ben being derived from the Arabians. The tree from which it is procured
is said to be the _Hyperanthera moringa_ Vahl. See Ainslie (Mat. Med.
i, 197.) It is further called _Myrobalanum_, but the coincidence of
name must not lead the reader to identify it with the myrobalans of
the Arabians, of which we shall have occasion to give some account in
another place. Pliny gives an interesting account of it, representing
the Arabian as being the best oil in quality, and the Troglodytic or
Ethiopian, as the worst. (H. N. xii, 47.) Being principally used in
unguents, it has often got the name of glans unguentaria. Dioscorides
writes fully of its medicinal properties, recommending it in particular
inwardly, as an emetic and purgative, and externally, as an application
to various cutaneous diseases, such as psora and leprosy (iv, 157.)
Celsus recommends it in several places as an ingredient in emollient
ointments, more especially for indurations of the spleen (iv, 9; v, 18,
4.) The Arabians, especially Avicenna and Serapion, treat of it at great
length, but in nearly the same terms as Dioscorides and Galen. Of late
years nut ben has been excluded from our Dispensatories; but our older
authorities in modern times confirm the characters of it given above from
Dioscorides, that is to say, that it acts both as an emetic and a purge,
but in the latter capacity slowly and with pain. See Hill (Mat. Med. 4,
94); Rutty (Mat. Med. p. 52.)
Βάκχαρις,
Baccharis, _Spikenard_, is a fragrant herb, like cinnamon, used for
garlands. It is acrid; and its root when boiled is deobstruent, diuretic,
and emmenagogue. But its leaves being astringent are beneficial in fluxes.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Regarding this much disputed article, the predominance
of authority, as we think, is in favour of its being some species of
_Conyza_. Old Gerard gives it the English names of ploughman’s spikenard
and cinnamon-root, and repeats the characters of it given by the ancient
authorities. It has been long since expelled from our Dispensatories.
Galen, in his Commentary on the Glossa Hippocratica, mentions that the
name is applied both to a herb and a Lydian ointment. It does not occur
in the works of Celsus nor in those of the Arabians. Our author draws
his characters of it from Dioscorides, who recommends it, among other
purposes, as being emmenagogue and promoting parturition (iii, 44.)
Βαλάυστιον,
Balaustium, _the Flower of the Wild Pomegranate_; it is powerfully
astringent, having also desiccant and cold powers. It heals superficial
sores, and stops defluxions.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. _Balaustine_, or the _Flower of the double Wild Pomegranate_,
is an astringent medicine much used by the ancient physicians.
Dioscorides recommends it principally as an anthelminthic to kill the
broad ascaris, by which he meant the tænia. (See ii, 147.) Galen writes
very elaborately on this article, contending that it is a good example
of a plant possessed of an astringent quality, and stating that it
was in general use with this intention externally in intertrigo and
other ulcers, and internally in cases of hæmoptysis, dysentery, and in
all defluxions from the stomach or womb. The Arabians give a similar
account of it, and further recommend balaustine as a whetter of the
appetite, and a restorative from the ill effects of intoxication, and a
medicine calculated to stop vomiting. See in particular Serapion (129),
and Avicenna (ii, 2, 109.) Although modern authority is not wanting
to confirm what the ancients have stated regarding the efficacy of
balaustine as an astringent in diarrhœa, dysentery, and menorrhagia, it
has been excluded of late years from our British Dispensatories. Our
continental brethren still make use of it. The modern Greek Pharmacopœia
does not retain the leaves.
