128 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXV. 



with rounded leaves, and but little elevated above the surface 

 of the earth. A third kind, again, is known as the " lychnitis" 88 

 by some persons, and as the " thryallis" by others : it has three 

 leaves only, or four at the very utmost, thick and unctuous, 

 and well adapted for making wicks for lamps. The leaves of 

 the phlomos which we have mentioned as the female plant, if 

 wrapped about figs, will preserve them most efficiently from 

 decay, it is said. It seems little better than a loss of time to 

 give the distinguishing characteristics of these three 89 kinds, 

 the effects of them all being precisely the same. 



For injuries inflicted by scorpions, an infusion of the root 

 is taken, with rue, in water. Its bitterness is intense, but it 

 is quite as efficacious as the plants already mentioned. 



CHAP. 75. THE THELYPHONON OR SCORPIO : 0!N T E REMEDY. 



The thelyphonon 90 is a plant known as the "scorpio" to some, 

 from the peculiar form of its roots, the very touch of which 

 kills 91 the scorpion: hence it is that it is taken in drink for stings 

 inflicted by those reptiles. If a dead scorpion is rubbed with 

 white hellebore, it will come to life, they say. The thelypho- 

 non is fatal to all quadrupeds, on the application of the root to 

 the genitals. The leaf too, which bears a resemblance to that 

 of cyclaminos, is productive of a similar effect, in the course of 

 the same day. It is a jointed plant, and is found growing in 

 unbrageous localities. Juice of betony or of plantago is a 

 preservative against the venom of the scorpion. 



CHAP. 76. THE PHRYNION, NEURAS, OR POTERION ; ONE 



REMEDY. 



Frogs, too, have their venom, the bramble- frog 92 in particular, 



Spvengel and Desfontaines consider the second kind to be the Phlomis 

 Italica of Smith ; on insufficient grounds, Fee thinks. Littre mentions 

 the Sideritis Romana and S. elegans of Linnaeus. 



88 The " Lamp plant." It is mostly identified with the Verbascum 

 lychnitis of Linnaeus, the "White mullein. Fee is somewhat doubtful on 

 the point. It is doubtful whether it is not the same as the Thryallis, men- 

 tioned in B. xxi. c. 61. Littre identifies it with the Phlomis lychnitis. 



89 In the last paragraph he is speaking of the Phlomos, here he evidently 

 reverts to the Phlomis. 



so Q r Female killer." See B. xxvii. c. 2. 



91 Dioscorides states, somewhat more rationally, that this plant strikes 

 the scorpion with torpor, and that the contact of hellebore revives it. 



92 "Rubetis." A kind of toad, probably. See B. viii. c. 48, B. xi. c. 

 16, and B. xxxii. c. 18. 



