In addition to these substances, there is another, known in the salt-works by the name of “salsugo,” or “salsilago:” it is quite liquid, salter in taste than sea-water, but inferior to it in its properties.
CHAP. 43.—GARUM: FIFTEEN REMEDIES.
Another liquid, too, of a very exquisite nature, is that known as “garum:”[3159] it is prepared from the intestines of fish and various parts which would otherwise be thrown away, macerated in salt; so that it is, in fact, the result of their putrefaction. Garum was formerly prepared from a fish, called “garos”[3160] by the Greeks; who assert, also, that a fumigation made with its head has the effect of bringing away the afterbirth.
(8.) At the present day, however, the most esteemed kind of garum is that prepared from the scomber,[3161] in the fisheries of Carthago Spartaria:[3162] it is known as “garum of[3163] the allies,” and for a couple of congii we have to pay but little less than one thousand sesterces. Indeed, there is no liquid hardly, with the exception of the unguents, that has sold at higher prices of late; so much so, that the nations which produce it have become quite ennobled thereby. There are fisheries, too, of the scomber on the coasts of Mauretania, and at Carteia in Bætica, near the Straits[3164] which lie at the entrance to the Ocean; this being the only use that is made of the fish. For the production of garum, Clazomenæ is also famed, Pompeii, too, and Leptis; while for their muria, Antipolis,[3165] Thurii, and of late, Dalmatia,[3166] enjoy a high reputation.
CHAP. 44.—ALEX: EIGHT REMEDIES.
Alex, which is the refuse of garum, properly consists of the dregs of it, when imperfectly strained: but of late they have begun to prepare it separately, from a small fish that is otherwise good for nothing, the apua[3167] of the Latins, or aphua of the Greeks, so called from the fact of its being engendered from rain.[3168] The people of Forum Julii[3169] make their garum from a fish to which they give the name of “lupus.”[3170] In process of time, alex has become quite an object of luxury, and the various kinds that are now made are infinite in number. The same, too, with garum, which is now prepared in imitation of the colour of old honied wine, and so pleasantly flavoured as to admit of being taken as a drink. Another kind, again, is dedicated to those superstitious observances[3171] which enjoin strict chastity, and that prepared from fish without[3172] scales, to the sacred rites of the Jews. In the same way, too, alex has come to be manufactured from oysters, sea-urchins, sea-nettles, cammari,[3173] and the liver of the surmullet; and a thousand different methods have been devised of late for ensuring the putrefaction of salt in such a way as to secure the flavours most relished by the palate.
Thus much, by the way, with reference to the tastes of the present day; though at the same time, it must be remembered, these substances are by no means without their uses in medicine. Alex, for instance, is curative of scab in sheep, incisions being made in the skin, and the liquor poured therein. It is useful, also, for the cure of wounds inflicted by dogs or by the sea-dragon, the application being made with lint. Recent burns, too, are healed by the agency of garum, due care being taken to apply it without mentioning it by name. It is useful, too, for bites inflicted by dogs, and for that of the crocodile in particular; as also for the treatment of serpiginous or sordid ulcers. For ulcerations, and painful affections of the mouth and ears, it is a marvellously useful remedy.
Muria, also, as well as the salsugo which we have mentioned,[3174] has certain astringent, mordent, and discussive properties, and is highly useful for the cure of dysentery, even when ulceration has attacked the intestines. Injections are also made of it for sciatica, and for cœliac fluxes of an inveterate nature. In spots which lie at a distance in the interior, it is used as a fomentation, by way of substitute for sea-water.
CHAP. 45. (9.)—THE NATURE OF SALT.
Salt, regarded by itself, is naturally igneous, and yet it manifests an antipathy to fire, and flies[3175] from it. It consumes everything, and yet upon living bodies it has an astringent, desiccative, and binding effect, while the dead it preserves from putrefaction,[3176] and makes them last for ages even. In respect, however, of its medicinal properties, it is of a mordent, burning, detergent, attenuating, and resolvent nature; it is, however, injurious to the stomach, except that it acts as a stimulant to the appetite, For the cure of injuries inflicted by serpents, it is used with origanum, honey, and hyssop; and for the sting of the cerastes, with origanum, cedar-resin, pitch, or honey. Taken internally with vinegar, it is good for injuries caused by the scolopendra; and, applied topically, with an equal proportion of linseed, in oil or vinegar, for stings inflicted by scorpions. For stings of hornets, wasps, and insects of a similar description, it is applied with vinegar; and, for the cure of hemicrania, ulcers on the head, blisters, pimples, and incipient warts, with veal-suet. It is used also among the remedies for the eyes, and for the removal of fleshy excrescences upon those organs, as also of hangnails[3177] upon the fingers or toes. For webs that form upon the eyes it is peculiarly useful, and hence it is that it is so commonly employed as an ingredient in eye-salves, as well as plasters. For all these last-mentioned purposes, the salt of Tatta or of Caunus is more particularly in request.