382 
plint's natueal history. 
[Book XXIX. 
those namely, which are derived from wool and from the eggs of 
hirds, thus giving due honour to those substances which hold 
the principal place in the estimation of mankind ; though at 
the same time I shall be necessitated to speak of some others out 
of their proper place, according as occasion may offer. I should 
not have been at a loss for high-flown language with which to 
grace my narrative, had I made it my design to regard any- 
thing else than what, as being strictly trustworthy,^^ becomes 
my work : for among the very first remedies mentioned, we 
find those said to be derived from the ashes and nest of the 
phoenix,^® as though, forsooth, its existence were a well ascer- 
tained fact, and not altogether a fable. And then besides, it 
would be a mere mockery to describe remedies that can only 
return to us once in a thousand years. 
(2.) The ancient Eomans attributed to wool a degree of reli- 
gious importance even, and it was in this spirit that they enjoined 
that the bride should touch the door-posts of her husband's 
house with wool. In addition to dress and protection from the 
cold, wool, in an unwashed state, used in combination with oil, 
and wine or vinegar, supplies us with numerous remedies, accord- 
ing as we stand in need of an emollient or an excitant, an astrin- 
gent or a laxative. Wetted from time to time with these liquids, 
greasy wool is applied to sprained limbs, and to sinews that are 
suffering from pain. In the case of sprains, some persons are 
in the habit of adding salt, while others, again, apply pounded 
rue and grease, in wool : the same, too, in the case of con- 
tusions or tumours. Wool will improve the breath, it is said, 
if the teeth and gums are rubbed with it, mixed with honey ; 
it is very good, too, for phrenitis,^"^ used as a fumigation. To 
arfest bleeding at the nose, wool is introduced into the nostrils 
with oil of roses ; or it is used in another manner, the ears 
being well plugged with it. In the case of inveterate ulcers it is 
applied topically with honey : soaked in wine or vinegar, or 
in cold water and oil, and then squeezed out, it is used for 
the cure of wounds. 
Earns' wool, washed in cold water, and steeped in oil, is 
used for female complaints, and to allay inflammations of the 
uterus. Procidence of the uterus is reduced by using this wool 
He certainly does not always keep this object in view. 
66 See B. X. c. 2, and B. xii. c. 42. 
6'' A form of fever, Littre remarks, that is known by the moderns as 
" pseudo-continuous." 
