Chap. 91.] SISYMBRITTM OB THTMBRJEFM. 293 



tures by its smell, and it is particularly beneficial as an anti- 

 dote to the venom of marine animals. 



A decoction of it in vinegar is applied for head-ache, with 

 rose oil, to the temples and forehead, as also for phrenitis and 

 lethargy : it is given, too, in doses of four drachmae, for grip- 

 ings of the stomach, strangury, quinsy, and fits of vomiting. 

 It is taken in water, also, for liver complaints. The leaves are 

 given" in doses of four oboli, in vinegar, for diseases of the 

 spleen. Beaten up in two cyathi of oxymel, it is used for 

 spitting of blood. 



CHAP. 91. SISYM3RITJM OR THYMBR^TJM ! TWENTY-THREE 



KEMEDIES. 



"Wild 55 * sisyrabrium, by some persons called " thymbraeum," 

 does not grow beyond a foot in height. The kind 58 which 

 grows in watery places, is similar to nasturtium, and they 57 

 are both of them efficacious for the stings of certain insects, 

 such as hornets and the like. That which grows in dry loca- 

 lities is odoriferous, and is employed 58 for wreaths : the leaf 

 of it is narrower than in the other kind. They both of them 

 alleviate head-ache, and defluxions of the eyes, Philinus says. 

 Some persons, however, employ bread in addition ; while 

 others, again, use a decoction of the plant by itself in wine, 

 It is a cure, also, for epin3 T ctis, and removes spots on the face 

 in females, by the end of four days; for which purpose, it is 

 applied at night and taken off in the day-time. It arrests 

 vomiting, hiccup, gripings, and fluxes of the stomach, whether 

 taken with the food, or the juice extracted and given in drink. 



This plant, however, should never be eaten by pregnant 

 women, except in cases where the foetus is dead, for the very 

 application of it is sufficient to produce abortion. Taken with 

 wine, it is diuretic, and the wild variety expels calculi even. 

 For persons necessitated to sit up awake, an infusion of it in 

 vinegar is applied as a liniment to the head. 



55 * The Sisymbrion menta of Gerard ; the Menta hirsuta of Decandolle, 

 prickly mint. Spreugel, however, takes it to be the Menta silvestris of 

 modern Botany. 



56 The Sisymbrion nasturtium of Linnaeus. 



57 Apparently the Sisymbrium just mentioned, find the Nasturtium. 



58 Ovid, Fasti, B. iv. 1. 869, speaks of Sisymbrium as being esteemed by 

 the Roman ladies for its agreeable smell. 



