Chap. 30.] LADANUM. 171 



ities, equally exposed to the sun and to falls of snow, those in 

 the vicinity of Pheneus in Arcadia, for instance. Its proper- 

 ties are highly astringent; the root of it, taken in wine, arrests 

 looseness of the bowels, having the additional eifect of throw- 

 ing downward the aqueous humours, and so acting as a diuretic ; 

 a property, in fact, which belongs to most substances which 

 act astringently upon the bowels. 



Bruised in red"* wine, this plant is curative of dysentery ; 

 it is only bruised, however, with the greatest difficulty. It is 

 extremely useful, also, as a fomentation for gum-boils. The 

 end of autumn is the time for gathering it, after the leaves are 

 off; it being then, left to dry in the shade. 



CHAP. 30. LADANUM : EIGHTEEN EEMEDIES. 



Diarrhoea may be also arrested by the use of either kind of 

 ladanum.^** The kind which is found in corn-fields is pounded 

 for this purpose, and then passed through a sieve, being taken 

 either in hydromel, or in wine of the highest quality. "Ledon" 

 is the name of the plant from which ladanum^^ is obtained in 

 Cyprus, it being found adhering to the beard of the goats 

 there ; the most esteemed, however, is that of Arabia.^^ At 

 the present day, it is prepared in Syria and Africa also, being 

 known as "toxicum," from the circumstance that ingathering 

 it, they pass over the plant a bow,^^ with the string stretched, 

 and covered with wool, to which the dewlike flocks of lada- 

 num adhere. We have described it at further length, when 

 treating of the perfumes.^^ 



This substance has a very powerful odour, and is hard in the 

 extreme ; for, in fact, there is a considerable quantity of earth 

 adhering to it : it is most esteemed when in a pure state, 

 aromatic, soft, green, and resinous. It is of an emollient, 

 desiccative, and ripening nature, and acts as a narcotic : it pre- 

 vents the hair from falling oif, and preserves its dark colour. In 

 combination with hydromel or oil of roses, it is used as an 



3"* " Rubrum," and not "nigrum," which was also what we call " red " 

 wine. 



3^ Fee is unable to identify it. The Galeopsis ladanum of Linnaeus, 

 the Eed dead-nettle, has been suggested, but on insufficient grounds, pro- 

 bably. 29 See B. xii. c 37. 



^0 It is still brought from the islands of Greece, but no longer from 

 Arabia. *i To|6v. 



*2 In B. xii. c. 37. 



