Now there can be no doubt that the former of these is the piper betel, and the latter the areca catechu. The nuts of the latter, which modern authorities describe as resembling the nutmeg, are cut into slices, and along with the leaves of the betel constitute the famous masticatory of the East called betel. For an account of these two substances, consult in particular Ainslie (Mat. Ind. i, 268, 465); Royle (Antiq. of Hindoo Med. 85); Pereira (M. M. 616); Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 137); Meyen (Geograph. of Botany, as edited by the Ray Society.)
Avicenna under this head refers to the carpesium of Galen, but it evidently was a different substance. Some, he says, had called it refrigerant with some heat, but he holds it to be truly hot and dry in the second degree. He calls it aperient and attenuant, and recommends it in putrid ulcers of the members and gums, as a medicine which clears the voice when held in the mouth, and as a deobstruent of the liver in engorgement thereof; as a cleanser of the urinary passages, as a diuretic medicine which promotes the discharge of gravel and stones of the kidneys, and of the bladder, and he adds, “Sputum masticantis eam delectat eam cum qua habetur coitus.” (ii, 2, 134.) Rhases also, through some mistake, quotes Galen under this head, and gives exactly the same account of its medicinal powers as Avicenna. (Contin. l. ult. i, 242.) Serapion under this head gives Dioscorides’s description of the wild myrtle with further references to Galen and Paulus, but concludes by saying that he was sensible Dioscorides had not treated of cubebs. (De Simpl. 288.) Ebn Baithar mentions that certain of the authorities had taken it for the carpesium. He says it renders the breath fragrant and cures affections of the bladder. He further quotes Ebn Sina (Avicenna?) as stating that it enhances the delight of coitus. (i, 344.) By the way, Dr. Pereira mentions that the Indians still take them to excite the sexual feelings. We would beg to refer for further information on this subject to his excellent account of the Piper Cubeba. (754.) See also Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 204), and Royle (M. M. 562.)
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 713); Serapion (De Simpl. 257); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. i, 753.) This term is used rather vaguely by the Arabian authors, but there can be no doubt that it comprehended the salsola fruticosa. They call it abstergent, cleansing, and aperient, and recommend it as an emmenagogue, and in difficulty of urine and dropsy. Rhases says it is of a hot and dry nature, and is purgative, deobstruent, and corrosive. (Ad Mansor. iii, 22.) The confectio de usnen of Serapion containing fourteen other ingredients mostly of an aromatic nature, is recommended by him for debility of the stomach. (De Antidot. 71.)
See Serapion (De Simpl. c. c.); Avicenna (ii, 2, 260); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 312.) Serapion’s authorities compare it to the vetch, and say of it that it is hot and dry in the second degree, and is stomachic. Isaac ebn Amran describes it as having a small, black, round grain within, and a red one without, as forming a good gargle in fætor of the mouth, and entering as an ingredient into powders and ointments. Avicenna’s description of it is to the same effect; he says, however, that it is hot and dry in the third degree. He recommends it as an astringent, stomachic, and hepatic medicine. Rhases’s account of it is very short, but not far different from the others. Dr. Lindley describing the Xanthoxylon hastile, says of it, “that its capsules and seeds are employed in Northern India for intoxicating fish; they are also given as the faghuret of Avicenna. The X. piperitum and Avicennæ are used in China and Japan as antidotes against all poisons; they would undoubtedly in many cases be of considerable use as a stimulant remedy.” (Veg. Kingd. 473.) See further Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 270), and Royle (M. M. 326.)
Avicenna gives such a description of it as fully justifies Sprengel in deciding it to be the Cyclamen Persicum. He recommends it in diseases of the joints, as a sternutatory, and for the cure of hiccup, and says of it that it is alexipharmic and produces abortion. (ii, 2, 61.) It is in use with the Hindoo physicians. See Wise (System of Hindoo Med.)
From Serapion’s account of it there seems no doubt that it is the Memecylon tinctorium. He gives a very minute description of three species which grow in Arabia and India, and mentions that some held the root of one of the species to be the curcuma. They are all remarkable for containing colouring matter. He recommends them for the cure of leprosy, pruritus, and pustula. (De Simpl. 170.) Rhases briefly describes it by the name of vars. He says two kinds, the yellow and the red, are brought from Yemen, and that they are collected upon trees like pounded saffron. (Contin. l. ult. iii, 110.) Avicenna describes it by the name of gures. (ii, 2, 291.) His description is very similar to that given by Rhases, and he recommends it in the very same cases as Serapion. Ebn Baithar gives a very full and interesting description of it both as a dye and as a medicine, but we need not enter into an exposition of his views, since they scarcely differ at all from the account of it given above from Serapion. We may just mention that he says clothes dyed with it are aphrodisiac. See Vol. I, 585. The memecyls constitute a genus of plants still well known in India as dyes and articles of food and medicine. See the works of Royle and Lindley.
See Serapion (De Simpl. 44); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. i, 442); Avicenna (ii, 2, 471.) It appears to be undoubtedly the Prunus Mahaleb, that is to say, the Cerasus Mahaleb of Miller, Angl., “rock,” or “perfumed” cherry. Serapion applies to it what Dioscorides and Galen had written on the phillyrea; after which he gives the opinions of several Arabian authorities who recommend it as a medicine to expel the superfluities of the system and intestinal worms, and as being useful in gout, and as a lithontriptic. One of them, Isaac ebn Amram, describes the varieties of it very circumstantially. Avicenna and Rhases give a similar account of it.
See Serapion (De Simpl. 176); Rhases (Contin. xxii, 838; l. ult. i, 369); Avicenna (ii, 2, 611); and Ebn Baithar (591.)
Serapion describes them under the same head, the one as having a white flower, and the other a yellow, of which the latter is the weaker in its powers. It is got, he says, from Babylonia, where there is another species which has a sky-blue colour. His authorities recommend it principally in phlegmatic complaints, and more particularly in those of old persons, and as an application in impetigo and other cutaneous diseases of a like nature. He says it induces headache when administered to persons of a hot temperament. Avicenna gives a very similar account of these two plants, and neither Rhases nor Ebn Baithar supplies any additional information regarding them; the latter, however, gives a very interesting account of them. He says of the yellow species that it was used for dyeing the hair. Like the others, he speaks favorably of it, and especially of its oil in complaints of a cold nature. The latter species, in all probability, was the jasminum sambac, still well known in the East as a perfume. See Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 651); Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 59); and Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 242.) Whether the other be the humile or officinale, we are unable to determine.
See Serapion (De Simpl. 89) and Avicenna (ii, 2, 663.) From the description which they give of it, there can be no doubt, we think, that it is the pastinaca secacul, Russel; that is to say, the Tordilium orientale, secacul dictum of Miller. (Gard. Dictionary.) They agree in saying that it is decidedly aphrodisiac, more especially when preserved with honey. Avicenna concludes his notice of it with stating that buzeiden is used instead of it. In another part of his work he gives very sensible directions for preparing secacul conditum, that is to say, “preserved secacul.” (v, 1, 8.) Although, as we have stated above, we think there is little or no doubt that the secacul was a species of tordylium, it is proper to acknowledge that the learned commentators on Mesue are much divided in opinion respecting it. (De Electariis, i, 95.)
