BOOK XX. Lxxxiv. 229-Lxxxv. 232 



abscesses and inflammation of the breasts, and an 

 application of the leaves, boiled down in wine, 

 removes superficial abscess." The same leaves dried 

 and boiled down in milk cure very quickly the most 

 racking cough. Hippocrates gave the juice of the 

 boiled-down root to be drunk by wounded men who 

 were thirsty through loss of blood, and appHed the 

 plant itself with honey and resin to wounds ; hkewise ■ 

 to bruises, sprains, and swelhngs ; as above also to 

 muscles, sinews and joints. He gave it to be taken 

 in wine by patients suffering from cramp or dysen- 

 tery. It is remarkable that water to which this 

 root iias been added thickens in tlie open air and 

 congeals. The fresher it is also, the better. 



LXXXV. Sorrel (lapathum) has similar properties. .sorrd. 

 There is also a wikl kind called by some oxalis, by 

 our people runiex and by others gelding sorrel. It 

 has a taste very hke that of the cultivated kind, 

 pointed leaves, the colour of white beet and a very 

 small root, being when mixed with axle-grease very 

 efficacious for scrofula. There is also another kind, 

 generally called pointed sorrel, even more hke the 

 cultivated kind, but with a leaf more pointed and 

 redder, growing only in marshy locahties. There 

 are some who speak of a water sorrel, growing in 

 water, and yet another, horse sorrel, karger, paler 

 and more compact than the cultivated kind. The 

 wikl sorrcls heal the stings of scorpions and protect 

 from stings those who carry them on their persons. 

 The root, boiled down in vinegar, is good for the 

 teeth, if the juice be used as a mouth wash, while to 

 drink the same is good for jaundice. The seed cures 

 inveterate stomach troubles. The root of horse 

 sorrel, in particular, brings away scabrous nails ; its 



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