second degree. But those which are fatty rather digest hard tumours;
those which are more acrid prove detergent and discutient. The decoction
of them, when made of the consistence of honey (which some call siræon),
is similar in powers to honey. The powers of the green are weaker, but
both loosen the belly. The figs of the wild tree are possessed of acrid
and discutient powers like those of the cultivated.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. See Book I (s. 81.) Pliny enumerates the medicinal properties
of _figs_ at great length. Ripe figs are said to be diuretic, laxative,
and diaphoretic. Externally they were used as an application to boils
and scrofulous swellings. (H. N. xxiii, 63.) See also Dioscorides and
Serapion, both of whom give the characters of figs in nearly the same
terms as Pliny. No ancient author, however, has treated so elaborately of
figs as Avicenna (ii, 2, 276.) His account of them is so lengthy that we
dare not venture upon an analysis of it.
Σνκὴ,
Ficus, _the Fig-tree_, is of a heating and attenuating temperament, so
that the juice of it and the sap of the leaves are not only pungent and
strongly detergent, but also occasion ulceration, open the mouths of
vessels, and remove myrmecia. It is also cathartic. The wild-fig, called
caprificus, is in every respect more powerful than the cultivated.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. See the authorities referred to in the preceding article.
Pliny recommends the juice of the caprificus or wild fig-tree (_Ficus
Carica_), as an application to leprosy, psora, and lichen. All the
authorities, Greek, Latin, and Arabian, praise it as an application
to the wounds of venomous animals. The wild fig-tree is the Ἐρίνεος
of Homer. V. Eustath. ‘Comment. in Iliad.’ (vi, 433.) The commentator
describes accurately the process of caprification.
Συκόμορος,
Sycomorus, _the Sycomore_; the fruit is innutritive, and bad for
the stomach. The juice of the tree has powers which are emollient,
agglutinative of wounds, and discutient of tumours. It is taken in a
draught and rubbed in for the bites of reptiles, for scirrhous spleens,
pains of the stomach, and rigors.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Of course there can be no doubt of its being the _Ficus
Sycomorus_. Galen, Dioscorides, and Serapion detail its medicinal
properties in nearly the same terms as our author. Nothing else of any
interest can be gathered from the others under this head.
Σύμφυτον,
Symphytum, _Comfrey_; the rock comfrey is composed of opposite powers.
For it has some incisive powers by which it cleanses the pus in the chest
and the kidneys; and it has also some constringency which renders it a
suitable remedy for hæmoptysis, sprained and ruptured parts, the red flux
in women, and intestinal hernia. It contains also some hot humidity, by
which it quenches thirst and cures asperities in the trachea. The other
species, called the _Great Comfrey_, is glutinous and prurient like
squills. It is used for the same purposes as the rock.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. The second species is indisputably the _Symphytum
officinale_, a plant which the Romans, no doubt, naturalized in this
country. The other has been the subject of more controversy. See
Parkinson (526) and Matthiolus and Sprengel (Ad Dioscor. iv, 9.) We are
satisfied that it was the _Coris monspeliensis_. Our author manifestly
abridges Galen, who borrows from Dioscorides, but improves what he
takes. They all agree in commending both as being possessed of great
virtues as expectorant and vulnerary medicines. Dioscorides particularly
commends the latter as an application to inflammations about the anus
in a cataplasm, with the leaves of senecio. Neither of these plants is
mentioned by Celsus, nor, we believe, by Hippocrates. Avicenna writes
hesitatingly about them, but in the main agrees with Dioscorides with
regard to their medicinal virtues, more especially in hæmoptysis, ulcers
of the intestines, menorrhagia, and as an application to external
injuries. (ii, 2, 634.) The Arabians in general seem not to have attached
much importance to the symphytum, for, after a cursory examination while
writing this article, we have not been able to find it in any of the
others except Ebn Baithar, who merely gives extracts from Dioscorides
and Galen, under the present head. Apuleius mentions that the Latin name
of the symphytum is consolida. Dr. Hill calls it a famous vulnerary both
internally and externally, and as such it is highly commended by all our
older herbalists. See Parkinson, Culpeper, and Gerard. It would appear
also that the other species, the Coris monspeliensis, was employed in the
medicine of the Spanish monastic orders as an efficacious vulnerary. See
Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 645.)
Σφονδύλιον,
Spondylium, _Cow-parsnip_; the fruit and root are possessed of acrid and
cutting powers, so as to cure asthma, epilepsy, and jaundice. The root,
when stripped of its bark and put into a fistula, removes its callus. The
juice of the flowers of it are injected into the ears as agreeing with
chronic ulcers.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. There seems no reason to doubt of its being the _Heracleum
Sphondylium_. Dioscorides and Pliny recommend it as an application to
fistulous ulcers, and in the other cases mentioned by our author. Galen
and Oribasius give it the same characters as our author. We have not
met with it in the works of Hippocrates, Celsus, and Aëtius. Avicenna
draws the characters which he gives it entirely from Dioscorides. (ii,
2, 643.) Ebn Baithar, in describing it, merely gives extracts from
Dioscorides and Galen. (ii, 24.) Rhases does the same. (Cont. l. ult. i,
636.) The sphondylium is described as a medicinal herb, possessed of the
virtues ascribed to it by the ancients, in the works of our old English
herbalists, but it has long ceased to occupy a place in our Dispensatory.
Neither is it to be found in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia.
Σχῖνος,
Lentiscus, _the Lentisk_, in all its parts, belongs to the full second
order of desiccants. As to heating and cooling, it holds an intermediate
place. It is astringent to such a degree as to approach nearly, in this
respect, to the juice of the hypocistis.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is the _Pistacia Lentiscus_, L., according to the
admission of all the commentators. We need scarcely mention that it is
the tree from which mastich is procured. Hippocrates was well acquainted
with the medical use of it. Pliny says that it acts as a diuretic, but
occasions constipation of the bowels. He also mentions that it was used
in toothache, and that a decoction of its leaves in a gargle fastened
loose teeth. (xxiv, 28.) The same is stated of it by Plinius Valerianus
(i, 36), and by Dioscorides (i, 89.) Nay, it would appear, from the
following epigram of Martial, that peculiar virtues were ascribed to a
toothpick made of the mastich tree:
“Dentiscalpium
Lentiscum melius: sed si tibi frondea cuspis
Defuerit, dentes penna levare potest.”—(xiv, 22.)
Dioscorides is the author who has written most elaborately on this
article, which he recommends in hæmoptysis, diarrhœa, dysentery,
menorrhagia, prolapsus uteri and ani, in affections of the mouth, as
already stated, and, in a word, he concludes by saying of its oil, that
it is beneficial in all cases requiring astringency. (l. c.) Galen also
gives a very sensible account of this tree, which he represents to be
an astringent of the same class as hypocistis. Celsus prescribes it on
various occasions, as, for example, a decoction of its leaves to suppress
immoderate suppuration. (vi, 18.) He ranks it among the astringent and
emollient substances. (ii, 33.) All the Arabians treat largely of it,
but copy most of their information from Dioscorides and Galen. See
Avicenna (ii, 2, 453); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 457); Serapion (De Simpl.
159); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn Baithar (ii, 518.) In particular
all recommend it as a dentifrice and odontalgic, and we need scarcely
mention that it still is used in the East for these purposes. See Paris
(Pharm. t. ii, 323) and Pereira (1184.) It is stated in the modern Greek
Pharmacopœia that it is cultivated in Chios.
Σχοῖνος,
Juncus, _the Rush_; its flower is moderately calefacient, but astringent
in a less degree, and is not removed from the nature of attenuating
substances. Hence it is diuretic, emmenagogue, and deobstruent in
fomentations, potions, and cataplasms. The root of it is more astringent,
but the flower hotter. The marsh-rush consists of two varieties. The
fruit of the oxyschœnus or _Hard-rush_, as it is called, is soporific,
but that of the holoschœnus less so, and it also occasions headache. Both
varieties, if toasted and drunk with wine, dry up fluxes of the belly and
restrain the female discharge.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It requires some attention not to confound the _Schœni_
with one another. The _Schœnanthus_, then, is decidedly the _Andropogon
Schœnanthus_, or Lemon-grass. See Dr. Royle (Antiq. of Hindoo Med. 82)
and Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 113.) The σ. ἐλεῖα is the _Schœnus Holoschœnus_;
the ὁλοσχοῖνος, the _Schœnus mariscus_; and the ὀξυσχοῖνος, the _Juncus
acutus_. The first of these is the species most celebrated as a medicine.
