BOOK XXXIV . xx: 



in the rocks, into which the slime is carried by rain- 

 water and freezes, and it also forms in the same way 

 as salt when very hot sunshine evaporates the fresh 

 water let in with it. Consequently some people 

 distinguish in twofold fashion between the mined 

 Hower of copper and the manufactured, the latter 

 paler than the former and as much inferior in quaUty 

 as in colour. That wliich comes from Cyprus is 

 most highly approved for medical employment. It 

 is taken to remove intestinal worms, the dose being 

 one dram mixed with honey. Dikited and injected 

 as drops into the nostrils it clears the head, and like- 

 wise taken with honey or honey-water it purges the 

 stomach. It is given as a medicine for roughness of 

 the eyes, pain and mistiness in the eyes, and ulcera- 

 tion of the mouth. It stops bleeding from the 

 nostrils, and also haemorrhoidal bleeding. Mixed 

 with henbane seed it draws out splinters of broken 

 bones ; applied to the forehead with a swab it arrests 

 running of the eyes ; also used in plasters it is 

 efficacious for cleansing wounds and gatherings of 

 ulcers. A mere touch of a decoction of it removes 

 swellings of the uvula, and it is laid with linseed on 

 plasters used for relieving pains. The whitish part 

 of it is preferred to the violet kinds for one purpose, 

 that of being blown through tubes into the ears to 

 reheve ear-trouble. AppUed by itself as a Hniment 

 it heals wounds, but it leaves a discoloration in the 

 scars. There has lately been discovered a plan of 

 sprinkling it on the mouths of bears and Hons in the 

 arena, and its astringent action is so powerful that 

 they are unable to bite. 



XXXIII. The substances called by Greek names zinc oxide. 

 meaning ' bubble ' " and ' ash ' ^ are also found in 



