PSILO´THRUM
PSILO´THRUM (
ψίλωθρον),
in Latin authors sometimes spelt
psilotrum, an
application for, removing superfluous hair, a depilatory. The favourite kind
was made of heated arsenic and unslaked lime (Theophr.
H. P.
9.20.3); the arsenic is mentioned by Pliny (
Plin. Nat. 34.178). The roots and juices of various pungent
plants were also used; the root of the wild vine, Theophr.
l.c.: on the other hand,
lacrima
vitium,
Plin. Nat. 23.3;
lacrima hederae, id. 24.79; other vegetable substances,
20.90, 21.118, 22.134, 24.58, 27.72; animal matters, 28. §
§ 46, 250, 255, 30.132, 32.76. Several receipts are given
(
H. N. 32. § § 135-6), with the remark
appended that the hairs must first be pulled out [
VOLSELLAE], when psilothrum will prevent their
growing again. Pitch-plaster (
δρῶπαξ) was
used for the same purpose (
Mart. 3.74,
10.65; Phrynich. p. 405 Lobeck=488 Rutherford).
The practice of getting rid of hairs from the body (
παρατίλλεσθαι, λεαίνεσθαι) was at first peculiar to women
(
Aristoph. Frogs 516,
Lysistr. 82, 151; a Roman lady's toilet in
Mart. 6.93), but in later times extended to men of
effeminate habits. (See quotations from Theopompus ap.
Ath. 6.260 e, 12.518 a; Clearchus, ib. 12.522 d; Antigonus of
Carystus, ib. 13.565 f; and cf.
Plin. Nat.
26.164.) The foppish and obscene excesses of the later Romans are
well known (
Suet. Jul. 45;
Mart. 3.74,
8.47,
10.65; Pers. 4.35-41;
Juv. 2.12; Clem. Alex.
Paedag. iii. p. 261 P.).
Cf. ALIPILUS; VOLSELLAE.
(Hermann-Blümner,
Privatalterth. p. 209 n.;
Marquardt,
Privatl. p. 581; Becker-Göll,
Gallus, 3.241.)
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W.W]
