Chap. 44.] 
THE SILEli. 
31 
is employed for similar purposes. The leaves too have this 
additional use — they are applied with polenta to serpiginous 
sores. The seed, in doses of one drachma, is administered in 
drink for injuries inflicted by spiders or the phalangium ; and 
mixed with the grease of poultry, it is applied to boils. It is 
very efficacious also for stings inflicted by all kinds of ser- 
pents, the asp excepted. The decoction, used as a fomentation, 
is curative of jaundice, phthiriasis, and lice; it also arrests 
the catamenia when in excess. The ashes of the tree are 
employed for all these purposes; there is a story told, too, 
that, mixed with the urine of an ox, and taken in the food or 
drink, they will act most effectually as an antaphrodisiac. 
The charcoal too of this wood is quenched in urine of a similar 
nature, and kept in a shady spot. When it is the intention of 
the party to rekindle the flames®^ of desire, it is set on fire 
again. The magicians say,^^ that the urine of an eunuch will 
have a similar effect. 
CHAP. 43. — THE BLOOD-REC SHliUB : ONE REMEDY. 
'Nor is the blood-red^^ shrub looked upon as a less ill- 
omened^^ plant than the last. The inner bark of it is used to 
re- open ulcers which have healed too rapidly. 
CHAP. 44. THE SILER I THPwEE REMEDIES. 
The leaves of the siler,^^ applied to the forehead, allay 
head-ache ; and the seed of it, beaten up with oil, is curative 
of phthiriasis. Serpents also are greatly in dread of this tree, 
and it is for this reason that the country-people are in the 
habit of carrying a walking-stick made of it. 
89 This seems to be the meaning of " Idem cum libeat accendere re- 
solvitur," though in the French translations it is rendered, It crumbles 
into ashes wlien an attempt is made to kindle it." Holland seems to have 
rightly understood the passage, which probably bears reference to some 
current superstition. 
90 u Magi." He probably alludes in this passage to the Magi of the 
East. 91 See B. xvi. cc. 30, 43. 
'^■^ The cornel, probably. It was looked upon as "■ infelix," or ill-omened, 
because it was sacred to the Deities of the infernal regions. 
93 See B. xvi. c. 31. If this is the Salix vitellina. Fee says, all that . 
Pliny here states as to its medicinal properties does not merit the slightest 
attention. 
