CHAP. 82.—MYRTIDANUM: THIRTEEN REMEDIES.
We have already described the manner in which myrtidanum[3219] is made. Applied in a pessary, or as a fomentation or liniment, it is good for affections of the uterus, being much more efficacious than the bark of the tree, or the leaves and seed. There is a juice also extracted from the more tender leaves, which are pounded in a mortar for the purpose, astringent wine, or, according to one method, rain-water, being poured upon them a little at a time. This extract is used for the cure of ulcers of the mouth, the fundament, the uterus, and the abdomen. It is employed, also, for dyeing the hair black, the suppression of exudations at the arm-pits,[3220] the removal of freckles, and other purposes in which astringents are required.
CHAP. 83.—THE WILD MYRTLE, OTHERWISE CALLED OXYMYRSINE, OR CHAMÆMYRSINE, AND THE RUSCUS: SIX REMEDIES.
The wild myrtle, oxymyrsine,[3221] or chamæmyrsine, differs from the cultivated myrtle in the redness of its berries and its diminutive height. The root of it is held in high esteem; a decoction of it, in wine, is taken for pains in the kidneys and strangury, more particularly when the urine is thick and fetid. Pounded in wine, it is employed for the cure of jaundice, and as a purgative for the uterus. The same method is adopted, also, with the young shoots, which are sometimes roasted in hot ashes and eaten as a substitute for asparagus.[3222]
The berries, taken with wine, or oil and vinegar, break calculi[3223] of the bladder: beaten up with rose-oil and vinegar, they allay head-ache. Taken in drink, they are curative of jaundice. Castor calls the wild myrtle with prickly leaves, or oxymyrsine, from which brooms are made, by the name of “ruscus”[3224]—the medicinal properties of it are just the same.
Thus much, then, with reference to the medicinal properties of the cultivated trees; let us now pass on to the wild ones.
Summary.—Remedies, narratives, and observations, nine hundred and eighteen.
Roman authors quoted.—C. Valgius,[3225] Pompeius Lenæus,[3226] Sextius Niger[3227] who wrote in Greek, Julius Bassus[3228] who wrote in Greek, Antonius Castor,[3229] M. Varro,[3230] Cornelius Celsus,[3231] Fabianus.[3232]
Foreign authors quoted.—Theophrastus,[3233] Democritus,[3234] Orpheus,[3235] Pythagoras,[3236] Mago,[3237] Menander[3238] who wrote the “Biochresta,” Nicander,[3239] Homer, Hesiod,[3240] Musæus,[3241] Sophocles,[3242] Anaxilaüs.[3243]
Medical authors quoted.—Mnesitheus,[3244] Callimachus,[3245] Phanias[3246] the physician, Timaristus,[3247] Simus,[3248] Hippocrates,[3249] Chrysippus,[3250] Diocles,[3251] Ophelion,[3252] Heraclides,[3253] Hicesius,[3254] Dionysius,[3255] Apollodorus[3256] of Citium, Apollodorus[3257] of Tarentum, Plistonicus,[3258] Medius,[3259] Dieuches,[3260] Cleophantus,[3261] Philistion,[3262] Asclepiades,[3263] Crateuas,[3264] Petronius Diodotus,[3265] Iollas,[3266] Erasistratus,[3267] Diagoras,[3268] Andreas,[3269] Mnesides,[3270] Epicharmus,[3271] Damion,[3272] Dalion,[3273] Sosimenes,[3274] Tlepolemus,[3275] Metrodorus,[3276] Solo,[3277] Lycus,[3278] Olympias[3279] of Thebes, Philinus,[3280] Petrichus,[3281] Micton,[3282] Glaucias,[3283] Xenocrates.[3284]