The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 4 (of 6)

Chapter 443: CHAP. 76.—HORMINUM: SIX REMEDIES.

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The text compiles practical and encyclopedic guidance on crop cultivation and plant uses, beginning with cereals and farm management — types of grain, sowing and harvesting schedules, ploughing, seed selection, storage, and maladies — plus weather and stellar prognostics for agricultural timing. It proceeds to flax and garden plants, detailing varieties, planting and processing methods, garden layout, and pest and disease remedies. The final section assembles medicinal preparations and numerous remedies derived from vegetables and herbs, listing applications and recipes for treating ailments using garden-grown plants.

CHAP. 76.—HORMINUM: SIX REMEDIES.

Horminum resembles cummin, as already stated,2818 in its seed; but in other respects, it is like the leek.2819 It grows to some nine inches in height, and there are two varieties of it. In one of these the seed is oblong, and darker than that of the other, and the plant itself is in request as an aphrodisiac, and for the cure of argema and albugo in the eyes: of the other kind the seed is whiter, and of a rounder form. Both kinds, pounded and applied with water, are used for the extraction of thorns from the body. The leaves, steeped in vinegar, disperse tumours, either used by themselves, or in combination with honey; they are employed, also, to disperse boils, before they have come to a head, and other collections of acrid humours.