348 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVIII. 



The milt of a he or she-goat is sometimes roasted for this pur- 

 pose, or the suet of a he-goat is incorporated in bread baked 

 upon the ashes ; the fat, too, of a she-goat, taken from the kidneys 

 more particularly, is used. This last, however, must be taken 

 by itself and swallowed immediately, being generally recom- 

 mended to be taken in water moderately cool. Some persons, 

 too, boil goats' suet in water, with a mixture of polenta, cum- 

 min, anise, and vinegar ; and for the cure of cceliac affections, 

 they rub the abdomen with a decoction of goats' dung and 

 honey. 



For both the coaliac flux and dysentery, kid's rennet is 

 employed, taken in myrtle wine in pieces the size of a bean, 

 or else kid's blood, prepared in the form of a dish known by 

 the name of "sanguiculus." 67 For dysentery an injection is 

 employed, made of bull glue dissolved in warm water. Flatu- 

 lency is dispelled by a decoction of calf's dung in wine. For 

 intestinal affections deer's rennet is highly recommended, 

 boiled with beef and lentils, and taken with the food ; hare's 

 fur, also reduced to ashes and boiled with honey; or boiled 

 goat's milk, taken with a small quantity of mallows and some 

 salt ; if rennet is added, the remedy will be all the more effec- 

 tual. Goat suet, taken in any kind of broth, is possessed of 

 similar virtues, care being taken to swallow cold water imme- 

 diately after. The ashes of a kid's thighs are said to be mar- 

 vellously efficacious for intestinal hernia ; as also hare's dung, 

 boiled with honey, and taken daily in pieces the size of a bean ; 

 indeed, these remedies are said to have proved effectual in cases 

 where a cure has been quite despaired of. The broth too, 

 made from a goat's head, boiled with the hair on, is highly 

 recommended. 



CHAP. 59. REMEDIES FOR TENESMUS, TAPEWORM, AND 



AFFECTIONS OF THE COLON. 



The disease called " tenesmus," or in other words, a frequent 

 and ineffectual desire to go to stool, is removed by drinking 

 asses' milk or cows' milk. The various kinds of tapeworm 68 are 

 expelled by taking the ashes of deer's horns in drink. The bones 



67 A kind of black pudding. Dupinet, the old French translator, says 

 that in his time the people of the Alpine regions still called this dish sancfot. 



68 He uses " taenia" probably, as a general name for intestinal worms. 



