Chap. 38.] REMEDIES TOE DISEASES OF THE EYES. 
413 
gall of the boa^^ is highly vaunted for the cure of albugo, cata- 
ract, and films upon the eyes, and the fat is thought to improve 
the sight. 
The gall of the eagle, which tests its young, as already 
stated,®^ by making them look upon the sun, forms, with Attic 
honey, an eye-salve which is very good for the cure of webs, 
films, and cataracts of the eje, A vulturous gall, too, mixed 
with leek-juice and a little honey, is possessed of similar pro- 
perties ; and the gall of a cock, dissolved in water, is employed 
for the cure of argema and albugo : the gall, too, of a white 
cock, in particular, is recommended for cataract. For short- 
sighted persons, the dung of poultry is recommended as a lini- 
ment, care being taken to use that of a reddish colour only. 
Abends gall, too, is highly spoken of, and the fat in particular, 
for the cure of pustules upon the pupils, a purpose for which 
hens are expressly fattened. This last substance is marvel- 
lously useful for ruptures of the coats of the eyes, incorporated 
with the stones known as schistos^''' and haematites. Hens' 
dung, too, but only the white part of it, is kept with old oil 
in boxes made of horn, for the cure of white specks upon the 
pupil of the eye. "While mentioning this subject, it is worthy 
of remark, that peacocks^^ swallow their dung, it is said, as 
though they envied man the various uses of it. A hawk, 
boiled in oil of roses, is considered extremely efficacious as a lini- 
ment for all aff"ections of the eyes, and so are the ashes of its 
dung, mixed with Attic honey. A kite's liver, too, is highly 
esteemed ; and pigeons' dung, diluted with vinegar, is used as 
an application for fistulas of the eye, as also for albugo and 
marks upon that organ. Goose gall and duck's blood* are very 
useful for contusions of the eyes, care being taken, immediately 
after the application, to anoint them with a mixture of wool- 
grease and honey. In similar cases, too, gall of partridges is 
used, with an equal quantity of honey ; but where it is only 
wanted to improve the sight, the gall is used alone. It is 
generally thought, too, upon the authority of Hippocrates,^^ 
^5 See B. viii. c. 14. Not the Boa constrictor of modern Natural History, 
96 In B. X. c. 3. 
97 See B. xxxiii. c. 25, and B. xxxvi. cc. 37, 38. 
3^ The tongues of peacocks and larks are recommended for epilepsy, by 
Lampridius, in his Life of the Emperor Elagabalus. The statement in the 
text is, of course, a fiction. xhe reading here is doubtful. 
I 
