CHAP. 35.—THE ELDER: FIFTEEN REMEDIES.
There are two kinds of elder, one of which grows wild and is much smaller than the other; by the Greeks it is known as the “chamæacte,” or “helion.”[151] A decoction of the leaves,[152] seed, or root of either kind, taken in doses of two cyathi, in old wine, though bad for the upper regions of the stomach, carries off all aqueous humours by stool. This decoction is very cooling too for inflammations, those attendant upon recent burns in particular. A poultice is made also of the more tender leaves, mixed with polenta, for bites inflicted by dogs. The juice of the elder, used as a fomentation, reduces abscesses of the brain, and more particularly of the membrane which envelopes that organ. The berries, which have not so powerful an action as the other parts of the tree, stain the hair. Taken in doses of one acetabulum, in drink, they are diuretic. The softer leaves are eaten with oil and salt, to carry off pituitous and bilious secretions.
The smaller kind is for all these purposes the more efficacious of the two. A decoction of the root in wine, taken in doses of two cyathi, brings away the water in dropsy, and acts emolliently upon the uterus: the same effects are produced also by a sitting-bath made of a decoction of the leaves. The tender shoots of the cultivated kind, boiled in a saucepan and eaten as food, have a purgative effect: the leaves taken in wine, neutralize the venom of serpents. An application of the young shoots, mixed with he-goat suet, is remarkably good for gout; and if they are macerated in water, the infusion will destroy fleas. If a decoction of the leaves is sprinkled about a place, it will exterminate flies. “Boa”[153] is the name given to a malady which appears in the form of red pimples upon the body; for its cure the patient is scourged with a branch of elder. The inner bark,[154] pounded and taken with white wine, relaxes the bowels.
CHAP. 36.—THE JUNIPER: TWENTY-ONE REMEDIES.
The juniper is of a warming and resolvent nature beyond all other plants: in other respects, it resembles the cedar.[155] There are two species of this tree, also, one of which is larger[156] than the other:[157] the odour of either, burnt, repels the approach of serpents.[158] The seed[159] is good for pains in the stomach, chest, and sides; it dispels flatulency and sudden chills, soothes cough, and brings indurations to a head. Applied topically, it checks the growth of tumours; and the berries, taken in red wine, act astringently upon the bowels: they are applied also to tumours of the abdomen. The seed is used as an ingredient in antidotes of an aperient nature, and is diuretic[160] in its effects. It is used as a liniment for defluxions of the eyes, and is prescribed for convulsions, ruptures griping pains in the bowels, affections of the uterus, and sciatica, either in a dose of four berries in white wine, or in the form of a decoction of twenty berries in wine.
There are persons who rub the body with juniper berries as a preventive of the attacks of serpents.
CHAP. 37. (9.)—THE WILLOW: FOURTEEN REMEDIES. THE WILLOW OF AMERIA: ONE REMEDY.
The fruit of the willow,[161] before it arrives at maturity, is covered with a down like a spider’s web: gathered[162] before it is ripe, it arrests discharges of blood from the mouth. The bark of the upper branches, reduced to ashes and mixed with water, is curative of corns and callosities: it removes spots also upon the face, being still more efficacious for that purpose if mixed with, the juices of the tree.
The juices produced by the willow form three different varieties; one[163] of which exudes in the shape of a gum from the tree itself, and another distils from an incision some three fingers in width, made in the bark while the tree is in blossom. This last is very useful for dispersing humours which impede the sight, acting also as an inspissative when needed, promoting the discharge of the urine, and bringing abscesses of all kinds to a head. The third kind of juice exudes from the wounds, when the branches are lopt off with the bill. Either of these juices, warmed in a pomegranate rind, is used as an injection for diseases of the ears. The leaves, too, boiled and beaten up with wax, are employed as a liniment for similar purposes, and for gout. The bark and leaves, boiled in wine, form a decoction that is remarkably useful as a fomentation for affections of the sinews. The blossoms, bruised with the leaves, remove scaly eruptions of the face; and the leaves, bruised and taken in drink, check libidinous tendencies,[164] and effectually put an end to them, if habitually employed.
The seed of the black willow of Ameria,[165] mixed with litharge in equal proportions, and applied to the body just after the bath, acts as a depilatory.