28 pliny's nattjeal histoey. [Book XXXII. 



produce of the tops of mountains and the bottom of the sea. 

 Oysters are slightly laxative to the bowels; and boiled in 

 honied wine, they relieve tenesmus, in cases where it is un- 

 attended with ulceration. They act detergently also upon 

 ulcerations of the bladder.'^ Boiled in their shells, unopened 

 just as they come to hand, oysters are marvellously eflScacious 

 for rheumatic defluxions. Calcined oyster-shells, mixed with 

 honey, allay affections of the uvula and of the tonsillary glands : 

 they are similarly used for imposthumes of the parotid glands, 

 inflamed tumours, and indurations of the mamillae. Applied 

 with water, these ashes are good for ulcerations of the head, 

 and impart a plumpness to the skin in females. They are 

 sprinkled, too, upon burns, and are highly esteemed as a den- 

 tifrice. Applied with vinegar, they are good for the removal 

 of prurigo and of pituitous eruptions. Beaten up in a raw 

 state, they are curative of scrofula and of chilblains upon the 

 feet. 



Purples, too, are u8efuP° as a counterpoison, 



CHAP. 22. — SEA- WEED : TWO REMEDIES. 



According to Nicander, sea-weed is also a theriac.®^ There 

 are numerous varieties of it, as already®^ stated ; one, for in- 

 stance, with an elongated leaf, another red, another again with a 

 broader leaf, and another crisped. The most esteemed kind of 

 all is that which grows off the shores of Crete, upon the rocks 

 there, close to the ground : it being used also for dyeing woo], 

 as it has the property®^ of so fixing the colours as never to 

 allow of their being washed out. Nicander recommends it to 

 be taken with wine. 



'' Ajasson remarks that calcined oyster-shells formed an ingredient in 

 the famous lithontriptic of Mrs. Stephens, a so-called remedy'which ob- 

 tained for her a considerable reward, voted by the English Parliament in 

 the middle of last century. 



^ A statement purely imaginary, Ajasson thinks ; the liquid of this 

 class of shell-fish containing no element whatever to fit it for an antidote. 



" Or antidote. 82 in b. xxvi. c. 66. 



8' Many varieties of sea-weed are now known, Ajasson says, to possess 

 this property, and are still used by savage nations for colouring the body. 

 In Europe, the use of indigo, madder, and other tinctorial plants of a 

 more decided character, has caused them to be entirely neglected for dye- 

 ing purposes. 



