REMEDIES FOR FEVERS. THE FISH CALLED ASELLUS: ONE REMEDY. THE PHAGRUS: ONE REMEDY. THE BALÆNA: ONE REMEDY

Latine · Mayhoff 1906

Febrium circuitus tollit iocur delphini gustatum ante accessiones. hippocampi necantur in rosaceo, ut perunguantur aegri frigidis febribus, et ipsi adalligantur aegris. item ex asello pisce lapilli, qui plena luna inveniuntur in capite, alligantur in linteolo. phagri fluviatilis longissimus dens capillo adalligatus ita, ut V diebus eum, qui adalligaverit, non cernat aeger, ranae in trivio decoctae oleo abiectis carnibus perunctos liberant quartanis. sunt qui strangulatas in oleo ipsas clam adalligent oleoque eo perunguant. cor earum adalligatum frigora febrium minuit et oleum, in quo intestina decocta sint. maxime autem quartanis liberant ablatis unguibus ranae aeque adalligatae et rubeta, si iocur eius vel cor adalligetur in panno leucophaeo. cancri fluviatiles triti in oleo et aqua perunctis ante accessiones in febribus prosunt; aliqui et piper addunt. alii decoctos ad quartas in vino e balineo egressis bibere suadent in quastanis, aliqui vero sinistrum oculum devorare. Magi oculus eorum ante solis ortum adalligatis aegro ita, ut caecos dimittant in aquam, tertianas abigi promittunt. eosdem oculos cum carnibus lusciniae in pelle cervina inligatos praestare vigiliam somno fugato tradunt. in lethargum vergentibus coagulo ballaenae aut vituli marini ad ofactum utuntur. alii sanguinem testudinis lethargicis inlinunt. tertianis mederi dicitur et spondylus percae adalligatus, quartanis cocleae fluviatiles in cibo recentes; quidam ob id adservant sale, ut dent tritas in potu.

Strombi in aceto putrefacti lethargicos excitant odore. prosunt et cardiacis. cachectis, quorum corpus macie conficitur, tethea utilia sunt cum ruta ac melle.— Hydropicis medetur adips delphini liquatus et cum vino pots. gravitati saporis occurritur tactis naribus unguento ant odoribus vel quoquo modo opturatis. strombi quoque carnes tritae et in mulsi III heminis pari modo aquae aut, si febres sint, ex aqua mulsa datae proficiunt, item sucus cancrorum fluviatilium cum melle, rana quoque aquatica in vino vetere et farre decocta ac pro cibo sumpta ita, ut bibatur ex eodem vase, vel testudo decisis pedibus, capite, cauda et intestinis exemptis, reliqua carne ita condita, ut citra fastidium sumi possit.—Cancri fluviatiles ex iure sumpti et phthisicis prodesse traduntur.

Adusta sanantur cancri marini vel fluviatilis cinere ex oleo; ichthyocolla, ranarum cinere ea, quae ferventi aqua combusta sint; haec curatio etiam pilos restituit. item cancrorum fluviatilium cinere putant utendum cum cera et adipe ursino. prodest et fibrinarum pellium cinis.—Ignes sacros restingunt ranarum viventium ventres inpositi, pedibus posterioribus pronas adalligari iubent, ut crebriore anhelitu prosint. utuntur et silurorum salsamenti capitum cinere ex aceto.—Pruritum scabiemque non hominum modo, sed et quadripedum efficacissime sedat iecur pastinacae decoctum in oleo.

Nervos vel praecisos purpurarum callum, quo se operiunt, tusum glutinat. tetanicos coagulum vituli adiuvat ex vino potum oboli pondere, item ichthyocolla, tremulos castoreum, si ex oleo perunguantur. mullos in cibo inutiles nervis invenio.

