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

The scales of iron,1696 which are procured from a fine point or a sharp edge, are also made use of, being very similar in effect to rust, but more active; for which reason they are employed for defluxions of the eyes. They arrest bleeding, also, more particularly from wounds inflicted with iron; and they act as a check upon female discharges. They are applied, too, for diseases of the spleen, and they arrest hæmorrhoidal swellings and serpiginous ulcers. They are useful also for affections of the eyelids, gradually applied in the form of a fine powder. But their chief recommendation is, their great utility in the form of a hygremplastrum1697 or wet plaster, for cleansing wounds and fistulous sores, consuming all kinds of callosities, and making new flesh on bones that are denuded. The following are the ingredients: of pitch, six oboli, of Cimolian chalk,1698 six drachmæ, two drachmæ of pounded copper, the same quantity of scales of iron, six drachmæ of wax, and one sextarius of oil. To these is added some cerate, when it is wanted to cleanse or fill up wounds.