Bertapalia, Guy of Cauliac, and all the early modern writers on medicine, repeat the ancient accounts of the vena civilis vel medine. They direct us to extract it by attaching a small piece of lead to its extremity. Ambrose Paré adopted Galen’s notion, that it is corrupted animal matter; but Andry held that it is a real animal. It appears, however, from some statements which we have seen in the periodicals of the day, that some of our English surgeons in the East Indies still advocate the doctrine of Galen; but we are inclined to think that the other opinion is the more correct one.
BOOK V.
SECT. I.—ON THE PRESERVATIVES FROM VENOMOUS ANIMALS IN GENERAL.
In giving an account of animals which emit poisons we shall begin with some general remarks upon them, treating of the preservatives from them in the first place. If therefore a person be compelled to sleep in places infested by venomous animals, especially in such as salamanders, phalangia, or reptiles abound, it will be proper to shut up their holes under ground with garlic pounded in water, or some of the herbs about to be mentioned; and to fumigate with hartshorn, the hoofs or hairs of goats, gagate stone, bitumen, bdellium, galbanum, the shavings of the cypress or cedar, gith, hog’s fennel, the leaves of the chaste tree, calamint, sagapene, castor, the root of rosemary, fleabane, or some of the strong-scented things. Gnats in particular are driven away by fumigations with copperas, the seed of wild gith, and of cumin in equal proportions, and by cows’ dung. In addition to these, frequent fires should be lighted, for reptiles commonly flee from the light. A couch should be prepared by strewing asphodel, calamint, chaste tree, pennyroyal, poley, fleabane, and southernwood; or if it is not possible to make a couch entirely of these, they should at least be laid around the bed. Attention should be paid to such things as are to be boiled, to the water, and wine vessels that they be properly covered up. Fires for the purpose of cooking should not be lighted under particular trees, more especially pitch trees or pines, for salamanders and deadly caterpillars abound on them, which being warmed by the heat of the fire fall upon the victuals, or any other vessels which happen to be uncovered. Those who wish to be particularly guarded, anoint their bodies with a liquid cerate composed of wax, rose-oil, and a little galbanum, and with a little of the shavings of hart’s horn, or Ethiopian cumin. The leaves of mallows triturated with oil when rubbed on the skin protect in an especial manner from bees and wasps.
Commentary. The following is a list of the ancient authorities on Toxicology:
Nicander (Theriaca et Alexipharmaca); Dioscorides (Liber de Venenis); Celsus (v); Scribonius Largus (47, et seq.); Galen (Ther. ad Pison.; Meth. Med., De Antid.); Aëtius (xiii); Pliny (Hist. Nat. pluries); Oribasius (de Morb. Curat. iii); Solinus (Polyhist. 40); Serenus Samonicus; Nonnus; Simeon Seth (de Alimentis pluries); Actuarius (Meth. Med. v); Vegetius (de Mulo-medicina, iii, 77); Avicenna (iv, 6); Rhases (ad Mansor. viii, and Cont. xxxv); Haly Abbas (Pract. iv, Theor. viii); Alsaharavius (Pract. xxx); Serapion (pluries); Anonymi (Fragmentum apud Bernardi Reliq.) The work of Ælius Promotus on Venomous Animals and Poisonous substances, which exists in MS. in the Bibliotheca Vaticana, has never been published as far as we know. It is quoted by Hieronymus Mercurialis (Var. lect), and is noticed by Albertus Fabricius (Bibl. Græc. xiii, 780.) Fabricius supposes it to be the production of Æschrion Empiricus. It is proper to state that whenever we quote the work, it is from the extracts given in Schneider’s Annotations on Nicander.
It is to be borne in mind that the work on Poisons, usually published as the production of Dioscorides, is not held to be genuine by his latest editor, Sprengel; still, however, it is acknowledged by all to be a work of considerable antiquity and of great authority on the subject of ancient Toxicology. The work ‘Euporistôn,’ which is also published with the works of Dioscorides, is generally admitted not to be genuine. It contains, however, some valuable matter on Toxicology and other medical subjects.
These directions of our author for driving away reptiles are mostly taken from Nicander, who recommends fumigations with hartshorn, gagate-stones, sulphur, bitumen, galbanum, juniper, and other such articles. (Ther. 35.) See also Dioscorides (M. M.); Orpheus (de Lapidibus); Geopon. (xiii, 8); and Nonnus (Epit. 261); also Aristot. (H. N. iv, 8); and Pliny (H. N. x, 90).