BOOK XXII. xLvii. 99-xLi.\. loi 



amber" knives and equipment of silver. Those 

 fungi will be poisonous which become harder in 

 cooking ; comparatively harmless will be those that 

 are cooked with some soda added — at any rate if 

 they are thoroughly cooked. They become safer 

 when cooked with meat, or with pear stalks. Pears 

 too are good to take immediately after them. The 

 nature of vinegar too is opposed to them and 

 neutraUzes any poisonous action.'' 



XIi\'III. AU these fungus growths spring up with supMum. 

 showers, and silphium «^ too, as has been mentioned,'^ 

 first grew with a shower. At the present day it is 

 imported chiefly from Syria, this Syrian silphium 

 being not so good as the Parthian, though better 

 than the Median ; the silphium of Cyrene, as I have 

 said,'" is now wholly extinct. The leaves of silphium 

 are used in medicine to pin'ge the uterus and to bring 

 away the dead unborn baby ; a decoction of them is 

 made in white, aromatic wine, to be drunk after the 

 bath in doses of one acetabulum. The root is good 

 for soreness of the windpipe, and is apphed to col- 

 lections of extravasated blood ; but it is hard to 

 digest when taken as food, causing flatulence and 

 belchings. It is injurious to the passing of urine, 

 but with wine and oil most beneficial for bruises, and 

 with wax for scrofulous swelHngs. Warts in the 

 seat fall off if fumigated with it several times. 



XLIX. Laser, which is distilled from silphium in Lase? 

 the way I have said, being reckoned one of the most 

 precious gifts of Nature, is used as an ingredient in 

 very many medical prescriptions ; but by itself it 

 warms after chills, and taken in drink it alleviates 

 affections of the sinews. In wine it is given to women, 

 and on soft wool is used as a pessary to promote men- 



365 



