of Spain, they draw a brine for this purpose from deep-sunk
pits, to which they give the name of “muria;” being of opinion, also,
that it makes a considerable difference upon what kind of wood it is
poured. That of the quercus they look upon as the best, as the ashes
of it, unmixed, have the pungency of salt.[3133] In other places,
again, the wood of the hazel is held in high esteem; and thus, we see,
by pouring brine upon it, charcoal even is converted into salt. All
salt that is thus prepared with burning wood is black. I find it stated
by Theophrastus, that the Umbri[3134] are in the habit of boiling
ashes of reeds and bulrushes in water, till there remains but little
moisture unconsumed. The brine, too, of salted provisions is sometimes
boiled over again, and, as soon as all the moisture has evaporated, the
salt resumes its original form. That prepared from the pickle of the
mæna[3135] has the finest flavour.
CHAP. 41.—THE VARIOUS PROPERTIES OF SALT: ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY
HISTORICAL REMARKS RELATIVE THERETO.
Of the various kinds of sea-salt, the most esteemed is that of Salamis,
in Cyprus; and of the lake-salts, that of Tarentum, and the salt known
as Tattæan salt, which comes from Phrygia: these last two are also
good for the eyes. That of Cappadocia, which is imported in small
cubes,[3136] imparts a fine colour, it is said, to the skin; but, for
effacing wrinkles, that which we have[3137] already spoken of as the
salt of Citium is the best: hence it is that, in combination with
gith,[3138] it is used by females as a liniment for the abdomen after
childbirth. The drier the salt, the stronger it is in taste; but the
most agreeable of all, and the whitest known, is that of Tarentum. In
addition to these particulars, we would remark also, that the whiter
salt is, the more friable it is. Rain-water deadens every kind of salt,
but dew-water makes it more delicate in flavour. North-easterly winds
render the formation of salt more abundant, but, while south winds
prevail, it never increases. It is only while north-easterly winds
prevail, that flower of salt[3139] is formed. Neither the salt of
Tragasa, nor the Acanthian salt—so called from the town[3140] where it
is found—will decrepitate or crackle in the fire; nor will the froth
of salt do so, or the outside scrapings, or refined salt. The salt of
Agrigentum[3141] resists fire, but decrepitates in water.
There are differences, too, in the colour of salt: at Memphis it is
deep red, russet-coloured in the vicinity of the Oxus, purple at
Centuripa, and so remarkably bright at Gela, situate also[3142] in
Sicily, as to reflect the image of objects. In Cappadocia there is a
saffron-coloured fossil salt, transparent and remarkably odoriferous.
For medicinal purposes, the ancients esteemed the salt of Tarentum in
particular, and next to that all the marine salts, those collected from
sea-foam more especially. For maladies of the eyes in cattle and beasts
of burden, the salt of Tragasa and that of Bætica are employed. For
made dishes[3143] and ordinary food, the more easily a salt liquefies
and the moister it is, the more highly it is esteemed; there being
less bitterness in salt of this description, that of Attica and of
Eubœa, for example. For keeping meat, a pungent, dry, salt, like that
of Megara, is best. A conserve of salt is also made, with the addition
of various odoriferous substances, which answers all the purpose of a
choice sauce,[3144] sharpening the appetite, and imparting a relish to
all kinds of food: indeed, among the innumerable condiments which we
use, the flavour of salt is always distinctly perceptible; and when
we take garum[3145] with our food, it is its salt flavour that is
considered so exquisite. And not only this, but sheep even, cattle, and
beasts of burden, are induced to graze all the better[3146] by giving
them salt; it having the effect, also, of considerably augmenting the
milk, and imparting a superior flavour to the cheese.
We may conclude, then, by Hercules! that the higher enjoyments of life
could not exist without the use of salt: indeed, so highly necessary is
this substance to mankind, that the pleasures of the mind, even, can
be expressed by no better term, than the word “salt,”[3147] such being
the name given to all effusions of wit. All the amenities, in fact, of
life, supreme hilarity, and relaxation from toil, can find no word in
our language to characterize them better than this. Even in the very
honours, too, that are bestowed upon successful warfare, salt plays its
part, and from it, our word “salarium”[3148] is derived. That salt was
held in high esteem by the ancients, is evident from the Salarian[3149]
Way, so named from the fact that, by agreement, the Sabini carried all
their salt by that road. King Ancus Martius gave six hundred modii of
salt as a largess[3150] to the people, and was the first to establish
salt-works. Varro also informs us, that the ancients used salt by way
of a relishing sauce; and we know, from an old proverb,[3151] that it
was the practice with them to eat salt with their bread. But it is in
our sacred rites more particularly, that its high importance is to be
recognized, no offering ever being made unaccompanied by the salted
cake.[3152]
CHAP. 42.—FLOWER OF SALT: TWENTY REMEDIES. SALSUGO: TWO REMEDIES.
That which mainly distinguishes the produce of salt-works, in respect
of its purity, is a sort of efflorescence,[3153] which forms the
lightest and whitest part of salt. The name “flower of salt”[3154] is
given, also, to a substance of an entirely different character, more
humid by nature, and of a red or saffron colour; a kind of “rust of
salt,” as it were, with an unpleasant smell like that of garum, and
differing therein not only from froth of salt,[3155] but from salt
itself. This substance is found in Egypt and, as it would appear, is
conveyed thither by the waters of the Nilus; though it is to be found
floating upon the surface of certain springs as well. The best kind is
that which yields a certain fatty[3156] substance, like oil—for salt
even, a thing that is quite marvellous to think of, is not without a
degree of unctuousness.
This substance is sophisticated, and coloured with red earth, or in
most instances, with powdered potsherds; an adulteration to be detected
by the agency of water, which washes off the fictitious colour, the
natural colour being only removable by the agency of oil. Indeed, it
is for its colour that perfumers more particularly make such extensive
use of this drug. When seen in the vessels, the surface of it is white,
but that which lies in the middle is moister, as already stated. It
is of an acrid nature, calorific, and bad for the stomach. It acts
also as a sudorific, and, taken with wine and water, has a purgative
effect upon the bowels. It is very useful, also, as an ingredient in
acopa[3157] and in detersive[3158] compositions, and is remarkably
efficacious for the removal of hairs from the eye-lids. It is the
practice to shake up the sediment, in order to renovate the saffron
colour of the drug.
In addition to these substances, there is another, known in the
salt-works by the name of “salsugo,” or “salsilago:” it is quite
liquid, salter in taste than sea-water, but inferior to it in its
properties.
CHAP. 43.—GARUM: FIFTEEN REMEDIES.
Another liquid, too, of a very exquisite nature, is that known as
“garum:”[3159] it is prepared from the intestines of fish and various
parts which would otherwise be thrown away, macerated in salt; so that
it is, in fact, the result of their putrefaction. Garum was formerly
prepared from a fish, called “garos”[3160] by the Greeks; who assert,
also, that a fumigation made with its head has the effect of bringing
away the afterbirth.
(8.) At the present day, however, the most esteemed kind of garum is
that prepared from the scomber,[3161] in the fisheries of Carthago
Spartaria:[3162] it is known as “garum of[3163] the allies,” and for
a couple of congii we have to pay but little less than one thousand
sesterces. Indeed, there is no liquid hardly, with the exception of
the unguents, that has sold at higher prices of late; so much so, that
the nations which produce it have become quite ennobled thereby. There
are fisheries, too, of the scomber on the coasts of Mauretania, and at
Carteia in Bætica, near the Straits[3164] which lie at the entrance
to the Ocean; this being the only use that is made of the fish. For
the production of garum, Clazomenæ is also famed, Pompeii, too, and
Leptis; while for their muria, Antipolis,[3165] Thurii, and of late,
Dalmatia,[3166] enjoy a high reputation.
CHAP. 44.—ALEX: EIGHT REMEDIES.
