BOOK XX. x.xvii. 6g-.\.\vni. 72 



XXVII. Not without healing properties is either wMtennd 

 kind of beet; the fresh root of either the white 

 variety or of the dark, if soaked and hung on a 



cord is said to be efficacious against serpent bites ; 

 white beet boiled and taken with raw garlie against 

 tapeworms. Dark roots boiled in water remove 

 dandruii"; the dark for all purposes is held to be 

 the more efHoacious. Its juice relieves headache 

 and a^iddiness, noises in the ears if poured into them, 

 and it is diurctic. Injccted it is a i-emedy for 

 dysentery and jaundice: the juice used as liniment 

 relieves toothache, besides being an antidote for 

 serpent bites, but only if extracted from the dark" 

 root. A decoction, moreover, of the beet itself re 

 Heves chilblains. White beet applied to the fore 

 head ahays Huxes of the eycs. and mixed with a Uttle 

 alum, erysipehis. Similarly apj)lied. when beaten np 

 without oil it also heals burns. It is also used for 

 eruptions of pimples ; again, when boiled, it is appUed 

 to spreading sores, Ukewise raw for mange, and for 

 running sores on the head. Its juice appUed with 

 honey to the nostrils clears the head. It is gently * 

 boiled with lentils, with vinegar added, in order to 

 relax the bowels. Boiled faster ** beet checks 

 fluxes of the stomach and bowels. 



XXVIII. There is also a wikl beet, caUed by wndbeei. 

 some Umonium,*^ by otliers neuroides,'' with leaves 

 much smaUer, thinner and closer together, often 

 having eleven staUvS.'' Its leaves, useful for burns, 



dry the mouth of those who taste them. Its seed, 



' " Meadow-plant." 

 ■* " Sinew-like." 



*■ Or, " often ele\'en on one stalk," if Muller'8 conjecture 

 tauli uni be adopted. 



43 



