244 
Pliny's natueal histoet. 
[Book XXVII. 
five, round, and hairy ; its branches are small, half a foot in 
length, five or six in number, and covered with leaves from 
the root upwards. It grows in corn-fields, and has a rough 
flavour : hence it is found very useful for defluxions of the 
eyes, the leaves being beaten up and applied with polenta in 
a linen pledget. A decoction of this plant with linseed, taken 
in pottage, is good for dysentery. 
CHAP. 5 1 . EMPETEOS, BY OIJE PEOPLE CALLED CALCIFEAGA I FOUE 
EEMEDIES. 
Empetros,^^ by the people of our country called "calci- 
fraga,"^^ grows on mountains near the sea, and is generally 
found upon rocks : the nearer it grows to the sea the Salter it 
is, acting as a^n evacuant of bile and pituitous secretions. That, 
on the other hand, which grows at a greater distance and more 
inland, is of a more bitter flavour. It carries off the aqueous 
humours of the hodj, being taken for that purpose in broth of 
some kind, or else hydromel. When old, it loses its strength ; 
but used fresh, either boiled in water or pounded, it acts as a 
diuretic, and disperses urinary calculi. Authorities who wish 
full credence to be given to this asserted property, assure us 
that pebbles boiled with it will split asunder. 
CHAP. 52. — THE EPIPACTIS OE ELLEBOEINE : TWO EEMEDIES. 
The epipactis,^^ called elleborine by some, is a diminutive 
plant with small leaves. Taken in drink, it is extremely use- 
ful for diseases of the liver, and as an antidote to poisons. 
CHAP. 53. THE EPlMEDIO^f : THEEE EEMEDIES. 
The epimedion^ consists of a stem of moderate size, with 
ten or twelve leaves like those of ivy : it never flowers, and 
59 See B. xviii. c. 14. 
Fee, with Sprengel, identifies it with tbe Salsola polychlonos of Lin- 
naeus, Branchy saltwort or glasswort ; Bauhin with the Passerina poly- 
galiiolia. The Crithraum maritimnm of Linnaeus, Sea samphire, has 
been suggested by Desfontaines. Littre gives the Frankenia pulverulenta 
of Linnaeus. Holland suggests Saxifrage. 
" Calculus-breaking." ^2 g^e B. xiii. c. 3o» 
Sprengel suggests the Marsilea quadrifolia of Linnaeus; Columna 
tlie Botrychium lunaria of Linnaeus ; C. Bauhin the Ornithogalum Nar- 
bonense of Linnaeus, Narbonese star of Bethlehem ; and Talius the Caltha 
palustris of Linnaeus, the Marsh marigold. Fee considers its identification 
impossible. 