Alex, which is the refuse of garum, properly consists of the dregs of
it, when imperfectly strained: but of late they have begun to prepare
it separately, from a small fish that is otherwise good for nothing,
the apua[3167] of the Latins, or aphua of the Greeks, so called from
the fact of its being engendered from rain.[3168] The people of Forum
Julii[3169] make their garum from a fish to which they give the name
of “lupus.”[3170] In process of time, alex has become quite an object
of luxury, and the various kinds that are now made are infinite in
number. The same, too, with garum, which is now prepared in imitation
of the colour of old honied wine, and so pleasantly flavoured as to
admit of being taken as a drink. Another kind, again, is dedicated to
those superstitious observances[3171] which enjoin strict chastity, and
that prepared from fish without[3172] scales, to the sacred rites of
the Jews. In the same way, too, alex has come to be manufactured from
oysters, sea-urchins, sea-nettles, cammari,[3173] and the liver of the
surmullet; and a thousand different methods have been devised of late
for ensuring the putrefaction of salt in such a way as to secure the
flavours most relished by the palate.
Thus much, by the way, with reference to the tastes of the present
day; though at the same time, it must be remembered, these substances
are by no means without their uses in medicine. Alex, for instance,
is curative of scab in sheep, incisions being made in the skin, and
the liquor poured therein. It is useful, also, for the cure of wounds
inflicted by dogs or by the sea-dragon, the application being made with
lint. Recent burns, too, are healed by the agency of garum, due care
being taken to apply it without mentioning it by name. It is useful,
too, for bites inflicted by dogs, and for that of the crocodile in
particular; as also for the treatment of serpiginous or sordid ulcers.
For ulcerations, and painful affections of the mouth and ears, it is a
marvellously useful remedy.
Muria, also, as well as the salsugo which we have mentioned,[3174] has
certain astringent, mordent, and discussive properties, and is highly
useful for the cure of dysentery, even when ulceration has attacked
the intestines. Injections are also made of it for sciatica, and for
cœliac fluxes of an inveterate nature. In spots which lie at a distance
in the interior, it is used as a fomentation, by way of substitute for
sea-water.
CHAP. 45. (9.)—THE NATURE OF SALT.
Salt, regarded by itself, is naturally igneous, and yet it manifests an
antipathy to fire, and flies[3175] from it. It consumes everything, and
yet upon living bodies it has an astringent, desiccative, and binding
effect, while the dead it preserves from putrefaction,[3176] and
makes them last for ages even. In respect, however, of its medicinal
properties, it is of a mordent, burning, detergent, attenuating, and
resolvent nature; it is, however, injurious to the stomach, except
that it acts as a stimulant to the appetite, For the cure of injuries
inflicted by serpents, it is used with origanum, honey, and hyssop; and
for the sting of the cerastes, with origanum, cedar-resin, pitch, or
honey. Taken internally with vinegar, it is good for injuries caused
by the scolopendra; and, applied topically, with an equal proportion
of linseed, in oil or vinegar, for stings inflicted by scorpions.
For stings of hornets, wasps, and insects of a similar description,
it is applied with vinegar; and, for the cure of hemicrania, ulcers
on the head, blisters, pimples, and incipient warts, with veal-suet.
It is used also among the remedies for the eyes, and for the removal
of fleshy excrescences upon those organs, as also of hangnails[3177]
upon the fingers or toes. For webs that form upon the eyes it is
peculiarly useful, and hence it is that it is so commonly employed
as an ingredient in eye-salves, as well as plasters. For all these
last-mentioned purposes, the salt of Tatta or of Caunus is more
particularly in request.
In cases where there is ecchymosis of the eyes, or a bruise from the
effects of a blow, salt is applied, with an equal quantity of myrrh
and honey, or with hyssop in warm water, the eyes being also fomented
with salsugo. For this last-mentioned purpose, the Spanish salt is
preferred; and when wanted for the treatment of cataract, it is ground
upon small whetstones, with milk. For bruises it is particularly
useful, wrapped in a linen pledget and renewed from time to time, being
first dipped in boiling water. For the cure of running ulcers of the
mouth, it is applied with lint; gum-boils are also rubbed with it; and,
broken to pieces and powdered fine, it removes granulations on the
tongue. The teeth, it is said, will never become carious or corroded,
if a person every morning puts some salt beneath his tongue, fasting,
and leaves it there till it has melted. Salt effects the cure also
of leprosy, boils, lichens, and itch-scabs; for all which purposes
it is applied with raisins—the stones being first removed—beef-suet,
origanum, and leaven, or else bread. In such cases it is the salt from
Thebaïs that is mostly used; the same salt being considered preferable
for the treatment of prurigo, and being highly esteemed for affections
of the uvula and tonsillary glands, in combination with honey.
Every kind of salt is useful for the cure of quinzy; but, in addition
to this, it is necessary to make external applications simultaneously
with oil, vinegar, and tar. Mixed with wine, it is a gentle aperient to
the bowels, and, taken in a similar manner, it acts as an expellent of
all kinds of intestinal worms. Placed beneath the tongue, it enables
convalescents to support the heat[3178] of the bath. Burnt more than
once upon a plate at a white heat, and then enclosed in a bag, it
alleviates pains in the sinews, about the shoulders and kidneys more
particularly. Taken internally, and similarly burnt at a white heat and
applied in bags, it is curative of colic, griping pains in the bowels,
and sciatica. Beaten up in wine and honey, with meal, it is a remedy
for gout; a malady for the especial behoof of which the observation
should be borne in mind, that there is nothing better for all parts of
the body than sun and salt:[3179] hence[3180] it is that we see the
bodies of fishermen as hard as horn—gout, however, is the principal
disease for the benefit of which this maxim should be remembered.
Salt is useful for the removal of corns upon the feet, and of
chilblains: for the cure of burns also, it is applied with oil, or
else chewed. It acts as a check also upon blisters, and, in cases of
erysipelas and serpiginous ulcers, it is applied topically with vinegar
or with hyssop. For the cure of carcinoma it is employed in combination
with Taminian[3181] grapes; and for phagedænic ulcers it is used
parched with barley-meal, a linen pledget steeped in wine being laid
upon it. In cases of jaundice, it is employed as a friction before the
fire, with oil and vinegar, till the patient is made to perspire, for
the purpose of preventing the itching sensations attendant upon that
disease. When persons are exhausted with fatigue, it is usual to rub
them with salt and oil. Many have treated dropsy with salt, have used
external applications of salt and oil for the burning heats of fever,
and have cured chronic coughs by laying salt upon the patient’s tongue.
Salt has been used, also, as an injection for sciatica, and has been
applied to ulcers of a fungous or putrid nature.
To bites inflicted by the crocodile, salt is applied, the sores being
tightly bandaged with linen cloths, first dipped[3182] in vinegar.
It is taken internally, with hydromel, to neutralize the effects of
opium, and is applied topically, with meal and honey, to sprains and
fleshy excrescences. In cases of tooth-ache, it is used as a collutory
with vinegar, and is very useful, applied externally, with resin. For
all these purposes, however, froth of salt[3183] is found to be more
agreeable and still more efficacious. Still, however, every kind of
salt is good as an ingredient in acopa,[3184] when warming properties
are required: the same, too, in the case of detersive applications,
when required for plumping out and giving a smooth surface to the skin.
Employed topically, salt is curative of itch-scab in sheep and cattle,
for which disease it is given them to lick. It is injected, also,
with the spittle, into the eyes of beasts of burden. Thus much with
reference to salt.
CHAP. 46. (10.)—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF NITRUM, THE METHODS OF PREPARING
IT, AND THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT: TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE
OBSERVATIONS THEREON.
