324 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOHY. [Book XXVIII. 



CHAP. 36. OXYGALA : ONE REMEDY. 



Oxygala, too, is prepared another way, sour milk being 

 added to the fresh milk which is wanted to curdle. This pre- 

 paration is extremely wholesome to the stomach : of its pro- 

 perties we shall have occasion 86 to speak in another place. 



CHAP. 37. THE YAKIOUS USES OF FAT AND OBSERVATIONS UPON 



IT, FIFTY-TWO IN NUMBER. 



Among the remedies common to living creatures, fat is the 

 substance held in the next highest esteem, that of swine in 

 particular, which was employed by the ancients for certain 

 religious purposes even : at all events, it is still the usage for 

 the newly- wedded bride, when entering her husband's house, 

 to touch the door-posts with it. There are two methods of 

 keeping hogs' lard, either salted or fresh ; indeed, the older it 

 is, the better. The Greek writers have now given it the name 

 of " axungia/' 87 or axle-grease, in their works. Nor, in fact, 

 is it any secret, why swine's fat should be possessed of such 

 marked properties, seeing that the animal feeds to such a great 

 extent upon the roots of plants owing too, to which, its dung 

 is applied to such a vast number of purposes. It will be as 

 well, therefore, to premise, that I shall here speak only of the 

 hog that feeds in the open field, and no other ; of which kind 

 it is the female that is much the most useful if she has never 

 farrowed, more particularly. But it is the fat of the wild boar 

 that is held in by far the highest esteem of all. 



The distinguishing properties, then, of swine's- grease, are 

 emollient, calorific, resolvent, and detergent. Some physicians 

 recommend it as an ointment for the gout, mixed with goose- 

 grease, bull-suet, and wool- grease : in cases, however, where 

 the pain is persistent, it should be used in combination with 

 wax, myrtle, resin, and pitch. Hogs' lard is used fresh for 

 the cure of burns, and of blains, too, caused by snow : with 

 ashes of burnt barley and nutgalls, in equal proportions, it is em- 

 ployed for the cure of chilblains. It is good also for excoriations 

 of the limbs, and for dispelling weariness and lassitude arising 

 from long journeys. For the cure of chronic cough, new 

 lard is boiled down, in the proportion of three ounces to three 



86 He has forgotten to do so, however. 



87 From the Latin "axis," au "axle," and "ungo," "to anoint." 



I 



