238 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOBY. [Book XXVII. 



CHAP. 36. THE CALYX I THKEE REMEDIES* 



Of the calyx 18 there are two kinds. One of these resembles 

 arum, and is found growing in ploughed soils; the proper 

 time for gathering it being before it begins to wither. It is em- 

 ployed for the same purposes as arum ; 19 and an infusion of the 

 root is taken as a purgative and as an emmenagogue. The 

 stalks, boiled with the leaves and some pulse, are curative of 

 tenesmus. 



CHAP. 37. THE CALYX, KNOWN ALSO AS ANCHTJSA OB ONOCLIA : 



TWO REMEDIES. 



The other 20 kind of calyx is known by some persons as 

 *' anchusa," and by others as " onoclia." The leaves are like 

 those of the lettuce, but longer, and with a downy surface. 

 The root is red, and is employed topically, in combination 

 with fine polenta, 21 for the cure of erysipelas : taken inter- 

 nally with white wine, it is good for affections of the liver. 



CHAP. 38. THE CIRCJEA : THEEE REMEDIES. 



The circaea 22 resembles the cultivated trychnon 23 in ap- 

 pearance, It has a small swarthy flower, a diminutive seed, 

 like millet, growing in small horn-shaped pods, and a root 

 half a foot in length, generally triple or fourfold, white, 

 odoriferous, and hot in the mouth. It is found growing upon 

 rocks exposed to the sun. An infusion of it is prepared with 

 wine, and administered for pains and affections of the uterus : 

 to make it, three ounces of the pounded root should be steeped 



18 Other readings are "calsa, " and "calla;" but "calyx" is supported 

 by the text of Dioscorides, B. iv. c. 23. The first kind has been generally 

 identified with the Arum arisarum of Linnaeus, Hooded arum, or Monk's 

 hood, and is identical probably with the Aris aros of B. xxiv. c. 94. 



19 See B. xxiv. c. 93. 



20 Probably the Anchusa tinctoria of Linnaeus, Dyer's alkanet. See B. 

 xxii. c. 23. 



21 " Flore polentas." See B. xviii. c. 14. 



22 Sprengel identifies it with the Asclepias nigra, Black swallow-wort, 

 but Fee considers it to be the Circasa Lutetiana of Linnaeus, Parisian 

 circa3a, or enchanter's nightshade. Other authorities have suggested the 

 Capsicum annuum of Linnaeus, Indian or Guinea pepper, and the Celosia 

 margaritacea of Linnaeus, Pearly celosia, or cock's coinb. M. Fraas 

 suggests, though with some doubt, the Cynanchura Monspeliacum, the 

 Montpellier dog's-bane. 23 See B. xxi. c. 105. 



