384 PLINY'S NATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book XXIX. 



applied to purposes almost innumerable ; the grease produced 

 by the sheep of Attica being the most highly esteemed. There 

 are numerous ways of obtaining it, but the most approved 

 method is to take the wool, fresh clipped from those parts of 

 the body, or else the sweat and grease collected from any part of 

 the fleece, and boil it gently in a copper vessel upon a slow fire : 

 this done, it is left to cool, and the fat which floats upon the 

 surface collected into an earthen vessel. The material originally 

 used is then subjected to another boiling, and the two results 

 are washed in cold water; after which, they are strained 

 through a linen cloth and exposed to the sun till they become 

 bleached and quite transparent, and are then put by in a pew- 

 ter box for keeping. 



The best proof of its genuineness is its retention of the 

 strong smell of the original grease, and its not melting when 

 rubbed with water upon the hand, but turning wh*ite, like 

 white-lead in appearance. This substance is extremely use- 

 ful for inflammations of the eyes and indurations of the eye- 

 lids. Some persons bake the wool in an earthen pot, until it 

 has lost all its grease, and are of opinion that, prepared this 

 way, it is a more useful remedy for excoriations and indurations 

 of the eyelids, for eruptions at the corners of the eyes, and for 

 watery eyes. And not only does this grease heal ulcerations 

 of the eyes, but, mixed with goose-grease, of the ears and 

 generative organs as well ; in combination also with melilote 

 and butter, it is a cure for inflammations of the uterus, and for 

 excoriations of the rectum and condylomata. The other uses 

 to which it is applied, we shall detail on a more appropriate 

 occasion. 



The grease, too, of the wool about the tail is made up into 

 pills, unmixed with any substance : these pills are dried and 

 pulverized, being an excellent application for the teeth, when 

 loose even, and for the gums, when attacked by spreading ulcers 

 of a cancerous nature. Sheep's wool, too, cleaned, is applied 

 by itself, or with the addition of sulphur, for dull, heavy pains, 

 and the ashes of it, burnt, are used for diseases of the genera- 

 tive organs : indeed, this wool is possessed of such sovereign 

 virtues, that it is used as a covering for medicinal applications 

 even. It is also an especial remedy for the sheep itself, when 

 it has lost its stomach, and refuses to feed ; for, upon plucking 

 some wool from the tail, and then tying the tail therewith, us 



