A surmullet[410] stifled in wine; the fish called “rubellio;”[411] or a couple of eels similarly treated; or a grapefish,[412] left to putrefy in wine, all of them, produce an aversion to wine in those who drink thereof.
CHAP. 50.—ANTAPHRODISIACS AND APHRODISIACS. THE HIPPOPOTAMUS: ONE REMEDY. THE CROCODILE: ONE REMEDY.
In the number of antaphrodisiacs, we have the echeneïs;[413] the skin from the left side of the forehead of the hippopotamus,[414] attached to the body in lamb-skin; and the gall of a live torpedo,[415] applied to the generative organs.
The following substances act as aphrodisiacs—the flesh of river-snails, preserved in salt and given to drink in wine; the erythinus[416] taken as food; the liver of the frog called “diopetes” or “calamites”[417] attached to the body in a small piece of crane’s skin; the eye-tooth of a crocodile, attached to the arm; the hippocampus;[418] and the sinews of a bramble-frog,[419] worn as an amulet upon the right arm. A bramble-frog, attached to the body in a piece of fresh sheep-skin, effectually puts an end to love.
CHAP. 51.—REMEDIES FOR THE DISEASES OF ANIMALS.
A decoction of frogs in water, reduced to the form of a liniment, is curative of itch-scab in horses; indeed, it is said, that a horse, when once treated in this manner, will never again be attacked with the disease. Salpe says that if a live frog is given to dogs in their mess, they will lose the power of barking.
CHAP. 52.—OTHER AQUATIC PRODUCTIONS. ADARCA OR CALAMOCHNOS: THREE REMEDIES. REEDS: EIGHT REMEDIES. THE INK OF THE SÆPIA.
Among the aquatic productions ought also to be mentioned calamochnos, in Latin known as “adarca,”[420] a substance which collects about small reeds, from a mixture of the foam of fresh and of sea water. It possesses certain caustic properties, and hence it is that it is so useful as an ingredient in “acopa”[421] and as a remedy for cold shiverings; it is used too, for removing freckles upon the face of females. And now we are speaking of adarca, the reed ought equally to be mentioned. The root of that known as the “phragmites,”[422] pounded fresh, is curative of sprains, and, applied topically with vinegar, removes pains in the spine. The calcined bark, too, of the Cyprian[423] reed, known as the “donax,” is curative of alopecy and inveterate ulcers; and its leaves are good for the extraction of foreign bodies adhering to the flesh, and for the cure of erysipelas: should, however, the flower of the panicle happen to enter the ears, deafness[424] is the consequence.
The ink of the sæpia[425] is possessed of such remarkable potency, that if it is put into a lamp, Anaxilaüs tells us, the light will become entirely changed,[426] and all present will look as black as Æthiopians. The bramble-frog, boiled in water, and given to swine with their drink, is curative of the maladies with which they are affected; an effect equally produced by the ashes of any other kind of frog. If wood is rubbed with the pulmo marinus,[427] it will have all the appearance of being on fire; so much so, indeed, that a walking-stick, thus treated, will light the way like a torch.[428]