Chap. 45] THE NATURE OV SALT* 509 



the saci'ed rites of the Jews. In the same way, too, alex has 

 come to be manufactured from oj-sters, sea-urchins, sea-nettles, 

 cammari,^^ and the liver of the surmullet ; and a thousand 

 different methods have been devised of late for ensuring the 

 putrefaction of salt in such a way as to secure the flavours 

 most relished by the palate. 



Thus much, by the way, with reference to the tastes of the 

 present day ; though at the same time, it must be remembered, 

 these substances are by no means without their uses in medi- 

 cine. Alex, for instance, is curative of scab in sheep, incisions 

 being made in the skin, and the liquor poured therein. It is 

 useful, also, for the cure of Avounds inflicted by dogs or by 

 the sea-dragon, the application being made with lint. Kecent 

 burns, too, are healed by the agency of garum, due care being 

 taken to apply it without mentioning it by name. It is useful, 

 too, for bites inflicted by dogs, and for that of the crocodile in 

 particular ; as also for the treatment of serpiginous or sordid 

 ulcers. For ulcerations, and painful affections of the mouth 

 and ears, it is a marvellously useful remedy. 



Muria, also, as well as the salsugo which we have mentioned,^^ 

 has certain astringent, mordent, and discussive properties, and is 

 highl}' Uvseful for the cure of dysentery, even when ulceration 

 has attacked the intestines. Injections are also made of it 

 for sciatica, and for coeliac fluxes of an inveterate nature. In 

 spots which lie at a distance in the interior, it is used as a fo- 

 mentation, by way of substitute for sea-water. 



CHAP. 45. (9.) THE IfATURE OF SALT. 



Salt, regarded by itself, is naturally igneous, and yet it 

 manifests an antipathy to fire, and fiies^^ from it. It consumes 

 everything, and yet upon living bodies it has an astringent, 

 desiccative, and binding effect, while the dead it preserves 

 from putrefaction,^^ and makes them last for ages even. In 

 respect, however, of its medicinal properties, it is of a mordent, 

 burning, detergent, attenuating, and resolvent nature ; it is, how- 

 ever, injurious to the stomach, except that it acts as a stimulant 



without scales being forbidden to the Jews by the Levitical Law. See Lev. 

 0. xi. ver. 10. It is, most probably, Pliny's own mistake. 



52 See B. xxvii. c. 2. ^3 xt the end of c. 42. 



54 He alludes to its decrepitation in flame. 



^^ Pharnaces caused the body of his father Mithridates to be deposited 

 in brine, in order to transmit it to Pompey. 



