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CHAP. 108.—THE LABRUM VENEREUM : ONE REMEDY.

Labrum Venereum1 is the name given to a plant that grows in running streams.2 It produces a small worm,3 which is crushed by being rubbed upon the teeth, or else enclosed in wax and inserted in the hollow of the tooth. Care must be taken, however, that the plant, when pulled up, does not touch the ground.

1 Or "Venus' bath." Identified by Littré with the Dipsacus silvestris of Linnæus, and by Fée with the Dipsacus fullonum of Linnæus, the Teazel, or Fuller's thistle. It received its Roman name from the form of the leaves, which are channelled, and curved at the edges.

2 This is entirely erroneous; he may possibly have mistranslated some author, who has stated that the rain-water settles in reservoirs formed by the leaves.

3 He alludes to the larvæ of the Curculio or weevil, which are found in the head of the Dipsacus, and many other plants. See B. xxvii. c. 62, and B. xxx. c. 8.

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