the animal nature of sponges, and yet we find it stated in most of our
modern treatises on natural history that the ancients supposed them to
be vegetables. Ebn Baithar, we believe, stands alone among the ancient
authorities in maintaining that there is no truth in the opinion that
the sponge is an animal, but that, on the contrary, it is decidedly a
vegetable which grows from the rocks. (i, 45.) Avicenna recommends the
use of sponge in the same cases as our author does. Serapion gives nearly
the same account of it. He says that the stones found in sponges are
lithontriptic. Of the two species described by Dioscorides, the hard
is the _S. fasciculata_, Pall., and the soft the _S. officinalis_. He
recommends sponge tent for dilating fistulous ulcers. He says they may be
applied like tents to sores; that with vinegar they restrain hemorrhages;
and that burnt sponges are useful in dry ophthalmy, and whenever you
want to deterge or astringe; but that when washed, they apply better in
ophthalmic remedies; and that, when burnt with pitch, they are suitable
in hemorrhages. (v, 137.) In the Hippocratic treatises this term is
generally applied to the tonsils or glands of the neck, as at ‘Epidem.’
(iv.) But in one passage of a work, certainly not genuine, it appears
to be used for the sponge. (De Morbis, ii.) Celsus prescribes a sponge
squeezed out of oil, vinegar, or cold water as an application to relieve
the swelling and heat of the gout (iv), and for other medicinal purposes.
Galen gives an interesting article under this head, and describes an
ingenious process by which, he says, that he had known a hemorrhage
stopped. A sponge dipped in asphaltus, or, in the absence of it, in tar,
having been laid on the bleeding place, it was set fire to until it
formed an eschar on the surface, while the remainder of it was left as a
farther cover to the vessels. (De Simpl. xi.) The Arabians treat fully
of the “Spongia maris,” and quote what Dioscorides and Galen had written
respecting it. Avicenna decidedly says that sponge was supposed to be an
animal possessed of motion. He and Rhases recommend it principally for
cleansing sores and stopping bleeding. (ii, 2, 595, and Cont. l. ult.
676.)
Σπόδιον,
Spodium has similar powers to the pompholyx.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is nearly the same as the Pompholyx. Pliny thus states
the difference between them: “Etiamnum in ærariis reperiuntur, quæ
vocant pompholygem et spodon. Differentia quod pompholyx loturâ paratur,
spodos illota est.” (H. N. xxxiv, 33.) The name, in modern times, has
been applied to burnt ivory. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharm. 260), and
Platearius (De Simp. Med. 250.) The ancient spodium was an impure oxyd
of zinc. The term, however, was sometimes applied to other recrements,
as we are informed by Pliny (l. c.), and Dioscorides (v, 85.) He gives a
more minute description of the preparation of it and of pompholyx. The
Arabians treat of both under the general name of _Tucia_ or Tutty, which
was long retained in modern times. They used it very freely in diseases
of the eyes, and also in those about the genital organs. See Serapion (c.
422); Avicenna (ii, 2, 695); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 730); Haly Abbas
(Pract. ii, 45, 474.) The spodium occurs frequently as an ingredient
in the collyria and ointments described by Celsus (v, 6), &c. We need
scarcely remind the reader that tutty ointment has continued to be used
as an ophthalmic even to our own times. The _spodos_ of the Hippocratic
writers would appear to have been applied in a more general sense to
various recrements of the metals. (De Ulceribus.) The spodium of the
Arabians would seem to have been the ashes of the privet. See Avicenna
(ii, 2, 609); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 675.)
Σταφυλῖνος,
Staphylinus, _Carrot_, is diuretic and promotes menstruation,
particularly the seed and root. But the leaves being possessed of
detergent powers agree with phagedænic affections when applied green
along with honey. The wild is for all purposes stronger than the
cultivated.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. As Sprengel states, it is undoubtedly a variety of the
_Daucus Carota_, L., or _Wild Carrot_. Diphilus, as quoted by Athenæus,
says that it is acrid, nutritive, moderately stomachic, laxative,
flatulent, indigestible, diuretic, and aphrodisiacal. (Deipnos. ix, 2.)
