BOOK XX. xcviii. 260-xcix. 26.3 



vinegnr it checks profuse perspirations, even in fevers. 

 To swallow the juice of fennel-giant, of the size of a 

 hean in quantity, loosens the bowels. The pith 

 from the fresh plant is good for the womb, and for 

 all the complaints I have mentioned. To stop 

 bleeding ten seeds are ground and taken in wine 

 or with some pith. There are some who think that 

 the seed should be given for epilepsy from the fourth 

 day of the moon to the seventh, in doses of one 

 spoonful. The nature of fennel-giant is very 

 poisonous to the murena, a mere touch causing 

 death. Castor thought that the juice of the root 

 was also very beneficial to the eyesight. 



XCIX. We have also spoken " in our description Thisiies. 

 of garden plants of the cultivation of thistles, and 

 so we shoukl not put off a discussion of their medical 

 value. Of wild thistles there are two kinds : one 

 being more bushy as soon as it leaves the earth, the 

 other is thicker, but has only one stem. Both kinds 

 have only a few leaves, prickly and with pointed 

 heads, but the latter puts fortJi in the middle of its 

 points a purple flower, that quickly turns white 

 and is gone with the wind ; the Greeks call it 

 (jKoXvfjio^.'' If this kind be pounded and compressed 

 before it flowers, an application of the juice restores 

 skin and hair lost by mange. The root of any kind 

 boilcd in water is said to create thirst in those who 

 are drunkards. It strengthens the stomach, and, if we 

 may believe the report, it also affects the womb in 

 such a way that male chiklren are engendered. 

 Glaucias, at any rate, who seems to have been a 

 most careful student of thistles, put this statement 

 on record. A gum-like mastich coming from thistles 

 makes the breath sweet. 



155 



