INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 13 
incidental trouble. Gerarde* mentions only rue 
and mint and mallow as the best applications to the 
part stung, and attributes to mallow leaves and oil 
preventive as well as curative virtues. Sennertus,f 
a very high medical authority in his day, mentions 
several remedies, either simply soothing poultices, 
or applications of aromatic herbs. He gives to a 
mixture of coriander and sugar the highest place. 
But, while these are being sought for, he advises the 
wound to be sucked, or a poultice made of the offend- 
ing insects—a hair of the dog that bit you—to be 
applied, to draw out the poison.{ Fabricius Hilda- 
nus, whose surgical writings are quoted at the pre- 
sent day, harps on the same string, and sums up a 
narrative of several cases of serious injury from a 
wasp’s sting with a grave argument in favour of oil 
of wasps as a remedy for the effects of their venom.§ 
These all have had their turn, and are gone out of 
fashion. Even tobacco and a watch-key have had 
their date and been forgotten, to be suggested again 
as new remedies. The popular remedy now-a-days, 
which has had a long run of public favour, is scarcely 
less absurd than a wasp-poultice. This is a mixture 
of indigo and Prussian-blue, known to washerwomen 
* “ Herball, by Johnson.’ Folio, 1633. Table of Vertues. See also 
Paulus Mgineta, ‘Commentary by Adams,’ Book V, § 5. Syd. Soc. 
Vol. II, p. 169. 
+ ‘Sennerti Opera.’ Folio, 1650. Tom. III, p. 658. 
t So Celsus. Scorpio ipse sibi pulcherrimum medicamentum est.— 
‘ De Medicina,’ Lib. V, cap. 27.§ 5. 8vo. Lugd. Bat. 1746. 
§ ‘Fabricii Hildani Opera Omnia.’ Folio, Francofurti, 1682. 
Cent. Observ. VI, § 88. Ploucquet, ‘ Literatura Medica digesta,’ under 
Icrus, gives a long list of references, which the curious on this subject 
might consult with amusement, if not with advantage. 5 tom. 4to. 
Tabingee, 1808—14. 
