Chap. 34.] OPINIONS OF THE OliEEKS. 237 



and salt, has the effect of preventing dreams and wakefulness ; 

 also, that if, after one boiling, it is boiled a second time, with 

 the addition of oil, salt, cummin, and polenta, it will relieve 

 gripings 82 in the stomach ; and that, if eaten in this way with- 

 out bread, it is more beneficial still. Among various other par- 

 ticulars, he says, that if taken in drink with black wine, it has 

 the effect of carrying off the bilious secretions ; and he recom- 

 mends the urine of a person who has been living on a cabbage 

 diet to be preserved, as, when warmed, it is a good remedy for 

 diseases of the sinews. I will, however, here give the iden- 

 tical words in which Cato expresses himself upon this point : 

 " If you wash little children with this urine," says he, " they 

 will never be weak and puny." 



He recommends, also, the warm juice of cabbage to be in- 

 jected into the ears, in combination with wine, and assures us 

 that it is a capital remedy for deafness : and he says that the 

 cabbage is a cure for impetigo 83 without the formation of 

 ulcers. 



CHAP. 34. OPINIONS OF THE GREEKS RELATIVE THERETO. 



As we have already given those of Cato, it will be as well 

 to set forth the opinions entertained by the Greek writers on 

 this subject, only in relation, however, to those points upon 

 which he has omitted to touch. They are of opinion that 

 cabbage, not thoroughly boiled, carries off the bile, and has 

 the effect of loosening the bowels ; while, on the other hand, 

 if it is boiled twice over, it will act as an astringent. They 

 say, too, that as there is a natural 84 eumity between it and the 

 vine, it combats the effects of wine ; that, if eaten before drink- 

 ing, it is sure to prevent 85 drunkenness, being equally a dis- 

 pellent of crapulence 86 if taken after drinking : that cabbage 

 is a food very beneficial to the eyesight, and that the juice of 

 it raw is even more so, if the corners of the eyes are only 

 touched with a mixture of it with Attic honey. Cabbage, too, 



82 Cato, De Re Rust., 156, 157. 83 See Note 11 to C. 2 of this Book. 



14 This absurd notion of antipathy is carried so far by the author of the 

 Geoponica, B. v. c. 11, that he states that if wine is thrown on cabbage 

 while on the fire, it will never be thoroughly boiled. 



35 Fee remarks, that this fact would surely have engaged the attention 

 of the moderns, if there had been any truth in the statement. 



< " Crapulam discuti." " Crapula" was that state, after drinking 1 , col- 

 loquially known at the present day as " seediness." 



