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

Chapter 150: CHAP. 35.—FIFTEEN VARIETIES OF ANTISPODOS.

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About This Book

An encyclopedic survey that first catalogs marine animals, algae, and shellfish, describing habitats, curious behaviors, reported antipathies, and numerous folk remedies and practical uses attributed to specific species, organized by ailments and applications. The later portion treats metals and their ores—including gold, silver, mercury, copper, and brass—describing modes of occurrence, extraction, alloying, testing, gilding, and decorative and monetary uses, alongside technical observations and medicinal remedies derived from metallic substances, with systematic lists and practical instructions interwoven throughout.

CHAP. 35.—FIFTEEN VARIETIES OF ANTISPODOS.

The substance called “antispodos”1649 is produced from the ashes of the fig-tree or wild fig, or of leaves of myrtle, together with the more tender shoots of the branches. The leaves, too, of the wild olive 1650 furnish it, the cultivated olive, the quince-tree, and the lentisk; unripe mulberries also, before they have changed their colour, dried in the sun; and the foliage of the box, pseudo-cypirus,1651 bramble, terebinth and œnanthe.1652 The same virtues have also been found in the ashes of bull-glue 1653 and of linen cloth. All these substances are burnt in a pot of raw earth, which is heated in a furnace, until the earthenware is thoroughly baked.