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CHAP. 21.—THE PITYUSA: SIX REMEDIES.

For a similar1 reason, too, we shall accord the same distinction to the pityusa, a plant which some persons reckon among the varieties of the tithymalus.2 It is a shrub,3 re- sembling the pitch-tree in appearance, and with a diminutive purple blossom. A decoction of the root, taken in doses of one hemina, carries off the bilious and pituitous secretions by4 stool, and a spoonful of the seed, used as a suppository, has a similar effect. A decoction of the leaves in vinegar removes scaly eruptions of the skin; and in combination with boiled rue, it effects the cure of diseases of the mamillæ, gripings in the bowels, wounds inflicted by serpents, and incipient gatherings of most kinds.

1 The resemblance of its name to the "pitys," or pitch-tree.

2 See B. xxvi. c. 39.

3 An Euphoribia with a ligneous stem, the Euphorbia pityusa of Linnæus. The characteristics of it differ, however, from the description here given by Pliny. It is no longer used in medicine, though, like the other Euphorbiaceæ, it has very active properties.

4 This, Fée says, is consistent with truth.

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