We will now proceed to classify the various remedies derived from the aquatic animals, according to the several diseases; not that we are by any means unaware that an exposition of all the properties of each animal at once, would be more to the reader’s taste, and more likely to excite his admiration; but because we consider it more conducive to the practical benefit of mankind to have the various recipes thus grouped and classified; seeing that this thing may be good for one patient, that for another, and that some of these remedies may be more easily met with in one place and some in another. CHAP. 16. (5.)—REMEDIES FOR POISONS, AND FOR NOXIOUS SPELLS. THE DORADE: FOUR REMEDIES. THE SEA-STAR: SEVEN REMEDIES. We have already[109] stated in what country the honey is venomous: the fish known as the dorade[110] is an antidote to its effects. Honey, even in a pure state, is sometimes productive of surfeit, and of fits of indigestion, remarkable for their severity; the best remedy in such case, according to Pelops, is to cut off the feet, head, and tail, of a tortoise, and boil and eat the body; in place, however, of the tortoise, Apelles mentions the scincus, an animal which has been described elsewhere.[111] We have already mentioned too, on several occasions,[112] how highly venomous is the menstruous fluid: the surmullet, as already[113] stated, entirely neutralizes its effects. This last fish, too, either applied topically or taken as food, acts as an antidote to the venom[114] of the pastinaca, the land and sea scorpion, the dragon,[115] and the phalangium.[116] The head of this fish, taken fresh and reduced to ashes, is an active neutralizer of all poisons, that of fungi more particularly. It is asserted also, that if the fish called the sea-star[117] is smeared with a fox’s blood, and then nailed to the upper lintel of the door, or to the door itself, with a copper nail, no noxious spells will be able to obtain admittance, or, at all events, to be productive of any ill effects. CHAP. 17.—REMEDIES FOR THE STINGS OF SERPENTS, FOR THE BITES OF DOGS, AND FOR INJURIES INFLICTED BY VENOMOUS ANIMALS. THE SEA-DRAGON: THREE REMEDIES. TWENTY-FIVE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SALTED FISH. THE SARDA: ONE REMEDY. ELEVEN REMEDIES DERIVED FROM CYBIUM. Stings inflicted by the sea-dragon[118] or by the sea-scorpion, are cured by an application[119] of the flesh of those animals to the wound; the bites, too, of spiders are healed by the same means. In fine, as an antidote to every kind of poison, whether taken internally or acting through the agency of a sting or bite, there is considered to be nothing in existence more effectual than a decoction of the sea-dragon and sea-scorpion.