CHAP. 22.—BULBED LEEK: THIRTY-NINE REMEDIES.
Bulbed leek1411 produces the same effects as cut-leek,1412 but in a more powerful degree. To persons troubled with spitting of blood, the juice of it is given, with powdered nut-galls1413 or frankincense, or else gum acacia.1414 Hippocrates,1415 however, prescribes it without being mixed with anything else, and expressed himself of opinion that it has the property of opening the uterus when contracted, and that taken as an aliment by females, it is a great promoter of fecundity. Beaten up and mixed with honey, it cleanses ulcerous sores. It is good for the cure of coughs, catarrhs, and all affections of the lungs and of the trachea, whether given in the form of a ptisan, or eaten raw, the head excepted: it must be taken, however, without bread, and upon alternate days, and this even if there should be purulent expectorations.
Taken in this form, it greatly improves the voice, and acts as an aphrodisiac, and as a promoter of sleep. The heads, boiled in a couple of waters, arrest looseness of the bowels, and fluxes of long standing; and a decoction of the outer coat acts as a dye upon grey hair.1416