Lagopus, is possessed of desiccative powers and dries up fluxes of the belly.
Commentary. This plant, the description of which is passed over by Dioscorides as being well known, may be set down among the articles of the ancient Materia Medica, which are least known to us. We may just mention regarding it, that some take it for Trifolium arvense, and others for Lagurus ovatus. Dioscorides calls it an astringent of the bowels, and mentions that it was used as an amulet in buboes. (iv, 17.) Galen, Aëtius, and Oribasius briefly notice it as a desiccative medicine. We have not been able to find this article in the Mat. Med. of the Arabians, but are aware that it may be concealed under some of their odd corruptions of the Greek terms. It seems probable that this is the lagopyrus of Hippocrates. (De Ulcer.)
Λάδανον,
Ladanum; it is formed from the Cistus called Ladanus; the goats feeding upon it bring away upon their beard and thighs the fatter and more juicy part of the herb. Ladanum, when collected, is an excellent medicine, hot in about the second degree, and consisting of subtile particles. It is moderately emollient, discutient, and digestive; it therefore agrees with uterine affections in particular. It has also some astringency, and hence it strengthens hairs which are falling out.
Commentary. Dierbach and Sprengel agree with the elder commentators in calling it the Cistus Creticus. See also Royal Pharm. (i, c. 20.) Dr. Lindley says of the ladanum, that it is a resinous balsamic substance obtained from Cistus Creticus, and other species of the genus; he adds, that it has been esteemed as a stimulant and emmenagogue, and recommended in chronic catarrh. (Veg. King. 350.) Dioscorides mentions that it was procured either from the beards of goats which had browsed upon it, or by scraping the tree with thongs. Dioscorides, Pliny, and Galen deliver its medicinal characters in much the same terms as our author. Dioscorides recommends it not only in uterine diseases, but also as a diuretic. He also speaks favorably of it as an ingredient in anodyne and expectorant plasters. (i, 128.) See Galen (ii, 160 ed. Basil.) The Arabians treat fully of it, but borrow almost every word they say respecting it from Dioscorides and Galen. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 422); Serapion (c. 43); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 361); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42.) The labdanum was retained in the Dispensatory as late as the time of Quincy, who has given an accurate account of it. (70.) It is also very correctly described by Tournefort, both in his voyage to the Levant and in his Mat. Med. (363.) Its use, however, is now obsolete. See Pereira (1263.) In Pemberton’s edition of the Dispensatory, there is given a formula for the composition of a “stomach plaster,” one of the ingredients of which is labdanum. (359.) We would vote for its being restored to the Pharmacopœia.
Λαθυρὶς,
Lathyris, is a species of spurge, and some say that its juice purges in a similar manner. Its seed in particular has purgative powers.
Commentary. There can be no doubt, from our author’s brief notice of it, that it is the Euphorbia Lathyris, L. Dioscorides says of it that it evacuates phlegm, bile, and water. He mentions that its leaves were boiled along with a fowl or pot-herbs to loosen the bowels. Galen and the other Greek authorities treat of it in brief terms, like our author. The Arabians treat of it at greater length, recommending it strongly in diseases of the joints, gout, and sciatica. They also mention its being a remedy for dropsy. They say it acts as an emetic. They direct its seeds to be boiled in the broth of an old cock, and taken. See in particular Avicenna (ii, 2, 473); Serapion (c. 354.) It is not met with in the works either of Hippocrates or of Celsus. It does not occur in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia, but is briefly noticed in Dr. Pereira’s Materia Medica (777.)
Λαμψάνη,
Lampsana, Nipplewort, when eaten supplies bad juices to the body. In a cataplasm it is detergent and discutient.