BOOK XXIII. XXXI. 64 x.xxiii. 68 



adds greatly to their poteiicy. A decootion with fig 

 is very efficacious for checking Hchen and scaly 

 eruptions. In this form they are applied also to 

 leprous sores and running ulcers. Taken in drink 

 they are an antidote to poisonous fungi, but a better 

 one when crude. IJoiled and rinsed they are used as 

 an ingredient of ey e sal ves. An appHcation of them is 

 heaHng to the testicles and genitals, but in wine 

 they are taken for strangury. When too they have 

 lost their strength, they are still useful for washing 

 the person as well as clothes; for this purpose they 

 take the place of gum acacia. 



XXXII. Lees of vinegar, their substance being (//) nj 

 what it is, must be more acid and much more caustic. '""^^""^ 

 They check the spreading of suppuration, and are 

 beneficial if appHed locally to the stomach, the 

 intestines and the belly. They check fluxes of those 

 ])arts and also menstruation. They disperse super- 

 iicial abscesses not yet come to a head, quinsies and, 

 appHed with wax, erysipelas. These lees also dry 



up breasts that do not restrain their miHv,'' and 

 remove scabrous nails. With pearl barley they are 

 a very powerful antidote to the poison of the snake 

 called horned, and with melanthium ** cure the bites 

 of crocodiles and of dogs. These lees too increase 

 their potency when parched. An appHcation of 

 them, so prepared, with the addition of mastic oil, 

 turns the hair red in one night. Applied as a pessary 

 with water on a linen cloth they act as a detergent 

 to the uterus. 



XXXIII. Lees of concentrated grape-juice cure 

 burns, the better if the down of reeds be added, and 

 to drink a decoction of the same cures chronic 

 coughs. A decoction made in a saucepan, with salt 



459 



