BOOK XXVII. Lxxvii. I02-LXXX. 105 



only say that the wild plant has the broader leaves, 

 that this is the more efficacious, and has the more 

 pungent seed. 



LXXVIII. A description of leucographis I have Leneo- 

 nowhere found in WTiting. I am the more surprised " ^ 

 at this because in three-oboH doses with saffron it is 

 eonsidered useful for haemoptysis, and also for the 

 coeliac disease ; beaten up in water and appHed as a 

 pessary for excessive menstruation ; useful too as 

 an ingredient of eye salves, and for fining up ulcers 

 that form on tender parts of the body. 



LXXIX. Medion has leaves Hke those of cultivated Medion. 

 seris " ; the stem is three feet long, on which is a 

 large, pui"ple, round flower, bearing tiny seeds ; the 

 root is half a foot long. The plant grows on shaded 

 rocks. The root checks excessive menstruation, 

 two-drachma doses, with honey, being taken in the 

 form of an electuary for a few successive days. For 

 the same purpose the seed too is given in wine.'' 



LXXX. Myosota or myosotis is a smooth <^ plant Hyosota. 

 with several stems growing from one root, these being 

 red to a certain extent and hollow ; naiTow leaves grow 

 at the bottom,<* longish, witli a spine along the back, 

 dark, carefully arranged in pairs at regular intervals. 

 There are slender stalks growing from the axils, and 

 the blossom is blue. The root, of the thickness of a 

 hnger, is fringed with many filaments Hke hairs. 

 It has fseptic and ulceratingt properties,* and so 



be wrong. Unfortunately Dloscorides (II 183) is of no help 

 here, for although he mentions the cure, he says nothing about 

 the properties of the root : 17 8e pil,a KaTaTrXaaOelcra alyiXwTrLa 

 Idrat.. 



I suggest that emdceratrix means, not " ulcerating," but 

 " clearing away ulcers," just as exulcerare corpus in XXIII 

 § 22 means " free the flesh from sores." Cf. tussim exasperant 



453 



