382 PLINY* S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIX. 



those namely, -wliich are derived from wool and from the eggs of 

 birds, thus giving due honour to those substances which hold 

 the principal place in the estimation of mankind ; though at 

 the same time I shall be necessitated to speak of some others out 

 of their proper place, according as occasion may offer. I should 

 not have been at a loss for high-flown language with which to 

 grace my narrative, had I made it my design to regard any- 

 thing else than what, as being strictly trustworthy,^^ becomes 

 my work : for among the very first remedies mentioned, we 

 find those said to be derived from the ashes and nest of the 

 phoenix,^^ as though, forsooth, its existence were a well ascer- 

 tained fact, and not altogether a fable. And then besides, it 

 would be a mere mockery to describe remedies that can only 

 return to us once in a thousand years. 



(2.) The ancient Komans attributed to wool a degree of reli- 

 gious importance even, and it was in this spirit that they enjoined 

 that the bride should touch the door-posts of her husband's 

 house with wool. In addition to dress and protection from the 

 cold, wool, in an unwashed state, used in combination with oil, 

 and wine or vinegar, supplies us with numerous remedies, accord- 

 ing as we stand in need of an emollient or an excitant, an astrin- 

 gent or a laxative. "Wetted from time to time with these liquids, 

 greasy wool is applied to sprained limbs, and to sinews that are 

 suffering from pain. In the case of sprains, some persons are 

 in the habit of adding salt, while others, again, apply pounded 

 rue and grease, in wool : the same, too, in the case of con- 

 tusions or tumours. Wool will improve the breath, it is said, 

 if the teeth and gums are rubbed with it, mixed with honey ; 

 it is very good, too, for phrenitis,^'' used as a fumigation. To 

 arrest bleeding at the nose, wool is introduced into the nostrils 

 with oil of roses ; or it is used in another manner, the ears 

 being well plugged with it. In the case of inveterate ulcers it is 

 applied topically with honey : soaked in wine or vinegar, or 

 in cold water and oil, and then squeezed out, it is used for 

 the cure of wounds. 



Rams' wool, washed in cold water, and steeped in oil, is 

 used for female complaints, and to allay inflammations ot the 

 uterus. Procidence of the uterus is reduced by using this wool 



^5 He certainly does not always keep this object in view. 

 ^'5 See B. X. c. 2, and H. xii. c. 42. 



^^ A form of fever, Littre remarks, that is known by the moderns as 

 " pseudo-continuous." 



