252 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



Eupatorium, as an Emmenagogue. In Cyprus it is called o-Kape^opTo ; the 

 Labrus Scarus of Linnaeus is said to be fond of the plant, and the fisher- 

 men, when they go to fish, throw quantities of it among the rocks. 



100. Peucedanum Officinale, /xeyx^ordvo, in Laconia, ttzwiIuvov. The 

 root of this plant is applied in cataplasms to the heads of new born 

 infants, as a preservative against hydrocephalous and strumous swell- 

 ings of the neck. 



101. Matricaria Suaveolens, ^a^c^x^, an infusion of the flowers is 

 drank in bilious and nervous fevers, and made use of also in deafness 

 to syringe the ears. 



102. Lavandula Staechas >j.a,{3pcKz<pa\i ; an infusion of it is drank 

 for catarrhs and head-aches. It is called in Patmos Xapir$o\ov\ou$i ; 

 the Patmian women deck their churches with this plant on Easter 

 Sunday ; whence its name Xauirfig, which signifies a luminous feast. 



103. Nymphaea Lutea, vovtpup, a sherbet is made of it and taken in 

 colds ; it is found in the lakes of Thessaly. 



104. Cannabis Sativa, drank in infusion brings on deliquescence 

 and delirium ; it is taken by the patient previously to the operation 

 performed by the surgeon. Roiled with oil, it serves as a liniment to 

 remove rheumatic pains. 



105. Helleborus Officin. — "We are certain, I believe (says Sir 

 James Smith in a letter to the editor), of the eX\i(2opog ^Aa? of 

 Dioscorides only, called in modern Greek <rr.ci$(p% which is Helleborus 

 offici. Prodr. Fl. Gr. a species unknown to Linnaeus, though near his 

 H. niger. What the white Hellebore of the ancients was, we are 

 not clear. Sibthorp suspected it to be Digitalis ferruginea. It is 

 commonly thought to be Veratrum album." 



Notes by the Editor. 



104. Used as an aphrodisiac and narcotic in Egypt. (Browne, 274.) The Arabs swallow 

 a preparation of the leaves of green hemp for the purpose of exhilaration. (Pococke. i. 181.) 

 Menou was obliged to prohibit strictly the use of the seeds of this plant among the French 

 army in Egypt. (Mem.de PInstit. 1805.) The seeds of hemp, according to Galen, de 

 Alim. Facul. i. 34. were an ingredient in cakes served up after supper to encourage drink- 

 ing ; but they were apt when eaten too freely to affect the head. — Russell's Aleppo, 



