REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE DOG

Latine · Mayhoff 1906

De anserum honore, quem meruere Gallorum in Capitolium ascensu deprehenso, diximus. eadem de causa supplicia annua canes pendunt, inter aedem Iuventatis et Summani vivi in furca sabucea armo fixi. sed plura de hoc animali dici cogunt priscorum mores.

Catulos lactentes adeo puros existimabant ad cibum, ut etiam placandis numinibus hostiarum vice uterentur iis. Genitae Manae catulo res divina fit, et in cenis deum etiam nunc ponitur catulina. aditialibus quidem epulis celebrem fuisse Plauti fabulae indicio sunt. sanguine canino contra toxica nihil praestantius putant; vomitiones quoque hoc animal monstrasse homini videtur, et alios usus ex eo mire laudatos referemus suis locis. nunc ad institutum ordinem pergemus.

Adversus serpentium ictus efficacia habentur fimum pecudis recens in vino decoctum inlitumque, mures dissecti inpositi. quorum natura non est spernenda, praecipue in adsensu siderum, ut diximus, cum lunae lumine fibrarum numero crescente atque decrescente. tradunt Magi iocinere muris dato porcis in fico sequi dantem id animal, in homine quoque similiter valere, sed resolvi cyatho olei poto.

Mustelarum duo genera; alterum silvestre, distans magnitudine, Graeci vocant ictidas. harum fel contra aspidas dicitur efficax, cetero venenum. haec autem, quae in domibus nostris oberrat et catulos suos, ut auctor est Cicero, cottidie transfert mutatque sedem, serpentes persequitur. ex ea inveterata sale denari pondus in cyathis III datur percussis aut ventriculus coriandro fartus inveteratusque et in vino potus, et catulus mustelae etiam efficacius.

Quaedam pudenda dictu tanta auctorum adseveratione commendantur, ut praeterire fas non sit, siquidem illa concordia rerum aut repugnantia medicinae gignuntur, veluti cimicum, animalis foedissimi et dictu quoque fastidiendi, natura contra serpentium morsus et praecipue aspidum valere dicitur, item contra venena omnia, argumento, quod dicant gallinas, quo die ederint, non interfici ab aspide, carnesque earum percussis plurimum prodesse. ex iis, quae tradunt, humanissimum est inlinere morsibus cum sanguine testudinis, item suffitu eorum abigere sanguisugas adhaerentes haustasque ab animalibus restinguere in potu datis. quamquam et oculos quidam his inungunt tritis cum sale et lacte mulierum auresque cum melle et rosaceo admixtis. eos, qui agrestes sint et in malva nascantur, crematos, cinere permixto rosaceo, infundunt auribus. cetera, quae de his tradunt vomitionum et quartanarum remedia aliorumque morborum, quamquam ovo aut cera aut faba inclusos censeant devorandos, falsa nec referenda arbitror. lethargi tantum medicinae cum argumento adhibent, quoniam vincatur aspidum somnifica vis, septenos in cyatho aquae dantes, puerilibus annis quaternos. et in stranguria fistulae inposuere. adeo nihil parens illa rerum omnium sine ingentibus causis genuit. quin et adalligatos laevo bracchio binos lana subrepta pastoribus resistere nocturnis febribus prodiderunt, diurnis in russeo panno. rursus his adversatur scolopendra suffituque enecat.

Aspides percussos torpore et somno necant, omnium serpentium minime sanabiles. sed venenum earum, si sanguinem attigit aut recens vulnus, statim interemit; si inveteratum ulcus, tardius. de cetero potum quantalibet copia non nocet, non enim est tabifica vis; itaque occisa morsu earum animalia cibis innoxia sunt. cunctarer in proferendo ex iis remedio, ni M. Varro LXXXIII vitae anno prodidisset aspidum ictus efficacissime sanari hausta a percussis ipsorum urina.

Basilisci, quem etiam serpentes ipsae fugiunt alias olfactu necantem, qui hominem, vel si aspiciat tantum, dicitur interemere, sanguinem Magi miris laudibus celebrant: coeuntem picis modo et colore, dilutum cinnabari clariorem fieri. attribuunt ei successus petitionum a potestatibus et a diis etiam precum, morborum remedia, veneficiorum amuleta. quidam et Saturni sanguinem appellant.

Draco non habet venena. caput eius limini ianuarum subditum propitiatis adoratione diis fortunatam domum facere promittitur, oculis eius inveteratis et cum melle tritis inunctos non expavescere ad nocturnas imagines etiam pavidos, cordis pingue in pelle dorcadum nervis cervinis adalligatum in lacerto conferre iudiciorum victoriae plurimum, spondylum aditus potestatium mulcere, dentes eius inligatos pellibus caprearum cervinis nervis mites praestare dominos potestatesque exorabiles. sed super omnia est compositio, qua invictos faciunt Magorum mendacia: cauda draconis et capite, pilis leonis e fronte et medulla eiusdem, equi victoris spuma, canis ungue adalligatis cervino corio nervisque cervi alternatis et dorcadis. quae coarguisse non minus referet quam contra serpentes remedia demonstrasse, quoniam et haec illorum veneficia sunt. draconum adipem venenata fugiunt, item, si uratur ichneumonum; fugiunt et urticis tritis in aceto perunctos.