And here we must no longer defer giving an account of nitrum;[3185]
which in its properties does not greatly differ from salt, and deserves
all the more to be attentively considered, from the evident fact that
the medical men who have written upon it were ignorant of its nature;
of all which authors Theophrastus is the one that has given the
greatest attention to the point. It is found in small quantities in
Media, in certain valleys there that are white with heat and drought;
the name given to it being “halmyrax.”[3186] In Thracia, too, near
Philippi, it is found, but in smaller quantities, and deteriorated
with earthy substances, being known there as “agrion.”[3187] As to that
prepared from the burnt wood of the quercus,[3188] it never was made to
any very great extent, and the manufacture of it has been long since
totally abandoned. Nitrous[3189] waters are also found in numerous
places, but not sufficiently impregnated to admit of condensation.[3190]
The best and most abundant supply is found at Litæ, in Macedonia, where
it is known as “Chalastricum:”[3191] it is white and pure, and closely
resembles salt. In the middle of a certain nitrous lake there, a spring
of fresh water issues forth. In this lake the nitrum[3192] forms for
nine days, about the rising of the Dog-star, and then ceases for the
same period, after which it again floats upon the surface, and then
again ceases: facts which abundantly prove that it is the peculiar
nature of the soil which generates the nitrum, it being very evident
that, when the formation is there interrupted, neither the heat of
the sun nor the fall of rain is productive of the slightest effect.
It is also a truly marvellous fact, that though the spring of fresh
water is always uninterruptedly flowing, the waters of the lake never
increase or overflow. If it happens to rain on the days during which
the nitrum is forming, the result is, that it is rendered additionally
salt thereby: the prevalence of north-east winds, too, still more
deteriorates its quality, as they have a tendency to stir up the mud at
the bottom. Such is the formation of native nitrum.
In Egypt, again, it is made artificially, and in much greater
abundance, but of inferior quality, being tawny and full of stones.
It is prepared in pretty nearly the same manner[3193] as salt, except
that in the salt-pans it is sea-water that is introduced, whereas in
the nitre-beds it is the water of the river Nilus; a water which, upon
the subsidence of the river, is impregnated with nitrum for forty days
together, and not, as in Macedonia, at intermittent periods only. On
occasions when there has been a fall of rain, a smaller proportion of
river-water is employed. As soon, too, as any quantity of nitrum has
formed, it is immediately removed, in order that it may not melt in the
beds. This substance, also, contains a certain proportion of oil,[3194]
which is very useful for the cure of scab in animals. Piled up in large
heaps, it keeps for a very considerable time. It is a marvellous fact,
that, in Lake Ascanius[3195] and in certain springs in the vicinity of
Chalcis, the water is fresh and potable on the surface, and nitrous
below. The lightest part of nitrum is always considered the best, and
hence it is that the froth of it is so much preferred. Still, however,
when in an impure state, it is very useful for some purposes, colouring
purple[3196] cloth, for instance, and, indeed, all kinds of dyeing. It
is employed, also, very extensively in the manufacture of glass, as we
shall more fully mention on the appropriate occasion.[3197]
The only nitre-works in Egypt were formerly those in the vicinity of
Naucratis and Memphis; those near Memphis being inferior to the others,
the piles of nitrum there prepared being as hard as stone, and many of
the heaps having become changed into rocks. When in this state, vessels
are made of it, and very frequently they melt it with sulphur[3198] on
a charcoal fire.[3199] When substances[3200] are wanted to keep, they
employ this last kind of nitrum. In Egypt there are also nitre-beds,
the produce of which is red, owing to the colour of the earth in the
same locality. Froth of nitrum,[3201] a substance held in very high
esteem, could only be made, according to the ancients, when dews had
fallen; the pits being at the moment saturated with nitrum, but not
having arrived at the point of yielding it. On the other hand, again,
when the pits were in full activity, no froth would form, it was
said, even though dews should fall. Others, again, have attributed
the formation of this last substance to the fermentation of the heaps
of nitrum. In a succeeding age, the medical men, speaking of it under
the name of “aphronitrum,”[3202] have stated that it was collected in
Asia, where it was to be found oozing from the soft sides of certain
mines—the name given to which was “colyces”[3203]—and that it was then
dried in the sun. The very best is thought to be that which comes from
Lydia; the test of its genuineness being its extreme lightness, its
friability, and its colour, which should be almost a full purple. This
last is imported in tablets, while that of Egypt comes enclosed in
vessels pitched within, to prevent its melting,[3204] the vessels being
previously prepared by being thoroughly dried in the sun.[3205]
To be good, nitrum should be very fine, and extremely spongy and
porous. In Egypt, it is sophisticated with lime, an adulteration easily
detected[3206] by tasting it; for when pure, it liquefies immediately,
while that which has been adulterated, remains undissolved sufficiently
long to leave a pungent taste[3207] in the mouth. It is burnt in a
close earthen vessel, as otherwise it would decrepitate:[3208] except
in this last case, however, the action of fire does not cause it to
decrepitate. This substance neither produces nor nourishes anything;
while, in the salt-pans, on the other hand, we see plants growing,
and the sea, we know, produces immense numbers of animated beings,
though, as to plants, sea-weed only. It is evident, too, that the
acridity[3209] of nitrum must be much greater than that of salt, not
only from the fact last mentioned, but from the circumstance also,
that at the nitre-beds the shoes wear out with the greatest rapidity;
localities which are otherwise very healthy, and remarkably beneficial
for the eye-sight. At the nitre-works ophthalmia is a thing unknown:
persons, too, that come there with ulcers upon them experience a
rapid cure; though ulcerations formed upon the spot are but slow
in healing. Used as a friction with oil, nitrum is a sudorific,
and acts emolliently upon the body. That of Chalastra is used as a
substitute for salt, in making bread,[3210] and the Egyptian nitrum is
eaten[3211] with radishes,[3212] it having the effect of making them
more tender; though as to other edibles it turns them white and spoils
them. To vegetables it imparts an additional greenness.[3213]
Viewed medicinally, nitrum is calorific, attenuant, mordent,
astringent, desiccative, and ulcerating: it is good, too, in all cases
where certain humours require to be drawn out or dispersed, or where
gentle mordents or attenuants are required, as in the case of pustules
and pimples, for example. Some persons ignite it for this purpose,
and, after quenching it in astringent wine, bruise and use it, without
oil, at the bath. Applied with dried iris powdered, and green olive
oil, it checks immoderate perspiration. Applied topically with a fig,
or boiled down to one half in raisin wine, it removes marks upon the
eyes and granulations of the eyelids. It is used, also, for the removal
of argema, boiled in a pomegranate rind with raisin wine. Used as an
ointment, in combination with honey, it improves the eye-sight. It is
very useful, also, for tooth-ache, taken as a collutory with wine and
pepper, or boiled with a leek. Burnt, and employed as a dentifrice, it
restores teeth[3214] to their original colour that have turned black;
and an application of it, with Samian earth and oil, kills nits and
other vermin of the head. Dissolved in wine, it is used as an injection
for suppurations of the ears, and, applied with vinegar, it consumes
filth that has accumulated there. Introduced dry into the ears, it
disperses singings and tinglings in those organs.
Applied topically, in the sun, with an equal quantity of Cimolian[3215]
chalk dissolved in vinegar, it removes white morphew; and a mixture
of it with resin, or with white raisins—the stones being beaten up
as well—is an excellent cure for boils. It is useful, also, for
inflammations of the testes; and, in combination with axle-grease, for
pituitous eruptions on all parts of the body. For the cure of bites
inflicted by dogs, it is used with resin, the application being made
at first with vinegar. With lime and vinegar, it is used as a liniment
for stings inflicted by serpents, as, also, for ulcerations, whether
phagedænic, putrid, or serpiginous; in cases, too, of dropsy, it is
employed both internally and externally, beaten up with figs. Taken
internally as a decoction, in doses of one drachma, with rue, dill,
or cummin, it effectually removes griping pains in the bowels. An
external application of it, with oil and vinegar, is highly refreshing
to persons exhausted with fatigue; and it is equally beneficial for
shudderings and cold shiverings, the feet and hands of the patient
being well rubbed with it, mixed with oil. It allays the itching
sensations attendant upon jaundice, more particularly when it is
administered to the patient while perspiring, with vinegar. Taken
internally in oxycrate, it is an antidote to the poison of fungi; and,
taken with water, it acts beneficially, as an emetic, in cases where
the buprestis has been swallowed.
