BOOK XX. XLvii. ii8-.xLvin. 122 



Other authorities have added to the parsleys buse- Cvxd j.ardey. 

 linuni (cow parsley)," which differs from the cultivated 

 kind in the shortness of its stalk and the redness of 

 its root, although its properties are the same. They 

 add that taken in drink or applied it is a powerful 

 antidote against the bites of serpents. 



XLVIII. Ocimum (basil) too was severely condemn- hasL^ 

 ed by Clirysippus as injurious to stomach, urine and 

 eyesight, adding that it causes madness, lethargus* 

 and liver troubles, and that for this reason goats 

 refuse to touch it, so that men also ought to avoid 

 it. Certain authorities add that pounded ocimum, 

 if covered by a stone, breeds a scorpion, and that 

 ocimum chewed and left in the sun breeds worms ; 

 the Africans moreover hold that a man's Hfe is lost if 

 he is stung by a scorpion on the same day as he has 

 eaten ocimum. Moreover, some hold that if a 

 handful of ocimum be pounded up with ten sea or 

 river crabs, all the scorpions in the neighbourhood 

 are drawn to it. Diodorus in his Einpirica" says 

 that the use of ocimum as a food breeds hce. The 

 period that followed saw strong defenders of ocimum, 

 who said that goats do eat it, that no man's mind 

 has l)een affected by it, and that in wine and a Httle 

 vinegar it cures the stings of land scorpions and the 

 venom of those in the sea. Experience also pi'oves, 

 they say, that ocimum if smelt in vinegar is good for 

 fainting ; also for lethargus, and to cool inflam- 

 mations ; for headache, too, if used as a liniment 

 with rose oil or with myrtle oil or with vinegar, and 

 for eye fluxes if applied in wine. It is said too, to 

 be beneficial to the stomach, to disperse flatulence 

 by belching if taken in vinegar, to check looseness 

 of the bowels if applied externally, to be diuretie, 



71 



VOL. VI D 



