Chap. 37.] 
POLTPODIOif. 
175 
flatulency and gripings of the bowels. It is taken also, in the 
form of an electuary, for affections of the chest, with honey, 
or in some cases, with iris.^^ Taken in doses of from four to 
six drachmae, with honey and a little salt and vinegar, it 
relaxes the bowels. 
Some persons, again, give a different description of epithymon : 
according to them, it is a plant without®^ a root, diminutive, 
and bearing a flower resembling a small hood, and of a red colour. 
They tell us, too, that it is dried in the shade and taken in 
water, in doses of half an acetabulum ; and that it has a slightly 
laxative effect upon the bowels, and carries off the pituitous 
humours and bile. ^N'ymphasa'^^ is taken for similar purposes, 
in astringent wine. 
CHAP. 36. — pycnocomon; foue remedies. 
Pycnocomon,"^ too, is a purgative. It is a plant with leaves 
like those of rocket, only thicker and more acrid ; the root is 
round, of a yellow colour, and with an earthy smell. The 
stem is quadrangular, of a moderate length, thin, and sur- 
mounted with a flower like that of ocimum.'^^ It is found 
growing in rough stony soils. The root, taken in doses of two 
denarii in hydromel, acts as a purgative upon the bowels, 
and effectually carries off bile and pituitous humours. The 
seed, taken in doses of one drachma in wine, is productive of 
dreams and restlessness. Capnos,^^ too, carries off bile by the 
urine. 
CHAP. 37. — POLYPonioN : theee remedies. 
Polypodion,"^* known to us by the name of filicula,*' bears 
some resemblance to fern. The root of it is used medicinally ; 
68 See B. xxi. c. 19. 
^3 It has a root originally, but the root withers as soon as it has attached 
itself to the stem of the plant to which it clings. 
'''^ See B. xxY. c. 37. Holland says, on the contrary, that it is a binding 
plant. 
" Thick hair." It is generally identified with the Leonurus mar- 
rubiastrum of Linnaeus. Columna makes it to be the Scabiosa succisa of 
Linnaeus, the Devil's bit scabious, and Brunsfeld the Angelica silvestris of 
Linnaeus, "Wild angelica. 
'2 See B. xxi. c. 60. '^^ ggg B. xxv. c. 98. 
" Many-footed." The Polypodium vulgare of Linnaeus, the Common 
polypody. 