See Serapion (De Simpl. 260); Avicenna (ii, 2, 95); and Ebn Baithar (ii, 183.) Avicenna describes it as being an Indian medicine possessing virtues resembling those of beer. He says it is hot in the second degree, and dry in the first; is attenuant, proves serviceable in pains of the joints and in gout; is aphrodisiacal and alexipharmic. (ii, 295.) Serapion calls it a species of satyrion (orchis?). He calls it an Indian medicine, little used in his country. He says it resembles hermodactyls in the cure of arthritic diseases or of gout, and that it engenders semen, but hurts the testicles. Its bad effects are best corrected by mustard; its dose two drachms. Ebn Baithar, in this instance, supplies no additional information. After what we have stated of it, we need have no hesitation in agreeing with Sprengel that it is the orchis morio, or at all events some species of that genus. As Serapion does not quote any Greek authorities under this head, it may be inferred that he held it to be distinct from the orchis of Dioscorides and his followers. Several species of this genus are still used in India as medicines. The famous salep is procured principally from the O. mascula. See Royle, Lindley, and Pereira.
The liquid Storax is described distinctly by Avicenna, who states that one species of it exudes from the tree and the other is got by boiling; that the former is of a lighter colour and is highly valuable, whereas the other is darker and is less esteemed. Some, he says, held it to be beneficial in cerebral diseases, but this opinion he rejects, as it induces vertigo. See under Storax. He quotes only from Arabian authorities. (ii, 2, 423, 615.) Both kinds of storax are treated of largely by Serapion. (De Simpl. 46), and are noticed by Rhases. (Contin. l. ult. i, 687.)
It is still disputed what tree it is which produces the Liquid Storax. According to Sprengel and most modern authorities, until of late, it was held to be the Altingia excelsa. Dr. Pereira, however, shows that this is a doubtful point, and mentions that Dr. Lindley holds that the liquid storax of the shops is produced by the liquid ambar orientale. But in his recent publication on the ‘Vegetable Kingdom,’ Dr. Lindley says, “Liquid storax is thought to be yielded by the Dammar pine.” (p. 229.) Landerer has recently shown that it is obtained from Storax officinale. (Pereira, Mat. Med. 1325, 2d ed.)
It is described by Serapion as being a plant which grows in Arabia, from which the aromatic oil of Kadi is formed. He gives a curious description of it, but does not mention any medicinal purposes to which it was applied. (De Simpl. 40.) It would appear that it is also described by Ebn Baithar (i, 337.) He describes it as being a species of palm, which it resembles in all respects, and says that a fragrant oil is prepared from it. Its country is Arabia. He quotes on it Rhases, in his ‘Continens’ and ‘Treatise on Smallpox,’ but we have been unable to discover the passages which he refers to. His authorities describe, in glowing colours, the virtues of this substance, and more especially of its wine, in smallpox. What species of palm it was we are unable to say decidedly.
Serapion gives a full account of it upon the authority of Abugerit and Abir, who agree in recommending it in arthritic diseases. They give minute directions for using it in electuaries, pills, and decoctions. Its dose with sugar is one drachm. They mention that, when put into rivers, it intoxicates fish. (De Simpl. 365.) Avicenna describes the Mehezeheregi, as being a tree like esula (spurge?); and says it is hot and dry in the third degree, and intoxicates fish when thrown into a river. He adds, that it is carminative and phlegmagogue, and is useful in gout, sciatica, and arthritis. (ii, 2, 480.)
We need have no hesitation in agreeing with the best authorities, that it is cocculus indicus, or the seed of Menispermum cocculus L., i. q., Anamirta cocculus of Lindley. (See Veg. Kingd. 309.) He says of it, that it contains a most venomous principle, the picrotoxine, and that in its pericarp is found the not less formidable alcaloid menispermine. See also Gray (Pharmacop. 119), and Ainslie (Mat. Ind. ii, 132.) Both these authors mention of it, that it is used to intoxicate fish. See, further, an excellent account of the cocculus indicus in Pereira (M. M. 1326.) It was used by the Hindoo physicians for the cure of nervous diseases. See Wise (System of Hindoo Med. 557.) Dr. Royle is somewhat doubtful whether the cocculus was known to the Arabian physicians, but upon the whole inclines to this opinion. (Mat. Med. 249.)
We have briefly treated of the Nux Vomica as a poison in another place (Vol. II, 241.) We have now to say of it, that it was also used medicinally as an emetic. For example, Haly Abbas treats of it in his chapter on Medicines which procure Vomiting. (Pract. ii, 65; see also Pract. x, 12.) Serapion, in like manner, treats of it in his chapter on Emetic Medicines. (vii, 36.) Thus he gives the following formula for an emetic: “℞. Concarned (cardamomi?), nucis vomicæ, seminis raphani, omnium ān ʒ j. Terantur et dentur in potu cum aqua mellis et decoctione anethi.” Serapion treats of it also in his work ‘On Simples,’ where he states, that “easy vomiting” may be induced by administering it agreeably to the formula which we have just quoted from his other work. He adds, that perhaps it will also loosen the bowels. Abram, another of his authorities, likewise says, that given to the amount of two drachms, with two drachms of dill or of fennel seed, and drunk with warm water, it will produce vomiting and loosen the bowels. (De. Simpl. 163.) Ebn Baithar’s authorities give an interesting account of the Nux Vomica, from which it is clear that it was frequently used as an emetic, along with fennel, natron, mustard, &c. in hydromel.
Dr. Pereira, upon the authority of Dale (Pharmacol.), decides that the Strychnos Ignatia was the nux vomica of Serapion. But, notwithstanding our great respect for his opinions, we cannot agree with him in the present instance. For, considering how common the nux vomica is in Persia (Ainslie, Mat. Ind.), there is a strong presumption that the Arabians cannot have been unacquainted with it, and it is not pretended that the nux vomica is treated of by them by any other name unless it were the methel, which we will presently show it not to be, nor is it attempted to be shown when and how the misapplication of the term originated. See, however, in support of Dr. Pereira’s views, Parkinson (Theatre of Plants, 1601.) It is also proper to mention, that the learned Geoffroy calls the Faba sancti Ignatii the nux vomica legitima. But as it is admitted by the best authorities on toxicology, that St. Ignatius bean is much more energetic in its action than nux vomica (see Christison, 644, and Orfila, ii, 276), there is still less probability of its having been used medicinally than the other. See further in support of the views we are advocating, Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 250.) We may mention also in conclusion, that the nux vomica was used as an emetic by the Hindoo physicians, more especially in the case of poisoning. See Wise (Hindoo Med. 402.)
We have briefly alluded to this substance (Datura Methel) as a poison elsewhere. (Vol. II, 241.) Serapion, quoting from Arabian authorities, compares its nut to the nux vomica, and its seed to that of mandragora: its bark, he adds, is rough, its taste pleasant and unctuous, and its virtues cold in the fourth degree; if given in a small dose (kirat or siliqua?) it intoxicates strongly, and if two drachms are given it proves fatal at once. Rhases, as quoted by him, says it is a narcotic, a sedative, and perhaps emetic medicine, and that it proves fatal in large doses, and in small intoxicates. He directs its pernicious effects to be counteracted by taking warm butter, and thus producing vomiting, and otherwise treating the case in the same manner as in poisoning by mandragora. (De Simpl. 375.) Rhases, in his work entitled ‘Ad Mansor.,’ says of the nut methel, that it is a dangerous medicine, which induces stupor, nausea, vomiting, and inebriety. (iii, 30.) His account of it in his ‘Continens’ is very brief. Avicenna describes it in his ‘Mat. Med.’ as being a nut similar to the nux vomica, and having seed like the citron (?). Like the others, he says it inebriates, induces stupor, and is inimical to the brain and heart. In the dose of a drachm he says it proves fatal. (ii, 2, 501.) Ebn Baithar’s authorities give a full account of it, but differing little from the others already given. One of them says, that a drachm will kill on the spot, and in small doses it induces stupor, vomiting, and loss of sense. They direct these bad effects to be counteracted by the administration of an emetic of natron (soda), by giving wine and pepper, and keeping up the heat of the body. The Hindoo physicians held that it is alexiterial. See Susruta and Wise (Hindoo Med.)