Βάλσαμον,
Balsamum, _Balsam-tree_; that part of it which is like its wood is
desiccant and heating in the second degree. It is also composed of
subtile particles, but the juice of it is much more so. Its fruit is
possessed of similar powers, but its particles are less subtile.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. This clearly is the _Balsamum Gileadense_, or Balm of
Gilead, being procured, as Dr. Pereira states, from the _Balsamo-dendron
Gileadense_, a middling-sized tree growing in Arabia. He says, it is
rarely or never employed by Europeans; but is adapted to the same cases
as the terebinthinates. The Asiatics use it for its odoriferous as well
as its medicinal properties. Dioscorides certainly writes strongly in
its favour, recommending it as a detergent application to sores and
complaints of the eyes, and internally as an emmenagogue and diuretic,
and as an antidote to poisons and venomous animals. Galen treats of it
much more reservedly (i, 18.) The balsam occurs in Celsus’s list of
articles which concoct and promote suppuration (v, 3.) The Arabians fully
coincide with the character of it given by Dioscorides. See in particular
Serapion (c. 160); Avicenna (ii, 2, 81.) Though this article has almost
ceased to be employed in the practice of the scientific physician, it was
the instrument by which one of the most successful pieces of empiricism
was perpetrated in the beginning of this century. We allude to Dr.
Solomon’s celebrated Balm of Gilead.
Βαλωτὴ,
Balote, by some called _Black Horehound_; it is possessed of acrid and
detergent powers; therefore, when applied with salts, it relieves the
bite of mad dogs.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. There appears little reason to doubt that this is the
_Ballote nigra_, or stinking horehound of our herbalists. Our author’s
account of it is abridged from Dioscorides. It is not treated of by
Galen, Aëtius, nor Oribasius, neither is it found in Celsus. Avicenna
and Ebn Baithar we believe are the only Arabians who notice it, and they
copy from Dioscorides (ii, 2, 553, and i, 166.)
Βάτος,
Rubus, _the Bramble_; its shrubby part is moderately astringent and
desiccant, and therefore agglutinates wounds and stops defluxions. The
root, in addition to its astringency, is attenuate in no small degree. It
therefore breaks down renal calculi. Its ripe fruit is hotter, and has a
moderate astringency. It is therefore edible; but the unripe is sour and
powerfully desiccant, more especially if dried. In like manner also the
flower.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. The first species of bramble described by Dioscorides is
probably that well-known one the _Rubus fruticosus_, the other is the
_Rubus Idæus_, or raspberry bush. The Β. Ἰδᾶιος of Dioscorides was
supposed by Ruellius and others to be the _Fragaria_ or _Strawberry_,
but with this supposition we cannot agree. Strawberries are not noticed
by any Greek writer, but are first mentioned by Ovid (Met. i, 104); and
then by Pliny (H. N. xxv, 62.) The μόρον βατῶδες, of which mention is
occasionally made by our author, was the fruit of the bramble, being so
called, according to Eustathius, from its resemblance to mulberries.
(Ad Iliad. xiii, 121.) Our author abridges Galen, who is at great
pains in defining the powers of the batos, which he makes out to be
moderately astringent and desiccative; and hence he pronounces it to
be useful in dysentery, fluxes of the bowels, atony, hæmoptysis, and
in calculus as a lithrontriptic. Dioscorides indulges in a still more
lengthened exposition of its virtues, recommending the decoction of it
as an astringent in looseness of the bowels, and in fluor albus, as an
antidote to the sting of the serpent Prester; its leaves when chewed, to
strengthen the gums and cure the aphthæ of children, and externally, for
the cure of herpes, achor, procidentia oculi, and many other diseases
(iii, 36.) It is briefly alluded to by Celsus in treating of lientery
(iv, 16.) The Arabians, as usual, copy from Dioscorides and Galen. See
Serapion (De Simpl. 124); Avicenna (ii, 2, 572.) The rubi held their
place and ancient characters in our Dispensatories down to a late date.
See Quincy (p. 94.) Even yet several of the rubi are still kept in the
shops for medicinal purposes. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. p. 89.)
Βατράχιον,
Ranunculus, _Crowsfoot_, consists of four varieties, all of which are
possessed of powerfully heating and desiccant powers, and also of
acrid and caustic, so as to occasion ulceration with pain; but when
moderately used, it proves only detergent of the skin. The dried root is
a sternutatory.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. According to Sprengel, the first species is the _Ranunculus
Asiaticus_; the second, the _R. lanuginosus_; the third, the _R.
muricatus_; and the fourth, the _R. aquatilis_. Galen recommends it
as a powerful escharotic, and our author evidently copies from him.