Viperae caput inpositum, vel alterius quam quae percusserit, sine fine prodest, item si quis ipsam eam in vapore baculo sustineat —aiunt enim recanere —, item si quis exustae eiusdem cinerem inlinat. reverti autem ad percussum serpentem necessitate naturae Nigidius auctor est. caput quidam dissecant scite inter aures ad eximendum lapillum, quem aiunt ab ea devorari territa; alii ipso toto capite utuntur. fiunt ex vipera pastilli, qui theriaci vocantur a Graecis, ternis digitis mensura utrimque amputatis exemptisque interaneis et livore spinae adhaerente, reliquo corpore in patina ex aqua et aneto discocto spinisque exemptis et addita similagine atque ita in umbra siccatis pastillis, quibus ad multa medicamenta utuntur. significandum videtur e vipera tantum hoc fieri. quidam purgatae ut supra dictum est adipem cum olei sextario decocunt ad dimidias; ex eo, cum opus sit, ternis stillis additis in oleum perunguntur, ut omnes bestiae fugiant eos.

Praeterea constat contra omnium ictus quamvis insanabiles ipsarum serpentium exta inposita auxiliari, eosque, qui aliquando viperae iecur coctum hauserint, numquam postea feriri a serpente. neque anguis venenatus est nisi per mensem luna instigatus, et prodest vivus conprehensus et in aqua contusus, si foveantur ita morsus. quin et inesse ei remedia multa creduntur, ut digeremus, et ideo Aesculapio dicatur. Democritus quidem monstra quaedam ex his confingit, ut possint avium sermones intellegi. anguis Aesculapius Epidauro Romam advectus est vulgoque pascitur et in domibus, ac nisi incendiis semina exurerentur, non esset fecunditati eorum resistere in orbe terrarum. pulcherrimum anguium genus est quod et in aqua vivit; hydri vocantur, nullo serpentium inferiores veneno. horum iecur servatum [adversus ] percusso ab iis auxilium est. —Scorpio tritus stelionum veneno adversatur. fit enim e stelionibus malum medicamentum; nam cum inmortuus est vino, faciem eorum, qui biberint, lentigine obducit. ob hoc in unguento necant eum insidiantes paelicum formae. remedium est ovi luteum et mel ac nitrum. fel stelionum tritum in aqua mustelas congregare dicitur.

Inter omnia venenata salamandrae scelus maximum est. cetera enim singulos feriunt, nec plures pariter interimunt, ut omittam, quod perire conscientia dicuntur homine percusso neque amplius admitti a Terra; salamandra populos pariter necare inprovidos potest. nam si arbori inrepsit, omnia poma inficit veneno et eos, qui ederint, necat frigida vi, nihil aconito distans; quin immo si contacto ab ea ligno, lapidi crusta panis inponatur, idem veneficium est vel si in puteum cadat, quippe cum saliva eius quacumque parte corporis, vel in pede imo, respersa omnis in toto corpore defluat pilus. tamen talis ac tanti veneni a quibusdam animalium, ut subus, manditur dominante eadem illa rerum dissidentia. venenum eius restingui primum omnium ab iis, quae vescantur illa, verisimile est, ex iis vero, quae produntur, cantharidum potu aut lacerta in cibo sumpta. cetera adversantia diximus dicemusque suis locis. ex ipsa quae Magi tradunt contra incendia, quoniam ignes sola animalium extinguat, si forent vera, iam esset experta Roma. Sextius venerem accendi cibo earum, si detractis interaneis et pedibus et capite in melle serventur, tradit negatque restingui ignem ab iis.

E volucribus in auxilio contra serpentes primus vultur est, adnotatumque minus virium esse nigris. pinnarum ex alis nidore, si urantur, fugari eas dicunt, item cor eius alitis habentes tutos esse ab impetu non solum serpentium, sed etiam ferarum latronumque et regum ira.

