Seseli, which there can be no doubt is the same as the Seseli Massiliense
of Dioscorides (iii, 53), about which, notwithstanding its being long
held to be an important article in the Mat. Med., there is considerable
difference of opinion. We, for reasons which we have not room to state,
were inclined to refer it to the Laserpitium Siler; but the authority of
Clusius, Lewis, and Sprengel has determined us to recognise it as the
_Seseli tortuosum_. The other two species we are quite satisfied are the
_Bupleurum fruticosum_ and _Ligusticum Peloponnesiacum_. Compare Sprengel
ad Dioscor. (l. c.) with Gray (Suppl. to the Pharm. 80.) Dioscorides
represents the first species as being a diuretic, expectorant, and
uterine medicine. He says it was given not only to women, but to goats
and other animals to assist parturition. Of the other two species, he
merely says that they are possessed of the same virtues. Galen, Aëtius,
and Oribasius merely give the general characters of the first species, in
nearly the same terms as our author. This, beyond dispute, is the “Sil”
of Apicius (c. 34), and of Celsus (v, 23.) The latter merely mentions it
as an ingredient in the celebrated antidote of Mithridates. (Ibid.) We
can find little or no additional information respecting it in the works
of the Arabians. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 626); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i,
654); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Serapion (De Simpl. 190.) Aben Mesuai,
one of Serapion’s authorities, thus sums up its characters: it is hot
and dry in the end of the second degree; cuts and dissolves viscid and
congealed phlegm, and therefore opens all the pores and passages which
are shut up; provokes urine and the menstrua; and is beneficial in asthma
and all cold pituitous ailments. The seeds of seseli held a place in our
Dispensatory as late as the times of Quincy (158), and of Lewis (ii,
366.)
Σηπία,
Sepia, _the Cuttlefish_; its shell has powers like those of an oyster,
but is attenuant and more detergent; hence, if burnt, it attenuates
pterygium along with fossil salts. When unburnt it clears away sycosis
when rubbed upon the part, and proves detergent to the skin.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is the _Sepia Loligo_, L. We need scarcely mention that
the shells of fishes consist principally of lime. As represented by the
ancients, therefore, they form a detergent application to the skin. All
the authorities recommend it in nearly the same cases, namely, as an
ingredient in stimulant collyria, and in obstinate cutaneous diseases,
and as a dentifrice. See Dioscorides (ii, 23); Galen (De Simpl.); Celsus
(v, 29); Aëtius (ii, 190.) Aëtius gives the fullest account of this
article. (l. c.)
Σησαμοειδὲς,
Sesamoides; the seed of the white species heats, is detergent, and
procures the rupture of abscesses.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. This article, which occurs in the Hippocratic treatises,
and of which two species, the great and the small, are described by
Dioscorides, has been the subject of much controversy. See Parkinson,
Sprengel, and Dierbach. We are willing to acquiesce in Sprengel’s
decision regarding them, namely, that they are the _Reseda Mediterranea_
and _canescens_. It appears that they were used principally in
combination with hellebore, and that the one evacuated upwards, and the
other downwards. (Dioscor. iv, 150, 151.) Ruffus treats only of the
small, which he represents to be cholagogue and phlegmagogue, when its
seed is taken to the amount of an acetabulum. (De Med. Purg.) It does
not occur in the works of Celsus, and does not seem to have been much
in repute. Galen gives nearly the same account of it as Dioscorides. We
have not found it in the works of the Arabians, with the exception of Ebn
Baithar, one of whose Arabian authorities speaks of its being used in
paralysis. (i, 252.)
Σήσαμον,
Sesamum, _Oily-grain_, is glutinous and fatty in no small degree; hence
it is emplastic, emollient, and moderately calefacient.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. All the authorities acknowledge it as the _Sesamum
orientale_. Pliny ranks it among the summer corn of India. He says,
that an oil is procured from it, and that it forms a good application
to burns. (H. N. xviii, 22; xxii, 64.) This account of it in fact is
condensed from Dioscorides, who recommends both the plant and the oil
in various external complaints, including burns, inflammations of the
eyes, the bites of venomous animals, &c. (i, 41, ii, 121); Celsus ranks
it among his emollients, and recommends it as an hepatic. (iv, 8.)
Galen and Aëtius give nearly the same account of it as our author. The
Arabians treat of it at great length, both as an article of food and of
medicine. See Serapion (De Simpl. 86); Avicenna (ii, 2, 642); Rhases
(Cont. l. ult. i, 650); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn Baithar (i, 254.)
