Nor all the drowsy syrup of the world,
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou owedst yesterday.”[29]
Also—
“Juliet.
And shrieks like mandrakes torn out of the earth,
That living mortals, hearing them, run mad,”[30]
alluding to the old tradition that the mandrake groaned when pulled up by the roots, and the person who did it would surely die soon. The mandragora, to which wonderful properties were ascribed by the ancients, is not now used in medicine.
“Lafeu. Go to, sir, you were beaten in Italy for picking a kernel out of a pomegranate.”[31]
The medicinal properties of the pomegranate have been known from very ancient times, frequent mention of it being made in the Bible. A decoction of the root is recommended by Celsus, Dioscorides, and Pliny for tapeworm; and it is still used as an astringent.