Sanguinem fieri piscium cibo putant, sisti polypo tuso inlito, de quo et haec traduntur: muriam ipsum ex sese emittere et ideo non debere addi in coquendo, secari harundine, ferro enim infici vitiumque trahere natura dissidente. ad sanguinem sistendum et ranarum inlinunt cinerem vel sanguinem arefactum. quidam ex ea rana, quam Graeci calamiten vocant, quoniam inter harundines fruticesque vivat, minima omnium et viridissima, sanguinem cineremve fieri iubent, aliqui et nascentium ranarum in aqua, quibus adhuc cauda est, in calice novo combustarum cinerem, si per nares fluat, inferciendum. diversus hirudinum, quas sanguisugas vocant, ad extrahendum sanguinem usus est. quippe eadem ratio earum, quae cucurbitarum medicinalium, ad corpora levanda sanguine, spiramenta laxanda iudicatur, sed vitium, quod admissae semel desiderium faciunt circa eadem tempora anni semper eiusdem medicinae. multi podagris quoque admittendas censuere. decidunt satiatae et pondere ipso sanguinis detractae aut sale adspersae; aliquando tamen relinquunt adfixa capita, quae causa volnera insanabilia facit et multos interemit, sicut Messalinum e consularibus patriciis, cum ad genu admisisset, in veneni virus remedio verso. maxime rufae ita formidantur; ergo sugere orsas forficibus praecidunt, ac velut siphonibus defluit sanguis, paulatimque morientium capita se contrahunt, nec relinquuntur. natura earum adversatur cimicibus, suffitu necat eos.—Fibrinarum pellium cum pice liquida combustarum cinis narium profluvia sistit suco porri mollitus.

Extrahit corpori tela inhaerentia saepiarum testae cinis, item purpurarum testae ex aqua, salsamentorum carnes, cancri fluviatiles triti, siluri fluviatilis, qui et alibi quam in Nilo nascitur, carnes inpositae, recentis sive salsi. eiusdem cinis extrahit, adips et cinis spinae eius vicem spodii praebet.

Ulcera, quae serpunt, et quae in iis exerescunt capitis menarum cinis vel siluri coercet, carcinomata per carum capita salsarum, efficacius si cinere earum misceatus sal et cunila capitata oleoque subigantur. cancri marina cinis usti cum plumbo carcinomata compescit. ad hoc ex fluviatilis sufficit cum melle lineaque lanugine; aliqui malunt alumen melque misceri cineri. phagedaenae siluro inveterato et cum sandaraca trito, cacoëthe et nomae et putrescentia cybio vetere sanantur; vermes innati ranarum felle tolluntur. fistulae aperiuntur siccanturque salsamentis cum linteolo inmissis, intraque alterum diem callum omnem auferunt et putrescentia ulcerum quaeque serpant emplastri modo subacta et inlita. et allex purgat ulcera in linteolis concerptis, item echinorum testae cinis. carbunculos coracinorum salsamenta inlita discutiunt, item mullorum salsamenti cinis—quidam capite tantum utuntur cum melle—vel coracinorum carnes. muricum cinis cum oleo tumores tollit, cicatrices fel scorpionis marini.

Verrucas tollit glani iocur inlitum, capitis menarum cinis cum alio tritus—ad thymia crudis utuntur—, fel scorpionis marini rufi, zmarides tritae inlitae, allex defervefacta. unguium scabritiam cinis e capite menarum extenuat.

Mulieribus lactis copiam facit glauciscus e iure sumptus et zmarides cum tisana sumptae vel cum feniculo decoctae. mammas ipsas muricum vel purpurae testarum cinis cum melle efficaciter sanat, item cancri inliti fluviatiles vel marini. pilos in mamma muricum carnes inpositae tollunt. squatinae inlitae crescere mammas non patiuntur. delphini adipe linamentainlita accensa excitant volva strangulata oppressas, item strombi in aceto putrefacti. percarum vel menarum capitis cinis sale admixto et cunila oleoque volvae medetur, suffitione quoque secundas detrahit. item vituli marini adips instillatur igni naribus intermortuarum volvae vitio, coagulo eiusdem in vellere inposito. pulmo marinus alligatus purgat egregie profluvia, echini viventes tusi et in vino dulci poti sistunt et cancri fluviatiles triti in vino potique. item siluri suffitu, praecipue Africi, faciliores partus facere dicuntur, cancri ex aqua poti profluvia sistere, ex hysopo purgare. et si partus strangulet, similiter poti auxiliantur. eosdem recentes vel aridos bibunt ad partus continendos. Hippocrates et ad purgationes mortuosque partus utitur illis, cum quinis lapathi radice rutaeque et fuligine trita et in mulso data potui. iidem in iure cocti cum lapatho et apio menstruas purgationes expediunt lactisque ubertatem faciunt, iidem in febri, quae sit cum capitis doloribus et oculorum palpitatione, mulieribus in vino austero dati prodesse dicuntur. castoreum ex mulso potum pur gationibus prodest contraque volvam olfactum cum aceto et pice aut subditum pastillis. ad secundas etiam ut eodem prodest cum panace in IIII cyathis vini et a frigore laborantibus ternis obolis. sed si castoreum fibrumve supergrediatur gravida, abortum facere dicitur et periclitari partu, si superferatur. mirum est et quod de torpedine invenio, si capiatur, cum luna in libra sit, triduoque adservetur sub diu, faciles partus facere postea, quotiens inferatur. adiuvare et pastinacae radius adalligatus umbilico existumatur, si viventi ablatus sit, ipsa in mare dimissa. invenio apud quosdam ostraceum vocari quod aliqui onychen vocent; hoc suffitum volvae poenis mire resistere; odorem esse castorei, meliusque cum eo ustum proficere; vetera quoque ulcera et cacoëthe eiusdem cinere sanari. nam carbunculos et carcinomata in muliebri parte praesentissimo remedio sanari tradunt cancro femina cum salis flore contuso post plenam lunam et ex aqua inlito.

