CHAP. 48.—REMEDIES FOR THE DISEASES OF INFANTS.
Dentition in infants is promoted, and the gums greatly relieved, by rubbing them with ashes of a dolphin’s teeth, mixed with honey, or else by touching the gums with the tooth itself of that fish. One of these teeth, worn as an amulet, is a preventive of sudden frights;405 the tooth of the dog-fish406 being also possessed of a similar property. As to ulcers which make their appearance in the ears, or in any other parts of the body, they may be cured by applying the liquor of river-crabs,407 with barley-meal. These crabs, too, bruised in oil and employed as a friction, are very useful for other kinds of maladies. A sponge moistened with cold water from time to time,408 or a frog applied, the back part to the head, is a most efficacious cure for siriasis409 in infants. When the frog is removed, it will be found quite dry, they say.