Carnibus gallinaceorum ita, ut tepebunt avulsae, adpositis venena serpentium domantur, item cerebro in vino poto. Parthi gallinae malunt cerebrum plagis inponere. ius quoque ex iis potum praeclare medetur, et in multis aliis usibus mirabile. pantherae, leones non attingunt perunctos eo, praecipue si et alium fuerit incoctum. alvum solvit validius e vetere gallinaceo, prodest et contra longinquas febres et torpentibus membris tremulisque et articulariis morbis et capitis doloribus, epiphoris, inflationibus, fastidiis, incipiente tenesmo, iocineri, renibus, vesicae, contra cruditates, suspiria. itaque etiam faciendi eius extant praecepta: efficacius coci cum olere marino aut cybio aut cappari aut apio aut herba Mercuriali, polypodio aut aneto, utilissime autem in congiis III aquae ad III heminas cum supra dictis herbis et refrigeratum sub diu dari, tempestivius antecedente vomitione. non praeteribo miraculum, quamquam ad medicinam non pertinens: si auro liquescenti gallinarum membra misceantur, consumunt id in se; ita hoc venenum auri est. at gallinacei ipsi circulo e ramentis addito in collum non canunt.

Auxiliatur contra serpentes et columbarum caro recens concerpta et hirundinum, bubonis pedes usti cum plumbagine herba. nec omittam in hac quoque alite exemplum magicae vanitatis, quippe praeter reliqua portentosa mendacia cor eius inpositum mammae mulieris dormientis sinistrae tradunt efficere, ut omnia secreta pronuntiet; praeterea in pugnam ferentes id fortiores fieri. eiusdem ovo ad capillum remedia demonstrant. quis enim, quaeso, ovum bubonis umquam visere potuit, cum ipsam avem vidisse prodigium sit? quis utique experiri et praecipue in capillo? sanguine quidem pulli bubonis etiam crispari capillum promittunt. cuius generis prope videri possint quae tradunt et de vespertilione, si ter circumlatus domui vivus super fenestram inverso capite adfigatur, amuletum esse, privatimque ovilibus circumlatum totiens et pedibus suspensum super limen. sanguinem quoque eius cum carduo contra serpentium ictus inter praecipua laudant.

Phalangium est Italiae ignotum et plurium generum: unum simile formicae, sed multo maius, rufo capite, reliqua parte corporis nigra, albis guttis. acerbior huius quam vespae ictus. vivit maxime circa furnos et molas. in remedio est, si quis eiusdem generis alterum percusso ostendat, et ad hoc servantur mortui. inveniuntur et cortices eorum, qui triti et poti medentur; mustelae catuli ut supra. aeque phalangion Graeci vocant inter genera araneorum, sed distingunt lupi nomine. tertium genus est eodem phalangi nomine araneus lanuginosus, grandissimo capite, quo dissecto inveniri intus dicuntur vermiculi duo adalligatique mulieribus pelle cervina ante solis ortum praestare, ne concipiant, ut Caecilius in commentariis reliquit. vis ea annua est. quam solam ex omni atocio dixisse fas sit, quoniam aliquarum fecunditas plena liberis tali venia indiget. vocatur et rhox acino nigro similis, ore minimo sub alvo, pedibus brevissimis tamquam inperfectis. dolor a morsu eius qualis a scorpione, urina similis aranei textis. idem erat asterion, nisi distingueretur virgulis albis; huius morsus genua labefactat. peior utroque est caeruleus, lanugine nigra, caliginem concitans et vomitus araneosos. etiamnum deterior a crabrone pinna tantum differens; hic et ad maciem perducit. myrmecion, formicae similis capite, alvo nigra, guttis albis distinguentibus, vesparum dolore torquet. tetragnathii duo genera habent: peior medium caput distinguente linea alba et transversum altera; hic oris tumorem facit. at cinereus posteriore parte candicans lentior, minime autem noxius eodem colore qui telas muscis in parietibus latissime pandit. contra omnium morsus remedio est gallinaceum cerebrum cum piperis exiguo potum in posca, item formicae v potae, pecudum fimi cinis inlitus ex aceto et ipsi aranei quicumque in oleo putrefacti.

Muris aranei morsus sanatur coagulo agni e vino poto, ungulae arietinae cinere cum melle, mustelae catulo ut in serpentibus dictum est. si iumenta momorderit, mus recens cum sale inponitur aut fel vespertilionis ex aceto. et ipse mus araneus contra se remedio est divulsus inposits. nam si praegnans momordit, protinus dissilit. ptimum, si is inponatur, qui momorderit, sed et alios ad hunc usum servant in oleo aut luto circumlitos. est et contra morsum eius remedio terra ex orbita; ferunt enim non transiri ab eo orbitam torpore quodam naturae.

Scorpionibus contrarius maxime invicem stelio traditur, ut visu quoque pavorem iis adferat et torporem frigidi sudoris. itaque in oleo putrefaciunt eum et ita vulnera perungunt. quidam oleo illo spumam argenteam decocunt ad emplastri genus atque ita inlinunt. hunc Graeci coloten vocant et ascalaboten et galeoten; in Italia non nascitur. est enim hic plenus lentigine, stridoris acerbi et araneis vescitur, quae omnia nostris stelionibus aliena sunt.

