The plant verbena officinalis was known to Hippocrates and later on to Pliny the Elder as an effective means of inducing virile potency. * * * * * An Indian plant named Datroa, the juice of which was used in a drink, was given as a physiological stimulant * * * * * In the eighteenth century an erotic concoction known as Diavolini was popular in Italy. In France, these Diavolini became equally popular under the name of diablotins—devil-pastilles. * * * * * The nettle, urtica urens, was a legendary and traditional stimulus, credited with promoting decisive potency. * * * * * Ocimum Basilicum is a plant with labiate flowers. It was known to the Egyptians and is mentioned by the Roman encyclopedist Pliny the Elder. It was used as an aphrodisiac as well as for other medicinal purposes. * * * * * Lycopodium Clavatum, a plant known by a variety of other names, was formerly used in amatory practices. * * * * * The amethyst was anciently considered a stone whose contact was a stimulus to passion. * * * * * In the Middle Ages there was in Germany a kind of humorous folk legend that was called the Old Wives’ Mill. This legend extended into the eighteenth century. The theme was the rejuvenation of old women into young maidens and young women. There is an old print depicting the Mill, with elderly females being carried into the Mill and coming out young and comely. * * * * * The means of arousing erotic sensations and the devices contrived for the furtherance of weird or furtive amatory conditions have varied all the way from forthright bestialities, sacrificial blood rituals, as described by the poet Horace with reference to the witch Canidia’s practices, down to more or less innocuous or ineffectual concoctions. As far as ritual killing is concerned, and the extraction of human organs for amatory purposes, such methods were in vogue in Europe until far into the seventeenth century, notably in France. A French preparation, that promised a renewal of physiological vigor, was known as Essence à l’usage des monstres. * * * * * Certain ancient Greek papyri contain suggestions and recipes intended to promote physiological vigor and by means of magic formulas to correct amatory deficiencies. These papyri now belong in the Louvre, in Paris, and in the British Museum.