CHAP. 27.—SEVENTY-NINE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE HYÆNA.
But of all animals, it is the hyæna that has been held in
the highest admiration by the magicians, who have gone so
far as to attribute to it certain magical virtues even, and the
power of alluring
1 human beings and depriving them of their
senses. Of its change of sex each year, and other monstrous
peculiarities
2 in its nature, we have spoken already;
3 we
will now proceed to describe the medicinal virtues that are
ascribed to it.
The hyæna, it is said, is particularly terrible to panthers; so
much so, indeed, that they will not attempt to make the slightest resistance to it, and will never attack a man who has any
portion of a hyæna's skin about him. A thing truly marvellous to tell of, if the hides of these two animals are hung up
facing one another, the hair will fall from off the panther's skin!
When the hyæna flies before the hunter, it turns off on the
right, and letting the man get before it, follows in his track:
should it succeed in doing which, the man is sure to lose his
senses and fall from his horse even. But if, on the other hand,
it turns off to the left, it is a sign that the animal is losing
strength, and that it will soon be taken. The easiest method,
however, of taking it, they say, is for the hunter to tie his
girdle with seven knots, and to make as many knots in the
whip with which he guides his horse. In addition to all this,
so full of quirks and subtleties are the vain conceits of the
magicians, they recommend the hyæna to be captured while
the moon is passing through the sign of Gemini, and every
hair of it to be preserved, if possible. They say, too, that the
skin of the head is highly efficacious, if attached to a person
suffering from head-ache; that the gall, applied to the forehead, is curative of ophthalmia; and that if the gall is boiled
down with three cyathi of Attic honey and one ounce of saffron,
it will be a most effectual preservative against that disease,
the same preparation being equally good for the dispersion of
films on the eyes and cataract. If, again, this preparation is
kept till it is old, it will be all the better for improving the
sight, due care being taken to preserve it in a box of Cyprian
copper: they assert also, that it is good for the cure of argema,
eruptions and excrescences of the eyes, and marks upon those
organs. For diseases
4 of the crystalline humours of the eyes,
it is recommended to anoint them with the gravy of hyæna's
liver roasted fresh, incorporated with clarified honey.
We learn also, from the same sources, that the teeth of the
hyæna are useful for the cure of tooth-ache, the diseased tooth
being either touched with them, or the animal's teeth being
arranged in their regular order, and attached to the patient;
that the shoulders of this animal are good for the cure of pains
in the arms and shoulders; that the teeth, extracted from the
left side of the jaw, and wrapped in the skin of a sheep or hegoat, are an effectual cure for pains in the stomach; that the
lights of the animal, taken with the food, are good for cœliac
affections; that the lights, reduced to ashes and applied with oil,
are also soothing to the stomach; that the marrow of the backbone, used with old oil and gall, is strengthening to the sinews;
that the liver, tasted thrice just before the paroxysms, is good
for quartan fevers; that the ashes of the vertebræ, applied in
hyena's skin with the tongue and right foot of a sea-calf and a
bull's gall, the whole boiled up together, are soothing for gout;
that for the same disease hyæna's gall is advantageously employed in combination with stone of Assos;
5 that for cold shiverings, spasms, sudden fits of starting, and palpitations of the
heart, it is a good plan to eat some portion of a hyæna's heart
cooked, care being taken to reduce the rest to ashes, and to
apply it with the brains of the animal to the part affected;
that this last composition, or the gall applied alone, acts as
a depilatory, the hairs being first plucked out which are
wanted not to grow again; that by this method superfluous hairs
of the eyelids may be removed; that the flesh of the loins,
eaten and applied with oil, is a cure for pains in the loins; and
that sterility in females may be removed by giving them the
eye of this animal to eat, in combination with liquorice and dill,
conception within three days being warranted as the result.
Persons afflicted with night-mare and dread of spectres, will
experience relief, they say, by attaching one of the large teeth
of a hyæna to the body, with a linen thread. In fits of delirium
too, it is recommended to fumigate the patient with the smoke
of one of these teeth, and to attach one in front of his chest,
with the fat of the kidneys, or else the liver or skin. They
assert also that a pregnant woman will never miscarry, if she
wears suspended from her neck, the white flesh from a hyena's
breast, with seven hairs and the genitals of a stag, the whole
tied up in the skin of a gazelle. The genitals, they say, eaten
with honey, act as a stimulant upon a person, according to
the sex, and this even though it should be the case of a man
who has manifested an aversion to all intercourse with females.
Nay, even more than all this, we are assured that if the
genitals and a certain joint of the vertebræ are preserved in
a house with the hide adhering to them, they will ensure peace
and concord between all members of the family; hence it is
that this part is known as the "joint of the spine,"
6 or "Atlantian
7 knot." This joint, which is the first, is reckoned among
the remedies for epilepsy.
