Caparis, Caper-tree; its root deterges, purges, incides, and discusses by its bitterness and acrimony. It also contracts, astringes, and condenses by its sourness. It therefore cures indurated spleens when drunk and when applied externally. It is also emmenagogue, and occasions a discharge of phlegm. It cures ill-conditioned ulcers, and relieves pains of the teeth, dispels tumours and alphos, and kills vermin in the ear. The leaves and fruit of it are possessed of similar powers, but weaker.
Commentary. It is the Capparis spinosa, namely, the plant which produces our officinal capers. Dioscorides and Serapion mention that pickled capers act as a gentle laxative, but say that they are bad for the stomach. The Arabians held that they are good whetters of the appetite. Casiri (Bibl. A. H. i, 337.) Galen gives a very elaborate article on the virtues of capers, which, he says, are the best medicine which we possess in scirrhous enlargement of the spleen. He says it clears away the humours by the belly and by urine, and also acts as an emmenagogue. Their taste, he says, is a combination of bitterness, acrimony, and sourness. He concludes by stating that capers produced in very warm climates, such as Arabia, are much more acrid than in his country. (De Simpl. vii.) The Arabians held that capers are aphrodisiacal and alexipharmic. See Rhases (Contin. l. ult. i, 164), Avicenna (ii, 2, 138), and Serapion (c. 291.)
Nasturtium, Cress; the seed of it is caustic like mustard. When applied externally, therefore, it proves rubefacient, incides also the thick humours when drunk with other things. And the dried herb is possessed of similar powers, but the juicy one is more moderate; it therefore is eaten raw.
Commentary. It was indisputably a species of cress, probably the Lepidium sativum. We have treated of it as an article of food in Book I. Our author’s account of it is mostly derived from Galen. Symeon Seth, with most of the authorities, calls it aphrodisiacal. Macer says, on the contrary, that its powers are equal to those of rue for repressing venereal desires. Dioscorides calls it alexipharmic, and says of it, that in fumigations it drives away venomous reptiles. It occurs in the Flora Hippocratica. See Dierbach. The Arabians treat of it very elaborately. See Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 472), Avicenna (ii, 2, 502), and Serapion (c. 359.) They agree that it evacuates bile both upwards and downwards, that it is aphrodisiac and alexipharmic. The cress (Nasturtium), until very lately, was admitted into our Dispensatory. See Gerard, Parkinson, Culpeper, and Quincy.
Cardamomum, Cardamum, is also acrid, but weaker than the Cardamus. It has also some bitterness, by which it destroys intestinal worms, and with vinegar clears away scabies.
Commentary. The officinal cardamom of the present time has now got the scientific name of Elettaria Cardamomum, and as far as we can see there is no reason to doubt its being identical with the cardamomum of the ancients. There are, however, several varieties of the cardamom which are not satisfactorily defined, any more than the four species mentioned by Pliny. (H. N. xii, 29.) See Ainslie (Mat. Ind. 32), and Pereira (Mat. Med. 694.) Dioscorides recommends it for various purposes, both externally and internally; for epilepsy, coughs, ischiatic disease, nephritis, and as an alexipharmic and lithontriptic medicine. (i, 5.) Galen is more guarded in enumerating its virtues, and all the other Greek authorities follow him. The Arabians rather imitate Dioscorides. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 156), and Serapion (c. 64.) One of Serapion’s Arabian authorities, Isaac eben Amram, describes two species, the greater and the lesser, a distinction still recognized. We need scarcely add that it is well known at the present day, and is used for various purposes both in this country and in the East.
Squilla, a Legless Lobster, when triturated and drunk with the root of bryony it kills lumbrici.
Commentary. The squilla belongs to the order of μαλακόστρακα. (See Book I, 91.) The present article we suppose is the Cancer Squilla, L. It is treated of very cursorily by the other authorities.
Cancer, Crab; of the ashes of burnt crabs, that of river-crabs is equally desiccative with those of the sea urchins and cockles. By the peculiarity of its whole substance it proves wonderfully efficacious when applied to persons bitten by mad dogs, as mentioned in another place. The ashes of the sea-crabs being extremely desiccative, do not indeed agree with them, but rather relieve those who stand in need of desiccative remedies. The river-crab when pulverised and applied, ejects thorns and the points of darts.
Commentary. The Cancer Pagurus, a large edible crab, would appear to be the sea animal treated of under this head. The river-crab, we suppose, is the Astacus fluviatilis, or crawfish. Dioscorides recommends the ashes of the river-crab most especially in hydrophobia, and as an application to fissures in the feet and anus, chilblains, and cancers, and also as an antidote to the bites of venomous animals. Galen also gives an interesting account of the use of them in hydrophobia, and Serapion repeats Galen’s account of them. See further, Book V, 3, of this work. Galen speaks with great confidence of their efficacy in this case, indeed he affirms that he had never known them fail when they had got a fair trial. The other authorities supply no additional information of interest under this head. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 147), Rhases (Cont. l. ult. iii, 42.) These two agree that the flesh of the river-crab with the milk of asses is beneficial in phthisis.