Psilotrum est thynni sanguis, fel, iocur, sive recentia sive servata, iocur etiam tritum mixtoque cedrio plumbea pyxide adservatum. ita pueros mangonicavit Salpe obstetrix. eadem vis pulmonis marini, leporis marini sanguine et felle vel si in oleo lepus hic necetur..... canori, scolopendrae marinae cinis cum oleo, urtica marina trita ex aceto scillite, torpedinis cerebrum cum alumine inlitum XVI luna. ranae parvae, quam in oculorum curatione descripsimus, sanies efficacissimum psilotrum est, si recens inlinatur, et ipsa arefacta ac tusa, mox decocta III heminis ad tertias vel in oleo decocta aereis vasis. eadem mensura alii ex XV ranis conficiunt psilotrum, sicut in oculis diximus. sanguisugae quoque tostae in vase fictili et ex aceto inlitae eundem contra pilos habent effectum. [Hic suffitus urentium eas necat cimices]. inuncto castoreo quoque cum melle pro psilotro usi pluribus diebus reperiuntur. in omni autem psilotro evellendi prius sunt pili.

Infantium gingivis dentitionibusque plurimum confert delphini cum melle dentium cinis et si ipso dente gingivae tangantur. adalligatus idem pavores repentinos tollit. idem effectus et caniculae dentis. ulcera vero, quae in auribus aut ulla parte corporis fiant, cancrorum fluviatilium sucus cum farina hordeacea sanat. et ad reliquos morbos triti in oleo perunctis prosunt. siriasim infantium spongea frigida cerebro umefacto rana inversa adalligata efficacissime sanat. aridam inveniri adfirmant.

Mullus in vino necatus vel piscis rubellio vel anguillae II, item uva marina in vino putrefacta iis, qui inde biberint, taedium vini adfert.

Venerem inhibet echeneis, hippopotamii frontis e sinistra parte pellis in agnina adalligata, fel torpedinis vivae genitalibus inlitum. concitant coclearum fluviatilium carnes sale adservatae et in potu ex vino datae, erythini in cibo sumpti, iocur ranae diopetis vel calamitis in pellicula gruis adalligatum vel dens crocodili maxillaris adnexus bracchio vel hippocampus vel nervi rubetae dextro lacerto adalligati. amorem finit in pecoris recenti corio rubeta adalligata.

Equorum scabiem ranae decoctae in aqua extenuant, done inlini possint. aiunt ita curatos non reperi postea.—Salpe negat canes latrare, quibus in offa rana viva data sit.

Inter aquatilia dici debet et calamochnus, Latine adarca appellata. nascitur circa harundines tenues e spuma aquae dulcis ac marinae, ubi se miscent. vim habot causticam, ideo acopis utilis et contra perfrictionum vitia. tollit et mulierum lentigines in facie. et calami simul dici debent: phragmitis radix recens tusa luxatis medetur et spinae doloribus ex aceto inlita, Cyprii vero, qui et donax vocatur, cortex alopeciis medetur ustus et ulceribus veteratis, folia extrahendis quae infixa sint corpori et igni sacro. paniculae flos aures si intravit, exsurdat.