Dioscorides gives a similar account of the ranunculi, recommending
them for the removal of leprous nails, psora, stigmata, and other
tumours, as a fomentation to chilblains, and as an application to remove
toothache. The Arabians treat of the ranunculi in the same terms as the
Greeks, copying their medicinal characters from Dioscorides and Galen.
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 368), and Ebn Baithar (ii, 343.) Neither of them
gives anything original of his own, nor from any Arabian authority. The
ranunculi, we need scarcely mention, have now been discarded by the
regular practitioner; but yet several of them are still kept in the
shops, and have the reputation of being excellent vesicants. Gray (Suppl.
to Pharmacop. p. 122.) In like manner old Culpeper affirms that the
crowsfoot is an effectual and a much safer blister than cantharides (p.
59.) The modern Greek Pharmacopœia does not contain it.
Βάτραχοι,
Ranæ, _Frogs_; they are eaten when made into a soup for the bites of
venomous animals; when burnt, their ashes become very desiccant; and stop
hemorrhages, and cure alopecia, along with liquid pitch.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Dioscorides, Galen, and Serapion recommend them in the cases
mentioned by our author. The species with which they must have been most
familiar is the green frog. We have stated in another place that the
Greeks and Romans did not use the frog as an article of food. (Vol. I,
166.)
Βδέλλιον,
Bdellium; both the Scythian and Arabian are possessed of powers which
prove emollient of indurated tumours, more especially the recent. The
Arabian is also diuretic, lithontriptic, and digestive.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Dioscorides, as Dr. Ainslie remarks (Mat. Ind. i, 30), has
sufficiently well described this article; and yet he adds afterwards,
it is a lamentable fact that the actual tree from which bdellium is
got has not hitherto been clearly ascertained by botanists. He rejects
the conjecture of Sprengel, although supported by the high authority
of Kæmpfer and Rumphius that it is procured from the _Borassus
flabelliformis_, and also that of Matthiolus, who maintained that it is
procured from the _dwarf palm_, or _Chamœrops humilis_. Upon the whole,
the opinion of Virey, founded on the authority of Forskael, that it is
got from some species of _Amyris_, seems to be the most probable. Dr.
Pereira gives the following account of this article: “The term _Bdellium_
is applied to two gummy resinous substances. One of these is Indian
bdellium, or false myrrh, the bdellium of Scripture, which is obtained
from _Amyris (Balsamodendron?) Commiphora_. See further Royle (Hindoos
Med. p. 90.) The other kind is called _African Bdellium_, and is obtained
from the _Heudolotia Africana_.” (Mat. Med. 1634.) On the _Bdellium_,
see further what we have said in the Appendix to Dunbar’s Greek Lexicon.
The ancients would appear to have been well acquainted with both these
kinds of bdellium; at all events they were acquainted with the Indian,
for Dioscorides has described it. He represents the bdellium to be
calefacient, emollient, and dissolvent, and recommends it for dissolving
hard tumours, for promoting menstruation in pessaries, and fumigations,
and as an emetic, diuretic, and expectorant (i, 80.) The Arabians were
evidently still more familiar with the bdellium than their Grecian
masters; but have supplied little or no additional information respecting
it. See in particular Serapion (De Simpl. 117), and Avicenna (ii, 2,
112.) Celsus recommends it frequently as an ingredient in external
applications. As far as we have been able to discover, it does not occur
in the works of Hippocrates.
