Royal Society. 401 
water, and after opening a vein, they give him in his drink the 
burnt bones of a horfe, or a certain kind of Solus, in which that 
country; abounds: Sour mares milk among them, is an univerfal 
cooler in all hot diftempers, nay it is a ftomachic balfam in the 
fmallpox: The M//fiov it es ule cupping with Icarrifications on 
the buttocks inftead of bleeding, and fometimes they apply 
leeches 5 they make emulfions of turnep-feed, wherein they put 
Album Gr cecum. The Toks have a certain kind of nourifhing 
medicine much ufed among them, called Sarft, which being a 
gentle acid, reftores the ferment of the ftomach, and is very bene- 
ficial in furfeitsj this kind of medicine they make up of ^Branca 
Urjina or of fine wheat bread fermented, in form of a decoflion 
of herbs. Moreover when any one begins to ail, and complains 
of a great pain in the head, of the gripes, or wandering gout, ^c, 
they prefently apprehend a ^lica or Koltum^ and to cure it they 
ufe a lotion made of ^Branca Urfina and other herbs, or at lead 
a mixture of wine and oil, in which they frequently bathe the 
head J and the ^lica being thus cured in the head, the diftem- 
per feems to abate, and the morbific matter being thus critically 
removed, the whole cure is left to nature^ which plainly /hews 
that this diftemper proceeds from a caufe quite diflferent from 
that of negleding to comb the hair; If any one attempts to tear 
the hair by combing it, or to cut it, he brings upon hitnfelf an- 
other diftemper, and very often upon cutting the hair the blood 
runs out as from the fmall branches of a vein, which is not to be 
wondered at, fince the hair is formed of the ramifications of ar- 
teries, veins, and nerves, that are included and afterwards exten- 
ded in a Capfula or cale; as appears by Autopfy\ and by a 
microlcope in the hairs of the beard of a cat and other animals. 
What authors have faid concerning the caufe of the ^lica^ \% 
either foo^general, or imperfe£l and unfatisfa6tory ; the internal 
caufe may be owing to the fubcutaneous glands j lb that where 
their leveral du6ls and pores meet, there the hairs that grow 
pretty thick and in a narrow compafs, are, from a too vifcid juice 
proceeding from thele glands, matted together 5 but feeing fuch 
a caule may be found elfewhere, it cannot alone account for 
an epidemical diftemper: Wherefore the adequate caule is to be 
fought for, partly from a contagion, and partly from the impro- 
per ufe of the non>naturals : There is no doubt to be made of a 
contagion in the cafe, fince it is ufual for travellers to carry their 
beds about with them 5 the exceeding chill of that country 
air abounds in a coagulating acid, whence the perfpiration of that 
glutinous matter wh'ich fticks about the roots of the hair is eafily 
Vol. III. E e e impeded 
