xxviii

eliminating formating inconsistencies, and elegantly solving problems

BOOKI
that my deficiencies in word processing technolgy had created. And
last but not least I am thankful to the Alexander S. Onassis Public
Preface
Benefit Foundationfor its generousgrantin supportof this project.
Dear Areios,
1. Even though many writers, not only ancient but also modem, have
written about the preparation, properties, and testing of drugs, I shall
try to show you that it is neither a vain nor a foolish impulse that
possessed me to undertake the present work. I have done so because
some of them did not give complete accounts, while others based
their disquisitions for the most part on written sources. For instance,
Iollas of Bithyniat and Heracleides of Tarentum2 treated only a small
part of the subject, ignoring completely the lore of herbal remedies.
nor did they in fact mention minerals or spices at all. On the other
hand, Crateuas,3 the root cutter, and Andreas,4 the physician, both of

IoIlas of Bithynia lived during the third century B.C, His preparations are
mentioned both by Celsus, De medicina, V, 22.5 and by Pliny, N. H,, XX 187 and
!98 who also includes him in his fist of authoritiesfor books XII, XIII, XX-XXVIlI,
and XXXIII-XXXV. Neither Census nor Pliny faults him in any way. See "Iolas."
P.W. 9. pt 2 (1916): 1855; Max WeIImann,"Zur Geschichte der Medizin, p, 561;
John Scarborough and Vivian Nutton, "The Preface," p 202: John Riddle,
Dioscorides on f)harnlac2,' and Medicine. pp. 19-20
: Herac[eides of Tarentam was a physician of the first century B.C who worked in
Alexandria Pliny uses him as a source for N H., XII and XIII He was much
esteemed by Galen for his integrity and for his medical knowledge See Galen,
Commentary IV on Hippocrates' Joints, 40 C G K Jhn, ed. XVIII, part 1, 735.
"Heracleides," P.W 8. pt. 1 (1912): 493-496, John Scarborough and Vivian Nutton,
"The Preface," p. 203, John Riddle, Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine. pp, 19-
20, and J, Vallance, "The Medical System of Asclepiades of Bithynia," ANRW, It,
37. I (1993)
Crateuas lived in the first century BC and was physician to Mithridates VI of
Pontus (120-63 B.C.) Pliny uses him among other authorities for N. H.. XX-XXVII.
Largely discredited is the theory of Charles Singer that Crateuas' illustrated herbals
were directly ancestral to the Vienna MS (A.D512), Singer, "The Herbal in
Antiquity and its Transmission to Later Ages," JHS 47 (1927). 1-52. See also Max
Wellmann, Krateuas, John Scarborough and Vivian Nunon, "The Preface," p. 204,
John Riddle, Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine, pp. 5. 18, 181-191, and John
Scarborough. "Crateuas," OCD, third edition. (1996), pp. 406-407.
' Andreas. third century B.C,, physician of Ptolemy V Philopator. Pliny lists him as
one of his sources for N. H,. XX-XXVIII and XXXII-XXXV See John Scarborough
and Vivian Nutton, "The Preface," pp. 204-205.
 whom are reputed to have addressed themselves to this part of the others used an alphabetical arrangement, separating materials and
subject more completely than the rest, left many highly serviceable their properties from those closely connected to them. The outcome of
roots and certain herbs unnoticed. this arrangement is that it is difficult to commit to memory.
2. Yet one must give high marks to the ancient writers for being 4. I, on the other hand, having had from a very young age, so to
accurate, even though they were not comprehensive, and this certainly speak, an abiding interest in materia medica and having covered much
cannot be said of the modern ones, among whom are Julius Bassus,5 territory -- for you know that I have led a military life.--.have
Niceratus,6 Petronius, Niger, and Diodotus,7 all of them followers of collected at your encouragement my findings in five books. It is to
Asclepiades. They have seen fit to describe in great detail materials you that I dedicate this collection in gratitude for your kindness
that are common and well known to everyone but handed us down towards me. And while you are by nature friendly towards all men
slapdash accounts of the properties of drugs and methods for testing refined by education and especially towards those in your discipline,
them. Nor did they judge the action of drugs empirically, but prattling you have been particularly friendly towards me. No trifling example
about causes, they attributed to each of them differences in particles of your perfect character is also the attitude of the most excellent
and, what is more, they confused one drug with another, Laecanius Bassus9 towards you, which I noticed while living with you
3, For instance, Niger, who is considered prominent among them, and seeing the enviable goodwill that each of you has for the other.
supposes that the resinous juice of the spurge is the juice of the spurge 5. But I do beg you, as I also beg my future readers, not to scrutinize
olive which grows in Italy, that perfoliate St. John's wort is the same the vigor of my style, but rather to notice, along with my experience,
as crispate St, John's wort, that aloe is mined in Judea, and propounds the care I have bestowed upon the subject. For since I know, on the
wrongly many other notions similar to these that are contrary to one hand, from personal observation in utmost detail most items, and,
manifest facts, proving unequivocally that his account is based not on on the other hand, since I have a thorough understanding of the rest
personal observations but on writings that he misunderstood. Niger from accounts on which there has been unanimous agreement and
and the rest of them have also blundered regarding organization: previous examination in each case by natives, I shall try to use both a
some have brought into collision disconnected properties, while different arrangement and to list the materials according to the natural
properties of each one of them. It is perhaps clear to everyone that
+ there is a great need for a treatise on pharmacology, which, coupled
Julius Bassus flourished in the first half of the first century AD Pithy uses him for
with the entire art of healing, provides by itself in every section an
N. H..XX+XXVIIand XXXIII-XXXIV See John Scarborough and Vivian Nunon,
"The Preface." p 205. invincible ally. And because it can be expanded in the areas of
"
Niceratus was a physician of the first century AD Although Pliny does not preparation, compounding, and testing on diseases, as inquiries into
mention him in his list of sources, he does refer to him in N. H.. XXXII. I01. See each drug make additional contributions, I shall include traditional as
John Scarborough and Vivian Nunon. "The Preface," p. 205
7 well as related material, so that the account be complete.
At issue here is whether Dioscorides criticizes three people, Petronius. Niger, and
Diodotus, or two. Petronius Niger and Petronius Diodotus. See John Sca.rborough and 6. So, first and foremost in order of importance is to pay proper
"'The
Vivian Nunon. Preface." pp. 205-206 who support correctly the notion of three attention to the storage and timely collection of each drug; for
ratherthan two individuals, physicians of the first century A.D
whether drugs are strong or weak depends strictly on whether the
Asclepiades of Prusa in Bithynia was a physicianpracticing in Rome in the first
century B.C. Pliny lists him as one of his references for N. H, XIV. XXIII -XXIV. collection was made at the right time: one must assemble the material
and XXVI - XXVII. Epicurus influenced him. Health.according to him. was the in clear weather. This, too, makes a great deal of difference: was the
unopposed movement of bodily corpuscles while sickness ensued when pores where
collection made after a dry or a rainy spell, as it does also matter
blocked by too many particles. He believed in diet ratherthan in drugs. See John
Scarborough and Vivian Nutton. "Tile Preface," pp. 206-208. John Riddle.
Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine. pp. 7 and I 1-12 9 He was consul in 64 AD.
4 5

whether the sites from which it was made are mountainous, high-up, roots intended for storage, for extracting their juice, and for their
breezy, cold, or dry. For the properties of plants gathered from these outer layers must be dug up at the time the plants begin to shed their
places are stronger. By contrast, the properties of plants growing on leaves. Clean roots must be dried immediately in places that are free
plains, wetlands, shady or poorly aerated locations, on the whole, are of moisture, but roots containing earth or clay must be washed with
weaker, and this is especially true of collections made out of season water. Both blossoms and whatever aromatic parts there happen to be
or that are decayed by reason of disease. should be stowed in moisture-free limewood boxes and there are
7. Also one must certainly not forget that plants often reach their instances when they are wrapped to good avail in papyrus or in leaves
peak either sooner or later, depending on the particular nature of the to preserve their seeds. All silver, glass, or horn vessels will do nicely
site and on climatic conditions, that some plants, because of their for liquid medicines, as will earthenware vessels, provided they are
peculiar nature, bear flowers and leaves in winter, and that others not thin, and of the wooden containers, all that are made of boxwood.
bloom even twice a year. Anyone who wishes to gain experience in Brazen receptacles are suitable for eye lotions and for all preparations
these matters must be present when plants sprout newly from the that are made with vinegar, or raw pitch, or oil of Syrian cedar, but
ground as well as when they are in their prime and past their prime. hard fats and marrows should be stored in containers made of tin.
For neither the person who has come across a plant only at its
seedling stage can point it out when at its prime, nor can.the person Tpts, lris florentina L., L Germanica L., 1, pallida Lam., Iris
who has seen plants in their prime recognize them as seedlings. 1. The l]lyrian iris bears leaves like the corn flag, but larger, wider,
Because of changes in the leaves, in the size of stems, blossoms, and and fatter, and flowers parallel on stems, curling, and in many colors:
fruits, and because of certain other characteristics, people who have for one sees them either white, or quince-yellow, or purple, or bluish.
not made their observations in this manner were greatly mislead It is because of this diversity of color that it has been likened to the
regarding some plants. heavenly rainbow. The roots are below ground, articulated, firm, and
8. This is certainly why some writers were wrong in saying that some aromatic. After cutting them, you must dry them in the shade, thread
plants bear neither bloom, nor stem, nor fruit, as in the case of dog's- them with a linen string, and store them. lllyrian and Macedonian
tooth grass, coltsfoot, and cinquefoil. But the person who has come irises are superior and of these the best are matted and stunted, hard to
across plants often and in many places will most readily recognize break, yellowish in color, highly aromatic, rather spicy in taste, pure
them. One should certainly know that some herbal medicines, such as in scent, not clammy, and ptarmic when cut. The Libyan iris is both
white and black hellebore, last for many years while others are good white in color and bitter in taste, <and> it ranks second in strength.
for up to three years. Plants resembling young shoots, such as French As irises age, they become worm-eaten, but it is then that they
lavender, wall germander, hullwort, wormwood Artemisia become more fragrant.

arborescens, worm seed, wormwood Artemisia absinthium, hyssop, 2. All irises have warming and attenuating properties that are suitable
and their like, one must collect when big with seed, flowers before for coughs and for thinning fluids hard to bring up,t Seven
they begin to fall off, fruit when ripe, and seeds as they start to dry
and before they drop to the ground. The geographic epithets of irises in medical treatises indicate origins, not different
9. Also one must extractm juice from herbs when their stems have species, Jacques Andr6, Les noms des plantes dans la Rome antique, p. 133.
newly sprouted; the same applies to leaves. One must catch saps and 2 It is the rhizome of the iris that he uses and it is from the rhizome called orris or
Florentine orris that now extracts are made for the food, cosmetic, wine, and liqueur
gums by cutting the stems when still at the peak of perfection, but industries. The rhizome is used also in folk medicine as expectorant, as demulcent,
end to relieve dentition pains. Norman Grainger Bisset, Herbal Drugs and
Phytopharmaceuticals, p. 279 and P. G. Gennadios, u'ro .oyiK6v AE tK6V, p. 440,
m Extractionsare made either by infusion or decoction.
 7

I, 2 IKopov, Iris pseudacorus L., Yellow flag

drachmait3in weight drunk in hydromel purge thick fluids and bile.
1. The yellow flag has leaves that resemble the leaves but
They induce sleep, they cause eyes to tear, and they cure colic. When
narrower, and it has roots that are not unlike those of iris they
drunk with vinegar, they help those bitten by wild animals, splenetics,
are entangled and they do not grow straight down but and at
people who have spasms, hypothermics or shiverers, and those who
the surface of the ground, being marked with and they are
ejaculate prematurely, and when drunk with wine, they draw down
somewhat white, pungent in taste and not ut7 scent. Best is
the menses. Their decoction, too, is suitable for women's vapor baths,
that which is thick and white, full of scent. Such
softening and dilating the genitalia, it is a clyster for hip disease, 4 and
is the one in Colchis and the one called asplenon.16
it fleshes up both ducts and hollows.
2. The root has a warming decoction)7 is diuretic when
3. Applied like a pessary with honey, the roots draw down
drunk; it is suitable for the side, chest, and liver, for colic,
embryos/fetuses and when used boiled as cataplasms they soften
ruptures, spasms, an spleen; it helps those suffering
scrofulous gland swellings and old indurations. Dried, they fill up
from strangury bitten by wild animals, and it is used in sitz
ulcers, they cleanse them with honey, and they flesh up bones
bathsfor f complaints, just like iris. The juice of its root gets rid
stripped of flesh. Plastered on with vinegar and unguent of roses, they
of tho that cast a shadow over the pupils of the eyes.ts The
help for headaches and they clear away birthmarks and freckles when
beneficially also with antidotes.
smeared with twice as much white hellebore. They are compounded
with pessaries, emollients, and analgesics, and on the whole, they are
I, 3 la1ov, Meum athamanticum Jacq., Spignel, B aJdmdffey
useful for many purposes.
1. The spignel called Athamantic9 g w . ¢ aqy in Macedonia and
Spain. In stalk and leaves it res t b r the dill, but it is stouter than
dill, shooting up to a he}[.gbtfff about two cubits, spreading over its
roots which are de a , horizontal and straight, long, aromatic, and
t: Asclepiades of Prusa in Bithynia was a physician practicing in Rome in the first warm gue. Boiled in water or even ground fine and drunk
century BC
See Weights and Measures,
q' Dioscorides usesthe word ioxia% which LSJ defines as 1) "hip disease" and 2) as etymology of XOITqVOV is from alpha privative and orr3. v, "spleen" and
"sciatica," Sciatica in modem medicine means neuritis or neuralgia of the sciatic Dioscorides recommends its use in this chapter for the reduction of enlarged spleens.
nerve This term is commonly used also for a variety of pains in the area of the hip See also n. 19 below for the use of alpha privative in the etymology of opov.
and adjoining parts. Throughout this work I shall translate{oxia as "hip disease" 7 The distinction between (1) aTrd !aa, "decoction,"(2) 6rrd . "vegetable juice, the
or "hip ailment," the adjective loXta tKd as "subject to" or "pertaining to'" or "good milky substance that is drawn from a plant by tapping it" and which is distinguished
'ioXtOV,
for hip disease," and the noun as "hip joint." See also Max Aufmesser, from (3) XU3.6% "juice of plants, decoction, flavor." (4) XU!a6% much like XU3.6
Etymologische und wortgesehtchtliche Erlaiiterttngenzu De rnateria medica des though sometimes distinguished from it, "juice of plants, flavor," and (5) 6tff,Wrlkaa,
Pedanius Dioscurides Anazarbeus. henceforth cited as Erlaiiterungen, p. 363, where "decoction," is often blurred. In this passage, because dxrd a (I) and XU3,6 (3)
he objects to "sciatica" as being anachronistic. are used in contradistinction to each other, the task is easy, but as a rule there is a
h -ELal3puov in classical Greek refers either to an embryo or to a fetus. Its fuzziness of meaning associated with these words.
etymology comes from iv, "in" and pO tv, "to swell," or "teem." or "grow 8 The 'shadows' may be cataracts, see Dsc. Bk. I, 54, 2 and n. 59, and the presumed
luxuriant." The Greek scholiast Eustathiusin his commentary on the Odyssey. 9, 245 capability of this plant to treat them is embedded in its name: diKopov, from alpha
defined {la[Spuov as "that which grows in the womb" regardless of its stage of privative and Kdpq, "eye-pupil."
development. In English, however, in viviparous vertebrates,embryo and fetus refer 9 Pliny. N. H., XX, 253 says that it is called Athamantic or Athamanic "because, as
to two distinct stages of development: embryo is applied only to the eaxly stages of some think, it was discovered by Athamas, or according to others because the most
the development of a young organism within the mother's body. Later this young esteemed variety is found in Athamania," a district in Epirus on or near mount
organism is called fetus (in human embryology, usually after the third month of Pindus.
development.)
12 13
2. Their properties are diuretic and warming, being suitable for those
suffering from edemata and from chronic hip disease. Tfiey also draw spikenard, being misled by the similarity of their scent. But there are
down the menses• An amount of seven oung.!#i.b j weight drunk with many plants similar to spikenard in scent, like Cretan spikenard,
hydromel is purgative just like white hellebore. They are mixed also hazelwort, and iris. Malabar is definitely not the leaf of Indian
with unguents. It grows on sha ff mountams, abundantly so in the spikenard but a distinct kind of plant that grows on the Indian
Pontic region, 'n Phrygia, in,tiT ria, and in the territory of the Vestini marshes, a leaf suspended on water, just like duckweed, which they
of Italy.2s collect, thread immediately with linen thread, and after drying it, store
:t 5"
it. It is also said that during the summertime, after the water has dried
I, 11 o0, Vv,le'Jqanaphu L., Cretan spikenard up, they burn the earth with its undershrub and that unless this
1. Some Cretan spikenard wild spikenard. It grows in the Pontic procedure is followed, the leaf no longer grows.
regioo,:" t has leaves nearly resembling the leaves of parsmp r 6t" 2. Of fine quality is that which is fresh, off-white with a tinge of
horse parsley, a stem about a cubit tall or taller, smo tl soft, black, unbroken and whole, overpowering in scent and of a lingering
somewhat purple, hal ow, marked off by .Iomts, and ,,'N"fl • ers that are sweet smell, resembling spikenard in taste, and not salty• But that
comparable to those of narcissus, but bigger, p a.l'6'White, and shot which is weak and chopped fine, yielding an emanation of decay, is
with purple. The root higher up is about as tb,}.ekas a small finger and inferior. It has the same properties as spikenard except that spikenard
it has secondary roots that extend sidewty e those of camel hay or accomplishes everything more effectively• On the other hand,
of black hellebore, which are enta l with each other, yellowish, malabar has more diuretic and more wholesome properties, and when
aromatic, resembling in scenWs boiled in wine and plastered on ground up, it is suitable for eye
' lSikenard with a somewhat foul-
smelling oppressiveness, d inflammations, t is also placed under the tongue to make the mouth
2. When drunk, the dry.that can warm and acttvate micturition. Its smell good and it is set among articles of clothing, because it does
decoction, too, can d0" the same thing and it is good for pain in the keep them free of moths and fragrant.
side; it also draw ,.'d wn the menses and it is mixed with antidotes.
It is adulte dd with root of butcher's broom. But it is easy to I, 13 aoa(a, Cinnamomum cassia, BI., Cassia27
"1
recQgni 6utcher's broom, because its roots are tough, difficult to There are many kinds of cassia growing up and down spice-
nd d void of scent. bearing Arabia. It has thick-barked shoots and leaves like those of the
pepper. Choose it pale-yellow, healthy looking, resembling coral,
1,12)laaX& ct0pov, ~ Cinnamomum sp., Pogostomon patchouli narrow, smooth, long and thick-quilled, pungent in taste and
Pt ., Malabarz astringent, somewhat burning, spicy, and smelling of wine. This kind
1. Some entertain the notion that malabar is the leaf of Indian of cassia is called by the locals achy2s and by the merchants in
Alexandria daphnitis. Superior to this cassia is the one that is dark,
purplish, and thick. It is called gizir, it smells of roses, and it is
2 In Central EasternItaly•
z6 p. G. Gennadios, UTo oyLK6V Asf, tKdv, p. 508 says that these leaves are of
cinnamon, Cinnamomum malabathrum or C. tamala native to Malabar and Java.
Jacques Andre, Les nares des plantes dans la Rome antique, p. 151 adds C. iners 27 Both cassia and cinnamon, see ch.]4 below, are species of Cinnamomum cassia
Blume, C. zeylanicum Blume, etc. as possible additional sources and proposes that a BIume, commonly referred to as cinnamon Cassia is the name of the Chinese species
more likely candidate may be patchouli, Pogostemon patchottli Pell., an East Indian while cinnamon of the Malayan. It is the bark of these trees, stripped from the
shrubby mint yielding a fragrant essential oil. See also J Innes Miller, The Spice branches and sun-dried that is used. See more on the subject J. lnnes Miller, The
Trade of the Roman Empire 29 B.C. to A.D. 641, pp, 74-77. Spice Trade of the Roman Empire 29 B.C. to 641 A.D , pp. 42-47
2 A Hebrew word.
 14 15

especially well suited for the art of medicine. The one I spoke of first
2. In testing it, break off the young shoot from one root. Such a test is
ranks second, and third is that which is called barns Mosylitis. 9
easy. For the fragments happen to have compounds and as soon as
2, But the rest are worthless, as are the cassia called asyphe, which is
you begin the test, the best of them, releasing their scent and filling
dark, unsavory, with a thin or even a broken bark, and the cassias
the nose, forestall the selection of the inferior. There is also a kind
called citto and darca.
that grows on mountains; it is thick and stunted, very yellow in
There is also a spurious cassia, which is uncannily similar and which
appearance. And there is kind that ranks third from the Mosylon. It is
is tested by its taste, being neither pungent nor spicy; moreover, its
dark and smooth, fibrous and not highly articulated. A fourth kind is
bark clings to the pith. And there is a broad quill, which is soft, light,
white, spongy, round in appearance and slight; it is easily broken and
lush, and is superior to the other. Reject that which is whitish and
its root is large. A fifth kind smells like cassia and its scent is
scabby, that smells like leeks, and that has quills that are not thick,
overpowering, but it is yellowish, and its bark resembles a yellowish-
but scabby and thin.
red cassia; it feels solid to the touch, it is not entirely fibrous, and it is
3. It has warming, diuretic, desiccative and mildly astringent
thick-rooted. Among all these cinnamons that which smells of
properties. It is suitable for eye medicines directed at shortsightedness
frankincense, or of myrtle, or of cassia, or of Nepal cardamom is
and for emollients. Smeared on with honey, it removes birthmarks;
inferior.
when drunk, it draws down the menses and it helps victims of viper
3. Pick out and reject that which is white, scabby, whose branches
bites; it is good to drink for all internal inflammations and for the
are shriveled, and not smooth; reject, too, as worthless that which is
kidneys, and it is used by women for sitz baths and for making thick
woody toward the root. There is also another kind that resembles it,
smoke to dilate the cervix. Should cinnamon cassia be unavailable,
called pseudocinamomon. It is not a well-developed plant, nor it
twice the amount of cassia mixed with reagents has the same effect,
vigorous in scent, and it is faint in action. And there is also something
and it is highly useful.
that is called zingiberi,3° which is wood of cinnamon and bears some
likeness to cinnamon; it is detected by its looks and stench. As for the
,I, 1 KLV(IHOIaOV,Cinnamomum cassia, BI., Cinnamon
one called xylocinamomon, it, too, resembles cinnamon both in root
l.-' I'here are many kinds of cinnamon that have names in local
and shoot, which is highly articulated, but it is a woody cinnamon
dialects. The best is the Mosylon, because it retains a certain
having long and vigorous shoots and a much inferior scent. Some say
resemblance to the cassia called Mosylitis, and of this, the best is
that xylocinamomon is even generically different from cinnamon,
fresh, dark in appearance, ash-colored tending towards the color of
being of a different nature.
wine, with shoots that are slender and smooth, serially knotted, and
4. All cinnamons have warming, diuretic, emollient, and digestive
highly aromatic. Deciding which is the finest very nearly revolves
properties. When drunk and when applied with myrrh, they draw
around the specific character of its aroma; for the scent of the finest
down both the menses and embryos/fetuses, they are suitable
along with its special character and sweetness is found to be like rue
antidotes for venomous animals and for poisons, they clear away
or like garden cress; moreover it is pungent, biting in taste, and
those elements that cast a shadow over the pupils of the eyes, and
somewhat salty with some heat; nor does it crumble quickly when
when smeared on with honey, they remove birthmarks and freckles.
rubbed together, and the portion between the knots is downy and
They are also helpful for coughs, head colds, edemata, kidney
smooth when broken into pieces.
diseases, and difficult micturition. They are combined with the most
costly unguents and in general they are highly useful. Ground up,

9 I.e. from Mosylon, a coastal town on the Gulf of Eden, modem Somalia.
16 17

compounded with wine, and dried in the shade, they are stored for Some adulterate Nepal cardamom with what is called amomis, a
later use. plant that resembles Nepal cardamom, but that has neither scent nor
[There is also something called cinnamon, which some call fruit, growing in Armenia, and having a flower that resembles that of
pseudocinamomon. It is a well-sprouting plant and its shoots are oregano. In examining such plants aIways avoid broken pieces and
thick, but it is much inferior to cinnamon, both in scent and in taste.]3 choose those that have their shoots intact stemming from one root.

