BOOK VI. XVII. 4-8 



Cimolian chalk <* dipped in vinegar. The shrew- 5 

 mouse atones with its own body for the harm which 

 it has inflicted ; for the animal itself is killed by being 

 drowned in oil, and, when it has putrefied, it is 

 crushed and the bite inflicted by the shrew-mouse is 

 anointed with it as a remedy. If this is not available 

 and the swelling shows teeth-marks, cumin is crushed 

 up and a little liquid pitch and axle-grease is added 

 to it, so that it may have the soft consistency of a 

 poultice. The application of this gets rid of the 6 

 mischief. If the swelling turns into a suppuration 

 before it is dispersed, it is best to cut away the abscess 

 with a hot iron plate and burn away any harmful 

 matter and then anoint the place with liquid pitch 

 and oil. There is also a practice of encasing the 

 shrew-mouse itself while still alive in potter's clay 

 and, when the clay is dry, hanging it round the ox's 

 neck. This renders the animal immune from the 

 bite of a shrew-mouse. 



Maladies of the eyes are generally cured with 7 

 honey. If they have swollen up, wheaten flour is 

 sprinkled with honey water and applied to the eyes ; 

 or, if there is a white film on the eye, Spanish or 

 Ammoniac ^ or even Cappadocian rock-salt, pounded 

 small and mixed with honey, lessens the malady. 

 The shell of a cuttle-fish ground up and blown into 

 the eye three times a day through a pipe has the same 

 effect, as also has the root which the Greeks call 

 silphion and of which the common name in our language 

 is laserpitium." To any quantity of this ten parts of 8 

 Ammoniac salt are added ; and both are poured simi- 

 larly into the eye after being ground up in the same 

 manner, or else the root of the same plant crushed up and 



- ^ ' Laserwort, Ferula iingitana. 



173 



