Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXIII. THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CULTIVATED TREES., CHAP. 54. (6.)—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE BLOSSOMS, LEAVES, FRUIT, BRANCHES, BARK, JUICES, WOOD, ROOTS, AND ASHES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF TREES. SIX OBSERVATIONS UPON APPLES. TWENTY-TWO OBSERVATIONS UPON QUINCES. ONE OBSERVATION UPON STRUTHEA.

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CHAP. 54. (6.)—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE BLOSSOMS, LEAVES, FRUIT, BRANCHES, BARK, JUICES, WOOD, ROOTS, AND ASHES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF TREES. SIX OBSERVATIONS UPON APPLES. TWENTY-TWO OBSERVATIONS UPON QUINCES. ONE OBSERVATION UPON STRUTHEA.

We next come to the medicinal properties of the various kinds of apples. The spring fruits of this nature are sour and unwholesome¹ to the stomach, disturb the bowels, contract the bladder, and act injuriously upon the nerves; when cooked, however, they are of a more harmless nature. Quinces are more pleasant eating when cooked; still however, eaten raw, provided they are ripe, they are very useful² for spitting of blood, dysentery, cholera, and cœliac affections; indeed, they are not of the same efficacy when cooked, as they then lose the astringent properties which belong to their juice. They are applied also to the breast in the burning attacks of fever, and, in spite of what has been stated above, they are occasionally boiled in rain-water for the various purposes before-mentioned. For pains in the stomach they are applied³ like a cerate, either raw or boiled. The down upon them heals⁴ carbuncles.

Boiled in wine, and applied with wax, they restore the hair, when it has been lost by alopecy. A conserve of raw quinces in honey relaxes the bowels; and they add very materially to the sweetness of the honey, and render it more wholesome to the stomach. Boiled quinces preserved in honey are beaten up with a decoction of rose-leaves, and are taken as food by some for the cure of affections of the stomach. The juice of raw quinces is very good, also, for the spleen, hardness of breathing, dropsy, affections of the mamillæ, condylomata, and varicose veins. The blossoms, either fresh or dried, are useful for inflammations of the eyes, spitting of blood, and irregularities of the catamenia. By beating them up with sweet wine, a sooth- ing sirop is prepared, which, is very beneficial for cœliac affections and diseases of the liver: with a decoction of them a fomentation is made for procidence of the uterus and intestines.

From quinces an oil is also extracted, which we have spoken of under the name of "melinum:"⁵ in order to make it, the fruit must not have been grown in a damp soil; hence it is that the quinces which come from Sicily are so highly esteemed for the purpose; while, on the other hand, the strutheum,⁶ though of a kindred kind, is not so good.

A circle⁷ is traced round the root of this tree, and the root itself is then pulled up with the left hand, care being taken by the person who does so to state at the same moment the object for which it is so pulled up, and for whom. Worn as an amulet, this root is a cure for scrofula.

1 In consequence of the malic and tartaric acid which they contain.

2 Quinces are of an astringent nature; and an astringent sirop, Fée says, is still prepared from them.

3 They are no longer used for this purpose.

4 Fée observes that it has no such effect.

5 B. xiii. c. 2.

6 Or "sparrow-quince." See B. xv. c. 10.

7 He states this so gravely, that he would almost appear to believe it.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 54. (6.)—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE BLOSSOMS, LEAVES, FRUIT, BRANCHES, BARK, JUICES, WOOD, ROOTS, AND ASHES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF TREES. SIX OBSERVATIONS UPON APPLES. TWENTY-TWO OBSERVATIONS UPON QUINCES. ONE OBSERVATION UPON STRUTHEA.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 54. (6.)—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE BLOSSOMS, LEAVES, FRUIT, BRANCHES, BARK, JUICES, WOOD, ROOTS, AND ASHES OF VARIOUS KINDS OF TREES. SIX OBSERVATIONS UPON APPLES. TWENTY-TWO OBSERVATIONS UPON QUINCES. ONE OBSERVATION UPON STRUTHEA.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.