Chap. 16.] THE 8EA~STAR. 19 



ration; but because we consider it more conducive to the 

 practical benefit of mankind to have the various recipes thus 

 grouped and classified ; seeing that this thing may be good for 

 one patient, that for another, and that some of these remedies 

 may be more easily met with in one place and some in ano- 

 ther. 



CHAP. 16. (5.) — REMEDIES FOR POISONS, AND FOE ITOXIOTJS SPELLS. 

 THE DORADE : FOUR REMEDIES. THE SEA.-STA.R : SEVEN REME- 

 DIES. 



We have already'" stated in what country the honey is 

 venomous : the fish known as the dorade'^ is an antidote to its 

 effects. Honey, even in a pure state, is sometimes productive of 

 surfeit, and of fits of indigestion, remarkable for their severity ; 

 the best remedy in such case, according to Pelops, is to cut off 

 the feet, head, and tail, of a tortoise, and boil and eat the 

 body ; in place, however, of the tortoise, Apelles mentions 

 the scincus, an animal which has been described elsewhere.'^ 

 We have already mentioned too, on several oecasions,^^ how 

 highly venomous is the menstruous fluid : the surmullet, as 

 already'* stated, entirely neutralizes its effects. This last fish, 

 too, either applied topically or taken as food, acts as an anti- 

 dote to the venom'* of the pastinaca, the land and sea scor- 

 pion, the dragon,'^ and the phalangium." The head of this 

 fish, taken fresh and reduced to ashes, is an active neutralizer 

 of all poisons, that of fungi more particularly. 



It is asserted also, that if the fish called the sea-star'^ is 

 smeared with a fox's blood, and then nailed to the upper lintel 

 of the door, or to the door itself, with a copper nail, no noxious 

 spells will be able to obtain admittance, or, at all events, to be 

 productive of any ill effects. 



10 In B. xxi. c. 44. 



w Or Gilt-head. " Aurata." See B. ix. c. 25. 



12 In B. viii. c. 38. See also B. xxviii. c. 30. 



13 Among others, in B. vii. c. 13, and B. xxviii. c. 23. 

 1* In B. xxviii. c. 23. 



15 As to this point, see c. 12 of this Book, and the Notes. 



1^ He must mean the Sea-dragon, mentioned in B. ix. c. 43, and in c. 

 53 of the present Book ; for he has already stated in B. xxix. c. 20, that 

 the serpent called " draco " is destitute of venom. See also B. viii. cc. 

 13, 14, 22, 41, and B. x. cc. 5, 92, 95, 96. 



" See B. viii. c. 41, B. x. c. 95, and B. xi. cc. 24, 28, 29. 



" See B. ix. cc. 71, 86, and c. 53 of the present Book. 



c 2 



