Chap. 35.] THE BUPLEURON. 421 



CHAP. 34. THE ACANTHUS, P.EDEROS, OK MELAMPHYLLOS I FIVE 



REMEDIES. 



The acanthus 87 is a plant that grows in cities, and is used 

 in ornamental gardening. It has a broad, long leaf, and is 

 used as a covering for the margins of ornamental waters and of 

 parterres in gardens. 88 There are two varieties of it ; the one 

 that is thorny 89 and crisped is the shorter of the two ; the 

 other, which is smooth, 90 is by some persons called " paede- 

 ros," 91 and by others " melaniphyllos." 92 The root of this 

 last is remarkably good for burns and sprains ; and, boiled with 

 the food, a ptisan more particularly, it is equally good for 

 ruptures, spasms, and patients who are in apprehension of 

 phthisis. The root is also beaten up and applied warm for 

 hot gout. 



CHAP. 35. THE BUPLETTEON I FIVE KEMEDIES. 



' The bupleuron 93 is reckoned by the Greeks in the number 

 of the leguminous plants which grow spontaneously. The 

 stem of it is a cubit in height, the leaves are long and nu- 

 merous, and the head resembles that of dill. It has been 

 extolled as an aliment by Hippocrates, and for its medicinal 

 properties by Glaucon and Nicander. The seed of it is good 

 for the stings of serpents ; and the leaves, or else the juice, ap- 

 plied as a liniment with wine, bring away the after-birth. The 

 leaves, also, in combination with salt and wine, are applied to 



87 As to the Acanthus or thorn, in a more general sense, see B. xxiv. 

 c. 66, and the Notes. 



88 Pliny the Younger speaks of the Acanthus being used for a similar 

 purpose, Epist. B. v. Ep. 6. 



89 The Acanthus spinosus of Linnneus. 



80 The Acanthus mollis of Linnaeus ; the hrankursine. 



91 " Lad's love." 



92 " Black-leafed." Fee thinks it probable that this name may have been 

 given to the variety " niger," of Miller, which grows in great abundance 

 in Sicily and Italy. 



93 " Bull's side," apparently. Fee Bays that the identification of this 

 plant is quite uncertain ; the Buplevrum rigidum of Linnaeus, the Bup- 

 levrum Baldense of Wiildenow, and the Ammi majus of Linnaeus, having 

 been suggested. The first, he thinks, could never have been used as a 

 vegetable, and the second is only found on Mount Baldo in CarnioLi, and 

 in Croatia. Though the Ammi majus is more than a cubit in height, and 

 could never have been used as a vegetable, he looks upon it as the most 

 likely of the three. The seeds of it were formerly used as a carminative. 



