Chap. 46.J EEMEDIES DERIYED FROM SCALES OE IRON. 211 



in which iron has been plunged at a white heat, is useful, as 

 a potion, in many diseases, dysentery^° more particularly. 



CHAP. 45. FOIJETEEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM RUST. 



Bust itself, too, is classed among the remedial substances ; 

 for it was by means of it that Achilles cured Telephus, it is 

 said, whether it was an iron weapon or a brazen one that he 

 used for the purpose. So it is, however, that he is represented 

 in paintings detaching the rust with his sword. ^^ The rust of 

 iron is usually obtained for these purposes by scraping old nails 

 with a piece of moistened iron. It has the effect of uniting 

 wounds, and is possessed of certain desiccative and astringent 

 properties. Applied in the form of a liniment, it is curative of 

 alopecy. Mixed with wax and myrtle-oil, it is applied to gra- 

 nulations of the eyelids, and pustules in all parts of the body -, 

 with vinegar it is used for the cure of erysipelas ; and, applied 

 with lint, it is curative of itch, whitlows on the fingers, and 

 hang-nails. Used as a pessary with wool, it arrests female 

 discharges. Diluted in wine, and kneaded with myrrh, it is 

 applied to recent wounds, and, with vinegar, to condylomatous 

 swellings. Employed in the form of a liniment, it alleviates 

 gout.^^ 



CHAP 46. SEVENTEEN" REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE SCALES 



OF IRON. HTGREMPLASTRUM. 



The scales of iron,®^ which are procured from a fine point or 

 a sharp edge, are also made use of, being very similar in efi'ect 

 to rust, but more active ; for which reason they are employed 

 for defluxions of the eyes. They arrest bleeding, also, more 



so I cannot agree with Delafosse in his remark that " this remedy also 

 is much in nse for coeliac and other afiections at the present day." — B. It 

 is still recommended by old women in the country, for children more par- 

 ticularly. 



81 There are two versions of this story. In B. xxv. c. 19, Pliny says 

 that Achilles cured Telephus by the application of a plant, which from 

 him received its name. According to the other account, the oracle had 

 declared, that the wound of Telephus, which had been inflicted by 

 Achilles, could only be cured by means of the same weapon which had 

 caused it. — B. 



8- All the statements in this Chapter are to be found in Dioscorides, 

 B. V. c. 93.— B. 



8^ The scaly excrescences beaten from iron in the forges, Hardouin says. 

 — B. 



p2 



