BOOK XX. Lxx. 181-LXX11. 185 



it always removes leprous sores and psoriasis easily. 

 as well as the sores left by scars. It is said that in 

 cases of tooth-ache, if it be attached to the arm on the 

 side where the pain is, this is diverted to it. 



LXXI. Git is by some Greeks called melanthium,'' GHorRoman 

 hy others, melaspermon.* The best has the most ™"*"**'" 

 pungent smell and the darkest colour. It cures the 

 wounds of serpents and of scorpions. I find that it is 

 applied in vinegar and honey, and that by burning it 

 serpents are kept away. A dose of one drachma also 

 is taken in drink for the wounds of spiders. Pounded, 

 and smelt in a piece of hnen it stops running from 

 tlie nose, and headaches if appHed in vinegar; 

 poured into the nostrils with iris juice it cures fluxes 

 and swellings of the eves, tooth-ache when boiled 

 with vinegar, ulcers in the mouth when pounded or 

 chewed ; likewise leprous sores and freckles when 

 added to vinegar. diflicultv of breathing when taken 

 in drink vvith soda, and indurations, chronic swellings 

 and suppurations, when used as liniment. It in- 

 creases the flow of womens milk if taken daily for a 

 few days. Its juice is collected in a similar way to 

 that of henbane, and like it is poisonous if taken in 

 too large doses, a fact niore remarkai)Ie because the 

 seed actually makes a most pleasant seasoning for 

 loaves of brcad. It cleanses the eyes also, is diuretic 

 and an emmenagogue. Moreover, I find that merely 

 bv tying thirty grains to the body in a piece of linen, 

 the after-birth is brought away. It is also said that 

 pounded and applied in urine it cures corns on the feet, 

 and that fumigation with it kills gnats as well as flies. 



LXXII. Anise too is taken in wine for the stings 

 of scorpions, being one of the few remedies specially 

 praised, whether raw or boiled, by Pythagoras. 



107 



