Chap. 39.] 11EMEDIES FOE DISEASES OF THE EARS. 417 



effectual remedy for the most desperate maladies of the ears : 

 the same, too, with an injection of earth-worms boiled with 

 goose-grease. The red worms, also, that are found upon trees, 

 beaten up with oil, are a most excellent remedy for ulcerations 

 and ruptures of the ears. Lizards, which have been suspended 

 for some time and dried, with salt in the mouth, are curative 

 of contusions of the ears, and of injuries inflicted by blows : 

 the most efficacious for this purpose are those which have iron- 

 coloured spots upon the skin, 14 and are streaked with lines 

 along the tail. 



Millepedes, known also as " centipedes" or "multipedes," 

 are insects belonging to the earth-worm genus, hairy, with 

 numerous feet, forming curves as they crawl, and contracting 

 themselves when touched : the Greeks give to this insect the 

 name of " oniscos," 15 others, again, that of "tylos." Boiled 

 with leek-juice in a pomegranate rind, it is highly efficacious, 

 they say, for pains in the ears ; oil of roses being added to 

 the preparation, and the mixture injected into the ear opposite 

 to the one affected. As for that kind which does not describe a 

 curve when moving, the Greeks give it the name of "seps/ ; 

 while others, again, call it " scolopendra ;" it is smaller than the 

 former one, and is injurious. 16 The snails which are commonly 

 used as food, are applied to the ears with myrrh or powdered 

 frankincense ; and those with a small, broad, shell are employed 

 with honey as a liniment for fractured ears. Old sloughs of 

 serpents, burnt in a heated potsherd and mixed with oil of 

 roses, are used as an injection for the ears, which is considered 

 highly efficacious for all affections of those organs, and for 

 offensive odours arising therefrom in particular. In cases 

 where there is suppuration of the ears, vinegar is used, and it 

 is still better if goat's gall, ox-gall, or that of the sea tortoise, is 

 added. This slough, however, is good for nothing when more 

 than a year old ; the same, too, when it has been drenched with 



14 Ajasson suggests that this may be the Lacerta coepium of Dandin, of 

 a reddish brown colour, with two blackish lines running longitudinally 

 along the back. 



15 This insect in reality is a woodlouse, whereas the millepedes previously 

 described are evidently caterpillars. Woodlice are still swallowed alive by 

 schoolboys, and old women are to be found who recommend them for con- 

 sumption. Holland says that woodlice are good for pains in the ears. 



id <i Perniciosam." 



VOL. V. E E 



