464 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXIII. 



are sometimes eaten by themselves, in combination with pep- 

 per, for the purpose of cleansing the mouth and clearing the 

 brain. 



CHAP. 13 THE ASTAPHISAGEIA, OTHERWISE CALLED STAPHIS OR 



TAMINIA I TWELVE REMEDIES. 



The wild astaphis, otherwise called staphis, 34 is by some per- 

 sons erroneously called " uva taminia;" 35 for it is altogether a 

 distinct plant from the other. It has a black, upright stern, with 

 leaves resembling those of the labrusca, 36 and bears what we may 

 call a pod, 37 rather than a grape, green, similar to a chick-pea 

 in appearance, and enclosing a kernel of triangular form. The 

 fruit of it ripens with the vintage and turns black, while the 

 berries of the taminia, 38 as is well known, are red ; this last, 

 too, as we are aware, grows only in shaded spots, while the 

 wild astaphis, on the other hand, loves a site that is exposed 

 to the sun. 



I would not recommend any one to use the kernels 39 of the 

 wild astaphis as a purgative, as it is very doubtful whether they 

 might not choke the patient ; nor would I advise them to be 

 employed for the purpose of attenuating the phlegm, as they 

 are extremely irritating to the throat, lieaten up, however, and 

 applied topically, they kill vermin 40 in the head and other parts 

 of the body, more particularly if they are used with sanda- 

 rach ; they are very useful, too, for itch-scabs and prurigo. A 

 decoction of the kernels is made with vinegar, for the cure of 

 tooth-ache, diseases of the ears, cicatrices 41 that are slow in 

 healing, and running sores. 



The blossoms of the plant are beaten up and taken in wine 



34 Identified "with the Delphinium staphis agria of Linnaeus. 



35 tf Taminian grape." 36 Or wild vine. 



37 The fruit is formed of three oblong capsules, containing a triangular 

 seed of black brown colour, about the size of a kidney bean. 



38 This is not the white vine or bryony, mentioned in c. 16 of this 

 Book, but the Tamus communis of Linnaeus. 



39 The seeds, which are remarkably pungent and powerful in their 

 effects, are only used, at the present day, in medicinal preparations for 

 cattle. 



40 This is still done at the present day ; to which it is indebted for its 

 French name Vherbe pediculaire, or louse-plant. 



41 Pliny seems again to have fallen into the error of mistaking ov^ov, 

 the " gums " for oi>\/), a "cicatrix ;" the corresponding passage in Dios- 

 coridee, B. iv. c. 156, being " deliuxions of the gums." 