Sepiae atramento tanta vis est, ut in lucernam addito Aethiopas videri ablato priore lumine Anaxilaus tradat.— Rubeta excocta aqua potui data suum morbis medetur vel cuiuscumque ranae cinis.—Pulmone marino si confricetur lignum, ardere videtur adeo, ut baculum ita praeluceat.—

English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57

Recurrent fevers are effectually checked by making the patient taste the liver of a dolphin, just before the paroxysm comes on. Hippocampi are stifled in oil of roses, and the patients are rubbed therewith in cold agues, the fish, also, being worn as an amulet by the patient. In the same way, too, the small stones that are found at full moon in the head of the fish called “asellus” are worn, attached in a piece of linen cloth to the patient’s body. A similar virtue is attributed to the longest tooth of the river-fish called phagrus, attached to the patient with a hair, provided he does not see the person who attaches it to him for five days. Frogs are boiled in oil in a spot where three roads meet, and, the flesh being first thrown away, the patients are rubbed with the decoction, by way of cure for quartan fever. Some persons, again, suffocate frogs in oil, and, after attaching them to the patient without his knowing it, anoint him with the oil. The heart of a frog, worn as an amulet, modifies the cold chills in fevers; the same, too, with oil in which the intestines of frogs have been boiled. But the best remedy for quartan fevers, is to wear attached to the body either frogs from which the claws have been removed, or else the liver or heart of a bramble-frog, attached in a piece of russet-coloured cloth.

River-crabs, bruised in oil and water, are highly beneficial in fevers, the patient being anointed with the preparation just before the paroxysms come on: some authorities recommend the addition of pepper to the mixture. Others prescribe for quartan fevers a decoction of river-crabs in wine, boiled down to one fourth, the patient taking it at the moment of leaving the bath: by some, too, it is recommended to swallow the left eye of a river-crab. The magicians engage to cure a tertian fever, by attaching as an amulet to the patient, before sunrise, the eyes of river-crabs, the crabs when thus blinded being set at liberty in the water. They say, too, that these eyes, attached to the body in a piece of deer’s hide, with the flesh of a nightingale, will dispel sleep and promote watchfulness. In cases where there are symptoms of lethargy, the rennet of the balæna or of the sea-calf is given to the patient to smell; some persons, too, use the blood of tortoises as a liniment for lethargic patients.

Tertian fevers, it is said, may be cured by wearing one of the vertebræ of a perch attached to the body, and quartan fevers by using fresh river snails, as an aliment. Some persons preserve these snails in salt for this purpose, and give them, pounded, in drink.

Strombi, left to putrefy in vinegar, act as an excitant upon lethargic patients by their smell; they are very useful, too, for the cure of cardiac diseases. For cachectic patients, where the body is wasting with consumption, tetheæ are considered beneficial, mixed with rue and honey. For the cure of dropsy, dolphin’s fat is melted and taken with wine, the repulsive taste of it being neutralized by first touching the nostrils with unguent or some other odoriferous substance, or else by plugging the nostrils in some way or other. The flesh of strombi, pounded and given in three heminæ of honied wine and the same quantity of water, or, if there is fever, in hydromel, is very useful for dropsy: the same, too, with the juice of river-crabs, administered with honey. Water frogs, too, are boiled with old wine and spelt, and taken as food, the liquor in which they have been boiled being drunk from the same vessel: or else the feet, head, and tail of a tortoise are cut off, and the intestines removed, the rest of the flesh being seasoned in such a manner as to allow of its being taken without loathing. River-crabs, too, eaten with their broth, are said to be very good for the cure of phthisis.

Burns are cured by applying ashes of calcined sea-crabs or river-crabs with oil: fish-glue, too, and calcined frogs are used as an application for scalds produced by boiling water. The same treatment also restores the hair, provided the ashes are those of river-crabs: it is generally thought, too, that the preparation should be applied with wax and bears’ grease. Ashes, too, of burnt beaver-skin are very useful for these purposes. Live frogs act as a check upon erysipelas, the belly side being applied to the part affected: it is recommended, too, to attach them lengthwise by the hinder legs, so as to render them more beneficial by reason of their increased respiration. Heads, too, of salted siluri are reduced to ashes and applied with vinegar.

Prurigo and itch-scab, not only in man but in quadrupeds as well, are most efficaciously treated with the liver of the pastinaca boiled in oil.

