BOOK XXIII. Lxxi. 138-LXX111. 141 



juice extracted from the skin of the root," and 

 drunk in wine or diluted vinegar, counteracts the 

 poison of scorpions. There must also be given a 

 recipe of the ancients. The juice of the ripe fruit 

 was mixed with that of the unripe, and the two 

 boiled in a copper vessel to the consistency of honey. 

 Some used to add myrrh and cypress and then to 

 bake the mixture very hard in the sun, stirring it 

 three times a day with a spatula. This was their 

 stomatice,'' which they also used to help the 

 formation of a scar on wounds. Another method 

 was to squeeze the juice from dried fruit ; this 

 greatly improved the flavour of viands, and was 

 moreover used in medicine for corroding sores, 

 phlegm on the chest, and whenever astringent 

 treatment of the bowels was called for. It was also 

 used to rinse the teeth. A third kind of juice is to 

 make a decoction of the leaves and root, to be 

 appHed in oil to burns. The leaves are also applied 

 by themselves. An incision into the root at the 

 time of harvest yields a juice admirably suited to 

 reheve toothache, gatherings and suppurations, 

 besides acting as a purge. Mulberry leaves soaked 

 in urine remove hair from hides. 



LXXII. Cherries relax the bowels, but are Chenies. 

 injurious to the stomach ; di-ied cherries arrest 

 looseness of the bowels and are diuretic. I find it 

 stated in my authorities that if anyone swallows 

 cherries with their stones in the morning, when the 

 dew is on them. the bowels are so relieved that the 

 feet are freed from gout. 



LXXIII. Medlars, except the setanian,<^ which is Hediars. 

 nearer to the apple in its properties, act astringently 

 upon the stomach and check looseness of the bowels. 



509 



