312 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOKY. [Book XXVIII. 



his arm a tooth from the right side of the upper jaw, he will 

 never miss any object he may happen to aim at with a dart. 

 The palate, dried and warmed with Egyptian alum, 49 is curative 

 of bad odours and ulcers of the mouth, care being taken to 

 renew the application three times. Dogs, they say, will never 

 bark at persons who have a hyaena's tongue in the shoe, 

 beneath the sole of the foot. The left side of the brain, applied 

 to the nostrils, is said to have a soothing effect upon all 

 dangerous maladies either in men or beasts. They say, too, that 

 the skin of the forehead is a preservative against all fascina- 

 tions ; that the flesh of the neck, whether eaten or dried and 

 taken in drink, is good for pains in the loins ; that the sinews 

 of the back and shoulders, used as a fumigation, are good for 

 pains in the sinews ; that the bristles of the snout, applied to 

 a woman's lips, have all the effect of a philtre ; and that the 

 liver, administered in drink, is curative of griping pains and 

 urinary calculi. 



The heart, it is said, taken with the food or drink, is remedial 

 for all kinds of pains in the body ; the milt for pains in the 

 spleen ; the caul, in combination with oil, for inflammatory ul- 

 cers ; and the marrow for pains in the spine and weakness in the 

 sinews. The strings of the kidneys, they say, if taken with 

 wine and frankincense, will restore fruitfulness, in cases where 

 it has been banished through the agency of noxious spells ; the 

 uterus, taken in drink with the rind of a sweet pomegranate, 

 is highly beneficial for diseases of the uterus ; and the fat of 

 the loins, used as a fumigation, removes all impediments to 

 delivery, and accelerates parturition. The marrow of the back, 

 attached to the body as an amulet, is an effectual remedy for 

 fantastic illusions, 50 and the genitals of the male animal, used 

 as a fumigation, are good for the cure of spasms. For oph- 

 thalmia, ruptures, and inflammations, the feet, which are kept 

 for the purpose, are touched ; the left feet for affections on the 

 right side of the body, and the right feet for affections on the 

 left. The left foot, if laid upon the body of a woman in travail, 

 will be productive, they say, of fatal effects ; but the right foot, 

 similarly employed, will facilitate delivery. The vesicle 

 which has contained the gall, taken in wine or with the food, is 



49 "We shall have occasion to make enquiry as to the identity of the 

 " alumen " of Pliny on a future occasion. 



