Chap. 62.] SELAGO. 41 



CHAP. 60. THE SEED CALLED CACHETS. 



As already*^ stated, there are several kinds of cachrys ;"^^ 

 but that which is produced by rosemary above-mentioned, 

 when rubbed, is found to be of a resinous nature. It neu- 

 tralizes poisons and the venom of animals, that of serpents 

 excepted. It acts also as a sudorific, dispels griping pains in 

 the bowels, and increases the milk in nursing women. 



CHAP. 61. — THE HEEB SAVIN : SEVEN EEMEDIES. 



Of the herb savin, known as '' brathy" by the Greeks,*' there 

 are two varieties, one of them*^ with a leaf like that of the 

 tamarix, the other*' with that of the cypress ; for which reason 

 some persons have called this last the Cretan cypress. It is 

 nsed by many for fumigations, as a substitute for frankin- 

 cense;*^ employed in medicine, it is said to have the same effect 

 as cinnamon, if taken in doses twice as large. It reduces 

 gatherings, disperses corrosive sores, acts as a detergent upon 

 ulcers, and, used as a pessary and as a fumigation, brings away 

 the dead foetus.*^ It is employed as a topical application for 

 erysipelas and carbuncles, and, taken with honey in wine, is 

 curative of jaundice. 



The smoke of this plant, they say, cures the pip in all kinds 

 of poultry.^ 



CHAP. 62. SELAGO : TWO REMEDIES. 



Similar to savin is the herb known as " selago."^^ Care is 



*3 InB. xvi. c. 11. 



•** A gall or fungoid production, or, in some instances, a catkin. Fee 

 says that Pliny has committed an error here in attributing a cachrys to 

 rosemary, the Libanotis stephanomaticos, which, in reality, belongs to 

 the Libanotis canchryphorus or Libanotis prima. 



■'^ So called from the Greek ^paH, '* slow," according to some au- 

 thorities; by reason of the slowness of its growth. 



*8 Identified by Fee with the Sabina vulgatior of Lobelius, or Juniperus 

 Sabina, variety /3, of Lamarck. 



i'' The Sabina baceifera of J. Bauhin, the male savin, the type of the 

 plant. 



*** See Ovid's Fasti, B. i. 1. 341, as to this custom, and Virgil's " Culex," 

 1. 403. 



*^ It is still a common notion, though Fee says an ill-founded one, that 

 it produces abortion. Indeed we find Galen stating to the same effect. 



=^' Fee ridicules this notion with considerable zest. 



^^ The Lycopodium selago of Linnaeus, upright club-moss, or fir-moss, 