I, 15 ilaCOlaOV, Amomum subulatum Roxb., Nepal cardamom I, 16 K60"TO , Saussurea lappa Clarke, Costusroot
1. Nepal cardamoms2 is a small shrub that resembles a wooden bunch 1. The best costusroot is the Arabian, being white an lighJ, and
of grapes and that is tangled up. It also has a small flower, like a having a very sweet smell. The Indian ranks second. It dark,
gillyflower, and leaves similar to the flowers of the bryony. The best and airy like fennel. The Syrian ranks third. It is [ like
is the Armenian, golden in color, having wood that is yello' boxwood, and overpowering in scent. It is when fresh,
quite aromatic. But the Median, because it grows on plains white, full throughout, compact, dry, not free of a foul
marshlands, is weaker; it is large, greenish-yellow, soft ouch, smell, biting and hot in taste.
with fibrous wood, and it smells like oregano, is It has properties that warm, that emmenagogic, and
yellowish, neither tall nor hard to break, clusters, serviceable for uterine ailment used in pessaries, vapor baths,
full of fruit, and overpowering in scent. which is fresh and douches.
and white or reddish, not compressed or led, but loose and 2. When drunk in the two oungiai, it helps those bitten by
slackened, full of seed resembling clusters, heavy, very vipers; with wine Artemisia absinthium for chest
aromatic, free of any signs of rot, biting in taste; of one pains, spasms, and with honey, it is an aphrodisiac.
color, and not pied. With water drives out intestinal flatworms, and when
2, It has warming, astringe soporific, and, when combined it is an ointment for shiverers, which is applied
applied as a poultice on analgesic properties. It also prior to of the shivering fit, and for paralytics. Anointed
softens and dissipates and when used with basil as a cataplasm, with honey, it also removes freckles; it is compounded both
it benefits victims ot ion bites. It soothes inflammations of the wit
eyes, of the with raisins, and it is useful for female it, some mix it with very sturdy roots of Commagene
disorders both and in sitz baths. Its decoction, when ladUlterating
mint. But it is easy to find out if it has been adulterated, for
drunk, suffering from liver disease, kidney disease, and
gout.33 compounded both with antidotes and with very costly jila
un
! vol. I, pp. 463-465, says that dictionaries wrongly give gout as the only meaning of
podagra and that in many classical writers and in Celsus these words mean pains in
the foot or hand. Spencer suggests that the increased incidence of gout reported by
This passage in the Saracenus edition of Dioscorides, Lyon, 1598, is bracketed as Pliny and Galen was not necessazily caused by the rich diet of the affluent citizen, but
an interpolationstemming from the writingsof Crateuas. perhaps by chronic lead poisoning brought about by use of lead in the construction of
2 diLacolov was often confused with cardamom, Elletaria cardamomum Maton. See aqueducts in Imperial times. See more on gout in John Riddle, Dioscorides on
J. Innes Miller, The Spice Trade of the Roman Empire 29 B.C. to A.D. 641, pp. 67-68 Pharmacy and Medicine, pp. 44-47. Here and throughout this translationpodagra is
and 71. translatedas gout.
Gout is metabolic disease characterized by painful inflammations around the joints :" Not identified. Pliny, N. H., XII, 49 says that there is something called amomis,
caused by deposits of urate of sodium. Sometimes there is also an excessive amount which has fewer veins, it is tougher, and it is less aromatic, It seems to be either a
of uric acid in the blood. W. G. Spencer, in his translationof Celsus, De medicina, different plant or it is Nepal cardamon thatwas gatheredum-ip¢.
24 25
/

It has digestive, emollient, somewhat astringent, and diuretic

2. The root is dug up in the summer, and after it is cut up, it is dried.
properties. It brings about a healthy complexion, it counteracts nausea
When drunk, its decoction sets micmrition and the menses in motion.
when drunk with grape syrup, and when smeared on with woman's :"
'" The root itself, consumed as a lozenge made with honey, is suitable
milk, it checks tearing of the eyes.
for coughs, orthopnea, ruptures, spasms, flatulence, and bites of vild
3. It is mixed advantageously with draughts for internal afflictions._
animals, being on the whole capable 6f heating. Its leaYes boiled
and with pessaries and poultices for the uterus and anus . t is
Zwhen down with wine are plastered to good avail on people.suffering from
aphrodisiac, it soothes inflammations caused by erysipe a,
hip disease. Preserved in grape syrup, the root i§ atso good for the
anointed and it is useful for inflammations of the ears. Bat'they say
stomach; vendors of pickled fruit, dry it for a s,h6rt time, then after
that it is also poisonous when an amount of three drachO ai is drunk
boiling it down, sprinkle it with cold w i'er, then place it in
with water. To triturate it easily, on must dry it in thegn in a clean,
concentrated must and store it for use.
warm clay vessel and turn it rapidly. Even its roo ,is diuretic when
drunk with grape syrup. :
I, 29 vlov o, Thymus inca it L., Another eleeampane
Crateuas writes that there is a d4fferent elecampane46 that grows in
I, 27 KpOKdl.tCC',/'l.ta,
Saffron residuum '
Egypt. It is an herb having twjg a cubit long lying flat on the ground
Saffron residuum is made by molding l e aromatics that were
like tufted thyme, but leav.¢s that are similar to the lentil's, except
squeezed to make unguent of saffron.45 I gi good when it is fragrant,
they are longer and in prO*fusion around the twigs; it has a pale root
smelling moderately of myrrh, heavy, [ark, free of woody matter,
the thickness of a sma)l i:inger, slender lower down, thicker higher up,
decidedly saffron-colored when soak' d, smooth, somewhat bitter,
having a dark bark. I(grows by the seaside and on hillocks.
coloring the tongue and teeth with j. trong color that lasts for several
A single root can.:Jelp those bitten by wild animals when drunk with
hours. The Syrian is of this sort. J wine. ...
It has properties that clean the.dements that cast a shadow over the
pupils of the eyes, that are d uretic, emollient, aid digestion, and ;kmowOlive oil
warm. Measure for measure i't is as effective as saffron, for it shares
Iv--For health purposes, the oil that was pressed from unripe olives is
largely its strength. ,
the best; it is called omphacinon. And of this oil the best is young, not
pungent, and aromatic. This kind is also useful in the manufacture of
I, 28 Mvkov, lnula h lenium. L., Elecampane
unguents. Because of its astringency, it is good for the stomach, it
1. Elecampane: bu Ysome call it symphyton, others Persice, others
both staunches the gums and firms the teeth when held in the mouth,
Medice, others Ofestion, others nectarion, others cleonion, others
and it is antiperspirant. But that which is shiny and aged is more
batos Idaia, a t others phlomos ldaiaos. It has leaves nearly
suitable for preparations that soften. In general, however, all oils
resembling tl3 se of the narrow-leaved mullein but rougher and
warm and soften the flesh, guarding the body from being easily
longish, -- a d they are stemless, -- a large and aromatic root,
chilled and making it better prepared for activity.
somewhat pungent and orange-tawny from which off-shoots are taken
2. They ease and soften the bowel and they take the edge off abrasive
for plant! just like the off-shoots of lilies and arums. It grows on
medications. They are given also for poisons, being repeatedly drunk
mountaiffous thickly shaded, and moist places.
/ and vomited. A quantity of one cotyle drunk with an equal quantity of

f "6
i Jacques Andre, Les noms des plantes dans la Rome antique, p. I 18 says that this is
,5 The aromatics are saffron and myrrh. [, 54.
26 27

barley-water or plain water is purgative; a dose of six cyathoi boiled mostly in Sicyon and it is called Sicyonian. It has a moderately
with rue is given to good avail to drink warm to the colicky; it ejects wanning quality being suitable for fevers and for conditions affecting
intestinal worms, and the same preparation is injected as a clyster in tendons. Women use it also as a cosmetic.
preference to all others for intestinal obstructions. Old wine warms The dirt47that collects in bathrooms can warm, soften, and disperse; it
more, it is more conducive to perspiration, and it is a salve for sharp- is also serviceable in salves for chaps and callous lumps. And the
sightedness. But should old oil be unavailable, it is to be imitated as stuff from wrestling schools that absorbed dust and that is like filth
follows: pouring into a pot the strongest oil available, boil it down helps for chalkstones around the knuckles when plastered on them,
until it reaches the viscosity of honey and use it; for it has the same and those suffering from hip disease when applied hot instead of a
strength as the aforesaid. softener or a hot compress. The filth both from the walls of gymnasia
3. Oil of the wild olive tree, on the other hand, is more astringent and and from statues warms and disperses growths that refuse to be
while it ranks second for health use, it is more suitable for headaches assimilated, and it is suitable for abrasions and old sores.
than unguent of roses, and it checks both perspiration and the falling /"
of hair. It also clears off dandruff, scurf, mange, and leprosy, and it I, 31 that61a,M,' Oil-honey
delays the graying process when anointed daily. Elaiomeli flows from the trunk of olive trees throughout t almyra, in
Olive oil is made white this way: taking olive oil which is light- Syria; it is thicker than honey and sweet in taste. A.guatltity of two
"
colored and no more than a year old, pour it into a new, wide- cyathoi drunk with one cotyle of water remcrv undigested and
mouthed clay vessel -- let there be a quantity of 100 cotylai -- and bilious matter down the bowel. Those :wl o take it, however, do
setting it in the sun, stir it daily with a ladle, from its center, using a become dazed and weak. No need..to worry; but they must be forced
downward stroke from high up so that it may change and foam from to get up and not be allowed to a'll'asleep.
the continuous mixing and beating. Oil is made also from the4 fl of their young branches The best of it is
'turbid.
4. On the eighth day, steeping 50 drachmai of clean fenugreek in aged, thick, rich, aj d"ffo It heats, it is especially effective for
warm water, drop it when softened into the oil mentioned above the elements. ba't cast a shadow over the pupils of the eyes when
without squeezing out the water. Add also an equal amount of burned anointed, ,aa'oa'ithelps both for leprosy and pains around the tendons
out pitys pine torch; it should be as resinous as possible and whe .rl bed on.
splintered; leave it so for another eight days. At the end of this period,
scoop up the oil with the ladle, and if the process has been successful, (KtVOVI atov, Castor oil
pour it out into a new vessel that was previously washed with aged tor oil is prepared this way: taking as many ripe seeds of the
wine and strewn with 11 holcai of dry melilot wreaths and an equal castor oil tree as you think fit, and after drying them in the sun, by
amount of iris and store it. Otherwise, it must again be placed in the spreading them out as one spreads grapes to dry in a sunny spot in the
sun and worked until it becomes white. vineyard until the seed-coverings break and fall off, and after
5. From the oil described above, it is also possible to prepare collecting their flesh, cast them into a mortar; then pounding them
Sicyonian oil this way: pouring into a wide-mouthed, tin-plated kettle carefully, place them in a tin-plated pot containing water and boil
one chous of white new olive oil, made from unripe olives, and one- applying heat from below. When they have released all the moisture
half chous of water, bring to boil over a low fire, stirring gently.
After it has come to a boil twice, withdraw the fire, and scoop out the
olive oil when cool; then add fresh water, boil it with the olive oil, This din is a mixture of olive oil, moisture from the baths, and sweat.
and after doing the rest as indicated above store. This oil is made A compound word from ,kalov, "oil" and p %l, "honey"
 29
28
headaches, for earaches, for ringing, and for singing in the ears. It
they contain, lifting the pot from the fire, skim the floating oil with a
does benefit kidney patients, people experiencing difficult
spoon, and store. micturition, those suffering from stones, from asthma, and from
2. But the Egyptians, because they use it in very large quantities
spleen disease. In combination with honey, root of white lily, and
prepare it differently: having winnowed the seeds of the castor oil
either henna- or rose cerate, it removes facial blemishes, freckles, and
tree, place them in a mill and grind them carefully; then putting the
wrinkles, and it is curative of dim-sightedness. With wine, it clears
grindings into baskets, press them with an utensil. Seeds of the castor
scurf and dandruff.
oil tree are ripe when they detach themselves from the capsules that
enclose them.
I, 34 [ aX(xvtvov, Oil from the nut of the ben trees° p
Castor oil is good for mange, scurf, boils on the buttocks, for uterine
Oil from the nut of the ben tree is similarly prepared. It is capable of
closings and twistings, also for unsightly scars and earaches;
clearing blemishes, birthmarks, facial eruptions, blac ,,gigme'h at o'ns
moreover, it makes salves with which it is compounded more
of scars, and of softening the stool. But .i lfa" or the stomach.
effective. It both drives watery matter down the bowel when drunk
Infused with goose fat, it is su!t,.able Of'earaches, for tinging and for
and it expels intestinal worms. singing of the ears. ...."-"-
' Similarly to the ahoV' ils are prepared sesame oil from sesame seed,
, 3) dxlatry xhtvov [; atov, Almond oil
and w',Llntrr*oi from walnuts. They have the same properties as oil
IS. Almond oil, which some call metopion, is prepared this way: after
from the nut of the ben tree.
removing the skin and drying four choinices of bitter almonds, pound
them lightly in a mortar with a wooden pestle until they form a ball, t
It, 3 UOOKU tI.ItVOV,Oil of henbane .,
and pouring over them two cotylai of hot water, let them absorb it for '
of henbane is prepared this way: taking the whit.e,,
' €ed"d nd"
half an hour; then pound them again more vigorously. Then scraping
pounding it while new, mix it with hot wate : a i tff ted_above in the
them on a board, press them lightly and recover the paste from the
passage on almond oil; then after rdng'16-t0 the top the parts at hand
fingers with a spoon; then again pouring over the mass one cotyle of
that are getting to be dry, r x: fl em with the rest, and continue doing
water and allowing the paste to absorb it, repeat the process. One
so until it becomes. _la and ill-smelling; then passing it through a
tetrachoinicon yields one cotyle of almond oil.
sieve, put it....Ul " It
"
is good for earaches and it is mixed with
2. It is efficacious for uterine pains and uterine suffocation,49 for
suppositQri ince it is emollient.
twistings and inflammations in the same areas, moreover for

9 The modern English term for uterine suffocation is hysteria, although it is no describes uterine suffocation this way: "...whenever the matrix or womb. as it is
longer used in psychiatric parlance. It has been replaced by "conversion symptom" called, --which is an indwelling creature desirous of child-bearing, --remains without
on the grounds that in states of hysteria there is conversion from emotional to fruit long beyond the due season, it is vexed and takes it ill; and by straying all ways
physical manifestations; see Ilza Veith. Hysteria: The History of the Disease, p. VIII through the body and blocking up the passages of the breath and preventing
In Ancient Egypt. the condition was referred to as the "wandering womb" and in the respiration it casts the body into the uttermost distress and causes, moreover, all kinds
Georg Ebers papyrus, which dates back to the 16th c B.C, the chapter on Diseases of of maladies; until the desire and love of the two sexes unite them." There is also a
Women, is devoted largely on hysteria Several Greek medical writers have description of uterine suffocation in Celsus, De medicina, Bk. IV. 27. 1.
described the condition as affecting the uterus, where it starts, the carotids, the heart, o For LSJ 3cxXavtvov is oil of zukkum, spelled also zachum, and derived from the
and the membranes of the brain Languor, paleness, loss of speech, fear then rigidity bito tree, 13alanites aegyptiaca. For Jacques Andr6, Les noms des plantes dans la
of limbs are some of its manifestations, When the attack abates so do the symptoms Rome antique, pp. 32-33, it is made from the nut of the ben tree. See further Dsc. Bk.
diminish and the patient slowly recovers her normal composure. See Soranus, IV, 157.
Gynecology. III. 4. 26-30, Paulus Aegineta, IlL 71, 1: 633. Plato, Timaeus. 91c
 104
105

II, 4 [8oTov ppEvo ; dq ov, Genitalia of stag I1, 48 t<)aoovlad-rcov [plaa'ra, Leather of shoe soles
genitalia of stag, ground up and drunk wlth wine help those bltten
"--OA.0.J ther of shoe soles, burned, ground up, and sprinkled on, treat
by vipers. burns, scrapings, and shoe abrasions.

I,:I, 42 €; vc. v, Asses' hooves EK'ropl E% Hens

,rvttX
hooves, burned and drunk in the amount of two spoonsful for ripped up open and applied while warm, help for bites of
several days, are reported to help epileptics. Made into a paste with reptiles; but it is necessary to keep on changing them. Their brain,
oil, they dissipate scrofulous swellings of the glands, and when too, is given to drink with wine to those bitten by wild animals and it
sprinkled on, they treat chilblains. stops bleeding from a membrane. But the cock's horny element that
lies in the inside of the gizzard and that is scraped off when it is
•I1 A ;kEiv'fivEc; '[w'n'cov, Chestnuts of horses
boiled, dried up and ground up, is an appropriate drink with wine for
C-l stnuts of horse--they are horny calluses molded in outline on
those with stomach ailments. Pullet broth, prepared without additives,
their knees and hooves--are reported to help for epilepsy when drunk
is very commonly given to temper states of bad health and to those
ground up with vinegar. suffering from heartburn.
'H, 2. But the broth of old chickens is given as a cathartic. It is
cdy v &vtrXE;, Hooves of she-goats
necessary, however, to remove the entrails, salt the cavity, and after
T'tfe hooves of she-goats, burned and smeared on with vinegar, treat
sewing it up, boil it with 20 xestes of water, reducing them to three
bald spots. cotylai. After is has been set outdoors to cool, the entire quantity is
f- given. Some boil with it sea cole, or mercury, or safflower, or
, II, 45- wa'rog "t- g cdyrc; [Xcbp, Juice of she-goat liver
polypody. 9 It drives out thick, raw, glutinous, and black masses, and
Th-e uice that runs off the liver of a she-goat as it is being roasted is
it is suitable for chronic fevers, for periodic shiverings, asthma,
suitable to anoint for night blindness. And should one receive steam
arthritis, and for those who suffer from stomach gas.
of boiling she-goat liver into his open eyes, he would benefit. It is
f/
suitable also t9 eat roasted for the same purposes. And they say that
I1, 50 dp6v, Egg .
epileptics are put to the test especially when they eat goat liver. An egg that is soft-boiled is more nutritious than an egg that'c n be
sipped, and a hard-boiled egg is more nutritious than a soft-boiled.
II,46)cd'rtpou llap, Boar's liver The yolk, when boiled, is useful with saffron a uent of roses for
Fresh as well as dried boar's liver, ground up and drunk with wine. is
acute eye pains and with melilot for infla and callous lumps
good for snake bites. around the anus. Fried with the fr sumac or with oak-galls and
eaten, the yolk chec offered by itself.
'II, 4 Kvvdg huoo wrog 'n'ap, Liver of rabid dog
Its albumen, when raw, causes to adhere, soothes when poured
The liver of a rabid dog, eaten roasted by those bitten by it, is
onto inflamed eyes from blistering when smeared on
believed to keep them safe from rabies. As a precaution, they also use
them guards faces from sunburns, it is an adhesive
the canine of the dog that bit them, tied in a little pouch, and fastened
plaster ,le who have a running nose when applied with
onto their arm.

