, 1888-06-20
CURIOUS REMEDIES.
A COLLECTION OF PRESCRIPTIONS
MADE IN THE FIRST CENTURY.

Fever Cured by AmuIets-A Compound
for Deafness -Toothache and Hend$
aehe-sore Eyes-ReIAxed Throat-Hy
drophobIa-RocIpos for Everything.
In the first century Of the Christian era
lived in Rome Caius Plinius Secundus.
He WAS n good man and true, q scientist
so far as his light went, and with n pro-
fessioual distrust for tho prescriptions of
those whom he calls magicians, who
strove to cure by spells, amulets and
charms And he set himself to make q
collection OF prescriptions for the benefit
OF the suffering Romans of his day, being
careful only to insert those which had
been duly recommended by the faculty.
This curious and interesting book was
translated into English by DR.. Philemon
Holland. three years before the death of
Elizabeth, at which time there were great
numbers of people who implicitly believed
In the remedies there set down. We
venture, then, no apology In offering our
readers q few of Pliny's choicest prescrip-
tions, SO old that now they are new.
Fever receives the attention 1t deserves,
being cured most by amulets and remedies
to be worn round the neck; as, for in
stance, you are to take 1.-THE right eie of a
wolfe, salt It, and SO tie 1t about the
necke, or hang 1t fast to any part of the
RtADOA- AACPAAiAAbo AOO0 IA IL
but If the squeamish should turn against
the remedy, a poetic substitute is pro-
vided-"a lions heart stepped in oil of
rosesl"
Deafness was readily durable by a COM
pound OF ''goosegrease, fresh butter and
bulls gall, tempered with myrrh and rue,
or the fome that q horse doth froth, mixed
with oil of roses"
A very rational remedy is recommended
for toothache: 'If one bite off a piece of
some tree that hath been blasted with
lightning, provided always"-and here Is
the rub-'thAt he holds his hands behind
him In so doing, the said peece of wood
viii take away tho toothache."
Headache was at once cured by having
the forehead touched by "the trunk or
shuttle of an elephaunt;;" or, '1f q man
poure vinignr upon the hooks and hindges
of doors, and make n liniment with the
durt that commeth of the rust thereof,
and Herewith anoint the forehead" his
headache Is at once cured.
Sore eyes were n simple matter, and re-
quired only "to anoint them with VOLTS
grease or swlne's marrow" but actual
blindness required, of course, moro elab-
crate treatment. 1.-THE gravie or dripping
of a hy@ne's liver, newly taken out of the
body and rosted, being Incorporated with
clarified hony into an unguent, riddeth n
man from blindness" Or If the eyes
squinted. 'ff the eies be dipped three
times in that water wherein a man or
woman hath washed their feet, they shall
be troubled neither with b-learednease nor
any other infirmity."
The remedy for ''relaxed throat" was
simple enough, but the doctor needed to
be of hercu1ean strength. "If the uvula
be falne, 1t will be up again If the patient
suffer another to bite the hare In the
crowne of his head, and so to pull him
plamb from the ground"
Should m accident occur In eating,
Pliny is equal to the emergency: .If a
peece of bread a gone wrong, or lie In
the way readie to stop the breth, take the
crums Of tho same loafe and put them
into both the cares, you shall see 1t shall
soone be gone, and doe no further harm"
There are periodical epidemics of hydro
phobia, or rather fear of that horrible
mnlady, and 1t is MS well to know how to
treat the bite of n dog, whether mad or
sane. This Is what Pliny recommends:
make a decoction Of q badger, a cuckoo
and a swallow, and drink 1t off" Cramp
was to be cured by "a cataplasme of O
live wolf, sodden in ollie till the said ole
be gelied to the height or n consistence of
a cerot." Pliny seems to take 1t for
granted that the live wolf" would raise
nc objections to be thus utilized. The
nervous and shy will be filed with cour-
age If they take the pith or marrow out
OF the hy@ne's backbone, along and incor-
porate with ollie and honyi it is passing
good fon Vhe nerves"
Bees are supposed to die after singing;
and Pliny tells similarly of serpents, that
"serpents can hurt but once, neither kill
they many together, to say nothing how,
when they have stung or bitten q man.
they die for very griefe and sorrow that
they ave done such a mischiefe, as II
they had some prick or remorse of con
science afterwards"
p Pliny has receipts for everybody and
everything; oven the ladies are not for
gotten. For the complexion, ''Thepas
terne bones of a young white buldn, OF
steere, sodden for the space of forty daios
and nights together, until such time as
they be dissolved into the liquor; If the
face be wet with q fine linnen clothdipped
In the said decoction, 1t causeth the skin
to look clean and white, and w~ithout,any
rivels or wrinkles; but the said Imminent
must be kept all night to thef ace,in the
manner of a maske." For the hair:
"Ants' eggs stamped and inc~orporat~with
flies, likewise pounded together, willygtve
q lovely black colour to the hair of the
elebrows." To curl the hair; "a cameRs
taile dried and reduced into ashes,and In.
corporal with ollie doth curle and frizzls
the hair of the head"
1t seems Incredible to us that remedies
such as these could gravely be recon-
mended and believed In, and yet such was
the case. 1t must have required q mar,
velous amount of faith to get some OF
these gruesome prescriptions down, and
faith, as we know, works wonders in Fth,
the healing art.-An the Year Round.
ENGLISH and American JouruaIa.