212 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOET. [Book XX. 



CHAP. 7. (3.) THE GOURD: SEVENTEEN REMEDIES. THE 



SOMPHTJS : ONE KEMEDY. 



There is found also a wild gourd, called " somphos" by the 

 Greeks, empty within (to which circumstance it owes its 

 name), 36 and long and thick in shape, like the finger : it grows 

 nowhere except upon stony spots. The juice of this gourd, 

 when chewed, is very beneficial to the stomach. 37 



CHAP. 8. THE COLOCYNTHIS : TEN REMEDIES. 



There is another variety of the wild gourd, known as the 

 " colocynthis :" 38 this kind is full of seeds, but not so large as 

 the cultivated one. The pale colocynthis is better than those 

 of a grass-green colour. Employed by itself when dried, it 

 acts as a very powerful 39 purgative ; used as an injection, it is 

 a remedy for all diseases of the intestines, the kidneys, and the 

 loins, as well as for paralysis. The seed being first removed, it 

 is boiled down in hydromel to one half; after which it is used as 

 an injection, with perfect safety, in doses of four oboli. It is 

 good, too, for the stomach, taken in pills composed of the dried 

 powder and boiled honey. In jaundice seven seeds of it may 

 be taken with beneficial effects, with a draught of hydromel 

 immediately after. 



The pulp of this fruit, taken with wormwood and salt, is a 

 remedy for toothache, and the juice of it, warmed with vinegar, 

 has the effect of strengthening loose teeth. Eubbed in with 

 oil, it removes pains of the spine, loins, and hips : in addition 

 to which, really a marvellous thing to speak of ! the seeds of 

 it, in even numbers, attached to the body in a linen cloth, 

 will cure, it is said, the fevers to which the Greeks have 

 given the name of "periodic," 40 The juice, too, of the cultivated 

 86 From the Greek ero/i^oc, porous, spongy, or hollow. 



37 It is supposed by some naturalists that this gourd is the variety 

 Pyxidaris of the Cucurbita pepo of Linnaeus, the Colocynthis araara of 

 C. Bauhin. Fee remarks, however, that this designation is arbitrary ; as 

 this plant never grows wild in Europe, and its pulp is so bitter, that instead 

 of proving beneficial to the stomach, it would cause vomiting. From the 

 fact of its comparison to the human finger, he doubts if it really was one 

 of the Cucurbitse at all. 



38 The Cucumis colocynthus of Linnaeus, or Coloquintida, so remarkable 

 for its bitterness. 



39 It is an extremely drastic, and indeed violent purgative. 



40 Recurring at stated times. The absurdity of this statement does not 

 require discussion. 