To persons who have taken bull’s blood,[3216] nitrum is administered,
in combination with laser.[3217] Mixed with honey and cow’s milk, it
is curative of ulcers upon the face. For the cure of burns, it is
applied pounded, being first parched till it turns black. For pains in
the bowels and kidneys, and for rigidities of the limbs and pains in
the sinews, it is used in the form of an injection. For the cure of
paralysis of the tongue, it is applied to that organ with bread, and to
asthmatic patients it is administered in a ptisan. Flower of nitrum,
used in combination with equal proportions of galbanum and turpentine
respectively, is curative of chronic coughs; the mixture being taken in
pieces the size of a bean. Nitrum[3218] itself, boiled and melted with
tar, is given to patients to swallow, for quinzy.
Flower of nitrum, mixed with oil of cyprus,[3219] and applied in the
sun, is a soothing liniment for pains in the joints. Taken internally
with wine, it is curative of jaundice. It acts as a carminative also;
and it arrests bleeding at the nose, the vapour of it in boiling water
being inhaled by the patient. Mixed with alum, it removes porrigo; and,
used daily with water, as a fomentation, it removes offensive odours of
the armpits. Used in combination with wax, it heals ulcers produced by
pituitous secretions, and, similarly employed, it is very useful for
affections of the sinews. For the cure of the cœliac flux, it is used
in the form of an injection. Many authorities recommend the use of it,
with oil, as a friction when cold shiverings are just coming on; as
also, for the removal of leprous spots and freckles. It is a good plan
also, to use a sitting-bath made with an infusion of nitrum, for the
cure of gout, atrophy, opisthotony, and tetanus.
Both salt and nitre, boiled with sulphur,[3220] become petrified.
CHAP. 47. (11.)—SPONGES, AND THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THEM: NINETY-TWO
OBSERVATIONS THEREON.
We have already,[3221] when speaking of the marine productions,
described the various kinds of sponge. Some authorities make the
following distinctions: they regard as males[3222] those sponges which
are pierced with more diminutive holes, are more compact in form and
more ready to imbibe, and are stained, to satisfy luxurious tastes,
in various colours, sometimes purple even: those, on the other hand,
which have holes, larger and running into one another, they consider
to be females. Among the male sponges, too, there is one kind, harder
than the others, the name given to which is “tragi,”[3223] and the
holes of which are extremely small and numerous. Sponges are made white
artificially; the softest being chosen for the purpose, and after they
have been steeped the whole summer through with the foam of the sea.
They are then exposed to the action of the moon and hoar-frosts, being
turned upside down, or, in other words, with that part upwards by which
they formerly adhered to the rocks, the object being that they may
become white throughout.
That sponges are animated beings, we have already stated; and not
only this, but they have a coat of blood[3224] even, adhering to them.
Some say that they regulate their movements by the sense of hearing,
and that at the slightest noise they contract themselves, and emit an
abundant moisture: when such is the case, it is said, it is impossible
to tear them away from the rocks, and consequently they must be cut, an
operation during which they emit a sanious secretion. Those sponges,
too, are preferred to all others, which are grown on spots with a
north-east aspect, the physicians assuring us that these retain the
breath of life the longest of all; a circumstance which renders them
additionally useful to the human body, from the union which is thereby
effected of their vital principle with our own.[3225] It is for this
reason, too, that they are preferred as fresh as possible, and in
a moist state rather than dry. They are not so useful, however, if
applied with hot water,[3226] and still less so if they are oiled, or
applied to the body when just anointed. The compact sponges, it is
thought, have less adhesive power than the others.
The softest kind of sponge are those employed for tents.[3227] Applied
with honied wine, sponges reduce swellings of the eyes, and are
extremely useful for the removal of rheum from those organs, the very
finest and softest being of necessity selected for the purpose. Sponges
are applied, also, with oxycrate, to defluxions of the eyes, and, with
warm vinegar, for head-ache. In addition to these properties, fresh
sponges are resolvent, emollient, and soothing; but when old, they
lose their healing properties for wounds. They are employed, also, in
medicine, for cleansing sores, and for either fomenting or covering the
parts fomented, till some other application is made. Applied topically,
they have a healing effect upon running ulcers, and upon sores on the
bodies of aged persons. Fractures, too, and wounds are most effectually
fomented with sponge; and when surgical operations are performed, it
instantly absorbs the blood, so as to allow the incision to be seen.
Sponges are applied, also, as a bandage, to inflamed wounds, sometimes
dry, and, in some cases, moistened with vinegar, wine, or cold water.
Soaked in rain-water, and applied to the incision, they prevent cuts
recently inflicted from swelling. They are used as an application for
such parts of the body, though apparently uninjured, as are threatened
with occult humours which require to be dispersed; as also for reducing
the tumours known to us as “apostemes,” the parts being first fomented
with a decoction of honey. Sponges are employed, also, for affections
of the joints, steeped in vinegar and salt, or in oxycrate: in cases,
however, where the attack is attended with fever, water alone is used
with the sponge. Soaked in salt and water, sponges are applied to
callosities; and, with vinegar, they are used for stings inflicted by
scorpions.
In the treatment of wounds, sponges are sometimes used as a substitute
for greasy wool, either with wine and oil, or with salt and water; the
only difference being, that wool acts emolliently upon sores, whereas
sponge has an astringent action, and absorbs the vitiated humours.
To dropsical patients, bandages of sponge are applied, either dry or
steeped in warm water or oxycrate, according as there is a necessity
for soothing the skin, or for covering it up and drying it. Sponges
are applied, also, in all those diseases where warmth is required,
being first soaked in boiling water and then squeezed out between a
couple of boards. Employed in this manner, too, they are very useful
for affections of the stomach and for the excessive heats attendant
upon fever. Steeped in oxycrate, they are good for diseases of the
spleen, and in vinegar for erysipelas; nothing, in fact, being equally
efficacious. Sponge, when thus used, should always be so applied as
amply to cover the adjacent parts that are not affected.
Employed with vinegar or cold water, sponge arrests hæmorrhage; soaked
in warm salt and water, and frequently renewed, it removes the lividity
which results from a recent blow. Used with oxycrate, it disperses
pains and swellings in the testes. To bites inflicted by dogs, it is a
good plan to apply sponge, from time to time, cut fine, and moistened
with vinegar, cold water, or honey. Ashes of African[3228] sponge, with
juice of cut-leek and a mixture of salt and cold water, are good, taken
internally, for patients suffering from discharges of blood: applied
topically to the forehead, with oil or vinegar, they are curative
of tertian fevers. The sponge of Africa, more particularly, soaked
in oxycrate, disperses tumours. Ashes of any kind of sponge burnt
with pitch, arrest the discharge of blood from wounds; though some
recommend, for this purpose, the sponge with large pores only, burnt
with pitch. For affections of the eyes; sponge is burnt in vessels
of unbaked earthenware; the ashes being found highly efficacious for
granulations of the eyelids, fleshy excrescences, and all diseases
of those parts which require detergents, astringents, or expletives.
For all these purposes, however, it is the best plan first to rinse
the ashes. When the body is in a diseased state, sponge acts as a
substitute for body-scrapers and linen towels, and it protects the head
most efficiently against the action of the sun.
Medical men, in their ignorance, comprehend all sponges under
two names; African sponge, the substance of which is tougher and
firmer; and Rhodian sponge, which is softer and better adapted for
fomentations. At the present day, however, the softest sponges of all
are those found about the walls of the city of Antiphellos.[3229]
Trogus informs us that the softest tent sponges are found out at sea,
off the coast of Lycia, upon spots from which the sponge has been
previously removed: we learn, too, from Polybius, that these fine
sponges, suspended over a patient’s bed, will ensure him additional
repose at night.[3230]
We will now turn to the remedies derived from the marine and aquatic
animals.
SUMMARY.—Remedies, narratives, and observations, nine hundred and
twenty-four.
