282 plint's natueal history. [Book XX. 



fluxions perceptible the whole year through. It is generally 

 thought, however, that purslain weakens the sight. 



CHAP. 82. — coriander: twenty-one remedies. 



There is no wild coriander ^- to be found ; the best, it is 

 generally agreed, is that of Egypt. Taken in drink and ap- 

 plied to the wound, it is a remedy for the sting ^^ of one kind 

 of serpent, known as the amphisbaena :^^ pounded, it is healing 

 also for other wounds, as well as for epinyctis and blisters. 

 Employed in the same state with honey or raisins, it disperses 

 all tumours and gatherings, and, beaten up in vinegar, it re- 

 moves abscesses of an inflammator}- nature. Some persons 

 recommend three grains of it to be taken for tertian fevers, just 

 before the fit comes on, or else in larger quantities, to be bruised 

 and applied to the forehead. There are others, again, who 

 think that it is attended with excellent results, to put coriander 

 under the pillow before sunrise. 



While green, it is possessed of verj^ cooling and refreshing 

 properties. Combined with honey or raisins, it is an excellent 

 remedy for spreading ulcers, as also for diseases of the testes, 

 burns, carbuncles, and maladies of the ears. Applied with 

 woman's milk, it is good for defluxions of the eyes ; and for 

 fluxes of the belly and intestines, the seed is taken with water 

 in drink; it is also taken in drink for cholera, with rue. 

 Coriander seed, used as a potion with pomegranate juice and 

 oil, expels worms in the intestines. 



Xenocrates states a very marvellous fact, if true; he says, 

 that if a woman takes one grain of this seed, the menstrual 

 discharge will be retarded one day, if two grains, two days, 

 and so on, according to the number of grains taken. Marcus 

 Varro is of opinion, that if coriander is lightly pounded, and 

 sprinkled over it with cummin and vinegar, all kinds of meat 

 may be kept in summer without spoiling. 



CHAP. 83. ORAGE I FOURTEEN REMEDIES. 



Orage,^* again, is found both wild and cultivated. Pytha- 



32 The Coriandrura sativum of Linnaeus. At the present day, wild cori- 

 ander is commonly found in Italy, on uncultivated soils. It may have been 

 naturalized, however, Fee thinks, since the time of Pliny. 



9-* Nicander says also, that it is a cure for the stings of serpents and 

 scorpions, but there is no truth in the assertion. ^^ See B. viii. c. 35. 



"5 The Atriplex hortensis of Linnaeus. F^e thinks that the wild atri- 