Carum, Caraway; the seed is desiccant and heating in the third degree; and not only the seed, but also the whole plant is carminative and diuretic.
Commentary. There can be no doubt that it is the Carum Carui. It is evidently the careum of Pliny, and derives its name from Caria. (H. N. xxix, 49.) Our author copies closely from Galen. Dioscorides calls it diuretic, stomachic, pleasant to the taste, digestive, &c. The Arabians further give it the character of being a cordial and anthelminthic medicine. (See Serapion (c. 279), Avicenna (ii, 2, 137), and Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 178.)
Carpesium, is aromatic, and consists of subtile particles. It therefore clears away visceral obstructions, proves diuretic, and removes calculi of the kidneys.
Commentary. The Arabians identified this substance with their own Cubebæ. See Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 242), Avicenna (ii, 2, 134), and Serapion (c. 188.) But we will show in another place that this was a mistake on their part. Nothing satisfactory has been ascertained regarding it, and we have no pleasure in dwelling upon the conjectures of the commentators on Dioscorides and of the herbalists.
Nux Juglans, Walnut; the tree has some astringency in the shoots, but more in the bark of the nuts. The juice of them, therefore, when boiled with honey, becomes a stomachic medicine. The rind of it, when burnt, consists of subtile particles, and becomes desiccant without pungency; but the edible part of it being oily, is readily converted into bile. The oil formed from them consists of subtile particles, and discusses swellings and gangrenes. Walnuts which are rancid from age prove detergent of cutaneous affections. But the Pontic, called the slender nut, is colder and austere, but in other respects is like the large.
Commentary. We have treated of this article in the portion of our work devoted to dietetics. See Book I. We shall merely repeat that the two species of nuts described by Paulus and other ancient authorities are evidently the Nux Juglans, or walnut, and the Nux Avellana, or filbert. This is very evident from Galen’s description of them. (Opera. ed. Basil, ii, 88.) Our author copies closely from him. Dioscorides treats of the nuces still more circumstantially, recommending them both internally and externally as being vermifuge, and curing ill-conditioned ulcers, and many other diseases. The filbert, when triturated with axunge or bear’s grease, he recommends for the cure of baldness. (i, 178, 179.) The Arabians, under this head, do little more than condense the information supplied to them by their Grecian masters. See in particular Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 505), Avicenna (ii, 2, 42, 494), and Serapion (c. 162.) Serapion states that the nux avellana is useful in catarrhs, and as an application in cases of alopecia. Here, however, he professes to borrow from Dioscorides. Avicenna and Rhases recommend the oil of the hazel-nut in herpes esthiomenos, erysipelas, and fistula lachrymalis. They speak favorably of both as a remedy for the bites of venomous animals. They also are agreed that the walnut is expectorant.
Caryophyllum, Cloves; they are not the substance which their name might imply, but, as it were, the flowers of a tree which are brought from India; like chaff, black, nearly a finger’s length, aromatic, acrid, bitterish, hot, and desiccative in about the third degree. They serve many useful purposes for condiments and other medicines.
Commentary. From our author’s description there cannot be the least hesitation on our part in acknowledging it to be the Caryophyllus aromaticus, L. (i. q.), Eugenia Caryophyllata, Thunberg, that is to say, the Clove-tree. We are equally well convinced that no mention of this article is to be found in the works of Dioscorides, Pliny, Theophrastus, Galen, Aëtius, Oribasius, nor, in short, in those of any preceding author. Whence Paulus drew his knowledge of it cannot now be ascertained. The Arabians display a very correct acquaintance with it. Avicenna, in treating of it, refers to no other Greek authority but Paulus. After describing it in much the same terms as our author, he states it to be hot and dry in the third degree, says it renders the breath fragrant, improves the sight, and is useful in pterygium; is stomachic and hepatic, and removes vomiting and nausea. (ii, 2, 311.) Serapion, in treating of the Gariofilus, first quotes from a translation of Galen the description of the Garyophyllon given by Paulus, which he affirms is taken line for line from Galen. This is evidently a mistake, founded on some erroneous translation of Galen into Arabic. He then gives its characters from several Arabian authorities to the effect that it is stomachic, hepatic, cordial, aphrodisiacal, and digestive; and says that it is brought from India. (c. 319.) Rhases says cloves are hot and dry, and are both stomachic and cordial. (Ad Mansor. iii, 22.) We have not been able to find the passage in the ‘Continens’ where they are treated of, there being some mistake in the marginal reference of Avicenna. Symeon Seth says of the caryophyllon that it is hot and dry in the second, or, perhaps, in the third degree; is the fruit of a tree, and is stomachic, hepatic, and cordial; removes nausea connected with humidity, but is bad for the bowels. (c. 15.) The caryophyllon also occurs in one of the antidotes of Myrepsus. (c. 22.) Ebn Baithar, however, is the ancient authority who gives the fullest account of cloves, which he represents as being useful in diabetes and strangury, in black bile, diarrhœa, and chronic coughs. He says in particular that they are uterine and aphrodisiac, and hence warm the uterus and promote impregnation. He also holds that they are stomachic, carminative, and hepatic. (ii, 281.)
