Chap. 104.] THE PARTHENIUM, LEUOANTHES, OK AMABACUS. 383 



CHAP. 103. (29.) — SIX KEMEDIES DEPJVED FKOM THE ANTHYL- 

 LIUM OR ANTHYLLT7M. 



The people of Egypt eat tbe anthalium,*® but I cannot find 

 that they make any other use of it ; but there is another plant 

 called the '* anthyllium,"^''' or, by some persons, the ''anthyl- 

 lum," of which there are two kinds : one, similar in its leaves 

 and branches to the lentil, a palm in height, growing in sandy 

 soils exposed to the sun, and of a somewhat saltish taste ; the 

 other, bearing a strong resemblance to the chamaepitys,^® but 

 smaller and more downy, with a purple flower, a strong smell, 

 and growing in stony spots. 



The first kind, mixed with rose-oil and applied with milk, 

 is extremely good for afi'ections of the uterus and all kinds of 

 sores : it is taken as a potion for strangury and gravel in the 

 kidneys, in doses of three drachmae. The other kind is taken 

 in drink, with oxymel, in doses of four drachmae, for indura- 

 tions of the uterus, gripings of the bowels, and epilepsy. 



CHAP. 104. (30.) EIGHT EEMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE PARTHE- 



Nirikl, LEUCANTHES, OR AMARACUS. 



The parthenium^^ is by some persons called the "leucan- 

 thes," and by others the " amaracus." Celsus, among the 

 Latin writers, gives it the names of " perdicium"^" and ''mu- 

 ralis." It grows in the hedge-rows of gardens, and has the 

 smell of an apple, with a bitter taste. With the decoction of 

 it, fomentations are made for maladies of the fundament, and 

 for inflammations and indurations of the uterus : dried and 

 applied with honey and vinegar, it carries off black bile, for 

 which reason it is considered good for vertigo and calculus in 

 the bladder. It is employed as a liniment, also, for erysipe- 

 las, and, mixed with stale axle-grease, for scrofulous sores. 

 For tertian fevers the Magi recommend that it should be 

 taken up with the left hand, it being mentioned at the time 

 for whom it is gathered, care being also taken not to look back 



-^ The Cyperus esculentus of Linnaeus, the esculent souchet. 



-■^ The two varieties are identified with the Cressa Cretica and the 

 Teucrium iva of Linnaeus. The latter plant is said to be a sudorific. 



23 See B. xxvi. c. 53. 



29 The Matricaria parthenium of Linnaeus. See c. 52. 



^ De Re Med. ii. 33. It must not be confounded with the plant of 

 that name mentioned in c. 62 of this Book. 



