Cfcap. 33.] USES OF SEA- WATER. 497 



purgative and as an expellent, by vomit and by alvine evacu- 

 ation, of black bile 73 or coagulated blood, as the case may be. 



Some authorities prescribe it, taken internally, for quartan 

 fevers, as also for tenesmus and diseases of the joints ; pur- 

 poses for which it is kept a considerable time, to mellow with 

 age, and so lose its noxious 74 properties. Some, again, are for 

 boiling it, but in all cases it is recommended to be taken from 

 out at sea, and untainted with the mixture of fresh water, an 

 emetic also being taken before using it. When used in this 

 manner, vinegar or wine is generally mixed with the water. 

 Those who give it unmixed, recommend radishes with oxymel 

 to be eaten upon it, in order to provoke vomiting. Sea- water, 

 made hot, is used also as an injection ; and there is nothing in 

 existence preferred to it as a fomentation for swellings of the 

 testes, or for chilblains before they ulcerate. It is similarly 

 employed, also, for the cure of prurigo, itch-scab, and lichens. 

 Lice and other foul vermin of the head, are removed by the 

 application of sea-water, and lividities of the skin are restored 

 to their natural colour; it being a remarkably good plan, in 

 such cases, after applying the sea- water, to foment the parts 

 with hot vinegar. 



It is generally considered, too, that sea- water is highly 

 efficacious for the stings of venomous insects, those of the pha- 

 langium and scorpion, for example, and as an antidote to the 

 poisonous secretions of the asp, known as the " ptyas ;" 75 in all 

 which cases it is employed hot. Fumigations are also made of 

 it, with vinegar, for the cure of head-ache ; and, used warm as 

 an injection, it allays griping pains in the bowels and cholera. 

 Things that have been heated in sea-water are longer than 

 ordinary in cooling. A sea-water bath is an excellent cor- 

 rective for swelling 76 of the bosoms in females, affections of 

 the thoracic organs, and emaciation of the body. The steam 

 also of sea-water boiled with vinegar, is used for the removal 

 of hardness of hearing and head-ache. An application of 

 sea-water very expeditiously removes rust upon iron; it is 



73 It is still considered useful, Ajasson says, for the treatment of lym- 

 phatic diseases. 



74 "Virus." 75 Or "spitter." See B. xxviii. c. 18. 



76 " Mammas sororiantes." A malady, according to Dalechamps, in 

 which the mamillse are so distended with milk that they kiss, like sisters 

 "sorores." 



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