Cassamum; some say that it is the fruit of the balsam-tree, of which we have treated under that word.
Cassia, is heating and desiccative in the third order, consists of sufficiently subtile particles, is acrid, and moderately astringent. It is therefore incisive and discutient, imparts strength to the organs, and is also emmenagogue.
Commentary. Salmasius contends that the ancient Cassia was the same as our cinnamon. See Needham (ad Geopon. vii, 13), and Celsus (Hierobot. in voce Kiddah.) Stackhouse affirms, however, that the ancients were unacquainted with the Laurus Cinnamomum. He refers it to the Laurus gracilis. (Comment. in Theophrast.) Sprengel, in his R. H. H., makes it to be the Laurus Cassia, which has now got the scientific name Cinnamomum Cassia. The close connexion between the cinnamon and cassia has occasioned difficulty in distinguishing them from one another, down even to the present times. They are often sold for one another in the Indian bazaars. The Cassia lignea of the ancients would appear to have been the same thing as the Cassia bark of the moderns. According to Ainslie, the odour of it is very like cinnamon, but fainter. (Mat. Ind. 35.) The Cassia Fistula was merely the bark rolled up into fistulæ, or pipes. The Greeks, as we shall show in another place, were unacquainted with the true Cassia Fistula. Dioscorides describes several varieties of it which cannot now be readily recognized. He calls it heating, diuretic, desiccant, and mildly astringent, and recommends it as an emmenagogue, and for various other medicinal purposes. He concludes by saying it may be used in place of cinnamon, and that it is useful for many purposes. (i, 12.) Galen and the other Greek authorities treat of it briefly, in nearly the same terms as Paulus. All the Arabians treat of it fully. See in particular Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 183), Serapion (c. 301), and Avicenna (ii, 2, 151.) Avicenna describes circumstantially several kinds of cassia, which he says is closely allied to cinnamon in nature and in virtues. He recommends it in diseases of the eyes and uterus, and joins Serapion in holding it to be alexipharmic. The only Arabian authority quoted by Rhases under this head (namely, Misib) calls it stomachic, hepatic, and attenuant. The same authority is quoted by Serapion. Another of Serapion’s authorities says it has strong powers for procuring abortion. The cassia occurs in the works of Hippocrates, and in those of Celsus. The latter ranks it in his list of discutients. (v, 11.) Galen states that, in the absence of cinnamon, a double dose of cassia or of carpesium may be used in place of it. (ii, 434, ed. Basil.) It is described by Theophrastus (H. P. ix, 5), and Pliny (xi, 43).
Castorium, Castor, is heating and desiccative, with excessive tenuity of parts, by which, in addition to its other actions, it is rendered a suitable remedy for affections of the nerves proceeding from a collection of humours. It also readily warms parts which are immoderately cooled, both when applied externally and when drunk, without at all injuring any other part, even if they should be in a state of moderate fever, as in cataphora and lethargy. It is likewise emmenagogue, and expels the secundines. In affections of the brain and lungs it is a very efficacious remedy, even when inhaled in respiration.
Commentary. All the ancient authorities describe the Castor as being the testicles of the beaver (Castor Fiber, L.) Matthiolus, we believe, was the first to rectify this error. It is a substance contained in follicles situated between the anus and genital organs. The use of castor in hysteria is mentioned by Herodotus. (iv.) Dioscorides, Galen, Rhases, and Serapion, like our author, recommend it as an emmenagogue; Celsus prescribes castor with pepper in cases of tetanus. (iv. 3.) He also recommends it in lethargy and deafness. (vi.) Pliny also mentions its being used in tetanus and other cases where soporifics are indicated. (H. N. xxxii, 3, 8.) Of all the ancient authorities Avicenna treats of it most fully, recommending it particularly in nervous affections, stupor, and paralysis, also in hiccough when drunk with vinegar, and as a carminative in flatulence of the bowels. The best counter-agents to it are acid citrons, vinegar with wine and asses’ milk. He says of it, that it is alexipharmic, and proves beneficial in the suffocation induced by hellebore. (ii, 2, 122.) Serapion copies literally from Dioscorides and Galen (c. 445.) Rhases recommends it as a calefacient medicine for warming the nerves, promoting menstruation, and dissolving swellings. (Ad Mansor. iii, 30.) The account which he gives of it in his ‘Continens’ is made up of extracts from Dioscorides, Galen, and our author. (l. ult. 188.) Ebn Baithar gives a very lengthy and not uninteresting account of this substance. (i, 263.)
