CHAP. 51.—BITUMEN, AND THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF IT;
TWENTY-SEVEN REMEDIES.
Nearly approaching to the nature of sulphur is that of bitumen,
1
which in some places assumes the form of a slime, and
in others that of an earth; a slime, thrown up, as already
2
stated, by a certain lake in Judæa, and an earth, found in the
vicinity of Sidon, a maritime town of Syria. In both these
states, it admits of being thickened and condensed. There
is also a liquid
3 bitumen, that of Zacynthus, for example, and
the bitumen that is imported from Babylon; which last kind
is also white: the bitumen, too, of Apollonia is liquid. All
these kinds, in Greek, have the one general name of "pissasphaltos,"
4
from their strong resemblance to a compound of
pitch and bitumen. There is also found an unctuous liquid
bitumen, resembling oil, in a spring at Agrigentum, in Sicily,
the waters of which are tainted by it. The inhabitants of the
spot collect it on the panicles of reeds, to which it very readily
adheres, and make use of it for burning in lamps, as a substitute
for oil, as also for the cure of itch-scab in beasts of
burden.
Some authorities include among the bitumens, naphtha, a substance
which we have already mentioned in the Second Book;
5
but the burning properties which it possesses, and its susceptibility
of igniting, render it quite unfit for use. Bitumen,
to be of good quality, should be extremely brilliant, heavy,
and massive; it should also be moderately smooth, it being
very much the practice to adulterate it with pitch. Its medi-
cinal properties are similar to those of sulphur, it being naturally
astringent, dispersive, contractive, and agglutinating: ignited,
it drives away serpents by the smell. Babylonian bitumen is
very efficacious, it is said, for the cure of cataract and albugo,
as also of leprosy, lichens, and pruriginous affections. Bitumen
is employed, too, in the form of a liniment, for gout; and
every variety of it is useful for making bandolines for eyelashes
that are refractory and impede the sight. Applied topically
with nitre,
6 it is curative of tooth-ache, and, taken internally,
with wine, it alleviates chronic coughs and difficulty
of respiration. It is administered in a similar manner for
dysentery, and is very good for arresting looseness of the
bowels. Taken internally with vinegar, it dissolves and brings
away coagulated blood. It modifies pains also in the loins
and joints, and, applied with barley-meal, it forms a peculiar
kind of plaster, to which it has given its name.
7 It stanches
blood also, heals wounds, and unites the sinews when severed.
Bitumen is administered for quartan fevers, in doses of one
drachma to an equal quantity of hedyosmos,
8 the whole kneaded
up with one obolus of myrrh. The smell of burnt bitumen
detects a tendency to epilepsy, and, applied to the
nostrils with wine and castoreum,
9 it dispels suffocations of
the uterus. Employed as a fumigation, it acts as a check upon
procidence of the uterus, and, taken internally with wine, it
has the effect of an emmenagogue.
Another use that is made of it, is for coating the inside
of copper vessels, it rendering them proof against the action
of fire. It has been already
10 stated that bitumen was formerly
employed for staining copper and coating statues. It has been
used, too, as a substitute for lime; the walls of Babylon, for
instance, which are cemented with it. In the smithies they are
in the habit of varnishing iron and heads of nails with it, and
of using it for many other purposes as well.