CHAP. 46.—THE CYPRUS, AND THE OIL EXTRACTED FROM IT; SIXTEEN REMEDIES. GLEUCINUM: ONE REMEDY.
We have already enlarged[3029] upon the nature of the cyprus, and the method of preparing oil of cyprus. This oil is naturally warming, and relaxes the sinews. The leaves of the tree are used as an application to the stomach,[3030] and the juice of them is applied in a pessary for irritations of the uterus. Fresh gathered and chewed, the leaves are applied to running ulcers of the head, ulcerations of the mouth, gatherings, and condylomatous sores. A decoction of the leaves is very useful also for burns and sprains. Beaten up and applied with the juice of the strutheum,[3031] they turn the hair red. The blossoms, applied to the head with vinegar, relieve head-ache, and the ashes of them, burnt in a pot of raw earth, are curative of corrosive sores and putrid ulcers, either employed by themselves, or in combination with honey. The odour[3032] exhaled by these blossoms induces sleep.
The oil called “gleucinum”[3033] has certain astringent and refreshing properties similar to those of oil of œnanthe.