438 plint's natural history. [Book XXX. 



!For patients troubled with spitting of blood, they are remarlc- 

 ably good, the shell being first removed, and the contents 

 bruised and administered in water. The most esteemed kinds 

 of all are those of Africa — those which come from lol,^^ in 

 particular — of Astypalsea, and, after them, those of ^tna, in 

 Sicily, those I mean of moderate size, for the large ones are 

 hard, and destitute of juice. The Balearic snails, called "ca- 

 vaticae," from being found in caverns, are much esteemed ; and 

 so, too, are those from the islands of Capreae.*^^ Those of Greece, 

 on the other hand, are never used for food, either old or 

 fresh . 



River snails, and those with a white shell, have a strong, 

 rank, juice, and forest snails are by no means good for the 

 stomach, having a laxative effect upon the bowels ; the same, 

 too, with all kinds of small snails. Sea-snails,^* on the other 

 hand, are more beneficial to the stomach ; but it is for pains 

 in that region that they are found the most efficacious : the 

 best plan, it is said, is to eat them alive, of whatever kind 

 they may happen to be, with vinegar. In addition to these, 

 there are the snails called '* aceratae,"®^ with a broad shell, and 

 found in numerous localities : of the uses to which they are 

 put we shalP*^ speak further on the appropriate occasions. The 

 craw of poultry, dried and sprinkled in the drink, or else used 

 fresh and grilled, has a soothing effect upon pectoral catarrhs 

 and coughs attended with phlegm. ^^ Snails, beaten up raw 

 and taken in three cyathi of warm water, allay cough. A 

 piece of dog's skin, wrapped round any one of the fingers, af- 

 fords relief to patients suffering from catarrh. A broth made 

 of boiled partridges is strengthening for the stomach. 



CHAP. 16. REMEDIES FOR PAINS IN THE LIVER, AND FOR SPITTING 



OF BLOOD. 



For the cure of pains in the liver, a wild weasel is taken 

 with the food, or the liver only of that animal ; a ferret also, 

 roasted like a sucking-pig. In cases of asthma, millepedes 

 are used, thrice seven of them being soaked in Attic honey, 



82 See B. V. c. 20. ^^ See B. iii. c. 12. ^4 Qur periwinkles. 



85 Dalecharaps takes this to mean "without horns :" and Hardouin is 

 of opinion that it means "genuine" or "unmixed." In either sense, 

 the word is derived from the Greek. 



s^ He has omitted to do so. ^"^ " Iluraida tussis." 