four plants are described as being cathartic, See Dsc. Bk. II. 122, IV, 186, 188,
and 189.
108
109
aV0api E;, Blister beetles
er beetles that come from grain are suitable for storage. After II,@)6pdtxm'l "r6 Qov, Spider, the insect
placing them in an unglazed vessel and tying its mouth all around Spider the insect, which some call holcos or lycos, kneaded on a linen
with a clean loosely woven cloth, turn it upside down over the steam pad, plastered onto a linen cloth, and applied to the forehead or the
of boiling very strong vinegar and keep it until the blister-beetles are temples, cures fits of tertian fever. Its web, when plastered on,l
stifled; then threading them with a linen thread store them. Most staunches the blood and maintains the surfaces of sores free of
effective are the ones that are mottled, that have quince-yellow, inflammations.
oblique stripes on their wings, and that are oblong in body, thick, and There is also another type of spider that spins its web white and
fat like the cockroaches; but the monochrome are ineffective. dense. It is reported that this web cures fits of quartan fever when
Similarly stored are the bouprestes, which are a kind of blister beetle, packed in a pouch and hung from the arm. It helps for earaches if it
and the caterpillars found on the pitys pine. These, too, are stored, should be boiled with unguentof roses and the liquid instilled into the
after they have been roasted briefly in a sieve hanging over hot ears.
ashes.23
2. They all share septic, warming, and ulcerating properties; it is for aOpa, Lizard
this reason that they are mixed with medicines for cancerous sores, T'fie head of the lizard, ground up and plastered on, draws up splinters
and they treat both leprosies and virulent lichen-like eruptions of the and all sorts of embedded objects; it also removes warts that spread
skin. They also draw down the menses when mixed with softening under the skin, thin-necked warts, and warts. Its liver stops pain when
pessaries. Some reported that blister beetles, combined with remedies, inserted into the cavities of decayed teeth. The entire lizard split open
help also those with edemata, on the theory that they set micturition in and applied brings relief to those bitten by scorpions.
motion. Others have written that their wings and legs are an antidote
for those who have drunk these beetles. qJ, Seps
, which some call Chalcidian lizard, treats those bitten by it
agdv pa, Salamander when drunk in wine.
Sa anader is a kind of lizard that is sluggish, colorful, and wrongly
thought to be incombustible. It has septic, ulcerating, and warming ':,II,66)or|'yrog, Skink
properties. It is mixed with medications that are putrefactive, h skink: there is an Egyptian skink, and an Indian, which is
ulcerating, and good for leprosy, just like the blister beetle, and it is indigenous to the Indian Ocean, and another that is found in Gaetulia
similarly stored. Liquefied in oil, it is also depilatory. Disemboweled, of Mauritania. It is a land crocodile, peculiar in kind, preserved in
dismembered, and decapitated, it is preserved also in honey for the garden cress.
same uses. They say that a quantity of one drachma of the part that surrounds its
kidneys, when drunk with wine, heightens one's sexual drive and that
the intensity of the yearning is brought under control if one drank
23 All these beetles contain a vesicating element and they are commonly called by lentil broth with honey or lettuce seed with water; it is also mixed
the druggist Spanish flies, [ ou'npgox g apparentlyalso causes cattle who eat it to with antidotes.
swell up and die. Its pernicious action on cattle is embedded in its etymology, o0 ;,
cattle and "np oLS. distention, For a discussion on the Greeks' notion on the
medicine-poison see John Riddle, Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine, pp. 139-
24
140. The use of the generic article with r ov, in this instant"insect," is to distinguish
, v ' " "
P X n., sp def. from apdxurl., "a kind of pulse."
11o

y' ; {[v'rtpct, Earthworms

orms ground up and laid upon severed tendons mend them, but
they must be removed every other day; boiled with goose fat and
instilled, they cure ear conditions. Boiled with oil, they assuage
I
as they first taste the plant, but the milk they produce upsets the
stomach and causes nausea. All boiled milk binds the bowel,
especially milk that has been evaporated with very hot pebbles. In
111

general, however, it seems to help for internal ulcerations, especially

toothaches if injected into the ear situated above the aching tooth
those of the throat, of the lung, of the intestines, of the kidneys, of the
They also set micturition in motion when drunk ground up with grape
bladder, and for skin irritations, for pustules, and for unhealthy state
syrup.
of humors.
3. It is given fresh combined with raw honey and a little water; salt is
II, latto'yct . l, Shrewmouse .
"$"l also added. It causes less flatulence if it is boiled once. Boiled with
rewmouse split open and laid on is a remedy for it own bite.
pebbles until reduced by half, it comes to the rescue of discharges
(II, 69 )a 'Ec;,Mice from an ulcerated bowel.
It"Ss-ommonly agreed that split mice are beneficially applied on All milk contains whey, which, once it is separated, is suitable for
those stung by scorpions and that roasted mice dry the saliva in the thorough purgings; it is given to those we wish to purge gently, for
mouth of children who eat them. instance, melancholiacs, epileptics, leprotics, people who have
f elephantiasis, and for pustules that cover the entire body.
ti;ka,Milk 4. Milk is separatedby boiling it in a new clay vessel and stirring it
l' .-h general, all milk is wholesome, nutritious, softens the stool, and with a freshly cut branch of fig tree; after it has come to a boil two or
produces stomach and intestinal gases. Spring milk is more watery three times, one cyathos of oxymel is sprinkled on each cotyle of
than summer milk, and milk from green pastures softens the bowel milk. For this is the way that whey is separated from the cheesy
more. Milk is of good quality whenit is white, evenly thick, and if it element. It will be necessary during the boiling process, however, to
congeals when dropped on onyx.25 But goat milk has a lesser effect wipe off continuously the rim of the vessel with a sponge dipped in
on the bowel because, by and large, goats eat food' that binds the cold water and to lower into the milk a silver cup full of cold water to
bowel, such as mastic, oak, young shoots of the olive tree and it is for prevent the milk from boiling over. The whey is given to drink at
this reason that it is good for the stomach. Sheep's milk is thick, intervals in amounts ranging from one cotyle to five cotylai and
sweet, fat, and not so good for the stomach. As for ass's, cow's, and duringthe intervalsthe people who drinkit should keep walking.
horse's milk, they ease more the bowel and they upset the stomach. 5. Fresh milk is good also for the gnawing pains and inflammations
2. All milk disturbs the bowel and the stomach wherever the pasture from deadly substances, as from the blister beetle, or the processional
is scammony, or hellebore, or mercury,26 or clematis,27 as we caterpillar, or the bouprestes, or the salamander, or henbane, or
personally witnessed in the Vestini Mountains. For when the goats dorycnion)s or leopard's bane, or ephemeron.29 To this end, cow's
graze on the leaves of white hellebore, not only do they vomit as soon milk is most useful, being singularly suitable; it is also used as a rinse
for mouth sores and for the tonsils as a gargle. Ass's milk, in
particular, when used as a mouth rinse, strengthens gums and teeth,
2 See. Dsc. Bk. I, n. 81.
26 This is the plant mercury. but sheep's or cow's or goat's milk boiled with pebbles stops
2 Dsc. uses K .qlaa'r ; for periwinkle, Vinca herbacea, in IV, 7 and for traveller's
joy, Clematis Vitalba in Bk. IV, 180 There is a third KYxq a'rlg listed in LSJ
conjectured to be bearbine, Convolvulus arvensis. It is a pasture plant and this may Convolvulusoleofolius Dsr_
be the clematis meant here.
a A poisonous plant, Colchicum sp. L. See Dsc. 1V,83.
112 113

ulcerating diarrhea and tenesmus. It is also used as a clyster by itself loosens the bowel when a great deal of it is drunk and that, in the
as well as with either barley water or gruel, soothing considerably the absence of oil, it is used in counteracting poisons. Mixed with honey
gnawing of the intestines, It is administered as a clyster also for an and brushed on, it helps for teething, for the itching of children'
ulcerated uterus. gums, and for thrush, and it keeps the body in thriving condition and
6. Woman's milk is very sweet and highly nutritive. When suckled, it
free of pimples when applied externally.
is good for the gnawing of the stomach and for tuberculosis, and it is 2. If it is neither ill-smelling nor old, it is good for inflammations and
fit to give to anyone who has drunk sea-hare. Mixed with ground indurations of the uterus, it is used in clysters for dysentery and
frankincense, it is dripped on eyes that are bloody from a blow, and ulceration of the colon, it is compounded to good avail with
when smeared on with hemlock juice and cerate, it benefits the gouty. suppurating preparations, and it is especially good for injuries along
No milk, however, is appropriate for spleen and liver disease patients, the tendons, the membranes, and the neck of the bladder. The same
for those affected in the nervous system, for people who have a fever, fills, cleanses, and fleshes up, and it benefits those bitten'by an asp
for those suffering from a headache, for those who are dizzy, and for when laid on. Fresh butter is also mixed into side dishes instead of oil
epileptics, unless one offered them first the whey for purging and into sweetmeats instead of suet.
purposes, as indicated. Some say that the milk of a primipara bitch 3. Soot is collect from butter this way: pouring the butter into a new
thins hair when smeared on it and that when drunk it is an antidote to lamp, light it up and covering it with a clay vessel, pipe-shaped on top
deadly medicines and a means for expelling dead embryos/fetuses, and perforated below like the clibanoi,3° let it burn. When the first
II, 71 "rup6% Cheese . 'f'"'--- butter is spent, pour more and do the same until you have as much
soot as you wish, then remove it with a feather and use it. Used in eye
When eaten without salt, new cheese is nutrif 6 s-f' good for the
medications, it can dry and bind, it stops discharges, and it quickly
stomach, easy to digest, fattening, and it so e fis moderately the
fleshes up and <cicatrizes> sores,
bowel. One cheese differs from another o ffie same kind according
"l.
to the nature of the milk from whic qs made. But if it has been
boiled and pressed then baked, it b fids the bowel; plastered on, it is oiouxtrlpa, Greasy wool
y wool is excellent when soft and when it comes from the
easta
also good foi" inflammation g tbe eyes and for black eye. Since
neck and thighs; soaked in vinegar and oil or wine, it is good for fresh
cheese that has been fr¢ [ salted is less nutritious, it is suitable for
wounds, bruises, abrasions, livid spots, and bone fractures, for it
reducing, it is unw laISlesome, and it distresses the stomach and
absorbs the liquids and it softens due to the grease it contains. It is
intestines. Aged/.,C eese tightens the bowel and its whey is highly
also good with vinegar and unguent of roses for headache, for
nutritious for/d6gs.
stomachaches, and for pains everywhere.
The so-c/aJ d hippace is horse cheese; it is foul smelling, highly
Burned wool has properties that heat, cicatrize, control fleshy
nut.s and equivalent to cow cheese. But some called hippace
excrescences, and heal sores. After it has been cleaned and carded, it
e l rennet.
is burned in an unbaked clay vessel like the other substances. The
same way are burned also flocks of wool dyed in purple dye. But
72 [3€ 'rupov, Butter
some, after carding the wool together with its filth and drenching it in
l." 'dod"'butter is made from very fat milk; such milk is that of sheep.
honey, burn it the same way.
But it is made also from goat's milk; the milk is stirred in vessels and
the fat is separated.
K [3avo are covered earthen vessel wider at the bottom than at the top in which
It possesses emollient and oily properties. It is for this reason that it
breadwas baked
114 115

2. Others, however, dispose small skewers on a wide-mouthed clay linen cloth, set it in the sun until it becomes sufficiently thick and
vessel arranging them at a distance from each other, then they set on white; others pour out the first water after two days and pour on new.
top of them thin splinters of pine wood and on top they place the The best is that which has not been washed with soapwort and which
wool, carded and soaked in oil but not dripping of it, then after is smooth, smells of greasy wool, becomes white when rubbed with
placing again on top alternately splinters of pine wood and wool, they cold water in a shell, and is devoid of any hard or compacted matter
set the wool on fire gently from below the pine splinters. After it has as is that which is adulterated with cerate or with animal fat.
burned, they remove it and if there is either grease or pitch that drips 4. It has properties that warm, fill sores, and soften, especially the
down from the splinters of pine splinters they collect it and store it. It areas around the anus and the uterus with melilot and butter. It draws
is washed for eye medications in a clay platter into which water is both the menstrual period and embryos/fetuses when applied as a
poured and stirred vigorously with the hands; after it has come to rest, pessary on wool and it is good with goose fat for ear problems and for
the liquid is decanted, fresh liquid is added, and again stirred, and the afflictions in the genitalia. It is also effective for corners of eyes that
process is repeated until it does not bite but is mildly astringent when have been eroded by ulcers or that are scabby, and for eyelids that are
placed on the tongue. calloused or that shed their lashes. It is burned on a new clay vessel
until, having been reduced to ashes, it loses its fat. Also soot is
iI, ;, Fat from greasy wool collected from it the way we demonstrated above (I, 68,) which is
fat from greasy wool is called oisypos; you will prepareit this
hOlOXrn'o suitable for eye medications.
way: taking soft greasy wool that was not cleaned with soapwort,
wash it in warm water squeezing out all its filth. Placing this filth into II, 75 "rrt' a, Rennet
a wide-mouthed vessel and pouring over it water, keep scooping it up 1. A weight of three oboloi of hare's3 rennet taken with wine is
vigorously with a ladle until it foams or stir it vigorously with a suitable for those bitten by wild animals, for dysenterics, for tomen
spatula until a great deal of greasy foam gathers; then sprinkle it with who suffer from discharges, for blood clots, and for ¢j;m hing p
sea water and when the floating grease comes to a stop, scoop it up blood from the chest; applied to the cervix wfl-hT/butt ca ' er
into another clay vessel, and pouring water into the vessel, stir it menstruation, it aids conception, but if drunk ,f r m uation, it
again, sprinkle the foam with the sea water, scoop it up, and repeat causes barrenness. The curdled milk of tJe or ailed by some
the process until there is no longer any foam that forms on top, since hippace, is particularly good for the co k j. e/.dysenteric.
the grease was spent. 2. The rennet of kid, lamb, fawn 'roea g/'-horned deer, gazelle, deer,
2. Then kneading by hand the oisypos that you scooped up, remove calf, and antelope have the same, tn: ,berties; taken with wine, they are
immediately any impurity that it may contain, strain the first water, suitable to treat the inge.s J,0 of hemlock and with vinegar for
pour on new, and stir by hand, until it appears to be clean and white, curdling of milk. But f .vh's-'7
' rennet, in particular, when applied for
and so store it in a clay vessel. Make sure that the whole process takes three days causes barrenness. Seal's rennet
place when the weather is hot. But some, after straining the grease, seems to same property as that of beaver and to be an
wash it in cold water, rubbing it with their hands as women rub the especial pileptics and for uterine suffocation.
cerate. Prepared this way, it becomes whiter. the way one proves whether it comes from a seal: taking
3. Others, after washing the wool and squeezing out its filth
boil it with water in a cauldron, then after removing
text reads simply 7rtrOa .ay¢oo0, "'hare's rennet", one must assume
floats on top, wash it with water as has been described; then
the hare is a suckling, since rennet is found only in the stomach of animals that
it into a clay platter containing warm water and covering it with,]
at suckling stage or in the stomach of ruminants.
 117
116
J
the rennet of some animal or other, mo t ely of a lamb, .%')
and after a sponge. When it has hardened, pick it up, remove the impurities
•
pouring water over it, let it sta d-f a short whde, Oaeh pour the from the bottom, melt it for a third time without water, then pour it
infusion over the seal ) s rennet," that which is g.. . i'h quickly becomes out into a mortar, clean it, put it into a clay vessel, and store it well-
'ffnet
watery, but the spurious stays the sam%,, ' is taken from the seal
sealed in a very cold place.
when the cubs are not yet able tO ' rn, In general, all rennet congeals 4. He-goat, sheep or deer fat is cured this way: taking anyone of the
substances that have be , Isso]ved and dissolves substances that fats mentioned and after washing it and removing its membrane as
have been c.ongeal ,f prescribed above in the paragraph on swine fat, place it in a mortar to
soften, and knead it, adding a small quantity of water over it until no
r p, Fat bloody clot is secreted, no scum floats upon it, and until it becomes
"b---W'ell suited for uterine conditions are goose fat and chicken fat
shiny. Then, after placing it into a clay pot and adding enough water
that are fresh and that have not been treated with salt, but if they have to cover it, set it on gently burning coals and stir. When all of it has
been exposed to the sun or if they have turned rancid from age, they been rendered, pour over it water, cool it, and after washing the
harmful to the womb. Take some fresh fat from these birds and after
vessel, melt it for a second time and repeat the steps mentioned
removing its membrane, place it on a new clay platter that can
above•
accommodate twice as much fat as you intend to prepare, then cover 5. Then melting it for the third time without water in a moistened
carefully the container, place it under a very hot son, and at once filter
mortar, strain it, and after it has cooled, following the directions on
the fat that is melting into another clay vessel until all the fat is spent.
the chapter on swine fat, store it.
Store it in a very cold place and use it. Beef suet that is taken from the kidneys must also have its membrane
2. But some, instead of setting the platter in the sun, rest it over hot removed and must be washed in sea water from the open sea, then it
water or over gentle and slow-burning embers. There is also another
must be placed in a mortar and chopped up carefully while being
way of preparing it which is this: after the fat has been stripped of its
sprinkled with sea water. When all of it has dissolved, it must be put
membrane, it is triturated, then placed in a pan, and is rendered
in s clay pot, sea water must be poured on top to cover it by at least a
together with a littIe fine salt; then it is strained through a fine linen
span, and it must be boiled until it throws off its characteristic smell•
cloth and stored. Prepared in this manner, it is suitable for medicinal
6. Then, for every one Attic tuna of suet four holcai of Tyrrhenian
preparations. wax must be added and it must be strained, the dirt from the bottom
Swine fat and bear fat are cured this way: taking fat that is fresh and
must be removed, and the rendered suet must be placed in a new
very rich, such is the fat that comes from the kidneys, dip it into a
platter; then it must be carried out daily to sun it and covered all
large quantity of very cold rain water, remove its membrane, and rub
around until it becomes white and loses its bad smell
it carefully with your hands, rubbing it as if you were scraping it. But bull suet must be cured this way: taking of this suet, too, that
3. Then washing it repeatedly with new water, place it in a clay pot
which is fresh and from the ares of the kidneys, wash it in the current
large enough to accommodate twice the amount of fat and after
of a river, and after removing its membrane, place it in a new clay
pouring enough water to cover the fat, place it on slow-burning
pot, sprinkle on it a little salt, and melt it.
embers stirring it with a spatula. When it has melted, strain it through
7. Then straining it into clear water when it begins to solidify, wash it
a strainer into water, and after letting it cool, straining it again, place
again by hand pounding it vigorously and changing the water
it carefully into the pot that earlier you washed clean, and pouring
repeatedlyuntil it is well washed. Then placing it again in a pot, boil
water over it, slowly melt it; then remove it from the fire, wait for a
it with an equal amount of aromatic wine. When it has boiled twice,
while for the dregs to settle, and decant into a mortar moistened with
118 119

remove the vessel from the fire and let the suet stand there overnight;
11. Furthermore, you may even thicken animal fats this way: having
the following day, if any bad smell lingers on, transferring the afore-
chopped whichever of these fats you may wish--it should be fresh
mentioned into another new pot, pour over it aromatic wine, and
and free of blood and it should have the other characteristics spoken
repeat the steps mentioned above until it casts off all its foul smell.
of repeatedly--and after placing it in a new pan and pouring over it
8, For certain conditions where salt is counter indicated, it is also
enough aged aromatic white wine to cover it by about eight fingers,
melted without salt. If it has been prepared this way, it does not
boil, using a gentle fire, until it has lost its natural scent and smells
become very w.hite. Similarly must also be prepared fast of leopard,
rather winy. Then removing the vessel from the fire and cooling it,
lion, wild boar, camel, horse, and the like.
scoop up two mnai of the fat, and after placing it in a pan and adding
Calf and bull suet as well as deer fat and the marrow of this animal
four cotylai of the same kind of wine and four mnai of chopped fruit
must be scented this way: having removed the membrane of the fat
of nettle tree, the wood of which is used by flute-makers, boil over a
you intend to scent and after washing it as prescribed above, boil it
gentle fire stirring constantly,
with wine that does not contain sea water and that is fragrant; then
12. When it has cast off its entire animal fat effluvium, strain, and
after lifting it and leaving it alone overnight, pour over it more fresh
cool; then taking one tuna chopped camel's-thorn a,nd four mnai
wine of the same kind and in the same quantity as given earlier, and
marjoram flowers, mix them with aged wine and let them soak
after melting it and scooping it out carefully add to every nine cotylai
overnight. On the following day, pour them and the fat into a new
of suet seven holcai of Arabian camel hay.
clay pot that has the capacity of three choes, and after adding one half
9. But should you wish to make it smelling even sweeter, add 40
chous wine, boil everything together at once. When the fat acquires
holcai of its flowers and an equal quantity of date-palm and sweet
the strength and scent of all the astringents, remove it from the fire,
flag, and one holce each of camel's-thorn and balsam-wood; mix also
strain, solidify, and store, But should you wish to make it more
one oungia each of cardamom, spikenard, cassia, and
aromatic, mix it with eight holcai of very fatty myrrh dissolved in old
cinnamon--make sure that all of them are roughly chopped--then
wine.
after adding aromatic wine cover and place the vessel on coals and
13. Chicken fat and goose fat should be scented this way: taking four
bring to boil three times; then removing it from the fire, let it stand
cotylai of cured fat from either of these and putting it into a clay pot,
overnight; the 'ollowing day, pour out the wine, add new wine of the
mix it with 12 drachmai each of roughly chopped erysisceptron32 and
same kind, bring to a boil similarly three more times, and set it
balsamwood, also spathe of the date inflorescence and sweet flag,
aside.
then adding one cyathos of old Lesbian wine, place it over coals and
10. In the morning, after taking up the fat, pour out the wine, wash
let it come to a boil three times; then lifting the vessel from the fire
the vessel, clean the dirt at the bottom of the fat, then melt, strain,
and letting the contents grow cold for a day and a night, on the
store, and use it.
following day melt them and strain through a clean linen cloth into a
Even if it has been cured, it is scented the same way. This is how the
silver receptacle.
fats mentioned above are thickened beforehand to receive more easily
14. When it has set, scoop up with a shell the aforesaid, put it into a
the strength of the aromatics: taking whichever of these fats you may
clay pot, cover tightly with a lid, and set it aside in a very cold place.
choose boil it with wine, adding a branch of myrtle, tufted thyme and
These things must be done in winter, for in summer the fat does not
galingale, also camel's-thorn, all of them chopped coarsely together.
Some are content with a single one of these ingredients. When it has
come to a boil for a third time, lifting it gently and after straining it
32 Name giveT to several plants, e.g ao dt .aOo ;. "camel's-thorn," KOrrEpo
through a linen cloth, scent it as shown. "galingale".
120 121

