270 PLINt's NATUEAL HISTOET. [Book XXVII. 
the seed, leaf, and branches. Its milky juice, which thickens 
in the form of a gum, or its seed, taken in drink, expels pointed 
weapons from the flesh. The plant, too, is pounded fresh and 
applied as a liniment with wine, or, dried and powdered, with 
honey. It increases the milk in nursing women, and is a 
sovereign remedy for diseases of the mamillse. 
CHAP. 116. ^THE TEAGOS OR SCOEPIOlSr : FOUE EEMEDIES. 
There is another plant also, called *'tragos,"^^ or scorpion'' 
by some, half a foot in height, branchy, destitute of leaves, 
and bearing diminutive red clusters, with a seed like that of 
wheat, but pointed at the extremity : this too grows in mari- 
time localities. Ten or twelve tops of the branches, bruised 
and taken in wine, are remedial in cases of coeliac affections, 
dysentery, spitting of blood, and excessive menstruation. 
CHAP. 117. THE TEAGOPOGON OE COME. 
There is the tragopogon,^^ also, by some called come a 
plant with a small stem, leaves like those of saffron, an elon- 
gated, sweet, root, and a large, swarthy calyx at the extremity 
of the stem. It grows in rugged soils, and is never used. 
CHAP. 118. — THE AGES OF PLANTS. 
Such, then, is all that I have hitherto been enabled to 
learu or discover, worthy of mention, relative to plants. At 
the close of this subject, it seems to me that it will not be out 
of place to remind the reader, that the properties of plants 
vary according to their age. It is elaterium, as already 
stated, that preserves its properties the longest of all. The 
black chamseleon^^* retains its virtues forty years, centaury not 
more than twelve, peucedanum ^'^ and aristolochia six, and 
the wild vine one year — that is to say, if they are kept in the 
shade. I would remark, also, that beyond those animals which 
breed within the plants, there are none that attack the roots 
See B. xiii. c. 37. M. Fraas {Synopsis^ p. 257) identifies it with 
the Ephedra distachya of Linnaeus, the Great shruhby horsetail. 
15 " Goat's-beard. Probably the Tragopogon crocifolium of Linnaeus, 
the Safi'ron-leaved goat's beard. Though its properties are not inert, it 
is never used in medicine., 
16 In B. XX. c. 3. IS* See c. 41 of this Book. 
17 See B. XXV. c. 70, ^ See B. xxv. c. 54, 
