Chap. 9.] RAPE. 213 



gourd 41 shred in pieces, applied warm, is good for ear-ache, 

 and the flesh of the inside, used without the seed, for corns on 

 the feet and the suppurations known to the Greeks as " apos- 

 temata." 42 - "When the pulp and seeds are boiled together, the 

 decoction is good for strengthening loose teeth, and for prevent- 

 ing toothache ; wine, too, hoiled with this plant, is curative of 

 defluxions of the eyes. The leaves of it, bruised with fresh 

 cypress-leaves, or the leaves alone, boiled in a vessel of potters* 

 clay and beaten up with goose-grease, and then applied to the 

 part affected, are an excellent cure for wounds. Fresh shav- 

 ings of the rind are used as a cooling application for gout, and 

 burning pains in the head, in infants more particularly ; they 

 are good, too, for erj r sipelas, 43 whether it is the shavings of 

 the rind or the seeds of the plant that are applied to the part 

 affected. The juice of the scrapings, employed as a liniment 

 with rose-oil and vinegar, moderates the burning heats of 

 fevers ; and the ashes of the dried fruit applied to burns are 

 efficacious in a most remarkable degree. 



Chrysippus, the physician, condemned the use of the gourd 

 as a food : it is generally agreed, however, that it is extremely 

 good 44 for the stomach, and for ulcerations of the intestines 

 and of the bladder. 



CHAP. 9. EAPE J NINE 11EMEBJES. 



Rape, too, lias its medicinal properties. "Warmed, it is used as 

 an application for the cure of chilblains, 45 in addition to which, 

 it has the effect of protecting the feet from cold. A hot decoc- 

 tion of rape is employed for the cure of cold gout ; and raw 

 rape, beaten up with salt, is good for all maladies of the feet. 

 Rape-seed, used as a liniment, and taken in drink, with wine, 

 is said to have a salutary effect 46 against the stings of serpents, 



41 The cultivated cucumber, Fee says. 



42 Or ** apostbumes," a kind of abscess, probably. 



45 Ignis sacer," literally " sacred fire." It is sometimes called " St. An- 

 tbony's fire." Celsus, in describing it, distinguishes it, however, from 

 erysipelas, and divides it into two kinds. 



44 On tho contrary, Fe says, the pulp of tbe gourd is tough and lea- 

 thery, extremely insipid, and destitute of any salutary qualities. 



45 A decoction of rape or turnips is still recommended for chilblains at 

 the present day. Fee remarks that ground mustard is much preferable. 



46 This, as Fee remarks, he says of nearly all the vegetable productions 

 known. 