congeal. Some mix it with a little Tyrrhenian wax to make it dense

softens, and when washed with wine, it is appropriate for people
and solid. In a similar manner one must scent pork and deer fat and
suffering from pleurisy; combined with either ashes or unslaked lime,
the like. it is appropriate both for swellings and for inflammations. They say,
Suet is scented with marjoram this way: taking one tuna of well-cured
moreover, that ass's fat makes scars uniform in color. Goose fat and
suet--it should be preferably bull's suet--and one tuna and a-half of
chicken fat are suitable for female conditions, for chapped lips, for the
mature, carefully crushed marjoram, mix and shape into little cakes
care of the face, and for earaches, and bear's fat seems to be good for
pouring over them plenty of wine; then place them into a vessel,
growing hair on bald spots; it is also suitable for chilblains.
cover, and leave them for the night. 19. Fox's fat is good for earaches, fat of riverine fish promotes sharp-
15. In the morning, setting them into a clay pot and pouring water
sightedness when melted in the sun, mixed with honey, and anointed;
over them boil gently. When the fat has lost its characteristic smell,
viper's fat is used for dim-sightedness, moreover, it operates on
strain it and a let it stand all night long well-covered; the following
cataracts when mixed with Syrian cedar oil, Attic honey, and aged oil
day, lifting the little wheel and scraping the impurities from the base,
in equal parts, and it eradicates hair plucked from the arm pits if it is
again mix an additional one tuna and a-half of chopped marjoram, as
rubbed on the roots fresh, without any additives.
indicated, and similarly turn it upside down, shape it into little cakes,
and do the other things that were mentioned; finally, after boiling it,
II, 77 lauE%6g,
Marrow
straining it, and removing any impurity there may be at the bottom,
1.. The best marrow is that of deer, then that of calf, after this that of
store in a very cold place. bull, then of she-goat and sheep. It becomes firm when summer nea ..
16. If you wish to prevent uncured goose or chicken fat, or calf suet
fall: for during the other times of the year, it has the appeara f
from spoiling, you must do this: taking whichever fresh fat you
clotted blood and it is found in the bones like brittle ,l:l h. It is
prefer, wash it carefully, and after air-drying it on a sieve in the difficult to know it, unless the person who removes k,t om the bones
shade, place it, after it has dried, into a linen cloth and press it hard also puts it up.
with your hands; then string a linen thread through it and hang it in a
All marrows soften, rarefy, warm, and f up wounds 3ut deer
shady place. Many days later, store it in a very cold spot wrapped in a marrow even routs wild animals when s q - red on.
new papyrus. They do not spoil if they are also stored in honey.
2. Fresh marrow that has been sof d like suet: pour over
17. All fats have a warming property. However, bull, beef, and calf
it water, remove the bones, t ,hff strain it through a linen cloth, and
suet are somewhat costive and lion's fat is like them; they say,
wash it this way until the t(t'eris clean; then melt it in a bain-marie,
moreover, that the last also protects against those who plot harm.
remove the impurities 'fi'ch float on top with a feather brush, strain it
Elephant and deer fat, when smeared on, put snakes to flight; she-goat
into a mortar, an.d after it has set, store in an new clay vessel and
fat is more costive; it is for this reason that it is given with barley-
scrape off cafgfu' y the sediment. But should you wish to store it
groats and cheese to dysenterics and used boiled with juice of peeled
untreate ., everything just as I have described in the section on
barley as a clyster. Their broth is also suitable to use in porridges for
chicken and goose fat (II, 76.)
tuberculars and it is given with success to people who drank blister
beetle.
Bile
18. He-goat fat, being more relaxing, helps the gouty when mixed ., Ai1 bOCCI,
lies are stored in this manner: taking a bile that is fresh and
with she-goat dung and saffron and applied. Sheep fat, too, does the after tying its mouth with a linen thread, drop it in boiling water,
same. Swine fat is suitable for conditions in the area of the uterus and
seat and for burns; cured swine fat that is very old, warms and
 123
122
leaving it for as long as it takes one to complete a race of three when anointed. Swine's bile is used successfully for ear sores as well
stades;ss then, taking it out, dry it in a place that is shady and free of as for all other sores.
moisture. After tying them with a linen thread, place biles that you
intend for ophthalmologic uses in a glass jar containing honey, tying Blood
the end of the linen thread around the opening of the jar, and store 1. ose, kid, and duck blood are beneficially mixed with antidotes;
octlFpa,
covered with a lid. fresh blood of wild pigeon,, turtledove, pigeon, and partridge is
2. All biles are sharp and warm and differ more or less from each smeared on for eye injuries, for contusions, and for night blindness.
other according to their strength. For the bile of the sea scorpion, of Pigeon blood, in particular, stays hemorrhages from membranes.
the fish called callionymos,34 of the sea turtle and of hyena are Baked blood of he-goat, she-goat, deer, and hare, consumed straight
thought to be strong, also that of partridge, eagle, white hen, and of out of the pan, stops dysentery and diarrhea and it is effective against
the wild she-goat, which is particularly suitable for incipient cataracts poisons when drunk with wine. Hares' blood, when smeared on
and for mist over the eyes,s5 for albugo36andfor rough eyelids. warm, treats freckles and birthmarks, and dogs' blood is a suitable
Bull's bile is much more efficacious than sheep's or he-goat's or pig's potion for people bitten by rabid dogs or for those who drank a
or even bear's. All biles bring about a desire to evacuate, especially in poisonous substance.
children, if one soaked a woolen wad in bile and placed it on their 2. Blood of the land turtle is reportedly a suitable drink for
anus.
epileptics and blood of the sea turtle, when drunk with wine, hare's
3. Bull's bile with honey is smeared especially for sore throats, it rennet, and cumin is suitable for bites of wild beasts and if one drank
cures anal sores to the point of cicatrisation, and it treats purulent ears ranunculus.37 Bull's blood dissipates and softens indurations when
and their fissures when instilled with she-goat or woman's milk. It is
good with leek juice for singing in the ears and it is mixed into
7 The Greek text reads "rrpb ... rr6olv <ppOvou." q pOvo : cppOvq, "toad," and a
plasters for keeping wounds free from inflammations and into synonym for q 9d'Vrl is avpdtXIOV, "frog." Greek does not seem to distinguish
ointments for poisonous bites. It is effective with honey for cancerous between toads and frogs. Sct'rpd XlOV, however, also means ranunculus, "buttercup,"
sores, for pains of the genitalia and of the scrotum, and it is an "crowfoot," of the family Ranunculacaea. "nearly all of which contain poisonous
excellent cleanser with soda or Cimolian earth for leprosy and substances," see P. G Gennadios, A :.IK6U ¢'u'ro o't'lK6v. p, 187. Gennadios pp.
!87-188, adds that " the (3aTp(xxtov 'rEpov of Dioscorides... [Dsc. Bk. [1, 175].
dandruff.
4. Both sheep and bear biles are good for the same conditions, but which the Roman writers call herba sardonica, is ... R. sceleratus, in French Herbe
sardonique,or Mort aux vaches, or Grenouilettedes marais a highly poisonous plant
they are weaker. Bear's bile taken as a lozenge, benefits epileptics; ...indigenous to Western Europe, where, even though it is highly poisonous, people
that of the turtle, sore throats, sores that spread in children's mouths, eat it as a vegetable, because it loses its toxicity when cooked," See J, Andre, p, 215
and epileptics when inserted into their nostrils; but wild she-goat bile, where he suggests for this plant R. lanuginosus L. and R. sardous Crantz. See also

smeared on, treats particularly those suffering from night blindness. Pausanias, Description of Greece, X, xvii, 13 where he refers to this herb as
"deadly". As far as ( was able to ascertain, poisonous frogs and toads are not native to
He-goat bile, too, does the same; it also removes large warts, and it Europe.but to China and to Central and South America. In John Goodyer. The Greek
shrinks the prominences of people who suffer from elephantiasis Herbal of Dioscorides, p, 121, this passage is translated"for the drinking of toad,"
Max Aufmesser, Pedanius Dioscurides aus Anatarba, p. 114 , translates it "
gegen eingenommenes KrOtengift" and J, Berendes, p. 191 "...und den Genuss des
st Three stades. One stade = 606 3/4 English feet, about 1/8 of a Roman mile. Kr6tengiftes" To be sure, the passage in Pliny. N. H.. XXXII. 33. " et contra
Uranoscopus scaber. serpentium omnium et araneorum ac similium et ranarum venena auxiliatur." which
xsSee Dsc. Bk. 1, 55 and n, 57 on tX .0g used here. parallelsthis one and which W. H. S. Jones translates"'For the poisons of all serpents,
6 t'ipyElaov"albugo." See also Dsc. Bk. I, 55 and n. 57 spidersand similar creatures, and of frogs, it is of service" tempts to translateq p0vog
 125
124

plastered on with groats. Blood of stallions is mixed with septic blood, assuages chronic pain on the side, and with vinegar it soothes
medications, that of chameleon is believed to thin hair on the eyelids, ruptures and spasms. Made up with rose cerate, it treats sprains. Raw
and the same is true of the blood of green frogs. Menstrual blood, as well as burned ass's dung and horse manure, mixed with vinegar,
when smeared all over and when stepped over, is believed to prevent staunch bleeding. The dried manure of a herd donkey that grazes on
women from conceiving and it relieves gout pains and erysipelas grass, converted into juice in wine and drunk, is extremely helpful to
when anointed. those stung by scorpions.
4. Pigeon dung, since it warms and burns more, is mixed profitably
with bruised meal; with vinegar, it dissipates scrofulous swellings of
r61ra'rog, Dung
1. re,sh dung of grazing cattle assuages inflammations from injuries glands, with honey and linseed, it breaks off carbuncles all around,
when plastered on: it is wrapped in leaves, warmed up on hot ashes, and when triturated with oil, it treats burns. Chicken dung, too, does
and thus applied; this kind of application offers relief also for hip the same, but less effectively, except that it is particularly good when
disease. Plastered on with vinegar, it dissolves scrofulous swellings of drank with vinegar or wine for poisonous mushrooms and for pain of
glands, indurations, and swellings of glands. The dung of male cattle, the colon. Stork's dung, drunk with water, is believed to be good for
in particular, when burned so as to produce smoke, restores a epileptics and it is reported that the dung of the vulture, when burned
prolapsed uterus, and when burned for fumigation, it repels so as to produce smoke, expels embryos/fetuses.
mosquitoes. Trottles of goats, especially of mountain goats, clear 5. Mice droppings, ground fine with vinegar and smeared on, treat
away jaundice when drunk with wine and, when drunk with spices, bald spots, and when drunk with frankincense and wine mixed with
they are emmenagogic and expel embryos/fetuses. honey, remove stones. Used as children's suppositories, mouse dung
2. Dried, ground up, and applied with frankincense on a wool wad, provokes a bowel movement. Dog's dung collected during the dog
they stop the feminine flow and, with vinegar, they stern the other days, dried, and drunk with water or wine binds the bowel. Fresh
hemorrhages. Burned and smeared on with vinegar or with oxymel, human feces, plastered on wounds, maintain them free from
they treat bald spots, and they benefit the gouty when plastered on inflammation and glue them together, and when smeared with honey
with lard. Boiled with vinegar or wine, they are applied for bits of on people with sore throats, it has been reported that they help them.
vipers, shingles,erysipelas, and tumors of the parotid glands. The 6. Lizard dung is suitable to use on women for healthy coloration and
intense heat issuing from them is used advantageously also on for a glowing complexion. The best is very white and friable, it is
patients of hip disease this way: having placed as a foundation on the light like starch, it is quickly converted with water into chyle, and
space between the index finger and the thumb, where the hollow when rubbed hard, it is somewhat sour and yeasty in scent. They
approaches the wrist, wool soaked in oil, set upon it one by one very counterfeit it by feeding starlings rice and selling their dung, which
hot trottles until the sensation reaches the hip through the arm and the resembles it. Others, after mixing starch with Cimolian earth and
pain stops. This method of using intense heat is called Arabian. coloring it a bit with alkanet, sift it through a wide-meshed sieve on
3. Sheep's trottles applied with vinegar treat pustules that are most planks and, after drying the little worms, sell them as lizard dung.
painful at night, warts, warty excrescences, thin-necked warts, and
they treat burns when combined with rose cerate. The dung of wild 8 pov, Urine
swine dried and drunk with water or with wine, controls coughing of . man s own urine is a suitable potion for viper bites, for deadly
poisons, for incipient edemata, and when used as a rinse, for the
stinging of sea urchins, sea scorpion, and greater weever. Common
as frog. However, in the Pliny passage the damage is from a stroke, a sting, or a bite,
urine ts a fomentation for bites and a cleanser with soda for
Here the poison has been drunk.
 127
126
leprosy and itching• Old urine is a rather effective cleanser for scurf, It has properties that cleanse, open up, and stimulate the rise of
dandruff, mange, and eczema; it stems spreading ulcers, especially humors. This is why it is a suitable rinse for filthy sores and hollows.
those in the genitalia when used as a clyster, and it dries up purulent 2. Boiled and applied, it glues together components that were
ears; it also drives out the worms3 that are in them when boiled in the separated, it treats the lichen-like eruptions on the skin when boiled
rind of a pomegranate. with stypterias9 and smeared on, it treats noises in the ears and
2. The urine of an uncorrupted child, when sipped, is suitable for earaches when dripped tepid into the ears with salt that was roasted
orthopnea and it wipes off scars, albugo, and misty eyes when boiled and finely ground, it destroys both lice and their eggs when smeared
with honey in a brazen pot. From it and copper, they make a glue that on, and it repairs the foreskin of those who lack foreskin not due to
is suitable for gold. The sediment of urine, when smeared on, abates circumcision: it is rubbed on their penis with honey, especially after
erysipelas. Boiled with unguent of henna and applied, it soothes the bath, for thirty days• It cleanses those substances that cast a
uterine pain, it relieves uterine suffocation, it cleanses the eyelids, and shadow over the pupils of the eyes and, as an ointment or as a gargle,
it clears scars on the eyes. Bull's urine, triturated with myrrh and it treats conditions of the trachea, the tonsils, and sore throats.
instilled into the ears, assuages earaches; the urine of wild swine 3. It stimulates micturition, it is a fit remedy for coughs, for snake
possesses the same property, but when drunk, it is particularly bites, for drinking opium, being taken warm with unguent of roses,
efficacious for breaking and expelling stones from the bladder. for mushrooms, and for those bitten by rabid animals taken either as a
3. A quantity of two cyathoi of goat's urine drunk daily with lozenge or drunk• Raw honey, however, causes abdominal flatulence
spikenard and water reduces internal edemata, eliminating urine and and touches off a cough, wherefore it must be used despumated.
abdominal humors and when instilled into the ears, it treats earaches. Spring honey ranks first, then that of summer; winter honey, being
The urine of lynx, which is called lyngourion, is believed to petrify as more viscous, is inferior and causes pimples.
soon as it passes; but that is nonsense. For lyngourion is what some 4. The honey that is made in Sardinia is bitter because the bees feed
people call "feather-attracting amber" which, when drunk with water, on wormwood artemisia absinthium; applied as an ointment, it is
is suitable for the stomach and for diarrhea. Tradition has it that ass's suitable for freckles and facial blemishes.
urine cures kidney disease when drunk. In Pontic Heraclea, at certain times of the year, a honey is made
which due to the peculiarity of the flowers on which the bees feed,
, la l, Honey drives those who eat it besides themselves with perspiration• But they
I' 'The best honey is the Attic, and of this, the one called Hymettic are helped if they eat rue and salt meat and if they drink honey mixed
ranks first; honey from the Cyclades and from Sicily--which is called with wine, and as often as they vomit they are offered the same
Hyblaean--are second best. It is excellent if it is very sweet and things.
sharp, very aromatic, blondish, not watery but ductile and strong, and 5. It is sharp, its smell causes sneezing, it treats freckles when
when drawn, if it runs backwards, as if toward the finger• smeared on with costusroot, and it lifts livid spots when smeared on
with salt.
There is also something called sugar, which is a kind of crystallized
8 The earwig and its Greek equivalent, cK )xr) 6 v "ro 5 cbol, is so named from honey found on reeds in India and in blessed Arabia; it resembles salt
the belief that these creatures crawl into ears. They are actually harmless and this in consistency and it breaks like salt when subjected to the pressure of
notion is patently false. See Max Aufmesser, Erhit+terungen, p. 446 and his
Pedanius Dioscurides a+ s Anazarba, p. 1 I6 where he suggests that here oKr..bk 6 'Turr'rrlp
v "ro cbo may mean earwax. In Dioscorides' time, people probably believed that ' a sc.'f l according LSJ. is the name of any of group of astringent

earwigs crawl into ears ears, just as some believe so even today substancescontaining a) alum or b) ferrous sulfate•
128 129

teeth. It softens the bowel, it is wholesome, and it benefits an ailing All waxes have the ability to warm, soften, and moderately fill up.
bladder and kidneys when dissolved in water and drunk. Used as a They are also mixed with porridges for dysenterics and, when wet-
lotion, it also cleanses the elements that cast a shadow over the pupils nurses swallow as much wax as ten millet grains, it will prevent their
of the eyes. milk from curdling.

_ . qp6g, Wax p6 oXtg, Bee glue 4o

1. Wax is excellent when it is yellowish and somewhat greasy, st choose bee glue that is yellow, aromatic, resembling storax,
fragrant, and with a touch of honey-like aroma; also when it is pure, soft when very dry, and that is drawn the way mastic is drawn It
and when it is either of Cretan or Pontic origin. Wax which is warms a great deal, it attracts substances to itself, and it extracts
naturally quite white and greasy ranks second. Wax must be made splinters. It both helps for old coughs when burned as to produce
white this way: having cut and cleaned white and very greasy wax, smoke and it removes lichen-like eruptions on the skin when
place it in a new vessel and after pouring over it enough sea water plastered on. It is found around the openings of beehives and it is
from the open seas, boil it briefly adding a little soda. After it has naturally waxy.
come to a boil two or three times, removing the vessel from the fire
and allowing it cool, lift the wheel of wax, and after scraping any O(, Triticum L., Wheat
impurity that may surround it, boil it anew adding a second charge of pt is excellent for health use if it is new, fully ripe, and
sea water. quince-yellow in color; next to this one ranks "three month" 42 old
2. After the wax has come to a boil again, as indicated, lift the vessel wheat, which some call setaneios.43 When eaten raw, wheat breeds
from the fire and taking the base of a small new pot that you round intestinal worms, but if chewed, then plastered on, it benefits
previously moistened with cold water, gently lower it into the wax, those bitten by dogs. Bread made with the finest wheat flour is more
wetting it jut enough to attract a very small quantity of wax and to set nutritious than bread made from coarse meal, and bread made from
by itself. Lifting it up, remove the first round cake of wax, and for a setaneios meal is lighter and easy to digest. Setaneios meal is
second time let down the base of the pot after cooling it with water, plastered on with juice of henbane as a remedy for rheums of the
and repeat the process until you shall have taken up all the wax. Then tendons and for intestinal flatulence, and it removes birthmarks with
after stringing the little wax cakes with a linen thread, suspend them vinegar and honey.
at a distance from each other, misting them frequently during the day 2. Its bran, when boiled with sharp vinegar and plastered on warm,
in the sun, and at night set them out under the moonlight until they gets rid of leprosies and it is a useful plaster for all incipient
become white. But if one wished to make the wax extremely white, inflammations; when boiled with rue broth, it stops breasts from
he should do everything else the same way but he should boil it many swelling with clots of milk and it is suitable both for those bitten by
times. vipers and for the colicky. Dough made from its meal, being able to
3. Some, however, instead of using sea water from the open seas, boil
it once or twice in very strong brine, as stated above, then scoop it up do Propolis or bee glue is resins which bees collect from various plants and use to
with an ansate flask that is thin and round, then placing the small reinforce their hives, Modem studies have proven that it has antibiotic properties.
round wax cakes on thick grass, sun them until they become very See Jean Langenheim, Plant Resins, pp. 427-429,
4 rc po[, "wheat," triticum vulgate.
white. They advise to embark on this project in the spring, at which
4z OqT(XVEOL Trupo[ is wheat that is sown in the spring so as to ripen in three
time, both the sun is weaker and it allows for moisture to develop, so
months.
that the wax cakes do not melt. o I. e. "this
130 131
warm and to draw, thins especially the calluses on the soles of the
foot and with salt it ripens and opens the other growths and abscesses. benefits gouty inflammations.
Meal made from setaneios wheat, when plastered on with either 3. Boiled with harsh vinegar, in the manner that a poultice of bruised
vinegar or wine, is a fit remedy for venomous animals; boiled as one meal of raw corn is boiled, and applied warm, it cures leprosies.
boils glue then used a lozenge, it benefits those who spit blood, and Converted into chyle with water and cooked with pitch and oil, its
when boiled with green mint and butter, it is good both for coughs meal makes pus and it is a fit application for rheums of the joints
and for roughnesses of the trachea. Also the fine meal of this wheat, when converted into chyle with vinegar and cooked with pitch.
when boiled with a mixture of hydromel or with water mixed with oil, Barley groats bind the bowel and assuage inflammations.
disperses all inflammations. The bread, too, boiled with hydromel or
even uncooked, relieves all inflammations when plastered on, because ,, ,4 08 og, Beer
eSr is made from barley. It is diuretic, it affects the kidneys and
it softens a great deal and it gently cools when mixed with some herbs
tendons, it is especially hurtful to the membranes, it is apt to cause
or juices.
flatulence, to engender an unhealthy state of humors, and to cause
3. Bread that is old and dry, either by itself or combined with
elephantiasis. Ivory becomes malleable when soaked in it.
something or other, controls diarrhea, but fresh wheat bread, soaked
in brine and applied as a plaster, treats old lichen-like eruptions of the
II, 88 gOOpblt, Courmi4S . .,, .
skin. A spoonful of thinned down and tepid glue, the kind they make
The so-called courm , which ts made from barl ,y' nd which they
from fine wheat-flour and very fine meal for gluing books, is suitable .... .€"
often use as a drmk mstead of wme, a ses headaches, ts
for people who spit blood to swallow.
unwholesome, and does damage to sinew tg rts. In Spain to the west
and in Britain such drinks are also mad .l om wheat.
IfI, , Hordeum L., Barley
ley is excellent when it is white and clean, but it is less
rPt0 II, 89 a, Triticum L., Zea "
nutritious than wheat; gruel made from barley groats is rather
There are two kinds of zea ne is called one-seeded, the other two-
nutritious because during the boiling process the liquid thickens; it is
seeded, having its seed .otfied together in two flowering glumes. It is
beneficial for harshness, roughness, and ulcerations of the trachea,
more nutritious than b ley and it is tasty, but it is less nutritious than
conditions for which wheat-gruel, too, is an appropriate prescription,
wheat when made ifi bread.
being more nutritious and more diuretic. It also draws down the milk
when boiled together with fennel seed and sipped.
lf
II, 90 gp(l)l¢ 9, Crimnon 7
2. Barley is diuretic and purgative, it causes flatulence, it is bad for
They.. sPr°ss crimnon coarser than meal and they make it both from
the stomach, and it dissolves swellings. Its meal, boiled with figs and
zea an..d"fromwheat. They make porridge from it. It is quite nutritious
honey-water dissipates swellings and inflammations; in combination
b, asy to digest, but when made from zea, it does bind the bowel,
with pitch, pine resin, and pigeon dung it brings to a head indurations,
and with melilot and poppy capsules it relieves those hurting on the
side. It is also plastered on with linseed, fenugreek, and rue for ,.4 Beer made from barley is of Egyptian origin.
,s A kind of beer.
intestinal flatulence, and with liquid pitch, wax, the urine of an '
ta, too. is wheat, Triticum monococcum, one-seeded wheat. It is a wild wheat,
uncorrupted child, and oil, it brings to a head scrofulous swellings of indigenous to Greece, Yugoslavia, Asia Minor and Syria, while Triticum dicoccum.
the glands. With myrtle, or wine, or wild pears, or bramble, or two-seeded wheat, is a descendant of a wheat native to Mesopotamia, see P.G.
pomegranate peel, it stems diarrhea and with quince or vinegar it Gennadios.(DUTOXOyK6VA IK6v,pp. 878 and 880.
is probably semolina.
150 151