Pliny mentions that it proves useful in strangury, dropsy, and several
other complaints. (H. N. xx, 15.) Plinius Valerianus says of it that it
had been given in diseases of the liver, spleen, loins, and kidneys, in
hydromel. (iv, 32.) Our author’s account of its medicinal properties
is mostly condensed from Dioscorides. He recommends it strongly as a
diuretic, emmenagogue, and aphrodisiac, and says of it, that applied
_per vaginam_ it procures the expulsion of the fœtus. (iii, 52.) Galen
and Aëtius give nearly the same account of it as our author. The Arabian
authorities speak of it in the same terms. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 287);
Rhases (Cont. l. ult. iii, 18); Serapion (c. 265.) The commentator
Eustathius mentions its aphrodisiacal properties. (Ad Iliad. xviii, 560.)
According to Dierbach, the σ. of Hippocrates comprehends both the _Daucus
Carota_ and _guttatus_. It would appear to us that this is the “Pastinaca
agrestis” of Celsus (ii, 31), although his editor, Dr. Milligan, decides
otherwise with regard to it. In confirmation of our opinion we refer to
Pliny (l. c.), and to Beckmann’s ingenious disquisition on our kitchen
vegetables in his ‘Hist. of Invent.’ He seems clearly to make out that
the daucus, staphylinus, carota, and pastinaca were all merely varieties
of the _Daucus Carota_. He is in some doubts, however, whether the
“pastinaca” was not also sometimes applied to the parsnip. See, however,
under _Daucus_.
Στάχυς,
Stachys, _Base Horehound_, is a shrub resembling horehound, and is
calefacient in the third degree. It therefore promotes menstruation,
kills the fœtus, and expels the secundines.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is the _Stachys Palestina_, or _Base Horehound_. Our
author gives exactly the same account of its medicinal properties as
Dioscorides and Galen, the latter remarking of it that it not only
promotes menstruation, but is a drug used for procuring abortion.
Pliny, by confounding πράσον and πράσιον, says of it that it resembles
the _porrum_ instead of the marrubium; so that his celebrated editor,
Harduin, holds that the stachys of Pliny is different from that of
Dioscorides. (Ad H. N. xxiv, 86.) It is quite clear, however, that the
plants are identical, and accordingly Pliny, like the other, says of his
stachys, that it is emmenagogue. The Arabians do not seem to treat of it.
Στέατα,
Adipes, _Fats_, or _Grease_; all kinds dilute and warm the human body,
but their powers vary according to the different temperaments of animals.
That of swine, then, is the most humid of all, its powers being like
those of oil. Hence it blunts sharp pains. That of goats is drier
and sooner coagulated, and therefore is used as an injection to those
who have sharp pains in the rectum. That of geese is hotter and more
attenuate; that of domestic cocks and hens being intermediate. That of
lions is the hottest of all and the most attenuate, hence it is most
discutient. That of oxen has an intermediate temperament between swine
and lions. That of bears cures alopecia, that of foxes, earache; as that
of vipers is said to remove hairs and prevent suffusions from forming.
Upon the whole, that of males is the hotter and more desiccative, and of
them those which have their testicles more than those which have been
cut, and of those which are full-grown than that of the others. All sorts
of grease when long kept become hotter.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. _Fats._ Our author’s account of their medicinal properties
is sufficiently ample. For further information, however, the reader may
consult Dioscorides and Galen. The former gives very minute and seemingly
important directions for the preparations of all these animal fats. We
may just mention here a little piece of criticism which Galen bestows
in this case upon his much admired predecessor. Dioscorides says of the
grease _or_ lard of goats, that it is more styptic (στυπτικώτερον) than
that of swine. Upon which Galen remarks that although Dioscorides had
written much and well on the Materia Medica, he often uses words in a
wrong signification, as he does in the present instance, for that the
above-mentioned term, which properly signifies astringent, must here be
understood to mean acrid or pungent. Now we think that Galen is here
correct, and that Sprengel’s attempt to bring his author, Dioscorides,
clear off in the present case is not successful. Indeed, as we firmly
believe that a greater master of the Greek language than Galen never
existed, we may always feel secure that where the exact meaning of Greek
terms is concerned, one may safely trust to him. The Arabians under this
head merely give extracts from Dioscorides and Galen. See in particular
Serapion (De Simpl. 461) and Avicenna (ii, 2, 70.)
