The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 4 (of 6)Pliny, the Elder
History
The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 4 (of 6)
Pliny, the Elder
Natural history -- Pre-Linnean works
There is no wild coriander[1680] to be found; the best, it is generally
agreed, is that of Egypt. Taken in drink and applied to the wound, it
is a remedy for the sting[1681] of one kind of serpent, known as the
amphisbæna:[1682] pounded, it is healing also for other wounds, as well
as for epinyctis and blisters. Employed in the same state with honey
or raisins, it disperses all tumours and gatherings, and, beaten up in
vinegar, it removes abscesses of an inflammatory nature. Some persons
recommend three grains of it to be taken for tertian fevers, just
before the fit comes on, or else in larger quantities, to be bruised
and applied to the forehead. There are others, again, who think that it
is attended with excellent results, to put coriander under the pillow
before sunrise.
While green, it is possessed of very cooling and refreshing properties.
Combined with honey or raisins, it is an excellent remedy for spreading
ulcers, as also for diseases of the testes, burns, carbuncles, and
maladies of the ears. Applied with woman’s milk, it is good for
defluxions of the eyes; and for fluxes of the belly and intestines,
the seed is taken with water in drink; it is also taken in drink for
cholera, with rue. Coriander seed, used as a potion with pomegranate
juice and oil, expels worms in the intestines.
Xenocrates states a very marvellous fact, if true; he says, that if a
woman takes one grain of this seed, the menstrual discharge will be
retarded one day, if two grains, two days, and so on, according to the
number of grains taken. Marcus Varro is of opinion, that if coriander
is lightly pounded, and sprinkled over it with cummin and vinegar, all
kinds of meat may be kept in summer without spoiling.
CHAP. 83.—ORAGE: FOURTEEN REMEDIES.
Orage,[1683] again, is found both wild and cultivated. Pythagoras has
accused this plant of producing dropsy, jaundice, and paleness of the
complexion, and he says that it is extremely difficult of digestion.
He asserts, also, to its disparagement, that every thing that grows
near it in the garden is sure to be drooping and languid. Diocles and
Dionysius have added a statement, that it gives birth to numerous
diseases, and that it should never be boiled without changing the water
repeatedly; they say, too, that it is prejudicial to the stomach, and
that it is productive of freckles and pimples on the skin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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