14 PLINTS NATUEAL HiaTOIlT. [Book XXIV. 



blossoms of the pine. Another variety ^^ of it, which is some- 

 what shorter, has all the appearance of being bent®^ down- 

 wards ; and there is a third,^ which, though it has a similar 

 smell, and consequently the same name, is altogether smaller, 

 with a stem the thickness of one's finger, and a diminutive, 

 rough, pale leaf: it is found growing in rocky localities. All 

 these varieties are in reality herbaceous productions ; but in 

 consequence of the resemblance of the name,®^ I have thought 

 it as well not to defer the consideration of them. 



These plants are good for stings inflicted by scorpions, and 

 are useful as an application, mixed with dates or quinces, for 

 maladies of the liver : a decoction of them with barley-meal 

 is used for the kidneys and the bladder. A decoction of them 

 in water is used also for jaundice and for strangury. The 

 kind last mentioned, in combination with honey, is good for 

 wounds inflicted by serpents, and a pessary is made of it, with 

 honey, as a detergent for the uterus. Taken in drink it brings 

 away coagulated blood, and rubbed upon the body it acts as a 

 sudorific : it is particularly useful also for the kidneys. Pills 

 of a purgative nature are made of it for dropsy, with figs.^ 

 Taken in wine, in doses of one victor iatus,^'' it dispels lumbago, 

 and cures coughs that are not of an inveterate description. 

 A decoction of it in vinegar, taken in drink, will instantaneously 

 bring away the dead foetus, it is said, 



CHAP. 21. THE PITYUSA : SIX EEMEDIES. 



For a similar®^ reason, too, we shall accord the same dis- 

 tinction to the pityusa, a plant which some persons reckon 

 among the varieties of the tithymalus.^^ It is a shrub, ^" re- 



82 The Teucrium chamaepitys of Linnaeus, the Chamsepitys lutea vulgaris 

 of C. Bauhin, the ground-pine. 



83 The leaves are imbricated, and the branches bend downwards, like 

 those of the pine, whence the name. 



8^ The Teucrium pseudo-chamaepitys of Linnaeus, the bastard ground- 

 pine. 



85 To the pine or pitcb-trec, mentioned in c. 19. 



86 They are rich in essential oil, and are of a tonic nature. All that is here 

 stated as to their medicinal uses, and which cannot be based upon that 

 property, is hypothetical. Fee says, and does not deserve to be refuted. 



«'' See Introduction to Vol. III. 



88 The resemblance of its name to the "pitvs," or pitch-tree. 



83 See B. xxvi. c. 39. 



^ An Euphorbia with a ligneous stem, the Euphorbia pityusa of Linnteus, 



