Chap. 17.] EEMEDIES FOE AFFECTIONS OF THE SPLEEN. 439 



and taken internally by the aid of a reed :^ for all vessels, it 

 should be remembered, turn black on coming in contact with 

 them. Some persons grill one sextarius of these insects on a 

 flat pan, till they become white, and then mix them with 

 hone}'. There are some authorities who call this insect a 

 " centipede," and recommend it to be given in warm water. 

 Snails are administered to persons subject to fainting fits, 

 alienation of the senses, and vertigo : for which purposes, a 

 snail is beaten up, shell and all, with three cyathi of raisin 

 wine, and the mixture is administered warm with the drink, 

 for nine days at most. Others, again, give one snail the first 

 day, two the second, three the third, two the fourth, and one 

 the fifth ; a mode of treatment also adopted for the cure of 

 asthma and of abscesses. 



There is, according to some authorities, an insect resem- 

 bling the locust in appearance, destitute of wings, and known 

 by the Greek name of " troxallis," it being without a name in 

 Latin : a considerable number of writers, however, consider 

 it as identical with the insect known to us as " gryllus."^^ 

 Twenty of these insects, they say, should be grilled, and taken 

 in honied wine, b}' patients troubled with hardness of breath- 

 ing or spitting of blood. Some persons pour pure grape-juice,^*^ 

 or sea- water, upon unwashed snails, and then boil and eat 

 them for food; or else they bruise the snails, shells and all, 

 and take them with this grape-juice. A similar method is 

 also adopted for the cure of cough. Honey in which the bees 

 have died, is particularly good for the cure of abscesses. Por 

 spitting of blood a vulture's lungs are used, burnt upon \dne 

 logs, and mixed with half the quantity of pomegranate blos- 

 soms, or with the same proportion of quince and lil}^ blossom : 

 the whole being taken morning and evening, in wine, if thero 

 is no fever ; but where there are symptoms of fever, instead of 

 wine, water is used in which quinces have been boiled. 



CHAP. 17. REMEDIES FOR AFFECTIONS OF THE SPLEEN. 



According to the prescriptions given by the magicians, a 

 fresh sheep's milt is the best application for pains in the spleen, 

 the person who applies it uttering these words : *' This I do 



88 See c. 12 of this Book. 



89 Our " cricket." The troxallis was probably a kind of locust, still 

 known to naturalists' by that name. 



"^ "Protropum." "NVine of the first running. 



