Chap. 68.] THE GEIiANIoy. 195 



CHAP. 68. THE GEEANION, MYRRHIS, OR 3ITRTIS ; THEEE VARIE- 

 TIES OF IT : SIX REMEDIES. 



The plant geranion has the additional names of '' myrrhis"'*' 

 and " myitis. " It is similar to hemlock in appearance, but 

 has a smaller leaf and a shorter stem, rounded, and of a plea- 

 sant taste and odour. Such, at all events, is the description 

 given of it by our herbalists ; but the Greeks speak of it as 

 bearing leaves a little whiter than those of the mallow, thin 

 downy stems, and branches at intervals some two palms in 

 length, with small heads at their extremities, in the midst 

 of the leaves, resembling the bill "^ of a crane.°^ There is also 

 another °' variety of this plant, with leaves like those of the 

 anemone, but with deeper incisions, and a root rounded like 

 an apple, sweet, and extremely useful and refreshing '"^ for 

 invalids when recovering their strength : this last would al- 

 most seem to be the true geranion. 



For phthisis this plant is taken, in the proportion of one 

 drachma to three cyathi of wine, twice a day ; as also for 

 flatulency. Eaten raw, it is productive of similar effects. The 

 juice of the root is remedial for diseases of the ear ; and for 

 opisthotony the seed is taken in drink, in doses of four drachmae, 

 with pepper and myrrh. Juice of plantago,^^ taken in drink, 

 is curative of phthisis, and a decoction of it is equally good for 

 the purpose. Plantago taken as a food with oil and salt, 

 immediately after rising in the morning, is extremely refreshing; 

 it is prescribed, too, in cases of atrophy, on alternate days. 

 Betony is given with honey, in the form of an electuary, for 

 phthisis, in pieces the size of a bean ; agaric, too, is taken in 

 doses of two oboli in raisin wine, or else daucus "^^ with the 

 greater centaury in wine. For the cui^e of phagedsena, a 



°^* Not in reality the same plant as the Geranion ; see B. xxiv. c, 97. 

 Littre, however, gives the Erodium moschatum of Linnaeus as the synonym 

 of this Geranion myrrhis. 



°^ Hence its name, from the Greek ykpavog, a " crane." 



=^ This kind of Geranion has been identified with the Geranium molle, 

 or Erodium malacoxdes of Linnaeus, the Common dove's-foot crane's bill. 



^^ Identified with the Geranium tuberosum of Linnaeus. 



"•^ Fee remarks that all his assertions as to the medicinal properties of 

 the Geranion are erroneous. 



^9 See B. XXV. c. 39. eo g^g b. xxv. c. 64. 



