Nor is fenugreek held in less esteem. By some it is known as “telis,” by others as “carphos,” and by others again as “buceras,” or “ægoceras,”[446] the produce of it bearing some resemblance to horns. Among us it is known as “silicia.” The mode of sowing it we have already[447] described on the appropriate occasion. Its properties are desiccative,[448] emollient, and resolvent. A decoction of it is useful for many female maladies, indurations for instance, tumours, and contractions of the uterus; in all which cases it is employed as a fomentation or used for a sitting-bath: it is serviceable also as an injection. It removes cutaneous eruptions on the face; and a decoction of it, applied topically with nitre or vinegar, cures diseases of the spleen or liver. In cases of difficult labour, Diodes recommends the seed pounded, in doses of one acetabulum, mixed with boiled[449] must. After taking one third of the mixture, the patient must use a warm bath, and then, while in a perspiration, she must take another third, and, immediately after leaving the bath, the remainder—this, he says, will prove a most effectual means of obtaining relief. The same authority recommends fenugreek boiled, with barley or linseed, in hydromel, as a pessary for violent pains in the uterus: he prescribes it also as an external application for the lower regions of the abdomen. He speaks also of treating leprous sores and freckles with a mixture composed of equal proportions of sulphur and meal of fenugreek, recommending it to be applied repeatedly in the course of the day, due care being taken not to rub the part affected.