194 DATE GROWING 



in their opinions as to the exact merits of the fruit, 

 but the statement of Daud al Dantaki is as good as 

 any for a specimen. He declares,* "Dates are hot 

 to the second degree, dry to the first. They cut 

 short a persistent cough or pain in the chest, and 

 banish throat trouble, particularly if eaten first thing 

 in the morning. They are useful cooked, or preserved 

 in syrup; they fortify the body and strengthen the 

 blood and cure pains in the back and invigorate the 

 loins when they are atrophied; and if boiled in milk 

 and drunk they cut short fever and ague; they also 

 cure foul mouth and, taken in milk, are a tonic for the 

 appetite. Dates ought to be given to a sedentary 

 patient with great caution, and not at all in hot 

 weather; in order to be useful they should be eaten 

 only by one whose blood flows freely, and who has no 

 tendency to atrabiliousness. In other cases they 

 would produce itch, bad teeth, diseases of the gums, 

 and general languor and sleeplessness." 



Dates pounded up with the leaves of Juniperus 

 occidentalis are considered by the belles of Algeria 

 to be particularly fattening. 



Without going into the subject at greater length, 

 I can say truthfully that, if one believes Arabic au- 

 thorities, there is practically no ill which cannot be 

 cured by one of the products of the date palm. On 

 the other hand, there are only a few that may not be 

 caused by them, if we believe other empiricists. 

 Ibn Baytar is perhaps the most pessimistic of writers, 

 and he quotesf a long list of authorities to show the 



*Shaykh Daud al Dantaki, the Blind. The Book of Medicinal 

 Drinks and Collection of Wonders (MS. in my possession), ch. 7. 

 He professes to base his work on that of "The wise, the experienced, 

 the wonderful, the one and only Jalfnus," i. e., Galen. 



flbn Baytar, Treatise on Simples, tr. by Dr. J. Sontheimer. 

 Stuttgart, 1840. 



