218 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XX 



dulness of hearing, too, radish-juice is injected into the ear. 

 To promote vomiting, it is extremely beneficial to eat radishes 

 fasting. 



CHAP. 1 4. THE PARSNIP I FIVE REMEDIES. THE IIIBISCUM, WILD 



MALLOW, OR PLISTOLOCHIA : ELEVEN REMEDIES. 



The hibiscum, by some persons known as the wild mallow, 78 

 and by others as the " plistolochia," bears a strong resemblance 

 to the parsnip ; 79 it is good for ulcerations of the cartilages, and 

 is employed for the cure of fractured bones. The leaves of it, 

 taken in water, relax the stomach ; they have the eifect, also, 

 of keeping away serpents, and, employed as a liniment, are a 

 cure for the stings of bees, wasps, and hornets. The root, 

 pulled up before sunrise, and wrapped in wool of the colour 

 known as " native," 80 taken from a sheep which has just 

 dropped a ewe lamb, is employed as a bandage for scrofulous 

 swellings, even after they have suppurated. Some persons 

 are of opinion, that for this purpose the root should be dug 

 up with an implement of gold, and that care should be taken 

 not to let it touch the ground. 



Celsus, 81 too, recommends this root to be boiled in wine, and 

 applied in cases of gout unattended with swelling. 



CHAP. 15. (5.) THE STAPHYLINOS, OR WILD PARSNIP I TWENTY- 

 TWO REMEDIES. 



The staphylinos, or, as some persons call it, "erratic 8 " 

 parsnip," is another kind. The seed 83 of this plant, pounded and 

 taken in wine, reduces swelling of the abdomen, and alleviates 

 hysterical suffocations and pains, to such a degree as to restore 

 the uterus to its natural condition. Used as a liniment, also, with 

 raisin wine, it is good for pains of the bowels in females ; for 

 men, too, beaten up with an equal proportion of bread, and 

 taken in wine, it may be found beneficial for similar pains. It 



78 " Moloche agria." 79 See B. xix. c. 27. 



80 See B. viii. c. 73. 



81 De Remed. B. iv. c. 24. The parsnip is a stimulating plant, and it 

 is not without reason, Fee says, that Celsus recommends it for this pur- 

 pose. 82 Or " wild." See B. xix. c. 27. 



83 This seed, Fee says, is an energetic excitant, and certainly would not 

 be found suitable for any of the purposes here mentioned by Pliny ; though 

 equally recommended for them by Galen, Dioscorides, and in Athenaeus. 