Caucalis, Wild Carrot; it is heating, like the carrot, desiccant, diuretic, and is pickled as a preserve.
Commentary. Sibthorp supposed it to be the Tordylium officinale; but perhaps we may venture to refer it rather to the Caucalis maritima, Lam. R. Stephens calls it Persil batard, i. e. Bastard parsley. It is more properly an article of food than a medicine. Our author borrows his account of it from Dioscorides and Galen, and none of the other authorities supply any additional information of interest respecting it. In modern times its application in medicine has been extended. See Matthiolus (in Dioscorid.) and Parkinson (922.)
Milium, Millet, is cooling in the first degree, and desiccant in the second. It also, to a certain degree, consists of subtile particles. When used then for a fomentation in small bags, and in the form of a cataplasm, it is of a desiccant nature.
Commentary. Dierbach inclines to the Holcus Sorghum, a species of millet called Sorgo or Guinea corn. Most of the other authorities refer it to the Panicum Italicum. (See Sprengel, Schneider, and Parkinson.) We have treated of it among the articles of food in Book I. As a medicine, it is principally in the form of a fomentation that it is prescribed by Dioscorides and the other authorities. Galen does not speak very favorably of the cataplasm prepared from it. The Arabians treat of it in much the same terms as the Greeks. See Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 532), Avicenna (ii, 2, 288), and Serapion (c. 102.) They all speak of it as being a very inferior article of food; and as a medicine, recommend it only in a fomentation. It was retained in our English Dispensatory down to a late date. See Quincy. To this day it is much prized by the native practitioners of Hindostan. See Ainslie (Mat. Ind. 124.)
Cedrus, Cedar (?), or Juniper; the shrub, which resembles juniper, and the tree are calefacient and desiccative in the third degree; but the oil prepared from them, which they call cedræa, touches upon the fourth, being composed of sufficiently subtile particles. It therefore corrodes soft flesh readily, and without pain; and the hard flesh, more particularly of dead bodies, it dries and preserves from putrefaction. It kills lice, nits, ascarides, worms in the ears, and has many other powers.
Commentary. Dioscorides describes two species, the larger being probably the Juniperus Phœnicea, and the smaller the Juniperus communis. The ἄρκευθος was a species of the same genus. Pliny calls the pitch of the tree by the name of Cedria, and the oil by that of Pisselæon. Is the cedria the gum vernix, called sandarax by the Arabians? We will discuss this question in the Appendix to this Book, when we come to treat of the substances introduced into the Materia Medica by the Arabians. Dioscorides says of the fruit of the cedar or juniper, that it is calefacient and bad for the stomach, that it is useful in coughs, as an emmenagogue, and alexipharmic. (i, 105.) Galen says the fruit is edible, but apt to occasion headache and pain of the stomach. (De Simpl. vii.) The Arabians treat fully of it. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 160, 668.) He and the other Arabians borrow nearly all their information from the Greeks. Even Ebn Baithar contains little that is original under this head. (ii, 94.) We observe, by the way, that his translator, Dr. Sontheimer, marks it as the Pinus Cedrus, but this it clearly cannot be.
Centaurium, Centaury; the root of the great centaury is acrid and heating, with a terrene astringency. It therefore promotes menstruation, kills and expels the fœtus, agglutinates wounds, relieves hæmoptysis, and other affections of the chest. The root of the small centaury is possessed of no powers, but the branches are strongly desiccative, and without pungency. Hence they are applicable in those cases in which the great centaury was mentioned as being useful; and in ischiatic complaints the decoction of it given in an injection evacuates bile and sometimes blood, which affords great relief.
Commentary. The Centaurea Centaurium, L., and the Erythræa Centaurium, Pers., would appear to be the greater and less centaury of the ancients. See Parkinson, Sprengel, and the other commentators on Dioscorides. Pliny describes three sorts, but would seem to have fallen into a mistake as to the meaning of a passage in Theophrastus. See Harduin ad Plinii H. N. xxv, 32, and Parkinson (Theatre of Plants, 273.) Dioscorides recommends the greater centaury in the same cases as our author, who abridges him and Galen under this head. He says very particularly of it, that it produces menstruation, and expels the fœtus when applied in the form of a collyrium (tent) to the vagina. (iii, 6.) The Arabians give it the same characters as their Grecian masters. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 158), Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 176), and Serapion (c. 202.) Serapion and Mesue likewise recommend the lesser centaury in sciatica, either in a potion to the amount of two drachms, or in a clyster to the amount of three ounces, with oil of sesame. Galen has a whole book on the virtues of the lesser centaury, in which there is a prescription for an extract of it. The ancients had great faith in it for the cure of hydrophobia. According to Galen, (who it may well be supposed had devoted great attention to the study of its virtues), it is possessed of bitterness with some astringency, and is most especially excellent as a deobstruent in obstructions of the liver and scirrhus of the spleen. He mentions that some gave it in a potion for nervous affections, and that in a clyster it relieves sciatica by occasioning evacuations of bile. He also recommends it strongly in the form of a fomentation to ill-conditioned and obstinate ulcers. The lesser centaury (Erythræa Centaurium, Persoon) still continues to hold a place in our Dispensatory, but, as Dr. Pereira remarks, “is rarely used by medical practitioners; yet it might be used as an indigenous substitute for gentian.” (Materia Medica, 809.) In the days of Quincy it retained all its ancient characters. (Engl. Dispens. 103.) Galen’s tract on it must have been in great repute anciently, since Serapion has given a translation of the whole of it. It is retained in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia.
