The juniper is of a warming and resolvent nature beyond all other plants: in other respects, it resembles the cedar.[155] There are two species of this tree, also, one of which is larger[156] than the other:[157] the odour of either, burnt, repels the approach of serpents.[158] The seed[159] is good for pains in the stomach, chest, and sides; it dispels flatulency and sudden chills, soothes cough, and brings indurations to a head. Applied topically, it checks the growth of tumours; and the berries, taken in red wine, act astringently upon the bowels: they are applied also to tumours of the abdomen. The seed is used as an ingredient in antidotes of an aperient nature, and is diuretic[160] in its effects. It is used as a liniment for defluxions of the eyes, and is prescribed for convulsions, ruptures griping pains in the bowels, affections of the uterus, and sciatica, either in a dose of four berries in white wine, or in the form of a decoction of twenty berries in wine. There are persons who rub the body with juniper berries as a preventive of the attacks of serpents. CHAP. 37. (9.)—THE WILLOW: FOURTEEN REMEDIES. THE WILLOW OF AMERIA: ONE REMEDY. The fruit of the willow,[161] before it arrives at maturity, is covered with a down like a spider’s web: gathered[162] before it is ripe, it arrests discharges of blood from the mouth. The bark of the upper branches, reduced to ashes and mixed with water, is curative of corns and callosities: it removes spots also upon the face, being still more efficacious for that purpose if mixed with, the juices of the tree. The juices produced by the willow form three different varieties; one[163] of which exudes in the shape of a gum from the tree itself, and another distils from an incision some three fingers in width, made in the bark while the tree is in blossom. This last is very useful for dispersing humours which impede the sight, acting also as an inspissative when needed, promoting the discharge of the urine, and bringing abscesses of all kinds to a head. The third kind of juice exudes from the wounds, when the branches are lopt off with the bill. Either of these juices, warmed in a pomegranate rind, is used as an injection for diseases of the ears. The leaves, too, boiled and beaten up with wax, are employed as a liniment for similar purposes, and for gout. The bark and leaves, boiled in wine, form a decoction that is remarkably useful as a fomentation for affections of the sinews. The blossoms, bruised with the leaves, remove scaly eruptions of the face; and the leaves, bruised and taken in drink, check libidinous tendencies,[164] and effectually put an end to them, if habitually employed. The seed of the black willow of Ameria,[165] mixed with litharge in equal proportions, and applied to the body just after the bath, acts as a depilatory. CHAP. 38.—THE VITEX: THIRTY-THREE REMEDIES.