Chap. 39.] THE SQUILL. 241 



ing, by the stings of serpents, eating fungi, and drinking bulls' 

 blood. The leaves of it, either boiled and taken in the food 

 or else eaten raw, or applied with a liniment of sulphur and 

 nitre, are good for affections of the spleen, as well as hard tu- 

 mours of the mamillae. In swelling of the uvula, if the parts 

 affected are only touched with the ashes of the root, a cure will 

 be the result ; and applied topically with honey, they are 

 equally beneficial for reducing swellings of the parotid glands, 

 and curing the stings of serpents. We will add only one more 

 proof of the virtues of the cabbage, and that a truly marvellous 

 one in all vessels in which water is boiled, the incrustations 

 which adhere with such tenacity that it is otherwise impossible 

 to detach them, will fall off immediately if a cabbage is boiled 

 therein. 



CHAP. 37. THE LAPSANA I ONE REMEDY. 



Among the wild cabbages, we find also the lapsana, 1 a plant 

 which grows a foot in height, has a hairy leaf, and strongly 

 resembles mustard, were it not that the blossom is whiter. It 

 is eaten cooked, and has the property of soothing and gently 

 relaxing the bowels. 



CHAP. 38. THE SEA-CABBAGE t ONE REMEDY. 



Sea-cabbage 2 is the most strongly purgative of all these 

 plants. It is cooked, in consequence of its extreme pungency, 

 with fat meat, and is extremely detrimental to the stomach. 



CHAP. 39. THE SQUILL I TWENTY-THREE REMEDIES. 



In medicine, we give the name of white squill to the male 

 plant, and of black 3 to the female : the whiter the squill, the 

 better it is for medicinal 4 purposes. The dry coats being first 

 taken off of it, the remaining part, or so much of it as retains 

 life, is cut into pieces, which are then strung and suspended 



1 See B. xix. c. 41. 



2 The Convolvulus soldanella of Linnaeus, Fe*e thinks : not one of the 

 Cruciferae, but belonging to the Convolvulacese. 



3 See B. xix. c. 30. 



4 The squill is still regarded in medicine as one of the most energetic of 

 all the vegetable productions, as a diuretic, an expectorant, and, in large 

 doses, an emetic. Squill vinegar is still the form in which it is usually 

 administered. Columella gives a somewhat different account of the mode 

 of preparing it. 



VOL. IV. B 



