22 PLINY' S NATUllAL HISTORY. [Book XXIV. 



and strangury, and the juice of the leaves is taken warm for 

 ear-ache. So long^^ as a person hokls a sprig of poplar in 

 his hand, there is no fear oP^ chafing between the thighs. 



The black poplar which grows in Crete is looked upon as 

 the most efficacious of them all. The seed of it, taken in 

 vinegar, is good for epilepsy. This tree produces a resin also 

 to a small extent, which is made use of for emollient plasters. 

 The leaves, boiled in vinegar, are applied topically for gout. 

 A moisture that exudes from the clefts of the black poplar 

 removes warts, and pimples caused by friction. Poplars 

 produce also on the leaves a kind of sticky*" juice, from which 

 bees prepare their propolis :*^ indeed this juice, mixed with 

 water,'has the same virtues as propolis. 



CHAP. 33. THE ELM : SIXTEEN EEMEDIES. 



The leaves, bark, and branches of the elm''- have the pro- 

 perty of filling up wounds and knitting the flesh together : 

 the inner membrane*^ too, of the bark, and the leaves, steeped 

 in vinegar, are applied topically for leprosy. The bark, in 

 doses of one denarius, taken in one hemina of cold water, acts 

 as a purgative upon the bowels, and is particularly useful for 

 carrying off pituitous and aqueous humours. The gum also 

 which this tree produces is applied topically to gatherings, 

 wounds, and burns, which it would be as well to foment with 

 the decoction also. The moisture** which is secreted on 

 the follicules of the tree gives a finer colour to the skin, 

 and improves the looks. The foot-stalks of the leaves that 

 first appear,** boiled in wine, are curative of tumours, and 



■'^ See also c. 38, as to the Vitex. 



^^ This superstition probably applies to persons riding on horseback. 



*" "Guttam." This is the substance known to us as "honey-dew." 

 It is either secreted by the plant itself, or deposited on the leaves by an 

 aphis. It is found more particularly on the leaves of the rose, the plane, 

 the lirae, and the maple. Bees and ants are particularly fond of it, 



^1 Bee-glue. See B. xi. c. 6, and B. xxii. c. 50. 



^ Sec B. xvi. c. 29. The bark of the elm, like that of most other trees, 

 has certain astringent properties. 



^3 Fee says that it is only some few years since the inner bark of the 

 elm was sometimes prescribed medicinally, but that it has now completely 

 fallen into disuse. All that Pliny says here of the virtues of the elm is 

 entirely suppositious. 



^* A kind of honey-dew, no doubt. 



*^ *' Cauliculi fcliorum primi." 