The flesh of the pepon63 is digestive and diuretic when eaten and it during sleep and it is a deterrent to sexual intercourse; the juice, too,
assuages inflammations of the eye when used as. .cat'aplasm. is able to accomplish the same, but more weakly. The milky juice is
2. Its rind is applied on top of the hea .o "Ehildren suffering from stored in clay vessels after it has been exposed to sunlight like the
heatstroke and on the forehead a l adhesive plaster for running other plant extracts.
eyes. The juice with the seed,. j 6d with meal and dried in the sun, is
a cleansing suspension and ff]akes the face brightly clean. An amount II, 137 ",/'ty't't tov, Mallabaila sekakul Russ., Gingidium
of one holce of dry ,go0t drunk with hydromel is emetic; but should Gingidium grows plentiful in Cilicia and Syria. It is a small
one wish to vom , ently after dinner, two obols will be sufficient. It resembling the wild carrot, hut it is more slender and bitterer, h
even cures i 6Etigo contagiosa when plastered on ground up with a whitish and bitter root. It is used as a vegetable raw as
honey. *- boiled and it is also eaten pickled. It is wholesome

ll a l-t pog, Lactuca sativa L., Cultivated lettuce II, 138 OK V t , Scandixpecten-veneris L.,
cpi
ultivate lettuce is wholesome, somewhat cooling, soporific, it The wild chervil: this plant, too, is a wild and
softens the bowel, and it draws down milk. It becomes more rather bitter, edible, and when eaten either boiled c :ases the
nutritious when boiled, and it is good for people with stomach bowel, it is wholesome, and it is diuretic. When ts decoction
ailments when eaten unwashed. When its seed is drunk, it helps those is useful for the bladder, kidneys, and liver.
who frequently emit their semen during sleep and it is a deterrent to
sexual intercourse. A steady diet of lettuce causes dim-sightedness. If, 139 KaUKatXI, ~ Caucalis grandiflora L.,
2. It is preserved in brine. After it has run to stalk, it has something Some call the caucalis wild daucos. It is stem, a span long,
that resembles the properties of the juice and of the milky liquid of somewhat hairy, with leaves similar leaves of the fennel,
the wild lettuce. narrowly incised and downy, and at has a white and aromatic
ckyp[a Opl a . The wild lettuce resembles the cultivated, but it is umbel. This plant, too, is used as table, being eaten boiled as
leggier; also, its leaves are lighter in color, thinner, rougher, and bitter well as raw. It is diuretic.
in taste. To some degree its activity is very similar to that of the
poppy; this is why some mix even its milky juice with the milky juice 11, 140 ¢ laOV, Rocket
of the poppy. A quantity of two obols of its milky juice drunk with The rocket is aphrodisiac wl quantities; its seed, too,
sour wine mixed with water washes off watery matter, it clears both does the same, and it is digestive, and laxative. The seed is
albugo and misty eyes, and it is good for sunburn when smeared on used also as seasoning preserve it for a long time,
with a woman's milk. they wet it with milk /inegar, shape it into small wheels, and store
3. In general, it is soporific and analgesic; it also brings on it.
menstruation and it is given to drink to those struck by scorpions and There grows als wild rocket, especially in the western part of
to those bitten by poisonous spiders. The seed, when drunk just like Spain, the seed. ]: which the locals use even instead of mustard. It is
the seed of the cultivated lettuce, prevents frequent emission of semen much more di i' tic and much sharper than that of the cultivated.
/ ,t"
I1, 141 ov, Ocimum basilicum sp. L., Basil
3 This type of melon or gourd, oiKuo rr('rrc.v, which Jacques Andr6. Les noms de
1. The b il, when eaten in large quantities, causes dim-sightedness.
plantes darts la Rome antique, p. 192, translates "pastdque, "' was not eaten unless
quite ripe, while the cucumber, oiKvog, was eaten unripe. It soften he bowel, it sets gases in motion, it is diuretic, it stimulates
154 155

narrow-leaved, and the little sacs on it, which are bi

wild animals.
the lentil, contain three or four black seeds, smaller than
The little seeds have an astringent property; it is for this Allium cepa L., Onion
when roasted or boiled just like lentils, they stem diarrhea the long onion is sharper than the round, the yellow
discharges from the stomach. than the white, the dry sharper than the fresh, and the raw
either the cooked or the pickled. All onions are pungent
II, 149 gdtaov KEqahcoT6V, Allium porrum L., Leek flatulence; they stimulate the appetite, they attenuate,
1. The leek causes flatulence, it is unwholesome thirst-making, they cause nausea, they cleanse, they ease the
nightmares, it is diuretic, it eases the bowel, it attenuates it are good for opening outlets for various secretions as well
dim-sightedness, it draws down the menses, and it is and they are used as suppositories peeled and
suppuratedbladder and kidneys; but when boiled with olive oil. Their juice smeared on with honey helps for dim-
and eaten, it brings up matter from the chest. Boiled in albugo, cloud-like opacities that begin to become
vinegar, its foliage is used in sitz baths for occlusions:g d and for sore throats when daubed on. It moves
of the uterus. It becomes sweet and less flatulent 'n boiled it clears the head when poured down the nose, and in
.
waters then dipped into cold water. ,-, with salt, rue, and honey, it is used as a poultice for
2. The chopped leaves of leeks are rather sl.r p, containing
. , by dogs.
some astringency; this is why their ju qd with vine on in the sun with vinegar, it cures dull-white leprosies;
hemorrhaging, especially nosebleeds; combi ed with with an equal amount of ashes, it stops blepharitis, and with
frankincense powder, it is aphrodisiac, and",when mixed ,imples. Combined with chicken fat the juice is useful
is good as a lozenge for all chest condi , ns and for tuberculosis caused by shoes, as well as for hardness of hearing, for
also cleanse the trachea when consu d. But a steady diet of oh
in the ears, for purulent ears, for water in the ears, and for
leaves causes dullness of sight and i -'bad for the stomach.
when rubbed on. For it challenges hair to grow faster than
3. The juice, drunk with hydj mel, helps those bitten by But it also causes headaches. Onions make the sick
animals, as does the leek itse+ when used as a poultice; the if they should eat too many. When boiled, they become
helps both for earaches and fo noises in the ears when
frankincense and vinegar ortCvith milk or with unguent
leaves remove facial pim l when plastered on with the fruit i Allium sativum L., Garlic
sumac that is used on eclSaredfoods, treat pustules that ar is a kind of garlic that is cultivated and that grows in
painful at night, andd ¢use scabs to break off all around ;in Egypt, this one is single-headed and white. They call the
plastered on with saL/ivloreover, two drachmai of the seed i 'lithes. There is also another kind, which is wild,
with an equal arnflufit of myrtle-berries keep in check c
expectorationo f b}dod. that are sharp, warm, tend to relieve flatulence, to
, the stomach, to make one thirsty, and to cause
II, 150 tla'rrEkc n'paoov, Allium ambeloprasum L., Wild leek . on the surface of bodies.
The wild le l , on the one hand, is worse for the stomach :h eaten, it expels the flat intestinal worm, it is diuretic, and it
cultivated/but, on the other hand, it does warm more, it is
diuretic, rind it draws down the menses. It is suitable to be
55 and Dsc. Bk. I, n. 587
 157
156
is exceptionally suitable for people bittenby vipers and for those who callous roughness of the trachea•
hemorrhage, but they should be drinking wine continuously or the 2. Brought close to the nostrils after it has been ground up, it causes
garlic should be triturated with wine then drunk. It is also used as sneezing, it resuscitates epileptics and women suffering from uterine
plaster for the same purposes as well as on people bitten by a mad suffocation, and it is plastered on the shaven head of people wl'uf
dog; it even helps them when they eat it and it is suitable to use suffer from lethargic fever• Combined with figs and applied u .nt, ll"•it
against the injurious effects of change. It clears bronchial tubes and it begins to irritate the skin, it is suitable for hip diseases, afflictions of
assuages chronic coughs when eaten raw, baked, or boiled, and it kills the spleen, and in general, for all chronic pains, whenever we wish to
lice and their eggs when drunk with a decoction of oregano. transfer something from deep inside the body to the surface in ordel:
3. Burned, mixed with honey, and smeared on, it treats black eye and to cause a counter-irritation. Plastered on, it also treats baldness; and
bald spots, but on the bald spots, it should be used with unguent of with honey or animal fat or cerate, it cleanses the face ayJd clears
spikenard. With salt and oil it treats pustules; with honey, it removes away black eye.
birthmarks, lichen-like eruptions, scurf, dandruff, dull-white 3. It is smeared on with vinegar for leprosies and for wfid lichen-like
leprosies, and leprosies. Boiled down with a splinter of pinewood and eruptions of the skin. It is also drunk for fits of i.ntermittent fever,
with frankincense and held in the mouth, it relieves toothaches, and it being sprinkled dry on top of the drink like barlg groats; it is mixed
is used as a poultice with fig leaves and cumin for the bite of the advantageously with absorbing plasters and wil fi itch salves, and it is
shrewmouse. The decoction of its foliage used as a sitz bath brings on beneficial with fig for hardnessof hearing n for ringing in the ears
menstruation and the afterbirth; it is also burned to produce smoke when it is ground fine and instilled into thc ar. Combined with honey
from below for the same purposes. The paste made with garlic and and smeared on, its juice is suitable fQ d m-sightedness and for rough
black olives, which is called myttotos,6 sets the urine in motion and eyelids• Furthermore, juice is extraot d when the seed is still green
opens passages when eaten; it is also useful to those with edemata• and the extract is dried in the sun. j

II, 153 OKOp 6"ITpaaov, Allium descendens L., Garlic leek I1, 155 t,:ctp[S&laov,Lepidium s vum L., Garden cress
The garlic leek.grows like a large leek, partaking of the properties of 1. The garden cress that gr' ws in Babylon is considered to be the
the leek and of the garlic; it is for this reason that it has compounded best. The seed of all of•.them warms, it is sharp, it is bad for the
properties that accomplish everything that both the lee and garlic stomach, it upsets the b weI and expels intestinal worms, it reduces
accomplish, except more mildly. It is used as a poth" for food, just the spleen, it destroya' embryos/fetuses, it moves the menstruation,
like the leek, boiled and sweetened• and it is aphrodisiaC; it is like mustard and rocket, it clears away
jq- leprosies and lichen-like eruptions of the skin.
II, 154 a[vrl'rrt fl v&'rrt, Sinapis alba L., pard 2. Combined 'rs ith honey and applied as a plaster, it reduces the
1. Choose mustard that is not dry a_. rittle, but round and green spleen and cl away impetigo contagiosa; boiled with porridges
inside when crushed, as if juicy, a.' W'gleaming. For such mustard is and drunk, i[tbrings up matter from the chest and it is a remedy for
•
fresh and m ts prime. snake bite/hen drunk. Used as a fumigant, it chases away snakes; it
It is capable of warming, e(t ating, drawing, and of purging away stems the .10ss of hair and it breaks all around carbuncles, making pus.
phlegm when chewed. It j'rice, when mixed with hydromel or with Plasteredt on with vinegar and barley groats, it is beneficial for
wine and honey, is a suifable rinse for tonsillitis and for chronic and patients suffering from h p d sease, It dissipates both swelhngs and

i
/ inflar mations, and when applied with brine, it causes small abscesses
to,' uppurate. Even its greenery accomplishes the same results,
6s A savory dish of ese, honey, garlic, etc.
272 273

triobolon of frankincense and one cotyle of aged warm wine for four IV, 63 lal]Kcov I ot g, Papaver rhoias L., Corn poppy /"
days. The leaves assuage both chronic swellings and infiam)riations 1. The corn poppy: it has been so named because it quickly loses its
flower.23 It grows on tilled fields in the spring, at which time it is also
and they cleanse filthy sores. /
2. The entire plant boiled in wine breaks off tonsillar scabs and stops collected. Its leaves are similar to those of chicory or of Cretan
spreading ulcers of the mouth when used as a gargle and its infusion, thyme, incised, but longer and rougher. It has. a stringy stem, erect,
sprinkled around at a drinking party, is said to make the guests rough, about a cubit tail, and a red flower, but sometimes it is white,
merrier. The third joint from the ground with the sun-ounding leaves resembling the scarlet wind flower. The head is elongated, yet less so
is given to people who have tertian fever, and to those who have than the head of the poppy, the fruit' is red, and the root is longish,
quartan fever, the fourth. It is called sacred herb2 because it is used in whitish, having the thickness of the Small finger, and bitter•
amulets during purificatory offerings. , ' 2. After boiling five or six of its heads in three cyathoi of wine until
reduced to two, give it to ghose you wish to put to sleep. An amount
IV, 61 t rp(tyaXog, Astragalos sp L, Milk vetch,.,-' of one oxybaphon of its' seed drunk with hydromel gently softens the
The milk vetch: it is a small shrub, a ground c o er, in foliage and bowel and it is mixed both with honey-cakes and tortes for the same
sprigs resembling the chickpea. The flowers are.p rple and small. The purpose. The leaves together with the heads treat inflammations when
root is below ground, round just like a good-s ed radish, having firm plastered on. Their decoction, too, is soporific when poured on a
offshoots that ere black, hard as horns, entwined with each other, and patient.
astringent in taste. It grows in p ees sheff" red from the wind, shady,
and snowy; a great deal of it grows at P neos of Arcadia. Papaver somniferum L., Opium poppy
When drunk in wine, the root stereO"diarrhea and moves the urine; 1. plum poppy: there is one kind that is cultivated and that is
o¢lKcov,
sprinkled dry, it is good for old sOres and checks bleeding. But it is grown in gardens; its seed is baked into bread to use in a health-
s
brayed with difficulty because of Ats toughness. inducing diet; they also use it with honey instead of sesame; it is
called thylacitis, having its little head oblong and its seed white• And
IV, 62 0 KtvSog,Scilla bifo[fa L., Wdd hyacinth there is another kind that is wild, having a capsule that hangs down,
The wild hyacinth:2 it haJ(leaves like those of purse-tassels, a stem and black seed; this one is also called pithitis, but some call even this
that is a span tall, sm? th, thinner than the little finger, and pale- one rhoias, because the juice flows from this one.z4 A third kind is
green, and an overh iging top that is curled and full of purplish wilder, smaller, and more medicinal than these, having the capsule
flowers. The root, trio, oblong.
'g is like the purse-tassels; when plastered with
white wine on youl boys, it is believed to keep them from coming to 2. Their common property is cooling; it is for this reason that the
,1" , .....
manhood, and, .'when drunk, it stems diarrhea, tt ts dmretzc, and leaves and capsules, boiled in water and fomented, ere soporific; the
benefits thoset'bitten by poisonous spiders. Since the fruit is rather decoction is also drunk for insomnia and the capsules, ground up and
astringent, t, too, helps those suffering in the bowels, and it clears mixed with barley groats, are suitable for inflammations and
away jaundice when drunk with wine. erysipelas• Brayed when green, they must to molded into little
! troches, and after they have dried, they must be stored and so used.
I

MflKcov is a generic name for poppy and botdKgis cognate with ibEco,"flow or drop
2, Literally, i p [3OTdtVq. off."
i
z , i ....
274 275

The capsules, boiled in water until they are half-cooked, then boiled assertions are decidedly false, being refuted by experience, because
again with honey until the liquid condenses, make an anodyne the efficacy of a drug is confirmed by its performance.
lozenge for coughs, rheums of the trachea, and for conditions relating 7. Nor is it inappropriate to describe also how they collect the juice:
to the abdomen. and so, some people, after braying the capsules together with the
3. And it does become more effective, if juice of hypocist and of leaves, squeeze them through a press and after pounding them in a
shittab tree is mixed with it. The seed of the black poppy, ground up, mortar, shape them into troches. Such a product is called meconion
is given to drink with wine for diarrhea and leucorrhea, and it is and it is less efficacious than the juice. In extracting the juice after the
plastered on with water on the forehead and temples of insomniacs. dew dried off, it is necessary to scratch all around the capsule with a
As for the juice, since it, too, cools a great deal, dulls, and dries, when knife in a way as not to pierce through its inner part, and to make
an amount as small as a bitter vetch is consumed, it is analgesic, superficially straightcuts at the side of the capsule, then wipe up the
soporific, helpful for digestion, and it comes to the aid of coughs and tear that flows with the finger into a spoon, and repeat the process
abdominal conditions; but when too much of it is drunk, it plunges shortly thereafter; for a tear is found formed, and it is found also on
into a coma and it is deadly. the following day. This, too, must be pounded in a mortar, shaped,
4. Soaked with unguent of roses, it is good also for headaches, but for and stored. But, as the cuts are made, one must stand back so that the
earaches it is good when instilled with unguent of almonds, saffron, juice does not come in contact with the clothing.
and myrrh; for eye inflammationswith a boiled egg yolk and saffron;
for erysipelas and wounds with vinegar; and for gout with a woman's IV, 65 laClKrOVKEpa'ri'rts, Glauciumflavum L., Horned p.0.apy"
milk and saffron. Inserted into the anus as a suppository, it is 1. The horned poppy which some call paralion ..,.oifiers agria
soporific. mecon: it has pale leaves, rough like the leaveso iiein, swollen at
5. The best juice is thick and heavy, it induces sleep when smelled, it the periphery just like the leaves of wild poppSand a similar stem.
'fruit,
is bitter in taste, it easily dissolves in water, it is smooth, white, not The flower is pale-yellow. It has a sm l curved like a horn,
rough nor lumpy, nor hardens when soaked as does wax. similar to the fruit of fenugreek, fro which it was named. 5 It has
Additionally, it flows easily when exposed to the sun, when dripped small black seed, like that of o m poppy, and a root that grows
on a lamp, the flame is not dark-colored, and it preserves the intensity close to the surface, black, . hick. It grows in coastal and rugged
of its scent after it has been quenched. Some, however, adulterate it places. "

mixing it with juice of horned poppy or with gum or with juice of 2. The root, boiled !p:'i ater until the water is reduced by half and
wild lettuce. But the juice that is mixed with juice of horned poppy is drunk,26has prope ies that treat hip ailments and liver diseases and
'passing
yellow, the one made with juice of wild lettuce is faint in scent and that benefit tl thick or filamentary water. A quantity of
rather rough, and the one with gum is weak and translucent. one oxybap n of seed, drunk with hydromel, mildly purges the
6. Some reach such madness as to mix even suet with it. It is roasted bowel. TI leaves and flowers plastered on with olive oil break off all
for eye medication in a new clay vessel until it becomes soft and aroun ,d abs, and when smeared on, they wipe off albugo and cloud-
appears to be of a more orange-tawny color. You should know, like acities on the eyes of animals. Some, because of the similarity
however, that Diagoras says that Erasistratos rejects its use for
earaches and ophthalmia because it weakens the sight and it is
soporific. Andreas says that, if it were not adulterated, those anointed K pa T 'r t% "homed."
with it would be blinded, and Mnesidamos that the only suitable use 26"drunk" refers to the root and it is the water in which the root was boiled that is
of it is for sleep through smell, otherwise it is harmful; these drunk.
276 277

of their leaves, were mistaken in thinking that glaucion27 made Juice is extracted from fruit that is soft, from the leaves, and from the
from it. stems. They are brayed, pressed, and then the liquid is dried in the
sun. It is good for one year because it spoils easily.
IV, 66 laClKcovbq p rlg, Silene inflata Sm. 3. But juice is also extracted separately from the seed, which is
Frothy poppy brayed when dry, doused with hot water, and squeezed. The juice is
The frothy poppy, called by some Heracl "next a stem a span tall, better than poppy juice and a more powerful analgesic. Its first green
very small leaves like those of sow to them white fruit, shoots pounded and mixed with this year's flour are shaped into little
-- the entire little plant is white -- and it has a thin root pastilles and stored.
close to the surface. Its fruit ected when fully ripe, in the The juice and the juice from the dry seed are primarily suitable for
summer, and it is stored after i analgesic pessaries, for severe and fevered rheums, for earaches, for
A quantity with hydromel, purges through ailments associated with the uterus, and with meal or with barley
vomiting; this type is especially suitable for epileptics. groats for inflammations of the eyes, of the feet, and for the other
inflammations.
IV, 67 0"n'fiKoov, :umbens L., Horned cumin 4. The seed also offers the same cures, being good for coughs,
The horned It grows among grains and on tilled lands. The catarrh, running eyes, and for severe pain; also for the female flow
leaf is like and sprigs are small. and for the other bleedings when an amount of one obol is drunk with
It has z comparable to those of the juice of opium poppy, poppy seed and hydromel. It is also suitable for gout, for swollen
testicles, and for swollen breasts during pregnancy when applied as a
Hyoscyamus sp., L., Henbane
plaster ground up with wine and it is mixed beneficially into the other
henbane: but some call it adamanta. It is a shrub that sends
pain-allaying plasters. The molded leaves are useful for all the other
out thick stems and its leaves are wide, oblong, split, dark, and rough.
anodyne plasters when mixed with barley groats or when plastered on
The flowers, which are fenced in with little disks, grow on the stem in
by themselves; but the fresh leaves, applied as a plaster, are most
a row, just like the flowers of the pomegranate; they are full of seed
effective analgesics for all pains.
like that of opium poppy. There are three kinds of this plant: for one
5. Three or four, taken in a drink with wine, treat shivering fits of
kind has somewhat purple flowers, leaves like bindweed, black seed,
fevers, but if a bowlful of them is eaten boiled like vegetables, they
and the calyces are hard and thorny; another has quince-yellow
cause delirium. And they say that if one uses them in a clyster on a
flowers, softer leaves and capsules, and yellowish seed like hedge-
person with a colon ulcer, they cause the same. The root, boiled with
mustard. vinegar, is a mouthwash for toothaches.
2. Both these plants cause madness and are soporific; they are
difficult to use. But the third one is highly useful for treatments, IV, 69 WOJklov, Plantagopsyllium L., and P. c
being very mild, fatty, soft and downy, and having white flowers and 1. The fleawort: but some call it Sicilians
white seed; it grows by the sea and among ruins. crystallion, and others cynomyia. It r to the hartshorn,
Therefore, it is the one with the white seed that must be used; if this rough, and branches that are a span" .lso, the entire plant is
kind is unavailable, then the kind with the yellow seed must be used, grass-like. Its foliage starts from f the stem. On top there
but the henbane with black seed must be rejected as being the worst. are two or three corn which contain the seed and
which is like fleas It grows on tilled lands.
2. It has a cool: Applied as a plaster with unguent of
2 See Dsc. Bk. lit, 86.
278 279
roses, vinegar, and water, it is beneficial for joint diseases, tumors of pOxvov 0rrvco"clK6v, Withania somnifera L., Sleepy
the parotid glands, growths, swellings, sprains, and headaches, and
when plastered on, it cures children's hernias and protruding navels. 1. The sleepy nightshade: but some call it halicaccabon and others
After triturating a quantity of one oxybaphon, one must soak it in two caccalia. It is a shrub, having many branches, thick, trunk-like, hard
cotylai of water and, when the water has thickened, to plaster it on; i to break, full of fatty leaves resembling the leaves of quince, a red
chills considerably. flower that is sizeable, saffron-colored fruit that is in pods, and a
sizable root that has a reddish peel. It grows in stony places.
IV, 70 o-rp0xvov KwrraTov, Solarium nigrum L.,
2. An amount of one drachma of its root's peel drunk in wine has a
1. The hound's berry is edible. It is little shrub, havin
soporific property that is milder than that of the juice of opium poppy,
branches, dark leaves, larger and wider than those of basil, j
and its fruit is very diuretic. About twelve clusters are given to those
fruit, either pale-green or black; it becomes r with edemata, but if the should drink more, they cause them severe
ripened. The herb is inoffensive in taste.
mental distress. Drinking large quantities of hydromel helps them. Its
It has a cooling property, whence the leaves are a fins
peel is mixed also with analgesics and lozenges and it helps for
very fine meal of barley for erysipelas and shin up and
toothaches when boiled down in wine and held in the mouth. The
applied by themselves, they treat lachrymal they help for juice of the root, anointed with honey, allays dim-sightedness.
headaches and heartburn, and they dissipatee,, "nors of the parotid
glands when plastered on ground with salt. IV, 73 o'rpOxvov laavtK6U,Datura stramonium L., Thorn apple .
2. Its juice, too, is good .for erysipelas ,an¢d
shingles with white lead, 1. The thorn apple which some called perseion, others perisson,
litharge, and unguent of roses; but for ,-l chrymaI fistulas it is used others anydron, others pentodryon, others enoryyothers thry n, and
with bread. It is also good for child ( n' suffering from heatstroke, others orthogyion. Its leaf closely resembles tha't of the rocl<et, but it
being sprinkled on with unguent of 4Jses. It is mixed instead of water is bigger, more like the leaf of the thorncalled paiderqsfl It sends out
or egg with salves that are used.,-in0 ntments for severe fluxes and it is very tall stalks from the same root, ten or 12 of t e fi-, about six feet

