Πρίνος,
Ilex, the Holm Oak, has powers resembling those of the oak, but it is much stronger.
Commentary. It is the Quercus Ilex, or Evergreen Oak. All the authorities speak of it as being a powerful astringent. The Kermes, or Scarlet Grain is produced upon the ilex by a certain class of insects. It is described by Theophrastus and Pliny, as stated under that head.
Πρόπολις,
Propolis, Virgin-wax, or Bee-glue, is calefacient in the second degree and moderately detergent. It is also possessed of attenuant and deobstruent powers.
Commentary. Scribonius Largus calls it, “Propolis quam quidam sacram ceram vocant.” Dioscorides and Galen give nearly the same account of Bee-glue as our author. It is the glutinous substance with which the working bees block up the holes in their hive. They gather it from poplars and other resinous plants. It occurs frequently in the works of the ancient writers on Pharmacy.
Πταρμικὴ,
Ptarmica, Sneezewort; the leaves are sternutatory; but the whole part, when green, removes hypopion and other kinds of ecchymosis, for it is hot and desiccative. The green belong to the second order, and the dried to the third.
Commentary. Dioscorides’s description of it agrees well with the Achillea Ptarmica, except that (as is remarked by Sprengel) its favorite locality is meadows, and not mountainous and rocky situations as indicated by Dioscorides. All the Greek authorities, from Dioscorides downwards, give it exactly the same characters as our author. We have not been able to discover any traces of it in the works of the Arabians. Its leaves are still kept in the shops of apothecaries, and are held to be sternutatory. Gray (Suppl. to Pharm. 80.)