An excellent modern authority says of the Datura Metel, that “its seeds are narcotic, more powerful than the Datura Stramomium, and produce temporary idiotcy.” Gray (Suppl. to Pharm. 52.) Dr. Lindley, after describing the Datura Stramonium as a violent narcotic, says of the Metel, that it has a similar action. (Veg. Kingd. 619.) Comparing, then, the effects of the Nux Methel, as described by the ancient authorities with those of the Datura Methel, as given by those recent authorities, we cannot hesitate in recognising their identity.
One of Serapion’s authorities states that an Arab had told him that it is a great tree, like the nut-tree, having leaves like a great fig, and fruit like small pomegranates, and speaks very indistinctly about its being Pharoah’s nut; but it is difficult, from his language, to make out what he says on that point. He says it is sweet, has a pleasant smell, and is eaten by shepherds and others. He mentions that some had confounded it with the nux vomica; but he concludes by saying that whoever will compare the descriptions of the rachaba and nux vomica must see the difference. (De Simpl. 164.) From this description it is quite clear that this cannot be the nux vomica, but rather one of the eatable figs, probably the ficus benjamina.
See Serapion (De Simpl. 79) and Avicenna (ii, 2, 496.) According to the latter it is a grainy mass, like the vetch, white, inclining to yellow, which is brought from Barea and Chorasan, and of which a wine is made with honey. He quotes Paulus (by some mistake we suppose) as saying of it that it is refrigerant, extinguishes inflammation, and is slightly desiccant. It suppresses fluxes of blood, fattens, cures impetigo, and is aphrodisiac. Serapion’s authorities give a more lengthy description of it, but do not supply many more particulars. Rhases, one of them, calls it the fat of the earth, and the rock of the earth, and another calls it pigeon’s root. They all agree that it makes an excellent wine, which forms semen, fattens the body, and is aphrodisiac. They also state that it stops fluxes, and causes vomiting. Ebn Baithar’s account of it is nearly the same as Serapion’s. He says it is called honey earth in Andalusia. (i, 274.) Sprengel suggests—how correctly we leave it to our readers who are better acquainted with the productions of the East than we can pretend to be, to determine—that it is the Garcinia Mangostena, or Mangosteen, a fruit which has the reputation of being the finest in the world. The description of it, given by Serapion, as far as we can judge of it from the barbarous Latin translation, would certainly seem to agree in some striking points with that of the mangosteen. Compare it with ‘Loudon, Encycl. of Gardening,’ 1531.
See Serapion (De Simpl. c. 116); Avicenna (ii, 2, 481); Ebn Baithar (ii, 465.) It is described at some length, and in nearly the same terms by all these authors. They call it a small grain like a vetch, of a green colour, and say that some used it for fasils, and that it was wholesome but not very nutritious. They say of it that it is cold, and rather desiccant, useful in catarrhs and coughs, and as a plaster to bruised and torn parts. In our edition of Serapion it is marked as mango in a very old looking hand-writing, and it is recognised as the Phaseolus mango by Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 266), and by the German translator of Ebn Baithar.
See Serapion (De Simpl. 66) and Ebn Baithar (i, 305.) Abuhanifa, one of Serapion’s authorities, says that some medical men had informed him that cotton grows on trees like quinces. So at least we understand the passage; but as it is very curious, and also very obscure, it may be well to give the Latin translation: “Dixerunt mihi quidam medici de kelbe quod coton nascitur inter eos in arboribus quæ sunt sicut arbores antipsicorum.” Compare Pliny (H. N. xii, 10.) The next of Serapion’s authorities, Aben Mesuai, recommends the juice of it in the diarrhœa of children. Mescha says its seed is beneficial in coughs and good for the breast. Albasari says of it that it is good for clothes, and that its juice is an excellent application in cutaneous diseases of the face. Rhases also, as quoted by him, recommends it in the same cases, and further says of it that it is aphrodisiac. Ebn Baithar’s authorities also give an interesting account of it, recommending it in much the same cases as those of Serapion, namely in infantile diarrhœa, and as an application to cutaneous diseases; and he further states that it was used to burn warts, no doubt like the raw flax, often mentioned in the works of Hippocrates. The leaves are said to have been useful in uterine complaints, and in gout mixed with rose-oil. Clothes prepared from it are much praised by the author. There can be no doubt from what we have stated, that it must have been the Gossypium arboreum or herbaceum, most probably the latter. See Meyen (Geogr. Botany.) From Ainslie’s Mat. Ind. it will be seen that oil prepared from the former is still used for cleaning the skin of spots, and that the leaves are given for the cure of diarrhœa. (ii, 284.)
See Serapion (De Simpl. 84); Avicenna (ii, 2, 484); Ebn Baithar (ii, 535.) According to Serapion’s first authority, Aben Mesuai, it is hot in the middle of the first degree, and moistening in the end of it, little nutritious, and has the property of being useful in heat of the breast, lungs, and bladder, and softens the bowels; if much used, it creates a load on the stomach, and obstruction in the liver, and if taken by a person of a cold temperament in great quantity, he ought to take hydromel, oxymel, or prepared ginger with it. Another of his authorities, Sindaxar, says it promotes the growth of the fœtus in utero. A third, named Alchalebemen, says it is a good medicine for the chest and the kidneys, and is diuretic. The book on ancient medicine, as quoted by him, says of it that it is aphrodisiac, and heavy on the stomach; and Avicenna’s account of it is so similar that it would not be worth while to give an exposition of it. Ebn Baithar describes it minutely as being a species of Palm. Its medicinal characters, as stated by him, are nearly the same as those given above from Serapion. There can be no doubt that it is the Musa paradisiaca, or common plantain tree. On it the reader may find it interesting to consult Ainslie (Mat. Ind. 316), and Loudon (Encycl. of Garden. 1530.) The plantain tree is briefly noticed by Theophrastus (H. P. iv, 5), but does not occur in the works of the Greek and Latin physicians.
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 302); Serapion (De Simpl. 275); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. i, 378); Ebn Baithar (ii, 315.) Serapion’s authorities say of it that it is hot and moistening, increases the secretion of semen, especially when taken with the oil of sesame; that when taken in too large a dose, it induces cholera, and after other food occasions vertigo. The account of it given by Rhases and Avicenna is little different. The latter says of it that it is fattening, and comforts relaxed bodies. Ebn Baithar gives a very minute description of it; he says he planted it in his own country, and that it produced fruit. He ascribes the same good and bad effects to it as Serapion. When roasted, he says, it does not engender bad chyme. Its seeds are said to be aphrodisiac. We suppose there is little or no doubt that it is the Cassia tora. On the modern use of it by the Hindoos, see Ainslie (Mat. Ind. ii, 405.)
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 425); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. i, 389.) Rhases quotes Galen as saying of it that it has powers like horehound. We are at a loss to say what substance he alludes to among the Simples of Galen. Another authority quoted by him seems to say that a portion of it flung into a lake containing fish, will make them swim on the surface, and Avicenna confirms this statement. Avicenna further says it is emetic and hydragogue. We would refer it with Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 249) to the Mussaenda frondosa.
