In whatever way it is taken in drink, fennel has the property of promoting the secretion of the seminal fluids; and it is extremely beneficial to the generative organs, whether a decoction of the root in wine is employed as a fomentation, or whether it is used beaten up in oil. Many persons apply fennel with wax to tumours and bruises, and employ the root, with the juice of the plant, or else with honey, for the bites of dogs, and with wine for the stings of multipedes.
Hippomarathron is more efficacious, in every respect, than cultivated fennel;[1765] it expels calculi more particularly, and, taken with weak wine, is good for the bladder and irregularities of the menstrual discharge.
In this plant, the seed is more efficacious than the root; the dose of either of them being a pinch with two fingers, beaten up, and mixed with the usual drink. Petrichus, who wrote a work “On Serpents,”[1766] and Micton, who wrote a treatise “On[1767] Botany,” are of opinion that there is nothing in existence of greater efficacy against serpents than hippomarathron: indeed, Nicander[1768] has ranked it by no means among the lowest of antidotes.
CHAP. 97.—HEMP: NINE REMEDIES.
Hemp originally grew in the forests,[1769] where it is found with a blacker and rougher leaf than in the other[1770] kinds. Hempseed,[1771] it is said, renders men impotent: the juice of this seed will extract worms from the ears, or any insect which may have entered them, though at the cost of producing head-ache. The virtues of hemp, it is said, are so great, that an infusion of it in water will cause it to coagulate:[1772] hence it is, that if taken in water, it will arrest looseness in beasts of burden. A decoction of the root in water, relaxes contractions of the joints, and cures gout and similar maladies. It is applied raw to burns, but it must be frequently changed, so as not to let it dry.
CHAP. 98.—FENNEL-GIANT: EIGHT REMEDIES.
Fennel-giant[1773] has a seed similar to that of dill. That which has a single stem, bifurcated[1774] at the top, is generally thought to be the female plant. The stalks of it are eaten boiled;[1775] and, pickled in brine and honey, they are recommended as particularly beneficial to the stomach;[1776] if taken, however, in too large quantities, they are apt to produce head-ache. The root of it in doses of one denarius to two cyathi of wine, is used in drink for the stings of serpents, and the root itself is applied topically for the same purpose, as also for the cure of gripings of the stomach. Taken in oil and vinegar, it is used as a check for excessive perspirations, in fevers even. The inspissated juice of fennel-giant, taken in quantities the size of a bean, acts as a purgative;[1777] and the pith[1778] of it is good for the uterus, as well as all the maladies previously mentioned. To arrest hæmorrhage, ten of the seeds are taken in drink, bruised in wine, or else with the pith of the plant. There are some persons who think that the seed should be administered for epilepsy, from the fourth to the seventh day of the moon, in doses of one spoonful.
Fennel-giant is naturally so inimical to the muræna, that the very touch of it even will kill that fish. Castor was of opinion that the juice of the root is extremely beneficial to the sight.
CHAP. 99.—THE THISTLE OR SCOLYMOS: SIX REMEDIES.
We have already[1779] spoken, when treating of the garden plants, of the cultivation of the thistle; we may as well, therefore, not delay to mention its medicinal properties. Of wild thistles there are two varieties; one[1780] of which throws out numerous stalks immediately it leaves the ground, the other[1781] being thicker, and having but a single stem. They have, both of them, a few leaves only, and covered with prickles, the head of the plant being protected by thorny points: the last mentioned, however, puts forth in the middle of these points a purple blossom, which turns white with great rapidity, and is carried off by the wind; the Greeks give it the name of “scolymos.”