ROMAN AUTHORS QUOTED.—M. Varro,[3231] Cassius[3232] of Parma,
Cicero,[3233] Mucianus,[3234] Cælius,[3235] Celsus,[3236] Trogus,[3237]
Ovid,[3238] Polybius,[3239] Sornatius.[3240]
FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.—Callimachus,[3241] Ctesias,[3242]
Eudicus,[3243] Theophrastus,[3244] Eudoxus,[3245] Theopompus,[3246]
Polycritus,[3247] Juba,[3248] Lycus,[3249] Apion,[3250] Epigenes,[3251]
Pelops,[3252] Apelles,[3253] Democritus,[3254] Thrasyllus,[3255]
Nicander,[3256] Menander[3257] the Comic writer, Attalus,[3258]
Sallustius Dionysius,[3259] Andreas,[3260] Niceratus,[3261]
Hippocrates,[3262] Anaxilaüs.[3263]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See B. xvi. cc. 6, 8, 33, 50.
[2] See B. xvii. c. 3.
[3] As Fée justly remarks, the greater part of these so-called
sympathies and antipathies must be looked upon as so many fables. In
the majority of instances, it is the habitual requirements of the tree
or plant that constitute the difference; thus, for instance, the oak or
quercus requires a different site and temperature from that needed by
the olive, and the stony soil adopted by the vine is but ill-suited for
the cultivation of the cabbage.
[4] See B. xx. c. 36.
[5] See B. xxi. cc. 27, 38, and B. xxv. c. 67.
[6] See the same statement made in B. xxiii. c. 62.
[7] Or Bacchus.
[8] “Philyra.” Fée does not think that it can be of any use for such a
purpose. Hardouin says, however, that in his time meat when too highly
salted was wrapped in leaves of the lime or linden, for the purpose of
extracting the salt.
[9] See B. xviii. c. 14.
[10] Instead of having this effect, Fée says, it would render it much
worse.
[11] The intention being to clear the wine, though in reality, as Fée
observes, it would have a tendency to turn the wine into vinegar.
[12] Chalk, or in other words, sub-carbonate of lime, and argilla,
or aluminous earth combining several earthy salts, would probably
neutralize the acetic acid in the wine, but would greatly deteriorate
its flavour.
[13] On the contrary, lime would appear to have a great affinity for
water, absorbing it with avidity, if we may use the term.
[14] More easily with water; though vinegar will do for the purpose.
[15] “Atramentum.” By this passage, Fée says, it is clearly proved that
the ink of the ancients was soluble in water, and that it contained
neither galls nor salts of iron. What it really was made of is still
a matter of doubt; but it is not improbable that the basis of it was
spodium, or ashes of ivory.
[16] “Officinas.”
[17] “In medio.” The reading is very doubtful here.
[18] This, of course, is mere exaggeration.
[19] He would seem to imply that the medical men of his age had
conspired to gain an adventitious importance by imposing upon the
credulity of the public, on the principle “Omne ignotum pro magnifico;”
much as the “medicine-men” of the North American Indians do at the
present day.
[20] He alludes to the physicians of Greece more particularly.
[21] “Imperatoribus quoque imperaverunt.”
[22] In B. xiii. c. 32, and B. xvi. c. 53. Pliny ascribes here to the
Lotus of Italy, the Celtis Australis of Linnæus, the same medicinal
properties that are given by Dioscorides, B. i. c. 171, to the Egyptian
bean or Nymphæa Nelumbo of Linnæus. Galen gives the same account as
Dioscorides; it is not improbable, therefore, that Pliny is in error.
[23] See B. xvi. c. 53, Note 2539.
[24] Half a denarius. See Introduction to Vol. III.
[25] Acorns, as well as the bark of the various kinds of oak, are of an
astringent nature.
[26] Or, hogs’ lard.
[27] In the singular number, “cacoethes,” “a bad habit;” signifying a
malignant or cancerous tumour.
[28] See B. xvi. c. 12. All the properties here ascribed to it, Fée
says, are hypothetical. It is no longer used in medicine, at least to
any recognized extent.
[29] Hence the Latin word “vermiculum,” from which our word “vermilion”
is derived.
[30] In B. xvi. c. 12.
[31] In B. xvi. c. 9.
[32] They might be used advantageously, Fée thinks, in the shape of a
decoction, for procidence of the uvula and uterus.
[33] “Eating,” or “corrosive.”
[34] See B. xvi. cc. 11, 93, 94.
[35] See B. xvi. cc. 10, 11.
[36] This passage, as Fée remarks, is somewhat obscure.
[37] As to the identity of the “nitrum” of Pliny, see B. xxxi. cc. 22,
46.
[38] Fée says, that till very recently it was a common belief that
the oak mistletoe is curative of epilepsy. It was also employed as an
ingredient in certain antispasmodic powders.
[39] See B. xvi. c. 10.
[40] See B. xvi. c. 8.
[41] This decoction would be of a tonic and astringent nature, owing to
the tannin and gallic acid which the leaves and bark contain.
[42] See B. xvi. c. 13.
[43] “Ex utrâlibet parte.”
[44] There is no foundation, Fée says, for any of these statements.
[45] See B. xvi. c. 60. The leaves of the cypress, Fée says, contain
tannin and an essential oil; all the medicinal properties therefore,
here attributed to them, which are not based upon these principles,
must be looked upon as hypothetical.
[46] Down to the present century the leaves and fruit of the cypress
were recommended in some medical works for the cure of hernia. The
juice, however, of the leaves, taken internally, would be, as Fée says,
highly dangerous.
[47] Owing probably to the gallic acid they contain.
[48] See B. xiv. c. 4.
[49] See Introduction to Vol. III.
[50] See B. x. c. 28, and B. xi. cc. 24, 28.
[51] See B. xiii. c. 11.
[52] Fée remarks, that many of the moderns attribute to frankincense
the properties here ascribed to cedria; a most unfounded notion, he
thinks.
[53] In B. xiv. c. 25, and B. xvi. cc. 21, 22.
[54] Sillig reads “volumina;” in which case it is not improbable that
the allusion is to the practice of seasoning the paper of manuscripts
with a preparation of cedar, as a preservative against mildew and
worms. Another reading is “lumina,” and it is not impossible that it is
the right one, meaning that pitch of cedar is useful for making lamps
or candles. Fée reminds us that we are not to confound the “cedria”
with the “cedrium” of B. xvi. c. 21, though Pliny seems here to
confound the two. See Note 2326 to that Chapter.
[55] As in B. xvi. c. 21, he has said the same of “cedrium,” a red
tar charged with empyreumatic oil, it is clear that he erroneously
identifies it with “cedria,” or pitch of cedar. It is with this last,
in reality, that the Egyptians embalmed the dead, or rather preserved
them, by dipping them in the boiling liquid.
[56] If he implies that it is poisonous, such in reality is not the
case.
[57] A mere absurdity, of course.
[58] It would be of no use whatever for the cure of injuries inflicted
by the Aplysia vulgaris or Aplysia depilans of Linnæus. See B. ix. c.
72, and B. xxxii. c. 3.
[59] See B. xv. c. 7, and B. xxv. c. 22. “Pitch oil,” a volatile oil.
[60] This mention of the berries clearly proves, Fée thinks, that the
Cedrelates of Pliny belongs in reality to the genus Juniperus.
[61] Or of the juniper, Fée thinks.
[62] See Note 58 above.
[63] In B. xii. c. 56.
[64] Cartilaginous, clear, and free from ligneous substances.
[65] It is still employed, Fée says, to a small extent, as a topical
application for ulcerated sores. Its properties are energetic, but
nearly all the uses to which Pliny speaks of it as being applied are
hypothetical.
[66] In B. xii. c. 56.
[67] Narcotic poisons.
[68] See B. xii. c. 58. See also c. 16 of this Book.
[69] This statement is entirely fabulous.
[70] In B. xii. c. 49. Gum ammoniac is still used to some small extent
in modern medicine, for asthma, boils, tumours, and diseases of the
bladder.
[71] In B. xii. c. 55. Fée says that it is of the Amygdalite storax
that Pliny is here speaking. It is little employed at the present day
for internal maladies.
[72] This is not the fact.
