BOOK XXIII.
THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CULTIVATED TREES.
CHAP. 1. (1.)—INTRODUCTION.
We have now set forth the various properties, medicinal or otherwise, as well of the cereals as of the other productions which lie upon[2833] the surface of the earth, for the purpose either of serving us for food, or for the gratification of our senses with their flowers or perfumes. In the trees, however, Pomona has entered the lists with them, and has imparted certain medicinal properties to the fruits as they hang. Not content with protecting and nourishing, under the shadow of the trees, the various plants which we have[2834] already described, she would even appear to be indignant, as it were, at the thought that we should derive more succour from those productions which are further removed from the canopy of heaven, and which have only come into use in times comparatively recent. For she bids man bear in mind that it was the fruits of the trees which formed his first nourishment, and that it was these which first led him to look upwards towards the heavens: and not only this, but she reminds him, too, that even still it is quite possible for him to derive his aliment from the trees, without being indebted to grain for his subsistence.
CHAP. 2.—THE VINE.
But, by Hercules! it is the vine more particularly to which she has accorded these medicinal properties, as though she were not contented with her generosity in providing it with such delicious flavours, and perfumes, and essences, in its omphacium, its œnanthe, and its massaris, preparations upon which we have already[2835] enlarged. “It is to me,” she says, “that man is indebted for the greater part of his enjoyments, it is I that produce for him the flowing wine and the trickling oil, it is I that ripen the date and other fruits in numbers so varied; and all this, not insisting, like the earth, on their purchase at the cost of fatigues and labours. No necessity do I create for ploughing with the aid of oxen, for beating out upon the threshing-floor, or for bruising under the millstone, and all in order that man may earn his food at some indefinite time by this vast expenditure of toil. As for me, all my gifts are presented to him ready prepared: for no anxieties or fatigues do they call, but, on the contrary, they offer themselves spontaneously, and even fall to the ground, if man should be too indolent to reach them as they hang.” Vying even with herself, Pomona has done still more for our practical advantage than for the mere gratification of our pleasures and caprices.
CHAP. 3.—THE LEAVES AND SHOOTS OF THE VINE: SEVEN REMEDIES.
[2836] The leaves and shoots of the vine, employed with polenta, allay head-ache and reduce inflammations:[2837] the leaves, too, applied by themselves with cold water, are good for burning pains in the stomach; and, used with barley-meal, are excellent applications for diseases of the joints. The shoots, beaten up and applied, have the property of drying up all kinds of running tumours, and the juice extracted from them is used as an injection for the cure of dysentery. The tears of the vine, which would appear to be a sort of gum, will heal leprous sores, lichens, and itch-scabs, if treated first with nitre: used with oil, and applied frequently to superfluous hairs, they act as a depilatory, those more particularly which exude from the vine when burnt in a green state: this last liquid has the effect, too, of removing warts. An infusion of the shoots in water, taken in drink, is good for persons troubled with spitting of blood, and for the fainting fits which sometimes ensue upon conception.
The bark of the vine and the dried leaves arrest the flowing of blood from wounds, and make the sores cicatrize more rapidly. The juice of the white vine,[2838] extracted from it while green, effectually removes cutaneous[2839] eruptions. The ashes[2840] of the cuttings of vines, and of the husks of the grapes, applied with vinegar, are curative of condylomata and diseases of the fundament; as also of sprains, burns, and swellings of the spleen, applied with rose-oil, rue, and vinegar. Used with wine, but without oil, they make a fomentation for erysipelas and parts of the body which are chafed; they act as a depilatory also.[2841] For affections of the spleen the ashes of vine-cuttings, moistened with vinegar, are administered in drink, being taken in doses of two cyathi in warm water; after which the patient must take due care to lie upon the side in which the spleen is situate.
The tendrils, too, which the vine throws out as it climbs, beaten up in water and drunk, have the effect of arresting habitual vomiting. The ashes of the vine, used with stale axle-grease, are good for tumours, act as a detergent upon fistulas, and speedily effect a radical cure; the same, too, with pains and contractions of the sinews, occasioned by cold. Applied with oil, they are useful for contusions, and with vinegar and nitre, for fleshy excrescences upon the bones: in combination with oil, they are good, too, for wounds inflicted by scorpions and dogs. The ashes of the bark, employed by themselves, restore the hair to such parts of the body as have suffered from the action of fire.