Chapter 670

426Fée suggests that this may possibly be the Spiræa ulmaria of Linnæus.

427The “impious” or “unnatural” plant. Fée identifies it with the Filago Gallica of Linnæus, the corn cudweed. It is destitute of medicinal properties, and what Pliny states is without foundation.

428Generally identified with the Scandix pecten Veneris, corn cicely, or shepherd’s needle. See B. xxii. c. 38.

429Fée queries whether this may not possibly be the Rhus coriaria of Linnæus, elm-leaved sumach, mentioned in B. xiii. c. 13. He would appear, however, to have confounded it with the Notia, next mentioned.

430“Man-loving,” or rather “attached to man.” Identified with the Galium aparine of Linnæus, goose-grass, or common ladies bedstraw; the seeds of which attach themselves to the dress.

431See B. xxi. c. 64.

432The dog-bur. The Lappa tomentosa of Lamarck. See B. xxvi. c. 65.

433See c. 95 of this Book.

434Or hartwort; see B. xx. cc. 18, 87.

435The Tordylium officinale of Linnæus, officinal hart-wort.

436“Grass.” The Triticum repens, or Paspalum dactylon of Linnæus, our couch-grass.

437This is probably quite a different production, being the Parnassia palustris, according to Dodonæus; but Fée is inclined to think that it is the Campanula rapunculus of Linnæus, bell-flower or rampions.

438Fée thinks that this applies to the plant of Parnassus, and not to the common Gramen.

439This property, Fée says, is still attributed to couch-grass.

440“Draconum.” A peculiar kind of serpent. See Lucan’s Pharsalia, B. ix. ll. 727-8.

441No such variety is known.

442Fée is somewhat at a loss as to its identity, but thinks that it may be the Panicum sanguinale of Linnæus, or possibly the Cynodon dactylon.

443See B. xix. c. 58, and B. xxv. c.102. Possibly a Sedum or houseleek, Fée thinks; certainly not a grass.

444Fée queries whether this may not be the Poa rigida of Linnæus, hard meadow-grass.

445An Euphorbia, Fée thinks.

446“Bull’s horn” or “goat’s horn.”

447In B. xviii. c. 39.

448The seed contains a mucilage, and is considered emollient and resolvent. Till recently, Fenugreek was the base, Fée says, of a plaster held in high esteem.

449“Sapa.” Grape-juice boiled down to one-third.

450“Sapa.”

451Fée remarks, that in reality there is no bitterness in fenugreek. He suggests therefore, that the meaning may be “offensive smell,” that emitted by fenugreek being far from agreeable.

452See end of B. xx.

453See end of B. xiv.

454See end of B. xii.

455See end of B. xx.

456See end of B. xx.

457See end of B. vii.

458See end of B. iii.

459See end of B. xi.

460See end of B. ii.

461See end of B. xx.

462See end of B. ii.

463See end of B. viii.

464See end of B. xix.

465See end of B. viii.

466See end of B. vii.

467See end of B. xxi.

468See end of B. xxi.

469See end of B. xxi.

470See end of B. xxi.

471See end of B. iv.

472See end of B. xxi.

473See end of B. xxi.

474See end of B. xxi.

475See end of B. vii.

476See end of B. xx.

477See end of B. xx.

478See end of B. xx.

479See end of B. xii.

480See end of B.xxv.

481See end of B. xxii.

482See end of B. xx.

483See end of B. xx.

484See end of B. xx.

485See end of B. xx.

486See end of B. xx.

487See end of B. xx.

488See end of B. xx.

489See end of B. xx.

490See end of B. vii.

491See end of B. xx.

492See end of B. xx.

493See end of B. xii.

494See end of B. xi.

495See end of B. xii.

496See end of B. xx.

497See end of B. xii.

498See end of B. xx.

499See end of B. xx.

500See end of B. xx.

501See end of B. xx.

502See end of B. xx.

503See end of B. xx.

504See end of B. xii.

505See end of B. xx.

506See end of B. xx.

507See end of B. xix.

508See end of B. xx.

509See end of B. xx.

510As Fée remarks, it is more as a writer upon Agriculture than upon Materia Medica, that Cato is entitled to the thanks of posterity.

511See end of B. xx.

512His piety, apparently, was tainted with adulation.

513With the exception of Cato, of course.

514See end of B. xiv.

515See c. 79 of this Book: also B. xxiii. c. 77, and B. xxix. c.8.

516A mere prejudice, arising from the fact that numerous poisonous plants grew in the countries on the shores of the Euxine. The blood of no animal whatever is an antidote to any poison.

517See B. vii. c. 37. An interesting account of his system will be found in B. xxvi. c.7. See also B. xxix. c.5.

518See B. xxiii. c. 77.

519The four great changes in plants, though not always at the four seasons of the year, are the budding and foliation, the blossoming, the fructification, and the fall of the leaf.

520See end of B. xx.

521There is little doubt that he alludes to the passage of Æschylus, quoted by Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. ix. c. 15.Τυῤῥήνων γενεὰν φαρμακοποιὸν ἔθνος—“The race of the Tyrrheni, a drug-preparing nation.”

522See B. ii. c. 87, B. iii. c. 9, B. xv. c. 36, and B. xxxii. c. 21.

523See B. vii. c. 2.

524See B. ii. c. 87.

525Od. iv. 228,et seq.

526See B. xxi. c. 91.

527See B. xxi. cc. 21, 84.

528Or serpent.

529In B. x. c. 20.

530Most probably by the agency of “feverish expectation” on the part of the patient.

531In B. xviii. c. 45.

