CHAP. 45.—METHODS OF PRESERVING THE BREASTS FROM INJURY.

Goose-grease, mixed up with oil of roses and a spider, protects the breasts after delivery. The people of Phrygia and Lycaonia have made the discovery, that the grease of the otis[2875] is good for affections of the breasts, resulting from recent delivery: for females affected with suffocations of the uterus, they employ a liniment made of beetles. The shells of partridges’ eggs, burnt to ashes and mixed with cadmia[2876] and wax, preserve the firmness[2877] of the breasts. It is generally thought, that if the egg of a partridge or * * * is passed three times round a woman’s breasts, they will never become flaccid; and that, if these eggs are swallowed, they will be productive of fruitfulness, and promote the plentiful secretion of the milk. It is believed, too, that by anointing a woman’s breasts’ with goose-grease, pains therein may be allayed; that moles formed in the uterus may be dispersed thereby; and that itch[2878] of the uterus may be dispelled by the application of a liniment made of crushed bugs.