294 PLINY's natural HlSTOl^r. [Book XX. 



CHAP. 92. LINSEKD : THIRTY llEMEDIES. 



Linseed-^^ is not only used in combination with other sub- 

 stances, but, employed by itself, it disperses spots on the face 

 in women : its juice, too, is very beneficial to the sight. 

 Combined with incense and water, or else with myrrh and 

 M'inc, it is a cure for defluxions of the eyes, and employed 

 with honey, grease, or wax, for imposthumes of the parotid 

 glands. Prepared^° like polenta, it js good for fluxes of the 

 stomach ; and a decoction of it in water and oil, applied topi- 

 cally with anise, is prescribed for quinsy. It is sometimes 

 used parched, also, to arrest looseness of the bowels, and ap- 

 ])lications of it are used, with vinegar, for coeliac affections 

 and dysentery. It is eaten with raisins, also, for pains in the 

 liver, and excellent electuaries are made of it for the treatment 

 of phthisis. 



Linseed- meal, with the addition of nitre, salt, or ashes, 

 softens rigidities of the muscles, sinews, joints, and vertebraB, 

 as M'ell as of the membranous tissues of the brain. Em- 

 ])loyed with figs, linseed-meal ripens abscesses and brings them 

 to a head : mixed with the root of wild cucumber, it extracts®^ 

 all foreign bodies from the flesh, as well as splinters of broken 

 hones. A decoction of linseed-meal in wine prevents ulcers from 

 spreading, and mixed with honey, it is remedial for pituitous 

 eruptions. Used with nasturtium, in equal quantities, it 

 rectifies^- malformed nails ; mixed with resin and myrrh, it 

 cures affections of the testes and hernia,^ and with water, 

 gangrenous sores. A decoction of linseed-meal with fenu- 

 greek, in the proportion of one sextarius of each, in hydromel, 

 is recommended for pains in the stomach ; and employed as 



59 See B. xix. c. 1. The rich mucilage of linseed makes it extremely 

 valuable, in a medicinal point of view, for poultices. This mucilage is 

 found in the perisperm more particularly; the kernel containing a fixed 

 oil, whicli is extremely valuable for numerous purposes. The account 

 given by Pliny and the other ancient writers of the medicinal uses of 

 linseed, is, in general, correct. 



60 " Inspersura," sprinkled with boiling water ; like oatmeal for por- 

 ridge, probably. 



•"i It would be of no use whatever for such a purpose, Fee says. 

 •^e " Emendat." By bringing them off, probably. 

 62 It would be of no utility for hernia, Fee says, or for the cure of gan- 

 grenous sores. 