Στίμμι,
Antimonium, _Antimony_, in addition to its desiccative powers, has also
astringency. Hence it is mixed with collyria for the eyes.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. This is evidently the sulphuret of antimony. The native
antimony is so rare a mineral that it is not likely the ancients had any
acquaintance with it, and the factitious antimony is not described by any
ancient author. For an account of the ancient antimony, see in particular
Dioscorides (v, 99) and Pliny (H. N. xxxiii, 33.) It was much used by the
ancients in the composition of the medicines called calliblephara. “Vis
ejus astringere et refrigerare principalis autem circa oculos.” Pliny
(l. c.) In the Old Testament the Jewish women are censured for this use
of it. None of the Greek or Latin authors speak of giving it internally
except Serapion, who quotes Badigorus (Pythagoras?) as stating that it
proves a remedy for epilepsy and gross superfluities. (c. 249.) In its
calcined state it was made into pastils of a square form, and hence the
metal itself is called τετράγωνον by Hippocrates, as has been supposed
by his expositors. See Galen (Exeg.) and Föes (Œcon. Hippocrat. 371.)
Hippocrates recommends it as a medicine for purging the head (De Intern.
Affect.), that is to say, as an ingredient in _caputpurgia_, or errhines,
to the use of which he was partial. (See Vol. I, pp. 59, 60 of this
work.) But with the authorities subsequent to him its principal use would
seem to have been confined to collyria. See in particular Haly Abbas
(Pract. ii, 48); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 43.) Celsus frequently uses it for
this and other purposes.
Στοιβὴ,
Stœbe, _Knapweed_; the fruit and leaves are desiccative in the third
degree, being possessed of astringent powers. Hence they agglutinate
large wounds; and the decoction of them relieves dysentery, hemorrhages,
and discharges of pus from the ear; and in a cataplasm it is of use in
suggillations of the eye from a blow.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. There has been considerable difference of opinion among
modern authorities on this head, as is fully stated by Parkinson (Theatre
of Plants, 998), and by Sprengel (Ad Dioscor. iv, 12.) We acquiesce in
the judgment of those who hold it to be the _Poterium spinosum_. See
Galen (De Antidot. 426, T. ii, ed. Basil.) Our author’s notice of it
is manifestly taken from Galen, who, in his turn, is much indebted to
Dioscorides. (iv, 12.) None of the others add anything of interest
respecting it. It does not occur in the works of Hippocrates nor of
Celsus, nor have we been able to detect it in those of the Arabians,
except Ebn Baithar, who quotes only Dioscorides and Galen under this
head. (ii, 19.)
