Chap. 85.] WILD LA.PATHTJM OE OXALIS. 287 



CHAP. 85. WILD LAPATHUM OR OXALIS, OTHERWISE CALLED 

 LAPATHUM CANTHERINUM, OR RUMEX : ONE REMEDY. HYDRO- 

 LAP A.THUM I TWO REMEDIES. HIPPOLAPATHUM : SIX REMEDIES. 

 OXYLAPATHTJM I FOUR REMEDIES. 



Lapathum, too, lias pretty nearly the same properties. 

 There is a wild 18 variety, known to some as " oxalis," 

 very similar in taste to the cultivated kind, with pointed 

 leaves, a colour like that of white beet, and an extremely 

 diminutive root : our people call it "rumex," 19 while others, 

 again, give it the name of " lapathum cantherinum." 20 Hixed 

 with axle-grease, this plant is very efficacious for scrofu- 

 lous sores. There is another kind, again, hardly forming 

 a distinct variety, known as " oxylapathon," 21 which resembles 

 the cultivated kind even more than the last, though the 

 leaves are more pointed and redder : it grows only in marshy 

 spots. Some authors are found who speak of a " hydrola- 

 pathon,"-- which grows in the water, they say. There is also 

 another variety, known as " hippolapathon," 23 larger than the 

 cultivated kind, whiter, and more compact. 



The wild varieties of the lapathum are a cure 24 for the 

 .stings of scorpions, and protect those who carry the plant on 

 their person from being stung. A decoction of the root in 

 vinegar, employed as a gargle, is beneficial to the 25 teeth, and 

 if drunk, is a cure for jaundice. The seed is curative of the 

 most obstinate maladies of the stomach. 26 The root of hip- 

 polapathum, in particular, has the property of bringing off 

 malformed nails ; and the seed, taken in wine, in doses of two 

 drachmae, is a cure for dysentery. The seed of oxylapathum, 



18 The Rumex acetosella of Linnaeus, or small sorrel. 



19 See B. xix. c. 60. 20 " Horse Lapathum." 



21 Or " Lapathum with pointed leaves ;" the Rumex acutus of Linnaeus. 



22 Q r K wa ter lapathum ;" the Rumex aquaticus of Linnaeus. 



23 Or " horse lapathum ;" the Rumex patientia of Linnaeus : or dock, 

 as Fee thinks : though, according to Sprengel, the cultivated lapathum was 

 identical with that plant. 



24 The medicinal properties of the lapathum vary according to the parts 

 of the plant employed. The leaves and stalks of the acid kinds of Rumex 

 are refreshing, and slightly diuretic and laxative. The action of those 

 which are not acid is sudorific, antiherpetic, and depurative. 



- 5 Fee says that it would be of no benefit whatever for tooth -ache. 

 26 It is not possessed of any stomachic properties, Fee remarks* 



