Chapter XVI: Book IV: , 58, and Pereira (Mat. Med. 1101). It has been a question, by the (2)

COMMENTARY. From the descriptions of it given by Theophrastus (H. P. vi, 4), and Dioscorides (iii, 14), one can scarcely entertain a doubt that it was the _Scolymus Hispanicus_, or Spanish Cardoons, an esculent root, well known in the southern parts of Europe. Compare Sprengel (Ad Dioscor. iii, 14) with Lindley (Veg. King. 709), and see Beckmann (Hist. of Invent. under Artichoke). Dioscorides gives exactly the same account of its medicinal virtues as our author. (l. c.) Galen writes elaborately of it, but his conclusions, as to its properties, are the same as those of Dioscorides. We have not been able to trace it out in the works of the Arabians, unless it be their _harsef_. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 332); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 168). The truth is, that the term _scolymus_ was a puzzle to the ancient authorities and to their modern commentators, being sometimes, as is supposed, applied also to the _Cynara Scolymus_, or artichoke. See Parkinson (pluries). We have treated of the scolymus as a potherb in the First Volume, p. 114. We have hinted our belief that the _harsef_ or _harxaf_ of the Arabians was identical with the Σ. of the Greeks. We are confirmed in this opinion by a comparison of Dioscorides with Avicenna (l. c.), although we find that Salmasius referred it to the artichoke.

Σκόρδιον,

Scordium, _Water Germander_, is composed of varied powers, being bitter, sour, and acrid. It therefore at the same time purges and heats the viscera; promotes the urinary and menstrual discharges, warms parts which had been affected with cold, agglutinates and cleanses wounds, and proves incarnative when sprinkled dry.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It is clearly the _Teucrium Scordium_, or Water Germander. Dioscorides commends it for its diuretic, emmenagogue, and expectorant powers, when given internally; and for cleansing foul ulcers. Compare his account of it with its characters as stated by Dr. Hill. Our author condenses Galen’s statement of its medicinal properties. Galen remarks that it would appear to have got its name from its resemblance in qualities to the scorodon or garlic. The Arabians would seem to have confounded the scordium with the scorodon. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 622), and Serapion (De Simpl. 331).

Σκόρδον,

Allium, _Garlic_, is healing and desiccative in the fourth degree. But the ophioscordon, or wild garlic, is stronger than the cultivated.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. We are inclined to set down the two varieties of this substance as being _Allium sativum_ and _arenarium_. See Parkinson (vii, 29), and Sprengel (Ad Dioscor. ii, 181). Dioscorides gives a lengthy statement of the medicinal virtues of the garlic, which, as Galen somewhere says, was the great theriac of rustics. Dioscorides says it is the best of all medicines in the bites of vipers when taken along with wine, and that it forms an excellent cataplasm for the bites of mad dogs. He also recommends it as an application to various cutaneous complaints, such as leprosy and furfures; as an emmenagogue, both in the form of a hip-bath and fumigation; as a diuretic and remedy in dropsical diseases. (ii, 81.) Galen, like our author, merely states the general characters of the two species. It is frequently mentioned in the works of Hippocrates and in those of Celsus. The latter ranks it among the things “mali succi,” and calls it acrid, flatulent, heating, laxative of the bowels, &c. (ii, 21, 26, et alibi.) The Arabians treat of it at great length. See Serapion (De Simpl. 331); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Avicenna (ii, 2, 72); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i. 36.) They recommend it in eructations, in dropsy as a laxative and diuretic, and as an emmenagogue. They say a clyster of it relieves sciatica, and a gargle of it is useful in toothache, and clears the voice. Avicenna affirms, from personal experience, that it is an excellent medicine in the case of persons stung by venomous reptiles. Ruffus, as quoted by Serapion, says it is hurtful to the ears, the liver, the lungs, and the kidneys. Fresh garlic, he says, is diuretic, loosens the bowels, and is vermifuge. Another of his authorities says, raw garlic is vermifuge, and useful in strangury.

Σκορδόπρασον,

Scordoprason, _Garlic-leek_, in taste and powers is compounded of the garlic and leek.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. We are disposed to set it down as being _Allium Scorodoprason_. None of the authorities supply any interesting information under this head.

Σκορπιοειδὲς,

Scorpioides, _Caterpillar_, is heating in the third order, and desiccative in the second.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. We suppose it to be the _Scorpiurus sulcatus_, L., which is synonymous with the _Scorpioides_, Tournefort. Dioscorides merely recommends it as an application to the bites of scorpions. (iv, 192.)

Σκόρπιος,

Scorpius, _the Scorpion_; the land one, when applied raw, is a remedy for its own bite, and in like manner, when eaten roasted. The sea scorpion’s bile is useful in suffusions.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. See Book V. Avicenna recommends the oil of _scorpions_ in diseases of the ear. (ii, 2, 64.) The sea-scorpion is the _Cottus scorpius_. Dioscorides recommends its gall in cataracts, albugo, and dimness of sight. (ii, 14.)

Σκωρία,

Recrementum, _Dross_; all kinds are considerably desiccative, but that of iron more than the others. This, when pulverized and boiled in vinegar, cures purulent discharges from the ears in a wonderful manner; and when taken with oxymel, proves a remedy to those who have drunk aconite. That of lead is similar to lead itself, but more astringent.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It is called recrementum by Celsus. (v, 15.) It is the dross of a metal which is collected on the outside of the furnace while the metal is purified by heat. See Pliny (H. N. xxxiv, 27) and Matthiolus (Ad Dioscor. v, 54.) Dioscorides says of the recrementum plumbi that it has the same powers as burnt lead (v, 97), and of the recrementum ferri, that it is a remedy in cases of poisoning with aconite. (v, 94.) Celsus ranks the recrementum plumbi among the emollients. (Ibid.) Avicenna recommends the recrementum ferri as an astringent in cases of hemorrhoids and other fluxes. Like Dioscorides and our author, he says that it is an antidote to aconitum. One of Serapion’s authorities, Adamasti, says of the recrementum argenti, that it is cooling and desiccative, and useful in cardiac disease, and another, Alcanzi, says it is good for scabies and prurigo. His other extracts are from Dioscorides, Galen, and Paulus. Ebn Baithar gives an interesting exposition of this subject, but it is mostly made up from the authorities already quoted by us. (i, 348.) Rhases treats of it in like manner. (Cont. l. ult. i, 234.)

