466 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXX. 



to dentition, sheep's brains are a very useful remedy. Tlie 

 inflammation called '' siriasis,"^"* to which infants are liable, is 

 cured by attaching to them the bones that are found in the 

 dung of dogs. Hernia in infants is cured by letting a green 

 lizard bite the child's body while asleep, after which the lizard 

 is attached to a reed, and hung up in the smoke ; by the time 

 the animal dies, the child will be perfectly cured, it is said. 

 The slime of snails, applied to the eyes of children, straightens 

 the eyelashes, and makes them grow. Ashes of burnt snails, 

 applied with frankincense and juice of white grapes, are a cure 

 for hernia [in infants], if applied for thirty days consecutively. 

 "Within the horns '* of snails, there are certain hard substances 

 found, like grits of sand : attached to infants, they facilitate 

 dentition. 



Ashes of empty snail-shells, mixed with wax, are a pre- 

 ventive of procidence of the rectum ; but they must be used 

 in combination with the matter that exudes from a viper's 

 brains, on the head being pricked. Yipers' brains, attached to 

 the infant's body in a piece of skin, facilitate dentition, a simi- 

 lar effect being produced by using the larger teeth of serpents. 

 Havens' dung, attached to an infant with wool, is curative of 

 cough. 



It is hardly possible to preserve one's seriousness in describing 

 some of these remedies, but as they have been transmitted to 

 us, I must not pass them in silence. For the treatment of 

 hernia in infants, a lizard is recommended ; but it must be a 

 male lizard, a thing that may be ascertained by its having but 

 one orifice beneath the tail. The method of proceeding, is for 

 the lizard to bite the part affected through cloth of gold, cloth 

 of silver, and cloth dyed purple ; after which it is tied fast in a 

 cup that has never been used, and smoked. Incontinence of 

 urine in infants is checked by giving them boiled mice '^ with 

 their food. The large indented horns of the scarabseus, attached 

 to the bodies of infants, have all the virtues of an amulet. In 

 the head of the boa '^ there is a small stone, they say, which 

 the serpent spits out, when it is in fear of death : if the reptile 

 is taken by surprise, and the head cut off, and this stone ex- 



'^^* Supposed to be an inflammation of the membranes of the brain. 

 '^ See c. 8 of this Book. 



''^ A remedy stilU used, Ajasson says, in the French provinces. 

 '* See B. viii. c. 14, and B. xxix. c. 3S. 