Cornu Capri, Goatshorn, and Κ. ἐλάφου, Cornu Cervi, Hartshorn, cleanse the teeth when burnt, and restrain the progress of foul ulcers. The hart’s horn, when pulverised and then applied, fastens loose teeth; when washed after burning, it relieves dysentery, cæliac affection, spitting of blood, and jaundice, when given to the amount of two spoonfuls. It is also mixed up with ophthalmic remedies. The horn of a bull, when taken in water, restrains hemorrhages.
Commentary. Dioscorides, Galen, and Serapion speak of the medicinal properties of horn in nearly the same terms as our author. We need scarcely say that the stag’s or hart’s horn has been much used in modern times for the preparation of ammonia, which is hence called the spirit of hartshorn. Dioscorides recommends hartshorn when burnt until it become white, and cleaned like calamine, in affections of the eyes. It will now be readily understood, that when so treated it is reduced to a phosphate of lime. Avicenna further prescribes it for removing the swelling of dropsy; and, like Dioscorides, he recommends it in jaundice. (ii, 2, 178.) We would remark, in conclusion, that it was the red deer which furnished the medicinal hartshorn of the ancients, but that the moderns have commonly used the horns of the fallow-deer instead. See Hill’s Materia Medica (835.)
Cerasia, Cherries; the sweet are more laxative, the austere more stomachic, but the acid agree best with pituitous and foul stomachs, owing to their being incisive. The gum of the tree smoothes asperities of the trachea, and relieves calculous affections when drunk with wine.
Commentary. This unquestionably is the Prunus Cerasus, L. We have given some account of cherries in the portion of our work devoted to ancient dietetics. Galen, in his work on Simples, treats of them with great precision; he remarks that in some the austere quality, in some the sweet, and in others the acid prevails, and that when unripe the sour is predominant. In fact, our author’s account of them is manifestly abridged from Galen. Aëtius and the other authorities, in like manner, copy from Galen. See also Serapion (c. 145.)
Ceratonia, Carob-tree, and the fruit of it (siliquæ) are possessed of desiccant and astringent powers, with a certain share of sweetness.
Commentary. It is unquestionably the Ceratonia Siliqua, L., or Carob-tree. We have given some account of it among the articles of food in Book I. All the other authorities on the Materia Medica give it nearly the same characters as our author. The writer who is fullest on this head is Avicenna, who treats of it under the name of Carob, i. e. Siliqua. (ii, 2, 193.) See also Serapion (c. 135), and Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 366.) Our modern herbalists treat of it in nearly the same terms as the ancients. See Parkinson (236.) It is still used on the Continent and in Asia as an inferior article of food, and holds a place in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia.
Capita, Heads; those of pickled herrings, when burnt, acquire a desiccative power without being very acrid. They therefore relieve fissures about the anus, and chronic cases of indurated uvula. The entire head of the anchovy (smaris), when burnt, is useful in alopecia when applied with bear’s grease. The burnt head of a mouse when applied with honey does the same thing. The dried head of the kite without its feathers, when drunk in water to as great an amount as can be lifted with three fingers, relieves gouty affections. They say that the head of a lizard extracts sharp-pointed things, and removes myrmecia, acrochordon, and clavus.
Commentary. Our author’s account of the medicinal properties of Heads is taken from Galen. See also Aëtius and Serapion. Dioscorides treats of the different articles separately, and not under a general head like Galen and his successors. (See ii, 31, 32, &c.) The Arabians merely copy from Dioscorides and Galen, especially the latter. See in particular Serapion (c. 571.)
Galla, Gall; that sort called Omphacitis is a very sour medicine, and hence it proves desiccant, repels defluxions, contracts and astringes relaxed and debilitated parts. It agrees also with all cases of defluxion. It is to be placed in the third rank of desiccants, and the second of refrigerants. The other sort, which is yellow, porous, and large, is desiccant indeed, but less so than the other, inasmuch as it is deficient in astringency. In a decoction it relieves inflammations of the fundament and prolapsus ani when burnt. Extinguished in vinegar they become styptic.