Avicenna compares its seed to turbith, and its operation to hellebore. He says when given to the amount of half a drachm it operates as an emetic, and that one drachm may prove fatal. He mentions the case of a paralytic person who took it, and having vomited was thereby cured. He adds of it that it also acts as a purgative (ii, 2, 282.) It is evidently the gilbeuce of Rhases, who in like manner describes it as a powerful emetic, the operation of which resembles hellebore, and is useful to paralytics. More than a drachm of it, he says, given in a dose, may occasion death. (Ad Mansor. iii, 30.) It appears decidedly to be the Cerbera manghas L., i. e. Arbor lactaria, Rumphius. See Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 252); Ainslie (Mat. Ind. ii, 261.) Dr. Lindley says of it: “The kernels of Cerbera manghas are emetic and poisonous; the milky sap is purgative; the leaves and bark are used in Java as a substitute for senna.” (Veg. Kingd. 600.)
Avicenna gives a description of it which appears to us very unsatisfactory, but which determines Sprengel to refer it to the Tamarix orientalis. He calls it hot and dry in the second degree, and attenuant. (ii, 2, 371.)
See Avicenna (ii, 2, 506); Serapion (De Simpl. 187.) Avicenna compares it to the narcissus, and says it resembles the jasmine in virtue, but is weaker than it. He recommends it in coldness of the nerves, and as a cure in noises and pains of the ears, and in toothache. He also recommends it externally in headache, inflammations of the throat and tonsils, and for stopping vomiting and hiccup. Serapion compares it to the rose and jasmine, and recommends it in pleurisy and pains of the womb. Rhases, as quoted by him, says that in Chorasan he had seen it given to the extent of two drachms as a purgative. It seems highly probable that it is the Narcissus orientalis.
Avicenna (ii, 2, 194); Serapion (De Simpl. 149); Ebn Baithar (ii, 537.) Avicenna’s description of this article, which he also calls “Olus Judaicum,” would seem to decide that it is the Corchorus olitorius or Jews’ mallow. The other two authorities quoted above are not so precise in their description of it. It is more properly an article of food than of medicine. See Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 372), and Ainslie (Mat. Ind. ii, 387.)
Musk, the inspissated secretion of the follicle in the prepuce of the Moschus moschiferus L., would appear to be first mentioned in the works of Aëtius (xvi, 122), who gives formulæ for various fumigations (suffumigia) containing a great many aromatics, and among them musk. But as we have already had occasion to state, we entertain strong suspicions that the concluding chapters of this author may be spurious. Indeed, as this important article is not noticed by authors subsequent to Aëtius, such as Oribasius, it would appear to us that this circumstance is the strongest possible presumption, that the passage in Aëtius had been added after the Arabian period of medicine. There is one notice of it also by our author, but it also has a suspicious appearance. (p. 292, ed. Basil. See also 296.) Serapion gives a long account of it, first upon the authority of Abuhanifa, who calls the animal the musk gazelle, and says its habitat is in the countries of Tumbasci and Sini, by which he probably means Thibet and China. Of these the better kind, he says, is that procured from Thibet, as the animal in that country lives on fragrant herbs, and the inhabitants are better acquainted with the process of extracting it from its follicles. And, moreover, he says, the Sinenses (Chinese?) are apt to adulterate their musk. The animal which produces musk, he adds, does not differ in figure, colour, nor horns from other gazelles, and the best musk is procured after it is full grown. He then gives an anatomical description of its canine teeth, and of the modes of catching it by snares, gins, and by shooting it with arrows; and also the manner of extracting the musk from the animal after its death. But the best musk, he says, is procured from the animal when it is in a state of orgasm, and rubs its follicles against a rock until the musk drops out of them. The inhabitants of Thibet (homines de Thebeth) know the places where the animal feeds, and collect the musk thus procured from them. This, he remarks, is the finest musk of all, and is reserved for royal personages and held in high esteem. This authority concludes by saying that in the region of Thebeth there are many cities, but that the one, from which musk is procured, is that city which is properly called Thebeth. His next authority is Alcholabama, who calls musk hot in the second degree, and dry in the third. The following one, Aben Mesuai, says of it, that it comforts the heart and internal viscera, both when drunk and when applied externally in plasters. His next authority is Honain, who recommends musk in diseases of the eyes. The others supply little additional information on it, but in general recommend it in diseases of the brain. He says the Persian doctors applied the oil to the member as an aphrodisiac. (De Simpl. 185.) Rhases recommends musk in headache, and all cold affections of the head, and also as a stomachic. (Ad Mansor. iii, 22.) In his ‘Continens’ he quotes from several Arabian authorities, all of whom give it the characters already stated, and recommend it most especially in diseases of the brain and eyes. (l. ult. i, 483.) Avicenna gives an accurate description of it, as far as we can judge from the wretched translation of his works. He recommends it in errhines with saffron, and with a little camphor for vertigo, and other affections of the brain. He also thinks favorably of it as a cordial in affections of the heart, and in melancholy. He concludes by saying of it that it is alexipharmic, especially in cases of poisoning with napellus. (ii, 2, 452.) See also his treatise (de Med. cordial., ii.) There does not appear any distinct mention of it in the works of Mesue the younger. It occurs frequently as an ingredient in the antidotes of Myrepsus. Ebn Baithar gives a very full description of it and its medicinal virtues, but it agrees so well with the description of it by Serapion, that we need not enter much into particulars. He recommends it particularly in diseases of the eyes, and says that the oil of it is a useful application to piles, and when rubbed into the genital member, is strongly aphrodisiac. It is, moreover, said to be an excellent cordial. Of the Greek authorities Symeon Seth is the only one that gives anything like a distinct account of musk. He describes three kinds, of which the best is procured from a city east of Chorasan called Trepet (Thibet?). The next in quality is the Indian, and the worst is that which is procured from the Sines (Chinese?). All the kinds, he says, are formed in the umbilicus of an animal with one horn, resembling the gazelle. Like Serapion he states that it is got from the animal while in a state of sexual orgasm. Musk, he says, is hot and dry in the third degree, and of a volatile nature. As to its medicinal powers, it strengthens weak parts, and is beneficial in cold intemperaments of the head, but injurious in hot. It is adapted for the recovery of persons in a fainting fit, in loss of strength, and in affections of the heart. (De Alimentis.) An antidote of musk occurs in Actuarius. (Meth. Med. v, 6.)
This name is loosely applied by the Arabian authorities to several genera of the climbing plants. For example under this head Serapion describes the lebleb or cussus, the acfin, the atthin, and lebleb maju. Of these the first is unquestionably the κισσὸς or ivy, and is described in extracts from Dioscorides and Galen. Of the acfin he says that it is laxative, and quotes Dioscorides as saying that it loosens the bowels. He says the atthin is styptic, and quotes Dioscorides and Galen as recommending it in rheums of the eyes, and fluxes of the bowels. The last or lebleb he describes upon the authority of Aben Mesuai, who says it is hot in the middle of the first degree, dry in the beginning of the same, of a cutting nature with some saline properties, and purges adust bile. Afterwards he describes its medicinal powers in the same terms as Dioscorides and Galen describe the cissus, that is to say, he represents it as being rather a medicine than an article of food; says it purges bile in doses of from one third to two thirds of a pound, when clarified without boiling, by means of ten drachms of sugar or penidia. His next authority, Isaac ebn Amram, says it is deobstruent. Alkanzi says it is cold and dry, is purgative and useful in indurations. His last authority, Abix, says the lebleb is cold and moistening, cholagogue, and along with cassia fistula and oil of almonds it proves useful in clearing out the bowels, and relieves coughs. (De Simpl. 42.) Avicenna under the head of Volubilis, i. e. hedera (ii, 2, 724), and under Cussus (ib. 169), describes the κισσὸς of Dioscorides, but the former of these rather confusedly so as to create suspicions that he used the term in rather a lax manner. Mesue is the ancient author who treats most elaborately of the volubilis, applying the term to five distinct species, or rather genera, of which the first is probably the Hedera, the second the Helxine, and the third the Clematis of the Greeks; the fourth, which he calls lupulus, is acknowledged to be the Humulus lupulus, and the fifth the Convolvulus scammonium. See his learned commentator Costa (c. 24.) As all the others have been already treated of, we shall confine our attention at present to the account which he gives of the medicinal powers of the hops. He says the lupulus brings away some yellow bile, clears the blood, allays its inflammation, and that its infusion or whey is of great use for this purpose, and its syrup, he adds, cures jaundice. He says it was little used by the physicians of his time. He recommends it as a deobstruent of the liver, and of other internal viscera, as a remedy in asthma, and protracted fevers; and as a plaster to the head with rose oil or oil of chamomile, &c. (i, 24.) He treats of scammony separately in the next chapter. The character thus drawn of the lupulus does not seem at first sight to agree well with the acknowledged virtues of the Humulus Lupulus. But, as Rutty remarks, he probably alludes to the stem and not to the flowers of the plant, as being a medicine which purges yellow bile. (M. M. 296.) The Humulus Lupulus is not noticed by any Greek writer, nor by any Roman, with the exception of Pliny. (H. N. xxi, 50.)
