BOOK XX. Lxxxvii. 236-2.10 



For phlegm it is kept in the mouth until it melts, or 

 is used as a gargle with hydromel. For tooth-ache 

 it is chewed, for the uvula it is used as a gargle with 

 vinegar and honey. It is very beneficial for all 

 stomach troubles. Taken with food it eases expec- 

 toration from the lungs, and is given to asthmatics, 

 as well as for epileptic exhaustion" with the addition 

 of juice of cucumber. It clears the senses, and, by 

 tlie sneezing caused by it, the head ; it relaxes the 

 bowels ; it promotes menstruation and urine. 

 Pounded vvith figs and cummin, each being one third 

 of tlie whole, it is apphed externally for dropsy. By 

 its powerful smell when mixed with vinegar mustard 

 revives those in epileptic swoons and women fainting 

 witli prolapsus, as well as those atflicted with lethar- 

 gus.'' Tordylon — that is, the seed of hartwort — is 

 added, and if the lethargy be unusually deep, it is 

 appHed with fig in vinegar to the legs or even to the 

 head. Long-standing pains of the chest, loins, hips, 

 shoulders, and whatever deep-seated troubles in 

 any part of the body have to be removed, are reHeved 

 by the caustic property of an external application, 

 causing bhsters ; but when there is great hardness 

 the appHcation is made without the fig, or if too 

 severe burning be feared, between a doubled cloth. 

 They use it with red earth for mange, itch, leprous 

 sores, phthiriasis, tetanus and opisthotonus."^ With 

 honey they also use it as ointment for scabrous 

 cheeks '^ or dimness of vision, and the juice is ex- 

 tracted in three ways in an earthen pot, in which it 

 is sHghtly warmed by the sun. There also exudes 

 from the slender stem of the mustard plant a milky 

 juice, which, when it has thus hardened,'' cures 

 tooth-ache. Seed and root, steeped in must, are 



139 