Commentary. Dioscorides describes two species of galls, of which the better kind, called omphacitis, consisted of small, hard, and solid pieces without perforations, and is not to be confounded with the ὄμφακις, or cupula of the acorn, mentioned by Paulus. (iii, 62.) See also Theophrastus (Hist. Plant. iii, 9), Pliny (H. N. xvi, 9), and Serapion (De Simpl. c. 237.) Galls were much used by the ancient physicians in all cases requiring powerful astringents. According to Dr. Hill, the Gallæ omphacitæ of the ancients were the same as the Aleppo galls now in use, and the other kind, sometimes called Onocicæ, the same as the European. Dioscorides describes the gall as the fruit of the oak, an error which is to be found, as Dr. Pereira remarks, in the works of comparatively recent writers. We need scarcely say that the excrescence is now well ascertained to be the production of a hymenopterous insect on the Quercus infectoria. Dioscorides treats largely of the cases in which galls are applicable, concluding with the remark that their use is indicated whenever it is wished to astringe, restrain, or dry. (ii, 146.) Our author’s description of their medicinal properties is mostly taken from Galen. Nearly the same may be said of Aëtius and Oribasius. The Arabians, in treating of them, borrow all the information which they give from the Greeks. See in particular Avicenna (ii, 2, 308), Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 234), Serapion (c. 98.)
Cepea, resembles the Purslain. The leaves of it in an infusion relieve scabious bladder when drunk; and the root of it, when taken in a draught with rock asparagus, relieves strangury from obstruction.
Commentary. Little is known for certain of this herb; but the most probable conjecture that has been made regarding it is, that it is the Sedum Cepæa, L. Our author’s account of it is taken literally from Dioscorides. Galen does not treat of it, nor have we been able to trace it out in the Materia Medica of the Arabians. Our old herbalists treat of it very hesitatingly under the head of brooklime. See Gerard and Parkinson.
Cera, Wax, being of a moderate temperament, forms the basis of many other medicines. By itself it is slightly detergent, and has some discutient and calefacient powers.
Commentary. This article is so well known that it requires no illustration. Dioscorides describes very circumstantially the process for bleaching wax and making it white. It was done with salt water and natron in a manner quite different from the process now pursued for this purpose. (ii, 105.) The Arabians treat fully of it, but without making any addition of much importance. See in particular Serapion (c. 10) and Avicenna (ii, 2, 462.) Avicenna says that wax, when applied to the wound inflicted by a poisoned arrow, prevents it from being followed by any bad effects. He recommends it as an expectorant in diseases of the chest, both in a liniment and in a potion. One of Serapion’s authorities, Abugerig, in like manner, recommends it in diseases of the chest.
Buccinæ (a species of shell-fish); their shell when burnt is possessed of sufficiently desiccative powers without pungency, they therefore agree with malignant ulcers, and are to be used for putrid ulcers with vinegar, wine, or oxymel. That part of them which is as it were their flesh when alive, if boiled in oil, renders the oil an useful injection for relieving earache.
Commentary. Sprengel makes them to be the Buccina Harpa and Lapillus. They are noticed among the articles of food in the ninety-first section of the First Book. Dioscorides correctly remarks that a species of quicklime is got from their shells. He recommends it as a dentifrice, and as an application to burns. (ii, 5.) Galen very properly inculcates the necessity of getting them finely levigated before applying them to sores. Avicenna treats of the buccina along with other crustacea under one head. His information is almost entirely borrowed from Dioscorides and Galen. (ii, 2, 529.) See also Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 224.)
Ricinus, Palma Christi; its fruit, which is also purgative, has detergent and discutient properties, and so also has its leaf, but weaker. We have already spoken of its oil.
Commentary. There can be no doubt that the κίκι or κρότων was the Ricinus communis, the Castor-oil plant, or Palma Christi. It is mentioned by Herodotus (Euterpe, 94) and in several passages of the Hippocratic treatises. See Œconom. Hippocrat. (218.) It does not occur, however, in the works of Celsus. Dioscorides informs us that it is called croton, from its resemblance to the dog-tick, and it is worthy of observation that both the plant and the dog-tick bear the name of Ricinus in Latin. See Pliny (H. N. xi, 34, and xv, 7.) Dioscorides says that the oil is used for lamps and plasters, and also as a purgative and emetic; but that it is a very loathsome and harsh medicine when administered internally. He further mentions the seeds as being used in cutaneous diseases, and the leaves in diseases of the eyes (iv, 141.) Galen notices it but very briefly as a purgative having detergent and discutient powers. Aëtius and Oribasius appear to have overlooked it. Mesue commends it as a purgative in cases of colic attended with flatulence. He says it produces vomiting and painful dejection of the bowels, but that its operation occasions a discharge of phlegm and bile, which often proves effectual in diseases of the joints. (De Simpl. 28.) He calls it by the names of Albemesuch, Granum regum, and Kerva. Avicenna says of the oil, that it is laxative, and is a good application to scabies and other cutaneous diseases. (ii, 2, 523.) It is deserving of remark that the Grana regia of Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 339), are applicable to the Lathyris, and not to the Cici. Indeed Mesue jumbles together his description of these two substances. (l. c.) We have mentioned already that the Oleum Cicinum or Castor-oil, was used as a purgative by the ancient physicians. Dr. Hill says of it, “the ancients obtained an oil by expression, and also by boiling, from the seeds; they called it Oleum Cicinum; they used it, for burning in their lamps, and in some of their ointments and plasters. Dioscorides commends it internally against worms; and Piso tells us that it is sometimes used in the same manner in the Brazils, with success.”
