Chap. 28.] THE LENTISK. 19 



with bitumen. Some persons, however, make this mixture 

 artificially, and employ it for the cure of itch in cattle, and of 

 injuries done by the young sucklings to the manrillse. The 

 most esteemed portion of it is that which floats on the surface 

 when boiled. 



CHAP. 26. ZOPISSA : ONE REMEDY. 



We have already 21 stated that zopissa is the pitch, macerated 

 with salt-water and wax, that has been scraped from off 

 the bottoms of ships. The best kind is that taken from ships 

 which have been to sea for the first time. It is used as an in- 

 gredient in plasters of an emollient nature, employed to disperse 

 gatherings. 



CHAP. 27. THE TORCH-IEEE : ONE KEMEDT. 



A decoction in vinegar of the wood of the torch- tree* 2 

 makes a most eflicacjous gargle for tooth- ache. 



CHAP. 28. THE LENT1SK : TWENTY-TWO REMEDIES. 



The seed, bark, and tear-like juices of the lentisk are 

 diuretics, and act astringently upon the bowels : 23 a decoction 

 of them, used as a fomentation, is curative of serpiginous sores, 

 and is applied topically for humid ulcerations and erysipelas ; 

 it is employed also as a collutory for the gums. The teeth are 

 rubbed with the leaves in cases of tooth- ache, and they are 

 rinsed with a decoction of the leaves when loose : 24 this decoc- 

 tion has the effect also of staining 25 the hair. The gum of 

 this tree is useful for diseases of the rectum, and all cases in 

 which desiccatives and calorifics are needed ; a decoction too 

 of the gum is good for the stomach, acting as a carminative 



bitumen. The names now given to it are mineral pitch, and malthe or 

 pitch of Malta. 



21 In B. xvi. c. 23. Fee thinks that the use of it is more likely to 

 have been injurious than beneficial. 



22 Or tda. See B, xvi. c. 19. 



23 Fee says, that within the last century, the wood of the lentisk or 

 mastich, and the oil of its berries, figured in the Pharmacopoeias. Their 

 medicinal properties are far from energetic, but the essential oil may pro- 

 bably be of some utility as an excitant. 



24 This property is still attributed in the East to the leaves and resin of 

 the lentisk. We learn from Martial, B. xiv. Epig. 22, that the wood of 

 the lentisk, as well as quills, was used for tooth-picks. 



25 This, Fee says, is not the fact. 



