_Phœnix Dactylifera_. We would refer to the ‘Hierobotanicon’ of Olaus
Celsius and our own article on this head, in the Appendix to Dunbar’s
Greek Lexicon, for the general literature of this interesting subject.
We need not dwell particularly on the medicinal virtues of the herb,
as all the authorities are agreed that it is applicable in such cases
as astringents are indicated. See in particular Dioscorides (iv, 43.)
A decoction of different parts of the palm-tree was much used by the
ancient physicians as an astringent. Pliny recommends it particularly in
discharges from the uterus and bowels. (H. N. xxiii, 53.) He borrows,
however, from Dioscorides, who recommends it as an astringent in these
and various other cases, such as hemorrhoids and wounds; he adds,
however, that they induce headaches, and when eaten in great quantity
intoxicate and that the dried dates when eaten are useful in hæmoptysis,
stomachic and dysenteric diseases, and complaints of the bladder, when
applied in a powder as a cataplasm with the quince and cerate of wild
vine-flowers. (i, 148.) Celsus recommends a decoction of dates as an
astringent gargle. (v, 22, 9.) Galen has a most interesting article
on the palm, which he recommends in general as being possessed of an
astringent quality, in hepatic and stomachic affections, both internally
and externally. Serapion, Mesue, and Rhases likewise recommend it in such
cases. Rhases gives a most copious account of this subject borrowed from
various sources. One of his authorities says, dates spoil the teeth and
create obstructions in the liver and spleen. Another says they create
semen, and are useful in phthisis. (Cont. l. ult. i, 531.) Avicenna
recommends them generally as astringents, and particularly in fluxes of
the womb and in hemorrhoids. (ii, 2, 87.) Ebn Baithar copies mostly from
Rhases under this head. (i, 211, 496.) The composition of palm-oil is
described by Dioscorides. (i, 54.) It is the only preparation from the
palm which is now retained in the Pharmacopœia.
Φόρμιον,
Phormium, is possessed of attenuating, detergent, and attractive powers.
Its seed, therefore, attenuates leucoma, and extracts sharp-pointed
weapons of wood.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Our author’s account of it is taken from Galen. It would
appear to be a variety of the ὅρμινον, i. e. _Salvia Horminum_ L.,
Purple-top Clary, as is stated by Sprengel. (Notæ in Dioscor. iii, 135.)
We can find nothing interesting regarding it in the other authorities.
Φοῦ,
Valeriana, _Valerian_, has a root which resembles the nard, but is weaker
for most purposes, only it is more diuretic like Celtic.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. It is the _Valeriana officinalis_, or perhaps the _V.
Dioscoridis_. We have mentioned already that the ancient nards were
various species of valerian. All the ancient authorities describe it
as being diuretic and emmenagogue. See in particular Dioscorides (i,
10.) Galen ascribes to it diuretic powers (De Simpl. viii), and Pliny
emmenagogue (H. N. xxi, 80.) The Arabians give it the same characters.
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 255); Serapion (De Simpl. 62); Ebn Baithar
(ii, 265.) Bergius in like manner states its virtues thus: “Virtus:
emmenagoga, abortiens, diuretica, sanguinem amovens.” See also Rutty
(Mat. Med.) Recent authorities, however, are not so lavish in its
praises. See Pereira (971.)
Φύλλον,
Folium, _Leaf_, the leaf of the Malabathrum, which has been already
treated of.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Apicius, in like manner, uniformly calls the leaf of the
Malabathrum by the name of _Folium_. We still incline to the opinion
which we deliberately formed and expressed some years ago, that it was
the leaf of the cassia or wild cinnamon tree. We refer to a learned
disquisition on it by Olaus Celsius, in his ‘Hierobotanicon,’ and to
Geoffroy (Treatise on Fossil, Veg., and Anim. Subst. 318.) The φ. of
Dioscorides is quite a different substance, being the same as the
λινόζωστις, which see.
Φῦκος,
Fucus marinus, _Seaweed_, cools and dries in the second order, having
also a moderate degree of astringency.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Various species of _Fuci_ are described by Theophrastus and
Dioscorides, but so briefly, that it is scarcely possible to determine
them exactly. It is deserving of remark, however, that Galen, Aëtius, and
Oribasius describe a species of Fucus, under the head of Ceruse, which
is therefore supposed to have been a preparation of lead. The article,
however, which our author here treats of is unquestionably the vegetable,
as is evident from Aëtius. (p. 24, ed. Ald.) Dioscorides says it is
possessed of an astringent power, which is efficacious in cataplasms
for the cure of gouty affections and inflammations. These plants are to
be used in a moist state before they are dried. He adds, that Nicander
says the purple fucus is theriacal, and that some persons took its root
to be the fucus which women use for painting their face., (iv, 98.)
Pliny gives a very similar description of the “Phycos thalassion, id
est, Fucus marinus.” (H. N. xxvi, 66.) Galen treats of it in nearly
the same language as our author. It would appear to be the Muscus
marinus of Avicenna, who borrows the description which he gives of it
from Dioscorides, (ii, 2, 452, and 711.) Our old English herbalists,
Parkinson and Gerard, repeat the characters given to the fuci by the
ancients, but these articles were long omitted from our Dispensatories,
until of late some of them were readmitted, when it was ascertained that
they contained iodine. We have known old practitioners, who used the
_Fucus vesiculosus_, or Sea Wrack, very extensively as an application
to scrofulous sores. See further Pereira (562), and Gray (Suppl. to
Pharmacop. 7.) Beckmann gives a very ingenious disquisition on the
_Phycos thalassion_ of the ancients, which he makes out to have been our
Archil or _Lichen roccella_, a sea-weed which has been extensively used,
both in ancient and in modern times for the dyeing of wool. (History of
Inventions.) It must be to it that Horace alludes when he speaks of “lana
medicata fuco,” in his famous ode on Regulus.
Φυλλιτὴς,
Phyllites, _Hart’s Tongue_, is somewhat sour, and from this quality it
naturally proves a remedy for diarrhœa when drunk.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. There seems little reason to doubt that it is the
_Scolopendrium officinale_, or Spleenwort. It is the _Lingua Cervina_ of
Parkinson (Theatre of Plants, 1047.) Both Galen and Dioscorides, like
our author, recommend it in fluxes of the bowels, as being possessed of
astringent powers. It is not met with in the works either of Hippocrates
or Celsus. It was retained in the Dispensatory in the time of Quincy (88,
123), and even at the present day it is not an entire stranger to the
shops. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 12.)
Χαλβάνη,
Galbanum, is heating almost in the third degree, and is desiccative
almost in the second, being possessed of emollient and discutient powers.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Dioscorides says of Galbanum, that it is the juice of a
Ferula growing in Syria, by some called metopium. Pliny describes it
thus: “Quod maxime laudant, cartilaginosum, purum, ad similitudinem
Hammoniaci.” Now, in Dr. Duncan’s edition of the Edinburgh Dispensatory
(1811), it is said in like manner that “Galbanum agrees in virtue with
gum ammoniac;” and from this casual coincidence in the descriptions of
the ancient and modern galbanums, we infer their identity. It would
appear to be now settled, that galbanum is the product of different
umbellifers, the most common of which is the _Opoidia galbanifera_.
See the late publications of Royle, Lindley, and Pereira. Dioscorides
describes it as being possessed of a heating, fiery, epispastic, and
discutient power, in pessaries and fumigations as promoting menstruation
and the expulsion of the fœtus; he recommends it externally, for
furunculi and other complaints of the skin, and internally for chronic
coughs, dyspnœa, asthma, ruptured and sprained parts; its vapour rouses
in cases of epilepsy, hysteria, and vertigo, and drives away venomous
animals. It is used in toothache for filling the hollow of the teeth.
(iii, 87.) Galen and the other Greek authorities treat of it in general
terms, like our author. It occurs in the works of Hippocrates, and
in those of Celsus, who recommends it in nearly the same cases as
Dioscorides, as in furunculus, difficulty of breathing, and so forth.
(See v, 18, et pluries.) For the Arabians, see Avicenna (ii, 2, 312);
Serapion (c. 320.) They borrow their account of its medicinal virtues
from Dioscorides, recommending it as an alexipharmic, an application
to tumours, and a remedy in certain diseases of the chest. Avicenna
says it is less powerful than sagapenum. The Arabian authorities of Ebn
Baithar do not supply anything of much importance in addition to what is
furnished by Dioscorides and Galen.
Χαλκίτις,
Chalcitis, is possessed of astringent, acrid, caustic, and escharotic
powers. In subtility of particles it is intermediate between misy and
sori; but when burnt its parts become still finer.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. We will first give an abstract of the information furnished
by the ancient authorities themselves regarding this much-disputed
article in their Materia Medica, and reserve what we have to say as to
the substance itself to the conclusion. Galen is the author who has given
the fullest account of the nature and formation of the misy, sori, and
chalcitis (see Opera, ed. Basil, T. ii, 127); but as his description of
them is lengthy, we prefer giving the abstract of the same furnished
by Aëtius. It is to be borne in mind then that what follows is upon
the authority of Galen, who visited the copper-mines of Cyprus for
the express purpose of ascertaining the nature of the misy, sori, and
chalcitis. “At the mine in Cyprus, in the mountains of the Soli, there
was a great cave dug in the mountain, at the right side of which, that
is to say, on our left hand as we entered, there was a passage into the
mine in which I saw certain specimens of the three substances stretched
upon one another like zones, the lowest being that of _sori_, upon it
_chalcitis_, and then that of _misy_. In process of time the chalcitis
changes into misy by degrees, and the sori can change into chalcitis, but
requires a much longer space of time. So that it is no wonder that these
three substances should be possessed of homogeneous (similar) powers, as
differing from one another only in tenuity and density of their parts,
the grossest being the sori, and the finest the misy, whereas chalcitis
possesses an intermediate power. When burnt they become more attenuant,
but less styptic.” (p. 30, ed. Aldi.) Galen (l. c.) states distinctly
that the misy is an efflorescence which forms upon the chalcitis, similar
to the verdigris which forms upon copper (or bronze), and that the three
substances in question are convertible into one another. He also states
that a specimen of chalcanthos, when long kept, turns to chalcitis.
Pliny gives a very confused account of the misy, sori, and chalcitis,
which betrays evident marks of a very imperfect acquaintance with the
subject; but it is quite obvious that he meant to describe the very same
substances as those which Dioscorides and Galen describe under these
names, as is obvious from his ascribing the same medicinal powers as
they do to each of these articles. (See H. N. xxxiv, 29, 30, 31, with
the notes of Harduin.) Dioscorides gives but a very brief description of
these substances, with the origin of which he most probably was not so
well acquainted as Galen. He describes the best kind as being like bronze
or copper (χαλκοειδῆ), friable, free of stones, not old, and having long
and glancing fibres. He says of it that it has styptic, heating, and
escharotic powers, and that it clears away impurities about the canthi
and eyes; that it is one of the mild septics; is useful in erysipelas,
herpes, hemorrhages of the uterus and nose, with the juice of leeks;
that when dried it is useful in epulis, spreading sores, and diseases of
the tonsils; that when burnt it is more useful in ophthalmic remedies in
the form of a powder with honey; that it melts down and cleanses callus
and asperity of the eyelids; and removes fistulæ when introduced in
the form of a collyrium. (v, 115.) It occurs in one of the Hippocratic
treatises (De Ulceribus), but its meaning there is not well defined.
By _blue chalcitis_ is probably meant chalcanthos, or blue vitriol.
Celsus prescribes it frequently as a caustic and escharotic application.
(v. 9, et pluries.) As stated already (see _Misy_), Avicenna gives an
account of these substances under the head of “Atramentum sutorium,”
the chalcitis being further distinguished by the name of _colcotar_. He
refers to Galen’s description of them already given, but either he or
his translator evidently misinterprets the original, for he represents
Galen as saying that the _atramentum rubeum_ (sori) is formed from the
_colcotar_. He says of all the three substances that they are caustic,
escharotic, and styptic; and he recommends them in the same instances
as Dioscorides and Galen do. (ii, 2, 47.) Serapion, as already stated,
describes them under the name of _vitreolum_ or _zeg_, including also the
chalcanthos in the same chapter. It may be interesting to our readers to
see his version of the passage of Galen given above from Aëtius. “Vidi in
mineris tres venas extensas unam super aliam per longum spacium, et vena
inferior erat zeg rubeum (_sori?_), et secunda quæ erat super eam erat
colcotar (_chalcitis?_), et tertia superior erat zeg viride (_misy?_), et
hoc est quod zeg rubeum convertitur et fit colcotar et colcotar fit zeg
viride.” He afterwards gives Galen’s account of the medicinal powers of
chalcitis, which does not differ materially from our author’s. (De Simpl.
386.) Rhases, under the head of vitreolum, gives, in abridged extracts
from Dioscorides and Galen, their descriptions of _sori_, _chalcitis_,
and _misy_, which he calls _vitreolum ruffum_, _colcotor_, and _vitreolum
viride_. (Contin. l. ult. 747.) Averrhoes quotes Galen’s account of the
origin of the three vitriols which he calls _vitreolum rubeum_ (sori?),
_v. viride_ (misy?), and _cholcotar_ (chalcitis?). (Collig. v, 43.) And
now, respecting the nature of the three metallic substances _misy_,
_sori_, and _chalcitis_, we have to state it as our deliberate opinion,
that, provided the authority of Galen be held decisive of the question,
there can be no hesitation in coming to the conclusion that they were
merely varieties of the chalcanthum, arising principally from age or
differences in the proportion of the ingredients entering into its
composition. (See below.) Probably then the chalcitis was a specimen of
pure sulphate of copper which had contracted an efflorescence from age.
The misy _or_ zeg viride of the Arabians no doubt owed its colour to a
predominance of the sulphate of iron; while in the sori we may suppose
that zinc or other impurities gave it its peculiar characters.
Χάλκανθος,
Atramentum Sutorium, _Copperas_ or _Vitriol_, is water concreted in
the metal mines of Cyprus, having a very strong astringency with no
contemptible degree of heat; and of all substances it is the most
effectual for pickling and drying humid flesh. In process of time it
changes to chalcitis.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. No person who reads the account of this substance given by
Dioscorides and Pliny can doubt of its being blue vitriol, or an impure
sulphate of copper procured by the evaporation of water found in mines
of copper. Pliny’s description of it is quite characteristic: “Color
est cœruleus, perquam spectabili nitore vitrumque esse creditur.” He
also states that it is the same as the “atramentum sutorium.” (H. N.
xxxiv, 32.) Celsus says the same of it, and ranks it with styptics (v,
1); with corrosive substances (v, 6); with caustics (v, 7, 8); with
escharotics (vi, 11); and recommends it when strongly heated or roasted
to remove callus (v, 28, 12), and for other purposes. Whether the _blue
chalcitis_ of Hippocrates (De Ulcer. 13), alluded to in the preceding
article, be blue vitriol as some have supposed (Pereira, Mat. Med. 494),
we cannot pretend positively to determine, but we think it probable.
Galen describes most graphically his visit to the copper mines of Cyprus,
where, among other strange sights, he witnessed the process of procuring
chalcanthum. He mentions that a specimen of it which he carried with
him in the course of twenty years was converted into chalcitis on its
surface, while its centre remained chalcanthum, and that he meant to
keep it until its centre should change likewise, and until the chalcitis
should be converted into misy. Dioscorides describes several varieties
of the chalcanthum, one of which is called _pectum_, being procured
by natural evaporation; and another _ephthon_ or _coctum_, as being
procured by boiling. The best kind, he says, is blue, heavy, compact, and
translucent. He says it is astringent, heating, and escharotic; kills the
lumbricus latus when taken to the amount of a drachm; that it is emetic,
cures those who have swallowed mushrooms when drunk with water, and that
it purges the head when a piece of wool smeared with it is introduced
into the nostrils. (v, 114.) Oribasius gives a minute description of the
chalcanthum, but it is confessedly taken from Dioscorides. (Med. Coll.
13.) Aëtius says distinctly that the water running from the copper mines
of Cyprus concretes into chalcanthum, and that it changes into chalcitis.
He, in fact, evidently borrows from Galen. Avicenna, as formerly stated
by us, gives a description of this substance along with misy, sori, and
chalcitis, under the general head of “atramentum sutorium.” (ii, 2, 47.)
He also treats of it separately under its proper name, but his account
of it is entirely made up from Dioscorides. (166.) Serapion’s, in like
manner, is copied from Dioscorides. (c. 386.) Haly Abbas’s chapter on the
vitriols is so barbarously translated, that we cannot pretend to unfold
his account of this substance. (Pract. ii, 47.) Though, as we have stated
above, we think there can be no doubt that the chalcanthos of Dioscorides
and Pliny was an impure sulphate of copper procured from the “waters of
cementation” issuing from copper mines, it is proper to mention that
after mature consideration of the subject, with the assistance of an
esteemed authority on the Materia Medica in London, we have arrived at
the conclusion that either the term must have been applied loosely to
other metallic sulphates, or the ancient sulphate of copper must have
contained a very large admixture of the sulphates of iron and of zinc.
Probably, then, the term chalcanthos was used anciently in as loose a
manner as the terms vitriol and copperas have been in modern times.
(See Tournefort’s Mat. Med.) It is further deserving of remark under
this head, that the description of the impure sulphate of copper, which
is given in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia, corresponds exactly with
Dioscorides’s description of the chalcanthos. In the Pharmacopœia it is
directed that the sulphate of copper should not contain _much_ of the
sulphates of zinc and iron. And now, in conclusion, as this is one of the
most important subjects connected with ancient pharmacy, we shall briefly
state our reasons for holding, contrary to the opinion of many recent
authorities of high reputation, that the chalcanthum either consisted
principally of copper, or at least contained a large proportion of that
metal in its composition. 1st. The name implies that the Greeks thought
it a cupreous substance, and Pliny seems to say that the name had been
properly given. (l. c.) 2d. Pliny’s description of it applies exactly
to blue vitriol. (l. c.) 3d. Dioscorides’s description of it tallies
with the description of the sulphate of copper given in the modern Greek
Pharmacopœia. 4th. The chalcanthos was indisputably formed from the
evaporation of waters issuing from mines of copper, that is to say, from
“waters of cementation.” Compare Galen (l. c.) with Pereira (Mat. Med.
495.) 5th. It was administered as an emetic. See Dioscorides (l. c.) 6th.
It was used externally as a powerful escharotic. See Dioscorides, Celsus,
and Galen (pluries.) 7th. It was ranked among the poisons. See Cicero (ad
Familiares, ix,) and the Arabian authorities on Toxicology.
Χαλκὸς κεκαυμένος,
Æs ustum, _Burnt Copper_, is acrid, with a share of astringency. It
therefore is the best of remedies for the cicatrization of ulcers upon
dry bodies; but if washed it agrees better with tender bodies.
Χαλκοῦ ἄνθος,
Æris flos, _the Flower of Copper_, is possessed of more subtile powers
than burnt copper, or than the squama æris. Wherefore, when added to
collyria, it clears away asperities and sycoses of the eyelids.
* * * * *
COMMENTARY. Though there can be no doubt that this term is generally used
by the Greek classical authors to signify _bronze_, or a combination of
copper and tin in the proportion of from 2 to 14 per cent. of the latter,
it is also certain that it was frequently applied to native copper, as it
is in general by the authorities on the Materia Medica. The ancients,
it may be proper to remark cursorily in this place, were acquainted with
the formation of _brass_, which they made by compounding together copper
and cadmia. See Watson’s ‘Chemical Essays,’ and Beckmann’s ‘History
of Inventions.’ Brass was their aurichalcum _or_ orichalcum. The _Æs
ustum_, according to Geoffroy, “is copper reduced to a calx or crocus,
either by itself or mixed with sulphur or salt, by a long calcination in
a reverberatory furnace.” “The _Squama æris_, or flake of copper,” he
adds, “is little different from the Æs ustum, being only the particles
of burnt copper which fly off when it is hammered.” He says of the _Flos
æris_, “it is nothing but copper reduced to small grains like millet
seed, which is done by pouring cold water upon melting copper, which
thereupon immediately flies every way into grains.” In short it was
fine granulated copper. These preparations of copper are described by
all the ancient authorities. See in particular Dioscorides (v, 87, 88),
who describes the process of making the flos æris very minutely. He
recommends it as a detergent and caustic medicine for various purposes,
such as removing dimness of the cornea, wasting polypi in the nostrils,
and protuberances about the anus; and also for the cure of deafness
when blown into the ear with a syringe in the form of a powder, and
in complaints of the gums and tonsils. He also says that given to the
amount of three oboli it evacuates thick humours. He also describes
several processes for burning the copper, and recommends the æs ustum as
a cleansing and detergent medicine for various ulcers, especially those
of the eye, and also as an emetic when taken in a draught with hydromel,
or in a linctus with honey. None of the other Greek authorities treat
so fully of these preparations as Dioscorides. Celsus prescribes them
frequently as caustic and corrosive substances. (v, 6, 7, et pluries.)
The Arabians used these articles not only as external applications, but
as emetics and purgatives. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 231); Serapion (c. 414);
Rhases (Cont. l. ult. iii, 48); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 43); Haly Abbas
(Pract. ii, 48); Ebn Baithar (ii, 551.) The flowers of copper, and burnt
or calcined copper, are noticed in the works of all our earlier writers
on medicine, and recommended to be administered both internally and
externally. See Platearius (De Simpl. Med.) The process of preparing
calcined copper is minutely described by Moses Charras in his ‘Royal
Pharmacopœia,’ published at Paris in 1676. They are briefly described by
Dr. Hill, who says of the æs ustum that “it was much used externally by
the ancients.” (Mat. Med. 32.) Neither of these preparations of copper
occurs in the Complete English Dispensatory of Quincy, published in 1763.
They are omitted also in Pemberton’s London Dispensatory, published in
1746. They would appear, however, to have been longer retained in use by
the Continental physicians, since a formula for preparing the _Calx æris_
is given in Crantz’s Mat. Med. (ii, 91. Vienna, 1765.) He says that the
_Flos æris_, and _Squama æris_, were preparations not in use. Rutty ranks
them among the obsolete medicines of the ancients. A formula for _Æs
ustum_ is given in Gray’s Suppl. to Pharmacop. (p. 242.) It is the same
as that of Dioscorides. (v, 37.)
Χαμάιδρυς,
Chamædrys, _Germander_, is heating and drying in the third degree. It
therefore melts down enlarged spleens, proves diuretic and emmenagogue,
and removes visceral obstructions.
* * * * *