¢
good for earaches when instilled. also stems leucorrhea. tall, a head that lies on top just like and olive, bt#' ougher as if it were
the globular catkin of the plane tree, bigger aiad roader, and
IV, 71 i 'rEpov o-rpux'vov, PJ salis alkekengi L., (Another hound's
2. This is followed by clusters of fru ,' round, black -- 10 or 12
berry,) Winter cherry
, berries like the corymbs of ivy -- a d :' oft like a grape. The root is
There is also another hc d s berry, which they call idiomatically 'cubit
below, white, thick, hollow, abouL long; it grows in areas that
halicaccabon. It has l fves similar to those of the above but wider.
are mountainous, exposed to thi wind, and among groves of plane
Its stems bend towar the ground when they have grown big. It has trees, . ,.,€
fruit in small round apsules that resemble bladders; it is yellowish-
The root has a property. tCat causes not unpleasant fantasies when a
red, round, and s .n)o0thlike a grape. Wreath makers use it in plaiting
quantity of one drac a is drunk with wine, but when a quantity of
their wreaths.
two drachmai is,,drffnk' it drives a person out of his senses for up to
Its properties fld uses are the same as of hound s berry mentioned
three days; an ;;:if a quantity of four drachmai is drunk, it kills;
above, but itz not edible. Its fruit, when drunk can clear jaundice,
drinking. ind b'rnitiug large quantities of hydromel is its antidote.
being diuret . Juice is extracted from both plants and it is dried in the.
shade fo S rage. It is good for the same purposes.
// n Described in Dsc. Bk. lit, 17.
280 281
" "
IV, 74 op0 tov, Convulvulus oleaefolius Desr. Dorycn
with emollient pessaries; about one hemiobolon inserted by itself as a
Dorycnion, which Crateuas calls hallicaccabo:eas..It is a
pessary, draws the menstrual period and embryos/fetuses; and when
shrub similar to a newly sprouting olive tree ,a , ng branch.es_shorter
placed in the anus as a suppository, it is soporific. The root boiled
than a cubit, leaves nearly resembling.,,q ' e' s in color, but smaller,
narrower, and very rough, and a d : flower; at the top it has little with ivory for six hours is said to soften the ivory and to make it
seed-capsules, firm like ch ,' as, enclosing round seedlets, five or malleable enough for molding into whatever shape one may wish.
six, in size like small. vetch seects, smooth, strong, and pied. It The leaves, when new, are suitable plasters with barley groats both
has a root ck and a cubit long. It grows on rocks 'not far for inflammations of the eyes and for inflammations of sores; they
from the s ,i " dissipate all indurations and abscesses, scrofulous swellings of the
This, rff" orific and to kill if taken in excess. Some glands, growths, and when gently rubbed on for five or six days, erase
say also that its seed is taken for love-potions. blemishes without ulceration; the leaves are also put up cured for the
same uses.
( , 75 avBlaay6pa , Mandragoras sp. L,, Mandrake 5. The root, ground up with vinegar, cures erysipelas, it is good with
1."The mandrake: but some call it antimimon, others bombochylon,
either honey or oil for strokes of reptiles, with water it disperses
and others Circaia because its root seems to be good for making love-
scrofulous growths and tumors, and with barley groats it puts an end
potions. One kind of this plant is female, the black one, called
to pains of the joints. From the skin of the root they also make,
thridacias, having leaves narrower and smaller than the lettuce's,
fetid and heavy in scent, streaming on the ground, and among them without boiling, a wine: one must cast three mnai of root skin into one
fruit resembling sorb apples, pale-green in color, sweet-smelling, metretes of sweet wine and give three cyathoi of it to those about to
containing seed like the pear's. The roots are sizable, two or three undergo surgery or cautery, as indicated above. For they become
entwined with each other, black on the surface but white inside, unaware of the pain because they sink into deep sleep.
having thick skin. It has no stem. 6. Its fruit is soporific when eaten as well as when smelled, as is also
2. The leaves of the male, the white one, --which some called its juice, but consumed in excesses, it even makes people unable to
morion--are white, large, broad, and smooth like the leaves of beet; speak. The seed of the fruit cleanses the uterus when drunk and it
its fruit is twice as large, saffron in color, and somewhat oppressively stops the red discharge when inserted with native sulfur. Milky juice
fragrant; shepherds eat it and are reduced to a state of stupor; the root is extracted by making a groove all around the root and collecting the
is like that of the former, but bigger and whiter; it, too, is stemless.
liquid that runs in the hollow. The juice is stronger than the milky
3. Juice is extracted from the skin of the root when fresh by chopping
juice. The roots do not have milky juice in every place. It is
it and putting it under a press. After it has been condensed, it must be
experience that teaches that sort of thing.
stored in a clay vessel. Juice is extracted also from the fruit in a
similar fashion, but the juice from the fruit becomes weak. The skin is 7, Some note that there is yet another morion that grows in shady
also peeled from the root, threaded with a linen thread, and hung for places and around caves, having leaves like those of white mandrake,
later use. But some boil down the roots with wine until reduced to one but smaller, about a span long, white, growing in a circle around the
third, strain, and store, administering about one cyathos to root, which is soft and white, slightly longer than a span, and thick as
insomniacs, to those in much pain, and to those undergoing surgery or a thumb; they say that it stupefies when as much as one drachma is
cauterization whom they wish to anesthetize. drank or when eaten in a lump of barley or in prepared food; for the
A quantity of two obols of its juice drunk with hydromel brings up person falls asleep in whatever posture he was when he ate it, feeling
phlegm and bile as hellebore does; but when too much of it is drunk, nothing for three or four hours from the time it was offered to him.
it is lethal. Physicians about to perform surgery or cautery use this one, too. They
4. It is compounded with ophthalmic and analgesic medications and say that the root is also an antidote when drunk with thorn apple.
 282 283

the foliage, ground up and applied on the testicles, come to the aid of
('I'V, 7 K6vl'rov, - Doronicum pardaliaches Jacq., Leopard's
those emitting their semen during sleep; plastered on, they relax the
genitalia, they dry up the milk, they prevent maidenly breasts from
Leopard's bane, but some call it pardalianches, others cammaron,
growing big, and they make boys' testicles wither. Most potent are
others thelyphonon, others cynoctonon, and others myoctonon: it has
three or four leaves like the cyclamen's or the cucumber's, but the Cretan, Megarian, Attic, and those growing in Chios and Cilicia•
smaller and not as rough; the stem is a span tall; the root is like a
scoT, ion's tail and shining like alabaster. IV, 79 Olat'Xa , Taxus baccata L., Yew
They say that its root, when brought near a scorpion, paralyzes it, and The yew: but some call it smilos, others tithymalos, and the Romans ....
that it stirs again when white hellebore is set before it. It is mixed taxus It is a tree that nearly resembles the fir in foliage and size,
with analgesic medications for the eyes and it kills leopards, swine, growing in Italy and in Narbonne next to Spain. Little bi :¢hoke
wolves, and every wild animal when placed on slices of meat and when they eat the fruit of the one growing in Italy and . ,p' e who
thrown to them. eat it come down with diarrhea. But the one that gro fn_N.arbonne
-'
/ possesses such great strength that even those wh 's t.or fall asleep
.IV, 77) tK6Vt'I'OV['I'Epov, Aconitum napellus L., (Another kind of under it are harmed, and they often even die. mentioned in order
leopard's bane) Wolfsbane "
to guard against it. ...
Wolfsbane, which some call lycoctonon: it grows in large quantities
in Italy, on the mountains called Vestini, and it is different from the IV, 80 ¢xrr6Kuvov, Cynanchum ac m L. and for the Orient,
one before it. It has leaves like the plane tree but more incised and a Marsdenia erecta R. Br. = Cynan JftTmerectum L., Dogbane
great deal smaller and darker, and a stem like the shoot of a male fern, Dogbane, but some call it cy a chon, others pardalianches, others
smooth, and a cubit tall or even taller. It has fruit in somewhat cynomoron, and others cyno ambe: it is a sprout that has long rods,
elongated pods and roots like black legs of shrimp. They use them for willow-like, and hard-to-b k, and leaves like those of ivy, but softer
hunting wolves by placing them on raw meats: for they are deadly to and more pointed at tl ip, oppressive in scent, somewhat slippery,
the wolves that eat them. and full of quince-yoJl/ w juice. The fruit is like a bean pod; it is about
a finger long an a bag containing small, hard, black
/tTresembles
I V, 78 €.bvE10v,Conium maculatum L., Hemlock seedlets.
lts leaves, m 'r ed into patties with suet and thrown out as bait, kill
1."-T-ffe hemlock: it sends up a large stem, knotty like fennel, leaves
dogs, wolvv , foxes, and leopards; it immediately paralyzes their hips.
resembling those of giant fennel, but narrower and oppressive in
scent; at the top it has side-shoots and umbels of whitish flowers; it
,8 'p o , NeriJ[m o/eander Lo, Oleander
has seed like that of anise but whiter, and a root that is hollow and not l.-'-"The oleander: but some call it rhododendron and others
deep. rhododaphne. It is a familiar shrub having longer, thicker, and
This one, too, belongs to the plants that are deadly, killing by chilling rougher leaves than those of the almond tree, a rose-like flower, fruit
through and through; unmixed wine, however, does come to the like a horn, which, when open, is full of a wool-like substance
rescue. Before the seed has dried out, juice is extracted from the top resembling the down of thistles; the root is tapering and long, and it
foliage. After it is cut, it is pressed, and the juice is condensed in the tastes salty. It grows in gardens, by the seaside, and along rivers.
sun. 2. And while its flower and leaves have a property that is poisonous
2. Having been dried, it is highly useful for restoring health and it to asses, mules, and to most quadrupeds, it protects human beings
does quell shingles and erysipelas when plastered on. The herb and from bites of wild beasts when drunk with wine, and especially if you
 285
284
The root lies below ground, single, and thick as a finger, long,
were to mix in a touch of rue. But the weaker animals, like goats and
astringent, and fragrant. It grows in thickets and shady places.
sheep, die even if they should drink their infusion.
Its root, used as a rinse, is a medicine for toothache and its leaves,/-
boiled in wine and plastered on, dissipate swellings and growths th'at . .
la grl'rE , Mushrooms
do not have pus. / "-'P
; shrooms fall into two categories, for they are either edible or
poisonous. They become poisonous for many reasons: namely, either
because they are growing next to rusty nails, or to rotting rags, or to IV, 85/ X iwq.,Parietaria officinalis L., Pellitory
nests of reptiles, or next to particularly harmful trees. These sorts of 1. The pellitory: but some call it parthenion, others perdlc
mushroom have also a glutinous crust and should they be stored after sideritis, others Heracleia, others hygieine agria, others and
it has been removed, they rot away and quickly spoil. But the others polyonymon. It grows around copings and walls, icate
mushrooms that are not of this kind are sweet and are used for soups. reddish little stems and leaves similar to the leave and
Yet, even these are harmful when eaten in large quantities, since they rough; around the stems, there are prickly so to speak, that
are difficult to digest and cause choking or nausea. attach themselves onto the clothes.
2. But all are helped when given to drink soda and olive oil, or sand The leaves have cooling and astringent this is why they
with vinegar and brine sauce, or a decoction of savory or oregano, or treat erysipelas, callous lumps, fier incipient
bird dung with vinegar, or a great deal of honey to suck. They are
swellings of the glands, and all and swellings when
nourishing and hard to dissolve and, by and large, they are evacuated
plastered on.
whole with the excretions.
2. Its juice, combined with and smeared on, is good for
IV, 83 KO, XtK6v, Colchicum sp. L., Meadow saffron erysipelas and shingles, when made up with cerate of
1. The meadow saffron: but some call it bolbos agrios and others henna or with goat's fat. one cyathos of its juice, when
ephemeron. At the end of autumn it sends out a white flower like the swallowed, helps those ly cough; it is a useful gargle
flower of saffron; later it bears leaves very nearly like those of purse and salve for inflamed and it is beneficially instilled with
tassels, but fatter, a stem that is a span tall, having red fruit, and a root unguent of roses ,€"
which has a pale-yellow skin tending towards being/d k and which is
white, soft, sweet, and full of juice when peeJe ." l'he bulb has a IV, 86 h? aivB, helygonum cynocramba L. = Cynocrambe
'Lichwort
moderate crevice through which it sends forth its.glOwer. prostrata Gaer tn
2. It grows abundantly in Colchian lands in Messenia. When The lichwort: gme call it myos ota29from the similarityof its leaves
eaten, it kills by choking like mushrooms. d I have described it lest to mouse ear ,Pbut it is called alsine3° because it favors shady places
it be eaten unwittingly for purse tassel. )!'or it is so pleasing, that it is and woodl]dds. It is an herb resembling the pellitoty, but it is shorter
uncommonly alluring to the inexperienced. All antidotes that help and it haaf'smaller leaves, not rough, smelling of cucumbers when
those who have eaten mushroo lV'also help those who have eaten
braised/f
meadow saffron as does also d ing cow s milk, so that when milk 'cooling
It and astringent properties that are suitable for
is available, there is no need any other help.
7"
IV, 84 q fllatpov, lygonatum multiflorium All. and P. .€
9 latlbg 'ra, "mouse ears" or "rat ears". The Greeks did not have nor do they still
vertieulatum All., Ep meron
have separate words for mouse and rat. The distinction between the two is made by
Ephemeron: but o rs call it iris agria. It has leaves and a stem like: the adjective ladyag/laEy&Xog, "big."
the wh t more delicate, small white flowers, and soft fruit. °¢i .aivrl., akin to tXoog. "grove."

//
 305
304

patient may choke, or when their constitution is weak. For the purging
, . .l[[ opog k 'UK6g, Veratrum album L., White hellebore does no harm to those who take it in this manner, because the
e white hellebore: it has leaves similar to the leaves of the
! medication is put into their bodies tempered. Even the suppositories
plantain or of the wild beet but shorter, darker, and red in color; it has that are made from it cause vomiting when applied to the seat with
a stem that is a span tall and hollow and that loses its skin all around vinegar.
as it begins to dry up. The roots are below ground, many, delicate,
and growing together from a small and Iongish head as from an onion. IV, 149 otOalaO t [g "r6 la[ya, Reseda alba L., Bastard roc_.kgt"
It grows in mountainous places. The bastard rocket, which the people in Ant!c,.l. oatl leboros,
"hellebore.
One must dig up the roots around the time wheat is harvested. The pv because it is mixed in their purgings _ .t. . tiff The plant
best is moderately long and white, friable, fleshy, not tapering or P resembles the groundsel or t ..xu .:T e leaves are long, the flower is
stringy, releasing fine down when broken, having a tender pith, not
white, the root is thi and"meffectual, and the seed is like sesame and
burning the taste much nor drawing the spittle all at once. For this
bitter in tastG.ic"lb' rges upward phlegm and bile when an amount of
kind causes choking.47
three.. e]isaBis taken ground up together with three obols of white
2. The best is the Anticyrinian; but the Galatian, and the French, and
the Cappadocian are whiter, thinner, and more likely to cause h ql'ebore and hydromel.
f
choking. i,IV, 150 [KUg iyptog, Ecballium elaterium Rich., Squirting
It purges through vomiting, bringing up matter that is of different
colors; it is mixed with eye medications that can cleanse those
!" 1. The squirting cucumber, which some call pherombron, differs
substances which cast a shadow over the pupils and it both draws the ' ' from the cultivated cucumber only in its fruit, which is a great deal
menstrual period and destroys embryos/fetuses when inserted as a k smaller and resembles longish acorns; but its leaves and twigs are like
pessary; it also provokes sneezing, it kills mice when kneaded with • those of the cultivated cucumber and the root is white and large. It
honey and barley groats, and it dissolves meats when cooked together
grows on building lots and in sandy places; the entire shrub is bitter.
with them. It is given on an empty stomach by itself and with fruit of
!" The juice of its leaves is suitable to instill for earaches. The root,
black hellebore, juice of deadly carrot, fish-sauce, hydromel or with plastered on with barley groats, disperses all old indurations, it breaks
gruel or lentils or porridge. It is also kneaded into bread and baked.
up tumors when applied with resin of terebinth, and when boiled with
3. Those who wrote principally about its dosage worked out its
vinegar, it is beneficial to plaster on gout. Its decoction is both a
administration and subsequent regulation in the diet; and we are very
clyster for hip ailments and a rinse for toothaches.
much in agreement with 'Philonides the Sicilian from Enna. For it is
2. Ground up dry, it cleanses dull-white leprosies, leprosies, lichen-
tiresome to set out treatments in an exposition that deals chiefly with
like eruptions, and it removes both clark scars and facial blemishes.
the tradition of herbal remedies. Some give it with much porridge, or
Both the juice of its root, at least three half obols, and its bark, about a
with a large quantity of juice, or they even offer the hellebore after
quarter of an oxybaphon, purge phlegm and bile, especially of people
first offering some food, especially in cases where they suspect the who have edemata, without harming their stomach. Taking a
hemilitron of root, one must triturate it with two xestes of wine,
preferably resinated wine, and give three cyathoi of it on an empty
47The 'choking' appears to be due to the effect it has on the salivary glands, which
causes them to be hyperactive and which appear to be one of the side effects of some
white hellebores. In general, veratrum album, is highly toxic because of the
alkaloidal steroids it contains, some of which are teratogenic in sheep. See " A finger is a measure of length. A quantityof a finger = a finger's breadth, about
Phytochemical Dictionary,, B. Harborne etal,, eds. pp. 972, 329. 331-332. and 335. 7/10 of an inch.
 331

BOOKV oinanthe; the other produces perfect fruit, although the grape is
small, black, and astringent.
Dear Areios,
Its leaves, tendrils, and stems have the same properties, as do those of
In the previous four books I discussed aromatics, oils, unguents, trees, the cultivated.
their fruits and saps; also animals, honey, milk, what are called grains
and potherbs, and I rendered a full account of roots, herbs, juice V, 3 o'raq u ,€l, Grape
extracts, and seeds; in this one, which is the last of my entire treatise, 1. The grape: all fresh grapes trouble the belly and produce stomach
I shall discuss wines and what are called minerals, beginning with an
$ gas, but grapes that have been hanging for some time partake slightly
account of the grapevine. of these characteristics because much of their moisture has dried up
and they are wholesome, they restore the appetite, and they are well
V, 1 h rrtXo olvrcpopo ;, Vitis vinifera L., Grapevine

l
suited for the sick. Grapes from the pressings and from the vats are
1. Ground up and plastered on, the leaves and tendrils of the

t
tasty, wholesome, and able to check diarrhea, but they attack the
grapevine assuage headaches and since the leaves are astringent and
bladder and head. They are suitable also for people who spit blood. So
possess a cooling property, they relieve inflammations of the stomach
are also the grapes that are put in must; but grapes from concentrated
and heartburn when plastered on either with barley groats or by
must and from grape syrup are rather bad for the stomach.
themselves. When drunk, their juice helps dysenterics, people who
2. They are also put up in rain water having been first made into
spit blood, those with stomach ailments, and pregnant women who
raisins; such as these do become mildly winy in flavor, but they
crave for strange foods; even its tendrils do the same when soaked in
quench thirst and they are useful for persistent high fevers. The mass
water and drunk.
of their pressings that was stored, ground up with salt, is plastered on
2. Its sap, which is similar to gum and congeals around the trunks,
inflammations, indurations, and distension of the breasts. And the
when drunk with wine, expels stones. Smeared on, it also treats
decoction from the mass of pressings, when used as a clyster, benefits
lichen-like eruptions of the skin, leprosies, and mange. But you must
dysenterics, the colicky, and women suffering from discharges; it is
first clean the area with soda. Smeared on repeatedly with olive oil, it
also used for sitz baths and rinses. Their seeds are astringent,

f
is depilatory, especially that sap that exudes from the green vine-twig
wholesome, and when roasted and sprinkled ground up instead of
when it burns. This sap also gets rid of warts that spread below the
barley groats, they are suitable for dysenteries, the colicky, and for
skin. But the ashes of the vine-twigs and of the grape pressings, people with an upset stomach.
plastered on with vinegar, treat excised callous lumps and large warts
3. White raisins are more astringent. Their flesh benefits the trachea,
around the anus and sprains, and when plastered on with unguent of
a cough, the kidneys, the bladder, and dysentery when consumed with
roses, rue, and vinegar, they help people bitten by vipers and for
the seeds by itself, also when combined with meal of millet and egg,
inflammations of the spleen.
then fried, and taken with honey. It is also good for purging phlegm
and it stops testicular inflammations when plastered on with meal of
beans and cumin. Ground up without the seeds and applied with rue,
V The wild grapevine is of two sorts: for one produces grapes that do
it treats pustules that are most painful at night, carbuncles, impetigo
not ripen, but throughout the blooming time it puts out the so called
contagiosa, putrid humors around the joints, and gangrenes. With

