BOOK XXll. xLi. 84-xuii. 87 



XLI. With these is also classed sium," broader ^* sium 

 than celery, growing in water, rather thick and dark, 

 with an abundance of seed and the taste of cress. 

 It is good for the urine, kidneys, spleen, and for 

 menstruation, whether it is taken as food, just as it 

 is, or in the form of a decoction, or the seed may be 

 given with wine, the dose being two drachmae. It 

 l)reaks up stone, and neuti-alizes the water that 

 causes them. An infusion is good for dysentery, 

 and a lininient of it for freckles. An application at 

 iiight removes spots from women's faces, while niade 

 into ointment it clcars the skin, soothes hernia. and 

 is a good (h-cssing for scab in horses. 



XLII. Syllibus, a plant Hke white chamaeleon, and '^Vftftj^' 

 equally prickly, is not thought to be worth boiling 

 even in Cihcia or Syria or Phoenicia, the places 

 where it grows, so troublesome is the cooking of it 

 said to be. As a medicine it is of no use at all. 



XLIII. Scolymus too has been adopted as a food •"^<^iym" 

 in the East, where it has the further name of hmonia. ihistie^ 

 It is a shrub never more than a cubit high, with tufts 

 of leaves "^ and a dark but sweet root ; Eratosthenes 

 too praises it as a valuable food for those of moderate 

 means. It is said to be highly diuretic, to cure lichen 

 and leprous sores when applied in vinegar, and 

 according to Hesiod '^ and Alcaeus, to be an aphro- 

 disiac when taken in wine. They have written that 

 when it is in blossom the song of the cricket is 



' VVith the reading of Mayhoff : " a nuisance because of 

 its prickly leaves." 



■^ See Works, 582-8, where Goettling remarks : " Sed vide, 

 quam iucertus hic auctor sit Plinius. De scolymo in vinum 

 iniiciendo ne verbum quidem Hesiodus neque is, quem 

 praeterea huius rei testem adsciscit, Ak^aeus." So Warming- 

 ton suggests invenio " I find " for in vino " taken in wine." 



353 



