previous next

CHAP. 90.—WILD THYME: EIGHTEEN REMEDIES.

Wild thyme, it is said, borrows its name, "serpyllum," from the fact that it is a creeping1 plant, a property peculiar to the wild kind, that which grows in rocky places more particularly. The cultivated2 thyme is not a creeping plant, but grows up- wards, as much a palm in height. That which springs up spontaneously, grows the most luxuriantly, its leaves and branches being whiter than those of the other kinds. Thyme is efficacious as a remedy for the stings of serpents, the cun- chris3 more particularly; also for the sting of the scolopendra, both sea and land, the leaves and branches being boiled for the purpose in wine. Burnt, it puts to flight all venomous crea- tures by its smell, and it is particularly beneficial as an antidote to the venom of marine animals.

A decoction of it in vinegar is applied for head-ache, with rose oil, to the temples and forehead, as also for phrenitis and lethargy: it is given, too, in doses of four drachmæ, for gripings of the stomach, strangury, quinsy, and fits of vomiting. It is taken in water, also, for liver complaints. The leaves are given in doses of four oboli, in vinegar, for diseases of the spleen. Beaten up in two cyathi of oxymel, it is used for spitting of blood.

1 "A serpendo:" the Thymus serpyllum of Linnæus.

2 The Thymus zygis of Linnæus: the Serpyllum folio thymi of C. Bauhin. Dioscorides says that it is the cultivated thyme that is a creeping plant.

3 See Lucan's Pharsalia, B. ix. 1. 712, et seq.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

load focus Latin (Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff, 1906)
hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

hide References (1 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (1):
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: