BOOK XXIV. XXX. 46-xxxii. 47 



XXX. The power of the ash-tree to neutrahze the The ask. 

 poison of snakes I have already mentioned." The seed 



lies between its leaves,^ which in wine are used for pains 

 in the Uver and sides, and draw off the subcutaneous 

 water of dropsy. They lessen corpulence, gradually 

 reducing the body to leanness. These leaves '^ are also 

 beaten up with wine in proportion to the strength of 

 the body ; for a child live leaves are soaked in three 

 cyathi of wine, for stronger patients seven leaves in 

 five cyathi. I must not forget the warning of some 

 authorities, who declare that the shavings and saw- 

 dust of the ash ai'e to be avoided. 



XXXI. The root of the maple crushed in wine Themapie. 

 makes a very efficacious application for pains of the 



Hver. 



XXXII. The clusters of the white poplar, as I have The white 

 ah-eady described,'^ are used in making unguents. A p"'"^''- 

 draught made from the bark is good for sciatica and 

 strangury, and the juice of the leaves, warmed, for 

 ear-ache. Those who hold in their hand a twig of 

 poplar need not fear chafing between the legs. The The biack 

 black poplar that grows in Crete is considered the '^"^ "'^' 

 most efficacious ; the seed in vinegar is good for 

 epilepsy. It also discharges a small quantity of resin, 

 which is used for poultices. A decoction of the leaves 



in vinegar is applied locally for gout. The moisture 

 exuding from the hoUows of the black poplar, and 

 giving out an odour « when appHed with rubbing, 



. . . KaTaxe6iJ.evov vT^yvvadai Kal ylveadai t6 KaAovixevov rjXeK- 

 Tpov . . . evcoSes ev t§ TrapaTpiipei. This points to a lacuna in 

 the text of Pliny (or possibly to a mistake or omission on the 

 part of Pliny himself), for though rjXeKTpov could easily be 

 rubbed, an umor could only be used in rubbing something else. 

 Yet Pliny's attrilii odoratiis is obviously a translation of 

 something like evuBes ev tjj TrapaTpitjjei. 



39 



