The physician Themiso, too, has conferred some celebrity upon the plantago, otherwise a very common plant; indeed he has written a treatise upon it, as though he had been the first to discover it. There are two varieties; one, more diminutive[678] than the other, has a narrower and more swarthy leaf, strongly resembling a sheep’s tongue in appearance: the stem of it is angular and bends downwards, and it is generally found growing in meadow lands. The larger[679] kind has leaves enclosed with ribs at the sides, to all appearance, from the fact of which being seven[680] in number, the plant has been called “heptapleuron”[681] by some. The stem of it is a cubit in height, and strongly resembles that of the turnip. That which is grown in a moist soil is considered much the most efficacious: it is possessed of marvellous virtues as a desiccative and as an astringent, and has all the effect of a cautery. There is nothing that so effectually arrests the fluxes known by the Greeks as “rheumatismi.”
CHAP. 40.—BUGLOSSOS: THREE REMEDIES.
To an account of the plantago may be annexed that of the buglossos, the leaf of which resembles an ox tongue.[682] The main peculiarity of this plant is, that if put into wine, it promotes[683] mirth and hilarity, whence it has obtained the additional name of “euphrosynum.”[684]
CHAP. 41.—CYNOGLOSSOS: THREE REMEDIES.
To this plant we may also annex an account of the cynoglossos,[685] the leaf of which resembles a dog’s tongue, and which produces so pleasing an effect[686] in ornamental gardening. The root, it is said, of the kind which bears three[687] stems surmounted with seed, is very useful, taken in water, for tertian, and of that with four stems, for quartan, fevers.
There is another plant[688] very similar to it, which bears diminutive burrs resembling those of the lappa:[689] the root of it, taken in water, is curative of wounds inflicted by frogs[690] or serpents.
CHAP. 42.—THE BUPHTHALMOS OR CACHLA: ONE REMEDY.
There is the buphthalmos[691] also, so called from its resemblance to an ox’s eye, and with a leaf like that of fennel. It grows in the vicinity of towns, and is a branchy plant, with numerous stems, which are boiled and eaten. Some persons give it the name of “cachla.” In combination with wax, it disperses scirrhi.[692]