They all recommend it for the same purposes as the Greeks, and as a good
application to fissures and suggillations.
Σῆψ,
Seps (which some have called the _Chalcidic Lizard_), when drunk in wine
cures those who have been bitten by it.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is called ζύγνις by Aristotle. (H. A. viii, 23), and hence
it has got the name of _Zygnis tridactyla_. Solinus says of it, “Ictus
sepium putredo sequitur.” (Polyhistor. c. 40.) Our author’s account of
it is taken literally from Dioscorides. (ii, 72.) It is briefly noticed
by Aëtius, but we have not found it treated of by any of the Arabian
authorities on the Mat. Med. except Ebn Baithar, who merely gives an
extract from Dioscorides under this head. (ii, 199.)
Σίαλον,
Saliva; that of men in a fasting state is particularly discutient and
detergent; it therefore clears away the lichen of children when the parts
are anointed with it. It also concocts furunculus when applied along with
wheat that has been masticated in it. It removes hypopion. It is likewise
most destructive to those venomous animals which prove fatal to men.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Our author’s account of the medicinal properties of _Saliva_
is abridged from Galen, who gives a very elaborate disquisition on
the virtues of it. Pliny’s statement is fuller, but contains many
superstitious notions. (H. N. xxviii, 71.) Serapion copies from Galen.
(c. 447.) It was principally as an application to cutaneous eruptions
and sores that the ancient physicians made use of saliva, and it would
appear to be not ill adapted to that purpose. Dr. Thomson, in his work on
Chemistry, has the following remarks on it: “Saliva has a great affinity
for oxygen, absorbs it readily from the air, and gives it out again to
other bodies; hence, in all probability, the reason that saliva is a
useful application to sores of the skin. Dogs and several other animals
have recourse to this remedy, and with much advantage.” (Book v, c. ii,
sect. 13.) Galen contends strongly that human saliva is destructive
to animals, and appeals to Nicander in confirmation of this venomous
opinion. He further mentions having seen an instance of a scorpion being
killed by human saliva alone. All the Arabian authorities ascribe this
virtue to it. See in particular Avicenna (ii, 2, 599, 613); Rhases (Cont.
l. ult. i, 602); Ebn Baithar (i, 144.) These all, in fact, do little more
than copy from Galen. Redi, in opposition to all the ancient authorities,
denies that human saliva is destructive to the viper. “Non nostrum inter
eos tantam componere litem!”
Σιδηρίτις,
Sideritis, _Ironwort_, the Heraclean, called also Helxine, has been
treated of. The Achillean Sideritis is like to it, but more astringent.
Hence it agrees with fluxes.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. This is one of the articles in the ancient Materia Medica
which has never been satisfactorily determined. See Parkinson (Theatre
of Plants, pluries) and Sprengel (Ad Dioscor.) The first species of
Dioscorides, namely, the Herculia, is the same as the Helxine of
our author, and has been already treated of. The other two we would
hesitatingly set down as the _Sanguisorba officinalis_ and _Geranium
Robertianum_. The reputation which the latter has enjoyed in modern
times, as a vulnerary, appears to us strongly confirmatory of the opinion
that it was one of the siderites of the ancients. See Hill (Mat. Med.
407) and Lewis (Mat. Med. i, 464.) So striking and important an article
as the Robertianum is not likely to have escaped the observation of the
Greek and Arabian Rhizotomi. Apuleius says that the Latins call it
Ferraria. Dioscorides commends it as a vulnerary medicine. Galen does the
same, and further praises it as an astringent application in cases of
hemorrhage, dysentery, and female flux. We find difficulty in discovering
traces of it in the works of the Arabians, although we incline to the
belief that they have not entirely overlooked it. The burnet is still
cultivated in gardens. See Loudon (Encycl. of Garden. 744.)
Σίδηρος,
Ferrum, _Iron_; when frequently extinguished in water it imparts a
considerably desiccative power to it. When drunk, therefore, it agrees
with affections of the spleen. But, if extinguished in wine, it is useful
in cæliac and dysenteric affections, cholera, and resolution of the
stomach.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Our author’s account of _Iron_ is mostly taken from
Dioscorides. He says the ærugo ferri astringes, and hence it stops the
female flux in pessaries, and when drunk prevents impregnation; when
rubbed in along with vinegar it cures erysipelas and exanthema; it
is very useful for whitlow, pterygia, asperities of the eyelids, and
condylomata; it strengthens the gums, is a useful liniment in gout, and
thickens the hairs in alopecia; and he concludes with what our author
says of the virtues of water in which heated iron has been extinguished.
