Chap. 94.] MANDEAGORA. 139 



one 68 are broader, and similar to those of garden lapathum 69 in 

 appearance. Persons, when about to gather this plant, take 

 every precaution not to have the wind blowing in their face ; 

 and, after tracing three circles round it with a sword, turn 

 towards the west and dig it up. 70 The juice is extracted both 

 from the fruit and from the stalk, the top being first removed ; 

 also from the root, which is punctured for the purpose, or else 

 a decoction is made of it. The filaments, too, of the root ^are 

 made use of, and it is sometimes cut up into segments and 

 kept in wine. 



It is not the mandragora of every country that will yield a 

 juice, but where it does, it is about vintage time that it is 

 collected : it has in all cases a powerful odour, that of the 

 root and fruit the most so. The fruit is gathered when ripe, 

 and dried in the shade ; and the juice, when extracted, is left 

 to thicken in the sun. The same is the case, too, with the 

 juice of the root, which is extracted either by pounding it or 

 by boiling it down to one third in red wine. The leaves 

 are best, kept in brine ; indeed, when fresh, the juice of them 

 is a baneful poison, 71 and these noxious properties are far from 

 being entirely removed, even when they are preserved in 

 brine. The very odour of them is highly oppressive to the 

 head, although there are countries in which the fruit is eaten. 

 Persons ignorant of its properties are apt to be struck dumb 

 by the odour of this plant when in excess, and too strong a 

 dose of the juice is productive of fatal effects. 



Administered in* doses proportioned to the strength of the 

 patient, this juice has a narcotic effect ; a middling dose being 

 one cyathus. It is given, too, for injuries inflicted by serpents, 

 and before incisions or punctures are made in the body, in 



68 The female, or black, mandrake. 



69 See B. xx. c. 85. 



70 The superstitions with reference to the Mandrake extended from the 

 earliest times till a very recent period. It was used in philtres, and was 

 supposed to utter piercing cries when taken up ; Josephus counsels those 

 whose business it is to do so, to employ a dog for the purpose, if they would 

 avoid dreadful misfortunes. All these notions probably arose from the re- 

 semblance which the root bears to the legs and lower part of the human 

 body. See B. xxii. c. 9, where we have queried in a Note whether the 

 Eryngium may not have been the " mandrake," the possession of which 

 was so much coveted by the wives of Jacob. 



71 "Pestis est." 



