This plant imparts a youthful look[1632] to the features; and if suspended to the pillow, so as to be smelt by a person when asleep, it will prevent all disagreeable dreams. It has the effect of promoting the appetite, also—for this, too, has been made by luxury one of the objects of art, ever since labour has ceased to stimulate it. It is for these various reasons that it has received the name of “anicetum,”[1633] given to it by some. CHAP. 73.—WHERE THE BEST ANISE IS FOUND: VARIOUS REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THIS PLANT. The most esteemed anise is that of Crete, and, next to it, that of Egypt. This plant is employed in seasonings to supply the place of lovage; and the perfume of it, when burnt and inhaled, alleviates headache. Evenor prescribes an application of the root, pounded, for defluxions of the eyes; and Iollas employs it in a similar manner, in combination with saffron and wine, or else beaten up by itself and mixed with polenta, for violent defluxions and the extraction of such objects as have got into the eyes: applied, too, as a liniment in water, it arrests cancer of the nose. Mixed with hyssop and oxymel, and employed as a gargle, it is a cure for quinsy; and, in combination with rose oil, it is used as an injection for the ears. Parched anise purges off phlegm from the chest, and, if taken with honey, it is better still. For a cough, beat up fifty bitter almonds, shelled, in honey, with one acetabulum of anise. Another very easy remedy, too, is to mix three drachmæ of anise with two of poppies and some honey, a piece the size of a bean being taken three times a-day. Its main excellence, however, is as a carminative; hence it is that it is so good for flatulency of the stomach, griping pains of the intestines, and cœliac affections. A decoction of it, smelt at and drunk, arrests hiccup, and a decoction of the leaves removes indigestion. A decoction of it with parsley, if applied to the nostrils, will arrest sneezing. Taken in drink, anise promotes sleep, disperses calculi of the bladder, arrests vomiting and swelling of the viscera, and acts as an excellent pectoral for affections of the chest, and of the diaphragm, where the body is tightly laced. It is beneficial, also, to pour a decoction of it, in oil, upon the head for head-ache.