Cbap. 27.] 
EEMEDIES FOE EPILEPSY. 
451 
lizard is obtained when it casts it off, before it has had the oppor- 
tunity of devouring^^ it ; there being no creature, it is said, that 
resorts in its spite to more cunning devices for the deception of 
man; a circumstance owing to which, the name of stellio"-*^ 
has been borrowed as a name of reproach. The place to which 
it retires in summer is carefully observed, being generally some 
spot beneath the projecting parts of doors or windows, or else 
in vaults or tombs. In the early days of spring, cages made 
of split reeds are placed before these spots ; and the narrower 
the interstices the more delighted is the animal with them, 
it being all the better enabled thereby to disengage itself of 
the coat which adheres to its body and impedes its freedom of 
action : when, however, it has once quitted it, the construc- 
tion of the cage prevents its return. There is nothing what- 
ever preferred to this lizard as a remedy for epilepsy. The 
brains of a weasel are also considered very good, dried and 
taken in drink ; the liver, too, of that animal, or the testes, 
uterus, or paunch, dried and taken with coriander, in manner 
already^^ mentioned ; the ashes also of a burnt weasel ; or a 
wild weasel, eaten whole with the food. All these properties 
are equally attributed to the ferret. A green lizard is some- 
times eaten, dressed with seasonings to stimulate the appetite, 
the feet and head being first removed ; the ashes, too, of burnt 
snails are used, as an ointment, with linseed, nettle-seed, and 
honey. 
The magicians think highly of a dragon's tail, attached to 
the body, with a deer's sinews, in the skin of a gazelle ; as 
also the small grits found in the crops of young swallows, 
tied to the left arm of the patient ; for swallows, it is said, give 
small stones to their young the moment they are hatched. 
If, at the commencement of the first paroxysm, an epileptic 
patient eats the first of a swallow's brood that has been 
hatched, he will experience a perfect cure : but at a later 
period the disease is treated by using swallow's blood with 
frankincense, or by eating the heart of the bird quite fresh. 
I^ay, even more than this, a small stone taken from a 
swallow's nest will relieve the patient the moment it is ap- 
plied, they say ; worn, too, as an amulet, it will always act as 
2' See B. viii. c. 49. 
2^ A cozener, cheat, or rogue. Ajasson has a page of discussion on the 
origin of this appellation, 27 jg^ xxix. c. 16. 
G G 2 
