BOOK XXVI. Lxxxii. 131-LXXX111. 134 



epistaxis, by aizoiim and by root of astragalus. 

 Ischaemon too and achillia check bleeding. 



LXXXIII. Equisaetum, called hippuris by the Equuaettm 

 Greeks, and found fault with by me when I discussed 

 meadow land ^ — it is in fact " hair of the earth " 

 resembhng horse hair — reduces the spleen of runners 

 if as much as the pot will hold is boiled down to one 

 third in new earthenware, and taken in drink for three 

 days in doses of one hemina. There must be ab- 

 stinence from fattv foods for at least one day 

 previously. The Greeks hold various views about 

 this plant ; some under the same name speak of 

 a dark plant wth leaves hke those of the pine, 

 assuring us that, so wonderful is its nature, its mere 

 touch stanches a patient's bleeding; some call it 

 hippuris, others ephedron, others anabasis. Their 

 account is that it grows near trees, which it cUmbs, 

 and hangs down in many dark, rush-like hairs as 

 if from a horse's tail ; that its httle branches 

 are jointed, and its leaves few, slender ^* and small; 

 that the seed is round, resembhng that of coriander, 

 that its root is hgneous, and that it gi'Ows mostly 

 in plantations. Its property is to brace ' the body. 

 Its juice, kept in the nostrils, checks haemorrhage 

 therefrom, and it also checks looseness of the 

 bowels. Taken in a sweet wine, in doses of three 

 cyathi, it is good for dysentery, promotes passing of 

 urine, and cures cough and orthopnoea, ruptures 

 also and spreading sores. The leaves are taken in | 



drink for complaints of the bowels and bladder; 

 tlie plant itself i-educes intestinal hernia. The 

 Greeks recognise yet another hippuris, which has 

 shorter, softer and paler hairs, making a very useful 

 apphcation in vinegar ^ for sciatica, and also for cuts,* 



365 



