Many authors are of opinion that the wild cucumber is identical with the plant known among us as the “anguine,” and by some persons as the “erratic”1311 cucumber. Objects sprinkled with a decoction of this plant will never be touched by mice. The same authors1312 say, too, that a decoction of it in vinegar, externally applied, gives instantaneous relief in cases of gout and diseases of the joints. As a remedy, too, for lumbago, the seed of it is dried in the sun and pounded, being given in doses of twenty denarii to half a sextarius of water. Mixed with woman’s milk and applied as a liniment, it is a cure for tumours which have suddenly formed.

Elaterium promotes the menstrual discharge; but if taken by females when pregnant, it is productive of abortion. It is good, also, for asthma, and, injected into the nostrils, for the jaundice.1313 Rubbed upon the face in the sun, it removes freckles1314 and spots upon the skin.