Chap. 17.] REMEDIES FOR AFEECTIOIS^S OE THE SPLEEK. 439 
and taken internally by the aid of a reed :^ for all vessels, it 
should be remembered, turn black on coming in contact with 
them. Some persons grill one sextarius of these insects on a 
flat pan, till they become white, and then mix them with 
honej^ There are some authorities who call thia insect a 
centipede," and recommend it to be given in warm water. 
Snails are administered to persons subject to fainting fits, 
alienation of the senses, and vertigo : for which purposes, a 
snail is beaten up, shell and all, wath three cyathi of raisin 
wine, and the mixture is administered warm with the drink, 
for nine days at most. Others, again, give one snail the first 
day, two the second, three the third, two the fourth, and one 
the fifth ; a mode of treatment also adopted for the cure of 
asthma and of abscesses. 
There is, according to some authorities, an insect resem- 
bling the locust in appearance, destitute of wings, and known 
by the Greek name of troxallis," it being without a name in 
Latin : a considerable number of writers, however, consider 
it as identical with the insect known to us as gryllus."^^ 
Twenty of these insects, they say, should be grilled, and taken 
in honied wine, by patients troubled with hardness of breath- 
ing or spitting of blood. Some persons pour pare gr ape- j nice, 
or sea- water, upon unwashed snails, and then boil and eat 
them for food ; or else they bruise the snails, shells and all, 
and take them with this grape-juice. A similar method is 
also adopted for the cure of cough. Honey in which the bees 
have died, is particularly good for the cure of abscesses. For 
spitting of blood a vulture's lungs are used, burnt upon vine 
logs, and mixed with half the quantity of pomegranate blos- 
soms, or with the same proportion of quince and lily blossom : 
the whole being taken morning and evening, in wine, if there 
is no fever ; but where there are symptoms of fever, instead of 
wine, water is used in which quinces have been boiled, 
CHAP. 17. REMEDIES EOR AFEECTIONS OF THE SPLEEN, 
According to the prescriptions given by the magicians, a 
fresh sheep's milt is the best application for pains in the spleen, 
the person who applies it uttering these words : *^ This I do 
88 See c. 12 of this Book. 
89 Our " cricket." The troxallis was probably a kind of locust, still 
known to naturalists by that name. 
^0 Protropum." "Wine of the first running. 