Σμίλαξ,

Smilax or Taxus, _the Yew_, is a tree of deleterious properties.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It is the _Taxus baccata_, L. See Book V. (48.) It appears remarkable that Dioscorides should have allowed this article a place in the Materia Medica, seeing that he himself says that he had noticed it merely to guard against it. He says that in Narbonia (Languedoc or Savoy), the yew-tree was possessed of such a power as to prove fatal to persons sitting or sleeping in its shade. (ii, 80.) We have stated, however, elsewhere (v, 48) that great difference of opinion has prevailed regarding this reputed noxious power of the yew.

Σμύρνα,

Myrrha, _Myrrh_, is of the second order of calefacients and desiccants. It, therefore, agglutinates wounds of the head when sprinkled upon them. It has also some bitterness; and hence it kills worms and the fœtus; and it is detergent, and, therefore, is mixed with ophthalmic remedies. It is likewise expectorant without roughening the trachea. Bœotian myrrh has calefacient, emollient, and solvent powers.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. That this is the same as our myrrh is indisputable, and the best botanical authorities are now pretty well agreed that it is the product of a dwarf shrub, to which they have given the name of _Balsamodendron Myrrha_. See Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 460); Pereira (Mat. Med. 1187.) It is mentioned in what is perhaps the oldest literary production in existence (Genesis xxxvii, 25), and is frequently noticed as a medicine in the works which bear the name of Hippocrates. (De Superfœt.; de Muliebr.) See further ‘Œconom. Hippocrat.’ (347) and Dierbach (Arsn. des Hipp. 224.) In short, this gum-resin was much used in the ancient practice of medicine. According to Dioscorides it is calefacient, soporific, agglutinative, desiccative, and astringent. He recommends it in chronic coughs and asperities of the trachea. He also states that it was used in ulcers of the eye and other complaints of a like nature. He further says of it that it is anthelminthic; that it cures fetor of the mouth, and likewise of the armpits when used as an ointment with liquid alum; that in a gargle with oil it strengthens the gums and teeth. He describes two kinds of liquid myrrh, which he calls _Stacte_; the finest was that which runs fluid from the tree without cutting. The other was a fluid myrrh, taken out of the midst of the larger pieces of the solid kind. See Hill (Mat. Med.) The account which Pliny gives of myrrh is highly interesting, but does not contain much that would answer our present purpose. (See H. N. xii, 33-6.) Celsus makes mention of the _stacte_ (v, 23), and prescribes the myrrh frequently as a concocting and agglutinating substance. Galen describes it in two of his works. (De Simpl. 109, and De Antidot. T. ii, 433, ed. Basil.) Our author’s account of this substance is condensed from the former of these works. Aëtius in like manner borrows from him, as Oribasius does from Dioscorides. For the Arabians, see Avicenna (ii, 2, 468); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 474); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Serapion (De Simpl. 292); Haly Abbas (Pract. ii, 41); Ebn Baithar (ii, 496.) Our limits prevent us from venturing upon an exposition of what these authors have written upon this subject, but this is the less to be regretted, as we do not find that they add anything of much practical importance to the information supplied by their Grecian masters. They confirm, however, by their authority, all that the Greeks had stated regarding the virtues of myrrh as an emmenagogue and a medicine capable of accelerating delivery. They are also agreed that it is diuretic and expectorant. One of Serapion’s authorities says it evacuates fluids from the belly when applied as a plaster. Another of them says that in a masticatory it evacuates the brain.

It would appear that the Bœotian myrrh mentioned by Dioscorides, Galen, and our author, was the Alexanders or _Smyrnium Olusatrum_.

Σμύρνιον,

Smyrnium, _Alsander_ (called also Hipposelinum and Apium silvestre) is heating and desiccative of the third order, being stronger than parsley, but weaker than stone-parsley. It is, therefore, emmenagogue and diuretic.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. This, it would appear, is not the _Smyrnium Olusatrum_, but either the _Smyrnium Dioscoridis_, or, as supposed by Dodonæus, the _perfoliatum_. In another place we have set it down as the latter, and treated of it as an article of food. (Vol. I, 114.) All the authorities give it nearly the same character as our author. See Dioscorides (iii, 72); Galen (De Simpl.); Avicenna (ii, 2, 55.) All agree that it is an excellent diuretic and emmenagogue. It is the _olusatrum_ of Scribonius Largus.

Σόγχος,

Sonchus, _Sow-thistle_, is astringent and sensibly cooling both when applied externally and eaten. But when dried, it is moderately calefacient.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It would appear to be the _Sonchus oleraceus_, but this is not quite certain. Dioscorides describes three species, of which the first two are, perhaps, but varieties of the _Sonchus oleraceus_, although some of the authorities would refer the first to some distinct species, not well determined. Galen and our author describe only one species, which would certainly appear to have been the _S. oleraceus_, a well-known plant, which held a place in our Dispensatories until a late date. See Quincy (i, 11, 510.) Dioscorides calls it sub-astringent, and recommends it in a cataplasm for heat of the stomach and inflammations, and its juice for stomach-ache and to attract milk; when applied on wool, he says it relieves inflammations of the anus and uterus; and that its root and stem are useful to persons bitten by scorpions. (ii, 158.) Galen merely states its temperament and qualities in general terms. We are not aware that it is described by any of the Arabians, with the exception of Ebn Baithar, who merely gives the descriptions of it from Dioscorides and Galen. (i, 211.)