[73] In B. xii. c. 58. It is no longer used in medicine, though
possessed of properties of considerable energy. Fée says that most of
the assertions here made respecting it are unfounded.
[74] An absurdity, Fée remarks.
[75] In B. xii. c. 50. Various lichens probably were called by this
name. No use is made of them in modern medicine.
[76] See B. xiii. c. 12. The leaves and root of the terebinth or
turpentine-tree have some medicinal properties, owing to their resin or
essential oil; but no use is made of them in modern medicine.
[77] See B. xvi. c. 18.
[78] See B. xvi. c. 19. The leaves of these trees are of an astringent
and acid nature, Fée says, but they are no longer employed in medicine.
All that Pliny here states relative to them is very problematical.
[79] Fée says that it is still the practice of the Turkish physicians
to recommend to their patients the air of the cypress groves of Candia.
He states also, that it is a very general supposition that resins,
balms, and balsams are good for pulmonary phthisis, but is of opinion
that the notion is founded upon no solid basis.
[80] See B. xxxi. c. 33, also Celsus. B. iii. c. 22. Similar to a
voyage to Madeira, recommended to our consumptive patients at the
present day.
[81] Or “ground-pine.”
[82] From “abigo,” to “drive away,” it would appear.
[83] “Thus terræ.” The Teucrium Iva of Linnæus, Fée says, or Chamæpitys
moschata. Fée remarks that Pliny commits a great error in giving to
it the blossoms of the pine, and that he assigns larger proportions
than really belong to it. The name “incense of the earth,” is very
inappropriate; for it has none of the odour of incense, but merely a
resinous smell.
[84] The Teucrium chamæpitys of Linnæus, the Chamæpitys lutea vulgaris
of C. Bauhin, the ground-pine.
[85] The leaves are imbricated, and the branches bend downwards, like
those of the pine, whence the name.
[86] The Teucrium pseudo-chamæpitys of Linnæus, the bastard ground-pine.
[87] To the pine or pitch-tree, mentioned in c. 19.
[88] They are rich in essential oil, and are of a tonic nature. All
that is here stated as to their medicinal uses, and which cannot be
based upon that property, is hypothetical, Fée says, and does not
deserve to be refuted.
[89] See Introduction to Vol. III.
[90] The resemblance of its name to the “pitys” or pitch-tree.
[91] See B. xxvi. c. 39.
[92] An Euphorbia with a ligneous stem, the Euphorbia pityusa
of Linnæus. The characteristics of it differ, however, from the
description here given by Pliny. It is no longer used in medicine,
though, like the other Euphorbiaceæ, it has very active properties.
[93] This, Fée says, is consistent with truth.
[94] In B. xiv. c. 25.
[95] B. xvi. cc. 16, 21, 22, 23.
[96] Or, as they are called at the present day, the resins, and the
oleoresins, or terebinthines.
[97] Fée thinks that this name extends to the numerous species of
resiniferous trees.
[98] The Abies excelsa of Linnæus.
[99] The Pistacia terebinthus; see B. xiii. c. 12. It yields a valuable
turpentine, known in commerce as that of Cyprus or Chios.
[100] The so-called Venice turpentine is extracted from the larch.
[101] It yields mastich solely, a solid resin.
[102] It yields a terebinthine, and a very diminutive amount of solid
resin.
[103] Fée says, that if the same methods are employed, the same
products may be obtained, though in general the larch yields the better
terebinthine.
[104] Fée thinks that he is speaking of a thick resin, or _galipot_, as
the French call it, of the consistency of honey.
[105] Boiled terebinthine, or turpentine, is still used, Fée says, in
medicine; that process disengaging the essential oil.
[106] In B. xvi. c. 22.
[107] Fée thinks that in reality these are terebinthines, and not
resins.
[108] It has been generally remarked that aromatic plants grown on
mountains have a stronger perfume than those of the plains; Fée queries
whether this extends to the resins.
[109] Though of little importance in modern medicine, resins and
terebinthines are still employed as the basis of certain plasters and
other preparations.
[110] Such a potion as this, Fée says, would but ill agree with a
person in robust health even.
[111] There would be no necessity whatever, Fée says, for such a
process, a plentiful supply of food being quite sufficient for the
purpose. Galen recommends frictions of terebinthine for the improvement
of the health.
[112] Mastich. The medicinal properties here attributed to it, Fée
says, do not exist.
[113] “Onera.”
[114] In B. xiv. c. 25, and B. xvi. cc. 21, 22.
[115] Tar. See B. xvi. c. 21.
[116] The pitch of Calabria, Fée says, is known at the present day as
pitch-resin. All that Pliny states as to the medicinal properties of
pitch, is destitute, Fée thinks, of the slightest probability.
[117] Or horned serpent.
[118] Taken internally, of course.
[119] In B. xvi. c. 22, and B. xv. c. 7.
[120] “Pitch boiled over again.”
[121] Fée says, that this statement is quite beyond all belief. Indeed
there is little doubt that tar taken internally for quinzy, would only
tend to aggravate the complaint. He states that a solution of tar in
water is sometimes used internally with success for pulmonary phthisis.
Bishop Berkeley wrote his Siris, on the virtues of Tar-water as a
medicament, having been indebted to it for his recovery from an attack
of colic.
[122] See B. xvi. c. 23. His description here is faulty, it being
solely a natural pitch or mineral bitumen, without any admixture of
vegetable pitch. Vitruvius calls this pissasphalt, pitch; but Ælian,
more correctly, bitumen. The names now given to it are mineral pitch,
and malthe or pitch of Malta.
[123] In B. xvi. c. 23. Fée thinks that the use of it is more likely to
have been injurious than beneficial.
[124] Or tæda. See B. xvi. c. 19.
[125] Fée says, that within the last century, the wood of the lentisk
or mastich, and the oil of its berries, figured in the Pharmacopœias.
Their medicinal properties are far from energetic, but the essential
oil may probably be of some utility as an excitant.
[126] This property is still attributed in the East to the leaves and
resin of the lentisk. We learn from Martial, B. xiv. Epig. 22, that the
wood of the lentisk, as well as quills, was used for tooth-picks.
[127] this, Fée says, is not the fact.
[128] See B. xii. c. 36, and B. xiv. c. 25.
[129] “Smegmata.”
[130] Littré thus reads the whole passage, “Sive cum aquâ, ut ita
foveantur,”—“A decoction of it is made with water for the purpose of
fomentation.”
[131] See B. xii. c. 3.
[132] “Adversantur vespertilionibus.” Fée sees difficulties in this
passage, which really do not seem to exist.
[133] The produce of the plane is no longer employed in medicine.
[134] The _young_ leaves probably, or else the fruit.
[135] In B. xvi. c. 24. There are still some traces of this notion
existing, Fée says, among the French peasantry. All the statements here
made relative to its medicinal properties, are utterly unfounded.
[136] In reality they have no such effect.
[137] See B. xvi. c. 26. The root of the maple, Fée says, has no marked
qualities whatever.
[138] In B xii. c. 61. The buds of the poplar, Fée says, are still used
in medicine in the composition of an unguent known as “populeum.” The
bark is astringent, and the wood destitute of taste.
[139] “Uvarum.” Fée thinks that by these berries, or grapes, the
blossoms or buds are meant. See Note 608 to B. xii. c. 61.
[140] See also c. 38, as to the Vitex.
[141] This superstition probably applies to persons riding on horseback.
[142] “Guttam.” This is the substance known to us as “honey-dew.” It
is either secreted by the plant itself, or deposited on the leaves by
an aphis. It is found more particularly on the leaves of the rose, the
plane, the lime, and the maple. Bees and ants are particularly fond of
it.
[143] Bee-glue. See B. xi. c. 6, and B. xxii. c. 50.
[144] See B. xvi. c. 29. The bark of the elm, like that of most other
trees, has certain astringent properties.
[145] Fée says that it is only some few years since the inner bark
of the elm was sometimes prescribed medicinally, but that it has now
completely fallen into disuse. All that Pliny says here of the virtues
of the elm is entirely suppositious.