Prodest et gallinarum fimi cinis inlitus, draconis 15 iocur, lacerta divulsa, mus divulsus, scorpio ipse suae plagae inpositus aut assus in cibo sumptus aut potus in meri cyathis II. proprium est scorpionum quod manus palmam non feriunt, nec visi pilos attingere. lapillus qualiscumque ab ea parte, qua in terra erat, adpositus plagae levat dolorem, item testa, sicut erat terra operta ex aliqua parte, inposita liberare dicitur—non debent respicere qui inponunt et cavere ne sol aspiciat—, vermes terreni triti inpositi. multa et alia ex his remedia sunt, propter quae in melle servantur.

Noctua apibus contraria et vespis crabronibusque et sanguisugis; pici quoque Martii rostrum secum habentes non feriuntur ab iis. adversantur et locustarum minimae sine pinnis, quas attelebos vocant.

Est et formicarum genus venenatum, non fere in Italia. solipugas Cicero appellat, salpugas Baetica. his cor vespertilionis contrarium omnibusque formicis.

Salamandris cantharidas diximus resistere. sed in his magna quaestio, quoniam ipsae venena sunt potae vesicae cum cruciatu praecipuo. Cossinum equitem Romanum amicitia Neronis principis notum, cum is lichene correptus esset, vocatus ex Aegypto medicus ob hanc valetudinem eius a Caesare, cum cantharidum potu praeparare voluisset, interemit. verum inlitas prodesse non dubium est cum suco taminiae uvae et sebo ovis vel caprae. ipsarum cantharidum venenum in qua parte sit, non constat inter auctores. alii in pedibus et in capite existimant esse, alii negant. convenit tantum pinnas earum auxiliari, in quacumque parte sit venenum. ipsae nascuntur ex vermiculo in spongea maxime cynorrhodi, quae fit in caule, sed fecundissime in fraxino, ceterae in alba rosa, minus efficaces. potentissimae inter omnes variae luteis lineis, quas in pinnis transversas habent, pingues; multum inertiores minutae, latae, pilosae; inutilissimae vero unius coloris macrae. conduntur in calice fictili non picato et linteo conligato, coniecta et rosa matura, et suspenduntur super acetum cum sale fervens, donec per linteolum vaporentur, postea reponuntur. vis earum adurere corpus, crustas obducere. eadem pityocampis in picea nascentibus, eadem bupresti, similiterque praeparantur, efficacissimae omnes ad lepras, lichenas. dicuntur et menses ciere et urinam; ideo Hippocrates et hydropicis dabat.

Cantharides obiectae sunt Catoni Uticensi, ceu venenum vendidisset in auctione regia, quoniam eas HS LX addixerat.

English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57

We have already spoken of the honours earned by the geese, when the Gauls were detected in their attempt to scale the Capitol. It is for a corresponding reason, also, that punishment is yearly inflicted upon the dogs, by crucifying them alive upon a gibbet of elder, between the Temple of Juventas and that of Summanus.

In reference to this last-mentioned animal, the usages of our forefathers compel us to enter into some further details. They considered the flesh of sucking whelps to be so pure a meat, that they were in the habit of using them as victims even in their expiatory sacrifices. A young whelp, too, is sacrificed to Genita Mana; and, at the repasts celebrated in honour of the gods, it is still the usage to set whelps’ flesh on table; at the inaugural feasts, too, of the pontiffs, this dish was in common use, as we learn from the Comedies of Plautus. It is generally thought that for narcotic poisons there is nothing better than dogs’ blood; and it would appear that it was this animal that first taught man the use of emetics. Other medicinal uses of the dog which are marvellously commended, I shall have occasion to refer to on the appropriate occasions.

We will now resume the order originally proposed. For stings inflicted by serpents fresh sheeps’-dung, boiled in wine, is considered a very useful application: as also mice split asunder and applied to the wound. Indeed, these last animals are possessed of certain properties by no means to be despised, at the ascension of the planets more particularly, as already stated; the lobes increasing or decreasing in number, with the age of the moon, as the case may be. The magicians have a story that swine will follow any person who gives them a mouse’s liver to eat, enclosed in a fig: they say, too, that it has a similar effect upon man, but that the spell may be destroyed by swallowing a cyathus of oil.

There are two varieties of the weasel; the one, wild, larger than the other, and known to the Greeks as the “ictis:” its gall is said to be very efficacious as an antidote to the sting of the asp, but of a venomous nature in other respects. The other kind, which prowls about our houses, and is in the habit, Cicero tells us, of removing its young ones, and changing every day from place to place, is an enemy to serpents. The flesh of this last, preserved in salt, is given, in doses of one denarius, in three cyathi of drink to persons who have been stung by serpents: or else the maw of the animal is stuffed with coriander seed and dried, to be taken for the same purpose in wine. The young one of the weasel is still more efficacious for these purposes.