Σπαργάνιον,

Sparganium; this also is possessed of desiccative powers.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It is the _Sparganium simplex_. Pliny recommends it as an antidote to the sting of serpents. (H. N. xxv, 63.) He, as usual, borrows from Dioscorides. (iv, 21.) Galen treats of it as briefly as our author. Few, if any of the other authorities, notice it. Its congener, the _S. ramosum_, is still kept in the shops with the reputation of curing the bite of the viper. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 15.)

Σπαρτὸς,

Genista, _Broom_, by which they bind vines; the fruit and flower of it, when drunk with honeyed water to the amount of five oboli, purge upwards, like white hellebore, without danger. But the fruit also purges downwards. The twigs remedy ischiatic diseases.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Without doubt it is the _Spartium junceum_. It is the genista of the Latins, as Silvius states in his commentary on Mesue. He says that it is a powerful diuretic, and its seeds are still sometimes used with this intention. Mesue further commends it as an emetic in gout and other arthritic diseases. Dioscorides and Pliny give nearly the same account of its medicinal properties as our author. Dioscorides further commends it in sciatica and cynanche, and when given as a clyster in the former complaint. (iv, 155.) It is not easy to trace it in the works of the other authorities, except Ebn Baithar, who copies principally from Galen or Dioscorides. (i. 489.)

Σπεκλάριον ἢ σφεκλάριον,

Lapis specularis, which some use instead of specula in their windows, and hence it has been called diaphanous. Being of the nature of gypsum, it has powers like burnt shells or oysters.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It is the Gypsum speculare or Selenite, as is evident from our author’s description of it. Seneca says that in his time it had come to be used in windows from its transparency. (Ep. 60.) See further, Pliny (H. N. xxxvi, 45.) See Book V, 58. The Arabians praise its virtues in the cure of all fluxes; and Agricola mentions that in his time it was frequently given for the cure of dysenteries.

Σπόγγος,

Spongia, _Sponge_; the recent, which still preserves the smell of the sea, when applied with water, wine, or oxycrate, agglutinates wounds; but if burnt, it has acrid and discutient powers. When burnt with asphaltos or liquid pitch, and applied hot, it stops hemorrhages.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. Aristotle, Pliny, Philoponus, Phile, and Avicenna acknowledge the animal nature of sponges, and yet we find it stated in most of our modern treatises on natural history that the ancients supposed them to be vegetables. Ebn Baithar, we believe, stands alone among the ancient authorities in maintaining that there is no truth in the opinion that the sponge is an animal, but that, on the contrary, it is decidedly a vegetable which grows from the rocks. (i, 45.) Avicenna recommends the use of sponge in the same cases as our author does. Serapion gives nearly the same account of it. He says that the stones found in sponges are lithontriptic. Of the two species described by Dioscorides, the hard is the _S. fasciculata_, Pall., and the soft the _S. officinalis_. He recommends sponge tent for dilating fistulous ulcers. He says they may be applied like tents to sores; that with vinegar they restrain hemorrhages; and that burnt sponges are useful in dry ophthalmy, and whenever you want to deterge or astringe; but that when washed, they apply better in ophthalmic remedies; and that, when burnt with pitch, they are suitable in hemorrhages. (v, 137.) In the Hippocratic treatises this term is generally applied to the tonsils or glands of the neck, as at ‘Epidem.’ (iv.) But in one passage of a work, certainly not genuine, it appears to be used for the sponge. (De Morbis, ii.) Celsus prescribes a sponge squeezed out of oil, vinegar, or cold water as an application to relieve the swelling and heat of the gout (iv), and for other medicinal purposes. Galen gives an interesting article under this head, and describes an ingenious process by which, he says, that he had known a hemorrhage stopped. A sponge dipped in asphaltus, or, in the absence of it, in tar, having been laid on the bleeding place, it was set fire to until it formed an eschar on the surface, while the remainder of it was left as a farther cover to the vessels. (De Simpl. xi.) The Arabians treat fully of the “Spongia maris,” and quote what Dioscorides and Galen had written respecting it. Avicenna decidedly says that sponge was supposed to be an animal possessed of motion. He and Rhases recommend it principally for cleansing sores and stopping bleeding. (ii, 2, 595, and Cont. l. ult. 676.)

Σπόδιον,

Spodium has similar powers to the pompholyx.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It is nearly the same as the Pompholyx. Pliny thus states the difference between them: “Etiamnum in ærariis reperiuntur, quæ vocant pompholygem et spodon. Differentia quod pompholyx loturâ paratur, spodos illota est.” (H. N. xxxiv, 33.) The name, in modern times, has been applied to burnt ivory. See Gray (Suppl. to Pharm. 260), and Platearius (De Simp. Med. 250.) The ancient spodium was an impure oxyd of zinc. The term, however, was sometimes applied to other recrements, as we are informed by Pliny (l. c.), and Dioscorides (v, 85.) He gives a more minute description of the preparation of it and of pompholyx. The Arabians treat of both under the general name of _Tucia_ or Tutty, which was long retained in modern times. They used it very freely in diseases of the eyes, and also in those about the genital organs. See Serapion (c. 422); Avicenna (ii, 2, 695); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 730); Haly Abbas (Pract. ii, 45, 474.) The spodium occurs frequently as an ingredient in the collyria and ointments described by Celsus (v, 6), &c. We need scarcely remind the reader that tutty ointment has continued to be used as an ophthalmic even to our own times. The _spodos_ of the Hippocratic writers would appear to have been applied in a more general sense to various recrements of the metals. (De Ulceribus.) The spodium of the Arabians would seem to have been the ashes of the privet. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 609); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 675.)

