4/4 pliny's natural history. [Book XXIII. 



It is strongly recommended by Hesiod^' to drink undiluted 

 wine^^ for twenty days before the rising of the Dog-star, and 

 as many after. Pure wine, too, acts as an antidote to hem- 

 lock, coriander,®^ henbane, mistletoe, opium, mercury, as also 

 to stings inflicted by bees, wasps, hornets, the phalangiura, 

 serpents, and scorpions ; all kinds of poison, in fact, which are 

 of a cold nature, the venom of the hsemorrhois and the 

 prester,^" in particular, and the noxious effects of fungi. Un- 

 diluted wine is good, too, in eases of flatulency, gnawing pains 

 in the thoracic organs, excessive vomitings at the stomach, 

 fluxes of the bowels and intestines, dysentery, excessive per- 

 spirations after prolonged fits of coughing, and defluxions of 

 various kinds. In the cardiac^^ disease, it is a good plan to 

 apply a sponge soaked in neat wine to the left breast : in all 

 these cases, however, old white wine is the best. A fomenta- 

 tion of hot wine applied to the genitals of beasts of burden is 

 found to be very beneficial ; and, introduced into the mouth, 

 with the aid of a horn, it has the efi'ect of removing all sen- 

 sations of fatigue.^^ It is asserted that in apes, and other quad- 

 rupeds with toes, the growth will be impeded if they are 

 accustomed to drink undiluted wine.^^ 



CHAP. 24. IN WHAT MALADIES WINE SHOULT) BE ADMINISTERED; 



HOW IT SHOULD BE ADMINISTERED, AND AT WHAT TIMES. 



We shall now proceed to speak of wine in relation to its 

 medicinal uses. The wines of Campania^^ which have the 

 least body, are the most wholesome beverage for persons of 

 rank and station ; and for the lower classes^^ the best kind of 

 wine is that which is the most pleasant to the person who 

 drinks it, provided he is in robust health. For persons of all 

 ranks, however, the most serviceable wine is that the strength 



s' Works and Days, 1. 594. ^ Mernm." 



^9 It is surprising, as Fee says, to find coriander enumerated among the 

 poisons. ]\Iistletoe, too, and mercury are neither of them poisons. As to 

 hemlock, see B. xiv, c. 7. 



9" See Lucan's Pharsalia, B. ix. 11. 722, 791. 



'•>^ See B. xi. c. 71. 



92 This method is still employed with race-horses. See B. xiv. c. 28. 



^^ It is still a very prevalent notion that the growth of dogs is stunted 

 hy giving them raw spirits. 



^* The wines of Surrentum and Stata were Carapanian wines. 



95 "Volgo." 



