308 flint's natural iitstoiit. [Book XXVIII. 



of a most execrable and infamous nature, such, in fact, as to 

 make me hasten to close my description of the remedies de- 

 rived from man : we will therefore proceed to speak of the more 

 remarkable animals, and the effects produced by them. The 

 blood of the elephant, the male in particular, arrests all those 

 defluxions known by the name of " rheum atismi." Ivory 

 shavings, it is said, in combination with Attic honey, are good 

 for the removal of spots upon the face : with the sawdust, too, 

 of ivory, hangnails are removed. By the touch of an elephant's 

 trunk head-ache is alleviated, if the animal happens to sneeze 

 at the time more particularly. The right side of the trunk, 

 attached to the body with red earth of Lemnos, acts powerfully 

 as an aphrodisiac. Elephant's blood is good for consumption, 

 and the liver for epilepsy. 



CHAP. 25. TEN EEMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE LION. 



Lion's fat, mixed with oil of roses, protects the skin of the 

 face from all kinds of spots, and preserves the whiteness of the 

 complexion ; it is remedial also for such parts of the body as 

 have been frozen by snow, and for swellings in the joints. The 

 frivolous lies of the magicians assert that persons who are 

 anointed with lion's fat, will more readily win favour with 

 kings and peoples ; more particularly when the fat has been 

 used that lies between the eyebrows of the animal — a place, in 

 fact, where there is no fat to be found ! The like effects they 

 promise also from the possession of a lion's tooth, one from the 

 right side in particular, as also the shaggy hairs that are 

 found upon the lower jaw. The gall, used as an ointment in 

 combination with water, improves the eyesight, and, employed 

 with the fat of the same animal, is a cure for epilepsy ; but 

 a slight taste only must be taken of it, and the patient must 

 run immediately after swallowing it, in order to digest it. A 

 lion's heart, used as food, is curative of quartan fevers, and i 

 the fat, taken with oil of roses, of quotidian fevers. Wild 

 beasts will fly from persons anointed with lion's fat, and it is; 

 thought to be a preservative even against treacherous practices. 



CHAP. 26. TEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CAMEL. 



A camel' s^^ brains, dried and taken in vinegar, are a cure, they 



*^ Pliny has omitted the milk of the camel, which, according to Taver- 

 nier, is an excellent cure tor dropsy. 



