396 
plint's natural history. 
[Book XXIX. 
water, for it will quite undo tlie mischief, they say. The 
ashes, also, of the viper, are considered very useful, employed as 
a liniment for the wound. According to what Mgidius tells 
us, serpents are compelled, by a sort of natural instinct, to 
return to the person who has been stung by them. The people 
of Scythia split the viper's head between the ears, in order to 
extract a small stone,'^^ which it swallows in its alarm, they 
say : others, again, use the head entire. 
Erom the viper are prepared those tablets which are known 
as theriaci"^"^ to the Greeks : for this purpose the animal is 
cut away three fingers* length from both the head and the tail, 
after which the intestines are removed and the livid vein ad- 
hering to the back-bone. The rest of the body is then boiled 
in a shallow pan, in water seasoned with dill, and the bones are 
taken out, and fine wheaten flour added ; after which the 
preparation is made up into tablets,^^ which are dried in the 
shade and are employed as an ingredient in numerous medica- 
ments. I should remark, however, that this preparation, it 
would appear, can only be made from the viper. Some per- 
sons, after cleansing the viper in manner above described, boil 
down the fat, with one sextarius of olive oil, to one half. Of 
this preparation, when needed, three drops are added to some 
oil, with which mixture the body is rubbed, to repel the 
approach of all kinds of noxious animals. 
CHAP. 22. REMEDIES DERIVED EROM THE OTHER SERPENTS. 
In addition to these particulars, it is a well-known fact that 
for all injuries inflicted by serpents, and those even of an 
otherwise incurable nature, it is an excellent remedy to apply 
the entrails of the serpent itself to the wound ; as also, that 
persons who have once swallowed a viper's liver, boiled, will 
never afterwards be attacked by serpents. The snake, too, 
is not venomous, except, indeed, upon certain days of the 
month when it is irritated by the action of the moon : it is a 
very useful plan to take it alive, and pound it in water, the 
wound inflicted by it being fomented with the preparation. 
Indeed, it is generally supposed that this reptile is possessed of 
21 This is perhaps the meaning of "praecanere." Sillig suggests "re- 
canere." 
22 Which was said to act as an antidote to the poison, applied to the 
wound. 
" Antidotes to serpents' poison." =1 "Pastilli." 
