348 pliny's natural history. [Book XXVIII. 



The milt of a he or she-goat is sometimes roasted for this pur- 

 pose, or the suet of a he-goat is incorporated in bread baked 

 upon the ashes ; the fat, too, of a she-goat, taken from the kidneys 

 more particularly, is used. This last, however, must be taken 

 by itself and swallowed immediately, being generally recom- 

 mended to be taken in water moderately cool. Some persons, 

 too, boil goats' suet in water, with a mixture of polenta, cum- 

 min, anise, and vinegar ; and for the cure of coeliac affections, 

 they rub the abdomen with a decoction of goats' dung and 

 honey. 



Eor both the coeliac flux and dysentery, kid's rennet is 

 employed, taken in myrtle wine in pieces the size of a bean, 

 or else kid's blood, prepared in the form of a dish known by 

 the name of ''sanguiculus."^^ For dysentery an injection is 

 employed, made of bull glue dissolved in warm water. Platu- 

 lency is dispelled by a decoction of calf's dung in wine. Por 

 intestinal affections deer's rennet is highly recommended, 

 boiled with beef and lentils, and taken with the food ; hare's 

 fur, also reduced to ashes and boiled with honey; or boiled 

 goat's milk, taken with a small quantity of mallows and some 

 salt ; if rennet is added, the remedy will be all the more effec- 

 tual. Goat suet, taken in any kind of broth, is possessed of 

 similar virtues, care being taken to swallow cold water imme- 

 diately after. The ashes of a kid's thighs are said to be mar- 

 vellously efficacious for intestinal hernia ; as also hare's dung, 

 boiled with honey, and taken daily in pieces the size of a bean ; 

 indeed, these remedies are said to have proved effectual in cases 

 where a cure has been quite despaired of. The broth too, 

 made from a goat's head, boiled with the hair on, is highly 

 recommended. 



CHAP. 59. EEMEDIES FOE TENESMUS, TAPEWORM, AND 



AFFECTIONS OF THE COLON. 



The disease called " tenesmus," or in other words, a frequent 

 and ineffectual desire to go to stool, is removed by drinking 

 asses' milk or cows' milk. The various kinds of tapeworm^® are 

 expelled by taking the ashes of deer's horns in drink. The bones 



" A kind of black pudding. Dupinet, the old French translator, says 

 that in his time the people of the Alpine regions still called this dish sanchet. 

 ^^ He uses " taenia" probably, as a general name for intestinal worms. 



