Chap. 77.] LTCITJM. 51 



CHAP. 77. LYCIUM I EIGHTEEN REMEDIES. 



The best lycium, 15 they say, is that prepared from the thorn 

 of that name, known also as the " Chironian pyxacanthus," 16 

 and mentioned by us when speaking of the trees of India, the 

 lycium of those regions being generally looked upon as by 

 far the best. The branches and roots, which are intensely 

 bitter, 17 are first pounded and then boiled for three days in 

 a copper vessel, after which the woody parts are removed, 

 and the decoction is boiled again, till it has attained the 

 consistency of honey. It is adulterated with various bitter 

 extracts, 18 as also with amurca of olive oil and ox-gall. The 

 froth or flower 19 of this decoction is used as an ingredient in 

 compositions for the eyes : and the other part of it is employed 

 as a cosmetic for the face, and for the cure of itch-scabs, 

 corroding sores in the corners of the eyes, inveterate fluxes, 

 and suppurations of the ears. It is useful too for diseases of 

 the tonsillary glands and gums, for coughs, and for discharges 

 of blood from the mouth, being generally taken in pieces the 

 size of a bean. For the cure of discharges from wounds, it 

 is applied to the part affected ; and it is similarly used for 

 chaps, ulcerations of the genitals, excoriations, ulcers, whether 

 putrid, serpiginous, or of recent date, hard excrescences 20 of 

 the nostrils, and suppurations. It is taken also by females, 

 in milk, for the purpose of arresting the catamenia when in 

 excess. 



The Indian lycium is distinguished from the other kinds 

 by its colour, the lumps being black outside, and, when broken, 

 red within, though they turn black very quickly. 21 It is 

 bitter and remarkably astringent, and is employed for all the 

 purposes above mentioned, diseases of the generative organs in 

 particular. 



15 See 8. xii. c. 15. Fee identifies this with the modern Catechu, a de- 

 coction from the Acacia catechu, a leguminous plant of the East Indies. 



16 The Rhamnus lycioides of Linnaeus, our buckthorn. The Indian 

 plant from which catechu is extracted is of a similar nature. See B. xii. c. 15. 



17 This Fee looks upon as an exaggeration. 



18 See B. xii. c. 15. 



19 /. e. the choice part of it; see B. xii. c. 15. Catechu is adulterated 

 at the present day with starch and argillaceous earths. As a medicament 

 it is not possessed of a very powerful action. 



20 " Clavos." 21 This statement is quite correct. 



E 2 