(v, 93.) Pliny, in like manner, says of it: “Calefit ferro candente
aqua, in multis vitiis, privatim vero dysentericis.” (H. N. xxxiv, 44.)
Celsus commends chalybeate water in enlargement of the spleen. (iv, 9.)
Cælius Aurelianus mentions it among the remedies for epilepsy. (Chron.
i, 4.) Scribonius Largus calls it a wonderful remedy for diseases of the
bladder. (Comp. 146.) The Arabians borrow their account of the ærugo
ferri almost entirely from Dioscorides. See Serapion (De Simpl. 403);
Avicenna (ii, 2, 247); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 295.) They give nothing
original under the present head. The στόμωμα, according to Pollux, is
hard iron, that is to say, steel. The scales or rust of the edges of
weapons made of steel were much used by the ancient physicians, both
internally and externally, as astringents and styptics. See a full
account of their medicinal properties in Pliny. (H. N. xxxiv, 66.)
Σικύος,
Cucumis, _the Cucumber_; the esculent, when green, is cooling and diluent
in the second degree; and the flesh of it soothes hot inflammations. The
seed is detergent and incisive, promotes the discharge of urine, and
clears the body. But when dried, both the seed and root prove desiccative
in the first order, and more detergent. The juice of the fruit of the
wild cucumber is called _Elaterium_. That of the root and leaves is
like to elaterium, but weaker. The root is detergent, discutient, and
emollient, but the juice is desiccative.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. We have already stated more than once that the Σ. of the
Greeks or _Cucumis_ of the Latins was applied to several species of the
summer fruits. Our author, we presume, applies it here to the _Cucumis
sativus_. His account of its medicinal qualities is abridged from Galen.
Dioscorides calls the seed of the Cucumis sativus moderately diuretic,
along with must answering well in ulcerations of the bladder, and says
that its leaves, in a cataplasm with wine, are useful in the bites of
dogs. The Arabians give the same account of it, but evidently mix it up
with the characters of the gourd, as given by their Grecian masters; it
is, therefore, almost impossible to discover when they are treating of
the one and when of the other. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 89); Serapion (De
Simpl. 143); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn Baithar (ii, 260.) The seeds
of the cucumber long held a place in our modern Dispensatories, and were
ranked as one of the greater cold seeds. See Quincy (107) and Lewis (Mat.
Med. i, 380.) _Elaterium_, or the fruit of the wild cucumber, was much
used by the ancient physicians from Hippocrates downwards. Theophrastus
and Pliny affirm that it is the most durable of all medicines, and that
it had actually been known to retain its virtues for two hundred years.
It was given internally as a hydragogue, and applied externally in cases
of lichen, scabies, impetigo, and the like. Of it, however, we have
treated fully under _elaterium_, as a medicine in this section, and as
a poison in Book V (64.) Dioscorides gives an account of the virtues of
its leaves and roots, the juice of which he recommends as an external
application in leprosy and other cutaneous diseases, and as an hydragogue
and cholagogue in dropsy. Galen treats of them in more general terms,
like our author. Ruffus says its root is suitable to dropsical cases. It
is the Cucumis sylvestris, _seu_ asininus, of the Arabians, who treat of
all parts of it at great length. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 177); Serapion (c.
204); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 143); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Haly Abbas
(Pract. ii, 54, 567); Ebn Baithar (ii, 210.) One of Rhases’s authorities
says, that in a pessary the wild cucumber kills the fœtus. Another of
them says an external application of it to the head is of great use in
headaches. Haly Abbas recommends it as a purge in paralysis and colic.
One of Serapion’s authorities is an Arabian, named by him Habix, who
gives a very interesting account of the wild cucumber, which he describes
as being more sharp and bitter than the wild gourd.
