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

Chapter 492: CHAP. 42.—OIL OF ALMONDS: SIXTEEN 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. 42.—OIL OF ALMONDS: SIXTEEN REMEDIES.

Oil of almonds is of a purgative and emollient nature; it effaces wrinkles on the skin, improves the complexion, and, in combination with honey, removes spots on the face. A decoction of it with oil of roses, honey, and pomegranate rind, is good for the ears, and exterminates the small worms that breed there; it has the effect also, of dispelling hardness of hearing, recurrent tinglings and singing in the ears, and is curative of head-ache and pains in the eyes. Used with wax, it cures boils, and scorches by exposure to the sun;3014 in combination with wine it heals running ulcers and scaly eruptions, and with melilote, condylomatous swellings. Applied by itself to the head, it invites sleep.3015