There are some things, of a most revolting nature, but which are recommended by authors with such a degree of assurance, that it would be improper to omit them, the more particularly as it is to the sympathy or antipathy of objects that remedies owe their existence. Thus the bug, for instance, a most filthy insect, and one the very name of which inspires us with loathing, is said to be a neutralizer of the venom of serpents, asps in particular, and to be a preservative against all kinds of poisons. As a proof of this, they tell us that the sting of an asp is never fatal to poultry, if they have eaten bugs that day; and that, if such is the case, their flesh is remarkably beneficial to persons who have been stung by serpents. Of the various recipes given in reference to these insects, the least revolting are the application of them externally to the wound, with the blood of a tortoise; the employment of them as a fumigation to make leeches loose their hold; and the administering of them to animals in drink when a leech has been accidentally swallowed. Some persons, however, go so far as to crush bugs with salt and woman’s milk, and anoint the eyes with the mixture; in combination, too, with honey and oil of roses, they use them as an injection for the ears. Field-bugs, again, and those found upon the mallow, are burnt, and the ashes mixed with oil of roses as an injection for the ears.

As to the other remedial virtues attributed to bugs, for the cure of vomiting, quartan fevers, and other diseases, although we find recommendations given to swallow them in an egg, some wax, or in a bean, I look upon them as utterly unfounded, and not worthy of further notice. They are employed, however, for the treatment of lethargy, and with some fair reason, as they successfully neutralize the narcotic effects of the poison of the asp: for this purpose seven of them are administered in a cyathus of water, but in the case of children only four. In cases, too, of strangury, they have been injected into the urinary channel: so true it is that Nature, that universal parent, has engendered nothing without some powerful reason or other. In addition to these particulars, a couple of bugs, it is said, attached to the left arm in some wool that has been stolen from the shepherds, will effectually cure nocturnal fevers; while those recurrent in the daytime may be treated with equal success by enclosing the bugs in a piece of russet-coloured cloth. The scolopendra, on the other hand, is a great enemy to these insects; used in the form of a fumigation, it kills them.

The sting of the asp takes deadly effect by causing torpor and drowsiness. Of all serpents, injuries inflicted by the asp are the most incurable; and their venom, if it comes in contact with the blood or a recent wound, produces instantaneous death. If, on the other hand, it touches an old sore, its fatal effects are not so immediate. Taken internally, in however large a quantity, the venom is not injurious, as it has no corrosive properties; for which reason it is that the flesh of animals killed by it may be eaten with impunity.

I should hesitate in giving circulation to a prescription for injuries inflicted by the asp, were it not that M. Varro, then in the eighty-third year of his age, has left a statement to the effect that it is a most efficient remedy for wounds inflicted by this reptile, for the person stung to drink his own urine.

As to the basilisk, a creature which the very serpents fly from, which kills by its odour even, and which proves fatal to man by only looking upon him, its blood has been marvellously extolled by the magicians. This blood is thick and adhesive, like pitch, which it resembles also in colour: dissolved in water, they say, it becomes of a brighter red than that of cinnabar. They attribute to it also the property of ensuring success to petitions preferred to potentates, and to prayers even offered to the gods; and they regard it as a remedy for various diseases, and as an amulet preservative against all noxious spells. Some give it the name of “Saturn’s blood.”

The dragon is a serpent destitute of venom. Its head, placed beneath the threshold of a door, the gods being duly propitiated by prayers, will ensure good fortune to the house, it is said. Its eyes, dried and beaten up with honey, form a liniment which is an effectual preservative against the terrors of spectres by night, in the case of the most timorous even. The fat adhering to the heart, attached to the arm with a deer’s sinews in the skin of a gazelle, will ensure success in law-suits, it is said; and the first joint of the vertebræ will secure an easy access to persons high in office. The teeth, attached to the body with a deer’s sinews in the skin of a roe-buck, have the effect of rendering masters indulgent and potentates gracious, it is said.

But the most remarkable thing of all is a composition, by the aid of which the lying magicians profess to render persons invincible. They take the tail and head of a dragon, the hairs of a lion’s forehead with the marrow of that animal, the foam of a horse that has won a race, and the claws of a dog’s feet: these they tie up together in a deer’s skin, and fasten them alternately with the sinews of a deer and a gazelle. It is, however, no better worth our while to refute such pretensions as these, than it would be to describe the alleged remedies for injuries inflicted by serpents, seeing that all these contrivances are so many evil devices to poison men’s morals.

Dragon’s fat will repel venomous creatures; an effect which is equally produced by burning the fat of the ichneumon. They will take to flight, also, at the approach of a person who has been rubbed with nettles bruised in vinegar.