Cinnabaris, Sanguis Draconis, is possessed of moderately acrid powers with some astringency.
Commentary. We must refer to what we have stated in another work, which we have already often quoted, for the general literature of this subject. It will be sufficient in this place to state that the substance here treated of under the name of Cinnabaris is indisputably the Sanguis Draconis, or concrete juice of the Dracœna Draco. This is obvious from Dioscorides’s description of it, who says that it is of a deep colour, and hence some had thought it the blood of the dragon. (v, 109.) See further, Pliny (H. N. xxxiii, 38), and the very interesting note of Harduin, in which the origin of the confusion of the dragon’s blood with cinnabar is fully explained. Serapion treats of the Sanguis Draconis as the production of a tree, and quotes a description of it from Dioscorides and Galen. What vegetable substance in their Mat. Med. Serapion refers to, we are at a loss to decide. One of his authorities, Constantinus, calls it the juice of a plant, possessed of styptic powers, and therefore used as an astringent both internally as a suppository, and externally when so applied. (De Simpl. 341.) Avicenna recommends it similarly, but gives no description of it. (ii, 2, 627.) It is to be borne in mind that besides the vegetable cinnabar, the ancients described two other substances under this name, viz., the native mineral cinnabar or sulphuret of quicksilver, and a factitious cinnabar, which was their Sal Atticum. See Hill (Mat. Med. 60), and Geoffroy (215.) The dragon’s blood is retained in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia, where it is set down as the product of the Calamus Draco.
Cinnamomum, Cinnamon, is composed of extremely subtile parts, yet is not extremely heating, but only in the third degree. But of those in the same rank of calefacients none is so desiccative owing to the tenuity of its parts. The cinnamomis is a sort of weak cinnamon; but some call it pseudo-cinnamomum.
Commentary. Sprengel and Dierbach acknowledge it as the Laurus Cinnamomus. We have stated, however, under Cassia that Stackhouse is of opinion that the ancients were unacquainted with our Laurus Cinnamomus; but we see no good grounds for this opinion. We shall give the words of Sprengel: “Cassia lignea nostratum et cassia cinnamomea eadem esse videntur, unde et cassiam ipsam ex eadem arbore provenire, quæ cinnamomum largiatur, veteres jam statuerunt.” (ad Dioscor. i, 13.) Dioscorides recommends cinnamon in uterine affections, that is to say, for promoting the flow of the menses and for the expulsion of the fœtus. We need scarcely mention that this use of it has been revived of late. He also holds it to be alexipharmic, recommends it in coughs, dropsies, and diseases of the kidneys and bladder; in complaints of the eyes, and in the formation of elegant ointments; in short, he adds, it is a medicine much in use. (i, 13.) Galen and the other Greek authorities give its medicinal characters in more general terms. The Arabians treat of it at great length, and more especially Avicenna, who recommends it in the same cases as Dioscorides, namely, as a diuretic, emmenagogue, and alexipharmic medicine, and also as a stomachic and deobstruent in congestion of the liver. He also holds it to be cordial and expectorant. (ii, 2, 124.) Serapion professes to borrow his account of cinnamon from Dioscorides and Galen; but the extract which he gives from the latter, is not to be found in his works as they now exist. In it cinnamon is commended as being an aromatic medicine, applicable in complaints of the stomach and liver, in affections of the eyes, and as an emmenagogue and diuretic. (De Simpl. 266.) Rhases copies from Dioscorides, Galen, and our author. (Cont. l. ult. i, 213.)
Circea, Enchanter’s Nightshade; its root, which is desiccative and fragrant, when drunk with wine, cleanses the uterus. Its fruit, when taken in gruel, promotes the formation of milk.
Commentary. The commentators are much divided respecting it. Sprengel inclines to the Cynanchus niger. Lobelius took it to be the Solanum Dulcamara. One thing is certain, that it was quite different from any known species of the modern genus Circæa. See Parkinson (351.) Both Galen and our author, in treating of it, borrow from Dioscorides, the former of these professedly. We have not been able to detect it in the Mat. Med. of the Arabians.
Pumex, the Pumice-stone, is detergent, and more particularly of the teeth, not only in power, but also by its asperity. It is also joined to the medicines used for the incarnation of ulcers, and to the abstergent plasters applied to the skin. If burnt, its parts became finer, but it is then pungent; but if washed it lays aside its pungency.
