Lapathum, too, has pretty nearly the same properties. There is a wild[1705] variety, known to some as “oxalis,” very similar in taste to the cultivated kind, with pointed leaves, a colour like that of white beet, and an extremely diminutive root: our people call it “rumex,”[1706] while others, again, give it the name of “lapathum cantherinum.”[1707] Mixed with axle-grease, this plant is very efficacious for scrofulous sores. There is another kind, again, hardly forming a distinct variety, known as “oxylapathon,”[1708] which resembles the cultivated kind even more than the last, though the leaves are more pointed and redder: it grows only in marshy spots. Some authors are found who speak of a “hydrolapathon,”[1709] which grows in the water, they say. There is also another variety, known as “hippolapathon,”[1710] larger than the cultivated kind, whiter, and more compact. The wild varieties of the lapathum are a cure[1711] for the stings of scorpions, and protect those who carry the plant on their person from being stung. A decoction of the root in vinegar, employed as a gargle, is beneficial to the[1712] teeth, and if drunk, is a cure for jaundice. The seed is curative of the most obstinate maladies of the stomach.[1713] The root of hippolapathum, in particular, has the property of bringing off malformed nails; and the seed, taken in wine, in doses of two drachmæ, is a cure for dysentery. The seed of oxylapathum, washed in rain-water, with the addition of a piece of gum acacia, about the size of a lentil, is good for patients troubled with spitting of blood.[1714] Most excellent lozenges are made of the leaves and root of this plant, with the addition of nitre and a little incense. When wanted for use, they are first steeped in vinegar. CHAP. 86.—CULTIVATED LAPATHUM: TWENTY-ONE REMEDIES. BULAPATHUM: ONE REMEDY. As to garden lapathum,[1715] it is good in liniments on the forehead for defluxions of the eyes. The root of it cures lichens and leprous sores, and a decoction of it in wine is remedial for scrofulous swellings, imposthumes of the parotid glands, and calculus of the bladder. Taken in wine it is a cure for affections of the spleen, and employed as a fomentation, it is equally good for cœliac affections, dysentery, and tenesmus. For all these purposes, the juice of lapathum is found to be even still more efficacious. It acts as a carminative and diuretic, and dispels films on the eyes: put into the bath, or else rubbed upon the body, without oil, before taking the bath, it effectually removes all itching sensations. The root of it, chewed, strengthens the teeth, and a decoction of it in wine arrests[1716] looseness of the stomach: the leaves, on the other hand, relax it. Not to omit any particulars, Solo has added to the above varieties a bulapathon,[1717] which differs only from the others in the length of the root. This root, taken in wine, is very beneficial for dysentery.