Thus it is the schœnus of Dioscorides, who represents it as being
useful in vomiting of blood, pains of the stomach, lungs, liver, and
kidneys, and as being possessed of diuretic, emmenagogue, carminative,
subastringent, and other powers. Its decoction, he says, is useful as a
hip-bath in inflammations of the womb. (i, 16.) Galen gives a similar
account of its virtues. (De Simpl. viii, and De Antidot. i.) The other
Greek authorities treat of it very succinctly. Is not this the “flos
junci rotundi” of Celsus? (v, 24.) According to Dierbach and, indeed, all
the best authorities, it is the σ. ἔυοσμος of Hippocrates (De Mulieb.
i, 111), who recommends it along with other aromatics in diseases of
the uterus. The Arabians display an intimate acquaintance with the
schœnanths. See Avicenna (ii, 2); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 681); Serapion
(De Simpl. 103); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn Baithar (i, 19.) The
last of these gives a particularly full account of it, mostly from
Arabian authorities. They all agree in representing it as being diuretic,
emmenagogue, and alexipharmic, and in recommending it particularly in
apostemes of the anus, and in scabies. Its oil, they say, is efficacious
in removing lassitude. The schœnanth held a place in our Dispensatory
as late as the times of Quincy (i, 1, 12) and Lewis (ii, 20.) Upon
consulting the modern authors quoted above, it will be seen that it is
still well known in the East.
Σῶρι,
Sori, resembles misy in its powers, consisting of much grosser particles.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. We feel that we must still add something to what we have said
of this substance under the head of _Misy_. The following description of
it, by a great modern authority, who appears to have been well acquainted
with it, deserves not to be overlooked: “Rusma _or_ Sory. A mixt mineral,
blackish, hard, heavy, and of a cavernous or spongy structure, of a
disagreeable smell, and nauseous, vitriolic taste; and often covered with
dusty efflorescences on the surface. It is composed of vitriol, sulphur,
and an earthy matter. The ancients called it _sory_. We have it in our
Derbyshire mines, but it is not regarded. It was used as a depilatory
by the Greeks, and is so by the Turks at this time. Taken inwardly it
vomits instantaneously and very roughly; it contains a cupreous vitriol,
and hence its emetic quality.”—Boerhaave’s Materia Medica, translated
by Goade (227.) See under _Chalcitis_. Dioscorides calls it blackish,
fetid, and nauseating, and possessed of caustic powers: he recommends
it in toothache, as an application to vari, as an injection with wine
in sciatica, &c. (v, 118.) Galen says it is not soluble like misy and
chalcitis, but does not materially differ from them in medicinal powers.
Celsus prescribes it along with opium, pepper, and galbanum as a stuffing
to carious teeth. (vi, 9.) Avicenna, like Galen, says it is insoluble in
water, and, like Dioscorides, he prescribes it in sciatica and diseases
of the teeth. (ii, 2, 47.) We have stated above that Serapion describes
the sory along with the other two under the general head of _vitriolum_,
and the specific name of _Zeg rubeum_; and that he merely translates
Dioscorides and Galen. (c. 386.) Rhases, in like manner, gives from
Dioscorides and Galen a description of misy, sory, and chalcitis under
the general head of _vitriolum_. He calls the sory, vitriolum ruffum,
and, like Dioscorides, recommends it in carious teeth and in sciatica.
His only Arabian authority, Bimasui, says of the vitriolum that it dries
the lungs strongly, and in this way may prove fatal. (Cont l. ult. i,
747.) It is the vitriolum rubeum of Averrhoes. (Collig. v, 43.) In the
most barbarous translation of Haly Abbas it is scarcely possible to
extract any proper meaning from his description of the three vitriols.
(Pract. ii, 48.) The lengthy account which Ebn Baithar gives of them
is mostly made up of extracts from Dioscorides, Galen, and Avicenna.
(ii, 510.) Some have thought the sory of Pliny different from that of
the others, but, as far as we can see, without any good reason. Like
Dioscorides, he recommends it in diseases of the teeth and spreading
ulcers of the mouth. He says it is a thing so offensive to the stomach,
that the very smell of it will sometimes excite vomiting. (H. N. xxxiv,
30.)
Τάριχοι,
Salsamenta, _Pickles_; their flesh is possessed of acrid and desiccative
powers. They are given, therefore, to persons bitten by the viper
prester, that they may eat as much as possible, and drink of wine freely,
and vomit. They also are suitable to the regimen of acrid food; and are
applied with advantage to persons bitten by dogs and other reptiles.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. _Pickled Fish._ It appears from Dioscorides and Xenocrates
that the tunny (_Scomber Thynnus_) was accounted the best pickle, and it
was accordingly most used in medical practice. Galen recommends the brine
of pickled fish as an injection in dysentery, and a stimulant lotion to
sores on all parts of the body. Serapion gives the same account of it
as Dioscorides and Galen. Symeon Seth forbids us to eat pickles after
venesection, as they are apt to occasion alphos and scabies. It seems
highly probable that indigestible substances, if taken into the stomach
when the veins are empty, may be rapidly absorbed, and give rise to the
formation of humours, of which nature may endeavour to free the system by
casting them forth by the skin.