[146] A kind of honey-dew, no doubt.
[147] “Cauliculi foliorum primi.”
[148] “Extrahuntque per fistulas.”
[149] In B. xvi. c. 74.
[150] See B. xvi. c. 25. The blossoms of the linden-tree are the only
part of it employed in modern medicine. Fée thinks, with Hardouin, that
Pliny has here attributed to the linden, or Philyra of the Greeks, the
properties which in reality were supposed to belong to the Phillyrea
latifolia, a shrub resembling the wild olive. Dioscorides, in his
description of its properties, has not fallen into the same error.
[151] “Ground elder” or “marsh elder;” the Sambucus ebulus of Linnæus,
or dwarf elder. The other kind mentioned by Pliny is the Sambucus nigra
of Linnæus, or black elder.
[152] Fée says that though some of the assertions as to its medicinal
properties made by Pliny are unfounded, it is still an opinion among
the moderns that the leaves of the elder are purgative, the inner
bark an emetic and hydragogue, the berries laxative, and the flowers
emollient.
[153] According to Hardouin, this would appear to be the measles; but
according to Festus, swellings on the legs were so called. The shingles
is probably the malady meant.
[154] Fée speaks of a decoction of the inner bark as having been
recently in vogue for the cure of dropsy.
[155] This so-called cedar, Fée says, is in reality itself a juniper.
The medicinal properties of all the varieties of the juniper are not
identical. The essential oil of the leaves acts with a formidable
energy upon the human system.
[156] This is identified by Fée with the Juniperus communis of Lamarck,
variety α, the Juniperus communis of Linnæus.
[157] Identified by Fée with the Juniperus nana of Willdenow, the
Juniperus communis of Lamarck, variety β. The Spanish juniper,
mentioned in B. xvi. c. 76, he identifies with the Juniperus thurifera
of Linnæus.
[158] Virgil says this of the fumes of the cedar, Georg. III. 414;
an additional proof, Fée says, that under the name of “cedrus,” the
juniper was really meant. The smoke of the juniper is not known to have
the effect upon serpents here described.
[159] The berries of the juniper contain sugar, mucilage, and a small
proportion of essential oil; a rob is prepared from them, Fée says,
under the line of “extract of juniper.”
[160] It is a well-known fact, that juniper berries are diuretic; they
impart also to the urine the odour of the violet, a property which
is equally possessed by turpentine. All the other properties here
attributed to the juniper, are, in Fée’s opinion, either hypothetical
or absurd.
[161] See B. xvi. c. 68.
[162] Neither this downy substance nor the seeds are now employed
for any purpose. The bark of the willow has some strongly-pronounced
properties, but all other parts of it are totally inert.
[163] A kind of manna, Fée says. The other juices here mentioned are
secreted from the sap.
[164] The leaves have no effect whatever as an antaphrodisiac.
[165] See B. xvi. c. 69.
[166] The Vitex agnus castus of Linnæus, the tree of chastity.
[167] The “chaste” tree. It is no longer used in medicine; the fruit
has somewhat the flavour of spice, Fée says, and taken internally it
would have the converse of an antaphrodisiac effect. The other parts of
it are quite inert.
[168] An Attic festival celebrated yearly in honour of Demeter, which
lasted four or five days. It was also celebrated in other parts of
Greece.
[169] The Vitex agnus castus of Lamarck, variety β, Elatior.
[170] The Vitex agnus castus of Linnæus, the type.
[171] It may possibly, Fée says, have this effect, but the other
properties here attributed to it are wholly imaginary.
[172] Travelling on horseback, probably. A similar superstition is
mentioned as to the poplar, in c. 32 of this Book.
[173] Probably the Erica arborea of Linnæus; see B. xiii. c. 35. It
has not, however, a leaf similar to that of rosemary, with the sole
exception, Fée says, of the Erica cinerea of Linnæus.
[174] See B. xiii. c. 37.
[175] It has no such effect, in reality.
[176] See B. xvi. c. 69. The kind here alluded to is the Spanish broom,
Fée thinks.
[177] In B. xix. c. 2. Vol. IV. p. 135.
[178] Iliad, B. ii. l. 135. See B. xix. c. 6, where Pliny states it as
his opinion that in this passage Homer is speaking of flax.
[179] See B. xix. c. 7. Fée thinks that the plant under consideration
in this Chapter is the Spanish broom, Genista juncea of Lamarck, the
Spartium junceum of Linnæus, a different plant from the Spartum of B.
xix. c. 7, the Stipa tenacissima of Linnæus. He is of opinion also,
that Homer in the passage referred to alludes, not to flax, but to the
Genista juncea. See this question further discussed, in the additional
Note at the end of B. xxvii.
[180] Fée says that the blossoms and seed of the junciform genista and
other kinds are of a purgative nature; indeed, one variety has been
called the Genista purgans by Lamarck. None of them, however, are so
potent in their effects as Pliny in the present passage would lead us
to suppose.
[181] See B. xiii. c. 37, and Note 968; where it is stated that, in
Fée’s opinion, several plants were united by the ancients under this
one collective name—brooms for instance, heaths, and tamarisks. He
thinks, however, that under the name “Myrica,” Pliny may possibly have
intended to comprehend the larger heaths and the Tamarix Gallica of
Linnæus. M. Fraäs, as Littré states, gives the Tamarix Africana as the
probable synonym of the Myrica of Pliny.
[182] Of this broom-plant of Ameria nothing is known.
[183] This _cannot_ apply to any of the heaths of Europe. The tamarisk
grows to a much larger size, and barrels and drinking-vessels are made
of the wood.
[184] “Gravis.” He does not, however, show his _gravity_ in the present
instance.
[185] In B. xvi. c. 45.
[186] See B. xiii. c. 37.
[187] Identified by Fée with the Tamarix Gallica.
[188] The “brya,” spoken of in B. xiii. c. 37, as growing in Achaia
also, the Tamarix orientalis of Delille. But _there_ he implies that it
does not produce any fruit when it grows in Egypt.
[189] “Flower compositions.”
[190] It may possibly be of some use for this purpose, being of an
astringent nature.
[191] This seems to be the meaning of “Idem cum libeat accendere
resolvitur,” though in the French translations it is rendered, “It
crumbles into ashes when an attempt is made to kindle it.” Holland
seems to have rightly understood the passage, which probably bears
reference to some current superstition.
[192] “Magi.” He probably alludes in this passage to the Magi of the
East.
[193] See B. xvi. cc. 30, 43.
[194] The cornel, probably. It was looked upon as “infelix,” or
ill-omened, because it was sacred to the Deities of the infernal
regions.
[195] See B. xvi. c. 31. If this is the Salix vitellina. Fée says, all
that Pliny here states as to its medicinal properties does not merit
the slightest attention.
[196] See B. xii. c. 51. The botanical characteristics, Fée says, and
the medicinal properties of the privet, differ essentially from those
of the Cypros or Lawsonia inermis. The leaves of the privet are bitter
and astringent.
[197] Fée says, that on reading this passage it is impossible to
preserve one’s gravity.
[198] In B. xvi. c. 62. The ivy is but little used for any of the
purposes of modern medicine. It is said by some authorities that a
decoction of the leaves will kill vermin, and that the berries are
purgative and emetic.
[199] “Nervis.”
[200] Fée states that in reality no such similarity exists; but that
acetic acid is sometimes developed by the rapid fermentation of the
juices of a great number of vegetable substances.
[201] “Golden fruit.” See B. xvi. c. 62.
[202] The same substance which he speaks of at the end of this Chapter
as the gum of ivy, called “hederine,” Fée says, in modern chemistry. It
is a gum resin, mixed with ligneous particles.
[203] The Cistus pilosus of Linnæus, the wild eglantine, or rock-rose.
[204] The Cistus salvifolius of Linnæus.
[205] In B. xxvii cc. 31, 49, 87, and 90.
[206] “Red-berried” or “red-leaved ivy.” See B. xvi. c. 62. This kind,
Fée says, appears not to have been identified.
