CHAP. 29.—ENDIVE: THREE REMEDIES. Endive,[1455] too, is not without its medicinal uses. The juice of it, employed with rose oil and vinegar, has the effect of allaying headache; and taken with wine, it is good for pains in the liver and bladder: it is used, also, topically, for defluxions of the eyes. The spreading endive has received from some persons among us the name of “ambula.” In Egypt, the wild endive is known as “cichorium,”[1456] the cultivated kind being called “seris.” This last is smaller than the other, and the leaves of it more full of veins. CHAP. 30.—CICHORIUM OR CHRESTON, OTHERWISE CALLED PANCRATION, OR AMBULA: TWELVE REMEDIES. Wild endive or cichorium has certain refreshing qualities,[1457] used as an aliment. Applied by way of liniment, it disperses abscesses, and a decoction of it loosens the bowels. It is also very beneficial to the liver, kidneys, and stomach. A decoction of it in vinegar has the effect of dispelling the pains of strangury; and, taken in honied wine, it is a cure for the jaundice, if unattended with fever. It is beneficial, also, to the bladder, and a decoction of it in water promotes the menstrual discharge to such an extent as to bring away the dead fœtus even. In addition to these qualities, the magicians[1458] state that persons who rub themselves with the juice of the entire plant, mixed with oil, are sure to find more favour with others, and to obtain with greater facility anything they may desire. This plant, in consequence of its numerous salutary virtues, has been called by some persons “chreston,”[1459] and “pancration”[1460] by others. CHAP. 31.—HEDYPNOÏS: FOUR REMEDIES. There is a sort of wild endive, too, with a broader leaf, known to some persons as “hedypnoïs.”[1461] Boiled, it acts as an astringent upon a relaxed stomach, and eaten raw, it is productive of constipation. It is good, too, for dysentery, when eaten with lentils more particularly. This variety, as well as the preceding one, is useful for ruptures and spasmodic contractions, and relieves persons who are suffering from spermatorrhœa. CHAP. 32.—SERIS, THREE VARIETIES OF IT: SEVEN REMEDIES BORROWED FROM IT.