The application of a viper’s head, even if it be not the one that has inflicted the wound, is of infinite utility as a remedy. It is highly advantageous, too, to hold the viper that inflicted the injury on the end of a stick, over the steam of boiling water, for it will quite undo the mischief, they say. The ashes, also, of the viper, are considered very useful, employed as a liniment for the wound. According to what Nigidius tells us, serpents are compelled, by a sort of natural instinct, to return to the person who has been stung by them. The people of Scythia split the viper’s head between the ears, in order to extract a small stone, which it swallows in its alarm, they say: others, again, use the head entire.

From the viper are prepared those tablets which are known as “theriaci” to the Greeks: for this purpose the animal is cut away three fingers’ length from both the head and the tail, after which the intestines are removed and the livid vein adhering to the back-bone. The rest of the body is then boiled in a shallow pan, in water seasoned with dill, and the bones are taken out, and fine wheaten flour added; after which the preparation is made up into tablets, which are dried in the shade and are employed as an ingredient in numerous medicaments. I should remark, however, that this preparation, it would appear, can only be made from the viper. Some persons, after cleansing the viper in manner above described, boil down the fat, with one sextarius of olive oil, to one half. Of this preparation, when needed, three drops are added to some oil, with which mixture the body is rubbed, to repel the approach of all kinds of noxious animals.

In addition to these particulars, it is a well-known fact that for all injuries inflicted by serpents, and those even of an otherwise incurable nature, it is an excellent remedy to apply the entrails of the serpent itself to the wound; as also, that persons who have once swallowed a viper’s liver, boiled, will never afterwards be attacked by serpents. The snake, too, is not venomous, except, indeed, upon certain days of the month when it is irritated by the action of the moon: it is a very useful plan to take it alive, and pound it in water, the wound inflicted by it being fomented with the preparation. Indeed, it is generally supposed that this reptile is possessed of numerous other remedial properties, as we shall have occasion more fully to mention from time to time: hence it is that the snake is consecrated to Æsculapius. As for Democritus, he has given some monstrous preparations from snakes, by the aid of which the language of birds, he says, may be understood.

The Æsculapian snake was first brought to Rome from Epidaurus, but at the present day it is very commonly reared in our houses even; so much so, indeed, that if the breed were not kept down by the frequent conflagrations, it would be impossible to make head against the rapid increase of them. But the most beautiful of all the snakes are those which are of an amphibious nature. These snakes are known as “hydri,” or water-snakes: in virulence their venom is inferior to that of no other class of serpents, and their liver is preserved as a remedy for the ill effects of their sting.

A pounded scorpion neutralizes the venom of the spotted lizard. From this last animal, too, there is a noxious preparation made; for it has been found that wine in which it has been drowned, covers the face of those who drink it with morphew. Hence it is that females, when jealous of a rival’s beauty, are in the habit of stifling a spotted lizard in the unguents which they use. In such a case, the proper remedy is yolk of egg, honey, and nitre. The gall of a spotted lizard, beaten up in water, attracts weasels, they say.

But of all venomous animals it is the salamander that is by far the most dangerous; for while other reptiles attack individuals only, and never kill many persons at a time—not to mention the fact that after stinging a human being they are said to die of remorse, and the earth refuses to harbour them—the salamander is able to destroy whole nations at once, unless they take the proper precautions against it. For if this reptile happens to crawl up a tree, it infects all the fruit with its poison, and kills those who eat thereof by the chilling properties of its venom, which in its effects is in no way different from aconite. Nay, even more than this, if it only touches with its foot the wood upon which bread is baked, or if it happens to fall into a well, the same fatal effects will be sure to ensue. The saliva, too, of this reptile, if it comes in contact with any part of the body, the sole of the foot even, will cause the hair to fall off from the whole of the body. And yet the salamander, highly venomous as it is, is eaten by certain animals, swine for example; owing, no doubt, to that antipathy which prevails in the natural world.

From what we find stated, it is most probable, that, next to the animals which eat it, the best neutralizers of the poison of this reptile, are, cantharides taken in drink, or a lizard eaten with the food; other antidotes we have already mentioned, or shall notice in the appropriate place. As to what the magicians say, that it is proof against fire, being, as they tell us, the only animal that has the property of extinguishing fire, if it had been true, it would have been made trial of at Rome long before this. Sextius says that the salamander, preserved in honey and taken with the food, after removing the intestines, head, and feet, acts as an aphrodisiac: he denies also that it has the property of extinguishing fire.

Among the birds that afford us remedies against serpents, it is the vulture that occupies the highest rank; the black vulture, it has been remarked, being less efficacious than the others. The smell of their feathers, burnt, will repel serpents, they say; and it has been asserted that persons who carry the heart of this bird about them will be safe, not only from serpents, but from wild beasts as well, and will have nothing to fear from the attacks of robbers or from the wrath of kings.

