BOOK XXVII. XXXVIII. 60-xL. 63 



infusion of it in wine is taken foi' uterine pains and 

 affections. Three ounces of the pounded root should 

 be steeped for a night and a day in three sextarii of 

 wine. The same draught also brings away the after- 

 birth. The seed taken in wine or hydromel reduces * 

 the supply of milk. 



XXXIX. Cirsion is a tender, Uttle sprout, two cubits cirsion. 

 high, triangular, and surrounded by prickly leaves, 

 the prickles * being soft. The leaves ai-e like those of 

 bugloss, but smaller, and whitish. At the tip are 

 small, purple heads, which fall ofF as down.'' It is 

 said that this plant, or its root, used as an amulet, 

 cures the pain of varicose veins. 



XL. CrataegononisUke an ear of wheat, withmany craiaegonc 

 reed-Uke shoots, full of joints, springing from a single 

 root. It is found in shaded places. The seed is 

 Uke that of millet, with a very sharp taste. If three 

 oboU of it in three cyathi of water are taken in ^vine 

 before supper by the woman, and also by the man, 

 for forty days before conception*^ takes place, the 

 child they say will be of the male sex. There is 

 another crataegonos, which is called thelygonos ; it is 

 distinguished from the other by its mild taste. 

 There are some who maintain that women who take 

 the flower of crataegonos in drink conceive within 

 forty days. These plants with honey also heal 

 chronic black ulcers, fill up the pits of ulcers, add 

 flesh to atrophied parts, thoroughly cleanse purulent 

 sores, disperse superficial abscesses, and soothe gout 

 and every kind of gathering, in particular those on 



' Littre : " qui tombent en duvet " ; so the Bohn trans- 

 lators. Perhaps better : " which break up (turn) into down." 



■* Littre takes ante to be an adverb and conceptum a par- 

 ticiple : " Tenfant, meme con^u depuis quarante jours." 



427 



