Chap. 83.] THE WILD MYETLE. 521 



CHAP. 82. MYRTIDANTTM ! THIRTEEN REMEDIES. 



"We have already described the manner in which myrtidanum 89 

 is made. Applied in a pessary, or as a fomentation or liniment, 

 it is good for affections of the uterus, being much more effica- 

 cious than the bark of the tree, or the leaves and seed. There 

 is a juice also extracted from the more tender leaves, which 

 are pounded in a mortar for the purpose, astringent wine, or, 

 according to one method, rain-water, being poured upon them 

 a little at a time. This extract is used for the cure of ulcers of 

 the mouth, the fundament, the uterus, and the abdomen. 

 It is employed, also, for dyeing the hair black, the suppression 

 of exudations at the arm-pits, 90 the removal of freckles, and 

 other purposes in which astringents are required. 



CHAP. 83. THE WILD MYRTLE, OTHERWISE CALLED OXYMY/RSINE, 



OR CHAM^IMYRSINE, AND THE RUSCUS : SIX REMEDIES. 



The wild myrtle, oxymyrsine, 91 or chamaomyrsine, differs 

 from the cultivated myrtle in the redness of its berries and its 

 diminutive height. The root of it is held in high esteem ; a 

 decoction of it, in wine, is taken for pains in the kidneys and 

 strangury, more particularly when the urine is thick and 

 fetid. Pounded in wine, it is employed for the cure of jaun- 

 dice, and as a purgative for the uterus. The same method is 

 adopted, also, with the young shoots, which are sometimes 

 roasted in hot ashes and eaten as a substitute for asparagus. 93 



The berries, taken with wine, or oil and vinegar, break 

 calculi 93 of the bladder : beaten up with rose- oil and vinegar, 

 they allay head-ache. Taken in drink, they are curative of 

 jaundice. Castor calls the wild myrtle with prickly leaves, 

 or oxymyrsine, from which brooms are made, by the name of 

 " ruscus" 94 the medicinal properties of it are just the same. 



Thus much, then, with reference to the medicinal pro- 



89 Or " myrtle-wine." See B. xiv. c. 19 ; also B. xv. c. 35. 



90 "Alarum perfusiones." 



91 See B. xv. cc. 7, 37 : the Kuscus aculeatus of Linnaeus, or little 

 holly of the French, belonging to the Asparagea, and not the myrtles. 



92 Being of the same family, of course there is a great resemblance. 

 83 In reality they have no such lithotriptic nature, Fee says. 



94 A kindred plant with the one already mentioned by our author : it 

 is still used for making brooms in some parts of Europe. 