The flesh of cocks and capons, applied warm the moment it has been plucked from the bones, neutralizes the venom of serpents; and the brains, taken in wine, are productive of a similar effect. The people of Parthia, however, prefer applying a hen’s brains to the wound. Poultry broth, too, is highly celebrated as a cure, and is found marvellously useful in many other cases. Panthers and lions will never touch persons who have been rubbed with it, more particularly if it has been flavoured with garlic. The broth that is made of an old cock is more relaxing to the bowels; it is very good also for chronic fevers, numbness of the limbs, cold shiverings and maladies of the joints, pains also in the head, defluxions of the eyes, flatulency, sickness at stomach, incipient tenesmus, liver complaints, diseases of the kidneys, affections of the bladder, indigestion, and asthma. Hence there are several recipes for preparing this broth; it being most efficacious when boiled up with sea-cabbage, salted tunny, capers, parsley, the plant mercurialis, polypodium, or dill. The best plan, however, is to boil the cock or capon with the plants above-mentioned in three congii of water, down to three semi-sextarii; after which it should be left to cool in the open air, and given at the proper moment, just after an emetic has been administered.

And here I must not omit to mention one marvellous fact, even though it bears no reference to medicine: if the flesh of poultry is mingled with gold in a state of fusion, it will absorb the metal and consume it, thus showing that it acts as a poison upon gold. If young twigs are made up into a collar and put round a cock’s neck, it will never crow.

The flesh of pigeons also, or of swallows, used fresh and minced, is a remedy for injuries inflicted by serpents: the same, too, with the feet of a horned owl, burnt with the plant plumbago. While mentioning this bird, too, I must not forget to cite another instance of the impositions practised by the magicians: among other prodigious lies of theirs, they pretend that the heart of a horned owl, applied to the left breast of a woman while asleep, will make her disclose all her secret thoughts. They say, also, in addition to this, that persons who have it about them in battle will be sure to display valour. They describe, too, certain remedies made from the egg of this bird for the hair. But who, pray, has ever had the opportunity of seeing the egg of a horned owl, considering that it is so highly ominous to see the bird itself? And then besides, who has ever thought proper to make the experiment, and upon his hair more particularly? In addition to all this, the magicians go so far as to engage to make the hair curl by using the blood of the young of the horned owl.

What they tell us, too, about the bat, appears to belong to pretty much the same class of stories: if one of these animals is carried alive, three times round a house, they say, and then nailed outside of the window with the head downwards, it will have all the effects of a countercharm: they assert, also, that the bat is a most excellent preservative for sheepfolds, being first carried three times round them, and then hung up by the foot over the lintel of the door. The blood of the bat is also recommended by them as a sovereign remedy, in combination with a thistle, for injuries inflicted by serpents.

Of the phalangium, an insect unknown to Italy, there are numerous kinds; one of which resembles the ant, but is much larger, with a red head, black as to the other parts of the body, and covered with white spots. Its sting is much more acute than that of the wasp, and it lives mostly in the vicinity of ovens and mills. The proper remedy is, to present before the eyes of the person stung another insect of the same description, a purpose for which they are preserved when found dead. Their husks also, found in a dry state, are beaten up and taken in drink for a similar purpose. The young of the weasel, too, as already stated, are possessed of a similar property. The Greeks give the name of “phalangion” also to a kind of spider, but they generally distinguish it by the surname of the “wolf.” A third kind, also known as the “phalangium,” is a spider with a hairy body, and a head of enormous size. When opened, there are found in it two small worms, they say: these, attached in a piece of deer’s skin, before sunrise, to a woman’s body, will prevent conception, according to what Cæcilius, in his Commentaries, says. This property lasts, however, for a year only; and, indeed, it is the only one of all the anti-conceptives that I feel myself at liberty to mention, in favour of some women whose fecundity, quite teeming with children, stands in need of some such respite.

There is another kind again, called “rhagion,” similar to a black grape in appearance, with a very diminutive mouth, situate beneath the abdomen, and extremely short legs, which have all the appearance of not being fully developed. The bite of this last insect causes fully as much pain as the sting of the scorpion, and the urine of persons who are injured by it, presents filmy appearances like cobwebs. The asterion would be identical with it, were it not distinguished by white streaks upon the body: its bite causes failing in the knees. But worse than either of these last, is a blue spider, covered with black hair, and causing dimness of the sight and vomiting of a matter like cobwebs in appearance. A still more dangerous kind is one which differs only from the hornet, in form, in being destitute of wings, and the bite of which causes a wasting away of the system. The myrmecion in the head resembles the ant, has a black body spotted with white, and causes by its bite a pain like that attendant upon the sting of the wasp. Of the tetragnathius there are two varieties, the more noxious of which has two white streaks crossing each other on the middle of the head; its bite causes the mouth to swell. The other one is of an ashy colour, whitish on the posterior part of the body, and not so ready to bite.

The least noxious of all is the spider that is seen extending its web along the walls, and lying in wait for flies; it is of the same ashy colour as the last.

