BOOK XXXIV. XXII. 104-XX111. 106 



mortars and aftenvarcls dry it. Nymphodorus's " 

 process is to burn on hot coals the most heavy dense 

 piece of cadmea that can be obtained, and when it is 

 thoroughly burnt to quench it with Chian %\ine, and 

 pound it, and then to sift it through a Hnen cloth and 

 grind it in a mortar, and then macerate it in rain- 

 water and again grind the sediment that sinks to the 

 bottom till it becomes like white lead and offers no 

 grittiness to the teeth. lollas' ^ method is the same, 

 but he selects the purest specimens of native cadmea. 

 XXIII. The effect of cadmea is to dry moisture, to 

 heal lesions, to stop discharges, to cleanse inflamed 

 swellings and foul sores in the eyes, to remove 

 eruptions, and to do ever}'thing that we shall specify 

 in dealing with the effect of lead. 



Copper itself is roasted to use for all the same 

 purposes and for white-spots and scars in the eyes 

 besides, and mixed with milk it also heals ulcers in 

 the eyes ; and consequently people in Egypt make a 

 kind of eye-salve by grinding it in small mortars. 

 Taken ^vith honey it also acts as an emetic, but for 

 this Cyprian copper with an equal weight of sulphur 

 is roasted in pots of unbaked earthenware, the 

 mouth of the vessels being stopped with oil; and 

 then left in the furnace till the vessels themselves 

 are completely baked. Certain persons also add 

 salt, and some use alum instead of sulphur, while 

 others add nothing at all, but only sprinkle the 

 -copper with vinegar. WTien burnt it is pounded 

 in a mortar of Theban stone, washed with rainwater, 

 and then again pounded with the addition of a larger 

 quantity of water, and left till it settles, and this 

 process is repeated several times, till it is reduced 



^ A Bithynian medical writer of unknown date. 



205 