* * * * *
Στρούθιον. It appears singular that our author should have omitted the
Struthium, which is noticed in this place by Dioscorides and Galen. This
is the celebrated soap-plant used by the fullones or cleansers of cloth
in ancient times. The reader will find a very interesting disquisition
on it in Beckmann’s ‘History of Inventions.’ We think there is every
probability that it was the _Saponaria officinalis_. Dioscorides
represents it to be diuretic, emmenagogue, and lithontriptic, a remedy
for diseases of the chest, the liver, the spleen, and for jaundice;
a discutient application to indolent tumours, a sternutatory, and a
masticatory. (ii, 192.) By the way, the famous writer Lucian mentions
an amusing example of its use as a masticatory. (De Alexandro.) Galen
states its virtues in general terms; he says it is acrid and detergent,
and hence it acts as a sialogogue. We have not been able to find it in
the works of Hippocrates. See Pliny (T. ii, 341, 161, 410, ed. Harduin)
and Celsus (v, 18.) The Arabians treat of it very fully. See Avicenna
(ii, 2, 133); Serapion (De Simpl. 362); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. iii,
38.) They all hold it to be emetic, and when it cannot be procured they
recommend in its place nux vomica. They also recommend it for all the
medicinal purposes enumerated by Dioscorides. The soap-wort has been used
medicinally in modern times. See Culpeper (172), Lewis (M. M. 339), and
Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 115.) Quincy gives a very confused account of
it. (138.) In the modern Greek Pharmacopœia it is still retained. (144.)
Στοιχάς,
Stœchas, _Cassidony_, or _French Lavender_; it is deobstruent, attenuant,
detergent, and strengthens all the viscera and the whole habit of the
animal.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It appears to be the _Lavandula Stœchas_, or French Lavender.
See Tournefort (M. M.) Pliny says that it is an odoriferous herb of a
bitter taste. He adds that it promotes menstruation and relieves pains of
the breast. (H. N. xxvii, 107.) Dioscorides recommends it for diseases
of the chest and for antidotes. (ii, 28.) Galen has some very sensible
remarks on its qualities as perceived by the taste, and recommends it
in the same cases as our author. See also ‘De Antidot.’ (i.) Avicenna
and Rhases recommend it for epilepsy and melancholy. According to the
Arabians it is purgative and alexipharmic, but Dr. Hill denies that it
possesses these powers in any considerable degree. It still held a place
in our Mat. Med. when Lewis wrote. (ii, 389.) It is retained in the
modern Greek Pharmacopœia.
Στρατιώτης,
Achillea, _Yarrow_; that which grows in water is possessed of cold
powers, but the land has astringency; hence it agglutinates ulcers. Some
use it for hemorrhages and fistulæ.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. The land is decidedly the _Achillea Millefolium_, the
river the _Pistia Stratiotes_. The millefoil got the name of Achillea
from being supposed the herb used by Achilles in dressing wounds. V.
Eustathius (ad Iliad, xi, ad finem.) Our author copies almost word for
word from Galen, who, however, is equally indebted to Dioscorides for the
characters of the yarrow. Regarding the water plant, Dioscorides says
that it preserves wounds free from inflammation, and cures erysipelas
and œdema in a cataplasm with vinegar. (iv, 100, 101.) These plants are
not to be found in the works of Hippocrates, Celsus, nor of the Arabian
authorities, as far as we can discover, with the exception of Ebn
Baithar, who merely gives extracts under this head from Dioscorides and
Galen (ii, 30), and of Rhases, who merely quotes Galen. (Cont. l. ult.
637.) The _Pistia Stratiotes_ is still used by the Hindoo physicians as
a demulcent in dysuria, and as a cataplasm for hemorrhoids. See Lindley
(Veg. King. 125.) The yarrow held a place in our Dispensatory with its
ancient character down to a late date. See Quincy (92) and Lewis (M. M.
108.) It still holds a place in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia (109.)
Στρύχνος,
Strychnos, Solanum (?), _Nightshade_ (?), or _Alkekengi_, i. e. _Winter
Cherry_; the garden and esculent sort is astringent and cooling in the
second degree. The halicacabum is like the garden, having a diuretic
fruit like the grape of a vine. The bark of the root of the Strychnos
somnifera when drunk with wine to the amount of a dram is soporific. And
it has a diuretic seed, being of the third order of refrigerants; hence
when drunk in greater quantity than twelve clusters it occasions madness.
The fourth species is not used internally, but when applied externally it
cures spreading ulcers, belonging to the second order of refrigerants and
desiccants.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. We must not venture upon the discussion of disputed points
respecting the _Strychni_ of the ancients, for which we beg to refer
our readers to the Appendix to Dunbar’s Greek Lexicon, and we shall
merely state our conclusions so far as they are interesting to the
professional reader. Of the four species described by Dioscorides, the
1st, or Strychnus hortensis, is the _Solanum nigrum_, or its variety _S.
miniatum_; the 2d, or Halicacabum, is the _Physalis alkekengi_; the 3d,
or S. somniferum, is the _Physalis somnifera_; and the 4th, or Furialis,
is the _Solanum Sodomæum_. Several learned authorities, however, have
taken the last for the _Atropa Belladonna_. Our author in the main
follows Dioscorides, who treats of the virtues of the _Strychni_ at
so great length that we dare not attempt to follow him in the present
instance. The first he does not administer internally, but recommends
it very largely as an external application for erysipelas, herpes,
headache, heat of the stomach, affections of the eye, the siriasis of
children, earache, the fluor albus, &c. The second, he says, resembles
the first in virtue. The third, he says, has the same powers as the
juice of the poppy. The fourth brings on phantasies and delirium, and in
large doses proves fatal. The best counter-agent to it is undiluted wine
drunk and afterwards vomited. (iv, 72-5.) Celsus frequently prescribes
“solanum quam στρύχνον Græci vocant,” and ranks it among those things
which repress and soothe. (ii, 33.) He recommends it as an application
in phrenitis and various other diseases. (iii, 18.) Galen and Aëtius
give nearly the same account of it as our author. Oribasius confessedly
borrows his description from Dioscorides. The Arabians treat fully of the
solanum, of which Avicenna mentions that there are five species. (ii,
2, 646.) See Serapion (De Simpl. 138); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 662);
Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn Baithar (ii, 212.) The characters which
they give of these plants agree in the main so well with those given to
them by the Greeks, that we need not stop to note slight differences. The
Latin writers of the middle ages call solanum by the name of maurella.
See Macer Floridus. He says of the strychnos that it is possessed of
powerfully narcotic properties. The Solanum nigrum held a place in our
Dispensatories, and retained the characters transmitted down with it from
antiquity as late as the end of the last century. See Lewis (M. M.) All
our old herbalists, Gerard, Parkinson, and Culpeper, speak of its virtues
in the same terms as Dioscorides. Our toxicologists have decided that it
is a powerful narcotic. See Orfila. The _Physalis somnifera_ is still
used in India as an application to inflammatory tumours. See Lindley
(Veg. King. 621.) The _alkekengi_ is still admitted to be possessed of
a diuretic power, as stated by Dioscorides. (Ibid.) We are not aware
of the Solanum Sodomæum having ever been used medicinally in modern
times, but we need scarcely say that of late years the Atropa Belladonna
has occupied no undistinguished place in our Dispensatories. On the
_Strychnos furiosa_ as a poison, see Vol. II, p. 224.