Ταυροκόλλα,
Taurocolla (called by some Xylocolla), is a glutinous substance made from
the hides of oxen, and is of considerably detergent powers. Hence, when
dissolved in vinegar, it removes lichen and superficial leprosies; and it
prevents burns from getting inflamed when dissolved in hot water. It is
also a suitable application for wounds when triturated with oxymel.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Pliny says of it, “Glutinum præstantissimum fit ex auribus
taurorum et genitalibus. Nec quidquam efficacius prodest ambustis.”
(H. N. xxviii, 72.) Dioscorides and Avicenna recommend it in the cases
mentioned by our author. It will readily be perceived that it was a
species of gelatin. See Κόλλα.
Τελλῖναι,
Tellinæ, _Limpets_; when pickled and burnt, their ashes are caustic; when
mixed with cedar rosin and applied to the parts from which the hairs
of the eyebrows have been torn out by the roots, it prevents them from
growing again.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. According to Matthiolus, they are a species of mussels. They
are different, however, from the _Mytili edules_, L. Our author’s account
of them is taken from Dioscorides, and is repeated by Avicenna.
Τέρμινθος,
Terebinthus, _Turpentine_, is heating in the second degree, and
desiccative, when green, in the first, but when dried, in the second.
The fruit, when dried, belongs to the third order of desiccants. It is,
therefore, diuretic and useful for the spleen.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is the _Pistacia Terebinthus_ L. Dioscorides states
that its fruit is hot, diuretic, and aphrodisiacal. He recommends it
internally for the bites of the phalangia. Of the turpentine resin we
have treated under the head of the Resinæ. The ancients, as we have
stated, were very familiar with the _brown_ or _black_ rosin, called
_colophony_. (i, 91.) According to Dr. Hill, the Chian turpentine rosin
was the turpentine of the ancients. Pliny likewise recommends it in
retention of urine, and as a gentle laxative. He adds, “venerem excitat.”
(H. N. xxiv, 18.) Our author’s account of it is condensed from Galen. The
turpentines, and more especially the resin, are frequently prescribed
by Celsus. They occur also in the Hippocratic treatises. Turpentine
was much used in applications to cutaneous diseases and ulcers. See
Avicenna (ii, 2, 303) and Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 342.) Serapion treats
of this article under the same head with the lentiscus. He copies from
Dioscorides. (De Simpl. 153.) See Ebn Baithar (ii, 144.)
Τέττιγες,
Cicadæ; some, having dried them raw, give them to drink in colic
affections to the number of three, five, or seven, with an equal number
of grains of pepper. Others roast them and give them to drink to those
who have affections of the bladder.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. The τέττιξ of the Greeks and the cicada of the Romans was
not the grasshopper, as has been often represented, but the insect which
has been more properly called the tree-hopper in English, namely the
_cicale_ of the Italians. The species here noticed was most probably the
_Cicada orni_. Dioscorides merely recommends them in diseases of the
bladder. (ii, 56.) Pliny gives a very interesting description of them,
but it contains nothing which, in a medical point of view, would suit our
present purpose. (H. N. xi, 32.) Our author follows Galen. (De Simpl.
xi.) They do not occur in the works of Celsus, nor have we been able
to discover traces of them in any of the Arabians, with the exception
of Ebn Baithar, who, in treating of them, merely gives extracts from
Dioscorides and Galen. (i, 555.)
Τεῦτλον,
Beta, _Beet_, is of a nitrous nature. Hence it is detergent and
discutient, and purges by the nose; but especially the white species.
When boiled it becomes anti-inflammatory and slightly discutient.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It evidently is the _Beta vulgaris_ L. The white and black
kinds were, we presume, merely varieties; but this does not seem
sufficiently clear. See Parkinson (Theatre of Plants, 752) and Lewis
(Mat. Med.) Dioscorides recommends the beet for various medicinal
purposes, for clearing the head by occasioning a discharge from the nose,
as a remedy for earache; a decoction of its leaves for eruptive diseases
and chilblains; and also as an application to exanthemata, burns, and
erysipelas. (ii, 49.) Galen gives the same account of it as our author.
