BOOK XX. Lxxv. igy-LXXvi. 199 



LXXV. Tlie saco})enium which grows in our sacopenium. 

 country is quite unlike that which comes from 

 overseas. The latter, also called sagapemon, re- 

 sembles ammf)niac gum. It is good for pains in the 

 sides and in the chest, for convulsions, for chronic 

 coughs and expectoration, and for swelhngs of the 

 hypochondria. It cures also vertigo, palsy, opistho- 

 tonic tetanus, diseases of the spleen and loins, and 

 violent chills. It is given in vinegar to be smelt in 

 cases of sufFocation of the womb. In other cases it 

 is both given in drink and with oil used as an em- 

 brocation. It is also useful as an antidote to harmful 

 drugs. 



LXXVI. Of the cultivated poppy I have men- poppies. 

 tioned three kinds " and I promised to describe other 

 kinds, those of the wild poppy. Of the cultivated 

 poppy the calyx itself of the white kind is pounded 

 and is taken in wine to induce sleep. The seed cures 

 elephantiasis. From the dark poppy a soporific is 

 obtained by making incisions in the stalk, when the 

 buds are forming (as Diagoras advises), or when the 

 flowers are falHng (as lollas recommends), at the third 

 hour of a clear day, that is to say, when the dew on 

 the plant has dried up. They recommend that the 

 incision be made beneath the head and calyx, and 

 in no other variety either is an incision made into the 

 head itself. Both this juice and that of any other 

 plant is gathered in wool, or if there be but little, by 

 scratching it ofF, as it is from lettuce, with the thumb 

 nail, doing the same on the foUowing day to any that 

 has since become drier. Poppy juice however being 

 copious thickens, and squeezed into lozenges is dried 

 in the shade ; it is not only a soporific, but if too large 

 a dose be swallowed the sleep even ends in death. It 



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