Σταφυλῖνος,

Staphylinus, _Carrot_, is diuretic and promotes menstruation, particularly the seed and root. But the leaves being possessed of detergent powers agree with phagedænic affections when applied green along with honey. The wild is for all purposes stronger than the cultivated.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. As Sprengel states, it is undoubtedly a variety of the _Daucus Carota_, L., or _Wild Carrot_. Diphilus, as quoted by Athenæus, says that it is acrid, nutritive, moderately stomachic, laxative, flatulent, indigestible, diuretic, and aphrodisiacal. (Deipnos. ix, 2.) Pliny mentions that it proves useful in strangury, dropsy, and several other complaints. (H. N. xx, 15.) Plinius Valerianus says of it that it had been given in diseases of the liver, spleen, loins, and kidneys, in hydromel. (iv, 32.) Our author’s account of its medicinal properties is mostly condensed from Dioscorides. He recommends it strongly as a diuretic, emmenagogue, and aphrodisiac, and says of it, that applied _per vaginam_ it procures the expulsion of the fœtus. (iii, 52.) Galen and Aëtius give nearly the same account of it as our author. The Arabian authorities speak of it in the same terms. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 287); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. iii, 18); Serapion (c. 265.) The commentator Eustathius mentions its aphrodisiacal properties. (Ad Iliad. xviii, 560.) According to Dierbach, the σ. of Hippocrates comprehends both the _Daucus Carota_ and _guttatus_. It would appear to us that this is the “Pastinaca agrestis” of Celsus (ii, 31), although his editor, Dr. Milligan, decides otherwise with regard to it. In confirmation of our opinion we refer to Pliny (l. c.), and to Beckmann’s ingenious disquisition on our kitchen vegetables in his ‘Hist. of Invent.’ He seems clearly to make out that the daucus, staphylinus, carota, and pastinaca were all merely varieties of the _Daucus Carota_. He is in some doubts, however, whether the “pastinaca” was not also sometimes applied to the parsnip. See, however, under _Daucus_.

Στάχυς,

Stachys, _Base Horehound_, is a shrub resembling horehound, and is calefacient in the third degree. It therefore promotes menstruation, kills the fœtus, and expels the secundines.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It is the _Stachys Palestina_, or _Base Horehound_. Our author gives exactly the same account of its medicinal properties as Dioscorides and Galen, the latter remarking of it that it not only promotes menstruation, but is a drug used for procuring abortion. Pliny, by confounding πράσον and πράσιον, says of it that it resembles the _porrum_ instead of the marrubium; so that his celebrated editor, Harduin, holds that the stachys of Pliny is different from that of Dioscorides. (Ad H. N. xxiv, 86.) It is quite clear, however, that the plants are identical, and accordingly Pliny, like the other, says of his stachys, that it is emmenagogue. The Arabians do not seem to treat of it.

Στέατα,

Adipes, _Fats_, or _Grease_; all kinds dilute and warm the human body, but their powers vary according to the different temperaments of animals. That of swine, then, is the most humid of all, its powers being like those of oil. Hence it blunts sharp pains. That of goats is drier and sooner coagulated, and therefore is used as an injection to those who have sharp pains in the rectum. That of geese is hotter and more attenuate; that of domestic cocks and hens being intermediate. That of lions is the hottest of all and the most attenuate, hence it is most discutient. That of oxen has an intermediate temperament between swine and lions. That of bears cures alopecia, that of foxes, earache; as that of vipers is said to remove hairs and prevent suffusions from forming. Upon the whole, that of males is the hotter and more desiccative, and of them those which have their testicles more than those which have been cut, and of those which are full-grown than that of the others. All sorts of grease when long kept become hotter.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. _Fats._ Our author’s account of their medicinal properties is sufficiently ample. For further information, however, the reader may consult Dioscorides and Galen. The former gives very minute and seemingly important directions for the preparations of all these animal fats. We may just mention here a little piece of criticism which Galen bestows in this case upon his much admired predecessor. Dioscorides says of the grease _or_ lard of goats, that it is more styptic (στυπτικώτερον) than that of swine. Upon which Galen remarks that although Dioscorides had written much and well on the Materia Medica, he often uses words in a wrong signification, as he does in the present instance, for that the above-mentioned term, which properly signifies astringent, must here be understood to mean acrid or pungent. Now we think that Galen is here correct, and that Sprengel’s attempt to bring his author, Dioscorides, clear off in the present case is not successful. Indeed, as we firmly believe that a greater master of the Greek language than Galen never existed, we may always feel secure that where the exact meaning of Greek terms is concerned, one may safely trust to him. The Arabians under this head merely give extracts from Dioscorides and Galen. See in particular Serapion (De Simpl. 461) and Avicenna (ii, 2, 70.)

Στίμμι,

Antimonium, _Antimony_, in addition to its desiccative powers, has also astringency. Hence it is mixed with collyria for the eyes.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. This is evidently the sulphuret of antimony. The native antimony is so rare a mineral that it is not likely the ancients had any acquaintance with it, and the factitious antimony is not described by any ancient author. For an account of the ancient antimony, see in particular Dioscorides (v, 99) and Pliny (H. N. xxxiii, 33.) It was much used by the ancients in the composition of the medicines called calliblephara. “Vis ejus astringere et refrigerare principalis autem circa oculos.” Pliny (l. c.) In the Old Testament the Jewish women are censured for this use of it. None of the Greek or Latin authors speak of giving it internally except Serapion, who quotes Badigorus (Pythagoras?) as stating that it proves a remedy for epilepsy and gross superfluities. (c. 249.) In its calcined state it was made into pastils of a square form, and hence the metal itself is called τετράγωνον by Hippocrates, as has been supposed by his expositors. See Galen (Exeg.) and Föes (Œcon. Hippocrat. 371.) Hippocrates recommends it as a medicine for purging the head (De Intern. Affect.), that is to say, as an ingredient in _caputpurgia_, or errhines, to the use of which he was partial. (See Vol. I, pp. 59, 60 of this work.) But with the authorities subsequent to him its principal use would seem to have been confined to collyria. See in particular Haly Abbas (Pract. ii, 48); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 43.) Celsus frequently uses it for this and other purposes.

