126 
Pliny's 
NATtRAL IIISTOBY. 
[Book XXV. 
acrid, viscous taste. They are dried in the shade, after which 
they are pounded and divided into lozenges. 
Chap. 69. — the cyclaminos chamjecissos : theeb eemepies. 
A third kind"^"^ of cycl aminos has also been shown to me, the 
additional name of which is chamsecissos.^' It consists of 
but a single leaf, with a branchy root, formerly employed for 
killing fish. 
CHAP. 70. — petjcedanum : twenty-eight eemedies. 
Eut in the very first rank among these plants, stands peuceda- 
num,^® the most esteemed kind of which is that of Arcadia, the 
next best being that of Samothrace. The stem resembles that of 
fennel, is thin and long, covered with leaves close to the ground, 
and terminating in a thick black juicy root, with a powerful smell. 
It grows on umbrageous mountains, and is taken up at the end 
of autumn. The largest and tenderest roots are the most es- 
teemed ; they are cut with bone-knives into slips four fingers 
in length, and left to shed their juice"^^ in the shade ; the persons 
employed taking the precaution of rubbing the head and nos- 
trils with rose- oil, as a preservative against vertigo. 
There is also another kind of juice, which adheres to the 
stems, and exudes from incisions made therein. It is con- 
sidered best when it has arrived at the consistency of honey : 
the colour of it is red, and it has a strong but agreeable smell, 
and a hot, acrid taste. This juice, as well as the root and a 
decoction of it, enters into the composition of numerous medica- 
ments, but the juice has the most powerful properties of 
the two. Diluted with bitter almonds or rue, it is taken in 
drink as a remedy for injuries inflicted by serpents. Eubbed 
upon the body with oil, it is a preservative against the attacks 
of those reptiles. 
''''' According to Brotero, it is the Parnassia palustris of Tournefort, an 
opinion with which Fee is inclined to agree. Sprengel considers it to be 
tlie same as the Convallaria bifolia of Linnasus, our Smali lily of the valley, 
and identifies it with the one-leafed Ceratia of B. xxvi. c. 34. Littre 
names the Antirrhinum asarina of Linuseus, the Bastard asarum. 
"^^ Tlie Peucedanum officinale of Linnaeus, Sulphur- wort, or Hog's fennel. 
It receives its name from a fancied resemblance between its fruit and that 
of the " Peuce," or pitch-tree. 
"'^ This juice, Fee remarks, is no longer known. 
