BOOK XXVII. Lxxiv. 99-Lxxvn. 102 



indisputable that a drachma by weight of these jewels 

 taken in white wine breaks up and brings away stone, 

 and cures strangury. There is no other plant the 

 medicinal property of which can be recognised with 

 greater confidence ; its very appearance is such that 

 at once by a glance, even without being told, people 

 can become aware of this property. 



LXXV. On ordinary stones near rivers grows a 

 dry, hoary moss. One of them is rubbed with another 

 one smeared with human spittle ; with the latter 

 stone is touched eczema, and he who touches says : 



" Begone, cantharides," for a savage wolf seeks 

 your blood." 



LXXVI. Limeum is the name given by the Gauls Limeim. 

 to a plant that they use to make a drug, called by 

 them deer poison, with which when hunting they 

 poison their arrows. As much of the plant as is 

 usually used for one arrow is mixed with three bushels 

 of saUva stimulant,'' and when cattle are sick this 

 mash is forced down their throats. Afterwards they 

 must be tied to their stalls until they are purged — 

 for they usually go wild— and if sweating ensues cold 

 water should be poured over them. 



LXXVII. Leuce, a plant Hke mercurialis, has a Leuce. 

 reason for the namc it bears, because a white Hne 

 runs down the middle of the leaves, which is why 

 some call it mcsoleucion.<^ Its juice heals fistulas ; 

 crushed, the plant itself cures maHgnant ulcers. 

 Perhaps it is the same as the plant called leucas, 

 which is a remedy for the poison of all sea creatures. 

 My authorities do not report its appearance ; they 



" " White down the middle." 



451 



