* * * * * COMMENTARY. Many of the older commentators supposed this to be the plant which produces turbit, but we shall have occasion to discuss this question when treating of the additions to the Materia Medica made by the Arabians. What this article really was is very uncertain. Pliny and all the medical authorities mention its purgative powers. See in particular Dioscorides (iv, 177), from whom our author evidently copies. Ἄλυσσον, Alysson, _Madwort_, is so called because it is of use to those who have been bitten by mad dogs. Being possessed of discutient, detergent, and desiccative powers, it removes obstructions of the kidneys, and cleanses ephelis. * * * * * COMMENTARY. It was supposed by the earlier herbalists and commentators that the A. of Galen is a different substance from that of Dioscorides. The former (which is also our author’s) is a species of horehound, to which the herbalists give the distinctive name of Galen’s madwort. It is the _Marrubium Alyssum_. That of Dioscorides has been conjectured to have been some species of _Veronica_, but, in fact, there is no certainty on this point, and we must own our inability to perceive the difference between it and the A. of Galen. Dioscorides recommends his plant in ephelis and hydrophobia, (iii, 95.) See also Avicenna (ii, 2, 26.) Ἀλώπηξ, Vulpes, _the Fox_; the whole animal, if boiled alive or dead, renders the oil discutient, when it attracts the deep-seated fluids to the surface. Wherefore, when arthritic patients are put into a hip-bath of this oil for a considerable time it removes the complaint entirely, if at its commencement, and moderates it if protracted. * * * * * COMMENTARY. Galen and Serapion give nearly the same account of the medicinal properties of the _Canis vulpes_ as our author. Ἀμάρακος, Amaracus, _Marjoram_; it is calefacient in the third degree, and desiccative in the second. * * * * * COMMENTARY. That it was some species of marjoram appears quite certain from the ancient descriptions of it; but, otherwise, it cannot be satisfactorily determined. Most probably, it was the same as the sampsuchus, namely, the _Origanum Marjorana_. Dioscorides strongly recommends the ointment as an emmenagogue, and for various other purposes. (i, 78.) For the Arabians, see Avicenna (ii, 2, 466); Serapion (c. 286); Rhases (Cont. l. ult. i, 439.) Ἀμάραντον, Amarantum, _Amaranth_, is attenuant and incisive, and therefore when taken with wine it promotes the menstrual discharge, and dissolves coagulated blood when taken with wine and honey. It dries up all defluxions, and is bad for the stomach. * * * * *