308 
pliis't's natural history. 
[Book xxvni. 
of a most execrable and infamous nature, such, in fact, as to 
make me hasten to close my description of the remedies de- 
rived from man : we will therefore proceed to speak of the more 
remarkable animals, and the effects produced by them. The 
blood of the elephant, the male in particular, arrests all those 
defluxions known by the name of *'rheumatismi.'' Ivory 
shavings, it is said, in combination with Attic honey, are good 
for the removal of spots upon the face : with the sawdust, too, 
of ivory, hangnails are removed. Ey the touch of an elephant's 
trunk head-ache is alleviated, if the animal happens to sneeze 
at the time more particularly. The right side of the trunk, 
attached to the body with red earth of Lemnos, acts powerfully 
as an aphrodif^iac. Elephant's blood is good for consumption, 
and the liver for epilepsy. 
CHAP. 25. TEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE LION. 
Lion's fat, mixed with oil of roses, protects the skin of the 
face from all kinds of spots, and preserves the whiteness of the 
complexion ; it is remedial also for such parts of the body as 
have been frozen by snow, and for swellings in the joints. The 
frivolous lies of the magicians assert that persons who are 
anointed with lion's fat, will more readily win favour with 
kings and peoples ; more particularly when the fat has been 
used that lies between the eyebrows of the animal — a place, in 
fact, where there is no fat to be found ! The like effects they 
promise also from the possession of a lion's tooth, one from the 
right side in particular, as also the shaggy hairs that are 
found upon the lower jaw. The gall, used as an ointment in 
combination with water, improves the eyesight, and, employed 
with the fat of the same animal, is a cure for epilepsy ; but 
a slight taste only must be taken of it, and the patient must 
run immediately after swallowing it, in order to digest it. A 
lion's heart, used as food,- is curative of quartan fevers, and 
the fat, taken with oil of roses, of quotidian fevers. "Wild 
beasts will fly from persons anointed with lion's fat, and it is 
thought to be a preservative even against treacherous practices. 
CHAP. 26. TEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CAMEL. 
A camel's*^ brains, dried and taken in vinegar, are a cure, they 
*^ Pliny has omitted the milk of the camel, which, according to Taver- 
nier, is an excellent cure for dropsy. 