The exterior callosity with which the flesh of purples is covered, beaten up, unites the sinews, even when they have been severed asunder. It is a good plan, for patients suffering from tetanus, to take sea-calf’s rennet in wine, in doses of one obolus, as also fish-glue. Persons affected with fits of trembling find much relief from castoreum, provided they are well anointed with oil. I find it stated that the surmullet, used as an article of diet, acts injuriously upon the sinews.

Fish, used as an aliment, it is generally thought, make blood. The polyp, bruised and applied, arrests hæmorrhage, it is thought: in addition to which we find stated the following particulars respecting it—that of itself it emits a sort of brine, in consequence of which, there is no necessity to use any in cooking it—that it should always be sliced with a reed—and that it is spoilt by using an iron knife, becoming tainted thereby, owing to the antipathy which naturally exists [between it and iron]. For the purpose also of arresting hæmorrhage, ashes of burnt frogs are applied topically, or else the dried blood of those animals. Some authorities recommend the frog to be used, that is known by the Greeks as “calamites,” from the fact that it lives among reeds and shrubs; it is the smallest and greenest of all the frogs, and either the blood or the ashes of it are recommended to be employed. Others, again, prescribe, in cases of bleeding at the nostrils, an injection of the ashes of young water-frogs, in the tadpole state, calcined in a new earthen vessel.

On the other hand, again, in cases where it is required to let blood, the kind of leech is used which is known among us by the name of “sanguisuga. ” Indeed, the action of these leeches is looked upon as pretty much the same as that of the cupping-glasses used in medicine, their effect being to relieve the body of superfluous blood, and to open the pores of the skin. Still, however, there is this inconvenience attending them—when they have been once applied, they create a necessity for having recourse to the same treatment at about the same period in every succeeding year. Many physicians have been of opinion also, that leeches may be successfully applied in cases of gout. When gorged, they fall off in consequence of losing their hold through the weight of the blood, but if not, they must be sprinkled with salt for the purpose.

Leeches are apt, however, to leave their heads buried in the flesh; the consequence of which is an incurable wound, which has caused death in many cases, that of Messalinus, for example, a patrician of consular rank, after an application of leeches to his knee. When this is the case, that which was intended as a remedy is turned into an active poison; a result which is to be apprehended in using the red leeches more particularly. Hence it is that when these last are employed, it is the practice to snip them with a pair of scissors while sucking; the consequence of which is, that the blood oozes forth, through a siphon, as it were, and the head, gradually contracting as the animal dies, is not left behind in the wound. There is a natural antipathy existing between leeches and bugs, and hence it is that the latter are killed by the aid of a fumigation made with leeches. Ashes of beaver-skin burnt with tar, kneaded up with leek-juice, arrest bleeding at the nostrils.

To extract pointed weapons which have pierced the flesh, ashes of calcined shells of the sæpia are used, as also of the purple, the meat of salted fish, bruised river-crabs, or flesh of the silurus (a river-fish that is found in other streams as well as the Nilus ), applied either fresh or salted. The ashes also of this fish, as well as the fat, have the property of extracting pointed bodies, and the back-bone, in a calcined state, is used as a substitute for spodium.

Ulcers of a serpiginous nature, as also the fleshy excrescences which make their appearance in them, are kept in check by applying ashes of calcined heads of mænæ, or else ashes of the silurus. Carcinomata, too, are treated with heads of salted perch, their efficacy being considerably increased by using some salt along with the ashes, and kneading them up with heads of cunila and olive-oil. Ashes of sea-crabs, calcined with lead, arrest the progress of carcinomatous sores; a purpose for which ashes of river-crabs, in combination with honey and fine lint, are equally useful: though there are some authorities which prefer mixing alum and barley with the ashes. Phagedænic ulcers are cured by an application of dried silurus pounded with sandarach; malignant cancers, corrosive ulcers, and putrid sores, by the agency of stale cybium.

Maggots that breed in sores are removed by applying frogs’ gall; and fistulas are opened and dried by introducing a tent made of salt fish, with a dossil of lint. Salt fish, kneaded up and applied in the form of a plaster, will remove all proud flesh in the course of a day, and will arrest the further progress of putrid and serpiginous ulcers. Alex, applied in lint, acts detergently, also, upon ulcers; the same, too, with the ashes of calcined shells of sea-urchins. Salted slices of the coracinus disperse carbuncles, an effect equally produced by the ashes of salted surmullets. Some persons, however, use the head only of the surmullet, in combination with honey or with the flesh of the coracinus. Ashes of the murex, applied with oil, disperse tumours, and the gall of the sea-scorpion makes scars disappear.