Βεττονικὴ,
Bettonica, _Bettony_, is a herb having slender branches like those of
the pennyroyal, but still more slender, and is possessed of scarcely any
quality to the taste. It grows mostly in rocky situations, and is used
for the composition of nephritic medicines. There is among the Romans
another herb called bettonica, to which Dioscorides gives the name of
cestrum; but others name it psychotrophon, because it delights in cold
situations, having no resemblance to the aforementioned, except its
medicinal powers. In addition to its action as a diuretic, it is useful
for many other purposes; for its root in particular, when drunk with
hydromel, occasions vomiting, and the leaves open the bowels.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Dr. Alston says, “There is a Libellus (De Betonica)
attributed commonly to Augustus’s physician, Antonius Musa, by some
to L. Apuleius, of which there are said to be very ancient MSS.” We
have seen the work mentioned by Alston. It is published _Tiguri_,
A.D. 1537, with notes by Humelbergius. It is a small work, occupying
scarcely four leaves in octavo. The author commences with a dedication
to Augustus, in which he informs the emperor that the betony is useful
for forty-seven complaints, which he proceeds to enumerate, after giving
a short description of the herb. He says of it, “Cestron vocatur, etiam
psychotrophon, siquidem frigidis reperitur in locis, radicibus tenuibus,
thyrso tenui ultra cubitum quadrangulo, foliis quercui similibus, boni
odoris, semine in summitate thyrsi spicato, modo thymbræ.” The following
are some of the cases in which he recommends it: For fractures of the
head, as an external application; for pains of the eyes in a fomentation;
for pains in the teeth, boiled in old wine or vinegar; for consumption
and difficulty of breathing; for complaints of the liver, spleen, and
kidneys; as a purgative when given to the amount of four drachms in eight
cyathi of hydromel; for calculus; for dropsy; to prevent intoxication;
as an antidote to poisons and the bites of venomous reptiles and mad
dogs; for gout, &c. Many different opinions, as stated by Sprengel,
have been entertained respecting this herb. Perhaps, as he suggests, it
may have been the _Rumex Hydrolapathum_ or _Aquaticus_. The κεστρεὺς
of Dioscorides he thinks is the _B. alopecurus_. But for the general
literature of this subject, we must refer to our discussion on it in
the Appendix to Dunbar’s Greek Lexicon. The betony held a place in the
Materia Medica down to a very late period. Both Dioscorides and Pliny
recommend it in hæmoptysis and purulent affections of the chest, and
it enters as an ingredient into several of Myrepsus’s antidotes for
dysentery and cæliac affection. Celsus mentions it only in one place,
where he says of it, that it is an useful application to the stings of
venomous snakes (v, 27, 10.) For the Arabians, see in particular Serapion
(322), and Averrhoes (Coll. v, 42.) Our old herbalists and other modern
authorities who treat of betony, praise it as a vulnerary herb, and as
being possessed of diuretic and emmenagogue faculties.
Βηχίον,
Tussilago, _Coltsfoot_, it is also called Bechicon; it is so named from
its proving useful for coughs, and orthopnœa in fumigations; and it is
composed of a hot and watery substance.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is the _Tussilago Farfara_, or _Coltsfoot_. Both
Dioscorides and Galen recommend it in fumigations for the cure of coughs,
and this reputation it has retained down to the present day. Though
now expelled from our Dispensatories, a patent medicine, prepared from
coltsfoot, is still in considerable celebrity. It is retained in the
modern Greek Pharmacopœia (p. 67.)
Βλίτον,
Blitum, _Blite_, is an esculent potherb, which is humid and cold in the
second degree.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. The blite, or _Amaranthus Blitum_, has been long celebrated
as a culinary and medicinal herb. (See vol. i, 114.) Galen and
Dioscorides, like our author, treat of its medicinal powers in very
brief terms. For the Arabians, see Avicenna (ii, 2, 518); Serapion (De
Simpl. 148); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 41); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 128);
Ebn Baithar (i, 154.) These Arabian authorities commend it strongly
as an application in diseases of the skin, and in phthiriasis, and
also in alopecia and apostemes. Archigenes, as quoted by Rhases, says,
the blite is more laxative than the mallow. It is treated of by our
older herbalists; but has long since ceased to occupy a place in our
Dispensatories.
