BOOK XXXIV. xLiii. 149-XLV. 152 



Iron tliat has been heated by fire is spoiled unless 

 it is hardened by blows of the hammer. It is not 

 suitable for hammering while it is red hot, nor before 

 it begins to turn pale. If vinegar or akim is sprinkled 

 on it it assumes the appearance of copper. It can 

 be protected from rust by means of lead acetate/^ 

 gypsum and vegetable pitch ; rust is called by the 

 Greeks ' antipathia,' ' natural opposite ' to iron. It 

 is indeed said that the same result may also be pro- 

 duced by a reHgious ceremony, and that in the city 

 called Zeugma * on the river Euphrates there is an 

 iron chain that was used by Alexander the Great in 

 making the bridge at that place, the Hnks of which 331 b.o. 

 that are new replacements are attacked by rust 

 althouffh the original Hnks are free from it. 



XLIV. Iron suppHes another medicinal service Medidnai 

 besides its use in surgery. It is beneficial both for "^«^* '^/ ""''" 

 adults and infants against noxious drugs for a circle 

 to be drawn round them with iron or for a pointed 

 iron weapon to be carried round them ; and to have a 

 fence of nails that have been extracted from tombs 

 driven in in front of the threshold is a protection 

 against attacks of nightmare, and a Hght prick 

 made with the point of a weapon with which a man 

 has been wounded is beneficial against sudden pains 

 which bring a pricking sensation in the side and chest. 

 Some maladies are cured by cauterization, but 

 particularlv the bite of a mad dog, inasmuch as even 

 when the disease is getting the upper hand and when 

 the patients show symptoms of hydrophobia they are 

 reHeved at once if the wound is cauterized. In many 

 disorders, but especiaUy in dysenteric cases, drinking 

 water is heated with redhot iron. 



XLW The Hst of remedies even includes rust 



237 