The lebleb, noticed above, there is every reason to suppose, was the dolichos lebleb. It is also treated of by Avicenna as well as Serapion. They represent it as containing saltish juices which purge adust bile. It is a well-known article in Hindoo Medicine. See Wise (Book of Hindoo Medicine, 104.)
Serapion describes it as a round grain, spotted with black and white, which is brought from Seni (China?), having a bitter taste, hot and dry in the second degree, a laxative of the bowels, and vermifuge. (De Simpl. 153.) According to Dodonæus and Parkinson, it is the pea which the latter describes and represents under the name of pisum cordatum vesicarium. See Theatre of Plants (1378.)
This has been supposed the ribes or raspberry, but it is now well ascertained that it is a species of Rheum, namely the Rheum Ribes. See Sprengel (R. H. H. i, 257.) Serapion gives a full account of it; he represents it to be a cold, astringent plant, and recommends it in various complaints, such as cholera, smallpox, measles, and in hemorrhoids. (De Simpl. 241.) Avicenna briefly recommends it in nearly the same complaints. (ii, 2, 581.) See also Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 582.) Ebn Baithar gives a full and very interesting description of it. He says it grows in alpine localities in Syria, and in the northern countries, but not in Spain; that it has large, broad, round leaves, and tender reddish spots. He calls it bitter and astringent, and recommends it in palpitation of the heart, vomiting, and marasmus. He also praises it in hemorrhoids, and the red flux (menorrhagia) of women; and further commends it in measles, smallpox, and plague. Dr. Royle says (M. M. 521) that the Rheum Ribes is “the Riwas of Serapion, who mentions it as making a good sherbet.” Does he allude to the chapter on the Ribes quoted above?
When we stated in another place (Vol. I, 134) that no ancient author had noticed the orange, we were unacquainted with the works of Ebn Baithar, and of D’Hanvantare, the author of the Susruta. In the latter work the orange is enumerated with acid fruits, of a somewhat indigestible nature. (140 et alibi.) Ebn Baithar says of the orange that it produces an oil which is useful in flatulence and pains of the joints. The rind of the fruit, he says, is carminative and anthelminthic, an antidote to poisons, and removes spots from clothes. The Hindoos have been long familiar with the Citrus aurantium. See the Susruta and Wise’s Hindoo Medicine (p. 191.)
We are now inclined to think that we were mistaken in stating (Vol. I. 137) that the lemon was mentioned by Avicenna (ii, 2, 433.) His description is probably to be referred to the Statice limonium. However, beyond all doubt, the Citrus medica Limon is fully described by Ebn Baithar. He says the rind is bitter, acid, astringent, and aromatic, excites the appetite, improves digestion, renders the breath fragrant, is cordial, and an antidote to poisons. He recommends it particularly in fevers, exanthemata, palpitation of the heart, vomiting, &c. It appears also to be noticed several times in the Susruta. (See p. 142 et alibi.) Lemons are likewise noticed by the Persian writers on the Materia Medica by the names of Leemoo and Neemboo. See Royle (Mat. Med. 297.) They have been long known to the Hindoos. See Wise (Hindoo Med.)
Though the Greeks and Romans were well acquainted with pearl-mussels, as is obvious from several passages in the classical authors, it does not appear that they ever used these articles in the practice of medicine. They were used by the Arabians as an ingredient in their celebrated Electuarium de Gemmis, (Mesue de Elect.) and were reckoned among their cordial medicines. Avicenna says of pearls, that they resemble karabe in medicinal powers, but are more powerful in their operation. (De Med. Cordial.) Serapion gives a fuller account of them upon the authority of several Arabian writers, who describe pearls as being cold, desiccant, and attenuant, and recommend them in diseases of the eyes, and in hemorrhages, as dentifrices in diseases of the teeth, but more especially as cordials in palpitations and other affections of the heart. (De Simpl. 397.) We could have wished to have given in this place, since we have had no convenient opportunity to do so elsewhere, an exposition of the views of the Arabians respecting the operation of cordial medicines; but as this subject could not be understood without a fuller explanation of certain parts of the higher philosophy of the ancients than is consistent with our limits, we are reluctantly obliged to dismiss it with a very brief notice. We would beg leave to refer our readers to Avicenna’s elaborate treatise ‘de Medicinis Cordialibus.’ He there gives an ingenious disquisition on medicines which operate upon the animal spirits and dispel vapours, and first advocates views which have formed the basis of many a modern hypothesis on this subject. Among the cordial medicines described by him we would remark amber, gold, silver, citron, coral, cinnamon, camphor, myrobalans, hyacinth (the gem), lapis lazuli, myrtle, musk, mace, frankincense, silk, sandal-wood, tamarinds, zerumbet, zeduary, &c. One important class of cordials consists of medicines which evacuate black bile, namely, melanogogues, which we will have to treat of in a subsequent section of this work.
In imitation of the Arabians, Paracelsus and the modern alchemists have attributed great virtues to the precious metals and stones as cordial medicines. See Schröder (Chemical Dispensatory, pluries.) He says of pearls, that “they are an excellent cordial, that strengthens the balsam of life, resists poison, pestilence, and putrefaction, and clear the spirits.” (167.) Pearls and other precious stones have always been highly esteemed by the Hindoo physicians. See the Susruta and Wise’s Hindoo Medicine (124.)
We have mentioned above, that silk is one of the cordial medicines treated of by Avicenna. Silk, and especially raw silk, he says, is attenuant and desiccative, acts as a cordial, improves the memory, proves useful in affections of the eyes, in obstructions of the liver and other complaints. (De Med. Cord. ii, 3.) The silkworm (bombyx mori) and the uses of silk in medicine, are described with considerable accuracy by Serapion. Like Avicenna he ranks it with the cordial medicines, and recommends it in this capacity along with pearls, karabe, corals, and musk. (De Simpl. c. 28.) Silk forms one of the ingredients in the electuary of Mesue, to which he gives the following imposing title, “Electuarium ex granis tinctoriis ad cordis palpitationem, syncopem, mentis alienationem, seu desipentiam, moerorem sine causa manifesta, facultates enim nostrum corpus dispensantes mirifice roborat.” See f. 89, and the interesting Commentary of Costa. It is also an ingredient in several of the Antidotaria of Avenzoar. Ebn Baithar says, that various Arabian authors had written on the medicinal properties of silk. One of them quoted by him describes the use of it in medicine by burning it, and using its ashes for collyria and other purposes. He remarks, that Ebn Sina (Avicenna) says, that silk as an article of clothing prevents the formation of lice. Raw silk has been used as a medicine in modern times. Moses Charras, in his ‘Royal Pharmacopœia,’ writes thus of it: “Many writers have attributed great virtue to raw silk. But although the use thereof had been at all times unknown in physic, my judgment is that it is too fragrant, that it has too much beauty, that it affords too many conveniences to human life, that there are too many wonders in the first original, progress, labour, and metamorphosis of the worm which produces it, to be despised.” He adds, “that is called raw silk which was never boiled, but is still as it were in the grain, out of which the worm has been but newly taken.” He says further of the composition, whereof raw silk is an ingredient, namely, Confectio alkermes regia, “This confection is, without question, one of the best cordials that ever Galenic physic invented. For it repairs and recreates the vital and animal spirits, it ceases palpitations of the heart and swooning-fits; it fortifies the brain, &c.” (R. P. 149.) A still more recent authority on pharmacy, says of raw silk, Sericum, that it is “cordial, restorative, one drachm in powder.” Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 215.)