Aëtius is fuller; he further recommends it particularly as a deobstruent
in diseases of the liver and spleen. The beet is mentioned as an edible
plant by Hippocrates. (De Vict. Acut.) See also Celsus (ii, 18.) Serapion
(c. 148) and Avicenna recommend the leaves of beet as an application to
burns and impetigo, (ii, 2, 636.) See also Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 127.)
All the authorities say that the beet is possessed of nitrous properties,
by which they probably mean saline, the ancient _nitrum_ being a species
of native soda, resembling salt. It is now well known that beetroot by
boiling yields a saccharine salt in considerable abundance. The beet held
a place in our Dispensatory as late as the time of Lewis. We have treated
of it as an article of food in Book I.
Τεύκριος,
Teucrium, _Tree Germander_, is a calefacient of the second order, and a
desiccant of the third. Its powers are also incisive and subtile, and
hence it cures the spleen.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is not well decided whether it be the _Teucrium Marum_
or the _Teucrium flavum_. Pliny’s account of it is very confused, and
Harduin thinks that his T. is the hemionitis of Dioscorides. (Ad H. N.
xxv, 20.) Apuleius, in like manner, identifies the hemionon and the
teucrium. (De Herbis, 56.) Dioscorides, like our author, recommends it
for reducing the spleen, both when given internally and when applied
externally in a cataplasm, and also as an application to the bites of
venomous animals. (iii, 110.) Our author borrows from Galen. We have not
been able to discover it in the works either of Hippocrates or of Celsus.
Neither have we found it in the works of the Arabians. Dr. Sontheimer,
the German translator of Ebn Baithar, identifies the _Teucrium Marum_
with the _Chamædrys_ of Dioscorides, and the _T. flavum_ with his
_Teucrium_. (ii, 466.) It is long since the _Teucrium Marum_ disappeared
from our Dispensatory, but it is still not wholly unknown in the shops
of the apothecaries, where it is reputed to be emmenagogue. The _T.
flavum_ is also to be found in the shops, and has still the reputation
of being useful in diseases of the liver and spleen. See Gray (Suppl. to
Pharmacop. 49.)
Τέφρα,
Cinis, _Ashes_; all kinds have not exactly the same temperament, but they
vary according to the difference of the wood that has been burnt. The
ashes, then, of sour things, such as the oak and the ilex, have no small
degree of astringency, so that they will restrain hemorrhage when no
other remedy is at hand. That from acrid substances, such as the ashes of
the fig and the spurge, become more acrid and detergent.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. These _Cineres_ were pearlashes, consisting of the carbonate
of potass mixed with various impurities. Galen remarks, that they are the
residue of vegetable substances which have been burnt, being composed
of contrary qualities, for that they have something terrene in them,
and also something of a fuliginous nature. When, then, they have been
dissolved in water and strained, what remains is terrene and devoid of
pungency. Our author borrows from him his particular characters of the
different cineres. They were much used by the ancient physicians as
caustic and stimulant applications. Rhases says that they possess an
igneous nature, and are useful in dissolving soft tumours. (Ad Mansor.
iii, 47.) See also (Cont. l. ult. i, 214.) In the latter work he borrows
principally from Galen and our author. Avicenna recommends the ashes of
mezereon in quinsy, and as a stimulant to the sight. The aqua cineris,
he says, is one of the septic medicines. (ii, 2, 188.) The burnt lees of
wine belong to this class. See Κονία and Τρῦξ ὄινου.
Τηλέφιον,
Telephium, _Orpine_, is a calefacient of the first order, but a desiccant
of the second. It is also detergent; and hence it is a suitable
application to putrid ulcers, and cures leuce and alphos with vinegar.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. We think with Sibthorp and Sprengel, that it is _not_ the
_Sedum Telephium_, but the _Cerinthe minor_. See also Parkinson (520.)
Dioscorides recommends it principally in the forms of leprosy. (ii, 217.)
Galen’s characters of it agree with those of our author. It does not
occur in the works either of Hippocrates or of Celsus, neither have we
been able to observe any distinct traces of it in those of the Arabians,
unless, which seems highly probable, it be the _thelopium_ of Ebn
Baithar, as his German translator conjectures. (ii. 164.)
Τῆλις,
Fœnum Græcum, _Fenugreek_, is heating in the second order, but
desiccative in the first; hence it expedites the progress of all hot
phlegmons; and those which are less hot, and such as are scirrhous, it
cures by discussing them.
* * * * *