Chap. 4.] ANGUINE OB ERRATIC CUCUMBER. 209 



it is the proper way of testing the genuineness of the drug to 

 hold it to the flame and make it scintillate above and below, 

 before finally extinguishing it. The elaterium which is pale, 

 smooth, and slightly bitter, is superior 17 to that which has a 

 grass-green appearance and is rough to the touch. 



It is generally thought that the seed of this plant will faci- 

 litate conception if a woman carries it attached to her person, 

 before it has touched the ground ; and that it has the effect of 

 aiding parturition, if it is first wrapped in ram's wool, and then 

 tied round the woman's loins, without her knowing it, care 

 being taken to carry it out of the house the instant she is 

 delivered. 



Those persons who magnify the praises of the wild cucum- 

 ber say that the very best is that of Arabia, the next being 

 that of Arcadia, and then that of Cyrenae : it bears a resem- 

 blance to the heliotropium, 18 they say, and the fruit, about the 

 size of a walnut, grows between the leaves and branches. The 

 seed, it is said, is very similar in appearance to the tail of 

 a scorpion thrown back, but is of a whitish hue. Indeed, 

 there are some persons who give to this cucumber the name of 

 " scorpionium," and say that its seed, as well as the elaterium, 

 is remarkably efficacious as a cure for the sting of the scor- 

 pion. As a purgative, the proper dose of either is from half 

 an obolus to an obolus, according to the strength of the pa- 

 tient, a larger dose than this being fatal. 19 It is in the same 

 proportions, too, that it is taken in drink for phthiriasis 20 and 

 dropsy ; applied externally with honey or old olive oil, it is 

 used for the cure of quinsy and affections of the trachea. 



CHAP. 4. (2.) THE ANGUINE OR ERRATIC CUCUMBER : FIVE 



REMEDIES. 



Many authors are of opinion that the wild cucumber is 

 identical with the plant known among us as the " anguine," 

 and by some persons as the "erratic" 21 cucumber. Objects 



17 Fee acknowledges the truth of this observation, that of a green colour 

 containing feculent matter, and showing that the juice is not pure. 



18 In reality there is no such resemblance whatever. See B. xxii. c. 29. 



19 Fee says that this is an exaggerated account of the properties of the 

 wild cucumber, as it would require a very considerable dose to cause death. 



20 The Morbus pedicularis, or " lousy disease." 



21 This has been identified by some writers, Fee says, with the Cucumis 

 flexuosus of Linnaeus; but, as he observes, that plant comes originally 



VOL. IV. P 



