CHAP. 72.—THE AGRIFOLIA. THE AQUIFOLIA: ONE REMEDY. THE YEW: ONE PROPERTY BELONGING TO IT.
The agrifolia,[281] pounded, with the addition of salt, is good for diseases of the joints, and the berries are used in cases of excessive menstruation, cœliac affections, dysentery, and cholera; taken in wine, they act astringently upon the bowels. A decoction of the root, applied externally, extracts foreign bodies from the flesh, and is remarkably useful for sprains and tumours.
The tree called “aquifolia,” planted[282] in a town or country-house is a preservative against sorceries and spells. The blossom of it, according to Pythagoras, congeals[283] water, and a staff[284] made of the wood, if, when thrown at any animal, from want of strength in the party throwing it, it falls short of the mark will roll back again[285] towards the thrower, of its own accord—so remarkable are the properties of this tree. The smoke of the yew kills[286] rats and mice.