Στοιβὴ,

Stœbe, _Knapweed_; the fruit and leaves are desiccative in the third degree, being possessed of astringent powers. Hence they agglutinate large wounds; and the decoction of them relieves dysentery, hemorrhages, and discharges of pus from the ear; and in a cataplasm it is of use in suggillations of the eye from a blow.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. There has been considerable difference of opinion among modern authorities on this head, as is fully stated by Parkinson (Theatre of Plants, 998), and by Sprengel (Ad Dioscor. iv, 12.) We acquiesce in the judgment of those who hold it to be the _Poterium spinosum_. See Galen (De Antidot. 426, T. ii, ed. Basil.) Our author’s notice of it is manifestly taken from Galen, who, in his turn, is much indebted to Dioscorides. (iv, 12.) None of the others add anything of interest respecting it. It does not occur in the works of Hippocrates nor of Celsus, nor have we been able to detect it in those of the Arabians, except Ebn Baithar, who quotes only Dioscorides and Galen under this head. (ii, 19.)

* * * * *

Στρούθιον. It appears singular that our author should have omitted the Struthium, which is noticed in this place by Dioscorides and Galen. This is the celebrated soap-plant used by the fullones or cleansers of cloth in ancient times. The reader will find a very interesting disquisition on it in Beckmann’s ‘History of Inventions.’ We think there is every probability that it was the _Saponaria officinalis_. Dioscorides represents it to be diuretic, emmenagogue, and lithontriptic, a remedy for diseases of the chest, the liver, the spleen, and for jaundice; a discutient application to indolent tumours, a sternutatory, and a masticatory. (ii, 192.) By the way, the famous writer Lucian mentions an amusing example of its use as a masticatory. (De Alexandro.) Galen states its virtues in general terms; he says it is acrid and detergent, and hence it acts as a sialogogue. We have not been able to find it in the works of Hippocrates. See Pliny (T. ii, 341, 161, 410, ed. Harduin) and Celsus (v, 18.) The Arabians treat of it very fully. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 133); Serapion (De Simpl. 362); Rhases (Contin. l. ult. iii, 38.) They all hold it to be emetic, and when it cannot be procured they recommend in its place nux vomica. They also recommend it for all the medicinal purposes enumerated by Dioscorides. The soap-wort has been used medicinally in modern times. See Culpeper (172), Lewis (M. M. 339), and Gray (Suppl. to Pharmacop. 115.) Quincy gives a very confused account of it. (138.) In the modern Greek Pharmacopœia it is still retained. (144.)

Στοιχάς,

Stœchas, _Cassidony_, or _French Lavender_; it is deobstruent, attenuant, detergent, and strengthens all the viscera and the whole habit of the animal.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. It appears to be the _Lavandula Stœchas_, or French Lavender. See Tournefort (M. M.) Pliny says that it is an odoriferous herb of a bitter taste. He adds that it promotes menstruation and relieves pains of the breast. (H. N. xxvii, 107.) Dioscorides recommends it for diseases of the chest and for antidotes. (ii, 28.) Galen has some very sensible remarks on its qualities as perceived by the taste, and recommends it in the same cases as our author. See also ‘De Antidot.’ (i.) Avicenna and Rhases recommend it for epilepsy and melancholy. According to the Arabians it is purgative and alexipharmic, but Dr. Hill denies that it possesses these powers in any considerable degree. It still held a place in our Mat. Med. when Lewis wrote. (ii, 389.) It is retained in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia.

Στρατιώτης,

Achillea, _Yarrow_; that which grows in water is possessed of cold powers, but the land has astringency; hence it agglutinates ulcers. Some use it for hemorrhages and fistulæ.

* * * * *

COMMENTARY. The land is decidedly the _Achillea Millefolium_, the river the _Pistia Stratiotes_. The millefoil got the name of Achillea from being supposed the herb used by Achilles in dressing wounds. V. Eustathius (ad Iliad, xi, ad finem.) Our author copies almost word for word from Galen, who, however, is equally indebted to Dioscorides for the characters of the yarrow. Regarding the water plant, Dioscorides says that it preserves wounds free from inflammation, and cures erysipelas and œdema in a cataplasm with vinegar. (iv, 100, 101.) These plants are not to be found in the works of Hippocrates, Celsus, nor of the Arabian authorities, as far as we can discover, with the exception of Ebn Baithar, who merely gives extracts under this head from Dioscorides and Galen (ii, 30), and of Rhases, who merely quotes Galen. (Cont. l. ult. 637.) The _Pistia Stratiotes_ is still used by the Hindoo physicians as a demulcent in dysuria, and as a cataplasm for hemorrhoids. See Lindley (Veg. King. 125.) The yarrow held a place in our Dispensatory with its ancient character down to a late date. See Quincy (92) and Lewis (M. M. 108.) It still holds a place in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia (109.)

Στρύχνος,

Strychnos, Solanum (?), _Nightshade_ (?), or _Alkekengi_, i. e. _Winter Cherry_; the garden and esculent sort is astringent and cooling in the second degree. The halicacabum is like the garden, having a diuretic fruit like the grape of a vine. The bark of the root of the Strychnos somnifera when drunk with wine to the amount of a dram is soporific. And it has a diuretic seed, being of the third order of refrigerants; hence when drunk in greater quantity than twelve clusters it occasions madness. The fourth species is not used internally, but when applied externally it cures spreading ulcers, belonging to the second order of refrigerants and desiccants.