To remove warts, the liver of the glanis is applied to the part; ashes also of heads of mæmæ bruised with garlic—substances which should be used raw where it is thyme-warts that require to be removed—the gall of the red sea-scorpion, smarides pounded and applied, or alex thoroughly boiled. Ashes of calcined heads of mænæ are used to rectify malformed nails.

The milk is increased in females by eating the glauciscus in its own liquor, or else smarides with a ptisan, or boiled with fennel. Ashes of calcined shells of the murex or purple, applied with honey, are an effectual cure for affections of the mamillæ; river-crabs, too, and sea-crabs, applied topically, are equally good. The meat of the murex, applied to the mamillæ, removes hairs growing upon those parts. The squatina, applied topically, prevents the mamillæ from becoming too distended. Lint greased with dolphin’s fat, and then ignited, produces a smoke which acts as an excitant upon females suffering from hysterical suffocations; the same, too, with strombi, left to putrefy in vinegar. Heads of perch or of mænæ, calcined and mixed with salt, oil, and cunila, are curative of diseases of the uterus: used as a fumigation, they bring away the afterbirth. Fat, too, of the sea-calf, melted by the agency of fire, is introduced into the nostrils of females when swooning from hysterical suffocations; and for a similar purpose, the rennet of that animal is applied as a pessary, in wool.

The pulmo marinus, attached to the body as an amulet, is an excellent promoter of menstruation; an effect which is equally produced by pounding live sea-urchins, and taking them in sweet wine. River-crabs, bruised in wine, and taken internally, arrest menstruation. The silurus, that of Africa more particularly, used as a fumigation, facilitates parturition, it is said. Crabs, taken in water, arrest menstruation; but used with hyssop, they act as an emmenagogue, we are told. In cases, too, where the infant is in danger of suffocation at the moment of delivery, a similar drink, administered to the mother, is highly efficacious. Crabs, too, either fresh or dried, are taken in drink, for the purpose of preventing abortion. Hippocrates prescribes them as a promoter of menstruation, and as an expellent of the dead fœtus, beaten up with five roots of lapathum and rue and some soot, and administered in honied wine. Crabs, boiled and taken in their liquor, with lapathum and parsley, promote the menstrual discharge, and increase the milk. In cases of fever, attended with pains in the head and throbbing of the eyes, crabs are said to be highly beneficial to females, given in astringent wine.

Castoreum, taken in honied wine, is useful as a promoter of menstruation: in cases of hysterical suffocation, it is given to the patient to smell at with pitch and vinegar, or else it is made up into tablets and used as a pessary. For the purpose also of bringing away the afterbirth it is found a useful plan to employ castoreum with panax, in four cyathi of wine; and in cases where the patient is suffering from cold, in doses of three oboli. If, however, a female in a state of pregnancy should happen to step over castoreum, or over the beaver itself, abortion, it is said, will be the sure result: so, too, if castoreum is only held over a pregnant woman’s head, there will be great danger of miscarriage.

There is a very marvellous fact, too, that I find stated in reference to the torpedo: if it is caught at the time that the moon is in Libra, and kept in the open air for three days, it will always facilitate parturition, as often as it is introduced into the apartment of a woman in labour. The sting, too, of the pastinaca, attached to the navel, is generally thought to have the property of facilitating delivery: it must be taken, however, from the fish while alive; which done, the fish must be returned to the sea. I find it stated by some authorities that there is a substance called “ostraceum,” which is also spoken of as “onyx” by others; that, used as a fumigation, it is wonderfully beneficial for suffocations of the uterus; that in smell it resembles castoreum, and is still more efficacious, if burnt with this last substance; and that in a calcined state it has the property of healing inveterate ulcers, and cancerous sores of a malignant nature. As to carbuncles and carcinomatous sores upon the secret parts of females, there is nothing more efficacious, it is said, than a female crab beaten up, just after full moon, with flower of salt and applied with water.