For the bite of all spiders, the best remedies are: a cock’s brains, taken in oxycrate with a little pepper; five ants, swallowed in drink; sheep’s dung, applied in vinegar; and spiders of any kind, left to putrefy in oil. The bite of the shrew-mouse is cured by taking lamb’s rennet in wine; the ashes of a ram’s foot with honey; or a young weasel, prepared in manner already mentioned by us when speaking of serpents. In cases where a shrew-mouse has bitten beasts of burden, a mouse, fresh caught, is applied to the wound with oil, or a bat’s gall with vinegar. The shrew-mouse itself too, split asunder and applied to the wound, is a cure for its bite; indeed, if the animal is with young when the injury is inflicted, it will instantly burst asunder. The best plan is to apply the mouse itself which has inflicted the bite, but others are commonly kept for this purpose, either steeped in oil or coated with clay. Another remedy, again, for its bite is the earth taken from the rut made by a cart-wheel; for this animal, it is said, owing to a certain torpor which is natural to it, will never cross a rut made by a wheel.

The stellio, in its turn, is said to have the greatest antipathy to the scorpion; so much so indeed, that the very sight of it strikes terror in that reptile, and a torpor attended with cold sweats; hence it is that this lizard is left to putrefy in oil, as a liniment for injuries inflicted by the scorpion. Some persons boil down the oil with litharge, and make a sort of plaster of it to apply to the wound. The Greeks give the name of “colotes” to this lizard, as also “ascalabotes,” and “galeotes:” it is never found in Italy, and is covered with small spots, utters a shrill, piercing noise, and lives on food; characteristics, all of them, foreign to the stellio of Italy.

Poultry dung, too, is good as an application for the sting of the scorpion; a dragon’s liver also; a lizard or mouse split asunder; or else the scorpion itself, either applied to the wound, grilled and eaten, or taken in two cyathi of undiluted wine. One peculiarity of the scorpion is, that it never stings the palm of the hand, and never touches any parts of the body but those covered with hair. Any kind of pebble, applied to the wound on the side which has lain next to the ground, will alleviate the pain. A potsherd too, covered with earth on any part of it, and applied just as it is found, will effect a cure, it is said—the person, however, who applies it must not look behind him, and must be equally careful that the sun does not shine upon him. Earth-worms also, are pounded and applied to the wound; in addition to which, they form ingredients in numerous other medicaments, being kept in honey for the purpose.

For injuries inflicted by bees, wasps, hornets, and leeches, the owlet is considered a very useful remedy; persons, too, who carry about them the beak of the woodpecker of Mars are never injured by any of these creatures. The smaller kinds of locusts also, destitute of wings and known as “attelebi,” are a good remedy for the sting of the scorpion.

There is a kind of venomous ant, by no means common in Italy; Cicero calls it “solipuga,” and in Bætica it is known as “salpuga.” The proper remedy for its venom and that of all kinds of ants is a bat’s heart. We have already stated that cantharides are an antidote to the salamander.

But with reference to cantharides, there has been considerable controversy on the subject, seeing that, taken internally, they are a poison, attended with excruciating pains in the bladder. Cossinus, a Roman of the Equestrian order, well known for his intimate friendship with the Emperor Nero, being attacked with lichen, that prince sent to Egypt for a physician to cure him; who recommending a potion prepared from cantharides, the patient was killed in consequence. There is no doubt, however, that applied externally they are useful, in combination with juice of Taminian grapes, and the suet of a sheep or she-goat. As to the part of the body in which the poison of the insect is situate, authors are by no means agreed. Some fancy that it exists in the feet and head, while others, again, deny it; indeed the only point that has been well ascertained is, that the wings are the only antidote to their venom, wherever it may be situate.

Cantharides are produced from a small grub, found more particularly in the spongy excrescences which grow on the stem of the dog-rose, and still more abundantly upon the ash. Other kinds, again, are found upon the white rose, but they are by no means so efficacious. The most active of all in their properties, are those which are spotted with yellow streaks running transversely across the wings, and are plump and well-filled. Those which are small, broad, and hairy, are not so powerful in their operation, and the least useful of all are those which are thin and shrivelled, and present one uniform colour. They are put in a small earthen pot, not coated with pitch, and stopped at the mouth with a linen cloth, a layer of full-blown roses being placed upon them; they are then suspended over vinegar boiled with salt, until the steam has penetrated the cloth and stifled them, after which they are put by for use. They have a caustic effect upon the skin, and cover the ulcerations with a crust; a property which belongs also to the pine-caterpillar found upon the pitch-tree, and to the buprestis, both of which are prepared in a similar manner.

All these insects are extremely efficacious for the cure of leprosy and lichens. It is said, too, that they act as an emmenagogue and diuretic, for which last reason Hippocrates used to prescribe them for dropsy. Cato of Utica was reproached with selling poison, because, when disposing of a royal property by auction, he sold a quantity of cantharides, at the price of sixty thousand sesterces.