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CHAP. 38.—SIX REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MOSS. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SAND.

Moss which has grown in water1 is excellent as a topical application for gout; and, in combination with oil, it is good for pains and swellings in the ankles. The foam that floats2 upon the surface of the water, used as a friction, causes warts to disappear. The sand,3 too, of the sea-shore, that more particularly which is very fine and burnt white by the heat of the sun, is used remedially for its desiccative properties, the bodies of dropsical or rheumatic patients being entirely covered with it.

Thus much with reference to water itself; we will now turn to the aquatic productions, beginning, as in all other instances, with the principal of them, namely, salt and sponge.

1 He probably means sea-water, alluding to certain kinds of sea-seed. Dioscorides speaks of it, in B. iv. c. 99, as being good for gout. It is, in reality, of some small utility in such cases.

2 He most probably means sea-water.

3 The Greeks used sand-baths for the purpose of promoting the perspiration; tie names given to them were παρͅόπτησις and φοίνιγμος.

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