Commentary. There can be no doubt that it was Pumice. Pumice, according to the latest analysis, is found to contain silica, argil, magnesia, soda, oxyd of manganese, and some water. For an account of it, see Pliny (H. N. xxxvi, 42.) He recommends it in diseases of the eyes. It appears evident, however, that he had copied from his contemporary, to whom he is so frequently indebted, we mean Dioscorides, who gives a similar description of pumice, and also recommends it in diseases of the eyes, more especially in opacity of the cornea, and likewise as an ingredient in applications to sores, and as a dentifrice. (v, 124.) Galen, after some preliminary discussion whether pumice be a metal, a stone, or an earth, proceeds to state its medicinal properties, in which he agrees with Dioscorides, most especially commending it as a dentifrice. (De Simpl. ix.) We may just mention in this place that modern authorities do not think so highly of this substance as a dentifrice. See Jameson’s ‘Mineral.’ (i, 333.) The Arabians under this head merely copy from Dioscorides and Galen. See in particular Serapion (De Simpl. 417.) Pumice anciently was used for polishing the leather with which books were bound. (Catullus, Epig. i.) Theophrastus (De Lapidibus), states that pumice is formed by the action of fire; and M. Dolomieu suspects that it is a vitrified granite or gneiss. The pumice, for some time past, has ceased to hold a place in our Dispensatory. Neither is it to be found in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia.
Cistus, Rock-rose; it is an astringent shrub, and of gently cooling powers. Its leaves and shoots are so desiccative as to agglutinate wounds; but the flowers are of a more drying nature, being about the second degree, and hence when drunk they cure dysenteries and all kind of fluxes. Externally they relieve putrid ulcers.
Commentary. Stackhouse marks it simply as the Cistus, L., called by Miller the Rock-rose (Index to Theophrastus.) Woodville calls it the C. Creticus (Medical Botany.) Dioscorides describes two species of it, which probably are the C. salvifolius and C. villosus. Galen particularly commends the former in uterine diseases. He also treats under this name of a much more celebrated species of the cistus, namely, the Ladaniferus, of which we will have to give some account under Λάδανον. Aëtius and Oribasius are the copyists of Galen. The Arabians treat separately of the Cistus and Ladanum, recommending the former as a powerful astringent, both in external ulcers and in those of the intestines and womb. Avicenna speaks favorably of it in deafness and other affections of the ear. (ii, 2, 111.) Serapion would appear to have confounded it with the κισσὸς (ivy); or at least he has given a very confused account of it in his chapter on the Ivy. (De Simpl. 41, 42.) Rhases does not appear to notice it separately from the Landanum (Ladanum) (Cont. l. ult. iii, 67.) The two species of cistus treated of under this head have long ceased to hold a place in our modern Dispensatories.
Hedera, Ivy, is composed of opposite powers, for it is astringent and cooling, and acrid and hot; consisting of a watery and tepid ingredient when green. Its leaves, when boiled with wine, are agglutinative of wounds and relieve burns and splenic affections. Its juice is an errhine, and cures chronic defluxions from the ear. Its tears, being more acrid, kill lice and act as a depilatory.
Commentary. We need have no hesitation in referring it with the best authorities to the Hedera Helix, L. Dioscorides describes three varieties of it, the white, the black, and the helix; but it is easy to see that they are all varieties of the same species. His distinctions, however, occasioned great trouble and confusion both to his Arabian copyists and to the modern herbalists. See Serapion (De Simpl. 41), and Parkinson (Theatre of Plants, 680), and Gerard (History of Plants, 857.) Our author’s account of its medicinal properties is taken from Galen. The tears of it, mentioned by Dioscorides and our author, were evidently its resin, now generally known by the name of gum ivy. All the ancient writers recommend it for thinning the hair and killing lice.
Citrium, Citron, called also Malum Medicum; its middle part is acid or devoid of qualities; but the part in which the seed is contained belongs to the third rank of cooling and desiccative medicines. The bark is desiccative in the second degree, but not cooling, for it is acrid. Its flesh engenders thick chyme, is phlegmatic and cold. Its seed is discutient and desiccative in the second degree; and the leaves of the tree are possessed of desiccative and discutient powers.
Commentary. Without doubt, as Sprengel states, it is the Malus Medica, L., or Citron. Most of the commentators on Virgil agree that it is his “felix malum” (Georg, ii, 127.) Dr. Paris remarks that it probably deserves the praises bestowed on it by him as an antidote to poisons (Pharmacol. 254); and on this head there is a very interesting dispute between the celebrated Fr. Hoffmann and Moses Charras, the famous French authority on the Pharmacopœia. See Pharm. (ii, 39.) According to Macrobius, it is the θύον of Homer, who mentions it in the following line: