Chap. 37.] THE VARIOUS USES OF FAT. 325 



cyathi of wine, some honey being added to the mixture. Old 

 lard too, if it has been kept without salt, made up into pills 

 and taken internally, is a cure for phthisis : but it is a general 

 rule not to use it salted in any cases except where detergents are 

 required, or where there are no symptoms of ulceration. For 

 the cure of phthisis, some persons boil down three ounces of 

 hogs' lard and honied wine, in three cyathi of ordinary wine ; 

 and after swathing the sides, chest, and shoulders of the patient 

 with compresses steeped in the preparation, administer to him, 

 every four days, some tar with an egg : indeed, so potent is 

 this composition, that if it is only attached to the knees even, 

 the flavour of it will ascend to the mouth, and the patient 

 will appear to spit it out, 88 as it were. 



The grease of a sow that has never farrowed, is the most 

 useful of all cosmetics for the skin of females ; but in all cases, 

 hogs' lard is good for the cure of itch-scab, mixed with pitch 

 and beef-suet in the proportion of one-third, the whole being 

 made lukewarm for the purpose. Fresh hogs' lard, applied as 

 a pessary, imparts nutriment to the infant in the womb, and 

 prevents abortion. Mixed with white lead or litharge, it re- 

 stores scars to their natural colour ; and, in combination with 

 sulphur, it rectifies malformed nails. It prevents the hair also 

 from falling off; and, applied with a quarter of a nutgall, it 

 heals ulcers upon the head in females. When well smoked, it 

 strengthens the eyelashes. Lard is recommended also for phthisis, 

 boiled down with old wine, in the proportion of one ounce to a 

 semisextarius, till only three ounces are left ; some persons add 

 a little honey to the composition. Mixed with lime, it is used 

 as a liniment for inflamed tumours, boils, and indurations of 

 the mamillae : it is curative also of ruptures, convulsions, 

 cramps, and sprains. Used with white hellebore, it is good 

 for corns, chaps, and callosities : and, with pounded earthen- 

 ware 89 which has held salted provisions, for imposthumes of 

 the parotid glands and scrofulous sores. Employed as a fric- 

 tion in the bath, it removes itching sensations and pimples : but 

 for the treatment of gout there is another method of preparing 

 it, by mixing it with old oil, and adding pounded sarcopha- 

 gus 90 stone and cinquefoil bruised in wine, or else with lime 



88 Hence it was a notion in the sixteenth century, that pitch and hogs' 

 lard is a cure for syphilis, by promoting salivation. 



8 < Farina salsamentariae testae." V0 See B. xxxvi. c. 27. 



