Ἰσόπυρον ἢ φυσίολον,
Isopyrum or Faseolus, (Bog Bean?); its seed is bitter and somewhat sour. It is, therefore, detergent, and exudes the thick and viscid humours at the same time that it contracts bodies, and is astringent. It therefore purges deep-seated humours, and is not against persons affected with vomiting of blood.
Commentary. From our author’s account of it, it would seem to be the same as the fasil, or kidney-bean; but Dioscorides clearly distinguishes between them. (iv, 119.) Dodonæus had referred it to the Menyanthes trifoliata, or bog-bean; but this opinion is rejected by Sprengel. He inclines to the Corydalis claviculata, Pers., but is not decided. We rather incline to the opinion of Dodonæus, on the ground that its medicinal character, as given by Galen and our author, applies very well to the Menyanthes trifoliata. It is not treated of by Aëtius, nor can we find it in the Mat. Med. of the Arabians.
Ἰτέα,
Salix, the Willow; the leaves and flower are possessed of desiccant powers without pungency. It has also some astringency; but the bark is drier, and when burnt, the ashes of it are powerfully desiccant, for they remove clavi and myrmecia with vinegar.
Commentary. Several species of the Salix are described by Theophrastus and other ancient authors. Milligan refers that of Celsus to S. alba, fragilis, and purpurea; but to define the species, which are so numerous in this genus, is futile. But that the Alba was one of the medicinal willows of the ancients, can admit of no doubt. See Parkinson (1430.) Dioscorides says the fruit and leaves, and bark and juice of the willow tree are possessed of an astringent power, and accordingly he recommends them both externally and internally in various complaints for which astringents are indicated, such as hæmoptysis, and as a fomentation in arthritic complaints. He also mentions the ley of it when prepared with vinegar for the removal of callus and corns. (i, 35.) Galen also gives a very elaborate statement of its medicinal virtues; he says it is desiccative without pungency, and has some astringency; and he recommends it strongly in the same cases as Dioscorides and our author; indeed, the latter merely abridges Galen. Aëtius copies from Galen almost word for word. The Arabians treat fully of it; but in the same terms as their Grecian masters. See Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 2, 250); Avicenna (ii, 2, 319, 677); Serapion (De Simpl. 136); Ebn Baithar (i, 122.) In the modern Greek Pharmacopœia both the Salix fragilis and alba stand for the ancient ἰτέα.
Ἰχθυοκόλλα,
Ichthyocolla, Fish-glue; its powers are emplastic and desiccant. It answers well for the composition of cephalic and agglutinative plasters, and of those which are prepared for leprosy; also for removing wrinkles from the face.
Commentary. That described by Dioscorides and our author was got from the Acipenser Huso. The large fish described by Herodotus, and Eustathius, in his commentary on the work of Dionysius the geographer, under the name of Antacæus, was, most probably, nearly the same as the Huso. See the modern Greek Pharmacopœia (83.) Artedi makes the Huso, Ichthyocolla and Antacæus to be varieties of the species of Acipenser, which he calls Acipenser tuberculis carens. It would appear to be the ὀξυρύγχος of Ælian. (H. A. xvii, 32.) He makes mention of its gluten or isinglass. Our author’s account of its medicinal virtues is mostly copied from Dioscorides. The others supply no additional information. The Arabians treat of it under the general head of gluten, and recommend it in the same cases as the Greeks, quoting Dioscorides, Galen, and Paulus. Serapion and Rhases recommend it in hæmoptysis. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 202); Serapion (c. 138); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 336.)