BOOK XXIV. L. 85-87 



L. I have pointed out ^ twenty-eight kinds of reed, Heeds. 

 and nowhere is more obvious that force of Nature 

 which I describe in these books one after an- 

 other, if indeed the root of the reed, crushed 

 and applied, draws a fern stem out of the flesh, 

 while the root of the fern does the same to a sphnter 

 of reed. To increase the number of the various 

 reeds there is that which grows in Judaea and Syria and 

 is used for scents and unguents ; boiled down with grass 

 or celery seed this is diuretic, and when made into 

 a pessary acts as an emmenagogue. A cure for 

 sprains, for troubles of the Hver and of the kid- 

 neys, and for dropsy, is two oboU taken in drink ; 

 for a cough also inhalation is used, the addition of 

 resin being an improvement ; for scurf and running 

 sores is used a decoction with myrrh. Its juice also 

 is collected and made into a drug Uke elaterium. 

 Of aU reeds the parts nearest the root are the 

 most efiicacious, and the joints are more efficacious ** 

 than other parts. The Cyprian reed, caUed donax, 

 has a bark which, reduced to ash, is a remedy for 

 mange and also for festering sores. Its leaves are 

 used for extracting splinters, and are also good for 

 erysipelas and for aU gatherings. The common reed 

 has the power to extract if freshly pounded, and not 

 the root only, for many hold that the reed itself 

 too has this property. The root appUed in vinegar 

 cures dislocations and pains of the spine ; the same 

 ground fresh and taken in wine is aphrodisiac. The 

 down on reeds placed in the ears deadens the 

 hearing. 



" See XVI. § 156 ff. 



*" Another possible rendering is " the parts nearest the root 

 are very elficacious and the joints are more efficacious stiU." 



65 