' OLvdvOrl is the inflorescence of the grapevine, vitis vinifera L, as well as of the
wild grape, vitis silvestris Gmel.
332 333

gum of Hercules' woundwort, it is a suitable plaster for gout and it

is drunk for spitting uncoagulated blood that is due to a rupture. But it
removes loosened nails rather quickly when smeared on them.
must be used sparingly, diluted with a great deal of water, because it
is highly caustic.
V, 4 olv, vOq, Oinanthe
1. Oinanthe is called the produce of the wild grapevine when it is in
V, 6 oIvot, Wines
bloom. After harvesting it and drying it in the shade on a linen cloth,
1. Wines: old wines are harmful to the nerves and to the other sense
it must be stored in an unpitched clay vessel. The best grows in Syria,
organs although they taste very pleasant; it is for this reason that
Cilicia, and Phoenicia. people who have some weak area must avoid them; even so, they are
It has an astringent property, wherefore, it is wholesome and diuretic
consumed tempered and sparingly for good health. But new wine
when drunk, stopping diarrheaand blood spittingwhen applied dry; it causes flatulence, it is difficult to digest, it gives bad dreams, and it is
is also beneficial for a nauseous and sour stomach.
diuretic.
2. With vinegar and unguent of roses it is also an embrocation for
2. Wine of average age is free of the shortcomings of both;
headaches; both fresh and died it is an anti-inflammatory plaster for
consequently its use is recommended both in health and in sickness.
bleeding wounds, for incipient lachrymal fistulas, for mouth sores,
Furthermore, white wine is delicate, easy to digest, and wholesome;
and for spreading genital ulcers when triturated with honey, saffron,
but red wine2 is thick and difficult to digest, engendering drunkenness
unguent of roses, and myrrh; it is mixed in pessaries for staunching
and fleshiness; the tawny, being in between, has also middling
blood and it is plastered on with fine meal of barley groats and wine
strength in relation to each of these two. Nevertheless, white wine is
for running eyes and for heartburn. Burned in a clay vessel on top of
preferable both in health and in sickness.
red-hot coals, it is good for eye medications, and with honey, it treats
They differ, moreover, even in quality. For sweet wine is coarse and
whitlow, fleshy excrescences over the inner corners of the eyes, and
slow to evaporate, distending the stomach, upsetting the belly and
flaccid and bleeding gums. bowels as does also the sweet new wine, although it inebriates less
andit is suitablefor the bladderand kidneys.
V, S 61aq&xtov, Omphacion
3. Dry wine is more diuretic and causes headaches and drunkenness.
1. Omphacinon is the juice of the unripe Psithian or Aminnaian
Wine that is astringent is most suitable for the digestion of foods and
grape. Having pressed the grapes before the arrival of the Dog Star's
it halts a runny bowel and other discharges. Wine that is weak affects
days, you must set the juice out in the sun in a copper vessel covered
less the nervous system and is less diuretic. But wine that has been
with a linen cloth until all of it thickens, always mixing thoroughly
mixed with sea water is bad for the stomach, thirst making, bad for
the thickened part with the liquid, and at night you must take it
the nerves, loosens the bowels, and it is not recommended for people
indoors; for the dews prevent it from setting. Choose it yellow or red,
recovering from a long illness.
quite astringent, and biting the tongue. But some people thicken the
4. But the wine that is made from sun-dried grapes or from grapes
juice by boiling it.
2. It is good with honey or grape syrup for inflammations of the
tonsils, the uvula, thrush, flaccid gums, and for purulent ears, and Homer, Od. 5. 265, 9.196, sings of Xu o'[vog, literally, "black wine," but of
with vinegar, for fistulas, old sores, and spreading ulcers. It is also course, meaning red wine; in Od. 5. 165 and 9. 163 he also speaks of puOp6 o'[vo%
"fiery
used as a clyster for dysenterics and for women suffering from " red wine" and in II. 1. 462 and 4. 259 of ai0 ow o'[voc;, "sparkling" or wine."
discharges. It promotes sharp-sightedness and it is suitable both for Dioscorides in this chapter, apart from such as adjectives as sweet, dry, etc., he talks
of a .g ; o'[vo ;, which is translated as" red wine" -- not "black wine" --, of ), uKrg
roughness on the eyes and for ulcerations of the comers of the eyes. It
o'[vog, "white wine," and xtppr o'[vo% "tawny wine."
 334 335

that were baked on the vines then pressed, called Cretan or protropos it ages. The Adriatic and the Mamertine,which is produced in Sicily,
or Pramneios, or from the sweet new wine that is boiled down, which are equally hearty, mildly astringent, and age rather fast; they have a
is called siraios or epsema, is sweet. The red one, called lesser effect on the nervous system because of their smoothness.
melampsithios, is thick and very nourishing, but the white is more 8. The Praitytian, this wine, too, is brought from places down the
delicate, and that in the middle3 has also a middling quality. All Adriatic, is fragrant and rather smooth; wherefore one drinks much
wines, however, are astringent, good for getting back the pulse, good without realizing it and remains inebriated for a long time. The wine
for all poisons that destroy by ulceration when drunk with oil and called lstrian resembles the Praitytian, although it is more diuretic.
vomited, and they are good for opium, for pharicon," for arrow The Chian, <which is called Ariousios>, is smoother than the
poison, for hemlock, for curdled milk, and for irritated and ulcerated aforesaid wines, easy to drink, nutritious, less apt to inebriate, capable
bladder and kidneys• of checking discharges, and useful in the preparation of eye
5, But they do cause a great deal of flatulence and they are bad for medications.
the stomach. Melampsinthios is particularly well suited to people who 9. The Lesbian is easy to digest, lighter than the Chian, and easing
have intestinal diarrhea, and white wine softens the bowel more that the bowel. The wine from around Ephesus, which is called Phygelites,
the rest. Wine containing gypsum is bad for the nervous system, has the same properties as the Lesbian. But the Mesogites from Asia,
causes headaches, inflames, and is unsuitable for the bladder, but it is which comes from mount Tmolos, gives headaches and is harmful to
more suitable for deadly poisons than the rest. Those containing pitch the nerves• And the Coan and Clazomenean wines, because they
or pitys pine resin warm and promote digestion, but they are contain a great deal of sea water, spoil easily, inflate, upset the belly,
unsuitable for people inclined to vomiting. The wines that are and'harm the nerves.
unblended, having concentrated must mixed in them, attack and heat 10. Shared properties of wine. In general, every pure, unmixed, and
the head, engender drunkenness, cause flatulence, are slow to naturally dry wine, warms, is easily digested, is wholesome,
evaporate, and are bad for the stomach. stimulates the appetite, is nutritious, is soporific, strengthens, and
6. The wine that seems to be best among the Italian wines, called gives a good complexion. Drunk in sufficient amounts, it helps people
Phalerian, after it has aged, is very easy to digest, is good for getting who have taken hemlock, or coriander, or pine thistle,5 or pharicon,6
back the pulse, binds the bowel, is good for the stomach, is unsuitable or opium, or litharge, or taxus,7 or hemlock, or leopard's bane, or
for the bladder, weakens the sight, and is unsuitable for hard-drinking. mushrooms; it also for bites of serpents and strokes of all creatures
The Albanian is coarser than the Phalerian: it is somewhat sweet, it which in striking or biting kil! by chilling or upset the stomach. It is
inflates the stomach, and it softens the bowel nor does it assist also good for chronic flatulence, for gnawing of the hypochondrium,
digestion the same way, but it is less harmful to the nervous system. for distention and loosening of the stomach or bowel, and for
However, this wine, too, becomes dry when aged. diarrhea. Wines are also suitable for people who perspire and who are
7. The Caicoubos, being sweet, is coarser than the Albanian; it weakened, especially the white, aged, and fragrant wines,
engenders both fleshiness and good complexion, but it is unsuitable 11. It should be pointed out that aged and sweet wines are more
for the digestion. The Syrentine is quite dry, wherefore it stops suitable for conditions associated with the bladder and kidneys, for
intestinal and stomach discharges and it attacks the head less because injuries and inflammations they are applied with greasy wool, and
it consists of fine parts. It becomes more wholesome and sweeter after

5 See Dsc. Bk. III, n. 11.

: l Thts ts the tawny wlne referred o earher. 6 Some kind of poison.
. ? Name of a pozson. 7 See Dsc. Bk. IV, 79.
 337
336
Deuterias. The wine called deuterias, which some call potimos, is
they are poured beneficially over malignant, cancerous, and running
sores. Suitable to use for good health are the wines that are free of sea made this way: into masses of grape pressings from which you have
squeezed 30 metretai of wine add three metretai of water, and after
: water, dry, and white. Best among them are the Italian, as for instance
mixing and trampling them, strain and boil down to one third. For
" the Phalerian, the Syrentan, the Caicoubos, the Signinan and many
:' others from Campania, also the Praitytian from the Adriatic and the each chous of the metretai that remain mix two xestes of salt, and at
the end of the winter pour into clay vessels. But use it up after a year
Sicilian called Mamertine, and of the Greek wines, the Chian, the
Lesbian, and the Phygelites, which is produced in Ephesus. because it quickly becomes weak.
16. It is suitable for those to whom we hesitate to give wine but are
12. But wines that are heavy and dark are bad for the stomach, they
cause flatulence, and they are definitely fattening. On the other hand,
forced to do so by the hankeringof the patient; it is also suitable for
wines that are light and dry are good for the stomach and less those recovering from a long illness.
Adynamos. There is also a wine called adynamos that has the same
fattening; but very old white wines are more diuretic and they give
headaches; consumed to excess they affect the nervous system. properties as deuterias. Mixing equal parts of water and must, you
need to boil it slowly over a gentle fire until the water has evaporated,
Wines of average age are best for drinking, as are those over seven
years old. Amounts should be based on the age of the wine, the time and then after cooling it, you must put it into a pitched vessel.
17. But some, after mixing equal amounts of sea water, rain water,
of the year, the customs, and the quality of the wine. Not being thirsty
honey, and must, and after bottling it, ferment it for 40 days; they use
and moistening the food moderately are both excellent rules.
13. All drunkenness is dangerous, but especially continuous it after a year for the same purposes.
Agriostaphylites: the red wine of the wild grape, being astringent, is
drunkenness: for nerves that are assailed every day, finally give up
suitable for diarrhea and for a rheumy stomach as well as for all the
and daily drinking binges create severe health problems; on the other q
hand, drinking moderate amounts of wine for a few days is beneficial other conditions that need astringency and contraction.
and especially if one drank water first. For wine does alter somewhat
the state of pores, clearing out completely the palpable secretions as V, 7 laEXt'r(TrlS,Wine prepared with honey
1. The wine called melitites is given in cases of chrbnic fevers to
well as opening imperceptibly the pores. Of course, one must also
those who have a weak stomach: for it gently softens the stool, it is
drink water after drinking a great deal of wine because it does afford
diuretic, it purges the stomach, and it is suitable for arthritics,
the constitution some means for recovery.
nephritics, and for those of weak constitution. It is useful also to
14. Omphacites. The wine called omphacites is made especially in
Lesbos from grapes which are not entirely ripe but still sour; they are women who drink water: for it is fragrant and nutritious.
dried in the sun for three or four days until the clusters become 2, It differs from oinomeli s in that oinomeli is made from aged dry
wrinkled, and, after pressing them, the wine is fermented in clay wine and a little honey, while melitites takes for every five choes of
hard must one chous of honey and one cyathos of salt. It must be
vessels.
: It has astringent and wholesome properties that are suitable for people prepared in a large vessel to have room to ferment thoroughly,
with indigestion, for those with stomach problems, for those sprinkling into it the salt mentioned earlier a little at a time until it
hankering after strange foods, and for those suffering from intestinal ferments, and after it has stopped bubbling, it must be bottle in clay
obstructions. It is believed, moreover, that drinking it even helps vessels.
suffering from fataldiseases.
Vpeople
15. But wines such as these need many years, otherwise they are
unfit to drink. t A kind of mead.
 338 339

V, 8 o|volahl, Mixture of wine and honey for the sick because it contains too much beebread.
1. Mixture of wine and honey is best when made of aged dry wine
and good honey, for this sort causes less flatulence and it quickly V, 10 0B p, Water
becomes fit for drinking. It is nutritious when aged, but if it is Generally speaking it is difficult to assess water due to the
moderately old, it eases the bowel and it is diuretic; it is harmful if peculiarities and specific nature of its provenience, the winds, and
taken after the meal, but it is pleasant at the beginning of a meal and several other factors; but on the whole, it is excellent if it is clean and
thereafter it stimulates the appetite. sweet, free of any quality whatsoever, tarrying in the abdomen not
2. It is generally prepared by mixing with every two metretai of wine even for the shortest period of time, and passing through painlessly
one metretes of honey. But others, in order to make it faster, boil the and easily, causing neither flatulence nor becoming spoiled.
honey together with the wine and thus bottle it. And some, for the
sake of economy, mixing six xestes of seething must with one xestes V, 11 0ah -r-rtou 0 5¢op, Sea water
of honey, bottle it after the fermenting ceases. It does stay sweet. 1. Sea water is harsh, warms, is bad for the stomach, upsets the belly,
and removes phlegm. Used as a warm rinse it draws to itself and
V, 9 laE;kIKpa'rov, Mixture of honey and water dissipates and it is suitable for conditions associate with the tendons
1. Mixture of honey water has the same properties as mixture of wine and for chilblains before they become ulcerated; it is mixed
and honey. We use it not boiled down on people whose stool we want conveniently with bruised meal of raw corn, it is well suited for
to soften or whom we want to make vomit, as for instance people who plasters and resolvent emollients, it is used warm, in clysters, to
drunk deadly poisons, administering it with olive oil; but we use it cleanse the bowel and hot for colic, and it is a wash for mange,
boiled down on people whose pulse is weak, who are sickly, who itching, lichen-like eruptions on the skin, nits, and for breasts swollen
cough, who have lung inflammations, and who are weakened from with milk.
perspiration. That which is prepared and stored, which some call 2. It disperses livid spots when used as a fomentation and it is good
properly hydromeli, when of average age, corresponds to the wines for bites of all wild animals that cause tremblings and chills, but
deuterias9 and adynamos ° in as much as it does restore strength; especially for bites of scorpions, poisonous spiders, and asps. And
wherefore it is more convenient than deuterias for people who have should one step into sea water that is hot, bathing with it does good
an inflammation somewhere. both to constitutions that are chronically unwell and nerves, and when
2. But that which is rather old is unsuitable for those with sea water is vaporized, it relieves those with edemata, headaches, and
inflammations and for those who are constipated; on the other hand, it hardness of hearing.
is useful for those with stomach problems or rheums, or who have no 3. Sea water that is pure and that was not mixed with drinking water,
appetite, or who are weakened by perspiration. They prepare it by when laid aside, becomes free of smell. But some boil it first and put
mixing and fermenting one part honey with two parts stale rain water. it up this way. It is also given neat for purging, or with sour wine
But some mix in spring water, boil it down to one third, and store it. mixed with water, or with wine, or with vinegar mixed with honey,
Some call apomeli the hydromeli they make by washing the and after the purge, chicken,or fish broth is given to allay the severity
honeycomb with water, which they then store. But it must be made of the gnawing.
rather pure. Some boil down this one, too. It is, however, unsuitable
V, 12 0a ,aoo61aEkb Sea water mixed with honey
Sea water mixed with honey is thought to purge vigorously. It is
/ 9 SeeDsc. Bk. V, 6,15.
,
j¢ to See Dsc. Bk. V,6,16.
prepared of equal parts honey, rain water, and sea water strained and
 340 341

fermented in a pitched vessel during the burning heat of the Dog Star. V, 14 6g01aEXt,
Oxymel
But some, after mixing two parts boiled sea water and one part honey, Oxymel is prepared this way: taking five cotylai of vinegar, one mna
bottle it. This is gentler and milder than sea water. sea salt, ten mnai honey, ten cotylai water, and after mixing them
together, boil until the mixture has bubbled up ten times, then cool
V, 13 6 o , Vinegar and bottle.
1. Vinegar cools and contracts; it is good for the stomach, it When taken, it is thought to drive out thick masses, to benefit people
stimulates the appetite, and it staunches all hemorrhages when drunk with hip ailments, with arthritis,and epileptics; it comes to the aid of
and when used in a sitz bath. Boiled with food, it is suitable for those bitten by the viper called seps, to those who took opium or pine
• abdominal diarrhea and it treats bleeding wounds and inflammations thistle, and it is a useful gargle for sore throats.
, when applied with greasy wool or sponges• It shrinks the uterus, a
prolapsed anus, and flaccid and bleeding gums. Mixed with one of the V, 15 6 ci, larl, Brine vinegar
recommended compounds, it is good for spreading ulcers, erysipelas, Brine vinegar is a good fomentation for spreading ulcers, putrid
shingles, leprosies, lichen-like eruptions on the skin, and membranes humors, dog bites, and for bites of venomous animals. It stems the
that grow over the inner corner of the eyes. Used as a continuous hemorrhaging of those who were operated for stones when injected
?. fomentation, it checks both cancerous sores and spreading ulcers. warm immediately following the surgery, it draws in a prolapsed anus
2. Used as a warm rinse with sulfur, it is good for the gouty; smeared when used as a sitz bath, and it is administered in a clyster to
on with honey, it removes black eye; for heatstroke it is used with dysenterics that have spreading ulcers; afterwards, however, one must
unguent of roses and with greasy wool or with a sponge, and it is treat them with a milk clyster. When drunk and as a gargle, it expels
. good for those with edemata, for hardness of hearing, and for ringing leeches. It clears up both dandruff and scurf.
and singing in the ears when vaporized hot. Instilled, it kills earwigs;
it checks cancerous sores when used tepid as a rinse or when applied V, 16 0ulaogdXI.trl,Brine vinegar flavored with Cretan thyme./
with sponges; it allays itching and it is used as a warm rinse for all The ancients used brine vinegar flavored with Cretan thee on
animal bites that cause chills, but for poisonous bites that burn, it is people who had a weak stomach; they mixed about three or four
used cold. cyathoi brine vinegar with warm water and gave it to q' em; they also
3. It is good for deadly poisons, being drunk warm and vomited; it is used it on arthritics and the flatulent: for it doesAl ve out thick and
especially good for those who drank opium, leopard's bane, and black humors. It is prepared this way: pI oi'fi one oxybaphon of
hemlock, and for blood and milk clots in the chest, and for ground Cretan thyme an equal amount 9 lt, a little of each barley
i mushrooms, pine thistle,Ltand taxus 2 with salt; it expels swallowed groats, rue, and pennyroyal into a ve§s[1, pour over them six cotylai
leeches when drunk, and it soothes an old cough, but it exacerbates a of water and half a cotyle of vin r, and after covering the vessel
new one. When drunk warm, it is suitable also for orthopnea. As a with a linen cloth, expose it to th sun and air.
; gargle, it checks discharges in the throat, it is suitable for sore throats,
for a slackened uvula, and for toothaches <when held> warm in the V, 17 "r6 ogtXXrl'rtg6v og, Vinegar flavored with squill
mouth and when used as a rinse• 1. Vinegar flavorec[.w'ith squill is prepared this way: after cleaning,
cutting up, and threadingwhite squill with a linen thread so that the
sections do noF' uch.,each other, dry them in the shade for 40 days;
I SeeDsc. Bk. lll, n.ll. then taking ' ne tuna of squills, drop them into 12 xestes of good
iz See Dsc. Bk. IV,79. vinegar ¢'fid et them steep for 60 days in the sun, having sealed
362 363

berries still unripe, place them in an unbaked clay vessel to cook in a changed four times a day until there is no scum on it whatsoever. Its
potters kiln, covering the vessel with a lid perforated with many holes slag, which is also washed the same way, has the same properties,
and luted all around. After the clay vessel is baked, pour its contents although weaker.
into another unbaked vessel; and when the second vessel, too is
4'
thoroughly baked, removing it from the kiln, wash, and use. .,; V, vOos, Flower of copper
15. Use even olive foliage that you prepared the same way; bt t let it wer of copper, which some old writers have called nail-
loahKoO
be from the wild olive. But if wild olive is unavailable, yon'can take scrapings, is excellent if it crumbles, if it is very red when brayed, and
the foliage of the cultivated together with the flowers, oF';:luinces all if it is like grains of millet in size, heavy, and moderately shining;
cut up and with their seeds removed, or oak-galls, or:l nen rags, or moreover, it should be free of copper filings with which it is
unripe white mulberries that were previously drie in.._the sun, or adulterated. But it can be verified, because it is flattened by the
mastic, or terebinth, or wild vine inflorescence, or tJe
'is tender leaves of teeths's pressure.
bramble, or the foliage of boxwood, or wha called bastard 2. It is made this way: when the copper that was smelted in the ore
galingale together with its flower. furnaces flows down through the strainers of the conveying ducts into
16. Some prepare similarly branches of fig tree/ that were dried in the the receptacles, the attendants, after removing the dirt, pour on it very
sun; others burn bull's glue, and others. haggy and greasy wool fresh water, their purpose being to cool it. And so, from the sudden
smeared with either pitch or honey. ./'" condensation and contracting, the above-mentioned forms on the
surface, as if it were spat out.
V, 76 KtKaglaVog Xa;kKrg,Burned q,4pper It, too, contracts, reduces excrescences, and purges those elements
1. Burned copper is good when it is*red and of the color of cinnabar that cast a shadow over the pupils of the eyes, stinging quite a bit.
when rubbed; but if it is black, it s been burned more than it should Given in the amount of four obols, it draws out gross humors, it
have been. It is made from shi ' nails placed in an unbaked baked reduces fleshy excrescences both in the nostrils and on the anus, it
vessel and strewn alternately elow and above with sulfur and salt in checks pustules with wine, and the kind that is white is blown ground
equal amounts. The vessel, li'dded and sealed with potter's clay, is put up through a tube for chronic hardness of hearing. Applied ground up
in a kiln until it is thoroughlybaked. with honey, it shrinks both uvulas and tonsils.
2. But some sprinkle alum instead of sulfur. Others, placing the nails
in the vessel without e sulfur and salts, burn them for several days. V, 78 kETtle,Flake [of ore]
Others use only the ;sulfur, but they do become sooty. Others, after 1. Flakes of copper ores which are thick and which are"called helitis
rubbing the nails ih split alum, burn them with sulfur and vinegar in are good; but the ones from bronze are bad bec . e'they are thin and
an unbaked caly,;#essel. Still others after sprinkling them with vinegar weak. We reject them as worthless, cho, n those that are thick,
in a copper pota cook them in the kiln this way. And, after they have
'peat yellow, and growing rusty when vineg sprinkled on them.
burned, they l the process three times, then store. The best is that They have astringent, staunch , , ,. attenuating, and putrefactive
bumed in !V mphis, then that burned in Cyprus. properties; they are capable,,,,6"f checking spreading ulcers and of
3. It is a l to contract, dry, attenuate, reduce, draw, cleanse wounds cicatrizing; when drunk itl5hydromel they draw out water.
and cica 'ize them, clear off impurities in the eyes, reduce overgrown 2. Some, after mix g them with flour, administer them as a little pill.
flesh, a d check spreading ulcers. It is also emetic when drunk with They are also mix'ed with ophthalmic medicines, drying up watery
hydr Cael, or when sucked with honey, or when one s mouth is eyes and redu'ci'ng rough eyelids.

