BOOK XXXIII. xxAiii. lor-XAxiv. 104 



being more uneven and rougher to the touch, as well 

 as Hghter in weight, not so hrilHant, and more 

 gritty ; the female 011 the eontrary is hright and 

 friable and spHts in thin layers and not in globules. 

 XXXIV. Antimony has astringent and cooHng 

 properties, but it is chiefly used for the eyes, since 

 this is why even a majority of people have given it 

 a Greek name meaning * wide-eye,' because in 

 beauty-washes for women's eyebrows it has the 

 property of magnifying the eyes. Made into a 

 powder %^ith powdered frankincense and an ad- 

 mixture of gum it checks fluxes and ulcerations of 

 the eyes. It also arrests discharge of blood from 

 the brain, and is also extremely effective with a 

 sprinkling of its powder against new wounds and old 

 dog-bites and against burns if mixed with fat and 

 litharge of silver, or lead acetate '^ and wax. It is 

 prepared by being smeared round vdXh. lumps of ox 

 dung and burnt in ovens, and then cooled down with 

 women's milk and mixed with rain water and pounded 

 in mortars. And next the turbid part is poured ofF 

 into a copper vessel after being purified \\-ith soda. 

 The lees are recognized by being fuH of lead, and 

 they settle to the bottom of the mortars and are 

 thrown away. Then the vessel into which the 

 turbid part was poured off is covered with a cloth 

 and left for a night, and the next day anything 

 floating on the surface is poured off or removed ^vith 

 a sponge. The sediment on the bottom is con- 

 sidered the choicest part and is covered with a Hnen 

 cloth and put to dry in the sun but not allowed to 

 become v^ry dry, and is ground up a second time in 

 the mortar and divided into small tablets. But it is 

 above all essential to limit the amount of heat 



79 