Βολβὸς,
Bulbus; the esculent is possessed of a certain degree of bitterness, and
at the same time of astringency, and is desiccative and agglutinative of
wounds, and also detergent. The emetic is hotter in its properties.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. We have mentioned in the First Book that Harduin considers
the esculent bulbus to have been a species of onion, but that Sprengel
refers it to the _Muscari comosum_. In addition to the reasons there
mentioned for preferring the conjecture of Harduin, we have to add the
account of it given by the Scholiast on Theocritus: βολβὸς ἔιδος βοτἀνης
ὀμοίας κρομμύῳ Κολχικῷ. (Idyll, xiv.) There is also a good deal of
uncertainty with regard to the emetic bulbus; but the predominance of
authority is in favour of its being the _Hyacinthus comosus_. The fact of
the matter, however, we believe to be that various plants having bulbous
roots are possessed of emetic powers, and that the name emetic bulbus
was often applied in a loose manner. Dioscorides merely says of its
medicinal properties, that when eaten by itself, and when its decoction
is drunk, it cures diseases of the bladder and produces vomiting (ii,
200, 201.) Galen and the succeeding authorities, like our author, treat
very succinctly of it. The Arabians, also, merely copy from Dioscorides
and Galen. See particularly Avicenna (ii, 2, 85); Serapion (c. 355.)
Βότρυς,
Botrys, _Goosefoot_; some call it Ambrosia, and others Mugwort. It is a
plant sufficiently fragrant, and when drunk with wine cures orthopnœa.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. There seems no reason to doubt that this is the plant
described by our old herbalists under the name of Oak of Jerusalem. It
has now got the scientific name of _Chenopodium Botrys_. It is briefly
recommended in orthopnœa by Dioscorides (iii, 120), and Pliny (N. H.
xxvii, 31.) It is not noticed by Galen, Aëtius, Oribasius, Celsus, nor we
believe by any of the Arabians, with the exception of Ebn Baithar, yet it
held a place in our English Dispensatory as late as the time of Quincy.
Βουβώνιον,
Bubonium, has been described under Aster Atticus.
Βούγλωσσον,
Buglossum, _Bugloss_, is humid and hot in its temperament. Hence when
added to wines it is said to produce hilarity.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. The Borage, or _Anchusa Buglossum_, long held a place in the
Materia Medica. From Dioscorides down to Boerhaave, it had the reputation
of being a good cordial. See Dioscorides (iv, 126); Avicenna (ii, 2,
375.) We believe it is not met with in the works either of Hippocrates or
Celsus.
Βούνειον,
Bunium (or Arctium), _Rape_; it is hot, diuretic, and emmenagogue; and
the Pseudobunium in like manner.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. We treated of this article, which, notwithstanding the
disagreement of the commentators and herbalists, we are willing to
believe to be the _Bunium Bulbocastanum_, or Earth-nut, as a culinary
herb in the First Book. The pseudobunium may be the _Pimpinella tenuis_.
Dioscorides represents it to be diuretic, calefacient, possessing powers
to promote the lochial discharge, and useful in affections of the spleen,
kidneys, and bladder (iv, 122.) Galen and the other authorities give the
same account of it as our author. It long held a place in our modern
Dispensatories.
Βόυπρηστις,
Buprestis, _Burncow_, is an insect resembling the Cantharis, and may
therefore be prepared like it.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Whatever doubts others may have entertained respecting the
_Buprestis_ of the ancients, we are well satisfied that it was the _Meloe
vesicatoria_. We have treated fully of it as a poison in the Fifth Book §
31. Occasional mention of it is made in the Hipprocratic treatises. (De
Mulieb. i, et alibi.)
Βόυτυρον,
Butyrum, _Butter_, is possessed of digestive and moderately discutient
properties when applied to soft bodies; it is therefore of use for buboes
and parotis; it attenuates the gums, more especially of children during
the time of dentition, and in a linctus it concocts humours lodged in the
chest.
* * * * *