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COMMENTARY. We must not venture upon the discussion of disputed points respecting the _Strychni_ of the ancients, for which we beg to refer our readers to the Appendix to Dunbar’s Greek Lexicon, and we shall merely state our conclusions so far as they are interesting to the professional reader. Of the four species described by Dioscorides, the 1st, or Strychnus hortensis, is the _Solanum nigrum_, or its variety _S. miniatum_; the 2d, or Halicacabum, is the _Physalis alkekengi_; the 3d, or S. somniferum, is the _Physalis somnifera_; and the 4th, or Furialis, is the _Solanum Sodomæum_. Several learned authorities, however, have taken the last for the _Atropa Belladonna_. Our author in the main follows Dioscorides, who treats of the virtues of the _Strychni_ at so great length that we dare not attempt to follow him in the present instance. The first he does not administer internally, but recommends it very largely as an external application for erysipelas, herpes, headache, heat of the stomach, affections of the eye, the siriasis of children, earache, the fluor albus, &c. The second, he says, resembles the first in virtue. The third, he says, has the same powers as the juice of the poppy. The fourth brings on phantasies and delirium, and in large doses proves fatal. The best counter-agent to it is undiluted wine drunk and afterwards vomited. (iv, 72-5.) Celsus frequently prescribes “solanum quam στρύχνον Græci vocant,” and ranks it among those things which repress and soothe. (ii, 33.) He recommends it as an application in phrenitis and various other diseases. (iii, 18.) Galen and Aëtius give nearly the same account of it as our author. Oribasius confessedly borrows his description from Dioscorides. The Arabians treat fully of the solanum, of which Avicenna mentions that there are five species. (ii, 2, 646.) See Serapion (De Simpl. 138); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 662); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn Baithar (ii, 212.) The characters which they give of these plants agree in the main so well with those given to them by the Greeks, that we need not stop to note slight differences. The Latin writers of the middle ages call solanum by the name of maurella. See Macer Floridus. He says of the strychnos that it is possessed of powerfully narcotic properties. The Solanum nigrum held a place in our Dispensatories, and retained the characters transmitted down with it from antiquity as late as the end of the last century. See Lewis (M. M.) All our old herbalists, Gerard, Parkinson, and Culpeper, speak of its virtues in the same terms as Dioscorides. Our toxicologists have decided that it is a powerful narcotic. See Orfila. The _Physalis somnifera_ is still used in India as an application to inflammatory tumours. See Lindley (Veg. King. 621.) The _alkekengi_ is still admitted to be possessed of a diuretic power, as stated by Dioscorides. (Ibid.) We are not aware of the Solanum Sodomæum having ever been used medicinally in modern times, but we need scarcely say that of late years the Atropa Belladonna has occupied no undistinguished place in our Dispensatories. On the _Strychnos furiosa_ as a poison, see Vol. II, p. 224.

Στυπτηρία,

Alumen, _Alum_; all kinds of it are very sour, and consist of gross particles. But the alumen scissile, or _Stone Alum_, consists of more subtile parts than the others. After it is the Alumen rotundum, or _Round Alum_, and the astragolotum. The Alumen liquidum, or _Liquid Alum_, consists of gross parts; and so also the varieties called placitis and plinthitis.

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COMMENTARY. After having read much that has been written by the best authorities both ancient and modern upon this subject, we still approach the discussion of it with very great diffidence. Having deliberately considered what Beckmann has written regarding the ancient alum, we cannot agree with him in setting it down as being copperas or the green sulphate of iron. The ancients, indeed, may not always distinguish accurately the latter from “the sulphate of alum and potash,” but considering how common this mineral is in the countries bordering upon the Mediterranean, we cannot conceive how the ancients could possibly have remained ignorant of it, and we need scarcely add that it has never been pretended that _it_ has been described by them under any other name. But its varieties differed much from one another. The Alumen plumosum, called τριχῖτις by the Greeks, was no doubt the _Hair salt_ of Werner, which, according to the analysis of Klaproth, contains a large mixture of the sulphates of magnesia and iron. Geoffroy remarks that “of liquid alum two kinds are taken notice of by the ancients; the one pure and the other impure. The solid or concreted kind was by the ancients distinguished, according to the figure of its parts, into fissile and round. The fissile natural alum was either in form of a compact, uniform globe, or appeared divided into small hairs or filaments. The round kind was of a more rare texture.” The Alumen Jameni of the Arabians was the plumose alum. Pliny and Octavius Horatianus recommend alum as an application to burns when pounded with oil. Alum was used in the practice of medicine from the earliest times. Hippocrates prescribes it in ulcers of the womb, diseases of the gums, and for various other purposes. (Epid. vii, De Mulieb., De Ulcer., &c.) Our author borrows from Galen. Dioscorides gives a most elaborate description of the different kinds and of their uses in medicine. They are all possessed, he says, of a heating power, and also of an astringent, and hence they clear the obscurities of the cornea, melt down fungous flesh on the eyelids and elsewhere, the schistose being more powerful than the round; they stop mortifications and hemorrhages, repress flaccid gums, strengthen loose teeth with vinegar or honey; are beneficial in aphthæ; and, in short, he states most minutely the various purposes to which alum may be applied. On the alumen see also Pliny (H. N. xxxv, 52) and Celsus (iv, 18), with the note of Milligan. For the Arabians consult Avicenna (ii, 2, 68); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 43); Serapion (De Simpl. 420); Haly Abbas (Pract. ii, 44); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. 38); Ebn Baithar (ii, 83.) All of these authors, even including the last, do little more than copy from Dioscorides and Galen under this head. Geber, however, treats of the subject with some appearance of originality, and describes the kinds of alum with considerable accuracy. (Invention of Verity, c. 4.) The process of burning alum for medicinal purposes, which is barely alluded to by Dioscorides, is described by Geber and by Servitor. (i.)

