Salt, mala Bacchica[152] Cubebs, Surag,[153] and radix Chinæ (bark), were also regarded by ancient physicians as powerful aphrodisiacs. Gomez[154] asserts of the first of these substances, that women who much indulge in it are thereby rendered more salacious, and that, for this reason, Venus is said to have arisen from the sea; whence the epigram: "Unde tot in Veneta scortorum millia cur sunt? In promptu causa est. Venus orta mari." "In Venice why so many punks abound? The reason sure is easy to be found: Because, as learned sages all agree, Fair Venus' birth-place was the _salt, salt sea_." To the last of the above-mentioned plants, Baptista Porta ascribes the most wonderful powers, his words being: Planta quæ non solum edentibus, sed et genitale languentibus tantum valet, ut coire summe desiderant, quoties fere velint, possint; alios _duodecies_ profecisse, alios ad _sexaginta vices_ pervenisse, refert.[155] Certain condiments are also aphrodisiacal, acting as they undoubtedly do, as powerful stimulants. Thus Tourtelle and Peyrible assure us that pepper is a provocative to venereal pleasures, while Gesner and Chappel cured an atony of the virile member of three or four years' duration, by repeated immersions of that organ in a strong infusion of mustard seed. The principal ingredient of the _Bang_ so much used by the Indians, as well as of the _Maslac_ of the Turks is a species of the hemp plant. The Indians, says Acosta,[156] masticate the seeds and leaves of several species of that plant, in order to increase their vigour in the venereal congress, and very frequently combine with it, ambergris, musk, and sugar, preparing it in the form of an electuary. It has been remarked, moreover, that even in our own climate, the caged birds that are fed with hemp seed are the most amorously inclined. According to Browne[157] whole fields are in Africa sown with _hashish_, the _bang_ of the East Indies, for the purpose of being used as a stimulant to amorous dalliance. It is used in a variety of forms, but in none, it is supposed, more effectually than what in Arabic, is called Maijûn, a kind of electuary, in which both men and women indulge to excess. It is said that the Chinese, domesticated at Batavia, avail themselves of a certain electuary for the purpose of stimulating their appetite for sexual intercourse. This preparation, called by them Affion, is chiefly composed of opium, and it is asserted that its effect is so violent that a brutal passion supervenes and continues throughout the night, the female being obliged to flee from the too energetic embraces of her lover.[158] Narcotics, in general, and especially, opium, have been considered as direct aphrodisiacs, an opinion which, if well founded, would enable us to account more easily far those agreeable sensations by which the use of these substances is followed.