[2781] “Pediculus terræ.”
[2782] In B. xxix. c. 33.
[2783] In B. xxix. c. 21.
[2784] He probably speaks of woodlice here. Ettmuller asserts their utility in this form for scrofula. Valisnieri says the same; Spielmann prescribes them for arthrosis; Riviere considers them as a detergent for ulcers, and a resolvent for tumours of the mamillæ; and Baglivi maintains that they are a first-rate diuretic, and unequalled as a lithontriptic. They contain muriate of lime and of potash, which may possibly, in some small degree, give them an aperitive virtue.
[2785] See Horace, Epode xii. l. 5.
[2786] Hence, perhaps, the practice of nursing lap-dogs.
[2787] See B. iii. c. 30, and Note 2, p. 267.
[2788] In France and Italy, snails are considered a delicacy by some. Snail milk is sometimes used medicinally in England for consumptive patients: it is doubtful with what effect.
[2789] Or fish-sauce. See B. xxxi. c. 43.
[2790] See B. v. c. 20.