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CHAP. 65.—THE HOLOSTEON: THREE REMEDIES.

The holosteon,1 so called by the Greeks by way of antiphrasis,2 (in the same way that they give the name of "sweet"3 to the gall,) is a plant destitute of all hardness, of such extreme fineness as to resemble hairs in appearance, four fingers in length, and very similar to hay-grass. The leaves of it are narrow, and it has a rough flavour: it grows upon elevated spots composed of humus. Taken in wine, it is used for ruptures and convulsions. It has the property, also, of closing wounds; indeed, if applied to pieces of meat it will solder them together.

1 The "all-bone" plant. Desfontaines identifies it with the Plantago coronopus of Linnæus, the Buckshorn plantain; but Fée prefers the Plantago holostea of Lamarck, the Grass-leaved plantain. Littré names the Holosteum umbellatum. The Plantago albicans of Linnæus has been also mentioned.

2 Because there is no hardness in it.

3 τὰ γλύκεα.

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