The juice, injected into the nostrils, which are then rinsed with wine, acts as a detergent upon the head: it is taken also, in doses of one drachma, in wine, for wounds inflicted by serpents. It is a remarkable fact, that cattle will refuse to touch the female plant; but if it should so happen that, deceived by the resemblance—the flower being the only distinguishing mark—they have accidentally tasted it, they immediately have recourse, as a remedy, to the plant called “asyla,”[866] but more generally known among us as “ferus oculus.”[867] Some persons recommend those who gather it, to prelude by saluting it before sunrise, and then, before uttering another word, to take care and extract the juice immediately; if this is done, they say, it will be doubly efficacious. As to the juice of euphorbia, we have spoken[868] of its properties at sufficient length already. In cases of ophthalmia, attended with swelling, it will be a good plan to apply wormwood beaten up with honey, as well as powdered betony. CHAP. 93.—THE ÆGILOPS: TWO REMEDIES. The fistula of the eye, called “ægilops,” is cured by the agency of the plant of the same name,[869] which grows among barley, and has a leaf like that of wheat. The seed is pounded for the purpose, and applied with meal; or else the juice is extracted from the stem and more pulpy leaves, the ears being first removed. This juice is incorporated with meal of three-month wheat, and divided into lozenges. CHAP. 94.—MANDRAGORA, CIRCÆON, MORION, OR HIPPOPHLOMOS; TWO VARIETIES OF IT: TWENTY-FOUR REMEDIES. Some persons, too, were in the habit of employing mandragora for diseases of the eyes; but more recently, the use of it for such a purpose has been abandoned. It is a well-ascertained fact, however, that the root, beaten up with rose oil and wine, is curative of defluxions of the eyes and pains in those organs; and, indeed, the juice of this plant still forms an ingredient in many medicaments for the eyes. Some persons give it the name of “circæon.”[870] There are two varieties, the white[871] mandragora, which is generally thought to be the male plant, and the black,[872] which is considered to be the female. It has a leaf narrower than that of the lettuce, a hairy stem, and a double or triple root, black without and white within, soft and fleshy, and nearly a cubit in length.