60 
plint's nattteai, htstort. 
[Book XXIY. 
CHAP. 93.— THE DKACUIirCTJLtrS ; TWO EEMEDIES. 
The plant which I have spoken of as the dracunculus, is 
taken out of the ground just when the barley is ripening, and 
at the moon^s increase. It is quite sufficient to have this 
plant about one, to be safe from all serpents ; and it is said, 
that an infusion of the larger kind taken in drink, is very useful 
for persons who have been stung by those reptiles : it is stated 
also that it arrests the catamenia when in excess, due care being 
taken not to let iron touch it. The juice of it too is very use- 
ful for pains in the ears. 
As to the plant known to the Greeks by the name of dra- 
contion," I have^ had it pointed out to me under three dif- 
ferent forms ; the first^'' having the leaves of the beet, with a 
certain proportion of stem, and a purple flower, and bearing 
a strong resemblance to the aron. Other persons, again, have 
described it as a plant^^ with a long root, embossed to all ap- 
pearance and full of knots, and consisting of three stems in all ; 
the same parties have recommended a decoction of the leaves 
in vinegar, as curative of stings inflicted by serpents. The 
third^^ plant that has been pointed out to me has a leaf larger 
than that of the cornel, and a root resembling that of the reed. 
This root, I have been assured, has as many knots on it as the 
plant is years old, the leaves, too, being as many in number. 
The plant is recommended also for the stings of serpents, 
administered either in wine or in water. 
CHAP. 94. THE AHISAKOS : THEEE EEMEDIES. 
There is a plant also called the arisaros,""^^ which grows 
in Egypt, and is similar to the aron in appearance, only that 
it is more diminutive, and has smaller leaves ; the root too is 
smaller, though fully as large as a good- sized olive. The 
white arisaros throws out two stems, the other kind only one. 
They are curative, both of them, of running ulcers and burns, 
and are used as an injection for fistulas. The leaves, boiled in 
In c. 91 of this Book. This story is owing merely to its appearance, 
which somewhat resembles the skin of a serpent. 
" Demonstratum mihi est/* 
Identified by Fee with the Aram Italicum of Lamarck. 
Fee queries whether this may not be the Arum maculatum of Linnaeus, 
wake-robin, cuckoo pint, or lords and ladies. 
"'^ Identified by C. Bauhin with the Calla palustris of Linnaeus. 
''^ The Arum arisarum of Linnaeus, hooded arum or friar's cowl, a 
native of the coasts of Barbary and the South of Europe. 
