CHAP. 50.—ELÆOMELI: TWO REMEDIES. OIL OF PITCH: TWO REMEDIES.
Elæomeli, which, as we have already[3047] stated, exudes from the olive-trees of Syria, has a flavour like that of honey, but not without a certain nauseous taste. It relaxes the bowels, and carries off the bilious secretions more particularly, if taken in doses of two cyathi, in a semisextarius of water. After drinking it, the patient falls into a torpor, and requires to be aroused every now and then. Persons, when about to drink for a wager, are in the habit of taking[3048] a cyathus of it, by way of prelude. Oil of pitch[3049] is employed for the cure of cough, and of itch in cattle.
CHAP. 51.—THE PALM: NINE REMEDIES.
Next in rank after the vine and the olive comes the palm. Dates fresh-gathered have an inebriating[3050] effect, and are productive of head-ache; when dried, they are not so injurious. It would appear, too, that they are not wholesome to the stomach; they have an irritating[3051] effect on coughs, but are very nourishing to the body. The ancients used to give a decoction of them to patients, as a substitute for hydromel, with the view of recruiting the strength and allaying thirst, the Thebaïc date being held in preference for the purpose. Dates are very useful, too, for persons troubled with spitting of blood, when taken in the food more particularly. The dates called caryotæ,[3052] in combination with quinces, wax, and saffron, are applied topically for affections of the stomach, bladder, abdomen, and intestines: they are good for bruises also. Date-stones,[3053] burnt in a new earthen vessel, produce an ash which, when rinsed, is employed as a substitute for spodium,[3054] and is used as an ingredient in eye-salves, and, with the addition of nard, in washes for the eye-brows.[3055]
CHAP. 52. (5.)—THE PALM WHICH PRODUCES MYROBALANUM: THREE REMEDIES.
Of the palm which produces myrobalanum,[3056] the most esteemed kind is that grown in Egypt;[3057] the dates of which, unlike those of the other kinds, are without stones. Used with astringent wine, they arrest[3058] diarrhœa and the catamenia, and promote the cicatrization of wounds.
CHAP. 53.—THE PALM CALLED ELATE: SIXTEEN REMEDIES.
The palm called “elate,”[3059] or “spathe,” furnishes its buds, leaves, and bark for medicinal purposes. The leaves are applied to the thoracic regions, stomach, and liver, and to spreading ulcers, but they are adverse to cicatrization. The bark[3060] of the tree, while tender, mixed with wax and resin, heals itch-scab in the course of twenty days: a decoction, also, is made of it for diseases of the testes. Used as a fumigation, it turns the hair black, and brings away the fœtus. It is given in drink, also, for diseases of the kidneys, bladder, and thoracic organs; but it acts injuriously upon the head and nerves. The decoction of this bark has the effect, also, of arresting fluxes of the uterus and the bowels: the ashes of it are used with white wine for griping pains in the stomach, and form a very efficacious remedy for affections of the uterus.
CHAP. 54. (6.)—REMEDIES DERIVED PROM THE BLOSSOMS, LEAVES, FRUIT, BRANCHES, BARK, JUICES, WOOD, ROOTS, AND ASHES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF TREES. SIX OBSERVATIONS UPON APPLES. TWENTY-TWO OBSERVATIONS UPON QUINCES. ONE OBSERVATION UPON STRUTHEA.
We next come to the medicinal properties of the various kinds of apples. The spring fruits, of this nature are sour and unwholesome[3061] to the stomach, disturb the bowels, contract the bladder, and act injuriously upon the nerves; when cooked, however, they are of a more harmless nature. Quinces are more pleasant eating when cooked; still however, eaten raw, provided they are ripe, they are very useful[3062] for spitting of blood, dysentery, cholera, and cœliac affections; indeed, they are not of the same efficacy when cooked, as they then lose the astringent properties which belong to their juice. They are applied also to the breast in the burning attacks of fever, and, in spite of what has been stated above, they are occasionally boiled in rain-water for the various purposes before-mentioned. For pains in the stomach they are applied[3063] like a cerate, either raw or boiled. The down upon them heals[3064] carbuncles.