[207] “Ground-ivy.” See B. xvi. c. 62; Note 2601. M. Fraäs adopts
Sprengel’s opinion that it is the Antirrhinum Azarina, the bastard
asarum.
[208] See B. xvi. c. 63.
[209] “Flower-bearer.”
[210] In B. xvi. c. 63.
[211] Sprengel thinks that this is the Clematis viticella, but Fée
identifies it with the Clematis vitalba of Linnæus, the climber, or
traveller’s joy.
[212] The leaves of it, Fée says, are of a caustic nature, and have
been employed before now by impostors for producing sores on the skin
of a frightful appearance, but easily healed.
[213] In B. xvi. c. 34.
[214] Sympathies and antipathies existing in plants. See c. 1 of this
Book.
[215] Not a reed, Fée thinks, but some other monocotyledon that has not
been identified. See B. xii. c. 48.
[216] See B. xx. c. 3.
[217] See B. xvi. c. 66.
[218] Celsus also speaks of the root of the reed as being efficacious
for this purpose, B. v. c. 26.
[219] Fée says that neither of these last assertions is true.
[220] See B. xiii. c. 21. It is no longer used in medicine.
[221] These statements as to the virtues of the ashes of papyrus, Fée
says are absurd.
[222] See B. xii. c. 8. Desfontaines is inclined to identify the tree
here spoken of with the Diospyros ebenaster of Kœnig.
[223] See c. 91 of this Book; the Artemisia dracunculus of Linnæus.
[224] “Erodentia.” Fée remarks upon the singularity, that with this
property attributed to it, it should be recommended for diseases of the
eyes.
[225] The “rose-tree.” Our rose-bay or oleander.
[226] “Rose-laurel.”
[227] See B. xvi. c. 33. It is, Fée says, an energetic poison, but as
injurious to man as it is to animals.
[228] See B. xiii. c. 13. The sumach-tree; the Rhus coriaria of Linnæus.
[229] Identified by Fée with the Coriaria myrtifolia of Linnæus, or
myrtle-leaved sumach. It is used in the preparation of leather, Fée
says, and is intensely poisonous.
[230] The sumach-tree.
[231] Or “mouth-medicine.” See B. xxii. c. 11, and B. xxiii. cc. 58 and
71.
[232] See B. xxiii. c. 71.
[233] Or “ros.” See B. xiii. c. 13
[234] Fée says that this is still done in some parts of Turkey.
[235] “Asperitati linguæ.”
[236] “Red rose;” our madder. See B. xix. c. 17. Beckmann is of the
opinion that the “sandix” of B. xxxv. c. 12, is our madder, and
identical with the Rubia. It is not improbable, however, that in
reality it was a mineral. See Beckmann’s _Hist. Inv._ Vol. II. p. 110,
_Bohn’s Ed._
[237] Fée says that it does not possess this property.
[238] Madder has no colouring matter which can produce any effect upon
the hair.
[239] Or “anti-frantic” plant. C. Bauhin identifies it with the
Rubia silvestris lævis, or wild madder; Fée is at a loss for its
identification, but is inclined to think that it was a species of
cultivated madder.
[240] In B. xix. c. 18. The Gypsophila struthium, or soap-plant,
possibly. Its identity is discussed at great length by Beckmann, _Hist.
Inv._ Vol. II. p. 98-102, _Bohn’s Ed._
[241] “Aureum poculum.”
[242] Desfontaines says that it is the Periploca angustifolia; Fée
gives the Apocynum folio subrotundo of C. Bauhin, round leafed dogsbane.
[243] This is the fact; and hence one of its names “cynanche,” or
“dog-strangle.”
[244] This, Fée says, is the fact. The plant is rich in essential oil,
and is consequently a powerful excitant. See B. xix. c. 62.
[245] In B. xvi. c. 11.
[246] A gall or fungoid production, or, in some instances, a catkin.
Fée says that Pliny has committed an error here in attributing a
cachrys to rosemary, the Libanotis stephanomaticos, which, in reality,
belongs to the Libanotis canchryphorus or Libanotis prima.
[247] So called from the Greek βραδύ, “slow,” according to some
authorities; by reason of the slowness of its growth.
[248] Identified by Fée with the Sabina vulgatior of Lobelius, or
Juniperus Sabina, variety β, of Lamarck.
[249] The Sabina baceifera of J. Bauhin, the male savin, the type of
the plant.
[250] See Ovid’s Fasti, B. i. l. 341, as to this custom, and Virgil’s
“Culex,” l. 403.
[251] It is still a common notion, though Fée says an ill-founded one,
that it produces abortion. Indeed we find Galen stating to the same
effect.
[252] Fée ridicules this notion with considerable zest.
[253] The Lycopodium selago of Linnæus, upright club-moss, or fir-moss,
according to Sprengel. Fée, however, dissents from that opinion, for
the Lycopodium, he says, is but some three inches in height, while
savin, with which the Selago is here compared, is more than eight or
ten feet high. De Théis (_Gloss. Botan._) thinks that it must have been
a succulent plant; but upon what grounds he bases that conjecture, Fée
declares himself at a loss to conjecture.
[254] Evidently a superstition derived from the Druids.
[255] Sprengel thinks that it is the Samolus Valerandi of Linnæus, the
round-leaved water-pimpernel, and Anguillara identifies it with the
Anemone pulsatilla, or pasque-flower. Fée inclines to the opinion that
it is the Veronica beccabunga of Linnæus, the brook-lime.
[256] In B. xiii. c. 20.
[257] Gum is still used, Fée says, for this purpose.
[258] It is of no use whatever for burns, or as a diuretic.
[259] Fée says that it is not different in any way from the gum of
other trees.
[260] Fée remarks, that gum is injurious as a cosmetic.
[261] Gum is of no use whatever in such a case.
[262] In B. xiii. c. 19. In speaking there, however, of this gum, the
Acacia Nilotica of Linnæus, he makes no mention whatever of Arabia; for
which reason Sillig concludes that this passage is corrupt.
[263] The Onopordum acanthium of Linnæus, the cotton-thistle, or woolly
thistle.
[264] The Mimosa Nilotica of Linnæus; see B. xiii. c. 19. Fée seems
inclined to identify the white thorn with the Cratægus oxyacantha of
Linnæus, the white hawthorn, or May. In the present passage, however,
it is doubtful whether the colours apply to the varieties of gum, or
to the trees which produce them. Sillig considers the passage to be
corrupt.
[265] The Prunus spinosa of Linnæus, Fée thinks, the sloe, or black
thorn.
[266] Fée says that the difference in appearance is very considerable
between them.
[267] The leaves containing little or no tannin.
[268] In India, the bark of the Acacia Arabica is still used for
tanning leather.
[269] This juice, Fée says, obtained from the Prunus spinosa, is known
at the present day in commerce by the name of Acacia nostras.
[270] Fée queries, without sufficient foundation, it would appear,
whether he is here speaking of syphilitic affections.
[271] Fée suggests that this may be the Dipsacus fullonum of Linnæus,
the fuller’s thistle.
[272] See B. xix. c. 18, and c. 58 of this Book.
[273] In B. xii. c. 52. But in that passage he makes the Aspalathos to
be _identical_ with the Erysisceptrum, which he here distinguishes from
it. Fée thinks that there can be no identity between the common thorn
here mentioned, and the Aspalathos. This latter, as mentioned in B.
xii., according to Fée, is the Convolvulus scoparius of Linnæus, the
broom bindweed, but Littré says that M. Fraäs has identified it with
the Genista acanthoclada.
[274] See the preceding Note. Fée identifies this Aspalathos with the
Spartium villosum of Linnæus, making that of B. xii. c. 52, to be the
Lignum Rhodianum of commerce, probably the Convolvulus scoparius of
Linnæus.
[275] The corresponding passage in Dioscorides has βαρύς, “heavy,”
_i.e._ the most solid in the stem.
[276] In B. xii. c. 52.
[277] “Ozænas.”
[278] The Berberis vulgaris of Linnæus, or barberry, Fée thinks.