172 
pliny's katueal histoet. 
[Book XXVI. 
injection for the ears ; with the addition of salt, it is employed 
for the cure of furfuraceous eruptions of the skin, and for run- 
ning ulcers. Taken with storax, it is good for chronic cough ; 
it is also extremely efficacious as a carminative. 
CHAP. 31. CHONDEIS OK PSEUDODICTAMI^ON : ONE KEMEDY* HYPO- 
CISTHIS OK OKOBETHKON ; TWO VAKIETIES : EIGHT KEMEDIES. 
Chondris, too, or pseudodictamnon,^^ acts astringently on the 
bowels. Hypocisthis,''^ by some known also as orobethron,"' 
is similar to an unripe pomegranate in appearance ; it grows, 
as already stated,^^ beneath the cisthus, whence its name. 
Dried in the shade, and taken in astringent, red wine, these 
plants arrest diarrhoea — for there are two kinds of hypocisthis, 
it must be remembered, the white and the red. It is the juice 
of the plant that is used, being of an astringent, desiccative, 
nature : that of the red kind, however, is the best for fluxes 
of the stomach. Taken in drink, in doses of three oboli, with 
amylum,^^ it arrests spitting of blood ; and, employed either as 
a potion or as an injection, it is useful for dysentery. Yervain, 
too, is good for similar complaints, either taken in water, or, 
when there are no symptoms of fever, in Aminean^'' wine, the 
proportion being five spoonfuls to three cyathi of wine. 
CHAP. 32.-~LAVEK OK SION I TWO KEMEDIES. 
Laver,^^ too, a plant which grows in streams, preserved and 
boiled, is curative of griping pains in the bowels. 
CHAP. 33. — POTAMOGITON : EIGHT KEMEDIES. THE STATICE : 
THKEE KEMEDIES. 
Potamogiton,*^ too, taken in wine, is useful for dysentery 
and coeliac affections : it is a plant similar to beet in the leaves, 
but smaller and more hairy, and rising but little above the 
surface of the water. It is the leaves that are used, being of 
a refreshing, astringent nature, and particularly good for 
diseases of the legs, and, with honey or vinegar, for corrosive 
ulcers. 
^3 False-dittany," or "bastard dittany." See B. xxv. c. 53. 
The Cytinus hypocisthis of Linnaeus. 
45 In B. xxiv. c. 28. See B. xviii. c. 17, and B. xxii. c. 67. 
*7 See B. xiv. c. 5. 48 xhe Sium of B. xxii. c. 41. 
49 Probably the Potamogeton natans of Linnaeus, Broad-leaved pond- 
weed, or some kindred plant. Its name signifies " the neighbour of rivers." 