This is one of the precious stones which often occurs as an ingredient in the Arabian formulæ for antidotes. Ebn Baithar remarks, that it is not described by Dioscorides nor Galen. He mentions three kinds, a yellow, a red, and a black, of which the red is the noblest. Its powers, he says, are increased by fire. It was used as an amulet, and was held to be cordial and alexipharmic; and, in fact, Ebn Baithar says it is possessed of many virtues. From his mentioning of it, that, when rubbed, it attracts straw, there seems every reason to suppose that it was tourmaline. Some have taken the hyacinth of the Greeks and Romans for the same, but Heeren rather supposes it to be the ruby. It is briefly noticed as a cordial by Avicenna, Mesue, and Serapion. The last of these gives nearly the same account of it as Ebn Baithar; that is to say, both had copied from the same authorities. He particularly mentions it as being an excellent phylactery to guard the body during thunder-storms. (De Simpl. 398.) The Confectio de Hyacintho has been very celebrated in modern times. See Moses Charras (Roy. Pharmacop. 147.)
It is thus described by Serapion: “Hager albuzedi is a red stone, but less so than the hyacinth, the redness of which is more agreeable to the eye, as there is no obscurity in it. The mines where this stone is found are in the East. When taken from the mine it is opake; but when divested of its outer coat by a lapidary, its goodness is discovered and it becomes transparent. When this stone has been strongly rubbed against the hair of the head, it attracts chaff, as the magnet does iron.” He speaks of its being useful to the eyes when they are rubbed with it, and says that as a seal it dispels frightsome dreams. (de Mineral. 399.) According to Beckmann this is most probably not the tourmaline, although it bears some resemblance to it in properties, but belongs rather to the hyacinths. (History of Inventions.) In fact, it would appear to us highly probable, that this article like the preceding was a variety of the ruby.
Several species of it are described by Serapion, of which the best he says is the red. They are brought, he adds, from the mines of the Romans, and were used principally as an amulet and dentifrice. It must have been the same as the Sardion of Theophrastus (De Lapidibus), and of Plato (Timæus.) The term would appear to have been used in a general sense for several of the finer kinds of agates. (De Simpl. 400.) A modern authority thus describes it: “The Sarda or Cornelian. It is a gem half transparent, like the water wherein flesh is washed, or like bloody flesh: hence it is called Carneolus or Cornelian. The best cornelians are found in Sardinia.” Schröder (Chemical Dispensatory, p. 160.)
We have treated of this article already under the head of Chrysocolla, with which it has been often confounded. It was introduced into medical practice by the Arabians, and there appears to us no doubt that it was the same as our borate of soda. It was very much used for the cure of toothache. See the authorities quoted under Chrysocolla. It was used medicinally by the Hindoo physicians. See the Susruta (pluries), Wise (Hindoo System of Medicine, 117); Ainslie (Mat. Ind. 576); Royle (Mat. Med. 97.)
It is difficult to determine precisely what this precious stone was, although it is pretty minutely described by Serapion. He says it is brought from Yemen, and is of divers colours, from white to black, and that it occasions disturbed dreams when worn as an amulet: he recommends it, however, to be thus used by infants, and says a vessel prepared from it, if used for holding any article of food or drink, prevents sleep. (De Simpl. 401.)
We have in so far treated of this substance under Cyanus in the preceding Commentary. It was used, like the other precious stones, as an amulet, but was more particularly celebrated as a melanogogue medicine. It was further said to be useful in asthma, and as an emmenagogue. See Serapion (De Simpl. 369); Avicenna (ii, 256). A modern authority describes it thus: “It is a stone like a sapphire, or the flowers of cyanus adorned with golden stones or flowers, harder than the Armenian stone. It is in virtue like the Armenian stone, but weaker; it purgeth chiefly melancholy. It is worn about the neck for an amulet to drive away frights from children,” &c. Schröder, (Chymic. Dispensat.)
Serapion, after quoting a description of it from Isaac ebn Amram, says of it, that it is hot and dry in the end of the second degree, is useful in coldness of the stomach, promotes digestion, is a hepatic and cordial medicine, dispels melancholy, renders the eructations fragrant, &c. His other authorities recommend it in similar cases. (De Simpl. 156.) Avicenna gives a similar account of it in all respects. (ii, 2, 254.) We suppose there is no doubt that it is the clove basil, or Ocimum gariofilatum of Miller; or, according to Sprengel, the O. monachorum.
Serapion briefly describes two varieties of it consisting of fibrous roots, being brought from Armenia, and having a good smell with some viscidity. Both kinds, he says, are hot and humid, and increase the secretion of semen. (De Simpl. 223.) See also Avicenna (ii, 2, 82), and Rhases (Contin. l. ult. iii, 29.) Avicenna holds that it is also cordial in addition to its power of forming semen. It is the Centaurea Behen L.
We have already treated of the spinach (Spinachia oleracea) as a dietetical article introduced by the Arabians. (Vol. I, 113.) According to Avicenna it is laxative of the bowels, useful in orthopnœa, and other diseases of the chest. It is noticed in like terms by Serapion (De Simpl. 140); by Rhases (Contin. l. ult. i, 671.) Ebn Baithar says of spinach that it is an excellent potherb, and useful in diseases of the neck and chest, being much used for this purpose by the inhabitants of Nineveh, who are very subject to such complaints.
We have stated under Rheum in the preceding Commentary (317), that it was the rheum rhaponticum, which is the only species of the rheum described in the regular treatises on the Mat. Med. of the Greeks and Romans. Our author, however, would seem to allude to the Rheum barbarum or purgative rhubarb, at Book I, 43, and VII, 11. Although it is stated by some learned authorities that the rheum of Trallian (viii, 3) was a species of the Rhabarbarum, we are satisfied from a careful examination of the passage, that it was the rhaponticum. There can be no doubt that the general use of the purgative rhubarb was introduced by the Arabians, of whom Ebn Baithar is by far the most copious and instructive under this head. He states decidedly that there are four species of rhubarb, three of which are perfectly distinct. On the first species, by which he evidently means the R. Rhaponticum, he gives extracts from Dioscorides, Galen, Oribasius, and Paulus. He says the older physicians knew nothing of the virtues of the purgative kinds of rhubarb until they were discovered near to his time. He says the purgative rhubarb acts as a deobstruent and strengthener of all the internal viscera, is useful in mental diseases, dropsy, jaundice, marasmus connected with obstructions, especially when combined with gum lac. He says it is most useful in chronic diarrhœa when taken in an aromatic wine and with Indian spikenard, and also in uterine fluxes, dyspepsia, and other complaints of a similar nature. He praises it most especially as a stomachic. He states, that of all the kinds of rhubarb, the Turkish possesses the purgative quality in the highest degree. Of the other Arabian authorities, Averrhoes is one who gives a very distinct account of the true purgative rhubarb. (Collig. v, 42.) Mesue describes three species of the Rhabarbarum, or Rhaued, namely, Indianum, Barbarum, and Turcicum, to all of which he ascribes purgative powers, and recommends them as being possessed of hepatic, stomachic, and deobstruent properties, which render them particularly serviceable in dropsy, obstructions of the spleen, and jaundice. The dose of the infusion, he says, is from one to ten drs.; and of the pounded, from one to three. He appears not to have been acquainted with the Rhaponticum (De Simpl. v), whereas Avicenna and Serapion would seem not to have known the other. It may be proper to mention, in conclusion, that the Rheum rhaponticum is the common culinary or tart rhubarb of this country. According to Loudon, it was introduced in 1573, but it is most probable that we owe the introduction of it to the Romans.
