BOOK XXVI. XV. 28-xvii. 31 



cough are daucum and the Scylhian herb. The last 

 is helpful for all chest complaints. For cougli and 

 spitting of pus, the dose being three oboH in the 

 same amount of raisin ^^ine, the golden-flowered 

 verbascum is a good remedy. The potency of this 

 plant is so great that beasts of burden that are not 

 only suffering from cough but also broken-winded, 

 are reUeved by a draught, and the same I find is 

 true of gentian. The root of caccaHa, soaked in wine 

 and chewed," is good not only for cough but also 

 for the throat. A decoction of five sprays of hyssop, 

 two of rue, and three figs, clears the chest ^ and 

 soothes the cough.'' 



XVI. Bechion is also called tussilago. There are Beckhn. 

 two Idnds of it. Wherever the wild kind grows it is 

 believed that springs i'un under the surface, and the 

 plant is considered a sign by the water-finders. 



The leaves are rather larger than those of ivy, 

 numbering five or seven, whitish underneath and 

 pale on the upper side. There is no stem, or 

 flower, or seed, and the root is slender. Some think 

 it is the same as arcion, and chamaeleuce under 

 another name. The smoke of this plant, dried 

 with the root and burnt, is said to cin-e, if inhaled 

 deeply through a reed, an inveterate cough, but 

 the patient must take a sip of raisin wine at each 

 inhalation. 



XVII. The second kind is called by some salvia, 

 being hke verbascum. Finely ground, strained and 

 warmed, it is taken in drink for a cough and pains in 

 the side ; this prescription is also a remedy for 



remember Pliny's fondness for parentheses. I have ventured 

 on emendation and changes of punctuation only in the few 

 cases where these seemed both necessaiy and certain. 



287 