Στυραξ,

Storax, is calefacient, emollient, and digestive. It therefore is useful in coughs, catarrhs, and defluxions; and promotes menstruation both when drunk and applied on a pessary.

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COMMENTARY. It is clearly our officinal storax, or _Styrax officinale_. Dr. Pereira has given the ancient history of this substance so correctly, as to leave us little further to add under the present head. (Mat. Med. 931.) As he states, the storax has been described by Hippocrates, Theophrastus, Pliny, and Dioscorides. The several varieties described by the last of these, Dr. Pereira ingeniously refers to kinds of storax, with which we are still acquainted. The _Styrax Calamita_ is mentioned by our author in the eleventh Section; according to him it is but a variety of the amygdaloid storax, which was formerly imported enveloped in a monocotyledonous leaf. Dioscorides’s description of its medicinal properties agrees well with our author’s, but is considerably fuller. (i, 79.) Galen and the other Greek authorities treat of it like our author. Celsus prescribes it frequently as an emollient, discutient, concoctive, and suppurative medicine. (v, 18, 22, c. &c.) The Arabians treat of it at considerable length, but do not add much of any practical importance to what had been written on it by Dioscorides and Galen. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 423); Serapion (c. 46); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 687); Ebn Baithar (ii, 428.) Upon the whole, Serapion’s account appears to us most interesting. His Arabian authority, Isaac Eben Amram, mentions that it was used by the Christians in their churches for fumigations. Avicenna, according to Dr. Hill, is the only one among the Arabians who distinguishes the solid storax, which we have been treating of from the liquid, or _Styrax liquidus_. It is quite a different substance, being procured from the _Liquid amber orientale_, according to Dr. Lindley. (Veg. King. 253.)

Σύκα,

Ficus, _Figs_; those which are dried possess heating powers in about the second degree. But those which are fatty rather digest hard tumours; those which are more acrid prove detergent and discutient. The decoction of them, when made of the consistence of honey (which some call siræon), is similar in powers to honey. The powers of the green are weaker, but both loosen the belly. The figs of the wild tree are possessed of acrid and discutient powers like those of the cultivated.

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COMMENTARY. See Book I (s. 81.) Pliny enumerates the medicinal properties of _figs_ at great length. Ripe figs are said to be diuretic, laxative, and diaphoretic. Externally they were used as an application to boils and scrofulous swellings. (H. N. xxiii, 63.) See also Dioscorides and Serapion, both of whom give the characters of figs in nearly the same terms as Pliny. No ancient author, however, has treated so elaborately of figs as Avicenna (ii, 2, 276.) His account of them is so lengthy that we dare not venture upon an analysis of it.

Σνκὴ,

Ficus, _the Fig-tree_, is of a heating and attenuating temperament, so that the juice of it and the sap of the leaves are not only pungent and strongly detergent, but also occasion ulceration, open the mouths of vessels, and remove myrmecia. It is also cathartic. The wild-fig, called caprificus, is in every respect more powerful than the cultivated.

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COMMENTARY. See the authorities referred to in the preceding article. Pliny recommends the juice of the caprificus or wild fig-tree (_Ficus Carica_), as an application to leprosy, psora, and lichen. All the authorities, Greek, Latin, and Arabian, praise it as an application to the wounds of venomous animals. The wild fig-tree is the Ἐρίνεος of Homer. V. Eustath. ‘Comment. in Iliad.’ (vi, 433.) The commentator describes accurately the process of caprification.

Συκόμορος,

Sycomorus, _the Sycomore_; the fruit is innutritive, and bad for the stomach. The juice of the tree has powers which are emollient, agglutinative of wounds, and discutient of tumours. It is taken in a draught and rubbed in for the bites of reptiles, for scirrhous spleens, pains of the stomach, and rigors.

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COMMENTARY. Of course there can be no doubt of its being the _Ficus Sycomorus_. Galen, Dioscorides, and Serapion detail its medicinal properties in nearly the same terms as our author. Nothing else of any interest can be gathered from the others under this head.

Σύμφυτον,

Symphytum, _Comfrey_; the rock comfrey is composed of opposite powers. For it has some incisive powers by which it cleanses the pus in the chest and the kidneys; and it has also some constringency which renders it a suitable remedy for hæmoptysis, sprained and ruptured parts, the red flux in women, and intestinal hernia. It contains also some hot humidity, by which it quenches thirst and cures asperities in the trachea. The other species, called the _Great Comfrey_, is glutinous and prurient like squills. It is used for the same purposes as the rock.

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COMMENTARY. The second species is indisputably the _Symphytum officinale_, a plant which the Romans, no doubt, naturalized in this country. The other has been the subject of more controversy. See Parkinson (526) and Matthiolus and Sprengel (Ad Dioscor. iv, 9.) We are satisfied that it was the _Coris monspeliensis_. Our author manifestly abridges Galen, who borrows from Dioscorides, but improves what he takes. They all agree in commending both as being possessed of great virtues as expectorant and vulnerary medicines. Dioscorides particularly commends the latter as an application to inflammations about the anus in a cataplasm, with the leaves of senecio. Neither of these plants is mentioned by Celsus, nor, we believe, by Hippocrates. Avicenna writes hesitatingly about them, but in the main agrees with Dioscorides with regard to their medicinal virtues, more especially in hæmoptysis, ulcers of the intestines, menorrhagia, and as an application to external injuries. (ii, 2, 634.) The Arabians in general seem not to have attached much importance to the symphytum, for, after a cursory examination while writing this article, we have not been able to find it in any of the others except Ebn Baithar, who merely gives extracts from Dioscorides and Galen, under the present head. Apuleius mentions that the Latin name of the symphytum is consolida. Dr. Hill calls it a famous vulnerary both internally and externally, and as such it is highly commended by all our older herbalists. See Parkinson, Culpeper, and Gerard. It would appear also that the other species, the Coris monspeliensis, was employed in the medicine of the Spanish monastic orders as an efficacious vulnerary. See Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 645.)

