Chap. 23.] EEMEDIES TOE DISEASES OF THE EYES. 29 



CHAP. 23. (7.) EEMEDIES FOE ALOPECY, CHANGE OF COLOUE 



IN THE HAIE, AND TJLCEEATI0N8 OF THE HEAD. THE SEA- 

 MOUSE : TWO EEMEDIES. THE SEA-SCOEPION I TWELVE EE- 

 MEDIES. THE LEECH : SEVEN EEMEDIES. THE MUREX : THIE- 

 TEEN EEMEDIES. THE CONCHYLIUM '. FIVE EEMEDIES. 



Ashes of the hippocampus,®* mixed with nitre ^'^ and hog's 

 lard, or else used solely with vinegar, are curative of alopecy ; 

 the skin being first prepared for the reception of the necessary 

 medicaments by an application of powdered bone of ssepia.^ 

 Alopecy is cured also with ashes of the sea-mouse,®' mixed with 

 oil; ashes of the sea-urchin, burnt, flesh and all together; 

 the gall of the sea-scorpion;^® or else ashes of three frogs 

 burnt alive in an earthen pot, applied with honey, or what 

 is still better, in combination with tar. Leeches left to putrefy 

 for forty days in red wine stain the hair black. Others, agaiu, 

 recommend one sextarius of leeches to be left to putrefy the 

 same number of days in a leaden vessel, with two sextarii of 

 vinegar, the hair to be well rubbed with the mixture in the 

 sun. According to Sornatius, this preparation is naturally 

 so penetrating, that if females, when they apply it, do not 

 take the precaution of keeping some oil in the mouth, the 

 teeth even will become blackened thereby. Ashes of burnt 

 shells of the murex or purple are used as a liniment, with honey, 

 for ulcerations of the head ; the shells, too, of other shell-fish, ^^ 

 powdered merely, and not calcined, are very useful for the same 

 purpose, applied with water. For the cure of head-ache, 

 castoreum is employed, in combination with peucedanum^" and 

 oil of roses. 



CHAP. 24. — EEMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE EYES AND EYE- 

 LIDS. TWO EEMEDIES DERIVED FEOM THE FAT OF FISHES. 

 THE CALLIONYMUS I THEEE EEMEDIES. THE GALL OF THE 

 COEACINUS : ONE EEMEDY. THE S-^PIA : TWENTY- FOUE EE- 

 MEDIES. ICHTHYOCOLLA : FIVE EEMEDIES. 



The fat of all kinds of fish, both fresh-water as well as sea 



^* Probably the Syngnathus hippocampus of Linnaeus. See B. ix. c. i. 



^5 As to the Nitrum of the ancients, see B. xxxi. c. 46. 



86 Or Cuttlefish. See B. ix. c. 44. 67 gee B. ix. c. 35. 



^ See c. 17 of the present Book. 



89 This seems to be the meaning of " conchyliorum" here, though in 

 most instances Pliny uses it as synonymous with the purple. See B. ix. 

 cc. 60, 61, 64. a" See B. xxv. c. 70. 



