Among these plants there is reckoned also the sium:[2661] it grows in the water, has a leaf broader than that of parsley, thicker, and of a more swarthy colour, bears a considerable quantity of seed, and has the taste of nasturtium. It is an active diuretic, is very good for the kidneys and spleen, and acts as an emmenagogue, either eaten by itself as an aliment,[2662] or taken in the form of a decoction; the seed of it is taken in wine, in doses of two drachmæ. It disperses calculi in the bladder, and neutralizes the action of water which tends to their formation. Used in the form of an injection, it is good for dysentery, and applied topically, for the removal of freckles. It is applied by females, at night, for the removal of spots on the face, a result which it produces almost instantaneously. It has the effect also of assuaging hernia, and is good for the scab in horses.
CHAP. 42.—THE SILLYBUM.
The sillybum[2663] resembles the white chamæleon, and is a plant quite as prickly. In Cilicia, Syria, and Phœnicia, the countries where it grows, it is not thought worth while to boil it, the cooking of it being so extremely troublesome, it is said. It is of no use whatever in medicine.
CHAP. 43.—THE SCOLYMOS OR LIMONIA: FIVE REMEDIES.
The scolymos,[2664] too, is used as an aliment[2665] in the East, where it has also the name of “limonia.”[2666] This is a shrub-like plant, which never exceeds a cubit in height, with tufted leaves and a black root, but sweet. Eratosthenes speaks highly of it as a diet used by the poor. It is said to possess diuretic properties in a very high degree, and to heal lichens and leprous sores, applied with vinegar. Taken in wine it acts as an aphrodisiac, according to the testimony of Hesiod[2667] and Alcæus; who have stated in their writings, that while it is in blossom, the song of the grasshopper is louder than at other times, women more inflamed with desire, and men less inclined to amorous intercourse; and that it is by a kind of foresight on the part of Nature that this powerful stimulant is then in its greatest perfection. The root, too, used without the pith, corrects the noisome odour of the armpits, in doses of one ounce to two heminæ of Falernian wine; the mixture being boiled down to one third, and taken fasting after the bath, as also after meals, a cyathus at a time. It is a remarkable thing, but Xenocrates assures us that he has ascertained it experimentally, that these bad odours are carried off by the urine.
CHAP. 44.—THE SONCHOS; TWO VARIETIES: FIFTEEN REMEDIES.
The sonchos,[2668] too, is edible—at least, it was this that, according to Callimachus, Hecale[2669] set before Theseus. There are two kinds, the white[2670] and the black:[2671] they are, both of them, similar to the lettuce, except that they are prickly, with a stem a cubit in height, angular, and hollow within; when broken, the stem gives out an abundance of milky juice. The white kind, which derives its colour from the milk it contains, is good for hardness of breathing, if eaten dressed with seasoning like the lettuce. Erasistratus says that it carries off calculi by the urine, and that, chewed, it is a corrective of bad breath. The juice of it, taken warm in doses of three cyathi, with white wine and oil, facilitates delivery, but the patient must be careful to walk about immediately after drinking it: it is also given in broth.
A decoction of the stalk renders the milk more abundant in nursing women, and improves the complexion of the infants suckled by them; it is also remarkably beneficial for females when the milk coagulates. The juice of it is used as an injection for the ears, and is taken warm in doses of one cyathus, for strangury, as also for gnawing pains of the stomach, with cucumber seed and pine nuts. It is employed topically for abscesses of the rectum, and is taken in drink for the stings of serpents and scorpions, the root also being applied to the wounds. The root, boiled in oil, with the rind of a pomegranate, is a remedy for diseases of the ears—all these remedies, however, be it remembered, are derived from the white kind.
As to the black sonchos, Cleemporus forbids it to be eaten, as being productive of diseases, but at the same time he approves of the use of the white. Agathocles, however, goes so far as to assert that the juice of the black kind is an antidote for poisoning by bulls’ blood; and, indeed, it is generally agreed that the black sonchos has certain refreshing properties; for which reason cataplasms of it may be advantageously applied with polenta. Zeno recommends the root of the white kind for strangury.