Mallow seed is attached to the arms of patients suffering from spermatorrhœa; and, so naturally adapted is this plant for the promotion of lustfulness, that the seed of the kind with a single stem, sprinkled upon the genitals, will increase the sexual desire in males to an infinite degree, according to Xenocrates; who says, too, that if three roots are attached to the person, in the vicinity of those parts, they will be productive of a similar result. The same writer informs us also, that injections of mallows are good for tenesmus and dysentery, and for maladies of the rectum even, if used as a fomentation only. The juice is given warm to patients afflicted with melancholy, in doses of three cyathi, and to insane persons[1699] in doses of four. One hemina of the decoction is prescribed, also, for epilepsy.[1700] A warm decoction of the juice is employed, too, as a fomentation for calculus, flatulency, gripings of the stomach, and opisthotony. The leaves are boiled, and applied with oil, as a poultice for erysipelas and burns, and raw, with bread, to arrest inflammation in wounds. A decoction of mallows is beneficial for affections of the sinews and bladder, and for gnawing pains of the intestines; taken, too, as an aliment, or an injection, they are relaxing to the uterus, and the decoction, taken with oil, facilitates the passage of the urine.[1701]
The root of the althæa[1702] is even more efficacious for all the purposes above enumerated, and for convulsions and ruptures more particularly. Boiled in water, it arrests looseness of the bowels; and taken in white wine, it is a cure for scrofulous sores, imposthumes of the parotid glands, and inflammations of the mamillæ. A decoction of the leaves in wine, applied as a liniment, disperses inflammatory tumours; and the leaves, first dried, and then boiled in milk, are a speedy cure for a cough, however inveterate. Hippocrates prescribes a decoction of the root to be drunk by persons wounded or thirsty from loss of blood, and the plant itself as an application to wounds, with honey and resin. He also recommends it to be employed in a similar manner for contusions, sprains, and tumours of the muscles, sinews, and joints, and prescribes it to be taken in wine for asthma and dysentery. It is a singular thing, that water in which this root has been put, thickens when exposed in the open air, and congeals[1703] like ice. The more recently, however, it has been taken up, the greater are the virtues of the root.[1704]
CHAP. 85.—WILD LAPATHUM OR OXALIS, OTHERWISE CALLED LAPATHUM CANTHERINUM, OR RUMEX: ONE REMEDY. HYDROLAPATHUM: TWO REMEDIES. HIPPOLAPATHUM: SIX REMEDIES. OXYLAPATHUM: FOUR REMEDIES.
Lapathum, too, has pretty nearly the same properties. There is a wild[1705] variety, known to some as “oxalis,” very similar in taste to the cultivated kind, with pointed leaves, a colour like that of white beet, and an extremely diminutive root: our people call it “rumex,”[1706] while others, again, give it the name of “lapathum cantherinum.”[1707] Mixed with axle-grease, this plant is very efficacious for scrofulous sores. There is another kind, again, hardly forming a distinct variety, known as “oxylapathon,”[1708] which resembles the cultivated kind even more than the last, though the leaves are more pointed and redder: it grows only in marshy spots. Some authors are found who speak of a “hydrolapathon,”[1709] which grows in the water, they say. There is also another variety, known as “hippolapathon,”[1710] larger than the cultivated kind, whiter, and more compact.
The wild varieties of the lapathum are a cure[1711] for the stings of scorpions, and protect those who carry the plant on their person from being stung. A decoction of the root in vinegar, employed as a gargle, is beneficial to the[1712] teeth, and if drunk, is a cure for jaundice. The seed is curative of the most obstinate maladies of the stomach.[1713] The root of hippolapathum, in particular, has the property of bringing off malformed nails; and the seed, taken in wine, in doses of two drachmæ, is a cure for dysentery. The seed of oxylapathum, washed in rain-water, with the addition of a piece of gum acacia, about the size of a lentil, is good for patients troubled with spitting of blood.[1714] Most excellent lozenges are made of the leaves and root of this plant, with the addition of nitre and a little incense. When wanted for use, they are first steeped in vinegar.
CHAP. 86.—CULTIVATED LAPATHUM: TWENTY-ONE REMEDIES. BULAPATHUM: ONE REMEDY.
As to garden lapathum,[1715] it is good in liniments on the forehead for defluxions of the eyes. The root of it cures lichens and leprous sores, and a decoction of it in wine is remedial for scrofulous swellings, imposthumes of the parotid glands, and calculus of the bladder. Taken in wine it is a cure for affections of the spleen, and employed as a fomentation, it is equally good for cœliac affections, dysentery, and tenesmus. For all these purposes, the juice of lapathum is found to be even still more efficacious. It acts as a carminative and diuretic, and dispels films on the eyes: put into the bath, or else rubbed upon the body, without oil, before taking the bath, it effectually removes all itching sensations. The root of it, chewed, strengthens the teeth, and a decoction of it in wine arrests[1716] looseness of the stomach: the leaves, on the other hand, relax it.
Not to omit any particulars, Solo has added to the above varieties a bulapathon,[1717] which differs only from the others in the length of the root. This root, taken in wine, is very beneficial for dysentery.