But it is time that we should draw this Appendix to a close. And now we trust it will not be thought out of place to conclude with Professor Beckmann’s eloquent eulogy on the Literature of the Arabians in his celebrated work on the ‘History of Inventions and Discoveries.’
“What a noble people were the Arabs! We are indebted to them for much knowledge and for many inventions of great utility; and we should have still more to thank them for were we fully aware of the benefits we have derived from them. What a pity that their works should be suffered to moulder into dust, without being made available! What a shame that those acquainted with this rich language should meet with so little encouragement! The few old translations which exist have been made by persons who were not sufficiently acquainted either with languages or the sciences. On that account they are for the most part unintelligible, uncertain, in many places corrupted, and besides, exceedingly scarce. Even when obtained, the possessors are pretty much in the same state as those who make their way with great trouble to a treasure, which, after all, they are only permitted to see at a distance through a narrow gate. Had I still twenty years to live, and could hope for an abundant supply of Arabic works, I would learn Arabic. But ὁ βίος βραχὺς, ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή.”
Give of aloes one drachm, with honeyed water, in the morning. But they who administer it in the evening or after food occasion mischief, for it makes the food spoil. It evacuates yellow bile, less if given to the extent of three oboli, for in that case it proves solely and entirely eccoprotic. But purgative medicines being generally bad for the stomach, aloes alone is stomachic. Those who cannot endure the bitterness of it may take it formed into pills. It is manifest that purgative medicines do not evacuate by any one simple temperament such as heat (for then all hot things would be evacuants, such as pepper), but by some specific property of their whole substance in like manner as the magnet attracts iron. Of purgative medicines those which are simply laxative have been treated of in the First Book. We are to use drastic purgatives either in order to transfer some matter, or to dislodge and remove an indurated diathesis, or as an alterative to the system, and in order to change the temperament of it, or to displace any offending humour. There are certain mixed modes complicated of the afore-mentioned. Purgative medicines are to be given to those whose powers are firm and their understanding strong; to such as have passed the first stage of life, and have not yet come to the last; to those who have a strong stomach, and have collections of superfluous matters in the body, and are not very sanguineous. The best seasons for purging, if there be no urgent necessity, are the spring and the autumn.
On those things which evacuate bile. We may give cholagogue medicines at any season except winter, to persons in the vigour of life and in the decline; to persons of dry and muscular habits, and who are of a dark or ruddy complexion; to men rather than to women; to those whose food is apt to spoil on their stomachs, and whose bellies are constipated; to such as abound in bitter bile, are irascible, pass little urine, and use hot and dry food: in icteric, hepatic, and pleuritic affections; in phrenitis, cynanche, mania, cephalæa, ophthalmy, erysipelas, leprosy, fevers, and to such as are troubled with collections of bile. Aloes is given to such as are troubled with heaviness of the head, with ophthalmy, with thirst, with disturbed dreams without fever; to such as have a sensation of departing rigor; to those who pass acrid flatus, and have gnawing pains of the intestines; to those who are seized with burning heat about the stomach, or nausea producing eversion of it; and to those who being troubled with a collection of excrementitious matters cannot bear evacuations by clysters. For it evacuates the whole body, and does not occasion disorder of it unless given in very great quantity, and brings along with it any bile lying in the intestines, stomach, and gullet.—Hellebore agrees both with those in acute diseases and those in chronic requiring a cholagogue medicine, such as maniacs, those troubled with hemicrania, and such as have defluxions of the eyes and complaints in the chest. But it suits most with such viscera as the uterus and bladder when they require a cholagogue remedy. It is also proper for chronic affections of the trachea, for jaundice, exanthemata, lichen, herpes, erysipelas, and leprosy. Black hellebore evacuates bile, especially yellow, from the whole body and without trouble. Hence it is given to those not affected with heavy fever, and more especially to such as are free from fever, in the quantity of one drachm of the roots triturated in honeyed water or plain water, while fasting, or with honey made into pills. Some mix with it pennyroyal, savoury, or some of the volatile stomachics.—Scammony purges like hellebore, and more especially yellow bile, but of all purgative medicines it is the most prejudicial to the stomach. It is, therefore, to be given to those who are free from fever, and such as have strong stomachs, to the amount of four oboli, with salts, pepper, ginger, or some one of the volatile stomachics, or along with honey. It is also formed into pills with gum.—The medullary part of the fruit of the Colocynth evacuates especially bile and mucous matters, not from the blood like hellebore and scammony, but from the nerves and nervous parts, when given to the amount of one drachm in two cyathi of honeyed water which has rue boiled in it. But it is to be triturated for a long time, because otherwise its rough particles sticking in the internal parts produce ulcerations and nervous affections by sympathy. It is to be given to those who have affections of the head, namely, when the meninx or the pericranium is affected, such as those labouring under vertigo or hemicrania, or those troubled with cephalæa; also in epilepsy, apoplexy, cynic spasms, chronic defluxions on the eyes, orthopnœa, asthma, and chronic coughs; likewise in arthritic cases to those who have affections about the kidneys or bladder.—Elaterium evacuates like scammony. Such as is green like leeks, light, and not older than a year, is to be chosen; and it is to be given to the amount of three oboli, triturated with one hemina of milk.—Tithymallus, spurge, evacuates bile like elaterium and scammony. Four or five drops of the juice are given, mixed with polenta and quickly swallowed. For if retained long in the mouth they ulcerate the tongue and surrounding parts.—Lathyrides (a species of spurge) purge bile like hellebore and scammony. They are to be given to the amount of seven, eight, or as many as fifteen grains to such as are robust and require much purging, who are to be directed to chew them. But those who are weaker and have bad stomachs, must swallow them whole.—The dried tops of the Peplium are to be given to the amount of eight oboli in honeyed water. They evacuate bile like hellebore, and occasion the breaking of wind.—Agaric has similar powers to the colocynth, but acts slowly and is not prejudicial to the stomach. It is given to the amount of two drachms with honeyed water. It should be very white, brittle, and not very woody nor carious.—Illyrian Iris purges in like manner when given to the amount of eight oboli in honeyed water. It ought not to be old nor carious.—The small Centaury by purging bile and mucus is particularly adapted for cases of ischiatic disease. The decoction is to be drunk of a drachm and a half of centaury, boiled in a hemina of water until it be reduced to the half.—The flower with the fruit of Tragoriganum is given to the amount of two drachms, in honeyed water, to the same class of persons as the black hellebore. It is more stomachic than the hellebore, but less purgative.—Four drachms of Chamelæa (mezereon?) boiled in two heminæ of honeyed water, until reduced to a fourth part, purge like hellebore. Some administer chamelæa by making it into pills with a double quantity of wormwood.—Aristolochia, birthwort, purges like colocynth, one drachm of the species called clematis being given in honeyed water.—The dried root of Polypody when pounded and sprinkled on honeyed water, or triturated along with it, has the same effects as colocynth.