Σίλλυβον,
Sillybum, is a thorny shrub, like the white chamæleon, but edible. The
juice of the root of it, when drunk with honeyed water to the amount of a
drachm, is emetic.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Matthiolus admits that it was totally unknown to him. Is it
not the Carduus Mariæ, or _Common Milk-thistle_? See Alston (Lectures)
and Parkinson (Theatre of Plants, 976.) Sprengel joins Lobelius in
acknowledging it as the _Sillybum marianum_, Gaertn. Harduin makes it to
be the _Cardo Marie_ of the Italians. (Ad Plin. xxxvi, 25.) Pliny says
of it, that its concrete juice evacuates bile. (H. N. xxvi, 25.) Our
author’s character of it is taken from Dioscorides (iv, 156.) None of the
other authorities give any more distinct description either of the plant
itself or of its virtues. Galen has omitted it altogether, and we have
not been able to find it in the works of the Arabians, unless it be the
plant treated of by Serapion. (c. 305.) Though this article (supposing it
actually to be the _Carduus Marianus_) has long ceased to hold a place in
our Dispensatory, it would appear that it is not wholly unknown to the
shops of the apothecaries. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 64.) An eminent
authority of his day, Crantz, describes the Carduus Mariæ as being
sudorific, diuretic, and deobstruent, and a remedy to ill-conditioned
sores. (Mat. Med. ii, 157.) It must be admitted that this character does
not well agree with that of the _Sillybum_ as given by Dioscorides.
Σίλουρος,
Silurus, _the Shad-fish_, pickled and eaten, clears the trachea when in a
humid state. In a cataplasm it extracts sharp weapons of wood.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Artedi calls it, Silurus cirris quatuor in mento,—γλανὶς
(Aristot.); glanus et glanis (Plin.); Angl. “_the Sheat-fish_” (Descr.
spec. pisc.) In the Linnæan arrangement it is called _Silurus glanis_.
We have treated of it as an article of food in Book I. Dioscorides
recommends it as a medicine in the same cases as our author, and also
says of it that its brine is useful in dysenteric affections as a
hip-bath, by determining the defluxion to the surface, and that in
clysters it cures sciatica. (ii, 29.) We have not been able to find
any account of it in the works of the Arabians, with the exception of
Ebn Baithar, who gives a pretty full account of it from both Greek and
Arabian authorities. (i, 245.)
Σιλφὴ,
Blatta Pistrina, or the moth found in bakers’ shops, the entrails of
which, when boiled and pounded, cure earache.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is evidently the _Blatta orientalis_. Pliny and
Dioscorides also recommend it in cases of earache. (ii, 38.) None of the
other authorities make much account of it.
Σίλφιον,
Silphium or Laserpitium, _Laserwort_, is an excellent calefacient
medicine; but it is also flatulent and indigestible. When applied
externally to the body it is more active, and especially its juice, being
possessed of attractive powers. It has also some purgative property.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It has long appeared to us that one passage in the works
of Dioscorides is of itself quite decisive of the question as to the
identity of the ancient silphium and our assafœtida. Treating of the
gum-resin, sagapenum, he says, “in smell it is intermediate between
galbanum and the juice of silphium.” (iii, 85.) Now, in Duncan’s
Edinburgh Materia Medica, it is said of sagapenum, that “it holds a
kind of middle place between assafœtida and galbanum.” (Sixth edition,
387.) Its juice, that is to say, its concrete juice, or gum-resin, was
assafœtida, of which the Cyrenaic and Median juices, already treated
of by us, were varieties. The stalk, the leaves, and the juice are all
treated of by Dioscorides, in his chapter on Silphium, wherein he has
given so full an account of them that we dare scarcely venture upon
an abstract of it. He says of the varieties of the juice, that the
Cyrenean is the most fragrant, so that when tasted it scarcely affects
the breath, whereas, the Median and Syrian are weaker, and have a
more offensive smell. He says of it, that of the different parts of
it, the most efficacious is the juice, then the leaves, and then the
stalk. He recommends it, both externally and internally, for a great
variety of medicinal purposes, in diseases of the eyes, in toothache,
as an application to the bites of venomous animals, as an application
to gangrene, corns, and callus; in affections of the bronchi, and of
the tonsils, in cynanche, catarrhs, pleurisy, jaundice, and dropsy; in
rigors, along with pepper, frankincense, and wine, in cæliac affections,
and in short, in a great many other complaints. (iii, 84.) But long
before his time the silphium had been introduced into the practice of
medicine, and used in procidentia and other complaints. See Hippocrates
(De Fistulis; de ratione vict. in acut., &c.) It is indisputably the
laser and laserpitium of the Latin authors. See in particular Celsus (iv,
2); Pliny (H. N. xxii, 49.) The latter passes an elaborate encomium upon
it, founded, however, for the most part on the contents of Dioscorides’s
chapter on the Silphium. From it the identity of the Greek silphion
and the Roman laser is clearly made out. Passing by Galen, Aëtius, and
Oribasius, who supply nothing very interesting on this head, we now
turn to the Arabians. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 9, 52, 474); Rhases (Cont..
