BOOK XXIV. Lxxi. 115-Lxxni. 118 



perses supei-ficial abscesses, gatherings and boils ; 

 taken in drink it is diuretic. A decoction of it in wine 

 checks looseness of the bowels and neutraUzes the 

 poison of serpents. The root especially is given in 

 wine. 



LXXII. The leaves of the hoUy, crushed and JioUy. 

 with the addition of salt, are good for diseases of the 

 joints, while the berries are good for menstruation, 

 coeUac trouble, dysentery and cholera. Taken in wine 

 they check looseness of the bowels. An appUcation 

 of the decocted root extracts objects embedded in the 

 flesh. and is very useful for dislocations and sweUings. 

 A hoUy tree planted in a town house or country house 

 keeps off magic influences. Pythagoras has recoi'ded 

 that by its blossom water is soUdified, and that a 

 hoUy stick, cast at any animal, even if through want 

 of strength in the thrower it faUs short of the quarry, 

 of its own accord roUs nearer the mark," so powerful 

 is the nature of this tree. The smoke of the yew 

 tree kiUs rats and mice. 



LXXIII. Not even brambles did Nature create Brambies. 

 for harmful purposes only, and so she has given them 

 their blackberries, that are food even for men. They 

 have a drying and astringent property, being very 

 good for gums, tonsils and genitals. They counter- 

 act the venom of the most vicious serpents, such as 

 the haemorrhois and prester ; the bloom or the beri*y 

 counteracts that of scorpions. They close wounds 

 without any danger of gatherings. Their stalks are 

 diuretic, being pounded when young and the juice 

 extracted, which is then condensed in the sun to the 



to ricochet I have preferred (doubtfully) Detlefsen's cwpilo to 

 Mayhoff's cuhito. Warmington would read cuhitu: the hoUy 

 stick, lying down as it were, moves towards the mark. 



85 



