with those situated on the inner surface, first cutting them away, then cauterizing, and finally when they are cicatrized proceeding to the treatment of the others. But not a few are incurable. Ἀκροχορδὸν[432] is a smooth, circular, fleshy protuberance, having a slender circular base, so that it looks as though it hung on a string, whence the name. It is painless and callous, usually has the same colour as the skin, while its dimensions seldom exceed those of a bean. As a rule several occur together, but disappear again of their own accord, especially if they are only small, though on occasion they get inflamed and suppuration follows; they leave no root behind on amputation. According to _Galen_ and _Aëtius_ they occur on the fundament, according to Philumenes, as given in the latter author, likewise on the female genitals. They are removed either by means of a thread or with the lancet, though escharotics and other acrid remedies are also employed. A highly inveterate form is the μυρμήκια, or _formica_ (ant) of later Writers, which is almost always discussed by medical Authors concurrently with ἀκροχορδόν. It is, Celsus tells us, less prominent and harder than the θύμιον, has deeper roots, is more painful, broad at the bass and slender at the top, less suffused with blood and seldom larger than a lupin-bean. The colour according to Aëtius is blackish. On its being touched, the patient has the sensation of having been bitten by an ant. As an exactly similar growth appears on the hands, most Writers, e. g. Celsus and Oribasius, speak only of this latter; but Aëtius describes it expressly as occurring on the fundament and on the female genitals; and it was observed in the latter situation by Philumenes, or Aëtius (loco citato, ch. 105.) in the case of _his own wife_, whom he cured by three days’ fumigation with _origanum_, (wild-marjoram). Not to mention the usual escharotic remedies, for which Aëtius in especial gives several formulæ, the following modes of treatment recommended by the medical Writers evidently apply to warts on the hands only,—by extirpation with a myrtle-leaf shaped scalpel called a _scolopomachaerion_ (small pointed surgical knife), squeezing off by means of a quill or metal pipette, and above all sucking with the lips and gnawing off. This last was in _Galen’s_ time especially[433] a very fashionable treatment and is described by him as a new discovery made at Rome. § 42. Retrospect.