CHAP. 33.—THE HALIMON: FOURTEEN REMEDIES.
Some authors have thought that it is the asphodel that is called “halimon” by Hesiod, an opinion which appears to me ill-founded; halimon[2634] being the name of a distinct plant, which has been the occasion of no few mistakes committed by writers. According to some, it is a tufted shrub, white, destitute of thorns, and with leaves like those of the olive, only softer; which eaten boiled, are an agreeable food. The root, they say, taken in doses of one drachma in hydromel, allays gripings of the bowels, and is a cure for ruptures and convulsions. Others, again, pronounce it to be a vegetable growing near the sea-shore,[2635] of a salt taste—to which, in fact, it owes its name—with leaves somewhat round but elongated, and much esteemed as an article of food. They say, too, that there are two species of it, the wild and the cultivated,[2636] and that, mixed with bread, they are good, both of them, for dysentery, even if ulceration should have supervened, and are useful for stomachic affections, in combination with vinegar. They state, also, that this plant is applied raw to ulcers of long standing, and that it modifies the inflammation of recent wounds, and the pain attendant upon sprains of the feet and affections of the bladder. The wild halimon, they tell us, has thinner leaves than the other, but is more effectual as a medicament in all the above cases, as also for the cure of itch, whether in man or beast. The root, too, according to them, employed as a friction, renders the skin more clear, and the teeth whiter; and they assert that if the seed of it is put beneath the tongue, no thirst will be experienced. They state, also, that this kind is eaten as well as the other, and that they are, both of them, preserved.
Crateuas has spoken of a third[2637] kind also, with longer leaves than the others, and more hairy: it has the smell of the cypress, he says, and grows beneath the ivy more particularly. He states that this plant is extremely good for opisthotony and contractions of the sinews, taken in doses of three oboli to one sextarius of water.
CHAP. 34.—THE ACANTHUS, PÆDEROS, OR MELAMPHYLLOS: FIVE REMEDIES.
The acanthus[2638] is a plant that grows in cities, and is used in ornamental gardening. It has a broad, long leaf, and is used as a covering for the margins of ornamental waters and of parterres in gardens.[2639] There are two varieties of it; the one that is thorny[2640] and crisped is the shorter of the two; the other, which is smooth,[2641] is by some persons called “pæderos,”[2642] and by others “melamphyllos.”[2643] The root of this last is remarkably good for burns and sprains; and, boiled with the food, a ptisan more particularly, it is equally good for ruptures, spasms, and patients who are in apprehension of phthisis. The root is also beaten up and applied warm for hot gout.
CHAP. 35.—THE BUPLEURON: FIVE REMEDIES.
The bupleuron[2644] is reckoned by the Greeks in the number of the leguminous plants which grow spontaneously. The stem of it is a cubit in height, the leaves are long and numerous, and the head resembles that of dill. It has been extolled as an aliment by Hippocrates, and for its medicinal properties by Glaucon and Nicander. The seed of it is good for the stings of serpents; and the leaves, or else the juice, applied as a liniment with wine, bring away the after-birth. The leaves, also, in combination with salt and wine, are applied to scrofulous sores. The root is prescribed in wine for the stings of serpents, and as a diuretic.
CHAP. 36.—THE BUPRESTIS: ONE REMEDY.
With a remarkable degree of inconsistency, the Greek writers, while praising the buprestis[2645] as an aliment, point out certain antidotes[2646] to it, as though it were a poison. The very name, however, proves to a certainty that it is poisonous to cattle, and it is generally admitted that, on tasting it, they burst[2647] asunder: we shall, therefore, say no more about it. Is there any reason, in fact, why, when we are speaking of the materials employed in making our grass crowns, we should describe a poison? or really ought we to enlarge upon it only to please the libidinous fancies of those who imagine that there is not a more powerful aphrodisiac in existence than this, when taken in drink?