510 Pliny's NATUEAL HISTORY . [Book XXIII. 



are reduced, at a slow heat, to the consistency of honey ; two 

 denarii of dried omphacium^ or one of myrrh, with one dena- 

 rius of saffron, are then added, the whole being beaten up to- 

 gether and mixed with the decoction. There is no medica- 

 ment known that is more soothing than this, for affections of 

 the mouth, the trachea, the uvula, and the stomach. There 

 is also another mode of preparing it ; two sextarii of mulberry 

 juice and one of Attic honey are boiled down in the manner 

 above stated. 



There are some other marvellous properties, also, which are 

 mentioned in reference to this tree. When the tree is in bud, 

 and before the appearance of the leaves, the germs of the fruit 

 must be gathered with the left hand — the Greeks give them 

 the name of ''ricini."^° These germs, worn as an amulet 

 before they have touched the ground, have the effect of arrest- 

 ing haemorrhage, whether proceeding from a wound, from the 

 mouth, from the nostrils, or from piles ; for which purposes 

 they are, accordingly, put away and kept. Similar virtues 

 are attributed to a branch just beginning to bear, broken off at 

 full moon, provided also it has not touched the ground : this 

 branch, it is said, attached to the arm, is peculiarly efficacious 

 for the suppression of the catamenia when in excess. The 

 same effect is produced, it is said, when the woman herself 

 pulls it off, whatever time it may happen to be, care being 

 taken not to let it touch the ground, and to wear it attached to 

 the body. The leaves of the mulberry-tree beaten up fresh, 

 or a decoction of them dried, are applied topically for stings 

 inflicted by serpents : an infusion of them, taken in drink, is 

 equally efficacious for that purpose. The juice extracted from 

 the bark of the root, taken in wine or oxycrate, counteracts 

 the venom of the scorpion. 



We must also give some account of the method of preparing 

 this medicament employed by the ancients : extracting the 

 juice from the fruit, both ripe and unripe, they mixed it to- 

 gether, and then boiled it down in a copper vessel to the con- 



s See B. xii. c. 60. A rob, or sirop of mulberries is prepared for much 

 the same purposes at tlie present day, but Avitbout the OTUphaciura, myrrh, 

 or saffron. An " arteriace" is also mentioned in B. sx. c. 79. 



^° Hermolaiis Barbarus is possibly right in suggesting " cytini," which 

 name has been previously mcnlioned iu connection with the calyx of the 

 pomegranate. 



