178 DIVI BOTANICr. 



the lamentations of Ceres over the adventure of her daughter Pro- 

 serpine, who \v;us '-rapped" hy Phito from the beautiful plain of 

 Enna, while botanizing there with her attendant nymphs ; and, by 

 the institution of didactic rules, the Pylian sage instructed his dis- 

 ciples in the art of prognosticating the issues of disease, and of mak- 

 ing their treatment prosperous. 



JMelampus retains the undisputed honour of having been the first 

 to prescribe a mineral remedy, and to treat with perfect success that 

 mode of " Melancholy without Fever" which is now designated 

 Monomania or partial insanity whereby, from its insidiousness, the 

 purest filial, parental or conjugal affection, too often has been incon- 

 sciously destroyed. He was no adept in the trade of " sending out 

 the draughts ;" but, notwithstanding this happy ignorance, he had 

 discovered the value of so disguising natural means with a veil of 

 mystery as to procure for them the co-efliciency of a superstitious 

 reliance on their powers. His " method of treatment" is exempli- 

 fied in the " case" of Iphiclus, a Phylacian prince. With a view to 

 this end, he made the sacrifice of two bulls his preparatory opera- 

 tion ; and, having divided their entrails into right portions, he con- 

 gregated the birds, in order to execute an augury. Among the rest 

 came a Vulture, and its omened flight revealed to the diviner that 

 on a long-past occasion, when immolating an oblation of rams, the 

 prince's father laid down the sacrificial knife near his son who, 

 being yet a boy, beheld the weapon with dread, and hastened to de- 

 posit it in the cleft of a consecrated Chestnut-tree, where it became 

 inclosed by successive layers of the bark ; and that, on the knife 

 being reproduced and the rust* collected from its blade, if the invalid 

 should drink of this in wine for ten days togethei', his acquisition of 

 the desired energy would be certain. Iphiclus delayed not to enter 

 on the course prescribed for him ; and, in due time, he was enabled 

 to rejoice in the possession of vigorous manhood. 



his on congenital discolourations of the skin, which is altogether spurious 

 — the fiction of a delusive imagination. This piece, which nevertheless is a 

 curiosity, has been several times printed both in Greek and Latin. It was 

 translated into English by Thomas Hylle, and is appended to his " Contem- 

 plation of Mankinde," with the title " A Treatise of the Signification of 

 Moles, seene in any part of man or woman, written by a Greeke Autor 

 named Melampus;" 12mo., London, 1571. 



• This is the first recorded instance of the carbonate (sesquloxide) of 

 ii-on being exhibited as a tonic medicine. To this day, it continues to main- 

 tain its celebrity as a remedy for nervous disorders and debility. In the 

 case of Iphiclus, the wine would co-operate with the iron, and facilitate the 

 efficacy of its invigorating virtues. 



