SAUL ic. 225 



the stomach, and act as an aperient. Leeks impart a remark- 

 able clearness to the voice. 21 



CHAP. 22. BTJLBED LEEK : THIRTY-NINE HEMEDIES. 



Bulbed leek 22 produces the same effects as cut-leek, 23 but in 

 a more powerful degree. To persons troubled with spitting 

 of blood, the juice of it is given, with powdered nut-galls 21 

 or frankincense, or else gum acacia. 25 Hippocrates, 26 however, 

 prescribes it without being mixed with anything else, and 

 expressed himself of opinion that it has the property of opening 

 the uterus when contracted, and that taken as an aliment by 

 females, it is a great promoter of fecundity. Beaten up and 

 mixed with honey, it cleanses ulcerous sores. It is good for 

 the cure of coughs, catarrhs, and all affections of the lungs 

 and of the trachea, whether given in the form of a ptisan, or 

 eaten raw, the head excepted : it must be taken, however, with- 

 out bread, and upon alternate days, and this even if there 

 should be purulent expectorations. 



Taken in this form, it greatly improves the voice, and acts 

 as an aphrodisiac, and as a promoter of sleep. The heads, boiled 

 in a couple of waters, arrest looseness of the bowels, and 

 fluxes of long standing ; and a decoction of the outer coat acts 

 as a dye upon grey hair. 27 



Y/ CHAP. 23. GARLIC I SIXTY-ONE REMEDIES. 



Garlic 28 has very powerful 29 properties, and is of great 

 utility to persons on changes of water or locality. The very 

 smell of it drives away serpents and scorpions, and, according 

 to what some persons say, it is a cure for wounds made by 



21 See B. xix. c. 33. Aristotle, Sotion, and Dioscorides state to the 

 same effect. 



23 " Porrum capitatum." 



23 There is no difference now recognized between these two kinds or 

 leeks, so far as their medicinal effects are concerned. 



* 4 See B. xvi. c. 9. 



25 /. e. gum arabic. For an account of the Acacia Nilotica, see B. xm. 

 c. 19. 



26 De Morb. Mul. B ii. c. 89, and De Steril. c. 13. 



v This is not the fact. m See B. xix. c. 34. 



29 Fee says that the action of garlic is so powerful, that it is one of the 

 most energetic vermifuges known ; but at the same time it is so strong an 

 excitant, that it is very liable to cause worse evils than the presence even 

 of worms. 



VOL. IV. Q 



