Chap. 64.] THE WILD FIG. 505 



pulpiest fig that can be procured ; the same, too, with pha- 

 gedaenic sores. 



As to the ashes of the fig, those of no tree known are of a 

 more acrid character, 83 being of a detergent and astringent 

 nature, and tending to make new flesh and to promote the 

 cicatrization of wounds. They are also taken in drink, for 

 the purpose of dissolving coagulated blood, as also for bruises, 

 falls with violence, ruptures, convulsions * * * * in 

 one cyathus respectively of water and oil. They are adminis- 

 tered also for tetanus and spasms, and are used either in a 

 potion, or as an injection for coeliac affections and dysentery. 

 Employed as a liniment with oil, they have a warming effect ; 

 and kneaded into a paste with wax and rose-oil, they heal 

 burns, leaving the slightest scar only. Applied in oil, as a 

 liniment, they are a cure for weakness of sight, and are used 

 as a dentifrice in diseases of the teeth. 



It is said, too, that if a patient draws downward a branch 

 of a fig-tree, and turns up his head and bites off some knot 

 or other of it, without being seen by any one, and then wears 

 it in a leather bag suspended by a string from his neck, it is a 

 certain cure for scrofulous sores and imposthumes of the parotid 

 glands. The bark of this tree, beaten up with oil, cures 

 ulcerations of the abdomen. Green figs, applied raw, with 

 the addition of nitre and meal, remove warts and wens. 84 



The ashes of the suckers which spring from the roots are used 

 as a substitute for spodium. 85 Burnt over a second time and 

 incorporated with white lead, they are divided into cakes 

 which are used for the cure of ulcerations of the eyes and 

 eruptions. 



CHAP. 64. THE WILD FIG : FOETT-TWO OBSERVATIONS UPON IT. 



The wild fig, again, is even more efficacious in its properties 

 than the cultivated one. It has not so large a proportion of 

 milky juice as the other : a slip of it put into milk has the 

 effect of curdling it and turning it into cheese. This juice, 

 collected and indurated by being subjected to pressure, im- 



83 This is the case, as they are remarkably rich in alkaline salts. The 

 assertion, however, as to their properties, is, as Fee says, hypothetical. 



84 "Thymos." 



85 Metallic ashes, or dross. See B. xxxiv. c. 52. 



