266 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII- 



the following words : " Beseda, P7 allay this disease ! knowest 

 thou not, knowest thou not, what chick it is that has torn up 

 these roots ? Let it have nor head nor feet I" 88 This formula 

 is repeated thrice, the party spitting on the ground each time. 



CHAP. 107. THE ST(ECHAS I THREE REMEDIES. 



The stcechas 89 grows only in the islands of that name. 90 It 

 is an odoriferous plant, with leaves like those of hyssop, and 

 of a bitter taste. Taken in drink, it promotes menstruation, 

 and allays pains in the chest. It forms an ingredient, also, in 

 antidotes. 



CHAP. 108. THE SOLANUM, BY THE GREEKS CALLED STRYCHNON '. 

 TWO REMEDIAL PROPERTIES. 



The solanum, 91 according to Cornelius Celsus, 93 is called 

 "stryehnon " by the Greeks; it is possessed of repercussive and 

 refrigerative properties. 



CHAP. 109. SMYRNION : THIRTY-TWO REMEDIES. SINON : TWO 

 REMEDIES. 



Smyrnion 93 has a stem like that of parsley, but larger leaves, 

 and growing principally about the young shoots, which are 

 numerous. From the midst of these shoots the leaves make 

 their appearance, unctuous, and bending towards the ground. 

 This plant has a medicinal smell, penetrating to a certain 

 degree, and agreeable : the colour of it is a pale yellow, and 

 the stems bear rounded umbels like those of dill, 94 with a 

 round, black seed, which dries at the beginning of summer. 

 The root, also, is odoriferous, of an acrid, pungent flavour, soft 

 and juicy, black on the outer coat and pale within. The smell 

 of it partakes very much of the nature of that of myrrh, to 



87 " Reseda, morbos reseda." A pun upon the name of the plant, and 

 the verb " resedo." 



88 Like the silly charm itself, " neither head nor tail." 



89 See B. xxvi. c. 27. 



90 The Stcechades. See B. iii. c. 11, and B. xxxii. c. 11. 



91 See B. xxi. c. 105, and c. 44 of this Book. The black nightshade is 

 neither astringent nor cooling, but a narcotic poison. 



92 De Be Med. ii. 33. 



93 See B. xix. cc. 48, 62. It is generally identified with the Smyrniurn 

 perfoliatum of Linnaeus, the Perfoliated alexander. 



94 "Anethi" is a preferable reading to "apii," "parsley." 



