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CHAP. 58. (14.)—REMEDIES FOR BOWEL COMPLAINTS.

To arrest looseness of the bowels, deer's blood is used; the ashes also of deer's horns; the liver of a wild boar, taken fresh and without salt, in wine; a swine's liver roasted, or that of a he-goat, boiled in five semisextarii of wine; a hare's rennet boiled, in quantities the size of a chick-pea, in wine, or, if there are symptoms of fever, in water. To this last some persons add nut-galls, while others, again, content themselves with hare's blood boiled by itself in milk. Ashes; too, of burnt horse-dung are taken in water for this purpose; or else ashes of the part of an old bull's horn which lies nearest the root, sprinkled in water; the blood, too, of a he-goat boiled upon charcoal; or a decoction made from a goat's hide boiled with the hair on.

For relaxing the bowels a horse's rennet is used, or else the blood, marrow, or liver of a she-goat. A similar effect is produced by applying a wolf's gall to the navel, with elaterium;1 by taking mares' milk, goats' milk with salt and honey, or a she-goat's gall with juice of cyclaminos,2 and a little alum—in which last case some prefer adding nitre and water to the mixture. Bull's gall, too, is used for a similar purpose, beaten up with wormwood and applied in the form of a suppository; or butter is taken, in considerable doses.

Cœliac affections and dysentery are cured by taking cow's liver; ashes of deer's horns, a pinch in three fingers swallowed in water; hare's rennet, kneaded up in bread, or, if there is any discharge of blood, taken with polenta;3 or else boar's dung, swine's dung, or hare's dung, reduced to ashes and mixed with mulled wine. Among the remedies, also, for the cœliac flux and dysentery, veal broth is reckoned, a remedy very commonly used. If the patient takes asses' milk for these complaints, it will be all the better if honey is added; and no less efficacious for either complaint are the ashes of asses' dung taken in wine; or else polea, the substance above4-mentioned. In such cases, even when attended with a discharge of blood, we find a horse's rennet recommended, by some persons known as "hippace;" ashes of burnt horse-dung; horses' teeth pounded; and boiled cows' milk. In cases of dysentery, it is recommended to add a little honey; and, for the cure of griping pains, ashes of deer's horns, bull's gall mixed with cum- min, or the flesh of a gourd, should be applied to the navel. For both complaints new cheese made of cows' milk is used, as an injection; butter also, in the proportion of four semisextarii to two ounces of turpentine, or else employed with a decoction of mallows or with oil of roses. Veal-suet or beef-suet is also given, and the marrow of those animals is boiled with meal, a little wax, and some oil, so as to form a sort of pottage. This marrow, too, is kneaded up with bread for a similar purpose; or else goats' milk is used, boiled down to one half. In cases, too, where there are gripings in the bowels, wine of the first running5 is administered. For the last-named pains, some persons are of opinion that it is a sufficient remedy to take a single dose of hare's rennet in mulled wine; though others again, who are more distrustful, are in the habit of applying a liniment to the abdomen, made of goats' blood, barley-meal, and resin.

For all defluxions of the bowels it is recommended to apply soft cheese, and for cœliac affections and dysentery old cheese, powdered, one cyathus of cheese being taken in three cyathi of ordinary wine. Goats' blood is boiled down with the marrow of those animals for the cure of dysentery; and the cœliac flux is effectually treated with the roasted liver of a she-goat, or, what is still better, the liver of a he-goat boiled in astringent wine, and administered in the drink, or else applied to the navel with oil of myrtle. Some persons boil down the liver in three sextarii of water to half a sextarius, and then add rue to it. The milt of a he or she-goat is sometimes roasted for this purpose, or the suet of a he-goat is incorporated in bread baked upon the ashes; the fat, too, of a she-goat, taken from the kidneys more particularly, is used. This last, however, must be taken by itself and swallowed immediately, being generally recommended to be taken in water moderately cool. Some persons, too, boil goats' suet in water, with a mixture of polenta, cummin, anise, and vinegar; and for the cure of cœliac affections, they rub the abdomen with a decoction of goats' dung and honey.

For both the cœliac flux and dysentery, kid's rennet is employed, taken in myrtle wine in pieces the size of a bean, or else kid's blood, prepared in the form of a dish known by the name of "sanguiculus."6 For dysentery an injection is employed, made of bull glue dissolved in warm water. Flatulency is dispelled by a decoction of calf's dung in wine. For intestinal affections deer's rennet is highly recommended, boiled with beef and lentils, and taken with the food; hare's fur, also reduced to ashes and boiled with honey; or boiled goat's milk, taken with a small quantity of mallows and some salt; if rennet is added, the remedy will be all the more effectual. Goat suet, taken in any kind of broth, is possessed of similar virtues, care being taken to swallow cold water immediately after. The ashes of a kid's thighs are said to be marvellously efficacious for intestinal hernia; as also hare's dung, boiled with honey, and taken daily in pieces the size of a bean; indeed, these remedies are said to have proved effectual in cases where a cure has been quite despaired of. The broth too, made from a goat's head, boiled with the hair on, is highly recommended.

1 See B. xx. c. 2.

2 See B. xxv. c. 67. Mares' milk is not a purgative; and goats' milk, as Ajasson remarks, is somewhat astringent. Juice of Cyclamen, on the other hand, or sow-bread, is highly purgative.

3 See B. xviii. c. 14.

4 In Chap. 57 of this Book.

5 "Protropum." See B. xiv. cc. 9. 11.

6 A kind of black pudding. Dupinet, the old French translator, says that in his time the people of the Alpine regions still called this dish sanchet.

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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