436 pltny's natur;\.l histoet. [Book XXX. 



fiesh is forbidden to tlie patient. ^' Taurus"^- is the name 

 usually given to an earth- beetle, very similar to a tick in 

 appearance, and which it derives from the diminutive horns 

 with which it is furnished : some persons call it the " earth- 

 louse."'^^ From the earth thrown up by these insects a lini- 

 ment is prepared for scrofula and similar diseases, and for gout, 

 the application not being washed off till the end of three days. 

 This last remedy is eifectual for a whole year, and all those 

 other properties are attributed to it which we have mentioned''* 

 when speaking of crickets. There are some, again, who make 

 a similar use of the earth thrown up by ants ; while others 

 attach to the patient as many earth-worms as there are scrofu- 

 lous tumours, the sores drying as the worms dry up. 



Some persons cut oif the head and tail of a viper, as already 

 mentioned,''^ about the rising of the Dog-star, which done, they 

 burn the middle, and give a pinch of the ashes in three fingers, 

 for thrice seven days, in drink — such, is the plan they use for 

 the cure of scrofula. Others, again, pass round the scrofulous 

 tumours a linen thread, with which a viper has been suspended 

 by the neck till dead. Millepedes'^^ are also used, with one 

 fourth part of turpentine ; a remedy which is equally recom- 

 mended for the cure of all kinds of apostemes. 



CHAP. 13. EEMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE SHOULBEES. 



The ashes of a burnt weasel, mixed with wax, are a cure 

 for pains in the shoulders. To prevent the arm-pits of young 

 persons from becomiug hairy, they should be well rubbed with 

 ants' eggs. Slave-dealers also, to impede the growth of 

 the hair in young persons near puberty, employ the blood that 



■^2 <« The bull." Dalechamps takes this to be the stag-beetle or bull-fly ; 

 but that, as Ajasson remarks, has four horns, two antennse, and two large 

 luandibules ; in addition to which, from its size, it would hardly be called 

 the " earth-louse." lie concludes that a lamellicorn is meant ; but whether 

 belonging to the Liicanidaj or the Scarabseida), it is impossible to say. 



7y a Pediculus terrse." 



'4 In B. xxix. c. 33. '^ i^ B. xxix. c. 21. 



"'^ He probably speaks of woodlice here. Ettmuller asserts their utility 

 in this form for scrofula. Valisnieri says the same ; Spielraann prescribes 

 tliem for arthrosis ; Riviere considers them as a detergent for ulcers, and 

 a resolvent for tumours of the raaniilla3 ; and Bnglivi maintains that they 

 are a first-rate diuretic, and unequalled as a lithontriptic. They contain 

 muriate of lime and of potash, which may pos^sibly, in some small degree, 

 give them an aperitive virtue. 



