Chap. 44.] METHODS OF FACILITATING DELITERY. 4fi3 



them on the ground. To promote conception, five or seven of 

 them are administered in drink. Snails, taken with the food, 

 accelerate delivery ; and, applied with saffron, they promote 

 conception. Used in the form of a liniment, with amylum M 

 and gum tragacanth, they arrest uterine discharges. Taken 

 with the food, they promote menstruation ; and, mixed with 

 deer's marrow, in the proportion of one denarius and the same 

 quantity of cyprus K to each snail, they reduce the uterus when 

 displaced. Taken from the shell, and beaten up with oil of 

 roses, they dispel inflations of the uterus ; the snails of Asty- 

 palsea being those that are mostly chosen for these purposes. 



Those of Africa, again, are employed in a different manner, 

 two of them being beaten up with a pinch of fenugreek in 

 ' three fingers, and four spoonfuls of honey, and the preparation 

 applied to the abdomen, after it has been rubbed with juice of 

 iris. 60 There is a kind of small, white, elongated snail, 61 that 

 is found straying here and there : dried upon tiles in the sun, 

 and reduced to powder, these snails are mixed with bean-meal, 

 in equal proportions, forming a cosmetic which whitens and 

 softens the skin. The small, broad, kind of snail, mixed with 

 polenta, is good for the removal of a tendency to scratch and 

 rub the skin. 



If a pregnant woman steps over a viper, she will be sure to 

 miscarry ; 62 the same, too, in the case of the amphisbaena, but 

 only when it is dead. If, however, a woman carries about her a 

 live amphisbaena in a box, she may step over one with impu- 

 nity, even though it be dead. An amphisbaena, preserved for 

 the purpose, will ensure an easy delivery, even though it be 

 dead. 63 It is a truly marvellous fact, but if a pregnant woman 

 steps over one of these serpents that has not been preserved, it 

 will be perfectly harmless, provided she immediately steps 

 over another that has been preserved. A fumigation made 

 with a dried snake, acts powerfully as an emmenagogue. 



CHAP. 44. METHODS OF FACILITATING DELIVERY. 



The cast-off slough of a snake, attached to the loins, facili- 



58 See B. xviii. c. 17. 59 See B. xii. c. 51. so See B. xxi. cc. 19, 83. 

 (il Varro calls them " albulce," and says that they were found at Keatt. 

 63 Of course she will be liable to do so, from fright. 

 63 The whole of this account appears to be in a very confused state, and 

 is probably corrupt. Sillig's punctuation has not been adopted. 



