BOOK XX. XXVIII. 72 XXXI. 75 



in doses of one acetabulum, is good for dvsentery. 

 The liquid moreover decocted from the root of the 

 beet washes out, it is said, the stains on clothes as 

 well as those on parchment. 



XXIX. Endives also are not without their value Endive. 

 in medicine. Their juice with rose oil and vinegar 

 relieves headache ; moreover, drunk with wine, 

 pains of the Hver and bladder ; it is also applied to 

 Huxes from the eyes. The wild endive certain among 



us have called ambubaia. In Egypt they call the 

 wild kind " cichorium ; the cultivated they call seris, 

 a variety which is smaller and has more veins. 



XXX. Chicory taken in food or applied as cMeonj. 

 liniment cools gatherings. The juice of the boiled- 

 down vegetable loosens tlie bowels, and benefits 

 liver, kidneys and stomach. Again, if it is boiled 

 down in vinegar it dispels pain of urination, jaundice 



also if taken in honey wine, provided that there 

 is no fever. It helps the bladder. Boiled down 

 in water it so helps the purgation of women as 

 even to withdraw the dead unborn baby. The Magi * 

 add that those who have anointed themselves with 

 the juice of the entire plant. mixed with oil, become 

 more popular, and obtain their requests more easily. 

 So great indeed are its health-giving properties 

 that some call it chi-eston (useful) others pancration 

 (almighty). 



XXXI. The wild kind — some call it hedypnois « 

 has a broader leaf ; boiled, it acts as an astringent 

 upon a relaxed stomach, and eaten raw it checks 

 looseness of the bowels. It is beneficial in dysentery, 

 more so when taken with lentils. Ruptures and 

 cramps are relieved by both kinds, as also are those 

 troubled with a diseased flux of sperm. 



45 



