266 
PLINl's NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XXVII- 
the following words: ''Eeseda,^^ allay this disease ! knowest 
thou not, knowGst thou not, what chick it is that has torn up 
these roots ? Let it have nor head nor feet This formula 
is repeated thrice, the party spitting on the ground each time. 
CHAP. 107.- — THE STCECHAS : THREE REMEDIES. 
The stoechas grows only in the islands of that name.^° It 
is an odoriferous plant, with leaves like those of hyssop, and 
of a bitter taste. Taken in drink, it promotes menstruation, 
and allays pains in the chest. It forms an ingredient, also, in 
antidotes. 
CHAP. 108. THE SOLANUM, Br THE GREEKS CALLED STRYCHNOIf : 
TWO REMEDIAL PROPERTIES. 
The solanum,^^ according to Cornelius Celsus,^- is called 
**strychnon " by the Greeks; it is possessed of repercussive and 
refrigerative properties. 
CHAP. 1G9. — ^^smyrnion: thirty-two remedies, sinon : two 
REMEDIES. 
Smyrnion has a stem like that of parsley, but larger leaves, 
and growing principally about the young shoots, which are 
numerous. Erom the midst of these shoots the leaves make 
their appearance, unctuous, and bending towai'ds the ground. 
This plant has a medicinal smell, penetrating to a certain 
degree, and agreeable : the colour of it is a pale yellow, and 
the stems bear rounded umbels like those of dill,^* with a 
round, black seed, which dries at the beginning of summer. 
The root, also, is odoriferous, of an acrid, pungent flavour, soft 
and juicy, black on the outer coat and pale within. The smell 
of it partakes very much of the nature of that of myrrh, to 
87 " Eeseda, morbos reseda." A pun upon the name of the plant, and 
the verb "resedo." 
Like the silly charm itself, neither head nor tail." 
89 See B. xxvi. c. 27. 
The Stoechades. See B. iii. c. 11, and B. xxxii. c. 11. 
9^ See B. xxi. c. 105, and c. 44 of this Book. The black nightshade is 
neither astringent nor cooling, but a narcotic poison. 
92 De Re Med. ii. 33. 
93 See B. xix. cc. 48, 62. It is generally identified with the Smyrnium 
perfoliatum of Linnaeus, the Perfoliated alexander. 
94 " Anethi " is a preferable reading to " apii," parsley." 