Σφονδύλιον,

Spondylium, _Cow-parsnip_; the fruit and root are possessed of acrid and cutting powers, so as to cure asthma, epilepsy, and jaundice. The root, when stripped of its bark and put into a fistula, removes its callus. The juice of the flowers of it are injected into the ears as agreeing with chronic ulcers.

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COMMENTARY. There seems no reason to doubt of its being the _Heracleum Sphondylium_. Dioscorides and Pliny recommend it as an application to fistulous ulcers, and in the other cases mentioned by our author. Galen and Oribasius give it the same characters as our author. We have not met with it in the works of Hippocrates, Celsus, and Aëtius. Avicenna draws the characters which he gives it entirely from Dioscorides. (ii, 2, 643.) Ebn Baithar, in describing it, merely gives extracts from Dioscorides and Galen. (ii, 24.) Rhases does the same. (Cont. l. ult. i, 636.) The sphondylium is described as a medicinal herb, possessed of the virtues ascribed to it by the ancients, in the works of our old English herbalists, but it has long ceased to occupy a place in our Dispensatory. Neither is it to be found in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia.

Σχῖνος,

Lentiscus, _the Lentisk_, in all its parts, belongs to the full second order of desiccants. As to heating and cooling, it holds an intermediate place. It is astringent to such a degree as to approach nearly, in this respect, to the juice of the hypocistis.

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COMMENTARY. It is the _Pistacia Lentiscus_, L., according to the admission of all the commentators. We need scarcely mention that it is the tree from which mastich is procured. Hippocrates was well acquainted with the medical use of it. Pliny says that it acts as a diuretic, but occasions constipation of the bowels. He also mentions that it was used in toothache, and that a decoction of its leaves in a gargle fastened loose teeth. (xxiv, 28.) The same is stated of it by Plinius Valerianus (i, 36), and by Dioscorides (i, 89.) Nay, it would appear, from the following epigram of Martial, that peculiar virtues were ascribed to a toothpick made of the mastich tree:

“Dentiscalpium
Lentiscum melius: sed si tibi frondea cuspis
Defuerit, dentes penna levare potest.”—(xiv, 22.)

Dioscorides is the author who has written most elaborately on this article, which he recommends in hæmoptysis, diarrhœa, dysentery, menorrhagia, prolapsus uteri and ani, in affections of the mouth, as already stated, and, in a word, he concludes by saying of its oil, that it is beneficial in all cases requiring astringency. (l. c.) Galen also gives a very sensible account of this tree, which he represents to be an astringent of the same class as hypocistis. Celsus prescribes it on various occasions, as, for example, a decoction of its leaves to suppress immoderate suppuration. (vi, 18.) He ranks it among the astringent and emollient substances. (ii, 33.) All the Arabians treat largely of it, but copy most of their information from Dioscorides and Galen. See Avicenna (ii, 2, 453); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 457); Serapion (De Simpl. 159); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn Baithar (ii, 518.) In particular all recommend it as a dentifrice and odontalgic, and we need scarcely mention that it still is used in the East for these purposes. See Paris (Pharm. t. ii, 323) and Pereira (1184.) It is stated in the modern Greek Pharmacopœia that it is cultivated in Chios.

Σχοῖνος,

Juncus, _the Rush_; its flower is moderately calefacient, but astringent in a less degree, and is not removed from the nature of attenuating substances. Hence it is diuretic, emmenagogue, and deobstruent in fomentations, potions, and cataplasms. The root of it is more astringent, but the flower hotter. The marsh-rush consists of two varieties. The fruit of the oxyschœnus or _Hard-rush_, as it is called, is soporific, but that of the holoschœnus less so, and it also occasions headache. Both varieties, if toasted and drunk with wine, dry up fluxes of the belly and restrain the female discharge.

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COMMENTARY. It requires some attention not to confound the _Schœni_ with one another. The _Schœnanthus_, then, is decidedly the _Andropogon Schœnanthus_, or Lemon-grass. See Dr. Royle (Antiq. of Hindoo Med. 82) and Lindley (Veg. Kingd. 113.) The σ. ἐλεῖα is the _Schœnus Holoschœnus_; the ὁλοσχοῖνος, the _Schœnus mariscus_; and the ὀξυσχοῖνος, the _Juncus acutus_. The first of these is the species most celebrated as a medicine. Thus it is the schœnus of Dioscorides, who represents it as being useful in vomiting of blood, pains of the stomach, lungs, liver, and kidneys, and as being possessed of diuretic, emmenagogue, carminative, subastringent, and other powers. Its decoction, he says, is useful as a hip-bath in inflammations of the womb. (i, 16.) Galen gives a similar account of its virtues. (De Simpl. viii, and De Antidot. i.) The other Greek authorities treat of it very succinctly. Is not this the “flos junci rotundi” of Celsus? (v, 24.) According to Dierbach and, indeed, all the best authorities, it is the σ. ἔυοσμος of Hippocrates (De Mulieb. i, 111), who recommends it along with other aromatics in diseases of the uterus. The Arabians display an intimate acquaintance with the schœnanths. See Avicenna (ii, 2); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 681); Serapion (De Simpl. 103); Averrhoes (Collig. v, 42); Ebn Baithar (i, 19.) The last of these gives a particularly full account of it, mostly from Arabian authorities. They all agree in representing it as being diuretic, emmenagogue, and alexipharmic, and in recommending it particularly in apostemes of the anus, and in scabies. Its oil, they say, is efficacious in removing lassitude. The schœnanth held a place in our Dispensatory as late as the times of Quincy (i, 1, 12) and Lewis (ii, 20.) Upon consulting the modern authors quoted above, it will be seen that it is still well known in the East.

Σῶρι,

Sori, resembles misy in its powers, consisting of much grosser particles.

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