58 pltts^y's katural htstoet. [Book XXXII. 



ment, is curative of itch-scab in horses ; indeed, it is said, that 

 a horse, when once treated in this manner, will never again 

 be attacked with the disease. Salpe says that if a live frog 

 is given to dogs in their mess, they will lose the power of 

 barking. 



CHAP. 52. OTHER AQUATIC PRODUCTIONS. ADARCA OR CALA- 



MOCHNOS : THREE REMEDIES. REEDS : EIGHT REMEDIES. THE 

 INK OP THE S^PIA. 



Among the aquatic productions ought also to be mentioned 

 calaraochnos, in Latin known as " adarea,"^^ a substance which 

 collects about small reeds, from a mixture of the foam of fresh 

 and of sea water. It possesses certain caustic properties, and 

 hence it is that it is so useful as an ingredient in '* acopa"^*^ 

 and as a remedy for cold shiverings ; it is used too, for remov- 

 ing freckles upon the face of females. And now we are 

 speaking of adarca, the reed ought equally to be mentioned. The 

 root of that known as the " phragmites,"^^ pounded fresh, is 

 curative of sprains, and, applied topically with vinegar, re- 

 moves pains in the spine. The calcined bark, too, of tbe 

 Cyprian^- reed, known as the '* donax," is curative of alopecy 

 and inveterate ulcers ; and its leaves are good for the extrac- 

 tion of foreign bodies adhering to the flesh, and for the cure 

 of erysipelas : should, however, the flower of the panicle happen 

 to enter the ears, deafness^^ is the consequence. 



The ink of the ssepia** is possessed of such remarkable po- 

 tency, that if it is put into a lamp, Anaxilaiis tells us, the light 

 wdll become entirely changed,-^ and all present will look 

 as black as Ethiopians. The bramble-frog, boiled in water, 

 and given to swine with their drink, is curative of the maladies 

 with which they are affected ; an efi'ect equally produced by 

 the ashes of any other kind of frog. If wood is rubbed with 

 the pulmo marinus,^^ it will have all the appearance of being 



19 See B. IV. c. 36, and B. xx. c. 22. 



20 "Remedies for lassitude." See B. xxiii. cc. 45, 80 ; B. xxvii. c.l3, 

 and B. xxix. cc. 13, 37. 



21 See B. xvi. c. 66, and B. xxiv. c. 50. 



22 See B. xvi. c. 66, and B. xxiv. c. 50. 



23 See B. xxiv. c. 50. 24 gee B. ix. cc. 20, 44, 74, 78. 



25 " Ablato priore luraine," Hardouin justly ridicules this assertion. 

 This ink, as Ajasson remarks, is intensely black. 



26 See B. ix. c. 71, aud Chapter 36 of this Book.. 