Depilatories are prepared from the blood, gall, and liver of the tunny, either fresh or preserved; as also from pounded liver of the same fish, preserved with cedar resin in a leaden box; a recipe which we find given by the midwife Salpe for disguising the age of boys on sale for slaves. A similar property belongs to the pulmo marinus, to the blood and gall of the sea-hare, and to the sea-hare itself, stifled in oil. The same, too, with ashes of burnt crabs or sea scolopendræ, mixed with oil; sea-nettles, bruised in squill vinegar; and brains of the torpedo applied with alum on the sixteenth day of the moon. The thick matter emitted by the small frogs, which we have described when treating of eye-diseases, is a most efficient depilatory, if applied fresh: the same, too, with the frog itself, dried and pounded, and then boiled down to one-third in three heminæ of water, or else boiled in a copper vessel with oil in a like proportion. Others, again, prepare a depilatory from fifteen frogs, in manner already stated under the head of remedies for the eyes. Leeches, also, grilled in an earthen vessel, and applied with vinegar, have the same property as a depilatory; the very odour, too, which attaches to the persons who thus burn them is singularly efficacious for killing bugs. Cases are to be found, too, where persons have used castoreum with honey, for many days together, as a depilatory. In the case, however, of every depilatory, the hairs should always be removed before it is applied.

Dentition in infants is promoted, and the gums greatly relieved, by rubbing them with ashes of a dolphin’s teeth, mixed with honey, or else by touching the gums with the tooth itself of that fish. One of these teeth, worn as an amulet, is a preventive of sudden frights; the tooth of the dog-fish being also possessed of a similar property. As to ulcers which make their appearance in the ears, or in any other parts of the body, they may be cured by applying the liquor of river-crabs, with barley-meal. These crabs, too, bruised in oil and employed as a friction, are very useful for other kinds of maladies. A sponge moistened with cold water from time to time, or a frog applied, the back part to the head, is a most efficacious cure for siriasis in infants. When the frog is removed, it will be found quite dry, they say.

A surmullet stifled in wine; the fish called “rubellio;” or a couple of eels similarly treated; or a grapefish, left to putrefy in wine, all of them, produce an aversion to wine in those who drink thereof.

In the number of antaphrodisiacs, we have the echeneïs; the skin from the left side of the forehead of the hippopotamus, attached to the body in lamb-skin; and the gall of a live torpedo, applied to the generative organs.

The following substances act as aphrodisiacs—the flesh of river-snails, preserved in salt and given to drink in wine; the erythinus taken as food; the liver of the frog called “diopetes” or “calamites” attached to the body in a small piece of crane’s skin; the eye-tooth of a crocodile, attached to the arm; the hippocampus; and the sinews of a bramble-frog, worn as an amulet upon the right arm. A bramble-frog, attached to the body in a piece of fresh sheep-skin, effectually puts an end to love.

A decoction of frogs in water, reduced to the form of a liniment, is curative of itch-scab in horses; indeed, it is said, that a horse, when once treated in this manner, will never again be attacked with the disease. Salpe says that if a live frog is given to dogs in their mess, they will lose the power of barking.

Among the aquatic productions ought also to be mentioned calamochnos, in Latin known as “adarca,” a substance which collects about small reeds, from a mixture of the foam of fresh and of sea water. It possesses certain caustic properties, and hence it is that it is so useful as an ingredient in “acopa” and as a remedy for cold shiverings; it is used too, for removing freckles upon the face of females. And now we are speaking of adarca, the reed ought equally to be mentioned. The root of that known as the “phragmites,” pounded fresh, is curative of sprains, and, applied topically with vinegar, removes pains in the spine. The calcined bark, too, of the Cyprian reed, known as the “donax,” is curative of alopecy and inveterate ulcers; and its leaves are good for the extraction of foreign bodies adhering to the flesh, and for the cure of erysipelas: should, however, the flower of the panicle happen to enter the ears, deafness is the consequence.

The ink of the sæpia is possessed of such remarkable potency, that if it is put into a lamp, Anaxilaüs tells us, the light will become entirely changed, and all present will look as black as Æthiopians. The bramble-frog, boiled in water, and given to swine with their drink, is curative of the maladies with which they are affected; an effect equally produced by the ashes of any other kind of frog. If wood is rubbed with the pulmo marinus, it will have all the appearance of being on fire; so much so, indeed, that a walking-stick, thus treated, will light the way like a torch.