ult. i, 50); Serapion (De Simpl. 251); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn
Baithar (i, 84.) Avicenna describes two varieties of the _Assa_ seu
_Laser_, namely, the _fœtida_ and the _odorifera_, the virtues of which
he gives in nearly the same terms as Dioscorides. He says distinctly
that the fetid or black kind is not used in the cooking of food. He
praises them as procuring eructations and acting as carminatives, and as
proving stomachic. There appears to be a disagreement among the Arabian
authorities of Serapion regarding the virtues of the assa, some of them
representing it as good for the stomach and liver, and others as bad.
One of them, Habix, mentions that it was used as an application to the
wounds of poisoned arrows, and to preserve meat from putrefaction. Ebn
Baithar’s Arabian authorities describe very accurately the two varieties
of the assa, namely, the fragrant and the fetid, and commend both very
highly as medicines, more especially as carminatives, and as acting
very beneficially on the stomach, liver, and uterus. Some of them say
that assa promotes menstruation, and even procures the expulsion of
the fœtus. The assafœtida still retains the name of _silphion_ in the
Greek Pharmacopœia. (Athens, 1837.) M. Pacho says that the Arabs call it
_derias_, and he proposes to class it as a species of laserwort, under
the name of _Laserpitium derias_.
Σίσων,
Sison, _Bastard Stone-parsley_, is heating, diuretic, and digestive. It
likewise promotes menstruation and removes obstructions of the viscera.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It appears to be the _Sison Amomum_, called by Miller _the
Stone-parsley_ or _German Amomum_. Our author copies from Dioscorides,
who further mentions of it that the natives of Syria, where it grows,
use it as a condiment. Galen commends it as being bitterish, and hence
proving diuretic, digestive, emmenagogue, and deobstruent. We do not find
it in the works of the Arabians.
Σίον,
Sium, _Water Parsnip_ or _Celery_ (?), is hot, diuretic, and discutient.
It breaks down renal calculi and promotes menstruation.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It appears to us highly probable that it is the _Sium
latifolium_, or Upright Water-parsnip, which once held a place in modern
Dispensatories, and not the _S. nodiflorum_, as Dierbach decides the σ.
of Hippocrates to be. It is the laver of the Romans, and is recommended
by Pliny as a cure for tormina. (H. N. xxvi, 32.) See Harduin (Annot.
l. c.) Dioscorides says it is useful in dysentery, and is diuretic,
emmenagogue, and lithontriptic. (ii, 153.) Galen gives the same account
of it as our author. It does not occur in the works of Celsus. The
Arabians, in treating of it, borrow almost everything from Dioscorides.
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 556, 633); Serapion (De Simpl. 290.) The latter
describes it as a species of apium which grows in water.
Σίσαρον,
Sisarum, _Garden Parsnip_; the root, when boiled, is stomachic and
diuretic, being heating in the third order. The seed consists of subtile
particles, and is powerfully discutient. It is, therefore, given to
persons affected with hiccough and tormina, in wine.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is the _Pastinaca sativa_ or _Garden Parsnip_, according
to Sprengel. In the translation of Rhases it is said to be the same
as _nigella_, but this would seem to be a mistake. (Contin. xxxvii.)
Dioscorides briefly says of it, that it is palatable, stomachic,
diuretic, and a whetter of the appetite. (ii, 139.) Galen says it is
calefacient, with a certain degree of bitterness and astringency. It
appears certainly to be the siser of Pliny and Celsus, the latter of whom
places it in his list of diuretics. (ii, 31.) The Arabians, in treating
of it, copy from Dioscorides and Galen. See in particular Avicenna (ii,
2, 652.) From the account we have given of this article it will be seen
that recent authorities hold that it is _not_ the same as the _Sium
Sisarum_, Skerret, as has been generally held, but the Parsnip. It would
follow from this that it is identical with the ἐλαφόβοσκος of Dioscorides
(iii, 73), which we must say that we are scarcely prepared to join
Sprengel in admitting. After mature deliberation, then, we fear we must
rank this with the undetermined articles in the ancient Materia Medica.
Σισύμβριον,
Sisymbrium, _Wild Mint_, called also Cardamine, because it is like the
Cardamus. When dried, it belongs to the first order of calefacients and
discutients; but when in a humid state, to the second.
* * * * *