Chap. 38.] EEMEDIES DERIYED PROM MOSS. 499^ 
Chap. 37. — methods oe proyidikg against the iNCOisrvEi^iENCE 
OF DEINKING SUSPECTED WATEE. 
As persojis out at sea often suffer great inconvenience from 
the want of fresh water, we will here describe some methods 
of obviating it. jFleeces are spread round the ship, and on 
becoming moistened with the exhalations arising from the sea, 
the water is wrung from them, and found to be quite fresh. 
Hollow balls of wax, also, or empty vessels sealed at the mouth, 
upon being let down into the sea in a net, become filled with 
water that is fresh and potable. On shore, too, sea- water may 
be made fresh, by filtering it through argillaceous earth. 
By swimming in water of any%ind, sprains of the limbs in 
man or beast are reduced with the greatest facility. Persons 
when travelling, are sometimes apprehensive that the use of 
water, the quality of which is unknown to them, may prove 
iujurious to their health : as a precaution against this, they 
should drink the suspected water cold, immediately after leaving 
the bath. 
CHAP. 38. SIX REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MOSS. REMEDIES 
DERIVED FROM SAND. 
Moss which has grown in water is excellent as a topical 
application for gout ; and, in combination with oil, it is good 
for pains and swellings in the ankles. The foam that floats 
upon the surface of the water, used as a friction, causes warts 
to disappear. The sand,^^ too, of the sea-shore, that more 
particularly which is very fine ^nd burnt white by the heat of 
the sun, is used remedially for its desiccative properties, the 
bodies of dropsical or rheumatic patients being entirely covered 
with it. 
Thus much with reference to water itself; we will now 
turn to the aquatic productions, beginning, as in all other 
instances, with the principal of them, namely, salt and sponge. 
The joints being rendered more supple thereby. 
He probably means sea-water, alluding to certain kinds of sea-weed. 
Dioscorides speaks of it, in B. iv. c. 99, as being good for gout. It is, in 
reality, of some small utility in such cases. 
He most probably means sea-water. 
The Greeks used sand-baths for the purpose of promoting the per- 
spiration J the names given to them were TrapoirrfjrnQ and (poiviynoQ. 
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