Chap. 74.] THE CYNOSBATOS. 49 



appearance, which is remarkably valuable as a remedy for 

 calculus. This is quite a different production from the "cynor- 

 rhoda," which we shall have occasion to speak of in the 

 succeeding Book. 96 



(14.) The cynosbatos 97 is by some called " cynapanxis," 98 

 and by others " neurospastos ;" " the leaf resembles the human 

 footstep in shape. It bears also a black grape, in the berries 

 of which there is a nerve, to which it is indebted for its name 

 of " neurospastos." It is quite a different plant from the cap- 

 paris 1 or caper, to which medical men have also given the name 

 of " cynosbatos." The clusters 2 of it, pickled in vinegar, are 

 eaten as a remedy for diseases of the spleen, and flatulency : 

 and the string found in the berries, chewed with Chian mastich, 

 cleanses the mouth. 



The rose 3 of the bramble, mixed with axle-grease, is curative 

 of alopecy : and the bramble-berries themselves, combined with 

 oil of omphacium, 4 stain 5 the hair. The blossom of the bram- 

 ble is gathered at harvest, and the white blossom, taken in 

 wine, is an excellent remedy for pleurisy and cceliac affections. 

 The root, boiled down to one third, arrests looseness of the 

 bowels and haemorrhage, and a decoction of it, used as a gar*gle, 

 is good for the teeth : the juice too is employed as a fomenta- 

 tion for ulcers of the rectum and generative organs. The 

 ashes of the root are curative of relaxations of the uvula. 



96 The fruit, Fee says, of the wild eglantine. See B. xxv. c. 6. 



97 Or " dog-bramble." 



98 Dog-strangle," apparently. 



99 " Drawn with a string." Fee thinks that Pliny has confused the 

 account given of this plant with that of the Aglaophotis, mentioned in 

 c. 102 of this Book, and that the Cynosbatos is only a variety of the Rubus 

 or bramble. Other authorities identify it with the Eubus caninus, or with 

 the Rosa sempervirens. Desfontaines thinks that it is the Ribes nigrum, 

 or black currant ; and Littre is of opinion that some gooseberry or currant 

 tree is meant, l See B. xiii. c. 44. 



2 " Thyrsus/' Fee thinks that the allusion is to the produce of the 

 caper, while Hardouin says that it is the first cynosbatos that he is speak- 

 ing of. Hardouiii is probably riorht. 



a The blossom, perhaps, of the Rubus fruticosus, or blackberry, 



4 See B. xii. c. 60. 



5 Fee s.ays that they have no such property, and that the blossoms of the 

 bramble are entirely destitute of any known medicinal qualities. The 

 roots and leaves are somewhat astringent. 



VOL. V. ' E 



