Chap. 20.] 
THE TEirCRIOTS-. 
95 
destitute of branches, and elegantly clothed all over with 
isolated leaves of a round form. Others again, maintain that 
it has a squared stem, that the heads of it are small and like 
those of horehound,®'^ and that the leaves are similar to those 
of the quercus — they say too, that this last has the property of 
uniting the sinews when cut asunder. Another statement is, 
that the sideritis^^ is a plant that grows on garden walls, and 
that it emits, when bruised, a fetid smell ; that there is also 
another plant, very similar to it, but with a whiter and more 
unctuous leaf, a more delicate stem, and mostly found growing 
in vineyards. 
They speak also of another^^ sideritis, with a stem two 
cubits in length, and diminutive branches of a triangular 
shape : the leaf, they say, resembles that of fern, and has a 
long footstalk, the seed being similar to that of beet. All 
these plants, it is said, are remarkably good for the treatment 
of wounds. The one with the largest leaf is known among 
us by the name of scopa3 regise,"^^ and is used for the cure 
of quinzy in swine. 
CHAP. 20. THE TEUCRIOK, HEMIONIOF, OR SPLEJ^IOJN" : TWO 
REMEDIES. 
At the same period also, Teucer discovered the teucrion, a 
plant known to some as the hemionion."^^ It throws out ' 
thin rush-like stems, with diminutive leaves, and grows in 
rugged, uncultivated spots : the taste of it is rough, and it 
never blossoms or produces seed. It is used for the cure of 
affections of the spleen, and it is generally understood that 
its properties were discovered in the following manner : — The 
entrails of a victim having been placed upon this plant, it 
attached itself to the milt, and entirely consumed it ; a 
89 Marrubii.'^ 
90 ^'IroDwort." The third Sideritis of Dioscorides, above mentioned. 
See c. 15 of this Book. See also B. xxvi. cc. 12 and 88. 
9^ Identified by Desfontaines witli the Sanguisorba officinalis of Linnaeus. 
92 " Eoyal broom," identified by many commentators with the Cheno- 
podium scoparia of Linnaeus. 
93 Qj, u mule-plant." It is identified by Fee with the Asplenion cete- 
rach, or Ceterach officinarum of Linnffius, the Ceterach, a fern, and a dif- 
ferent plant from the Teucriuni of B. xxiv. a. 80, 4>r Germander. 
Hence its name, *' Asplenium." 
Exinanisse." A fable, of course. 
