The leaves[44] of the beech are chewed for affections of the lips and gums. A liniment is made of the ashes of beech-mast for urinary calculus, and, in combination with honey, for alopecy.
CHAP. 10.—THE CYPRESS: TWENTY-THREE REMEDIES.
The leaves of the cypress[45] are pounded and applied to wounds inflicted by serpents, and with polenta, to the head, in cases of sunstroke. They are used also for hernia, and an infusion of them is taken in drink.[46] They are applied with wax to swellings of the testes, and mixed with vinegar they stain the hair black.[47] Beaten up with twice the quantity of light bread, and then kneaded with Aminean[48] wine, they are found very soothing for pains in the feet and sinews.
The excrescences of this tree are taken in drink for the stings of serpents and for discharges of blood from the mouth; they are used also as a topical application for gatherings. Fresh-gathered and beaten up with axle-grease and bean-meal, they are good for hernia; and an infusion of them is taken in drink for the same complaint. In combination with meal, they are applied topically to imposthumes of the parotid glands, and to scrofulous sores. From these excrescences, pounded along with the seed, a juice is extracted, which, mixed with oil, disperses films of the eyes. Taken in doses of one victoriatus,[49] in wine, and applied at the same time in a pulpy, dried fig, the seeds of which have been removed, this juice cures maladies of the testes and disperses tumours: mixed with leaven, it heals scrofulous sores.
The root of the cypress, bruised with the leaves and taken in drink, is curative of diseases of the bladder, strangury, and the sting of the phalangium.[50] The shavings of the wood, taken in drink, act as an emmenagogue, and neutralize the venom of the scorpion.
CHAP. 11.—THE CEDAR: THIRTEEN REMEDIES.
The larger cedar, known as the “cedrelates,”[51] produces a pitch called “cedria,” which is very useful for tooth-ache, it having the effect of breaking[52] the teeth and extracting them, and so allaying the pain. We have already[53] stated how the juices of cedar are extracted, so remarkably useful for seasoning books,[54] were it not for the head-ache they produce. This extract from the cedar preserves[55] the bodies of the dead uncorrupted for ages, but exercises a noxious effect upon the bodies of the living—singular that there should be such a diversity in its properties, taking away life from animated beings, and imparting a sort of life, as it were to the dead! It injures clothing also and destroys[56] animal life. It is for this reason that I cannot recommend it to be taken internally for the cure of quinzy and indigestion though there are some who advise it: I should be greatly in dread too, to rinse the teeth with it in combination with vinegar, for tooth-ache, or to use it as an injection for the ears in cases of hardness of hearing, or for worms in those organs. There is one very marvellous story told about it—if the male organs, they say, are rubbed with it just before the sexual congress, it will effectually prevent impregnation.[57]
Still, however, I should not hesitate to employ it as a friction for phthiriasis or porrigo. It is strongly recommended also, in raisin wine, as an antidote to the poison of the sea-hare,[58] but I should be more ready to use it as a liniment for elephantiasis. Some authors have prescribed it as an ointment for foul ulcers and the fleshy excrescences which grow in them, as also for spots and films on the eyes; and have recommended it to be taken, in doses of one cyathus, for ulcerations of the lungs, and for tapeworm.
There is an oil extracted from this pitch, known as “pisselæon,”[59] the properties of which are of increased activity for all the purposes before-mentioned. It is a well-known fact that the saw-dust of cedar will put serpents to flight, and that a similar effect is produced by anointing the body with the berries[60] bruised in oil.