Cbap. 107.] 
THE EPHEMEEOIS'. 
147 
given it the name of erigeron,"^^ because it is white in 
spring. The head is divided into numerous downy filaments, 
which resemble those of the thoru/^ protruding from between 
the divisions of the head : hence it is that Callimachus has 
given it the name of acanthis/'^^ while others, again, call it 
pappu3.2o^' 
After all, however, the Greek writers are by no means agreed 
as to this plant; some say, for instance, that it has leaves 
like those of rocket, while others maintain that they resemble 
those of the robur, only that they are considerably smaller. 
Some, again, assert that the root is useless, while others aver 
that it is beneficial for the sinews, and others that it produces 
suffocation, if taken in drink. On the other hand, some have 
prescribed it in wine, for jaundice and all affections of the 
bladder, heart, and liver, and give it as their opinion that it 
carries off gravel from the kidneys. It has been prescribed, 
also, by them for sciatica, the patient taking one drachma 
in oxymel, after a walk ; and has been recommended as ex- 
tremely useful for griping pains in the bowels, taken in raisin 
wine. They assert, also, that used as an aliment with vinegar, 
it is wholesome for the thoracic organs, and recommend it to 
be grown in the garden for these several purposes. 
In addition to this, there are some authorities to be found, 
which distinguish another variety of this plant, but wdthout 
mentioning its peculiar characteristics. This last they recom- 
mend to be taken in water, to neutralize the venom of serpents, 
and prescribe it to be eaten for the cure of epilepsy. Por my 
own part, however, I shall only speak of it in accordance with 
the uses made of it among us Eomans, uses based upon the 
results of actual experience. The down of this plant, beaten 
up with saffron and a little cold water, is applied to defluxions 
of the eyes ; parched with a little salt, it is employed for the 
cure of scrofulous sores. 
CHAP. 107» — THE EPHEMEEON : TWO KEMEBIES. 
The ephemeron^^ has leaves like those of the lily, but smaller ; 
^"^"^api ysp(x)Vy "aged,'* or " hoary in spring." 
^® " Spiuse.*' He probably uses a wrong term, and means " thistle/' 
It may possibly have been so called, from the Acanthis, or goldfinch, 
that bird being fond of groundsel* 
20 tt Thistle-down.'' If Pliny is speaking of groundsel, he is wrong in 
his assertion that it turns white, or in other words, goes to seed, in spring, 
21 Sprengel identifies it with the Ornithogalum stachyoides ; but that 
