BOOK XXIV. XXXV. 51-53 



XXX\^. The elder has a second, a much smaller The dder. 

 species, growing wilder and called by the Greeks 

 chamaeacte, by others heUon. A decoction in old 

 wine of the leaves, seed, or root, of either species, 

 taken as drink up to two cyathi for a dose, is bad for 

 the stomach, though carrying ofF watery humours 

 from the bowels. It also reduces inflammation, 

 especially that of a recent burn, and a dog-bite is 

 relieved by a poultice of its most tender leaves with 

 pearl barley. An appUcation " of the juice softens 

 gatherings on the brain, being specific when these are 

 on the membrane that surrounds it. Its berries have 

 weaker properties than the other parts. They dye 

 the hair. A dose of one acetabulum taken in drink is 

 diuretic. The softest of the leaves are eaten with oil 

 and salt to bring away phlegm and bile. For all 

 purposes the smaller kind is the more efficacious. A 

 decoction of the root in wine, taken in doses of two 

 cyathi, draws ofF the water of dropsy ; it also softens 

 the uterus, as does also sitting in baths of a decoction 

 of the leaves. The tender stalks of the cultivated 

 elder boiled in a saucepan relax the bowels ; the leaves 

 taken in wine also counteract the bites of snakes. 

 An appUcation of young shoots with goat-suet is very 

 good for gout ; these are also steeped in water to kill 

 fleas by sprinkUng. If a place is sprinkled with a 

 decoction of the leaves flies are killed. Boa * is the 

 name given to a disease when the body is red with 

 pimples ; beating with a branch of elder is admin- 

 istered as a remedy. The inner bark pounded and 

 taken in white wine relaxes the bowels. 



* Hardouin was wrong in supposing it to be measles, because 

 that disease was probably uot known until the time of Rhazes. 

 See list of diseases. 



43 



