272 PLINY'S NATUBAL nisTOET. 



suspended to the pillow, so as to be smelt by a person when 

 asleep, it will prevent all disagreeable dreams. It has the 

 effect of promoting the appetite, also for this, too, has been 

 made by luxury one of the objects of art, ever since labour has 

 ceased to stimulate it. It is for these various reasons that it 

 has received the name of " anicetum," 46 given to it by some. 



CHAP. 73. WHERE THE BEST ANISE IS FOUND! VARIOUS REMEDIES 

 DERIVED FROM THIS PLANT. 



The most esteemed anise is that of Crete, and, next to it, 

 that of Egypt. This plant is employed in seasonings to sup- 

 ply the place of lovage ; and the perfume of it, when burnt 

 and inhaled, alleviates headache. Evenor prescribes an appli- 

 cation of the root, pounded, for defluxions of the eyes ; and 

 lollas employs it in a similar manner, in combination with 

 saffron and wine, or else beaten up by itself and mixed with 

 polenta, for violent denuxions and the extraction of such ob- 

 jects as have got into the eyes : applied, too, as a liniment in 

 water, it arrests cancer of the nose. Mixed with hyssop and 

 oxymel, and employed as a gargle, it is a cure for quinsy ;; 

 and, in combination with rose oil, it is used as an injection for 

 the ears. Parched anise purges off phlegm from the chest, and, 

 if taken with honey, it is better still. 



For a cough, beat up fifty bitter almonds, shelled, in honey, 

 with one acetabulum of anise. Another very easy remedy, 

 too, is to mix three drachmas of anise with two of poppies and 

 some honey, apiece the size of a bean being taken three times 

 a-day. Its main excellence, however, is as a carminative ; 

 hence it is that it is so good for flatulency of the stomach, 

 griping pains of the intestines, and cceliac affections. A de- 

 coction of it, smelt at and drunk, arrests hiccup, and a decoc- 

 tion of the leaves removes indigestion. A decoction of it with 

 parsley, if applied to the nostrils, will arrest sneezing. Taken 

 in drink, anise promotes sleep, disperses calculi of the bladder, 

 arrests vomiting and swelling of the viscera, and acts as an 

 exceUent pectoral for affections of the chest, and of the dia- 



45 "Unconquerable," from the Greek a, "not," and VIKO.M, "to con- 

 quer " Fee thinks that the word is a diminutive of "amsum," which, 

 according to some persons, is a derivative from " anysun" the Arabic name 

 of the plant. Dioseorides gives the name " anicetum' to dill, and not to 

 anise. 