Medicines which evacuate black bile. Medicines which evacuate black bile are to be given in an especial manner to melancholic persons, to such as are easily moved to paroxysms, to passionate persons, to misanthropists, to persons of solitary habits, or to such as during convalescence require purging, during the heat of autumn, in dry habits, and to such as are not muscular.—Epithymum, dodder of thyme, is the best of those medicines which evacuate black bile. It is to be given to the amount of five drachms triturated with a hemina of milk.
Epithymbrum, or the substance which grows upon savory, evacuates in like manner with the epithymum, but is weaker. Pennyroyal, when taken to the amount of an acetabulum, in honeyed water, evacuates black bile.—The Heracleatic Tragoriganum in the same dose evacuates like pennyroyal. But both must be dried. Alypum, the seeds of it have been said to purge black bile when given in the same quantity as the epithymum with salts and vinegar; but, as Dioscorides says, it occasions slight ulceration of the intestines. It is, I think, that substance which is now called alypias. It is to be given in honeyed water.—Parthenium (matricaria?), feverfew, when dried and drunk in like manner, evacuates the same humours. Alypon, madwort, drunk with salts, purges in like manner.
Medicines which evacuate phlegm. We are to administer phlegmagogues in cold habits; to aged persons, in winter; in paralytic and apoplectic cases; for loose œdematous swellings; to such persons as have great collections of phlegm in the belly, chest, or stomach; and in cases of the female flux. They agree also with those who have a copious running from the nose and thick expectoration, with cases of anorexia and ischiatic disease when the joint becomes mucous or pituitous; but they are particularly adapted for those cases of dropsy which are called anasarca.—One drachm of white Storax, drunk with an equal quantity of turpentine rosin, evacuates phlegm.—The bark of the root of Olive to the amount of one drachm, with wine or water; nine oboli of Pellitory, with water; two drachms of the seed of Lychnis (campion); one drachm of the root of Sow-bread, with hydromel; two drachms of Garlic, with honey; ground Pine, triturated and given in the form of pills; half a drachm of the flakes of copper, with an equal quantity of rosin, in pills, purges bile strongly.—A drachm and half of the green leaves of Bay; two oboli of the bark of the root of the wild Cucumber; forty seeds of that species of ricinus called Crotones stripped of their bark and eaten, do the same. A half of that part of Parsley connected with the root (which some call chamæraphanus), when eaten; two drachms of Bdellium, with hydromel; but Gum is particularly adapted for defluxions on the eyes.
Medicines which evacuate water. We are to give hydragogues in that variety of dropsical disease called ascites; to women troubled with the whites; and to those who have ulcers accompanied with a copious discharge.—One drachm of the flakes of Copper, when drunk with honeyed water evacuates water; but a little vinegar must also be swallowed lest it be vomited.—The Granum Cnidium when stripped of its bark, triturated, and drunk with boiled honey, that it may not touch the orifice of the stomach, evacuates water. Twenty, twenty-five, or thirty grains are to be given, and to those who are stronger, as many as forty.—One drachm of Euphorbium, drunk with boiled honey, evacuates phlegm, but more especially water.—Eight oboli of the seed of rough Spleenwort, with honeyed water, evacuate water.—Cneorum, in like manner, purges water when drunk with polenta.—Five drachms of the seed of Cnicus, when triturated together in ptisan, are swallowed with a small quantity of salts.—One drachm of Ammoniac perfume, drunk in honeyed water, evacuates water. Some give it in affections of the spleen with oxycrate.—The juice of the bark of the root of the Elder-tree, when drunk to the amount of two ounces with wine, evacuates water.
Commentary. The philosopher Aristotle thus explains his ideas respecting the action of purgatives: “When purgatives are conveyed to the stomach, and are there dissolved, they are carried by the same passages as the food, and when they cannot be digested, but their prevailing power remains unsubdued, they return, and carry with them whatever opposes them, and this is called purging.” (Problem. 43.) See also Alexander Aphrodisiensis (Probl. ii, 58.)
Hippocrates administered purgative medicines freely and boldly, but at the same time he cautions against the unseasonable and rash administration of them in several parts of his works. We do not find any theory, however, of the modus operandi of purgatives, nor any general remarks on the cases in which they are applicable, in any of the Hippocratic treatises which are now acknowledged to be genuine. Some ingenious remarks, however, may be found on this subject in the work ‘De Nat. humana.’
Celsus has a chapter on purgative medicines which contains much curious and valuable matter. He says the more ancient physicians gave various purgative medicines very freely, such as black hellebore, polypody, squama æris, the milky juice of lactuca marina (euphorbia paralias?), the milk of asses, with a little salt; but he holds that purgatives hurt the stomach, and are not to be given when any fever is present. The rules, which he lays down for the administration of them, are highly judicious, and deserving of consideration. He approves of them when the head feels heavy, when the eyes are misty, when there is obstruction of the bowels, and when there is pain there or in the hip-joint, when the stomach is oppressed with bile or phlegm, and when there is dyspnœa, when venesection is indicated, but the powers of the system will not admit of it, and in several other cases. (v, 12.) He mentions that Asclepiades totally rejected the use of purgative medicines. (i, 3.)
Galen has devoted a complete treatise to the discussion of the question regarding the modus operandi of purgatives. He decidedly inclines to the theory that every purgative by some specific property attracts, and as it were, sucks to it the humour to which it has a natural alliance, in like manner as the magnet attracts iron. He divides Purgatives into Cholagogues, Melanogogues, Hydragogues, and Phlegmagogues. He rejects the hypothesis of Erasistratus, who maintained that each medicine converts the juices presented to it, into its own specific nature: thus that cholagogues convert them into yellow bile, melanogogues into black bile, and so forth. Although Galen flatters himself that he effectually demolishes this hypothesis, we have long looked upon it as a very plausible one, and believe that at the present time the prevailing opinion in the profession inclines much in that direction. For example, the green and dark discharges which are brought off by mercurial purgatives, are now generally supposed to be occasioned by the fluids in the secretions entering into combination with the medicine administered. It is to be regretted that no ancient author has given us a clear exposition of the hypothesis of Erasistratus. Galen gives a long list of cases, in which purgatives prove beneficial, such as erysipelas, epilepsy, apoplexy, gout, rheumatism, melancholy, and many chronic complaints. He insists strongly on the benefit derived from cholagogues for the cure of jaundice. (De purg. Med. vi.)
Antyllus, in an extract preserved by Aëtius, espouses the theory which maintains the specific operation of purgatives, and that they act by attracting the humours to which they are allied. He recommends them for various complaints, as malignant cutaneous diseases, spontaneous ulceration, and rheumatic affections. (iii, 23.)
The account of this subject, given by Oribasius, is taken from the works of Galen and Ruffus. It is too lengthy for our limits. Ruffus directs the surgeon to consider well the patient’s constitution, and regulate the dose of the medicine accordingly, as there is a great difference in the susceptibility of persons to be acted upon by purgatives. The following is a list of the purgatives described by Ruffus in this fragment: Polypody, iris, colocynth, phacoides (a species of spurge olive?), peplos, peplium, aloe, hippophaes, hippophæstum, clematis, pycnocomon, vines, thyme, epithyme, marjoram, Greek savory, poppies, cucumber, the smaller heliotrope, the lesser sesamoides, the tithymalli or spurges, the chamelæa, lathyris, agaric, and euphorbium. His description of the operation of each medicine bespeaks a good acquaintance with the subject. (Med. Collect. vii, 26.) See also Actuarius (Meth. Med. iii, 7.)