ACONITE, OTHERWISE CALLED THELYPHONON, CAMMARON, PARDALIANCHES, OR SCORPIO; FOUR REMEDIES

Latine · Mayhoff 1906

Sed antiquorum curam diligentiamque quis possit satis venerari? constat omnium venenorum ocissimum esse aconitum et tactis quoque genitalibus feminini sexus animalium eodem die inferre mortem. hoc fuit vnenum, quo interemptas dormientes a Calpurnio Bestia uxores M. Caelius accusator obiecit. hinc illa atrox peroratio eius in digitum. ortum fabulae narravere e spumis Cerberi canis extrahente ab inferis Hercule ideoque apud Heracleam Ponticam, ubi monstratur is ad inferos aditus, gigni. hoc quoque tamen in usus humanae salutis vertere scorpionum ictibus adversari experiendo datum in vino calido. ea est natura, ut hominem occidat, nisi invenerit quod in homine perimat. cum eo solo conluctatur veluti praesentius invento, [sola haec pugna est, cum venenum in visceribus reperit] mirumque, exitialia per se ambo cum sint, duo venena in homine conmoriuntur, ut homo supersit. immo vero etiam ferarum remedia antiqui prodiderunt demonstrando, quomodo venenata quoque ipsa sanarentur. torpescunt scorpiones aconiti tactu stupentque pallentes et vinci se confitentur. auxiliaturiis helleborum album tactu resolvente, ceditque aconitum duobus malis, suo et omnium. quae si quis ulla forte ab homine excogitari potuisse credit, ingrate deorum munera intellegit. tangunt cares aconito necantque gustatu earum pantheras, nisi hoc fieret, repleturas illos situs. ob id quidam pardalianches appellavere. at illas statim liberari morte excrementorum hominis gustu demonstratum. quod certe casu repertum quis dubitet et, quotiens fiat, etiam nunc ut novum nasc, quoniam feris ratio et usus inter se tradi non possit?

English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57

But who, I say, can sufficiently venerate the zeal and spirit of research displayed by the ancients? It is they who have shown us that aconite is the most prompt of all poisons in its effects—so much so indeed, that female animals, if the sexual parts are but touched with it, will not survive a single day. With this poison it was that M. Cæcilius accused Calpurnius Bestia of killing his wives in their sleep, and this it was that gave rise to that fearful peroration of his, denouncing the murderous finger of the accused. According to the fables of mythology, this plant was originally produced from the foam of the dog Cerberus, when dragged by Hercules from the Infernal Regions; for which reason, it is said, it is still so remarkably abundant in the vicinity of Heraclea in Pontus, a spot where the entrance is still pointed out to the shades below.

And yet, noxious as it is, the ancients have shown us how to employ aconite for the benefit of mankind, and have taught us as the result of their experience, that, taken in mulled wine, it neutralizes the venom of the scorpion: indeed such is the nature of this deadly plant, that it kills man, unless it can find in man something else to kill. When such is the case, as though it had discovered in the body a fit rival to contend with, that substance is the sole object of its attack; finding another poison in the viscera, to it alone it confines its onslaught; and thus, a truly marvellous thing! two poisons, each of them of a deadly nature, destroy one another within the body, and the man survives. Even more than this, the ancients have handed down to us remedies employed by the animals themselves, and have shown how that venomous creatures even effect their own cure. By the contact of aconite the scorpion is struck with torpor, is quite benumbed, assumes a pallid hue, and so confesses itself vanquished. When this is the case, white hellebore is its great auxiliary: the very touch of it dispels its torpor, and the aconite is forced to yield before two foes, its own enemy and the common enemy of all.

Now, after this, if any one should be of opinion that man could, by any chance or possibility, make such discoveries as these, he must surely be guilty of ingratitude in thus appreciating the beneficence of the gods! In countries frequented by the panther, they rub meat with aconite, and if one of those animals should but taste it, its effects are fatal: indeed were not these means adopted, the country would soon be over-run by them. It is for this reason, too, that some persons have given to hellebore the name of “pardalianches.” It has been well ascertained, however, that the panther instantaneously recovers if it can find the opportunity of eating human ordure. So far as these animals are concerned, who can entertain a doubt that it was chance only that first led them to this discovery; and that as often as this happens the discovery is only a mere repetition of the accident, there being neither reason nor an appreciation of experience to ensure its transmission among them?