/
wa ed with it. It is washed just like calamine, the water being 3. after cleaning : hemimnaion )f dried
364 365

flakes, place them in a mortar with clear water and stir them 'arefully type forming on the surface of some stones that contain copper and
by hand. When the flakes have settled down, removing wl at floats on the other drips from a certain cave during the burning heat of the Dog
"water,
top, pour out the water, pour in one cyathos of rain and with Star. They also say that while the former is scarce and of excellent
the palm of your hand rub them against the m.gr[ar as if you were quality and the one deriving from the cave flows plentiful and nicely
scraping them. rS colored, it is, nevertheless, inferior because it contains many stony
4. When they begin to release some stickifiess, little by little, pour elements.
over them up to six cyathoi of water and'rub them rigorously. Then 4. It is adulterated with many different things, but especially with
• ,r," ,
take the flakes up with your hand, rtlb them hard against the side of these: for some mix it with pumice stone, others with marble, and
the mortar, squeeze them out an&' ake up the run off into a copper others with copper sulfate. We shall detect the pumice stone and
box. For this is, as it were. the ,flower of the flakes; it is both strong in marble by wetting the thumb of our left hand and rubbing against it a
its efficacy and useful for eye'medications, but the remaining is weak. bit of verdigris with the other thumb• It happens that the unadulterated
5. Washing similarly ev(di" the remainder, take it up until it secretes verdigris dissolves, while that with pumice stone or marble does not
no stickiness whatso Vl r; then you must cover it with a linen cloth and becomes finally all white from much rubbing and from the
and leave it undisturbed for two days; then you must pour out the absorption of moisture.
water that stand n top, dry, and store it in a box. But some wash this 5. And that is not all; we shall detect adulterants also by the pressure
one also like ct lamine then store. that teeth exert on it: for that which is pure gives, being smooth and
Flakes ofo mered iron have the same properties as flakes of copper not rough. Copper sulfate is detected with fire. For if one, after
and the i re similarly washed and stored, but they are not as effective sprinkling on a thin blade or on a potsherd verdigris that was
for pgCging the bowel as those of copper. adulterated in this manner placed either of these on warm ashes or
coals, the copper sulfate changes and grows red because it naturally
V , 79
"
[jtto"r6 , Verdigris has that kind of color when burned.
--' ou must prepare verdigris this way: after pouring very sharp 6. los scolycos. There are two types of the so called ios scolycos,24
vinegar into a cask or into another similar container, cover it with an for one is mined, and the other is prepared this way: after pouring into
inverted copper vessel; it is good if the cover were concave, but if not, a mortar of Cyprian copper, equipped with a pestle made of the same
it may be flat. It should also be clean and tight fitting. After ten days, material, one half cotyle white harsh vinegar beat it until it becomes
removing the cover, scrape off the verdigris that coats it. Or, after sticky, then add four drachmai of round alum and of mined salt that is
making a thin blade of the same copper, hung it over the container so translucent, or of very white and solid sea salt, otherwise an equal
as not to touch the vinegar and, after the same number of days, scrape amount of soda. Then beat it <in> the sun, during the heat of the Dog
it. Star, until it becomes rusty in color and wrinkled in appearance, and
2, Or, having stashed among grape pressings that are not fresh and thus shape it into worms similar to the Rhodian and store.
that are growing sour a lump of copper, or a thin blade, or even 7. It does become very strong and very well colored if one part
several thin blades, dig them up after the same number of days. But it vinegar and two parts urine of a child25 were added and all else were
is also possible to make it from shavings, or from the thin blades done as was indicated. But some mixing with verdigris that did not
between which gold leaves are placed when they are being hammered pass muster gum, mold it and sell it; you must reject it because it is
out, if one sprinkled them with vinegar and turned them upside down
three or four times a day until fully covered with verdigris.
g: u This is aerugo vermicularis which is shaped like worms.
3. And they say that verdigris is also formed in Cypriot mines, one
All other readings have "old urine" for "urine of a child."
366 367
ineffective. There is also a kind that goldsmiths make with a mortar
rust accomplishes, but to a lesser degree; drunk with oxymel, it helps
and a pestle of Cyprian copper, and with a child's urine, which they
also for leopard's bane.
use to solder gold.
8. In general, the verdigris that were mentioned above are equivalent
V Xulavog 1.16;ku[3 o ;, Washed lead
to burned copper and have formidable strength. But one must know
arrE
shed lead is prepared this way: place water in a lead mortar,
that the mined is the best among them, next best is that which is
beat it with a leaden pestle until it turns black and becomes turbid,
scraped, and then that which is made. Even this one is, indeed, rather
then filter it through a linen cloth, pouring additional water, so that all
biting and binding, while the one of the goldsmiths' corresponds to
the dissolved matter passes through, and repeat the process until you
the scraped.
think you have enough. Next, letting the washed lead settle, pour out
9. All verdigris can bind, warm, wipe off and thin out eye scars,
the water, pour on new, wash as one washes calamine until no more
cause tearing, control spreading ulcers, maintain injuries free of
blackness stands on it, then shape into small lozenges and store.
inflammations, and with oil and wax cicatrize old wounds. Boiled
2. But some, filing down clean lead, beat it with water in a stone
with honey, they clear completely calluses and the sordid elements of
mortar with a stone pestle or with their hands, decanting at once the
sores,
blackened material, which, after they have allowed it to settle, they
10. Compounded with gum ammoniac into salves, they melt away
pour out and shape immediately into lozenges. That which is rubbed
fistulous sores and calluses, and they are useful for growths and
for quite some time becomes like white lead. Some people add to the
bumps on the gums. Smeared on with honey, they thin the eyelids
filings a touch of galena, maintainingthatlead that is washed this way
quite a bit; but after the smearing, one must foment the eyelids with
is better.
hot water, using a sponge. Compounded with turpentine and copper
3. It can contract, cool, stop up, soften, fill up hollows, and stop
sulfate or soda, they get rid of leprosies.
running eyes and sores that grow fungous. It also stops bleeding, it is
11. You must burn whichever verdigris you have chosen this way:
good, in combination with unguent of roses, for anal sores, callous
breaking it into large pieces and placing it in a clay pan, rest it on
lumps, hemorrhoids, and for sores that are hard to heal, and in general
very hot coals and stir until it changes color and becomes somewhat
it accomplishes everything that ashes do without being caustic. Pure
ashen; then, after cooling it, store and use it. Some burn it in an
lead helps for the stroke of the sea scorpion and the great weever
unbaked pot as described earlier, but it does not always change into
when rubbed on.
the same color when burned.
4. Lead is burned this way: taking sheets of lead that are as thin as
"V !4' t/ possible, place them on a new fiat dish, and after sprinkling over them
,80 16g ot Clpov, Iron rust ,4,
sulfur, place on top again new leaves of lead and sprinkle them with
1. Iron rust binds and stems leucorrhea, when ap.pti' d; and it causes
sulfur, and again place new sheets, and repeat the process until you
barrenness when drunk. Smeared on with vin ' ,qt effectively treats
have filled the dish; then light a fire underneath. When the lead
erysipelas and pustules, it is useful fojaw i iow, for membranes that
catches fire, move it about with an iron rod until it has turned fully to
grow over the inner corners of ye, for rough eyelids, and for
ashes and no lead element is left and lift the dish, shielding your
callous lumps. It strengtherts .th gums, it is beneficial to the gouty
nostrils because the fumes are harmful. Or, after placing lead
when smeared on, and it,reStores hair on bald patches on the head.
shavings and sulfur in a flat dish, simply burn them. But some after
2. The water or wige"i which red-hot iron was quenched is a suitable
placing the sheets of lead in an unbaked clay pot, as indicated, put it
drink for peo e ,ith colic, dysentery, spleen disease, cholera, and for
in an oven or on top of coals, having luted the lid and given it a small
a slacke d iomach. Iron slag can accomplish all the things that iron
air hole. Others on them white lead or barley instead of
368 369

sulfur. from a woman who gave birth to a boy or with old wine. It is burned
5. Others, after placing the flakes without adding anything to them, placed on coals and blown upon until it catches fire: for if it should
use a high flame and stir them vigorously with an iron rod until they burn too much, it melts like lead. It is washed like calamine and
turn to ashes. But this type of burning is difficult and if the lead is burned copper. But some people wash it the same way as lead dross.
burned more than it should have been burned, it acquires the color of
lead monoxide. I definitely prefer the first type of burning. It must be V, 85 1o; 6[SB,',wa,Galena /t
washed like calamine and stored.
1 Galena that looks like litharge, that is blonde, somewl shining
It has the same properties as washed lead but far stronger. orange-tawny when triturated, and liver-colored when co/o edi% oil, is
of excellent quality. But it is bad when it is grey or It/aden,tit is made
:o pla t o) u ov, Lead dross from silver and from gold. There is also a kind th.3"is 'cstined, found
ross that looks like white lead, that is thick and difficult to around Sebastes and Corycos; of this one, too/(/th is neither
break, that contains nothing lead-like, but that is quince-yellow and dross-like nor pebbly but blonde and shiny. / .
glassy is excellent. 2. It has the same properties as litharge d le id dross and it is
It is good for the same things as burned lead, but it is more astringent. similarly washed and burned. But tl is o is mixed more
It is washed in a mortar into which water is poured and the quince- conveniently with greasy plasters and it L co a ined advantageously
yellow film on top is poured out. The process is repeated many times with plasters that do not require a bandaged-making flesh grow and
causing it to heal. It is not suitable('however, for cleansing
until the dross is consumed. Then, letting it settle, we pour out the
water and simply mold it. medicines.

V, 83 6 laOhU8O t €l ,(0og, Leadstone V, 86 fl ToO ckpT''pov OKcop(¢ Silv i"dross

Leadstone has properties that are comparable to those of legg'?drnss The dross from silver is calledhelc sma. It has the same properties as
and it is similarly washed. ,', galena, whereof it is mixed <l th> with grey plasters and with
plasters that cicatrize, since it i 4astringentand causes adherence.
"
V, 84 OTi[ b Antimony, = ,Z
1. Antimony is excellent if it glitters and shin : , if it is laminated V, 87 ht0 p'yupo , Litharge
when broken, containing neither soil nor.d , and if it is easily 1. Litharge: there is o .¢type that is produced from the sand called
broken. Some have called this kind p a' ophthalmon and others molybditis when it is 8-melted until its complete calcination, another
larbason. .,, ' from silver, and anotl er from lead. The best is the Attic, second best
2. It has properties that stop th p6i'es, are astringent, cool, check is the Spanish, aft 'them those produced in Dicaiarchia and in Sicily.
overgrown flesh, cicatrize sore ind cleanse the sordid elements and For in these pla es large quantitiesare produced during the firing of
ulcers in the eyes. It also stg ns hemorrhages from the membranes, lead plates.
and in general its proper[ g are similar to those of burned lead. But it 2. The one t] t is golden and shining is called chrysitis; it is the best.
especially prevents bpr s from forming scabs when anointed with The dull o is called argyritis, and the one made from silver is called
fresh suet and it c a izes burns that have formed scabs when mixed scalauthri i's.
with wax and wla e lead. It has p operties that are astringent, emollient, that cool, that are
3. It is roasted wrapped in dough and buried in coals until the dough of stopping the pores, of filling up hollows, of controlling
turns to and after it has been dug out, it is quenched with milk and of
 381
380 o ,,:"

the one called trichitis,42 which occurs in Egypt, is of that sort. There
thought to be excellent. Such is the one forme '_,
at the
is, however, a stone that resembles it a great deal which you must
Hellespont. There are two kinds of it. The o .e-i__ described above;
identify by the criterion of taste because it is not astringent.Of the
the other is lumpy, bright red in color,.aOd"it is brought from Pontus
round, the one that is man-made is unsatisfactory. It is recognizable
and Cappadocia. This kind ranks__C.e ffct.._ It is baked this way: after
from its shape.
putting it in a fresh clay v Tplace it on Fed-hot coals and stir it
3. You must use that which is naturally round and which is like
continuously until itJ et 'mes red-hot and changes color; then cool,
bubbles, whitish, and extremely astringent; moreover, it should have a
pound, and store
touch of paleness and at the same time some glitter; in addition to
It has putr_c, ve and escharotic properties with burning and intense
these characteristics it should be free of stones, crumbling, and either
bitin ,,,R belongs to the group of astringents. It is also depilatory.
Melian or Egyptian of origin. But of the moist you must choose that
which is very translucent and milky, smooth and moist throughout;
V ap,'%o'l, Sulfide of arsenic
moreover, you must choose it free of stones and emanating heat.
ust select red sulfide of arsenic that is deep red, easily
4. They have properties that warm, that are astringent, that clear off
triturated and clean, having the color of cinnabar, moreover, smelling
the elements that cast a shadow over the pupils of the eyes, and that
like sulfur.
reduce both the flesh on the eyelids and other overgrown fleshes. The
It has the same properties and it is baked the same way as yellow
one that is cloven must be regarded more effective than the round.
orpiment. But in combination with pine resin it also treats bald spots,
They are calcined and baked like rock alum. They stem both putrid
with pitch, it removes psoriatic nails, with olive oil. it is good for
humors and hemorrhages, they tighten flaccid gums, and with vinegar
pediculosis, and with animal fat, it dissolves tumors.
or honey they strengthen loose teeth.
2. It is also suitable for sores in the nose, mouth, and for the rest of
5. They are beneficial, with honey, for thrush and for pustules, and,
sores, for pustules with unguent of roses, and for callous lumps. It is
with the juice of polygonon43 for ear rheums. They are suitable for
given with honey mixed with wine to people who suffer from internal
leprosies and for itches when boiled with cabbage juice or with
abscesses, it is burned with pine resin to produce smoke from below
honey, and they are poured with water over scaly nails, fleshy
and for old coughs, drawing the steam to the mouth with a siphon; it
excrescences, and chilblains. They are suitable for cancerous
also clears the voice if sucked with honey, and it is given to
conditions smeared on with vinegar lees and with an equal amount of
asthmatics with pine resin as a little pill.
burned oak galls.
6. For spreading ulcers, they are anointed with twice as much salt, for
p{a, Alum
" dandruff, with the watery part of wood-tar, and <they are helpful,>
. I¢/arly every kind of alum is found in the same mines in Egypt.
when rubbed on with water, for nits, pediculosis, and burns; they are
But it also occurs in other places as in Melos, Macedonia, Lipari,
also used as ointments for swellings and for the bad odors of armpits
Sardinia, Hierapolis of Phrygia, Libya, Armenia, and in many other
and groins. They help to induce menstruation and for barrenness
places just like red earth.
when placed at the mouth of the uterus prior to sexual intercourse,
There are many kinds of it, but for medicinal purposes they use that
and they expel embryos/fetuses. They are also suitable for growths on
which is cloven, round, and moist.
2. Outstanding is the cloven, and of this one, that which is fresh, very
42 Akin to 0piF,,xplx6 , "hair."
white, oppressive in smell, powerfully astringent, and free of stones;
3 Ordinarily xrohOyovov is qualified by d pprv, "knot-grass," Polygonum aviculare.
moreover, it should not be compressed like a clump of earth, or
or e u, "mare's tail." Hippuris vulgaris.
spindly, but it should be arranged in strands resembling gray hairs;
382
the gums, for swollen uvulas, for inflammations of the tonsils, and for
the mouth. They are also smeared with honey for the ears and the
genitalia.
! that cast a shadow over the pupils with warming, and fill up and
cicatrize sores; furthermore, they reduce excrescences, clean the teeth
and the body when used as a powder, and they are suitable for the
383

removal of hair. Theophrastus' reports that if one dropped pumice

OV, Sulfur stone into a boiling cask of wine, the boiling immediately stops.
r that was not burned must be judged to be excellent when it
is of a shiny color, transparent, and free of stones but of the sulfur ,l % Salt
that has been burned, it is the pale green and very fat that is excellent. em ost effective salt is that which is mined and off this kind, in
Much sulfur is produced on Melos and on the Lipari islands. general, that which is white, free of stones, translucent, dense, smooth
The sulfur mentioned first, warms, disperses, causes quick ripening, is in its formation, particularly the Ammonian4 in origin, that can be
good for coughs, for people who suffer from abscesses, and for split, and that has straight cracks. But you must select sea salt that is
asthmatics when taken in an egg and when burned so as to produce dense, white, and smooth. Salt produced in Cyprus, especially in
smoke. Salamis of Cyprus and in Megara is excellent, then that produced in
2. In addition to these uses, it does draw embryos/fetuses when
Sicily and Libya and among the above mentioned, salt from
burned so as to produce smoke from below; moreover, it removes
marshlands is preferable. Of this type, the Phrygian, which is called
leprosies, lichen-like eruptions of the skin, and psoriatic nails when
Tattaion, is very strong.
mixed with turpentine resin. Smeared on with vinegar, it is good for "
'
leprosies and it removes dull-white leprosies. Mixed with pine resin, it 2. The salts mentioned above, which are highly useful and differ in
treats the strokes of scorpions and assuages the stroke of the great varying degrees, have in common properties that are astringent,
weever and of the sea scorpion when laid on with vinegar. Used as a detersive, cleanse, and dissolve; furthermore, they are capable of
wash with soda, it stops itching throughout the body. suppressing and of forming eschars. They can also stop putrid humors
3. It clears away jaundice when an amount of one spoonful is and they are mixed with itch salves; they check small protuberances
sprinkled on a drink or is taken with a soft egg. It is good both for a on the eyes, draw in membranes that grow over the eyes from their
running nose and for catarrh, it controls perspiration when used like a inner corners and the other types of flesh overgrowths, they are
dusting powder, it benefits the gouty when smeared on with soda and suitable to put in clysters, they relieve weariness when smeared on
water, and it is beneficial for hardness of hearing when, as it smolders,
with olive oil, they are good for the swellings of the dropsical, and a
its smoke is siphoned into the ears. It even treats people affected by
hot compress of salts in little bags allays pains.
lethargic fever when burned to produce smoke, and it stems
3. They also stop itching when smeared on by the fire with olive oil
hemorrhages and heals bruised ears when anointed with wine and
and vinegar until they sweat. Similarly, when laid on with boney,
myrrh.
vinegar, and olive oil, they relieve leprosies, lichen-like eruptions on
V, 108 t orlptg, Pumice stone the skin, itching, and sore throats. But for tonsillitis and for
1": One'must prefer pumice stone that is very light and porous, cloven inflammations of the uvula they are plastered on with honey, and for
and free of stones. Additionally, it should be friable and white. You thrush, flaccid gums, and cankers they are applied burned with barley
must burn it this way: after taking as much of it as you wish, burry it 17 groats.
among very hot coals. When it has caught fire, take it out and quench 4. For strokes of scorpions, they are laid on with linseed; for viper
it with fragrant wine, and after burning it again, quench it. After you
have done so three times, let it cool by itself, store, and use. Theophrastus, H. P., IX, 17, 3.
2. It has properties that contract, clean the gums, purge the elements =5This is rock salt mined near the temple of JupiterAmmon. in Libya.
384 385

stings, with oregano, honey, and hyssop; for the sting of the asp with , 11 v0og xX6g, Salt efflorescence
pitch, or with oil of Syrian cedar, or with honey; for the bite of the 1.'-'Salt scum flows down the river Nile and settles on top of certain
millipede, with vinegar and honey, also for the sting of wasps and of marshes. You must take it saffron colored, smelling somewhat rank
earth-wasps; but for pimples on the head, warty excrescences, and like garum, occasionally smelling even more foul, biting in taste, and
growths, they are combined with calf's suet. With raisins, or with somewhatgreasy. But if it is tinged with red or if it is lumpy, it must
beef suet, or with honey, they dissolve small abscesses and testicular be considered inferior. Moreover, pure salt scum is soluble only in
swelling; with oregano and leaven they cause <small abscesses> to oil, but the adulterated is partly soluble even in water.
mature faster. Tied ground up in a linen cloth and dipped in vinegar, 2. It is good for malignant and cancerous sores, for spreading ulcers
they help those bitten by crocodiles, having constricted the bitten in the genitalia, for purulent ears, for dim-sightedness, for scars, and
parts with tourniquets; they help those bitten by wild animals and for for leucomas. It is mixed with plasters and with unguents for
facial bruises with honey, and for drinking opium and mushrooms coloration, as it is also mixed with unguent of roses. It sets
when drunk with a mixture of vinegar and honey. perspiration in motion, it upsets the bowel when taken with wine and
5. They are good with flour and honey for sprains, they prevent burns water, and it is bad for the stomach. It is mixed with analgesics and
from blistering if plastered on with oil, they are similarly applied on with soaps for thinning hair, and in general it is harsh and burns like
the gouty, they are applied with vinegar for earaches, and they check salt.
erysipelas and shingles when plastered on with vinegar or when
smeared on with hyssop. Soda / _..
You must burn them by placing them in a clay vessel, seal it carefully I. must choose soda that is light and eithe ..r
neViTpOV, , e in
,o
so that they do not fly off, and bury the vessel in coals until color, having holes as if it were a spongy subst rtce. Su I,Ws the one
"
completely burned. from Bryges?6 . , ....
6. But some wrap quarried salt in dough, bury it in coals, and leave it xqp6g viTpou, Foam of soda seems to/b(of ex_c ' nt quality if it is
until the dough is thoroughly burned. It is possible to burn even very light, flaky, crumbly, inclinin o pur iq foamy, and biting.
common salt this way: after rinsing it with water once and letting it Such is the one brought from Phi elphi LYdia. The Egyptian is
dry out, place it in a vessel and covering it with a lid, burn it from ranked second. It occurs also in/Magne f Curia.
below, moving about the pot until the salt no longer leaps up. 2. Both it and soda have th/e ame perties and they are burned the
same way as salt; howev , sod n to a far greater degree stop colic
kXbgdkX'vq,Saltfroth when triturated with c in a t"drunk with hy_dro_reel,or with must, or
Suit froth is the foamy scraping of salt that is found on the small with any of the subst can chsslhpateflatulence, such as rue or
/o
stones and that has the same properties as salt. dill. It is also ent for intermittent fevers before their
anticipated atta is mixed with plasters that are capable of
/V I 1 Xlarl,Brine dispersing, that ¢ w, and that are good for leprosies.
has the same activity as salt; it is astringent, detersive, and it 3. Infused w tfi water or wine, it treats inflations, ringing of the ears,
thins; it is a clyster for dysenterics, for those who have spreading andpuruifliseharges; poured on with vinegar, it cleanses also filth,
ulcers as well as chronic hip ailments, and it is suitable for rinses on and wit C ss s or pig s fat, it treats those bitten by dogs. Compounded
those to whom sea water is useful.
" j ere are various readings of this passage for,Bryges, which may be a place name.
k{nongthemthereisalso 3ovvG v, "mountains andvrlocTav,"islands,'
l
 389
388

thick, sponge-like in structure and heavy; it is, moreover, malodorou uf altering the state of the pores, beneficial also for hip ailments.
and it smells of fish; it is found in large quantities on beaches: q;he
next one is similar in shape to a membrane growing from the inner )ongeS
people have called the sponges that have small holes and
comer of the eye or to a sponge; it is light, it has many hollo/ws, and it
that are dense arenas, ° among which they named those that are very
releases a smell that is like seaweed• /
tragous5 ands2 the ones arranged in the exact opposite manner
2. The third is vermicular and of a purplish color; Some:call it
Milesian. The fourth is like greasy wool, it has many ho es .and it is theleis. Sponges are burned like bastard sponges.
light•And the fifth is like a mushroom in shape, it is 0doric's and not Sponges that are empty and devoid of any fatty substance can treat
smooth inside, resembling somewhat pumice stone, but o i'the outside wounds, repress swellings, glue fresh wounds with water or with
it is smooth and jagged. A great deal of it occurs in the Propontis, water and vinegar, and with boiled honey glue old hollows• But old
around the island called Besbicos, The locals calls it salt foam. sponges are useless.
3. The first and second of them are used for womefl's cleansers, and 2. When applied parched on a linen bandage, they open up closed
for birthmarks, lichen-like eruptions, leprosies, d ll-white leprosies, sores and calluses, also when they are applied dry like lint pladgets.
'Applied dry and empty, they dry out the discharges of ulcers that
black spots, blemishes in the face and in the r st of the body. The
contain a great deal of fluids, that spread, and that are chronic, and
third is good for people with difficu t micturitiOnand for patientswith
they stop hemorrhages with vinegar. Those that have been burned are
renal disease who collect gravelly substances in their bladder, for
<suitable> for blepharitis sicca and for whenever one needs to clean
those with edemata, and for the spleen. BuStled and smeared on with
ur contract something. But for eye medications they are more
wine, it treats bald spots, j
if they have been washed• Burned with pitch, they are
4. The last can whiten teeth; it is also, sed for other cleansers and
depilatories mixed with salts. for hemorrhaging.
The ones that are very soft are bleached during the burning heat of
If you wish to burn any of them, plac it into an unbaked clay pot and
summer•They fill them with the salt froth that settles on rocks and
after luting the opening of the pot wi" h clay, place it in an oven. After
the clay has been baked, take It 9ut, store, and use. It is washed like i sun them. Make sure that their hollow part faces up and the cut side
And if the weather is clear, they are even set out under the
calamine.
n filled with salt froth or sea water. <Such as these> do become
' .!
V, 119 dtBdtpll ;, Adarces 'i r white•
What they call adarces oc urs in Galatia; it is a somewhat
incrustation as it were, forming in wet and marshy places durin 121 "r6 t<oup6 tov, Coral .+;_.-
53
draught and attaching itself on reeds and grasses• Its color resemble§+ that the coral, which is a
that of the flower on A sian stone,49 but in its overall impression it ,lant and from the bottom of the sea as
resembles the alcyoneibn that is light and that has many hollows, ambient air A great deal of it is found at the
it is an alcyonion of the marshes as it were.
It is useful for the r ',moval of leprosies, freckles, li(
on the skin, bir,t.hmarks, and the like. On the whole it is sharp,
m 1. e. males.
F r !,
.f goats.

+ This is the salt inJ'lorescenceon marsh herbs, famales+

"Stozl¢ ec."
,9 See Dsc. Bk. V;+124 and n. 55.