Chap. 30.] 
in 
ities, equally exposed to the sun and to falls of snow, those in 
the vicinity of Pheneus in Arcadia, for instance. Its proper- 
ties are highly astringent ; the root of it, taken in wine, arrests 
looseness of the bowels, having the additional effect of throw- 
ing downward the aqueous humours, and so acting as a diuretic ; 
a property, in fact, which belongs to most substances which 
act astringently upon the bowels. 
Bruised in red^^* wine, this plant is curative of dysentery ; 
it is only bruised, however, with the greatest difficulty. It is 
extremely useful, also, as a fomentation for gum-boils. The 
end of autumn is the time for gathering it, after the leaves are 
off ; it being then left to dry in the shade. 
CHAP. 30. — ladanum: eighteen eemedies. 
Diarrhoea may be also arrested by the use of either kind of 
ladanum.^® The kind which is found in corn-fields is pounded 
for this purpose, and then passed through a sieve, being taken 
either in hydromel, or in wine of the highest quality. ^'Ledon" 
is the name of the plant from which ladanum^^ is obtained in 
Cyprus, it being found adhering to the beard of the goats 
there ; the most esteemed, however, is that of Arabia.*^ At 
the present day, it is prepared in Syria and Africa also, being 
known as '^toxicum,'' from the circumstance that ingathering 
it, they pass over the plant a bow,*^ with the string stretched, 
and covered with wool, to which the dewlike flocks of lada- 
num adhere. We have described it at further length, when 
treating of the perfumes.*^ 
This substance has a very powerful odour, and is hard in the 
extreme ; for, in fact, there is a considerable quantity of earth 
adhering to it : it is most esteemed when in a pure state, 
aromatic, soft, green, and resinous. It is of an emollient, 
desiccative, and ripening nature, and acts as a narcotic : it pre- 
vents the hair from falling off, and preserves its dark colour. In 
combination with hydromel or oil of roses, it is used as an 
37* " Rubrum," and not "nigrum," which was also what we call " red " 
wine. 
38 Fee is unable to identify it. The Galeopsis ladanum of Linnaeus, 
the Red dead-nettle, has been suggested, but on insufficient grounds, pro- 
bably. 39 See B. xii. c. 37. 
*o It is still brought from the islands of Greece, but no longer fiom 
Arabia. *i ToUv. 
*2 In B. xii. c. 37. 
