BOOK XXI. Lxxiv. 126-LXXV. 129 



ruptures, spasms and the menstrual discharge ; wliile 

 if boiled down in wine and applied with honey they 

 heal cuts of the sinews. They are heaHng for lichens 

 and leprous sores, cure scurf on the face, and remove 

 wrinkles from the skin. The petals," pickled in 

 vinegar, are appUed to wounds ; if these are in the 

 testes, it is better to add henbane and wheat flour. 

 The seed is used as an appUcation for erysipelas, 

 flowers and leaves for chronic sores, and the juice 

 extracted from the flower, called honey by some and 

 syrium by others, as an emolhent of the uterus, for 

 inducing perspiration and for bringing boils to a 

 head. 



LXXV. Of the narcissus there are two kinds used Ando/ihe 

 by physicians : one with a bright >> flower and the "«''"**"*• 

 other with grass-green leaves." The latter is in- 

 jurious to the stomach, so that it acts as an emetic 

 and as a purge ; it is bad for the sinews and causes 

 a dull headache, its name being derived from the 

 word narce, torpor, and not from the youth in the 

 myth. The root of each variety has the taste of 

 honey wine. In a little honey it is good for burns, 

 and the same is beneficial for wounds and sprains, 

 while for superficial abscesses honey should be added 

 to darnel <* meah This preparation also extracts 

 bodies that have pierced the flesh. Beaten up in 

 pearl barley and oil it heals bruises, and wounds 

 caused by stones. Mixed with meal it cleans 

 wounds and removes black psoriasis.* From its 



^ The adjective purpurens probably refers here to the red 

 nectary of the flower, biit it is always a diflBcult word both 

 to interpret and to translate. 



" Such is the most likely meaning of narcissus herbaceus. 



■* Or, with the reading avenae, oatmeal. 



' For this see Celsus V. 28, § 19. 



255 



