210 plot's natural history. [Book XXXIV. 



■washed by the Ocean, there is a steep and lofty mountain, 

 which, however incredible it may appear, is entirely composed 

 of this metal, as already stated in our description of the parts 

 bordering upon the Ocean''* 



Iron which has been acted upon by fire is spoiled, unless it 

 is forged with the hammer. It is not in a fit state for being 

 hammered when it is red-hot, nor, indeed, until it has begun to 

 assume a white heat. By sprinkling vinegar or alum upon it, 

 it acquires the appearance of copper. It is protected from 

 rust by an application of ceruse, gypsum, and tar ; a property 

 of iron known by the Greeks as '' antipathia."^^ Some pretend, 

 too, that this may be ensured by the performance of certain 

 religious ceremonies, and that there is in existence at the 

 city of Zeugma,^^ upon the Euphrates, an iron chain, by means 

 of which Alexander the Great constructed a bridge across the 

 river ; the links of which that have been replaced are at- 

 tacked with rust, while the original links are totally exempt 

 from it." 



CHAP. 44. SEVEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IRON. 



Iron is employed in medicine for other purposes besides that 

 of making incisions. For if a circle is traced with iron, or a 

 pointed weapon is carried three times round them, it will pre- 

 serve both infant and adult from all noxious influences : if 

 nails, too, that have been extracted from a tomb, are driven 

 into the threshold of a door, they will prevent night-mare.'® 

 A slight puncture with the point of a weapon, with which a 

 man has been wounded, will relieve sudden pains, attended 

 with stitches in the sides or chest. Some affections are cured 

 by cauterization with red-hot iron, the bite of the mad dog 

 more particularly ; for even if the malady has been fully deve- 

 loped, and hydrophobia has made its appearance, the patient 

 is instantly relieved on the wound being cauterized.''^ Water 



7* See B. iv. c. 34.— B. 



'^ Both the reading and the meaning of this passage are very doubtful. 



'6 See B. V. c. 21.— B. 



■" We may presume that Pliny supposed that the ancient links had 

 been protected by some of the substances mentioned above, although this 

 is not distinctly stated. — B. Or rather by some religious ceremony as 

 above alluded to. "^^ " Nocturnas iymphationes." — B. 



'^ The actual cautery, as it is termed, is occasionally employed, in cer- 

 tain diseases, by the moderns, but I am not aware that it has been tried in 

 hydrophobia.— B. This precaution is sometimes used by country prac- 

 titioners, at all events. 



