Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Nov.,  1921.  ) 
Notes  on  Ancient  Medicine. 
785 
particular  parts :  as  to  the  head — aniseseed,  f  oaf  oot,  betony,  cala- 
mint,  eyebright,  lavender,  bays,  sore,  rue,  sage,  marjoram, 
piony,  etc. ;  for  the  lungs — calamint,  liquorice,  enula  campana,  hys- 
sop, horehound,  water  germander,  etc. ;  for  the  heart — borage,  bu- 
glosse,  saffron,  bawm,  basil,  rosemary,  violet,  roses,  etc. ;  for  the 
stomach — wormwood,  mints,  betony,  bawm,  centaury,  sorel,  purs- 
Ian;  for  the  liver — darthspine,  cham'aepitys,  germander,  agrimony, 
fennell,  endive,  succory,  liverwort,  barbaryes ;  for  the  spleen — mai- 
denhair, finger-ferne,  dodder  of  thyme,  hoppe,  the  rind  of  ashe,  be- 
tony; for  the  joints — camomile,  organ,  rue,  cowslips,  centaury  the* 
less;  and  so  on  to  particular  diseases." 
Some  notes  regarding  the  identity  of  drugs  used  by  the  an- 
cients may  hot  come  amiss : 
Turbith  is  also  known  as  turpeth  and  is  the  dried  root  and  stem 
of  Ipomcea  turpethum.  It  is  a  purgative  something  like  jalap  but 
milder.  It  contains  10  per  cent,  of  resin  and  a  yellow  coloring  mat- 
ter. It  is  said  that  the  basic  sulphate  of  mercury  got  its  name 
"turpeth  mineral"  from  its  resemblance  in  color  to  the  root. 
Agarick  is  recognized  as  spunk  touchwood  or  tinder,  and  is  a 
fungus  (Polyporus  officinalis)  growing  on  certain  larches  and  pines, 
the  best  coming  from  Siberia.  The  active  principle  is  agaric  acid 
(agaricin)  and,  aside  from  the  Solanaceous  plants,  is  one  of  the  best 
remedies  we  have  for  treatment  of  night  sweats  of  phthisis. 
Hermodactils  was  probably  Colchicum  Illyricum,  or  an  allied 
species.  It  was  also  called  Mercury's  finger,  and  was  a  root  shaped 
like  a  heart,  flattened,  and  of  a  white  color. 
Betony  or  betonica  was  named  by  Pliny  from  the  Vettonese,  a 
people  of  Spain,  who  discovered  it.  It  belongs  to  the  order  Labia- 
tse  and  has  been  used  as-  emetic  and  purgative. 
Eyebright  also  called  euphrasia,  is  a  small  annual  plant  of  Eur- 
ope. It  was  formerly  used  in  the  treatment  of  affections  of  the  eye, 
hence  its  name.    It  is  mildly  astringent. 
Under  the  head  of  calamint,  Calamintha  officinalis,  C.  nepeta, 
and  C.  sylvatica,  were  included.  Strongly  aromatic,  they  were  much 
thought  of  by  the  ancients. 
Enula  compana,  or  elecampane,  is  the  Inula  helenium,  the  plant 
supposed  to  have  sprung  from  the .  tears  of  Helen.  The  root  is 
stimulant  and  aromatic. 
Agrimony  was  so  named  from  the  Greek  word  signifying  "a 
