Chap. 45.] 
THE KATUEE OI' SALT* 
509 
the sacred rites of tke Jews. In the same way, too, alex has 
come to be manufactured from oysters, sea-urchins, sea-nettles, 
cammari,^^ and the liver of the surmullet ; and a thousand 
different methods have been devised of late for ensuring the 
putrefaction of salt in such a way as to secure the flavours 
most relished by the palate. 
Thus much, by the way, with reference to the tastes of the 
present day ; though at the same time, it must be remembered, 
these substances are by no means without their uses in medi- 
cine. Alex, for instance, is curative of scab in sheep, incisions 
being made in the skin, and the liquor poured therein. It is 
useful, also, for the cure of wounds inflicted by dogs or by 
the sea-dragon, the application being made with lint. Eecent 
burns, too, are healed by the agency of garum, due care being 
taken to apply it without mentioning it by name. It is useful, 
too, for bites inflicted by dogs, and for that of the crocodile in 
particular ; as also for the treatment of serpiginous or sordid 
ulcers. For ulcerations, and painful affections of the mouth 
and ears, it is a marvellously useful remedy. 
Muria, also, as well as the salsugo which we have mentioned,^' 
has certain astringent, mordent, and discussive properties, and is 
highly useful for the cure of dysentery, even when ulceration 
has attacked the intestines. Injections are also made of it 
for sciatica, and for coeliac fluxes of an inveterate nature. In 
spots which lie at a distance in the interior, it is used as a fo- 
mentation, by way of substitute for sea- water. 
CHAP. 45. (9.)— -THE NATURE OP SALT. 
Salt^ regarded by itself, is naturally igneous, and yet it 
manifests an antipathy to fire, and flies^^ from it. It consumes 
everything, and yet upon living bodies it has an astringent, 
desiccative, and binding effect, while the dead it preserves 
from putrefaction,^^ and makes them last for ages even. In 
respect, however, of its medicinal properties, it is of a mordent, 
burning, detergent, attenuating, and resolvent nature ; it is, how- 
ever, injurious to the stomach, except that it acts as a stimulant 
without scales being forbidden to the Jews by the Levitical Law. See Lev. 
c. xi. ver. 10. It is, most probably, Pliny's own mistake. 
52 See B. xxvii. c. 2. 53 At the end of c. 42. 
5* He alludes to its decrepitation in fiame. 
55 Pharnaces caused the body of his (ather Mithridates to be deposited 
in brine, in order to transmit it to Pompey. 
