We may rest fully persuaded then, that magic is a thing detestable in itself. Frivolous and lying as it is, it still bears, however, some shadow of truth upon it; though reflected, in reality, by the practices of those who study the arts of secret poisoning, and not the pursuits of magic. Let any one picture to himself the lies of the magicians of former days, when he learns what has been stated by the grammarian Apion,[2754] a person whom I remember seeing myself when young. He tells us that the plant cynocephalia,[2755] known in Egypt as “osiritis,” is useful for divination, and is a preservative against all the malpractices of magic, but that if a person takes it out of the ground entire, he will die upon the spot. He asserts, also, that he himself had raised the spirits[2756] of the dead, in order to make enquiry of Homer in reference to his native country and his parents; but he does not dare, he tells us, disclose the answer he received.
CHAP. 7. (3.)—OPINIONS OF THE MAGICIANS RELATIVE TO THE MOLE. FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT.
Let the following stand as a remarkable proof of the frivolous nature of the magic art. Of all animals it is the mole that the magicians admire most! a creature that has been stamped with condemnation by Nature in so many ways; doomed as it is to perpetual blindness,[2757] and adding to this darkness a life of gloom in the depths of the earth, and a state more nearly resembling that of the dead and buried. There is no animal in the entrails of which they put such implicit faith, no animal, they think, better suited for the rites of religion; so much so, indeed, that if a person swallows the heart of a mole, fresh from the body and still palpitating, he will receive the gift of divination, they assure us, and a foreknowledge of future events. Tooth-ache, they assert, may be cured by taking the tooth of a live mole, and attaching it to the body. As to other statements of theirs relative to this animal, we shall draw attention to them on the fitting occasions, and shall only add here that one of the most probable of all their assertions is, that the mole neutralizes the bite of the shrew-mouse; seeing that, as already[2758] stated, the very earth even that is found in the rut of a cart-wheel, acts as a remedy in such a case.
CHAP. 8.—THE OTHER REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THE RESPECTIVE DISEASES. REMEDIES FOR TOOTH-ACHE.
But to proceed, with the remedies for tooth-ache—the magicians tell us, that it may be cured by using the ashes of the head of a dog that has died in a state of madness. The head, however, must be burnt without the flesh, and the ashes injected with oil of cyprus[2759] into the ear on the side affected. For the same purpose also, the left eye-tooth of a dog is used, the gum of the affected tooth being lanced with it; one of the vertebræ also of a dragon or of an enhydris, which is a male white serpent.[2760] The eye-tooth, too, of this last, is used for scarifying the gums; and when the pain affects the teeth of the upper jaw, they attach to the patient two of the upper teeth of the serpent, and, similarly, two of the lower ones for tooth-ache in the lower jaw. Persons who go in pursuit of the crocodile, anoint themselves with the fat of this animal. The gums are also scarified with the frontal bones of a lizard, taken from it at full moon, and not allowed to touch the ground: or else the mouth is rinsed with a decoction of dogs’ teeth in wine, boiled down to one half.
Ashes of dogs’ teeth, mixed with honey, are useful for difficult dentition in children, and a dentifrice is similarly prepared from them. Hollow teeth are plugged with ashes of burnt mouse-dung, or with a lizard’s liver, dried. To eat a snake’s heart, or to wear it, attached to the body, is considered highly efficacious. There are some among the magicians, who recommend a mouse to be eaten twice a month, as a preventive of tooth-ache. Earth-worms, boiled in oil and injected into the ear on the side affected, afford considerable relief: ashes, too, of burnt earth-worms, introduced into carious teeth, make them come out easily; and, used as a friction, they allay pains in such of the teeth as are sound: the proper way of burning them is in an earthen potsherd. They are useful, too, boiled with root of the mulberry-tree in squill vinegar, and employed as a collutory for the teeth. The small worm that is found in the plant known as Venus[2761] bath, is remarkably useful, introduced[2762] into a hollow tooth; and as to the cabbage caterpillar, it will make hollow teeth come out, by the mere contact only. The bugs[2763] that are found upon mallows, are injected into the ears, beaten up with oil of roses.
The small grits of sand that are found in the horns of snails, introduced into hollow teeth, remove the pain instantaneously, Ashes of empty snail-shells, mixed with myrrh,[2764] are good for the gums; the ashes also of a serpent, burnt with salt in an earthen pot, and injected, with oil of roses, into the ear opposite to the side affected; or else the slough of a snake, warmed with oil and torch-pine resin,[2765] and injected into either ear. Some persons add frankincense and oil of roses, a preparation which, of itself, introduced into hollow teeth, makes them come out without pain. It is all a fiction, in my opinion, to say that white snakes cast this slough about the rising of the Dog-star; for such a thing has never been seen in Italy, and it is still more improbable that sloughing should take place at so late a period in the warmer climates. We find it stated also, that this slough, even when it has been kept for some time, mixed with wax, will extract a tooth very expeditiously, if applied thereto: a snake’s tooth, also, attached to the body as an amulet, allays tooth-ache. Some persons think that it is a good remedy to catch a spider with the left hand, to beat it up with oil of roses, and then to inject it into the ear on the side affected.
The small bones of poultry, preserved in a hole in a wall, the medullary channel being left intact, will immediately cure tooth-ache, they say, if the tooth is touched or the gum scarified therewith, care being taken to throw away the bone the moment the operation is performed. A similar result is obtained by using raven’s dung, wrapped in wool and attached to the body, or else sparrow’s dung, warmed with oil and injected into the ear on the side affected. This last remedy, however, is productive of an intolerable itching, for which reason it is considered a better plan to rub the part with the ashes of young sparrows burnt upon twigs, mixed with vinegar for the purpose.