532As Fée remarks, this dreadful malady is still incurable, notwithstanding the eulogiums which have been lavished upon the virtues of the Scutellaria laterifolia of Linnæus, the Alisma plantago, Genista tinctoria, and other plants, as specifics for its cure.

533Dog-rose, or eglantine. See B. viii. c. 63.

534An unwarranted assertion, no doubt.

535He alludes to a substance known to us as “bedegnar,” a kind of gall-nut, produced by the insect called Cynips rosæ.

536Or “little dragon.” The Arum dracunculus of Linnæus. See B. xxiv. cc. 91, 93.

537In c. 93.

538As Fée remarks, the influence of water impregnated with selenite upon the health is well known.

539Fée says that this disease was an “intense gastritis, productive of a fetid breath.” It would seem, however, to be neither more nor less than the malady now known as “scurvy of the gums.” Galen describes the “sceloturbe,” as a kind of paralysis. “Stomacace” means “disease of the mouth;” “sceloturbe” “disease of the legs.”

540Sprengel and Desfontaines identify it with the Rumex aquaticus, but Fée considers it to be the Inula Britannica of Linnæus. The Statice armeria, Statice plantaginea, and Polygonum persicaria have also been suggested.

541The pseudo-Apuleius, in B. xxix. t. 7, says, that if gathered before thunder has been heard, it will be a preservative against quinzy for a whole year.

542The flower of the Inula Britannica, Fée says, is much more likely, from its peculiarities, to have merited a peculiar name, than that of the Rumex.

543Lipsius, in his Commentaries upon Tacitus, Ann. i. 63, has very satisfactorily shown that it did not derive its name from the islands of Britain, but from a local appellation, the name given by the natives to the marshy tracts upon the banks of the Ems, between Lingen and Covoerden, which are still known as the “Bretaasche Heyde.” Munting and Poinsinet de Sivry suggest that it may have received its name from being used as a strengthener of the teeth in their sockets, being compounded of the wordstann, “tooth,” andbrita, “to break.”

544And therefore comparatively unknown.

545In c. 33,et seq., of this Book.

546In the next Book.

547See the case of M. Agrippa, mentioned in B. xxiii. c. 27.

548Said, by Plutarch, to have been administered to him by his freedman Callisthenes, with the view of securing his affection

549Od. x. l. 302,et seq.

550Fée devotes a couple of pages to thevexata quæstioof the identification of this plant, and comes to the conclusion that the Moly of Homer, mentioned on the present occasion, and of Theophrastus, Ovid, and the poets in general is only an imaginary plant; that the white-flowered Moly of Dioscorides and Galen is identical with the Allium Dioscoridis of Sibthorp; and that the yellow-flowered Moly of the author of the Priapeia is not improbably the Allium Moly or magicum of Linnæus. Sprengel derives the name “Moly” from the Arabic, and identifies it with the Allium nigrum of Linnæus.

551Homer says that thereisdifficulty to men, but not to the gods.

552In their pictures, mentioned in c. 4.

553Ovid, Galen, and Theophrastus, say the same.

554There must either be some error in the reading here, or the physician must have attempted to impose upon our author’s credulity.

555Or “the twelve gods.”

556Generally identified with the Primula vulgaris or officinalis of Linnæus. Its leaves, however, are of varying number, and not like those of the lettuce. The Dodecatheos Meadia, or Virginian cowslip, it must be remembered, is an American plant.

557The Pæonia officinalis of Linnæus, our Peony.

558Pæon, the physician, mentioned in the Iliad, B. v. l. 401. as healing Pluto, when wounded by Hercules.

559From itsfiveseeds, which resemblefitches.

560“Sweet to the view,” apparently.

561See B. xxiii. c. 76.

562He means nightmare.

563See B. x. cc. 18, 20, and B. xxvii. c.60.

564The Greek for “all-healing.”

565Probably the Laserpitium hirsutum of Lamarck. The Echinophora tenuifolia of Linnæus, the thin-leaved prickly parsnip, has also been named.

566Or “All-heal.”

567In B. xii. c. 57

568In B. xii. c. 57.

569Identified with the Laserpitium Chironium of Linnæus, otherwise called Pastinaca opopanax. Fée observes, that when the word ‘Panaces’ is used alone, this plant is always the one meant.

570In B. xx. cc. 62, 69.

571The Centaur Chiron; see B. vii. c. 57. Sprengel identifies this plant with the Hypericum origanifolium of Willdenow, but Fée is inclined to think that its synonym is still unknown. M. Fraäs, in his Synopsis, p. 139, identifies it with the Hypericum Olympicum, an odoriferous plant, which the H. organifolium is not.

572The Centaurea centaurium of Linnæus, the greater centaury.

573“Seritur.”

574Hardouin identifies it with the Geranium Robertianum of Linnæus; Sprengel and Desfontaines with the Phellandrium mutellina of Linnæus; Columna with the Sanicula; Sibthorp with the Scrofularia lucida; and M. Fraäs with the Scrofula chrysanthemifolia of Linnæus. Fée expresses himself unable to speak with any certainty on the subject.

575Whence its name “sidereon.”

576Or “Chironian vine.”

577In B. xxiii. c. 17.

578In B. xxii. c. 20.

579“Swine’s bean”—our henbane.

580The Hyoscyamus reticulatus of Linnæus, reticulated henbane.

581The Hyoscyamus niger of Linnæus, black henbane.

582See B. xviii. c. 22, and B. xxii. c. 75. The Hyoscyamus aureus of Linnaæus, golden henbane.

583The Hyoscyamus albus of Linnæus, white henbane.

584The third kind mentioned above.

585In B. xv. c. 7, and B. xxiii. c. 49. This cannot have been a fixed oil.

586The Mercuralis annua of Linnæus, male and female; the herb mercury.

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