Στυπτηρία,
Alumen, _Alum_; all kinds of it are very sour, and consist of gross
particles. But the alumen scissile, or _Stone Alum_, consists of more
subtile parts than the others. After it is the Alumen rotundum, or _Round
Alum_, and the astragolotum. The Alumen liquidum, or _Liquid Alum_,
consists of gross parts; and so also the varieties called placitis and
plinthitis.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. After having read much that has been written by the best
authorities both ancient and modern upon this subject, we still approach
the discussion of it with very great diffidence. Having deliberately
considered what Beckmann has written regarding the ancient alum, we
cannot agree with him in setting it down as being copperas or the green
sulphate of iron. The ancients, indeed, may not always distinguish
accurately the latter from “the sulphate of alum and potash,” but
considering how common this mineral is in the countries bordering upon
the Mediterranean, we cannot conceive how the ancients could possibly
have remained ignorant of it, and we need scarcely add that it has never
been pretended that _it_ has been described by them under any other
name. But its varieties differed much from one another. The Alumen
plumosum, called τριχῖτις by the Greeks, was no doubt the _Hair salt_ of
Werner, which, according to the analysis of Klaproth, contains a large
mixture of the sulphates of magnesia and iron. Geoffroy remarks that “of
liquid alum two kinds are taken notice of by the ancients; the one pure
and the other impure. The solid or concreted kind was by the ancients
distinguished, according to the figure of its parts, into fissile and
round. The fissile natural alum was either in form of a compact, uniform
globe, or appeared divided into small hairs or filaments. The round
kind was of a more rare texture.” The Alumen Jameni of the Arabians
was the plumose alum. Pliny and Octavius Horatianus recommend alum as
an application to burns when pounded with oil. Alum was used in the
practice of medicine from the earliest times. Hippocrates prescribes
it in ulcers of the womb, diseases of the gums, and for various other
purposes. (Epid. vii, De Mulieb., De Ulcer., &c.) Our author borrows from
Galen. Dioscorides gives a most elaborate description of the different
kinds and of their uses in medicine. They are all possessed, he says,
of a heating power, and also of an astringent, and hence they clear
the obscurities of the cornea, melt down fungous flesh on the eyelids
and elsewhere, the schistose being more powerful than the round; they
stop mortifications and hemorrhages, repress flaccid gums, strengthen
loose teeth with vinegar or honey; are beneficial in aphthæ; and, in
short, he states most minutely the various purposes to which alum may be
applied. On the alumen see also Pliny (H. N. xxxv, 52) and Celsus (iv,
18), with the note of Milligan. For the Arabians consult Avicenna (ii,
2, 68); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 43); Serapion (De Simpl. 420); Haly Abbas
(Pract. ii, 44); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 38); Ebn Baithar (ii, 83.) All of
these authors, even including the last, do little more than copy from
Dioscorides and Galen under this head. Geber, however, treats of the
subject with some appearance of originality, and describes the kinds of
alum with considerable accuracy. (Invention of Verity, c. 4.) The process
of burning alum for medicinal purposes, which is barely alluded to by
Dioscorides, is described by Geber and by Servitor. (i.)
Στυραξ,
Storax, is calefacient, emollient, and digestive. It therefore is useful
in coughs, catarrhs, and defluxions; and promotes menstruation both when
drunk and applied on a pessary.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is clearly our officinal storax, or _Styrax officinale_.
Dr. Pereira has given the ancient history of this substance so correctly,
as to leave us little further to add under the present head. (Mat.
Med. 931.) As he states, the storax has been described by Hippocrates,
Theophrastus, Pliny, and Dioscorides. The several varieties described by
the last of these, Dr. Pereira ingeniously refers to kinds of storax,
with which we are still acquainted. The _Styrax Calamita_ is mentioned
by our author in the eleventh Section; according to him it is but a
variety of the amygdaloid storax, which was formerly imported enveloped
in a monocotyledonous leaf. Dioscorides’s description of its medicinal
properties agrees well with our author’s, but is considerably fuller. (i,
79.) Galen and the other Greek authorities treat of it like our author.
Celsus prescribes it frequently as an emollient, discutient, concoctive,
and suppurative medicine. (v, 18, 22, c. &c.) The Arabians treat of it
at considerable length, but do not add much of any practical importance
to what had been written on it by Dioscorides and Galen. See Avicenna
(ii, 2, 423); Serapion (c. 46); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Rhases (Cont.
l. ult. i, 687); Ebn Baithar (ii, 428.) Upon the whole, Serapion’s
account appears to us most interesting. His Arabian authority, Isaac Eben
Amram, mentions that it was used by the Christians in their churches for
fumigations. Avicenna, according to Dr. Hill, is the only one among the
Arabians who distinguishes the solid storax, which we have been treating
of from the liquid, or _Styrax liquidus_. It is quite a different
substance, being procured from the _Liquid amber orientale_, according to
Dr. Lindley. (Veg. King. 253.)
Σύκα,