The fumes of the burnt fat of this animal will put serpents to flight, they say; and the jawbone, pounded with anise
and taken with the food, is a cure for shivering fits. A fumigation made therewith has the effect of an emmenagogue; and
such are the frivolous and absurd conceits of the professors of
the magic art, that they boldly assert that if a man attaches to
his arm a tooth from the right side of the upper jaw, he will
never miss any object he may happen to aim at with a dart.
The palate, dried and warmed with Egyptian alum,
8 is curative
of bad odours and ulcers of the mouth, care being taken to
renew the application three times. Dogs, they say, will never
bark at persons who have a hyæna's tongue in the shoe,
beneath the sole of the foot. The left side of the brain, applied
to the nostrils, is said to have a soothing effect upon all
dangerous maladies either in men or beasts. They say, too, that
the skin of the forehead is a preservative against all fascinations; that the flesh of the neck, whether eaten or dried and
taken in drink, is good for pains in the loins; that the sinews
of the back and shoulders, used as a fumigation, are good for
pains in the sinews; that the bristles of the snout, applied to
a woman's lips, have all the effect of a philtre; and that the
liver, administered in drink, is curative of griping pains and
urinary calculi.
The heart, it is said, taken with the food or drink, is remedial
for all kinds of pains in the body; the milt for pains in the
spleen; the caul, in combination with oil, for inflammatoryulcers; and the marrow for pains in the spine and weakness in the
sinews. The strings of the kidneys, they say, if taken with
wine and frankincense, will restore fruitfulness, in cases where
it has been banished through the agency of noxious spells; the
uterus, taken in drink with the rind of a sweet pomegranate,
is highly beneficial for diseases of the uterus; and the fat of
the loins, used as a fumigation, removes all impediments to
delivery, and accelerates parturition. The marrow of the back,
attached to the body as an amulet, is an effectual remedy for
fantastic illusions,
9 and the genitals of the male animal, used
as a fumigation, are good for the cure of spasms. For ophthalmia, ruptures, and inflammations, the feet, which are kept
for the purpose, are touched; the left feet for affections on the
right side of the body, and the right feet for affections on the
left. The left foot, if laid upon the body of a woman in travail,
will be productive, they say, of fatal effects; but the right foot,
similarly employed, will facilitate delivery. The vesicle
which has contained the gall, taken in wine or with the food. is
beneficial for the cardiac disease; and the bladder, taken in
wine, is a good preservative against incontinence of urine.
The urine, too, which is found in the bladder, taken with oil,
sesame, and honey, is said to be useful for diseases of long
standing.
The first rib and the eighth, used as a fumigation, are said
to be useful for ruptures; the vertebræ for women in travail;
and the blood, in combination with polenta,
10 for griping pains
in the bowels. If the door-posts are touched with this blood,
the various arts of the magicians will be rendered of no effect;
they will neither be able to summon the gods into their presence nor to converse with them, whatever the method to which
they have recourse, whether lamps or basin, water or globe,
11
or any other method.
The flesh of the hyæna, taken as food, is said to be efficacious
for the bite of a mad dog, and the liver still more so. The
flesh or bones of a human being which have been found in the
belly of a slain hyæna, used as a fumigation, are said to be
remedial for gout: but if among these remains the nails are
found, it is looked upon as a presage of death to some one among
those who have captured it. The excrements or bones which
have been voided by the animal at the moment when killed,
are looked upon as counter-charms to magic spells. The dung
found in the intestines is dried and administered in drink for
dysentery; and it is applied to all parts of the body with
goose-grease, in the form of a liniment, in the case of persons
who have received injury from some noxious medicament. By
rubbing themselves with the grease, and lying upon the skin,
of a hyæna, persons who have been bitten by dogs are cured.
On the other hand, the ashes of the left pastern-bone, they
say, boiled with weasel's blood, and applied to a person's body,
will ensure universal hatred; a similar effect being equally
produced by the eye when boiled. But the most extraordinary
thing of all is, their assertion that the extremity of the rectum
of this animal is a preservative against all oppression on the
part of chiefs and potentates, and an assurance of success in all
petitions, judgments, and lawsuits, and this, if a person only
carries it about him. The anus, according to them, has so
powerful an effect as a philtre, that if it is worn on the left
arm, a woman will be sure to follow the wearer the moment
he looks at her. The hairs, too, of this part, reduced to ashes,
and applied with oil to the body of a man who is living a life
of disgraceful effeminacy, will render him not only modest,
they assure us, but of scrupulous morals even.