Chap. 47.] EEMEDIES rOE THE DISEASES OF iNFAIfTS. 465 



of the milk. It is believed, too, that by anointing a woman's 

 breasts with goose-grease, pains therein may be allayed ; that 

 moles formed in the uterus may be dispersed thereby; and 

 that itch ''^ of the uterus may be dispelled by the application of 

 a liniment made of crushed bugs. 



CHAP. 46. TARIOTJS KINDS OF DEPILATORIES. 



Eats' blood has all the virtues of a depilatory : but if applied 

 to the cheeks of youths, it will not be found sufficiently effica- 

 cious, unless it is immediately followed up by an application 

 of verdigrease or hemlock-seed ; this method having the effect 

 of entirely removing the hair, or at least reducing it to the 

 state of a fine down. It is generally thought, too, that bats' 

 brains are productive of a similar effect; there being two kinds 

 of these brains, the red and the white. Some persons mix 

 with the brains the blood and liver of the same animal: others, 

 again, boil down a viper in three semisextarii of oil, and, after 

 boning it, use it as a depilatory, first pulling out the hairs 

 that are wanted not to grow. The gall of a hedgehog is a 

 depilatory, more particularly if mixed with bats' brains and 

 goats' milk : the ashes, too, of a burnt hedgehog are used for a 

 similar purpose. If, after plucking out the hairs that are 

 wanted not to grow, or if, before they make their appearance, 

 the parts are well rubbed with the milk of a bitch with her 

 first litter, no hairs will grow there. The same result is en- 

 sured, it is said, by using the blood of a tick taken from off" a 

 dog, or else the blood or gall of a swallow. 



(15.) Ants' eggs, they say, beaten up with flies, impart a 

 black colour ^- to the eyebrows. If it is considered desirable 

 that the colour of the infant's eyes should be black, the preg- 

 nant woman must eat a rat.'^^ Ashes of burnt earth-worms, 

 applied with oil, prevent the hair from turning white. 



CHAP. 47. — REMEDIES FOE THE DISEASES OF INFANTS. 



For infants that are troubled with coagulation of the milk, 

 a grand preservative is lamb's rennet, taken in water ; and in 

 cases where the milk has so coagulated, it may be remedied 

 by administering rennet in vinegar. For the pains incident 



'1 " Scabiem viJvarum." 



'2 Ajasson queries whether '*denigrare" may not mean here *' to render 

 pale." 



'■i '-Sorex." 



VOL. V. n II 



