[2328] Sec B. xx. c. 45, and c. 41 of this Book. It is a plant of somewhat stimulating properties, and may possibly be useful, Fée thinks, for nervous affections.
[2329] “Scopis.” He may possibly mean small brooms made of the sprigs of the plant.
[2330] See c. [29] of this Book. The melilote is possessed of no peculiar energy, but decoctions of it are sometimes employed as a lotion.
[2331] Sores “resembling a honey-comb.”
[2332] See c. [30] of this Book.
[2333] In c. 30 of this Book.
[2334] See c. [31] of this Book. Thyme yields an essential oil, possessed of stimulating properties. Most of the assertions here made as to its virtues are quite unfounded.
[2335] See c. [33] of this Book. The Pancratium maritimum, if that plant is identical with it, is but little used, but has a marked action, Fée says, upon the human frame.
[2336] In c. 33 of this Book.
[2337] Od. iv. l. 221. This has been supposed by many commentators to have been opium. The origin of the word is νή, “not,” and πένθος, “grief;” and, as Fée says, it would seem to indicate rather a composition than a plant. Saffron, mandragore, nightshade, and even tea and coffee, have been suggested by the active imaginations of various writers. Fée is of opinion that it is impossible to come to any satisfactory conclusion, but inclines to the belief that either the poppy or a preparation from it, is meant. In confirmation of this opinion, it is a singular fact, that, as Dr. Paris remarks (in his Pharmacologia), the Nepenthes of Homer was obtained from Thebes in Egypt, and that tincture of opium, or laudanum, has received the name of “Thebaic tincture.” Gorræus, in his “Definitiones Medicæ,” thinks that the herb alluded to is the Inula Campania, or Elecampane, which was also said to have derived its name of “Helenium” from Helen. Dr. Greenhill, in Smith’s Dictionary of Antiquities, inclines to the opinion that it was opium. See the article “Pharmaceutica.”