Chap. 24.] ICHTHYOCOLLA. 31 



"calamitae," are used; the blood of them being applied with vine 

 gum to the eyelids, after the hairs have been removed. 



Powdered shelP of saepia, applied with woman's milk, 

 allays swellings and inflammations of the eyes ; employed by 

 itself it removes eruptions of the eyelids. When this remedy 

 is used, it is the practice to turn up the eyelids, and to leave 

 the medicament there a few moments only ; after which, the 

 part is anointed with oil of roses, and the inflammation mo- 

 dified by the application of a bread-poultice. Powdered bone 

 of saepia is used also for the treatment of nyctalopy, being 

 applied to the eyes with vinegar. Keduced to ashes, this 

 substance removes scales upon the eyes : applied with honey, 

 it efl'aces marks upon those organs : and used with salt and 

 cadmia,^ one drachma of each, it disperses Avebs which im- 

 pede the eyesight, as also albugo in the eyes of cattle. They 

 say, too, that if the eyelids are rubbed with the small bone"* 

 taken from this fish, a perfect cure will be experienced. 



Sea-urchins, applied with vinegar, cause epinyctis to dis- 

 appear. According to what the magicians say, they should be 

 burnt with vipers' skins and frogs, and the ashes sprinkled in 

 the drink ; a great improvement of the eyesight being gua- 

 ranteed as the sure result. 



"Ichth.yocoUa"s is the name given to a fish with a glutinous 

 skin •, the glue made from which is also known by the same 

 name, and is highly useful for the removal of epinyctis. 

 Some persons, however, assert that it is from the belly of the 

 fish, and not the skin — as in the case of bull glue — that the 

 ichthyocoUa is prepared. That of Pontus® is highly esteemed : 

 it is white, free from veins or scales, and dissolves with the 

 greatest rapidity. The proper way of using it, is to cut it 

 into small pieces, and then to leave it to soak in water or 

 vinegar a night and a day, after which it should be pounded 



2 Cortex. 3 See B. xxxiv. cc. 22, 23. * " Ossiculo." 



5 Literally, " fish-glue." We can hardly believe Pliny that any fish 

 was known by this name. Hardouin takes the fish here spoken of to be 

 identical with that mentioned in B. ix. c. 17, as being caught in the 

 Borysthene, and destitute of bones. It is most probable, however, that 

 tlie "ichthyocoUa" of the ancients, or "fish-glue," was the same as our 

 isinglass, and that it was prepared from the entrails of various fi^h, the 

 sturgeon more particularly, the Acipenser huso of Linnaeus. 

 « The best isinglass still comes from Russia. 



