238 
plint's natural histoet. [BookXXYIL 
CHAP. 36. THE CALYX : THEEE EEMEDIES. 
Of the calyx^^ there are two kinds. One of these resembles 
arum, and is found growing in ploughed soils; the proper 
time for gathering it being before it begins to wither. It is em- 
ployed for the same purposes as arum and an infusion of the 
root is taken as a purgative and as an emmenagogue. The 
stalks, boiled with the leaves and some pulse, are curative of 
tenesmus. 
CHAP. 37. — ^THE CALYX, KNOWN ALSO AS ANCHTISA OB ONOCLIA : 
TWO EEMEDIES. 
The other^^ kind of calyx is known by some persons as 
anchusa," and by others as onoclia.'' The leaves are like 
those of the lettuce, but longer, and with a downy surface. 
The root is red, and is employed topically, in combination 
with fine polenta,^^ for the cure of erysipelas : taken inter- 
nally with white wine, it is good for affections of the liver. 
CHAP. 38.— THE CIEC^A : THEEE EEMEDIES. 
The circaea^'^ resembles the cultivated trychnon^^ in ap- 
pearance. It has a small swarthy flower, a diminutive seed, 
like millet, growing in small horn-shaped pods, and a root 
half a foot in length, generally triple or fourfold, white, 
odoriferous, and hot in the mouth. It is found growing upon 
rocks exposed to the sun. An infusion of it is prepared with 
wine, and administered for pains and affections of the uterus : 
to make it, three ounces of the pounded root should be steeped 
Other readings are *'calsa, and "calla;" but " calyx*' is supported 
by the text of Dioscorides, B. iv. c. 23. The first kind has been generally 
identified with the Arum arisarum of Linnaeus, Hooded arum, or Monk's 
hood, and is identical probably with the Aris aros of B. xxiv. c. 94. 
19 See B. xxiv. c. 93. 
20 Probably the Anchusa tinctoria of Linnaeus, Dyer's alkanet. See B. 
xxii. c. 23. 
21 « Flore polentee." See B. xviii. c. 14. 
22 Sprengel identifies it with the Asclepias nigra, Black swallow-wort, 
but Fee considers it to be the Circasa Lutetiana of Linnaeus, Parisian 
circsea, or enchanter's nightshade. Other authorities have suggested the 
Capsicum annuum of Linnaeus, Indian or Guinea pepper, and the Celosia 
margaritacea of Linnseus, Pearly celosia, or cock's comb. M. Fraas 
suggests, though with some doubt, the Cynanchuni Monspeliacum, the 
Montpellier dog's-bane. 23 gg^ b. xxi. c. 105. 
