268 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORF. [Book XX. 



and slender, like pepper in taste." He described it^also as 

 being beneficial to the gums and teeth, imparting sweetness 

 to the breath, and dispelling flatulency. 



CHAP. 67. ORIGANUM, ONITIS, OE PRASION I SIX REMEDIES. 



Origanum, 22 which, as we have already stated, rivals cunila in 

 flavour, includes many varieties employed in medicine. Onitis, 23 

 or prasion, 24 is the name given to one of these, which is not 

 unlike hyssop in appearance : it is employed more particu- 

 larly, with warm water, for gnawing pains at the stomach, and 

 for indigestion. Taken in white wine it is good for the stings 

 of spiders and scorpions ; and, applied with vinegar and oil, in 

 wool, it is a cure for sprains and bruises. 



CHAP. 68. TRAGORIGANUM ! NINE REMEDIES. 



Tragoriganum 25 bears a strong resemblance to wild thyme. 

 It is diuretic, disperses tumours, and taken in drink is extremely 

 efficacious in cases of poisoning by mistletoe and stings by ser- 

 pents. It is very good for acid eructations from the stomach, | 

 and for the thoracic organs. It is given also for a cough, with 

 honey, as well as for pleurisy and peripneumony. 



CHAP. 69. THREE VARIETIES OF HERACLEOTIC ORIGANUM: 



THIRTY REMEDIES. 



Heraclium, 26 again, comprehends three varieties ; the first, 27 



22 Or Wild Marjoram. See B. xix. c. 50. 



23 So called, Nicander says, from being sought with avidity by the ass, 

 OVOQ. It is the Origanum onites of Linnaeus. 



24 The Prasion, or " green plant," mentioned by Hippocrates and Theo- 

 phrastus, is not identical, Fee says, with the Origanum onitis, it being the 

 Marrubium Creticum, or peregrmum of modern botanists. To add to the 

 confusion of these names, we find Pliny stating, in c. 69, that the name of 

 ' prasion" was given also by the Greeks to his second species of Hera- 

 clium, and that of " onitis" to the Heraclium Heracleoticum. 



25 Or " Goat's origanum :" the Thymus tragoriganum of Linnaeus. Dios- 

 corides mentions two kinds of tragoriganum, one of which has been sup- 

 posed by Clusius to be the Thymus mastichina of Linnaeus, and the other 

 the Stachys glutinosa of Linnaeus ; Zanoni being the first author who pro- 

 mulgated this opinion ; from which Fee, however, dissents. 



26 Or Heracleotic origanum : see c. 62 of this Book. Pliny here con- 

 founds several distinct plants, and, as Fee observes, the whole account is 

 in hopeless confusion. 



27 Probably the Origanum Heracleoticum of Linnasus, mentioned in c. 62. 



