The flour[2763] of bolted meal, kneaded into a paste, has the property of drawing[2764] out the humours of the body: hence it is applied to bruises gorged with blood, to extract the corrupt matter, even to soaking the bandages[2765] employed: used with boiled must, it is still more efficacious. It is used as an application also for callosities of the feet and corns; boiled with old oil and pitch, and applied as hot as possible, it cures condylomata and all other maladies of the fundament in a most surprising manner. Puls[2766] is a very feeding diet. The meal[2767] used for pasting the sheets of papyrus is given warm to patients for spitting of blood, and is found to be an effectual cure.
CHAP. 61.—ALICA: SIX REMEDIES.
Alica is quite a Roman invention, and not a very ancient one: for otherwise[2768] the Greeks would never have written in such high terms of the praises of ptisan in preference. I do not think that it was yet in use in the days of Pompeius Magnus, a circumstance which will explain why hardly any mention has been made of it in the works of the school of Asclepiades. That it is a most excellent preparation no one can have a doubt, whether it is used strained in hydromel, or whether it is boiled and taken in the form of broth or puls. To arrest flux of the bowels, it is first parched and then boiled with honeycomb, as already mentioned:[2769] but it is more particularly useful when there is a tendency to phthisis after a long illness, the proper proportions being three cyathi of it to one sextarius of water. This mixture is boiled till all the water has gone off by evaporation, after which one sextarius of sheep’ or goats’ milk is added: it is then taken by the patient daily, and after a time some honey is added. By this kind of nutriment a deep decline may be cured.
CHAP. 62.—MILLET: SIX REMEDIES.
Millet[2770] arrests looseness of the bowels and dispels gripings of the stomach, for which purposes it is first parched. For pains in the sinews, and of various other descriptions, it is applied hot, in a bag, to the part affected. Indeed, there is no better topical application known, as it is extremely light and emollient, and retains heat for a very long time: hence it is that it is so much employed in all those cases in which the application of heat is necessary. The meal of it, mixed with tar, is applied to wounds inflicted by serpents and millepedes.
CHAP. 63.—PANIC: FOUR REMEDIES.
Diocles, the physician, has given to panic[2771] the name of “honey of corn.”[2772] It has the same properties as millet, and, taken in wine, it is good for dysentery. In a similar manner, too, it is applied to such parts of the body as require to be treated with heat. Boiled in goats’-milk, and taken twice a-day, it arrests looseness of the bowels; and, used in a similar manner, it is very good for gripings of the stomach.
CHAP. 64.—SESAME: SEVEN REMEDIES. SESAMOIDES: THREE REMEDIES. ANTICYRICUM: THREE REMEDIES.
Sesame,[2773] pounded and taken in wine, arrests vomiting: it is applied also topically to inflammations of the ears, and burns. It has a similar effect even while in the blade; and in that state, a decoction of it in wine is used as a liniment for the eyes. As an aliment it is injurious to the stomach, and imparts a bad odour to the breath. It is an antidote to the bite of the spotted lizard, and heals the cancerous sore known as “cacoethes.”[2774] The oil made from it, as already[2775] mentioned, is good for the ears.