Commentary. There has been great difference of opinion among the commentators and herbalists respecting this herb; but we are inclined to decide, with considerable confidence, that it was the Hatchet Vetch, or Coronilla securidaca. Dioscorides says of it that it is stomachic and alexipharmic, and that, in a pessary, it prevents conception. Our author abridges Galen, and Aëtius does the same; and so likewise Oribasius. We have been unable to find it in the Mat. Med. of the Arabians, with the exception of Ebn Baithar, who merely copies from Dioscorides (i, 80.)
Ἡλιοτρόπιον,
Heliotropium, Sunflower; the large one (called also Scorpiurus) is possessed of calefacient, desiccant, and detergent powers. Its decoction when drunk brings away phlegm and bile. Its fruit in a cataplasm dries myrmecia and such like cutaneous complaints. The small Sunflower also removes these complaints and kills worms if drunk with the fruit along with natron, hyssop, and cardamom.
Commentary. Dioscorides calls the great Sunflower (Heliotropium Europæum) phlegmagogue and cholagogue, and says it is useful in the bites of scorpions, both internally and externally. He adds, that it was used as an amulet to produce sterility. He also recommends it in intermittent fevers, and as a cataplasm and fomentation to various tumours, sprains, &c. He adds, that it is emmenagogue, and procures abortion when powdered and applied on a pessary. (iv, 190.) None of the other Greek authorities, as far as we have been able to discover, have treated of either of the heliotropes; and if the Arabians describe them, we have not been able to discover under what name it is. The lesser heliotrope is probably the Croton tinctorius.
Ἤλεκτρον,
Electrum, Amber; they say that it is the tears of the poplar, which are discharged into the river Po, and get concreted into a golden-coloured substance. This, being pulverized and drunk, stops defluxions of the stomach and bowels and discharges of blood.
Commentary. It is well known that the ancient authors in general represent amber as an exudation from the poplar tree, commonly found on the banks of the Po. Some of them, however, such as Lucian (De Electro), held that it is a bituminous substance. See also Theophrastus (De Lapidibus, with the annotations of Hill.) Serapion says of it, that it is formed in the sea as mushrooms are formed on land; and when the sea is troubled it casts forth large stones, and with them are cast out crusts of amber. He also gives an account, which is not very intelligible in the Latin translation, of its being swallowed up by a fish, from which, when killed, amber was procured. What is of a citrine colour, he says, is good; but what is white, like an ostrich’s egg, is bad. Upon the authority of Aben Mesuai (Mesue the elder?), he calls it a hot and dry medicine, and says it strengthens the brain, all the senses, and the heart, and is useful to old persons and men of a cold temperament. (De Simpl. 196.) Avicenna’s account of it is mostly made up from Serapion. Amber, he says, in my opinion, is an emanation from a fountain in the sea. He also repeats the account from Serapion, of its being procured from the belly of a fish which has swallowed it and dies. He must allude to the ambergris which is procured from the sperm-whale. He determines it to be hot in the second and dry in the first degree. He recommends it in exactly the same cases as Serapion. He makes mention of a species used for dyeing the hair black. (ii, 2, 62, and 364.) Rhases merely gives its medicinal character, which is the same as that quoted above from Serapion. (Cont. l. ult. 44.) But no ancient writer has given so full and correct an account of amber as Symeon Seth. He says it abounds in various places, and that there are fountains of it as of pitch, bitumen, and the like; that the best kind is of a grayish colour (grisea ambra?) and fat, which is sold in a certain city of India, called Silachetum. The ambergris or ambra-grisea, is found in a city of Arabia Felix, called Syachria. The worst kind, he says, is black, and is collected from fishes that have swallowed amber at its fountains. It has, he adds, calefacient and incisive powers, and therefore some add it to stomachic remedies. It strengthens the head and heart; and when smelled to in drinking accelerates intoxication, and still more so if added to the wine. (De Alimentis, xiii.) Psellus says, it cures dysury when appended as an amulet, removes fever, stops defluxions of the stomach, and sharpens the sight. (De Lapidibus.) Having been led along in the present instance by the ancient authorities who have given the most correct description of amber, we omitted to mention at the commencement, that Dioscorides describes the electrum under the head of populus, as being said to be the tears of poplars which have dropped into the Po, and become coagulated. He adds, it is of a fragrant smell when rubbed, and of a golden colour; and when triturated and drunk, it stops defluxions of the stomach and belly. (i, 110.) See also Pliny (H. N. xxxvii, 11), who supposes amber an exudation from pines, and gives otherwise a very authentic and interesting account of its origin. He makes mention of amber being used as an amulet in diseases of children, a practice which, like other superstitions of the like kind, has been transmitted to modern times. We need scarcely remark that the ancient opinions regarding the origin of amber, are now looked upon as being not far removed from the truth. Amber, although now in a fossil state, is supposed to have been an exudation from some tree of the genus Pinus. See Pereira (Mat. Med. 223); and the [Appendix] to this section.
Ἡμεροκαλλὶς,
Hemerocallis, Lily of the Valley; its root has powers like those of the lily, and, like it, is useful for burns.
Commentary. This is undoubtedly a plant of the lily tribe; probably the Lilium bulbiferum. Dioscorides, besides recommending it in burns, like our author, says of it that when drunk and applied in a pessary of wool it produces discharges of water and blood; and that its leaves form an excellent application to the inflammations of the breasts after parturition, and to those of the eyes. Our author follows Galen. Serapion treats of it under the head of Lilium. (189.)